Critical Approach Two

Running head: CRITICAL APPROACH TWO
CRITICAL APPROACH TWO
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

Running head: CRITICAL APPROACH TWO
Critical approach two
Introduction
I was placed in a rural town called Mount Isa, which is situated in Australia. My first
placement was in a mental hospital located in that place itself and were frequented by
Doctors and counsellors every 4-5 months. The town was inhabited with large population of
aboriginals and most of them were infected with drugs and alcohol.
Question one
What did I assume in my original brief account of the incident in my first assignment?
The first thing that I came cross in my visit to the hospital was that people who were
adversely affected by the drug and alcohol consumption were the aboriginals of that place.
Before my placement, I already did internet browsing to get an overview of the conditions of
the hospital. I was not aware of the cultural background of that place neither had I any
information about the power hierarchy shared by the people in the hospital. Thus, my
assumptions were driven by my personal experience of my common sense. My sense of
understanding of the situation as premised on the perception that the aboriginal population is
the one, which is marginalised. The assumption was followed from the discourse of
knowledge that was mediated from one generation to the other. Thus before my empirical
experience in the mental hospital I was informed by the discursive knowledge. This kind of
understanding reflects my values and my belief-system. The values and the belief system that
I have learned are premised on the egalitarian principles of equality and liberty. However,
beneath this, my assumptions also understands the situation in binary terms1. For instance,
one section of the population being the privileged one and the other being deprived of their
healthcare system. It is later that I realised that there are certain cultural and historical context
1 Ferree, M.M., 2015. Beyond the Us-Them Binary: Power and Exclusion in Intersectional Analysis. DiGeSt.
Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, 2(1-2), pp.33-38.

Running head: CRITICAL APPROACH TWO
that is shaping their consequences. In this way, the structure and the agency are in constant
negotiation with each other as stated in the theory of structuration by Antony Giddens2. My
understanding is not devoid of the external conditions because the behaviours, which I
portray, is derived from the cultural and most importantly the situational context. This is
because of the process of socialization and the internalization of certain values and the belief
that are present the discourse.
Question 2
Where did I get these assumptions, and what roles or positions of mine do these assumptions
support?
The assumptions of understanding things in binary has resulted from in the process of
dichotomous thinking that fails to understand the other complexities of their lives. In this
case, there are certain influences that has shaped my thought-process and eventually the
worldview of knowledge. According to the theory of Bronfenbrenner’ ecological systems
theory, there are five systems that influences ones pattern of understanding3. In the
chronosystem, the knowledge that was generated about the historical colonization and the
brutal activities that has lead to the marginalization of certain section only the aboriginal
population has been echoed and been porous down the macrosystem, exosystem,
mesosystems. Thus before even experiencing the empirical situation I was aware of this
information. My family roots back to the European settlers and I am British by origin. In the
period of my primary socialization, I was made aware of the historical injustice that took
place and it was the aboriginals who suffered the most4. Again in my secondary socialization
the when I was admitted in the bachelors of social work our mind was trained in such a way
2 McPhee, R.D. and Canary, H.E., 2016. Structuration theory. The International Encyclopedia of
Communication Theory and Philosophy, pp.1-15.
3 Liem, G.A.D. and Elliot, A.J., 2018. SOCIOCULTURAL INFLUENCES ON ACHIEVEMENT GOAL
ADOPTION AND REGULATION. Big Theories Revisited 2, p.41.
4 Shin, W., 2015. Parental socialization of children’s Internet use: A qualitative approach. New media &
society, 17(5), pp.649-665.

Running head: CRITICAL APPROACH TWO
which made us create imaginary position of the aboriginal5. Moreover, since they were
already in a powerless state the image that was created in front of us resulted in the position
were one can only sympathize and feel helpless towards them. The role of a social worker is
to work for the upliftment of the society and to make sure that people are not deprived of
their rights. The poor conditions of the aboriginals and their regular intake of drugs and
alcohol gave me a perception that if they are guided in a systematic track they will be able to
better their position the social hierarchy.
Question 3
Who benefits from these assumptions and what stays the same if these assumptions go
unchallenged?
The assumptions were informed by my judgemental thinking and speaking in material
terms the there is no one who benefits from this type of thinking. However being judgemental
about certain section of people can be very misleading as it can result in pseudo-
understanding of their conditions. Understanding or trying to comprehend things in pre-
conceived notions will only misguide the research because the subjective approach of the
researcher will rupture the empirical reality of the aboriginal people admitted in the hospital.
The assumptions were informed with my cultural construct and the life world that I share
within my mesosphere. Therefore, the benefiting group was symbolically the group from
which I belong because way down the centuries, it is still the privileged class, who are giving
voice to the voiceless people of that region6.
If this assumptions go unchecked the essence of the practical situation will get value-
laden and the before working on their redress. Moreover, this kind of understanding can give
partial view of the actual reality where the innocent people are already blamed before even
5 Richards, K. Andrew R., Andrew D. Eberline, and Thomas J. Templin. "Secondary professional socialization
through professional organizations: An exploratory study." Journal of Teaching in Physical Education 35, no. 1
(2016): 70-75.
6 Shaffner, E. and Helms Mills, J., 2018, July. Intersectional History: Exploring the Possibilities of
Intersectionality over Time. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2018, No. 1, p. 12506). Briarcliff
Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.