Community Service Essay: Application Of Psychosocial Development Theory

Question

Task:
You are required to complete a 2000-word descriptive essay outlining a specific community services theory and its use in an Australian community service environment.

Answer

Introduction to the theme of Community Service Essay
Community service is referred to voluntary work that intends to help people in a particular area. Community services are defined as the unpaid work that is performed by an individual or a group to execute benefits as well as the betterment of their community without demanding any kind of compensation (Brennan et al., 2019). The service is always performed on the basis of voluntary services and is not defined as compulsory services. Community services are becoming an integral part of social welfare. The initiative of the community services to help and connect to the community is developing a feeling of care for the people in need. It is also benefiting from the career perspective and, at the same time, is raising social awareness. In the wider prospect, it can be stated that the community services are established so that the development of interconnectivity of the people can be fetched. It is productive in building contacts as well as establishes friendships among the people living in the same community (Sheppard, 2019). The community services at the local and regional level are developing positivity among the people and are contributing to the building of skills that are helpful for the fewer privileged people to build a better status in society.

The study is focusing on the “Psychosocial development theory” and its essentiality in community services. The helpfulness of the theory and the benefits it provides to the community services volunteers are inspected with close reference to the Australian community service. The example of the community services executed by Red Cross Australia is thane into consideration, and the facts are presented that argues that using Psychological development theory is helpful in conveying better community services and ensure welfare on the greater prospect.

Theory description
The expansion of Sigmund Freud's original five stages of development theory is termed the Psychological development theory. It was developed by Erikson in the 20th century. Erikson was the psychologist as well as the psychoanalyst who formulated eight-stage life cycle theories in 1956 (Kaiser, 2020). The main concern was to develop self-awareness, adjustment, identity as well as human development. The theory emphasizes the fact that the individual is shaped by and are reacting as per their environment; the theory is considered to implicated community services and social work. The use of the theories is done by the community services workers to systems analysis the symptomatic behaviours along with the close relation to their past experience of trauma as well as conflicts. Erikson put emphasis that this theory is productive in developing the ability to connect the physiological development across a person life span (Syed & McLean, 2017). At the same time, these approaches are helpful in developing the personality of the people across the life span of the people. The theory is efficient in highlighting the personal growth, the demonstration of all the age groups and their psychological condition is determined to be productive to the community service provider to serve the individual as per their current needs and mental status. The theory is providing a more comprehensive approach to humanity and thus has been helpful in developing a better understanding among the volunteer providing community services and thus are determined to be helpful in taking effective decisions for community betterment. In the views of Orenstein & Lewis (2020), psychological development theory is helpful in developing positive even in the time of crises and the correlation of the stages are effectively implicated with the demonstration of self-worth.

The stages of the theory are mention as follows:

• Trust vs Mistrust
• Autonomy vs Doubt and shame
• Initiative vs Guilt
• Industry vs Inferiority
• Identity vs Role Confusion
• Intimacy vs Isolation
• Generatively vs Stagnation
• Integrity vs Despair

In the opinion of Ridenour & Zimmerman (2019), the psychological development theory is helpful in utilizing the analysis of clients and their symptomatic behaviours. The use of the maturation timetable as presented in this theory is helpful for the community services providers. It thus enables them to serve society with love and care. It is evident that the social crises are the situation that is productive in reflecting the instructions of how the individual reacts to its surroundings. As the social worker is serving the community has the values and culture of the community plays a vital role in shaping the thinking ideologies of the individual. The psychological development theory is considered to be productive in guiding the social workers to understand the community and their suffering so that the proper action can be adapted to serve the community efficiently (Syed & McLean, 2017). The vulnerability of society is increasing with each passing day. In Australia, the community is facing numerous issues. The active measures by the different community service groups are playing a vital role in building welfare among the vulnerable groups in the social surroundings.

The psychological development theory has become an integral part of the community servicers as the volunteers are able to understand the best measures to handle the vulnerable group. This reduced the confusion among the groups, and the services providers are able to achieve their aim is providing relief. Below is the demonstration of how the community service like Red Cross Australia is using the theory of psychological development in serving the different community groups in Australia who are facing vulnerability in their immediate surroundings.

The implication of the theory in Australian community service
The community services like Red Cross Australia have been executing their services to serve the various communities residing within Australia. The services are helpful in developing a better community that is serving the one in need and spreading happiness with little afford. The Red Cross is working with the volunteers to make the people within the secret self-reliances.

The aged care services are provided to the elder population, and thus measures are taken to develop wellbeing as well as develop a social connection. In the process of doing so, the role of the psychological development theory is foremost (Redcross.org.au, 2021). The community service volunteers are taking the help of this theory to understand the psychological setup of the people. Some individual likes to live in isolation and the other wants to be connected to the people of their age to express their views and life in close association. The proper inspection of the stage of the person enables the volunteers to take active action and thus serve the personal efficiently. These approaches are productive in reducing the risk of failure, and the action taken by the community services groups are fetching positive results. In similar care, the elderly people could be given be better surrounding to live with the other people having similar psychology. This provides better measures in developing wellbeing and thus helps the elder’s people of the community to develop a social connection (Parke et al., 2018). Red Cross Australia is helpful in building better elderly care for its resident with the use of Psychological development in understanding the people in need better.

