What is community psychology? |

Introduction

Community psychology is founded on the following precepts: an emphasis on the competence of persons and communities; an appreciation of personal and cultural diversity; an orientation that promotes prevention; a preference for organizational, community- and systems-level intervention; and a belief in the need for an ecologically valid database with which to determine the appropriateness and value of human-service interventions.

Community psychology emphasizes social, environmental, and cultural factors as significant elements influencing the development and expression of behaviors commonly identified as signs of maladjustment. Community psychology demands a respect for human diversity—people have a right to be different. Requiring that people fit into a particular mold or conform to a particular standard increases the probability that some will be considered failures or maladjusted individuals. Instead of focusing on how to motivate “deviant” people to adjust, the community psychologist attempts to increase behavioral options, expand cultural and environmental choices, redistribute resources, and foster the acceptance of variability.

From a community-psychology perspective, it is not the weakness of the individual that causes psychopathology, but a lack of person-environment fit. The concept of person-environment fit is founded in ecology. Ecology posits that each organism is in constant interaction with all aspects of its environment, including all things animate and inanimate. From the ecological perspective, it is the unique interaction of species with the environmental milieu that dictates survival. In relation to people, ecology requires an appreciation not only for the ambient environment but also for social, psychological, personal, and cultural factors that interact and influence an individual’s adjustment and survival.

Community psychologists use their knowledge of ecological principles to create culturally congruent interventions that maximize service effectiveness. To develop services that are culturally congruent requires an appreciation for the history, aspirations, belief systems, and environmental circumstances of the community or group with which one is to work. Knowing that interactions and the fit between persons and environments are of primary importance, community psychologists work to promote changes at a systems level rather than only working to change the individual. Community psychologists know, however, that even systems-level changes will be of little value—and will perhaps even lead to harm—if they are not personally and culturally relevant to the persons they are designed to help.

There is considerable diversity in the training and orientation of community psychologists. Still, as a general rule, community psychologists can be expected to have knowledge and expertise in the following areas: program development, resource utilization, community organization, consultation, community mental health programming, preventive interventions, program evaluation, grant writing, needs assessment, advocacy, crisis intervention, direct service delivery, manpower training, systems analysis, and the political ramifications of social change. Community psychologists use their knowledge of these areas as they work within the framework of one of the following models: clinical/community, community/clinical, community activist, academic/research, prevention, social ecology, evaluation/policy analysis, or consultation.

Community Models

Psychologists trained in the clinical/community model have expertise in individual assessment and psychotherapy. They are likely to work within community mental health centers or other human-services programs as direct service providers. They differ from traditionally trained clinical psychologists in having an orientation that is directed toward crisis intervention, public health, and prevention.

The community/clinical model leads to a primary emphasis of working with community groups to enable the development, implementation, and administration of human-services initiatives. This model is similar to the community-activist model; persons with a community/clinical orientation, however, are more likely to work within the system than outside it.

Persons following the community-activist model draw on their training in psychology to enable them to confront social injustice and misallocation of resources. These individuals are versed in grass-roots community organization, the realities of social confrontation, and advocacy.

The academic/research model of community psychology is founded on the principles of action-oriented research. Here the researcher is directed to work on real-world problems using ecologically valid methods. Furthermore, action-oriented research requires that recommendations that follow from the researcher’s findings be implemented.

Psychologists who advocate the prevention model use epidemiological data information concerning the rates and distribution of disorders—to enable the development of programs designed to prevent mental health problems. Primary prevention programs—undertakings that attempt to keep problems from forming—are the preferred initiatives.

Persons trained in the social-ecology model participate in the development of research and interventions based on an ecological perspective. Here, an appreciation of the complexities and of the myriad interactions of communities and social organizations is paramount.

The evaluation/policy-analysis model requires that adherents be versed in program-evaluation methods—techniques related to the assessment of the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of service initiatives. This model dictates that information obtained from program evaluation be fed back into the system in the form of policy recommendations.

The consultation model provides a framework for the dissemination of knowledge. To be an effective consultant, the community psychologist must be cognizant of various consultation methods. Furthermore, she or he must have specialized expertise founded in one of the preceding models.

Regardless of the model followed, community psychology demands a commitment to the community, group, or individual served. The job of the community psychologist is to foster competence and independence. The ideal client, whether the client is an individual or a community, is the client who no longer needs the psychologist.

Prevention Programs

Community psychology has played a major role in sensitizing human-services professionals to the need for services oriented toward prevention. Many of the assumptions and principles of prevention are taken from the field of public health medicine. Public health officials know that disease cannot be eradicated by treatment alone. Furthermore, the significant gains in life expectancy that have occurred over the last one hundred years are not primarily the result of wonder drugs, transplants, or other marvels of modern medicine. Instead, improved sanitation, immunizations, and access to an adequate food supply have been the key factors in conquering diseases and increasing the human life span.

To design and implement effective prevention-oriented programs, one must have an understanding of epidemiology, incidence, and prevalence. Epidemiology is the study of the rates and distributions of disorders as these data pertain to causes and prevention. Incidence is the number of new cases of a disorder that occur in a given population in a specific period. Prevalence is either the total number of cases of a disorder in a given population at a specific point in time or the average number of cases during a specific period. By combining information concerning epidemiology, incidence, and prevalence, it is possible to arrive at insights into the causes of a disorder, likely methods of transmission, prognosis, and intervention methods that may prove fruitful.

Community psychologists identify prevention activities as falling into one of three classifications: primary prevention, secondary prevention, and tertiary prevention. Although some have argued that only primary prevention activities should be recognized as prevention, all three classifications have a place.

In tertiary prevention, the underlying disorder is not directly treated or eliminated; instead, tertiary prevention focuses on mitigating the consequences of a disorder. Tertiary prevention has no effect on incidence rates and little or no effect on prevalence rates. Reducing the stigma associated with the label“mental illness,” increasing the self-help skills of persons who have mental retardation, promoting the independence of persons with chronic mental disorders, and developing programs to provide cognitive retraining for persons who have suffered head injuries are examples of tertiary-prevention activities.

An example of a tertiary-prevention program is the community lodge program developed by George Fairweather, which has come to be known as the Fairweather Lodge Program. The program was begun as an attempt to solve a problem that arose in an experiment in giving psychiatric patients the power to direct their treatment by means of self-governing groups. Although it was quite effective, the program suffered because many of its gains did not carry over after patients were discharged. The community lodge program was developed to deal with this problem. During their hospital stays, patients were encouraged to form small support groups. Prior to discharge, members of these support groups would be introduced to the lodge concept. The lodge concept called for former patients to live together, pool their resources, and work as a team in a lodge-owned enterprise. This program, which began in the early 1960s, has been replicated on numerous occasions. Data show that patients discharged to a community lodge are more likely to maintain gainful employment and are less likely to be readmitted to the hospital than are patients discharged to a traditional community mental health program.

Secondary prevention has its basis in the belief that prevalence rates can be reduced if disorders are identified and treated as early as possible. Diversion programs for youths who manifest predelinquent behavior, acute care for persons with mental disorders, employee assistance programs, and psychological screenings for schoolchildren are examples of secondary prevention.

An example of a secondary-prevention program is the Primary Mental Health Project (PMHP) developed by Emory Cowen in the late 1950s. The PMHP was founded on the basis of the idea that maladjustment in early school grades is associated with the development of behavioral and emotional problems later in life. The program was designed to provide early detection so that interventions could be introduced before significant dysfunction had an opportunity to develop. Furthermore, consultation and competency building—rather than traditional therapeutic techniques—were viewed as the most effective interventions. Although the PMHP has not had a demonstrated effect in reducing later psychiatric disorders, the program has been shown to have other beneficial effects.

