Exploring Theoretical Foundations in Human Relations: Case Study

This case study delves into the theoretical foundations of human relations, examining concepts such as helping behavior, altruism, pro-social behavior, and empathy. It explores various theories like the norm of reciprocity, social responsibility, social exchange theory, and the role of empathy and similarity in driving helping behavior. The author reflects on personal experiences, highlighting the influence of empathy on their own helping behavior, particularly in supporting a friend through abuse and choosing a career in counseling. The study also presents a vignette involving a 16-year-old boy struggling with alcohol and drug addiction, employing dialogues between the counselor and the patient to identify triggers and implement behavioral modification strategies to address the addiction.

Running head: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN RELATIONS
THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN RELATIONS
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Part A:
Helping behavior can be described as the act of providing aid or benefit to another
individual. Researchers are of the opinion that helping behavior can be referred to the voluntary
actions that are intended to helping other people “with reward regarded or disregarded” (Lefevor
et al., 2017). Some of the key concepts that are intricately associated with the helping behavior
are altruism as well as the pro-social behavior. Decety et al. (2016) had described altruism as the
behavior where one person helps another person with no expectation of receiving any rewards
and is considered to be a motivation acting behind pro-social behavior.. Pro-social behavior can
be described as the behavior that helps others regardless of any motive of the helper.
Over the years, different studies have been conducted to find out various reasons why
human beings help others. Two of the basic norms that had been found to be intricately
associated with the concept of helping behaviors are the norm of reciprocity and the norm of
social responsibility. Norm of reciprocity can be described as the social rule where individuals
are obligated for helping those who help them (Dovidio et al., 2017). Another one is the norm of
social responsibility, which refers to the social rule where individuals are seen to help those who
depend on them. The responsibility of teachers, parents and similar individuals are seen to show
such norms of behavior in the society (Milne 2015). Another study had focused their research of
helping behavior on the concept of social exchange theory. This theory mainly described the
fact that social relationships are best understood by the desire of the people in maximizing their
benefits as well as minimizing their cost (Campbell, Lee & Im, 2016).
Another important study had focused on the concept of empathy as the factor behind
helping behavior and is considered to be a sub-concept under altruism hypothesis. This theory is

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mainly because when individuals develop empathy for a person, they will attempt to help the
needy person regardless of what they have to gain. Another important study had found the
concept of similarity to be the driving factor that makes one individual help another person. This
concept of similarity states that people are more likely to help those people who are similar to
them rather than those who are dissimilar (Lancaster & Stead, 2017). The other study had
focused on the concept of helping behavior that helps in reducing the guilt feeling. The
participants in the study had been seen to focus on the idea that their good deeds might help them
in “cancelling” their bad deeds and hence they tend to develop a helping behavior. Capuzzi and
Stauffer (2016) had discussed about another important concept that can also help in
understanding the rationale behind their helping behavior. The researchers have found that
individuals believe their own sadness and distress and help another person with the goal of
helping self. This means that individuals are helping others with the feeling and emotion that
they are helping them themselves in the long-run (Earle, 2016). However, the concept is quite
confusing and not many studies are there that can support this concept.
Another important study had focused on the discussion that why certain people are seen
to be more helpful in comparison to that of the others. Some researchers are of the opinion that
there remain the effects of mood behind helping. Participants in the studies reveal that when
they feel good, they are seen to be “doing goods and helping others” (Felham et al., 2017). While
other researchers are seen to argue on this where they state that, their closeness to the helpee
determines their helping behavior. Here, they state that they would more likely to help those
people whom they know or those who are close to them.
From analyzing the theories put forward by different researchers, I realized that my
helping behavior is based upon some of the theories mentioned above. I had gone through very

