Social Policy Development

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It was not until the time of Sigmund Freud that people looked at the psyches of an individual and how that could impact an individual’s life. Before that time, children were viewed as extra farm hands and generally as cheap labor. Families did not consider the possible negative impact this could have on their development. Later, Erikson and Piaget furthered the study of human development and expanded the thought processes that Freud had pioneered. While all consider Freud the father of psychoanalytic thinking, few turn to many of his first theories about human development. Freud created the doorway by which all future developmental researchers were able to walk through to advance the study. While, experts have clearly not agreed on every measure by which development of an individual’s cognitive development should be measured, each have agreed that risks are involved to cognitive and emotional development during the infancy and early childhood stages that could later lead to serious consequences.

Infancy by all standards is when the individual is most vulnerable physically. They are dependent for every need to be fulfilled by another. It is during this time that attachment begins to form and the learning process from caregivers and their environment take place. As with every stage of development, risks factors exist and need to be acknowledged, this way, possible interventions can occur or social programs offered to address how to minimize these factors to give the individual the best opportunity to thrive. Some major risk factors at this stage of development are poverty and child abuse.

Poverty is a crisis for the world’s infants and children. Statistics are referenced from UNICEF (2005) in Dimensions of Human Beha...

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...The impact of acquiring this knowledge for the social work profession can have a lasting impact on a micro, macro and even mezzo level. On a micro level, a social worker can look across these areas to identify some possible risk factors that could be affecting the child. Social policy development can target areas to minimize some factors, such as education of the caregivers, nutrition, and preventive programs concerning domestic and community violence. It gives social workers other avenues to look at programs, groups and services needed in the community. As a profession, in almost every area we come across children in need. They are not only in the custody of DHR, but in our schools, and in our community. Children are in our community garden and growing every day. We have a professional responsibility to cultivate the community in which they grow.

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