Primary prevention is aimed at the eradication of the causes of disorders and the development of interventions that can be initiated before pathology develops. Primary prevention results in a lowering of both incidence and prevalence rates. Psychological services for disaster victims, genetic screening, parenting classes, reducing exposure to toxins, immunization for rubella, and maternal nutrition programs are examples of primary-prevention activities. Another example of primary prevention is community education programs designed to teach safe sex and to reduce the sharing of contaminated needles. To the extent that these programs reduce the spread of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), they will also decrease the incidence of AIDS dementia complex.

Community psychologists are involved in many service activities besides prevention-oriented enterprises. These initiatives include the training and utilization of paraprofessionals, the promotion of self-help groups and natural helping networks, advocacy, community consultation, program evaluation, the planning and implementation of new human-services programs, crisis intervention, and mental health education.

An Emerging Field

Community psychology had its origins in the 1960s, a time of radical ideas, antiestablishment attitudes, and a belief in the perfectibility of humankind. In 1965, in Swampscott, Massachusetts, a meeting was called to ascertain how psychology could most effectively contribute to the emerging community mental health movement.

A transformation in treatment focus was taking place at the time of the Swampscott meeting. This change had been provided with a blueprint for its development in a report by the Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health written in 1961. The Joint Commission report, Action for Mental Health, called for a shift from treating psychiatric patients in large state mental hospitals to the provision of care through outpatient community mental health clinics and smaller inpatient units located in general hospitals. Additionally, the report included the following recommendations: increasing support for research, developing “aftercare,” providing partial hospitalization and rehabilitation services, and expanding mental health education to ensure that the public became more aware of mental disorders and to reduce the stigmatization associated with mental illness.

On February 5, 1963, President John F. Kennedy became the first US president to address Congress regarding the needs of the mentally ill and the mentally retarded. President Kennedy called for a “bold new approach” that would include funding for prevention, expanding the knowledge base regarding causes of disorders and treatment alternatives, and creating a new type of treatment facility that, independent of the ability to pay, would provide high-quality comprehensive care in the local community—the creation of community mental health centers.

In October of 1963, President Kennedy signed into law the Community Mental Health Act. The law required that programs funded through the act provide five essential services: inpatient care, outpatient treatment, emergency services, partial hospitalization, and consultation and education.

Although the initial purpose for convening the Swampscott meeting had been to determine how psychology could contribute to the staffing needs of community mental health centers, the conferees took a broader perspective and chose to view the community mental health movement as addressing a limited aspect of a larger set of social problems. As a consequence, the meeting failed to address adequately the training needs of psychologists who would be working in the new community mental health centers; instead, the most significant result of the meeting was the birth of community psychology.

In the ensuing years, community psychology and community psychology training programs have varied in the degree to which they involve the educational needs of psychologists employed by community mental health centers. Still, there is no doubt that the research and service initiatives that community psychologists have developed in regard to crisis intervention, consultation, prevention, empowerment, the use of paraprofessionals, program planning, resource development, and program evaluation serve as valuable models and contribute to the successful operation of community mental health programs and a variety of other human-services activities.

Bibliography

Boyd, Neil M. "A 10-Year Retrospective of Organization Studies in Community Psychology: Content, Theory, and Impact." Jour. of Community Psychology 42.2 (2014): 237–54. Print.

Caplan, Gerald. Principles of Preventive Psychiatry. New York: Basic, 1964. Print.

Dalton James H., Maurice J. Elias, and Abraham Wandersman. Community Psychology: Linking Individuals and Communities. 2d ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2007. Print.

Heller, Kenneth, et al. Psychology and Community Change: Challenges of the Future. 2d ed. Homewood: Dorsey, 1984. Print.

Levine, Murray, and David V. Perkins. Principles of Community Psychology: Perspectives and Applications. 3d ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.

Mann, Philip A. Community Psychology: Concepts and Applications. New York: Free Press, 1978. Print.

Neal, Jennifer Watling, et al. "Is Community Psychology 'Too Insular'? A Network Analysis of Journal Citations." Jour. of Community Psychology 41.5 (2013): 549–64. Print.

Nelson, Geoffrey, and Scot D. Evans. "Critical Community Psychology and Qualitative Research: A Conversation." Qualitative Inquiry 20.2 (2014): 158–66. Print.

Rappaport, Julian. Community Psychology: Values, Research, and Action. New York: Holt, 1977. Print.

Rappaport, Julian, and Edward Seidman, eds. Handbook of Community Psychology. New York: Plenum, 2000. Print.

Scileppi, John A., Robin Diller Torres, and Elizabeth Lee Tead. Community Psychology: A Common Sense Approach to Mental Health. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1999. Print.

What is self-presentation? |

Introduction

Although they may or may not be consciously thinking about it, people often try
to control the information that others receive about them. When they are
deliberately trying to make a certain impression on others, people may carefully
choose their dress, think about what to say, monitor their behavior, pick their
friends, and even decide what to eat. Self-presentation refers to the various
behaviors with which people attempt to manage and influence the impressions they
make on others. Nearly any public behavior may be strategically regulated in the
service of impression management, and people may behave quite differently in the
presence of others from the way they behave when they are alone. Moreover,
self-presentation is not always a conscious activity; without planning to, people
may fall into familiar patterns of behavior that represent personal habits of
self-presentation.

The impressions of someone that others form substantially determine how they
treat that person. Obviously, if others like and respect someone, they behave
differently toward him or her from the way they would if the person were disliked
or mistrusted. Thus, it is usually personally advantageous for a person to have
some control over what others think of him or her. To the extent that one can
regulate one’s image in others’ eyes, one gains influence over their behavior and
increases one’s interpersonal power. Self-presentational perspectives on social
interaction assume that people manage their impressions to augment their power and
maximize their social outcomes.

Impression Management and Strategies

Self-presentation, however, is usually not deceitful. Although people do occasionally misrepresent themselves through lying and pretense, most self-presentation communicates one’s authentic attributes to others. Because frauds and cheats are rejected by others, dishonest self-presentation is risky. Instead, impression management usually involves the attempt to reveal, in a selective fashion, those aspects of one’s true character that will allow one to attain one’s current goals. By announcing some of their attitudes but not mentioning others, for example, people may appear to have something in common with almost anyone they meet; this simple tactic of impression management facilitates graceful and rewarding social interaction and does not involve untruthfulness at all. Over time, genuine, realistic presentations of self in which people accurately reveal portions of themselves to others are likely to be more successful than those in which people pretend to be things they are not.

Nevertheless, because most people have diverse interests and talents, there may
be many distinct impressions they can honestly attempt to create, and people may
seek different images in different situations. Psychologists Edward Jones and
Thane Pittman identified four discrete strategies of self-presentation that
produce disparate results. When people seek acceptance and likeability, they
typically ingratiate themselves with others by doing favors, paying compliments,
mentioning areas of agreement, and describing themselves in attractive, desirable
ways. On other occasions, when they wish their abilities to be recognized and
respected by others, people may engage in self-promotion, recounting their
accomplishments or strategically arranging public demonstrations of their skills.
Both ingratiation (a strategy of self-presentation in which one seeks to elicit
liking and affection from others) and self-promotion create socially desirable
impressions and thus are very common strategies of self-presentation.