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hard days in my life. I was born to parents with lesser income than required for living quality
lives. We used to live in slums in Philippines where we used to go through hard days for
arranging our meals. However, the difficulties in our lives could never restrict us from helping
people when the latter were in need. My mother had instilled good philosophies and principles
within me advising me to help people whenever they were need. The difficulties that we had
gone through had helped me in realizing the emotions of the helpee and the ways by which help
from others can make lives better. My mother taught me to put myself always in the shoes of
other people so that we can become more compassionate and help them who are in need. After
moving to South Korea after graduating college, I had encountered a friend who was brutally
abused by her husband. I helped her by letting her stay in my tiny apartment and providing her
with all forms of resources, which I could afford to help her. With my support and the self-help,
resources that I could provide her, she gradually overcome her traumatic phase and she built
herself again. Later she came with me to United States where we fell in love, married, and are
living happily. I was happy enough to help her I her crisis time. Not only that, I also realized that
I found more pleasure in helping people who are mentally and emotionally broken and I used to
feel quite happy about it. Therefore, I tried to take up the profession of counseling which would
give me high level of scope to provide services to humanity.
From the entire analysis of the helping behavior I posses, I believe that the main reason
for helping is purely empathy belonging to the altruism hypothesis. This theory mainly
considers that when individuals feel empathy for an individual, they will attempt to help him
regardless of any rewards in return (Spears et al., 2017). The difficulties I have gone through in
life had placed me in position where I genuinely feel for the sufferings of different person and
the pain they go through. My strong sense of empathy make me go through the same pain that

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they go through when I hear or witness their condition. This automatically makes me develop the
eagerness to help them and make them come out from the crisis. I realized that my helping
behavior is not at all based on the norms of reciprocity, as I never expect the helpee to
reciprocate my help towards them later in life. It is also not based on the norms of social
responsibility, as I do not believe it as a social duty to help others in need. However, I believe
that my helping behavior is also based on “the effect of mood on helping” where my helping
others also make me feel good. My helping behavior also does not depend on my closeness
towards helpee as well as to overcome any feeling of guilty.
Part 2:
(a) Vignette:
Jason Brown is a 16-year-old boy who had been brought to the counselor by his mother.
She complained that like her husband, Jason has started taking alcohol and drugs and started
abusing her, his grandma and his elder sister. He often goes out with his friend and comes back
home being intoxicated. He also cannot complete his academic commitments and drinks alcohol
out of frustration. When he is not intoxicated, he becomes a nice person and often discusses with
her his issues, cooks with her, goes for movies. Both Jason and her mother want to handle this
situation effectively.
(b) Dialogues used: (Counselor – C, Jason –J)
C – Hi Jason! How are you doing today? Oh, you have come with your mother.
J – Yes sir! I have come with my mother due to my addiction issues to alcohol and drugs that I
want to change.

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C – Wow! You are so mature Jason that you have understood how issues like addiction can
harm hour health and future as well.
J – Yes, I often become rude and abusive when I am intoxicated and harm people as well as
myself. I want to change this situation.
C – Do you realize Jason that is actually a behavioral issue that you might have developed by
involuntary learning process? I mean that you might be not aware but you have learned this
behavior of drinking somehow. Can you tell me what do you believe that had instilled in you the
feeling of drinking?
J – I don’t know as such... umm… yeah! I had witnessed my father abusing my grandma and
mum when they did not succumb to his demands in the home. He used to drink alcohol and
abuse them until they used to get ready to support him and do things for him that he wanted them
to do.
C – It might happen that you have witnessed them from your childhood and this might have been
learned by you somehow. Any other causes can you illustrate that had made you vulnerable to
addiction? Like friends, your lover, your school? Any pressure you face. Anything?
J – Yeah, my friends used to advise me to drink or take drugs when if I pressurized due to my
academic life? So much homework and stress… I cannot handle sometimes… I have seen my
friends to drink alcohol where they state that it helps in releasing their stress… I have also felt
so.. It develops a feeling of pleasure where my stress diminishes.
C – Okay Jason, indeed such years in high school have lots of pressure of completing home-
chores and assignments….. Really… and any other pressures you feel?