The Network Driver Interface Specification is the widow's specification on how the communication protocol program, as well as the communicant support, is provided for welfares. Red Cross Australia is actively taking participating in providing the NDIS services that are efficiently serving the widows to live life with dignity and in an independent manner (Redcross.org.au, 2021). The theory of community services like psychological development is used by the services provides so that they can build a connection to the people in need. It is developed in developing a feeling of trust by serving the people as per their needs. The prospect of the theory is developing a better understanding of the service providers and the people in the building (Ryan & Deci, 2020). The areas that need supports like financial as well as emotional aspects can be easily identified with the help of the eight different stages of the Psychological development theory.

Poor mental health is an important issue that is affecting the communities in Australia. Stress in the people is making them unstable, and they are suffering from mental illness. The services of Red Cross Australia are also serving the section of the community who are vulnerable in their mental health (Redcross.org.au, 2021). The community services are encouraging the participation of the people suffering from mental health. The theory of Psychological development plays a vital role in understanding the reason for the arising mental illness. The treatment of the mental illness needs a detailed investigation of the part experiences and trauma that are faced by the person. The volunteers and experts of community services in Red Cross Australia seek to use the theory and execute the actual life happening of the individual so that they can be treated in excellent manners. The proper understanding of the root cause of the mental illness is possible with the help of the Psychological theory (Cook, 2019). It is productive in building transparency to the care providers and thus ensures that efficient actions are taken to develop better mental wellbeing of the people in Australia.

The vulnerability of the community of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander is developing stress to the community. The vulnerability is increasing with the social segregation and inferiors surroundings. The support from the community services like Red Cross Australia has been helpful in a respectful position to the community to Australia's First Nations peoples (Redcross.org.au, 2021). Community help becomes more effective when the use of the psychosocial development model is done. The theory is used to understand the actual cultures and behaviours executed by the people. The development of the understanding about the actions taken by the Aboriginal as well as the people of the Torres is effective in developing community services at a wider level (McGough, Wynaden & Wright, 2018). The issues of biased treatment, as well as the disrespect of the people, are reduced, and the community help provided by Red Cross Australia can reach the people in need in an effective manner.

Parenting is yet another issue prevailing within society. The community help in Australia is to support both the young parents as well as the vulnerable portents by providing them with support by the family service programs. Reaching the young parents and accommodating them with the basic needs are executives in an excellent way with the use of the Psychological development services (Cordeiro et al., 2018). The theory is helpful in understanding the behaviours of the people and thus, guiding them becomes easier for the volunteers of Red Cross Australia. The theory plays a vital role in ensuring quality services to the parents by serving them as per their needs and the situation that they are in. The community services executed by Red Cross Australia also includes the aim to improve the lives of the offenders by providing them with improved community services (Redcross.org.au, 2021). Thus, it can be stated that the psychological theory is determined to be helpful in developing positivity among the services provider as well as the people in need. The connect is determined productive in understanding the actual situation that is determined to be helpful in executing services excellently by the community service group in Australia.

Conclusion
The theory of psychological development plays a vital role in the development of the systemic approaches in the development of better services in the execution of community welfares. In Australia, the community help in the wider level is executed by the organization like Red Cross. The use of the psychological development theory, being an integral theory of the community services, are playing an efficient role in developing better service approaches for the volunteers. The certainty in action taking is developing, and the service providers have surety about action moves taken by them to serve the community as per their psychological evaluation and the arising situation. All the eight stages of the psychological development theory are considered to be productive in building a stronger aspect and therefore encourage positivity. As the theory is helpful in developing stronger connections among the society grow up and the community that welfare is sure to be implicated.

Reference List
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Cook, L. (2019). Mental health in Australia: a quick guide. Parliament of Australia, 14. https://www.swslhd.health.nsw.gov.au/Carers/content/pdf/Mental%20Illness%20Fact%20Sheets/MHinAustralia-QuickGuide.pdf

Cordeiro, P. M. G., Paixão, M. P., Lens, W., Lacante, M., & Luyckx, K. (2018). Parenting styles, identity development, and adjustment in career transitions: The mediating role of psychological needs. Journal of Career Development, 45(1), 83-97. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0894845316672742

Kaiser, E. (2020). Violence on street children: Looking through Erikson’s psychosocial development theory. Journal of Health and Social Sciences, 5(1), 45-52. https://journalhss.com/wp-content/uploads/jhss_51_045-052.pdf

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Parke, A., Griffiths, M., Pattinson, J., & Keatley, D. (2018). Age-related physical and psychological vulnerability as pathways to problem gambling in older adults. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 7(1), 137-145. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-019-09818-1

Redcross.org.au (2021), Everyday help for everyone Retrieved on 14th August 2021 Retrieved from https://www.redcross.org.au/get-help/community-services

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Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, 101860. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361476X20300254

Sheppard, S. (2019). Integrating primary care, home care, and community health services in Ontario. Health Reform Observer–Observatoire Des Réformes De Santé, 7(1). https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/341648/9789240025707-eng.pdf?sequence=1

Susanti, H. (2017, July). The Impacts of Abusive Environment on Psychological Development of Children Depicted in Sheila, a Character from Torey Hayden’s ‘One Child’(A Study Case of Psychosocial by Erik Erikson). In ASEAN/Asian Academic Society International Conference Proceeding Series. http://aasic.org/proc/aasic/article/view/270

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