In contrast, other strategies create undesirable impressions. Through
intimidation, people portray themselves as ruthless, dangerous, and menacing so
that others will do their bidding. Such behavior tends to drive others away, but
if those others cannot easily escape, intimidation often works. Drill sergeants
who threaten recalcitrant recruits usually are not interested in being liked; they
want compliance, and the more fierce they seem, the more likely they may be to get
it. Finally, using the strategy of supplication, people sometimes present
themselves as inept or infirm to avoid obligations and elicit help and support
from others.

People’s choices of strategies and desired images depend on several factors, such as the values and preferences of the target audience. People often tailor their self-presentations to fit the interests of the others they are trying to impress. In one study of this phenomenon, college women were given job interviews with a male interviewer who, they were told, was either quite traditional or “liberated” in his views toward women. With this information in hand, the women dressed, acted, and spoke differently for the different targets. They wore more makeup and jewelry, behaved less assertively, and expressed a greater interest in children to the traditional interviewer than they did to the liberated interviewer.

Individuals’ own self-concepts also influence their self-presentations. People
typically prefer to manage impressions that are personally palatable, both because
they are easier to maintain and because they help bolster self-esteem;
however, self-presentations also shape self-concepts. When people do occasionally
claim images they personally feel they do not deserve, their audiences may either
see through the fraudulent claim and dispute the image or accept it as legitimate.
In the latter case, the audience’s approving reactions may gradually convince
people that they really do deserve the images they are projecting. Because a
person’s self-concept is determined, in part, by feedback received from others,
self-presentations that were once inaccurate can become truthful over time as
people are gradually persuaded by others that they really are the people they were
pretending to be.

Finessing Public Image

Studies of self-presentation demonstrate that people are capable of enormous
subtlety as they fine-tune their public images. For example, psychologist Robert
Cialdini and his colleagues have identified several ingenious, specific tactics of
ingratiation. Observations of students at famous football colleges (such as Notre
Dame, Ohio State, the University of Southern California, Arizona, Pittsburgh, and
Louisiana State) revealed that after a weekend football victory, students were
especially likely to come to class on Monday wearing school colors and insignia.
If their team had lost, however, such identifying apparel was conspicuously
absent. Further laboratory studies suggested that the students were strategically
choosing their apparel to publicize their association with a winning team, a
tendency Cialdini called “basking in reflected glory.” By contrast, they were
careful not to mention their connection to a loser. In general, people who seek
acceptance and liking will advertise their association with other desirable
images, while trying to distance themselves from failure and other disreputable
images.

Furthermore, they may do this with precise sophistication. In another study by
Cialdini, people privately learned that they had a trivial connection—a shared
birth date—with another person who was said to have either high or low social or
intellectual ability. The participants then encountered a public, personal success
or failure when they were informed that they had either high or low social ability
themselves. Armed with this information, people cleverly selected the specific
self-descriptions that would make the best possible impression on the researchers.
If they had failed their social ability test, they typically mentioned their
similarity with another person who had high intellect but did not bring up their
connection to another person with higher social ability than themselves. They thus
publicized a flattering link between themselves and others while steering clear of
comparisons that would make them look bad. In contrast, if they had passed the
social ability test and the researchers already thought highly of them, people
brought up their connection to another person who had poorer social ability. By
mentioning their resemblance to less talented others, people not only reminded
their audiences of their superior talent, but seemed humble and modest as
well.

Self-presentation can be ingenious, indeed. In general, if they wish to ingratiate themselves with others, people with deficient images try to find something good to communicate about themselves that does not contradict the negative information the audience already has. If they are already held in high esteem, however, people typically select modest, self-effacing presentations that demonstrate that they are humble as well as talented.

People do not go to such trouble for everyone, however; if people do not care what a particular audience thinks, they may not be motivated to create any impression at all. One experiment that illustrated this point invited women to “get acquainted” with men who were either desirable or undesirable partners. Snacks were provided; the women who were paired with attractive men ate much less than the women stuck with unappealing partners. Because women who eat lightly are often considered more feminine than those who eat heartily, women who wanted to create a favorable impression strategically limited their snack consumption; in contrast, those who were less eager to impress their partners ate as much as they liked.

Role in Social Anxieties

On occasion, people care too much what an audience thinks. One reason that
people suffer from social anxieties such as shyness or
stage fright is that their desire to make a particular impression on a certain
audience is too high. According to theorists Mark Leary and Barry Schlenker,
people suffer from social anxiety when they are motivated to create a certain
impression but doubt their ability to do so. Any influence that increases one’s
motivation (such as the attractiveness, prestige, or power
of an audience) or causes one to doubt one’s ability (such as unfamiliar
situations or inadequate personal social skills) can cause social anxiety. This
self-presentation perspective suggests that, if excessive social anxiety is a
problem, different therapies will be needed for different people. Some sufferers
will benefit most from behavioral social skills training, whereas others who have
passable skills simply need to worry less what others are thinking of them;
cognitive therapies will be best for them.

Role of Self-Monitoring

Finally, people differ in their self-presentational proclivities. Those high in
the trait of self-monitoring tend to be sensitive to social cues that suggest how
one should act in a particular situation and are adept at adjusting their
self-presentations to fit in. By comparison, low self-monitors seem less attentive
and flexible and tend to display more stable images regardless of their
situational appropriateness. High self-monitors are more changeable and energetic
self-presenters, and, as a result, they create social worlds that are different
from those of low self-monitors. Because they can deftly switch images from one
audience to the next, high self-monitors tend to have wider circles of friends
with whom they have less in common than do low self-monitors. Compared to high
self-monitors, lows must search harder for partners with whom they share broader
compatibilities. Over time, however, lows are likely to develop longer-lasting,
more committed relationships with others; they invest more in the partners they
have. High self-monitors are more influenced by social image than lows are, a
self-presentational difference with important consequences for interaction.

Theoretical Roots and Influences

The roots of self-presentation theory date back to the very beginnings of
American psychology and the writings of William James in 1890. James recognized
that the human self is multifaceted, and that it is not surprising for different
audiences to have very different impressions of the same individual. After James,
in the early twentieth century, sociologists Charles Horton
Cooley and George Herbert Mead stressed that
others’ impressions of an individual are especially important, shaping that
person’s social life and personal self-concept. The most influential parent of
this perspective, however, was Erving Goffman, who was the first to
insist that people actively, consciously, and deliberately construct social images
for public consumption. Goffman’s book The Presentation of Self in
Everyday Life (1959) eloquently compared social behavior to a
theatrical performance staged for credulous audiences, complete with scripts,
props, and backstage areas where the actors drop their roles.

As it emerged thereafter, self-presentation theory seemed to be a heretical
alternative to established explanations for some social phenomena. For example,
whereas cognitive
dissonance theory suggested that people sometimes change
attitudes that are inconsistent with their behavior to gain peace of mind,
self-presentation theory argued that people merely report different attitudes that
make them look consistent, without changing their real attitudes at all.
Nevertheless, despite theoretical controversy, Goffman’s provocative dramaturgical
analogy gradually became more widely accepted as researchers demonstrated that a
wide variety of social behavior was affected by self-presentational concerns. With
the publication in 1980 of Barry Schlenker’s book-length review of
self-presentation research, impression management theory finally entered the
mainstream of social
psychology.

Importance and Contributions

The lasting importance of self-presentation theory lies in its reminders that
people are cognizant of the images they present to others and often thoughtfully
attempt to shape those images to accomplish their objectives. As a result, much
social behavior has a self-presentational component. An angry boss may have real
problems controlling his temper, for example, but he may also occasionally
exaggerate his anger to intimidate his employees. Even people suffering from
severe mental illness may engage in impression management; research has revealed
that individuals who have been institutionalized for schizophrenia
sometimes adjust the apparent severity of their symptoms so that they seem well
enough to be granted special privileges without seeming so healthy that they are
released back into the threatening free world. In this case, self-presentation
theory does not suggest that people with schizophrenia are merely pretending to be
disturbed; obviously, people suffering from psychosis are
burdened by real psychological or biological problems. Impression management,
however, may contribute in part to their apparent illness, just as it does to many
other social behaviors. In general, self-presentation theory does not claim to
replace other explanations for behavior, but it does assert that much of what
people do is influenced by self-presentational motives and concerns.