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J – Yeah! Sometimes I have to forcibly drink them when I am with my friends, partying out, ….
You know….. it is important if you are in a groups…. You cannot just stay there without
drinking… friends will make fools of you…
C – yeah, I can understand.. it sometimes becomes important to drink to as to be a part of the
social gathering… however Jason, one thing you can realize is that all these instances have
taught you taking alcohol and you are gradually becoming addicted to it….
J – yeah! right and therefore I have come to you for help as I do not want to be addicted. Mum
says it’s going to affect my future and career.
C - Jason, I can definitely help you here. As we have realized the different triggers as well as the
stimulus that are making you consume alcohol and take drugs. We will try to modify your
learned behavior so that you do not feel the urge of drinking.
J –wow! That is so cool! Tell me
C – You need to first take couple of weeks to yourself to identify the triggers that are developing
urges for you to drink. Accordingly, you need to relax in the situations and provide time to
yourself. To develop your self-regulation skills, you can learn meditation, yoga. You can also
undertake mindfulness based therapies as well. Moreover, I will make you a list of actions by
which you can cope with the feelings of the urges. Moreover, you can also learn of effective
ways by which you can gracefully slip from high-risk situations like from a social gathering at
your friend’s house or when you hand out with your friends. Self-control is one of the most
important action and here I have provided you a list of procedures you can follow
J – Thanks Sir.

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C – Please visit me next week and do not forget to note down your emotions everyday at the end
of the day. This will make you prepare for the next day as well
(c) Drawing conclusions and highlighting theoretical premises and strategies:
Working mechanism of behavioral approach:
The behavioral approach towards counseling helps by focusing on the assumption that an
environment has the ability in determining the behavior of an individual. The ways an individual
respond to a given situation is mainly because of the behavior that has been reinforced as a child.
Studies are of the opinion that behavioral therapies had evolved from the psychological
researches as well as theories of learning concerned with observable behaviors (Xiao et al.,
2015). Researchers have interviewed different counselors about the main working foundations of
the behavioral therapy (Stead et al., 2015). They have stated that the main rationale is that
behaviors of every individual are “learned” and therefore, it can be “unlearned” as well. This is
found to be entirely in contrast to that of the psychodynamic therapies that emphasizes on the
fact that behavior is determined by the instinctual drives. Therefore, this therapy mainly focuses
on the behaviors of individuals and thereby aims in helping the individuals in modifying
unwanted behaviors (Day et al., 2017).
Identification of the stimulus and response in the client to alter the learned behavior:
According to this approach, unwanted behavior is described as the undesired response for
something or someone in the environment of the person. With the help of this approach, the
counselor would identify the unwanted behavior successfully with the client and thereby
together, they would work for changing or adapting to the behaviors (Xiao et al., 2015). While
communicating with the client named Jason, it was found that the stimulus that affected him was

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watching his father drink alcohol and take drugs regularly and abusing the other members of the
family. He had also witnessed that his friends were consuming alcohol as well as taking drugs
when they felt stressed with academic pressures and even hang out together to look “cool”. The
response to this environmental factors were that he followed them and considered drinking
alcohol and taking drugs as the way of overcoming stress and tensions as well as to look
“happening” and “cool” in the groups of his school. Moreover, he also started abusing others in
the house like his father when he needed to accomplish any demands from his family members.
He had learned this habit as his father applies the same technique over his mother. Hence,
altering such learned behavior was found to be extremely important.
Process to change the behavior:
Studies have stated that once the unwanted behavior is identified successfully, the client
as well as the counselor needs to continue this procedure by drawing of the action plans that
should contain realistic and attainable goals (Griffiths, 2015). The main aim of the counselor
would be to stop the unwanted behavior altogether or get changed in ways that it no longer
remains a problem. Clients in such situations need to be taught different skills for helping them
to manage their lives more effectively. Researchers have found that counselors who adopt the
behavioral counselor utilize the skills for listening, reflection as well as clarification. However, it
had been noticed that such counselors, in place for using such skills as a procedure for revealing
and clarifying the thoughts and feelings of clients, use them in a different ways. They use such
skills in order to assess all the factors that relate to the undesirable behavior and thereby develop
goals and action plans and motivate them to alter the behavior to desirable ones (Xiao et al.,
2015).

