Social Psychology: Application to Social Care Practices Report

This report delves into the intersection of social psychology and social care practices, highlighting the significance of social norms in shaping patient interactions and caregiver behaviors. The report emphasizes the importance of understanding and respecting patients' social norms to foster positive relationships and avoid potential distress. The report suggests a research methodology involving observation of individuals violating social norms to gauge reactions and provides practical examples of how these principles apply in social care settings. Furthermore, it underscores the potential for social psychology to address and solve problems within social care, as demonstrated through the examination of social norm violations and their impact on caregiver-patient dynamics. The report also references key research studies and their findings, providing a comprehensive overview of how social psychology can be utilized in social care.

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Social psychology study Theoretical underpinnings i.e. method
 Social psychology refers to the scientific
study of the way people’s behaviors,
feelings, and thoughts are influenced by the
implied, imagined, or actual presence of
others.
 Social care refer to all types of practical
assistance and personal care for adults,
young people, and children who require
extra support.
 There are various social psychology studies
that researchers in this field can conduct. A
researcher, for example can be interested
to study how people react whenever social
norms are violated or when other people
behave or act in ways that are outside the
norm (Bas-Hoogendam, et. al., 2017)
 In social psychology, it is essential to
understand what happens when social
norms or rules that govern behavior in a
certain situation or community are
violated (Eriksson, Andersson, & Strimling,
2017).
 Norms are accepted standards of
behaviors that provide order in society
and their violation leads to social
sanctions-approval or disapproval in
reaction to another person’s actions.
Direct relevance to Social Psychology
This understanding will improve my
practice
 This understanding will enable me to see
the world as other people I associate with
see it. This will enable me to live in
harmony with them since I will not stand a
chance to violate their social norms. I will
have a critical understanding of what they
deem as appropriate and inappropriate
Conclusion
Social psychology can be used to solve most
of the problems faced in social care practices.
For example, as demonstrated in this
presentation, understanding the
consequences of violating social norms can
enlighten social care practitioners to respect
their patients’ beliefs, attitudes, and
everything they consider normal in their
societies. This can strengthen relationship
between the two parties.
References
Bas-Hoogendam, J. M., van Steenbergen, H.,
Kreuk, T., van der Wee, N. J., & Westenberg, P.
M. (2017). How embarrassing! The behavioral
and neural correlates of processing social
norm violations. PloS one, 12(4).
Eriksson, K., Andersson, P. and Strimling, P.,
2017. When is it appropriate to reprimand a
norm violation?: The roles of anger,
behavioral consequences, violation severity,
and social distance. Judgment and decision
making, 12(4), pp.396-407.
 In order to figure out how people react
upon violation of social norms, a
researcher can enlist a group of
individuals to act out the behaviors as
he/she observes.
 For example, he can try to include some
mildly unsuitable behaviors like jumping
the queue, clapping unnecessarily at the
end of a class lecturer, or wearing unusual
clothes.
 The observer is supposed to keep track of
his/her own thoughts during the
experiment and how other people around
react to the abnormal behaviors.
 If the caregiver, for example, acts or
behaves in a manner deemed illogical by
the patient, the latter might be distressed
or upset.
 The caregiver is expected to handle the
patient with respect as demarcated in the
latter’s social norms since breaking them
by being disrespectful can possibly affect
the caregiver-patient relationship.
Application to Social Care Practice
Student name
Institution
Outline how social psychology can answer a key question in social care
 Social care practice utilizes shared life
space opportunities to meet patients’
emotional, social, and physical needs.
 The practitioner should always administer
care in consideration of the patient’s
social norms since violating them can lead
to stigmatization.