Bibliography

Baumeister, Roy F.,
ed. Public Self and Private Self. New York:
Springer-Verlag, 1986. Print.

Brissett, Dennis,
and Charles Edgley, eds. Life as Theater: A Dramaturgical
Sourcebook. 2nd ed. Somerset: Aldine Transaction, 2005.
Print.

Goffman, Erving.
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York:
Anchor, 2008. Print.

Jones, E. E., and
Thane Pittman. “Toward a General Theory of Strategic Self-Presentation.”
Psychological Perspectives on the Self. Ed. Jerry Suls.
Hillsdale: Erlbaum, 1993. Print.

Hadden, Benjamin W., Camilla S. Overup, and
C. Raymond Knee. "Removing the Ego: Need Fulfillment, Self-Image Goals, and
Self-Presentation." Self and Identity 13.3 (2014): 274–93.
Print.

Leary, Mark R., and
Rowland S. Miller. Social Psychology and Dysfunctional Behavior:
Origins, Diagnosis, and Treatment. New York: Springer-Verlag,
1986. Print.

Schlenker, Barry R.
Impression Management: The Self-Concept, Social Identity, and
Interpersonal Relations. Monterey: Brooks/Cole, 1980.
Print.

Schlenker, Barry
R., ed. The Self and Social Life. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1985. Print.

Snyder, Mark.
Public Appearances, Private Realities: The Psychology of
Self-Monitoring. New York: Freeman, 1987. Print.

Svennevig, Jan. "Direct and Indirect
Self-Presentation in First Conversations." Journal of Language and
Social Psychology 33.3 (2014): 302–27. Print.

Weber, Robert.
The Created Self: Reinventing Body, Persona, and Spirit.
New York: Norton, 2001. Print.

Zach, Sima, and Yael Netz. "Self-Presentation
Concerns and Physical Activity in Three-Generation Families." Social
Behavior and Personality: An International Journal 42.2 (2014):
259–67. Print.

What are problem-solving stages? |

Introduction

Every person must solve problems every day. They solve problems as simple as deciding which television show to watch and as complex as deciding on a marriage partner. In either case, through effective thinking, a satisfactory answer can usually be found. Psychologists believe that there are a number of discrete stages in problem solving. Although they disagree over the exact number of stages required, as well as their exact descriptions and names, the following four stages are often described.

The first stage in problem solving is often called the information-gathering stage. During this stage, considerable information is collected, including the facts surrounding the problem, the goal or outcome desired, the major obstacles preventing a solution, and what information (knowledge) is needed to move toward the solution stage. One key factor in the information-gathering stage is the ability to separate relevant from irrelevant facts. Another key factor is assessing the problem accurately. A clear understanding of the problem is essential to problem solving.

In the second stage of problem solving, potential solutions are generated. Under normal situations, the more solutions generated, the better the chance of solving the problem, since a large number of potential solutions provide a wide choice of alternatives from which to draw. One method used in generating solutions is called trial and error. Here the would-be problem solver tries one approach and then another and perhaps arrives, by chance, at a solution. Although time consuming, exhaustive procedures such as trial and error do eventually result in a solution. Psychologists call any method that guarantees a solution to a problem an algorithm.

Once one or more possible solutions have been generated, it is necessary to choose a specific course of action. The third stage of problem solving, the implementation stage, begins with making a decision. In some problem-solving situations, a number of solutions may be appropriate or suitable. Yet, in comparison, some solutions may be better than others. Some solutions may involve less time and may be easier or more efficient to implement.

The implementation stage involves carrying out the specific plan of action. For many people, this stage of problem solving is difficult. Especially with difficult or complex problems, people are often reluctant to follow through on courses of action. Commitment to follow through is, in many ways, the turning point of problem solving. Intentions and plans of action become meaningless unless there is the commitment to carry them out.

The fourth and final stage of problem solving, in this model, is the evaluation stage. Once the solution or plan of action has been implemented, the person needs to consider whether it has met the original goal (the intended outcome). If not, the person needs to consider other plans of action. In some situations the person may need to retrace his or her steps—beginning again with stage two, the potential solutions stage. Eventually, with perseverance and commitment, workable solutions are usually found.

Another stage worth consideration is incubation. Even though it is considered optional (occurring at some times and not others), incubation can be an important part of problem solving. Incubation refers to a period of time when the person stops thinking about the problem and focuses his or her attention on some other activity. During this time the solution may suddenly appear; it is often said to come “out of the blue.”

Many people have experienced this sudden insight, and history is filled with reports of people who have made remarkable discoveries this way. Such reports point to the fact that it may be advisable to take time off from an unsolved problem. To continue to work ceaselessly on an unsolved problem may only create frustration.

Techniques for Problem Solving

Heuristics
are general strategies for problem solving that lessen the time and mental strain necessary for solving problems. Although much faster than algorithms—problem-solving methods that guarantee a solution—heuristics do not guarantee solutions. They work most of the time, but not always. A number of heuristic approaches exist. In hill climbing, the person moves continually closer to the final goal without ever going backward. In subgoal analysis, a problem is broken down into smaller, more manageable steps.

One often-used heuristic technique combines hill climbing and subgoals. Means-end analysis compares a person’s current position with the desired end (the goal). The idea is to reduce the distance to the goal. By dividing the problem into a number of smaller, more manageable subproblems, a solution may be reached. Another heuristic strategy is called working backward. With this strategy, the search for a solution begins at the goal, or end point, and moves backward to the person’s current position.

Brainstorming is another popular problem-solving technique. Here people are asked to consider all possible solutions while, at the same time, not considering (judging) their immediate value or worth. The advantage of brainstorming is that it increases the diversity of solutions and promotes creative problem solving. So far, in stage two, various methods have been mentioned to generate potential solutions. Yet in real life, problem solving often bogs down, and solutions to problems (especially difficult or complex problems) are hard to find. The importance of perseverance in problem solving cannot be overemphasized.

Another method used in problem solving is called information retrieval. Here the would-be problem solver simply retrieves information from memory that appears to have solved similar problems in the past; however, information retrieval is limited. Many problems do not fit neatly into patterns of the past. Moreover, memory is not always reliable or accurate.

Types of Problems

In a review of problem-solving research published in 1978, J. G. Greeno classified problems into three basic types: problems that involve arrangement, problems that involve inducing structure, and problems that involve transformation.

Arrangement problems require the problem solver to arrange objects in a way that solves the problem. An example is arranging the letters t, g, l, h, and i to spell “light.” Solving such problems often involves much trial and error.

The second type of problem requires a person to discover a pattern or structure that will relate elements of the problems to one another. For example, in solving the problem, “2 is to 4 as 5 is to _____,” the problem solver discovers that 4 is twice as large as 2. Thus, the number needed to solve the problem may be twice as large as 5; that number is 10. Another possible solution is 7, because both the difference between 2 and 4 and that between 5 and 7 is 2.

The third type of problem is one of transformation. Transformation problems differ from the other two types by providing the goal rather than requiring solvers to produce it. Word problems that give the answer and require a person to find the means to the solution are one example.