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Approaches used for Jason:
Jason was aware of the fact that his abuse of the different members of the family takes
place under the influence of alcohol and drugs. He was made aware about how his learned
behavior from his father had been making him rude and abusive on other members of the family
when he wants them to accomplish his demands. Therefore, in order to control his behavior of
him, he was asked to relax at the times when he felt the need to make his family members fulfil
his demands. He was asked to not consume alcohol but rather talk with his family members
and make them understand the necessity of the situation and then request them to help him.
Teaching him mindfulness-based therapies, yoga and meditation helps in reducing anger,
anxiety and excitement (Stead et al., 2015).
Researchers are of the opinion that two types of triggers can induce drinking of alcohol
and taking of drugs. One of them is the internal trigger where the urge to drink “suddenly pops
up” (Xiao et al., 2015). If the individuals are taught to take a pause to think about it when it
happens, they may recognize a number of aspects. They may understand that the urge to drink
might have set off by a fleeting thought, a positive motion like excitement, and a negative
emotion such as frustration as well as physical sensation such as headache, nervousness and
tension (Decety et al., 2016). In the case of Jason, his negative emotion of frustration when he
cannot complete his academic commitments or when his family members deny to accomplish his
demands act as trigger of his drinking. Studies have also recognized external triggers that cause
individuals to drink. These are people, things, places, and times of the day and others that offer
drinking opportunities (Corey, 2015). These high-risk situations are more predictable and

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avoidable than internal triggers (Lefevor et al., 2017). In case of Jason, the external triggers of
drinking alcohol was when handing out with friends or attending home parties of friends, visiting
pubs and many others. In such situations, he was taught to track and analyze his urges to drink
for a couple of weeks. Studies are of the opinion that this intervention help individuals in
becoming more aware of when and how their experiences urge them and different ways of
controlling such urges (Xiao et al., 2015). Therefore, the counselor gave similar advice to him.
Coping mechanism advised to Jason:
Jason was asked to follow a particular approach so that he can alter his learned behavior,
cope with it successfully, and develop a new learned behavior for avoiding the triggers and not
having alcohol and drugs. These are:
 Reminding oneself about the reasons for making the changes
 Talking the issues through with someone whom he can trust
 Distracting himself with different types of healthy as well as alternative activities; these
might include engaging in short, mid-range as well as longer options like showering,
watching short online videos, texting or calling favorite people, meditating, taking a
walk, and many others
 Challenging the thoughts that drive the urge; riding it out without giving a thought; and
leaving high-risk situations gracefully but quickly.

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References:
Campbell, J. W., Lee, H., & Im, T. (2016). At the Expense of others: Altruistic helping
behaviour, performance management and transformational leadership. Public
Management Review, 18(6), 795-818.
Capuzzi, D., & Stauffer, M. D. (2016). Counseling and psychotherapy: Theories and
interventions. John Wiley & Sons.
Corey, G. (2015). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. Nelson Education.
Day, E., & Mitcheson, L. (2017). Psychosocial interventions in opiate substitution treatment
services: does the evidence provide a case for optimism or nihilism?. Addiction, 112(8),
1329-1336.
Decety, J., Bartal, I. B. A., Uzefovsky, F., & Knafo-Noam, A. (2016). Empathy as a driver of
prosocial behaviour: highly conserved neurobehavioural mechanisms across
species. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
Dovidio, J. F., Gaertner, S. L., & Abad-Merino, S. (2017). Helping behaviour and subtle
discrimination. In Intergroup helping (pp. 3-22). Springer, Cham.
Earle, T. (2016). The Use Of Hypnosis As An Adjunct To Cognitive--Behavioural Therapy In
Treatment Of Problem Gambling Developed As Stress Management Following A
Workplace Injury. Australian Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis, 41(1).
Feltham, C., Hanley, T., & Winter, L. A. (Eds.). (2017). The SAGE handbook of counselling and
psychotherapy. Sage.