Examples of Problem Solving

Typically, progress through problem-solving stages is done in a relatively short time. Other situations require more time. Days, weeks, or months may be needed. The following hypothetical examples show how the stages of problem solving can be applied to real-life situations.

Jim has a problem. A friend of his, Bob, recently returned from a year of studying in France. On meeting Jim, Bob was cold and distant; he was not like the person Jim once knew, who was jovial, warm, and happy. Moreover, Bob did not want to associate with Jim. Jim is surprised, hurt, and confused; he does not know what he should do.

First, Jim needs to gather all the information he can. This represents the first stage of problem solving. Jim talks with Bob’s parents, other family members, and students who were with him in France. After collecting this information and separating the relevant facts from the irrelevant ones, Jim notes that his friend’s disposition changed dramatically after his breakup with a girlfriend after a six-month relationship. Jim notes that the presenting problem (Bob being cold and distant) is, under close scrutiny, not the “real” problem. Bob’s present behavior is only a symptom (a consequence) of the real problem, which centers on the breakup of the relationship.

Jim wishes to help his friend. He talks with Bob’s family about what can be done. Together they produce three possible solutions. After comparing the solutions, they decide that the best solution would be for Bob to seek personal counseling. Together they encourage Bob to make an appointment at the local mental health center. If Bob implements this plan of action, he may get the help he needs. If this does not work, the family and Jim will need to reevaluate the situation and try another plan of action.

Susan’s assignment is to write a history paper; however, history has been a difficult subject for her in the past. She needs to do well on this paper to keep her grade-point average high. Susan needs to gather as much information as she can on her topic. She then needs to separate the relevant information from the more trivial or irrelevant. Next she needs to consider potential solutions to ensure a quality paper. She breaks down the paper-writing process into separate tasks (subgoals): preparing an outline, writing the first draft, editing, and rewriting. She executes the plan, doing one task at a time. After the final draft, she asks a classmate to read her paper and to make comments and suggestions. Finally, with a few modifications (revisions), Susan’s paper is ready to be submitted.

Ellen is a high school senior. Her goal is to become a lawyer, but she is unsure of what steps she must take to accomplish this goal. Her first step is to gather all the information she can on how to become a lawyer. She begins by surveying the literature on lawyers in her public library. She also checks with her high school counselor. The counselor gives her some of the specifics: the number of years required for college and law school; the best courses to take as an undergraduate student; the admissions tests necessary for college and law school; the cost of college and law school (including sources of financial aid).

Her next two steps are to devise a plan of action and to implement this plan. She begins by taking a college entrance examination and applying to the college of her choice. After being accepted, she plans her course of studies, keeping in mind the educational requirements of law school. Early in the fall semester of her senior year, she takes the law school admission test and then applies to law school. If she is accepted to law school, her goal of becoming a lawyer is within reach. If she is not accepted, she needs to revise her plan of action or even her goal. She may need to apply to another law school, retake the law school admission test if her score was low, or consider other options: perhaps becoming a paralegal or law assistant or changing fields entirely.

Steve’s car breaks down, and he has it towed to the garage. The mechanic on duty, whether he realizes it or not, applies various stages of problem solving. First of all, he gathers information by asking Steve what happened. Steve states that he was driving down Main Street and suddenly the motor stopped. The mechanic thus focuses on things that can cause the motor to stop suddenly (the potential solutions stage). The most obvious is a problem with the electrical system. After checking various electrical components (the implementation stage), the mechanic notes that the ignition coil is dead. After replacing the coil, the mechanic attempts to start the car (the evaluation stage). The car starts.

Evolution of Problem-Solving Research

Various writers have attempted to analyze the stages in problem solving. One of the first attempts was that of John Dewey
in 1910. Dewey’s five stages utilized the “scientific method” to solve problems systematically through the reasoning process. The five stages are becoming aware of the difficulty; identifying the problem; assembling and classifying data and formulating hypotheses; accepting or rejecting the tentative hypotheses; and formulating conclusions and evaluating them.

Another attempt to analyze the stages of problem solving was that of Graham Wallas in 1926. He proposed that problem solving consisted of the following four steps: preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. Gyrgy Plya, in 1957, also considered problem solving as involving four stages: understanding the problem, devising a plan, carrying out the plan, and checking the results. In The IDEAL Problem Solver (1984), John Bransford and Barry Stein outline a method of problem solving based on the letters IDEAL: Identify the problem, define the problem, explore possible strategies, act on the strategies, and look at the effects of one’s efforts.

One of the most famous scientific studies of the stages in problem solving was that of Karl Duncker in 1945. In his study, subjects were given a problem and asked to report aloud how their thinking processes were working. After examining the subjects’ responses, Duncker found that problem solving did indeed involve a sequence of stages. Presently, computers are used to solve problems. One of the early attempts to use computers in this way was called the general problem solver (GPS), devised by Allen Newell, J. C. Shaw, and Herbert Simon. Historically, problem solving has not been an area of wide research or interest; however, with increasing interest in cognitive psychology and its emphasis on thinking processes, the study of problem solving seems to have a secure future. Considering the number and scope of the problems that face people from day to day, it seems reasonable to continue—and even expand—the study of problem solving.

Bibliography

Andriole, Stephen J. Handbook of Problem Solving. Princeton: Petrocelli, 1983. Print.

Benjamin, Ludy T., J. Roy Hopkins, and Jack R. Nation. Psychology. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan, 1994. Print.

Bransford, John, and Barry S. Stein. The IDEAL Problem Solver. 2nd ed. New York: Freeman, 2002. Print.

Coon, Dennis, and John O. Mitterer. Psychology: A Journey. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2014. Print.

Gerrig, Richard J. Psychology and Life. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.

Hayes, John R. The Complete Problem Solver. 2nd ed. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1989. Print.

Huffman, Karen, et al. Psychology in Action. 10th ed. New York: Wiley, 2012. Print.

Kahane, Adam. Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2007. Print.

Puccio, Gerard J. Creativity Rising: Creative Thinking and Creative Problem Solving in the Twenty-First Century. Buffalo: ICSC, 2012. Print.

Robinson-Riegler, Gregory, and Bridget Robinson-Riegler. Cognitive Psychology: Applying the Science of the Mind. Boston: Allyn, 2012. Print.

Can you help me form a thesis about Shakespeare's Hamlet?I'd like to talk about Hamlet's view on life and how he never really intended to give up...

You've said that you'd like to talk about Hamlet's view of life, how he never really intends to give up on it, and that he understands the decay that takes place during one's life, eventually leading to one's death.  You might consider this wording: Throughout the play, Hamlet develops a nuanced view of life and death, moving past his initial feelings of angst and despair over his father's death to a more detailed and mature...

You've said that you'd like to talk about Hamlet's view of life, how he never really intends to give up on it, and that he understands the decay that takes place during one's life, eventually leading to one's death.  You might consider this wording: Throughout the play, Hamlet develops a nuanced view of life and death, moving past his initial feelings of angst and despair over his father's death to a more detailed and mature understanding of life and the necessity of and symbolism associated with death.  

This way, you could begin by discussing Hamlet's initial, purely emotional response to his father's death as well as the way it combines with his feelings of betrayal as a result of his mother's incestuous relationship with her brother-in-law, Hamlet's uncle.  It isn't just his father's death that upsets him, but it is her very hasty marriage and her choice of partner.  This all goes into his wish to disappear.  He doesn't wish for death so much as he wishes that his "sullied flesh would melt, / Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew" (1.2.133-134).  However, he later begins to understand death as the great equalizer (consider his argument that a king can be buried, eaten by the worm, the worm is eaten by a fish, and the fish is eaten by a beggar; thus a king can "pass through the guts of a beggar"), as a necessary part of life, and finally as something that is provided for by God, just as "the fall of a sparrow" is" (5.2.234).  

Which of the following is NOT true about forecasting? It is good practice to include a measure of expected forecast error with any forecast. In...

Let's consider each statement in turn.

"It is good practice to include a measure of expected forecast error with any forecast."

That one is clearly true. You always want to include error measures in any kind of statistics or forecasting work; no estimate is ever perfectly precise, and knowing just how precise our estimates are can avoid costly mistakes later on.

"In exponential smoothing, a lower smoothing constant will better forecast demand for a product experiencing high growth."

This one is a bit trickier. In exponential smoothing, you adjust a time series x by replacing each term with a smoothed term s, which is determined by the original time series plus a smoothing constant a:
`s_{t} = a x_t + (1-a) s_{t-1}`

If the smoothing constant a is larger, that is, closer to 1, the smoothed series will be more similar to the original time-series. if it is smaller, that is, closer to 0, the smoothed series will be much more smoothed. Actually in the limit where a = 0, the "smoothed" series is just a constant that has nothing to do with the original time-series.

If a product is experiencing high growth, do we want more or less smoothing? Probably less smoothing, because with too much smoothing we will systematically underestimate future growth by averaging in too many past values that were small. Less smoothing means a larger smoothing constant (a bit counter-intuitive), so this statement is false.

So, we found one that is false. We could stop there, but let's make sure the other statements are true as well.

"It is good practice to use more than one forecasting model and then take a look at the results using common sense."

This is also definitely true. The reason we still have economists and statisticians rather than just throwing everything into big computer models is that computers have no common sense; they can't tell whether a result is reasonable or not. It's just garbage-in, garbage-out as they say; a bad model could result in wildly and obviously wrong predictions, which a human would detect but a computer would not.

By comparing a variety of different models and applying known theory and individual intuition, we can therefore arrive at better forecasts than we could have simply naively trusting in a single model.

"A benefit of qualitative forecasts is that they take advantage of expert opinion."

This is also true; qualitative forecasts are quite limited (which is why we use formal forecasting models in the first place), but they do have their place, because experts can make qualitative forecasts based on much richer sources of information---background knowledge, information from other fields, recent developments in policy---that formal models can't capture. If qualitative forecasts differ greatly from quantitative forecasts, we know we have a problem, and that gives us reason to investigate further. (We don't necessarily know which is correct, though my money is usually on the quantitative forecasts.)

What are grief and guilt?

Causes and Symptoms

During life, people unavoidably experience a variety of losses. These may include the loss of loved ones, important possessions or status, health and vitality, and ultimately the loss of self through death. Grief is the word commonly used to refer to an individual’s or group’s shared experience following a loss. The experience of grief is not a momentary or singular phenomenon. Instead, it is a variable, and somewhat predictable, process of life. Also, as with many phenomena within the range of human experience, it is a multidimensional process including biological, psychological, spiritual, and social components.

The biological level of the grief experience includes the neurological and physiological processes that take place in the various organ systems of the body in response to the recognition of loss. These processes, in turn, form the basis for emotional and psychological reactions. Various organs and organ systems interact with one another in response to the cognitive stimulation resulting from this recognition. Human beings are self-reflective creatures with the capacity for experiencing, reflecting upon, and giving meaning to sensations, both physical and emotional. Consequently, the physiological reactions of grief that take place in the body are given meaning by those experiencing them.

The cognitive and emotional meanings attributed to the experience of grief are shaped by and influence interactions within the social dimensions of life. In other words, how someone feels or thinks about grief influences and is influenced by interactions with family, friends, and helping professionals. In addition, the individual’s religious or spiritual frame of reference may have a significant influence on the subjective experience and cognitive-emotional meaning attributed to grief.

The grief reactions associated with a loss such as death vary widely. While it is very difficult and perhaps unfair to generalize about such an intensely personal experience, several predictors of the intensity of grief have become evident. The amount of grief experienced seems to depend on the significance of the loss, or the degree to which the individual subjectively experiences a sense of loss. This subjective experience is partially dependent on the meaning attributed to the loss by the survivors and others in the surrounding social context. This meaning is in turn shaped by underlying belief systems, such as religious faith. Clear cognitive, emotional, and/or spiritual frameworks are helpful in guiding people constructively through the grief process.

People in every culture around the world and throughout history have developed expectations about life, and these beliefs influence the grief process. Some questions are common to many cultures. Why do people die? Is death a part of life, or a sign of weakness or failure? Is death always a tragedy, or is it sometimes a welcome relief from suffering? Is there life after death, and if so, what is necessary to attain this afterlife? The answers to these and other questions help shape people’s experience of the grief process. As Elisabeth Kübler-Ross states in Death: The Final Stage of Growth (1975), the way in which a society or subculture explains death will have a significant impact on the way in which its members view and experience life.

Another factor that influences the experience of grief is whether a loss was anticipated. Sudden and/or unanticipated losses are more traumatic and more difficult to explain because they tend to violate the meaning systems mentioned above. The cognitive and emotional shock of this violation exacerbates the grief process. For example, it is usually assumed that youngsters will not die before the older members of the family. Therefore, the shock of a child dying in an automobile crash may be more traumatic than the impact of the death of an older person following a long illness.

Death and grief are often distasteful to human beings, at least in Western Judeo-Christian cultures. These negative, fearful reactions are, in part, the result of an individual’s difficulty accepting the inevitability of his or her own death. Nevertheless, in cultures that have less difficulty accepting death and loss as normal, people generally experience more complicated grief experiences. The Micronesian society of Truk is a death-affirming society. The members of the Truk society believe that a person is not really grown up until the age of forty. At that point, the individual begins to prepare for death. Similarly, some native Alaskan groups teach their members to approach death intentionally. The person about to die plans for death and makes provisions for the grief process of those left behind.

In every culture, however, the grief-stricken strive to make sense out of their experience of loss. Some attribute death to a malicious intervention from the outside by someone or something else; death becomes frightening. For others, death is in response to divine intervention or is simply the completion of “the circle of life” for that person. Yet for most people in Western societies, even those who come to believe that death is a part of life, grief may be an emotional mixture of loss, shock, shame, sadness, rage, numbness, relief, anger, and/or guilt.

Kübler-Ross points out in her timeless discourse “On the Fear of Dying” (On Death and Dying
, 1969) that guilt is perhaps the most painful companion of death and grief. The grief process is often complicated by the individual’s perception that he or she should have prevented the loss. This feeling of being responsible for the death or other loss is common among those connected to the deceased. For example, parents or health care providers may believe that they should have done something differently in order to detect the eventual cause of death sooner or to prevent it once the disease process was detected.

Guilt associated with grief is often partly or completely irrational. For example, there may be no way that a physician could have detected an aneurysm in her patient’s brain prior to a sudden and fatal stroke. Similarly, a parent cannot monitor the minute-by-minute activities of his or her adolescent children to prevent lethal accidents. Kübler-Ross explains a related phenomenon among children who have lost a parent by pointing out the difficulty in separating wishes from deeds. A child whose wishes are not gratified by a parent may become angry. If the parent subsequently dies, the child may feel guilty, even if the death is some distance in time away from the event in question.

The guilt may also involve remorse over surviving someone else’s loss. People who survive an ordeal in which others die often experience survivor’s guilt. Survivors may wonder why they survived and how the deceased person’s family members feel about their survival, whether they blame the survivors or wish that they had died instead. As a result, survivors have difficulty integrating the experience with the rest of their lives in order to move on. The feelings of grief and guilt may be exacerbated further if survivors believe that they somehow benefited from someone else’s death. A widow who is suddenly the beneficiary of a large sum of money attached to her husband’s life insurance policy may feel guilty about doing some of the things that they had always planned but were unable to do precisely because of a lack of money.

Last, guilt may result when people believe that they did not pay enough attention to, care well enough for, or deserve the love of the person who died. These feelings and thoughts are prompted by loss of an ongoing relationship with the one who died, as well the empathetic response to what it might be like to die oneself.

Feelings of guilt are not always present, even if the reaction is extreme. If individuals experience guilt, however, they may bargain with themselves or a higher power, review their actions to find what they did wrong, take a moral inventory to see where they could have been more loving or understanding, or even begin to act self-destructively. Attempting to resolve guilt while grieving loss is doubly complicated and may contribute to the development of what is considered an abnormal grief reaction.

The distinctions between normal and abnormal grief processes are not clear-cut and are largely context-dependent; that is, what is normal depends on standards that vary among different social groups and historical periods. In addition, at any particular time the variety of manifestations of grief depend on the individual’s personality and temperament; family, social, and cultural contexts; resources for coping with and resolving problems; and experiences with the successful resolution of grief.

Despite this diversity, the symptoms that are manifested by individuals experiencing grief are generally grouped into two different but related diagnostic categories: depression and anxiety. It is normal for the grieving individual to manifest symptoms related to anxiety and/or depression to some degree. For example, a surviving relative or close friend may temporarily have difficulty sleeping, or feel sad or that life has lost its meaning. Relative extremes of these symptoms, however, in either duration or intensity, signal the possibility of an abnormal grief reaction.

In Families and Health (1988), family therapist William Doherty and family physician Thomas Campbell identify the signs of abnormal grief reactions as including periods of compulsive overactivity without a sense of loss; identification with the deceased; acquisition of symptoms belonging to the last illness of the deceased; deterioration of health in the survivors; social isolation, withdrawal, or alienation; and severe depression. These signs may also include severe anxiety, abuse of substances, work or school problems, extreme or persistent anger, or an inability to feel loss.

Treatment and Therapy

There is no set time schedule for the grief process. While various ethnic, cultural, religious, and political groups define the limits of the period of mourning, they cannot prescribe the experience of grief. Yet established norms do influence the grief experience, inasmuch as the grieving individuals have internalized these expectations and standards. For example, the typical benefit package of a professional working in the United States offers up to one week of paid funeral leave in the event of the death of a significant family member. On the surface, this policy begins to prescribe or define the limits of the grief process.

Such a policy suggests, for example, that a mother or father stricken with grief at the untimely death of a child ought to be able to return to work and function reasonably well once a week has passed. Most individuals will attempt to do so, even if they are harboring unresolved feelings about the child’s death. Coworkers, uncomfortable with responding to such a situation and conditioned to believe that people need to “get on with life,” may support the lack of expression of grief.

Helpful responses to grief are as multifaceted as grief itself. Ultimately, several factors ease the grief process. These include validating responses from significant others, socially sanctioned expression of the experience, self-care, social or religious rituals, and possibly professional assistance. Each person responds to grief differently and requires or is able to use different forms of assistance.

Most reactions to loss run a natural, although varied, course. Since grief involves coming to grips with the reality of death, acceptance must eventually be both intellectual and emotional. Therefore, it is important to allow for the complete expression of both thoughts and feelings. Those attempting to assist grief-stricken individuals are more effective if they have come to terms with their own feelings, beliefs, and conflicts about death, and any losses they personally have experienced.

Much of what is helpful in working through grief involves accepting grief as a normal phenomenon. Grief-related feelings should not be judged or overly scrutinized. Supportive conversations include time for ventilation, empathic responses, and sharing of sympathetic experiences. Helpful responses may take the form of “To feel pain and sadness at this time is a normal, healthy response” or “I don’t know what it is like to have a child die, but it looks like it really hurts” or “It is understandable if you find yourself thinking that life has lost its purpose.” In short, people must be given permission to grieve. When it becomes clear that the person is struggling with an inordinate amount of feelings based on irrational beliefs, these underlying beliefs—not the feelings—may need to be challenged.

People tend to have difficulty concentrating and focusing in the aftermath of a significant loss. The symptoms of anxiety and depression associated with grief may be experienced, and many of the basic functions of life may be interrupted. Consequently, paying attention to healthy eating and sleeping schedules, establishing small goals, and being realistic about how long it may take before “life returns to normal” are important.

While the prescription of medication for the grief-stricken is fairly common, its use is recommended only in extreme situations. Antianxiety agents or antidepressants can interfere with the normal experiences of grief that involve feeling and coming to terms with loss. Sedatives can help bereaved family members and other loved ones feel better over the short term, with less overt distress and crying. Many experts believe, however, that they inhibit the normal grieving process and lead to unresolved grief reactions. In addition, studies suggest that those who start on psychotropic medication during periods of grief stay on them for at least two years.

The grief process is also eased by ritual practices that serve as milestones to mark progress along the way. Some cultures have very clearly defined and well-established rituals associated with grief. In the United States, the rituals practiced continue to be somewhat influenced by family, ethnic, and regional cultures. Very often, however, the rituals are confined to the procedures surrounding the preparation and burial of the body (for example, viewing the body at the mortuary, a memorial service, and interment). As limited as these experiences might be, they are designed to ease people’s grief. Yet the grief process is often just beginning with the death and burial of the loved one. Consequently, survivors are often left without useful guidelines to help them on their way.

Another common, although unhelpful, phenomenon associated with the process is for the grief-stricken person initially to receive a considerable amount of empathy and support from family, friends, and possibly professionals (such as a minister or physician) only to have this attention drop off sharply after about a month. The resources available through family and other social support systems diminish with the increasing expectation that the bereaved should stop grieving and “get on with living.” If this is the case, or if an individual never did experience a significantly supportive response from members of his or her social system, the role of psychotherapy and/or support groups should be explored. Many public and private agencies offer individual and family therapy. In addition, in many communities there are a variety of self-help support groups devoted to growth and healing in the aftermath of loss.

Perspective and Prospects

The grief process, however it is shaped by particular religious, ethnic, or cultural contexts, is reflective of the human need to form attachments. Grief thus reflects the importance of relationships in one’s life, and therefore it is likely that people will always experience grief (including occasional feelings of guilt). Processes such as the grief experience, with its cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions, may affect an individual’s psychological and physical well-being. Consequently, medical and other health care and human service professionals will probably always be called upon to investigate, interpret, diagnose, counsel, and otherwise respond to grief-stricken individuals and families.

In the effort to be helpful, however, medical science has frequently intervened too often and too invasively into death, dying, and the grief process—to the point of attempting to disallow them. For example, hospitals and other institutions such as nursing homes have become the primary places that people die. It is important to remember that it has not always been this way. Even now in some cultures around the world, people die more often in their own homes than in an institutional setting.

In the early phases of the development of the field of medicine, hospitals as institutions were primarily devoted to the care of the dying and the indigent. Managing the dying process was a primary focus. More recently, however, technological advances and specialty development have shifted the mission of the hospital to being an institution devoted to healing and curing. The focus on the recovery process has left dying in the shadows. Death has become equated with failure and associated with professional guilt.

It is more difficult for health care professionals to involve themselves or at least constructively support the grief process of individuals and families if it is happening as a result of the health care team’s “failure.” In a parallel fashion, society has become unduly fixated on avoiding death, or at least prolonging its inevitability to the greatest possible extent. The focus of the larger culture is on being young, staying young, and recoiling from the effects of age. As a result, healthy grief over the loss of youthful looks, stamina, health, and eventually life is not supported.

Medical science can make an important contribution in this area by continuing to define the appropriate limits of technology and intervention. The struggle to balance quantity of life with quality of life (and death) must continue. In addition, medical science professionals need to redouble their efforts toward embracing the patient, not simply the disease; the person, not simply the patient; and the complexities of grief in death and dying, not simply the joy in healing and living.

Bibliography

Carole Kaufmann, Judy, and Mary Jordan. The Essential Guide to Life after Bereavement: Beyond Tomorrow. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2013.

Canfield, Jack L., and Mark Victor Hansen. Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul: Stories About Life, Death, and Overcoming the Loss of a Loved One. Deerfield Beach, Fla.: Health Communications, 2003.

Corr, Charles A., Clyde M. Nabe, and Donna M. Corr. Death and Dying, Life and Living. 7th ed. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2013.

Doka, Kenneth J., ed. Living with Grief After Sudden Loss: Suicide, Homicide, Accident, Heart Attack, Stroke. Washington, D.C.: Taylor & Francis, Hospice Foundation of America, 1997.

Greenspan, Miriam. Healing Through the Dark Emotions: The Wisdom of Grief, Fear, and Despair. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2004.

James, John K., et al. When Children Grieve: For Adults to Help Children Deal with Death, Divorce, Pet Loss, Moving, and Other Losses. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.

Klass, Dennis, Phyllis R. Silverman, and Steven L. Nickman, eds. Continuing Bonds: New Understandings of Grief. Washington, D.C.: Taylor & Francis, 1999.

Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth, and David Kessler. On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss. New York: Scribner, 2007.

Lynn, Cendra. GriefNet.org, n.d.

MedlinePlus. "Bereavement." MedlinePlus, July 3, 2013.

National Institutes of Health. "Coping with Grief: When a Loved One Dies." NIH News in Health, n.d.

Neimeyer, Robert A. Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and Practice. New York: Routledge, 2011.

Shanun-Klein, Henya, and Shulamith Krietler. Studies of Grief and Bereavement. New York: Nova Publishers, Inc., 2013.

Staudacher, Carol. Beyond Grief: A Guide for Recovering from the Death of a Loved One. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2000.

What is yoga? |

Introduction

The word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit word Yuj, meaning to
“yoke,” “join,” or “unite.” The word implies joining or integrating all aspects of
the body with the mind to achieve a healthy and balanced life. The true purpose of
the ancient practices of yoga is to bring a proper balance between the physical
and mental aspects of a person and to awaken the subtle energies of the body. Yoga
cultivates muscular strength, endurance, and flexibility and enhances the
practitioner’s mental acuity and mindfulness. Meditative breathing calms a
person’s nerves and sharpens a person’s focus. With regular yoga practice,
individuals are known to gain physical health, mental relaxation, and inner
tranquillity.

Yoga has been practiced in India, in one form or another, since the sixth or fifth
centuries BCE. More than two thousand years ago, the Indian scholar Patanjali
codified the various yoga practices into a written collection called the
Yoga Sutras. According to Patanjali, there are three critical
components of yoga: physical postures (asanas), breath control
(pranayama), and meditation. The main purpose of
asanas and pranayam is to cleanse the body,
unlock energy paths, and raise the level of consciousness. Yoga styles have come
to include a strong component of meditation to enhance the union of mind, body,
and soul. Patanjali showed how, through the practice of yoga, one can gain mastery
over mind and emotion. Advanced yoga practitioners are known to have incredible
control over several autonomic functions such as respiration,
heart rate, and blood flow. Many of the bodily functions previously thought to be
involuntary can be controlled in a relaxed state achieved through the regular
practice of yoga. For these reasons, yoga has been shown to be beneficial in the
management of both the psychological responses to and the
physiological
effects of stress.

Yoga asanas offer a simple yet profound technique for promoting
muscle flexibility and deep relaxation. Practicing a variety of
asanas, in combination with pranayam, is
believed to clear the nervous system, causing energy to flow without obstruction
and ensuring its even distribution through the body during
pranayam. Advanced practitioners of yoga claim to experience a
pure state of joy while practicing the various yoga asanas. Yoga
asanas are designed to switch from one posture to another.
Holding the most intense asanas builds strength and endurance,
while flexing postures are known to provide muscles with a greater range of motion
in the hip and shoulder joints.

There are many forms and schools of yoga. The form most commonly practiced in
Western countries is hatha yoga, which includes Bikram,
Iyengar, and Kundalini yoga. It places special emphasis on physical postures,
which are integrated with breath control and meditation. Hatha yoga thus
emphasizes a balance of mind, body, and spirit.

Health Benefits

Research suggests a wide variety of positive health effects from the daily
practice of yoga, including, but not limited to, pain reduction, lowered heart
rate and blood pressure, improved strength and flexibility, improved sleep
quality, increased blood flow, improved immune system function, and reduced
stress. Yoga may also help to control the effects and progression of
stress-related
diseases. Yoga is a low-impact exercise that is safe for most
people to practice under the guidance of a well-trained instructor; the rate of
injury from yoga is low, although nerve damage is a rare possible side effect of
yoga practice if proper form is not maintained or if asanas are
held for an excessive amount of time. Contraindications for yoga include
pregnancy, glaucoma, sciatica, and high blood pressure; individuals with these
conditions should speak with a qualified instructor about modifying or avoiding
certain yoga poses.

Numerous organizations have engaged in a vast variety of research on the health
benefits of yoga, including the use of yoga to treat anxiety and
depression; the effects of yoga on reducing pain and
pain-associated disability from a number of conditions; the effectiveness of yoga
in the treatment of insomnia; and the effect of yoga
practice on reducing pregnancy complications.

One difficulty with some studies of yoga, however, has been a lack of rigor in
research design and protocol. For example, the yoga practices are traditionally
combined with chanting, discourse, and other activities, and it is difficult to
determine the effects of such extra variables when comparing the results of one
study with another. For example, yoga has been found to reduce asthma
exacerbations and asthma medication use, but it may not be more effective than
general breathing exercises.

Perspective and Prospects

With growing interest in alternative therapies, several individuals and
institutions have initiated extensive studies on the effects of yoga. For example,
researchers at Ball State University found that fifteen weeks of yoga training
brought a 10 percent improvement in lung capacity. Yoga has been found to help
prevent cardiovascular disease when used in conjunction with other lifestyle
changes, such as a low-fat diet, as regular practice can effect reductions in
diastolic blood pressure, triglyceride levels, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)
cholesterol levels. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) is supporting
research on yoga, including its use for treating insomnia and chronic lower back
pain.

In a study at the University of Iowa, some patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
were shown to benefit from yoga. Yoga prevailed among numerous conventional and
alternative therapies as an effective fatigue fighter. At the end of the two-year
study, yoga was the only therapy linked to a statistically significant positive
outcome by linear regression analysis.

Marian Garfinkel, a yoga teacher turned researcher, has demonstrated that
practicing certain yoga postures can relieve the symptoms of carpal tunnel
syndrome, the common ailment resulting from repetitive hand activities such as
typing. Patients practicing prescribed yoga postures showed significant
improvement in grip strength and suffered less pain. There was also improvement on
a nerve test used to measure the severity of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Because each patient is unique, with different abilities and weaknesses, a yoga
approach should be tailored to specific problems as well as specific potentials.
It is also important to look at the studies in which yoga did not prove effective
to determine which variables led to these failures.

Bibliography

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Garfinkel, M. S., et
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