Article Critiques: Psychology and Social Work

Brown, M. A. (2011). Learning from service: The effect of helping on helpers' social dominance orientation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41(4), 850-871. 

Summary

The foundation of this article is the power structures in society that make helping necessary.  Brown (2011) also suggested that helping serves to affect that social hierarchy in every case by either reinforcing or weakening what was termed “social dominance orientation” (p. 850).  The literature review portion of the article acknowledged that no studies had been done to determine the effect of helping on social dominance orientation (SDO), but that some studies were done on the interaction of helping and prejudice could be applied to this discussion.  The results of these limited studies were mixed and these results were taken to indicate that helping does not have a fixed effect on SDO, rather it can be either positive or negative (Brown, 2011, pp. 851-852).

According to further literature, SDO is a long-standing and pervasive part of society.  Multiple sources are cited that proved prejudicial behavior is strongly connected to SDO and that the higher strata of SDO hierarchies use their power to maintain the status quo (Brown, 2011, p. 852).  These facts are observations are used to suggest that the enduring nature of SDO makes it most likely to be changed by long-term effects.  To this end,  Brown (2011) defined two important terms for her discussion, “helping is a general term describing behavior that assists a person or group in need” (p. 852) and “service learning is mandatory volunteerism with an educational component” (p. 853).  Service learning was identified as a long-term version of helping and most likely to help those who participate reduce the power of SDO (Brown, 2011, p. 853).

The remainder of the article was dedicated to the study conducted by Brown (2011) to determine the effect of helping behavior on SDO.  The study compared students who participated in a 9-week service learning project with students who participated in nonhelping research.  The result was that helping students were less concerned with SDO and showed more empathy (Brown, 2011, p. 861).  When compared to previous literature and the goals of the study, these results suggested that long-term helping lowers SDO while short-term helping is more likely to heighten it by reinforcing social norms without increasing empathy or diversity.

Single Significant Dimension

The dual nature of helping was the most interesting component of this article.  The idea that helping could actually serve to preserve the low social status of the people being helped, actually hurting them, was a new perspective.  The study also served to suggest the kinds of helping that will do the most long-term good.  These findings are very applicable to real-world helping professions because they reinforce the importance of long-term strategies instead of short-term, ‘band-aid’ style help.

Evaluation and Critique

This article was very professionally researched and organized.  As a research report, it provided clear background and intent and followed through with methods, results, and discussion.  The results were made clear for those who might not understand the methods and both the introduction and the discussion of the results helped the reader understand why this was an important issue. 

Auld, K. (2011, September 7). Managing conflict in the workplace. Kamloops Daily News, p. B1-B2. 

Summary

“Managing conflict in the workplace” by K. Auld (2011) was an article about the good and bad aspects of workplace conflict.  Auld (2011) began the article with a no-nonsense attitude toward conflict, advising the reader, supposedly a manager, to “Be very clear with your staff that you understand there will be conflict from time to time” (p. B1).  This was followed by explanations of several reasons why conflict is natural and can actually result in the growth of ideas.  Auld (2011) was careful to represent both sides at every step, however, by reminding the reader that excessive or pointless conflict can damage a work environment.

The bulk of the article was dedicated to the steps for managing and resolving conflict.  The basic rules of “be flexible”, “be creative”, “nip it in the bud”, “make the environment safe”, and “listen and watch” were suggested as the core of conflict resolution (Auld, 2011, p. B1).  The central theme of all these rules is open communication and consideration for the other party, making it seem like common sense even.

Warning signs were also identified and advice was given for ways to solve the problems they indicated.  These are the flip side of open communication and consideration and include issues like “avoidance”, “defensiveness”, “constant complaining”, and “apathy” (Auld, 2011, p. B2).  This part of the article, in particular, discussed the importance of a mediator since an objective observer is better able to spot these obstacles to effective conflict resolution.  The audience of the paper was clearly a manager, but these principles would apply to anyone who was in charge of conflict management in a group of people.

Single Significant Dimension

The most relevant aspect of this article was the way it regarded conflict resolution as the job of a superior or outside mediator.  This kind of perspective strongly supports a human resources manager position as being helpful to a cooperative and comfortable work environment.  An objective problem solver can be very helpful in resolving interpersonal conflicts regardless of their source, thanks to the simple dos and don’ts suggested by this article.

From the perspective of this article, one of the most important helper roles in a professional environment would be conflict resolution.  And the most effective way to fill this role would be as a superior or as someone outside the typical chain of command, particularly with the “praise in public, correct in private” policy suggested by Auld (2011, p. B2).  This management principle would only be effectively applied by someone that was in a position to both reward and punish employees for their interpersonal communications.

Evaluation and Critique

As an academic article, this is a very weak piece.  It is definitely oriented more toward the casual reader, though a very specific kind of reader, and makes no pretenses about relying on scientific citations.  There are no outside sources of any kind referenced and the author writes from a perspective of absolute authority.  The principles suggested seem sound, according to common sense; but they are poorly supported and count more as advice than academic findings.  The ideas seem worth experimenting with and an article very much like this one that included the results of experimentation could be very interesting.

Coates, J., & Besthorn, F. H. (2010). Building bridges and crossing boundaries: Dialogues in professional helping. Critical Social Work, 11(3). Retrieved from http://www.uwindsor.ca/criticalsocialwork/building-bridges-and-crossing-boundaries-dialogues-in-professional-helping 

Summary

This article concerned itself primarily with the communication and relationships between members of the helping profession.  It also discussed ways that strengthening those bonds would help empower helping professionals to more effectively do their jobs.  J. Coates and F. Besthorn (2010) set the stage for their article by briefly describing the interpersonal relationships of ancient people as compared to modern times.  They gave particular attention to the significance of spirituality and “earth consciousness” (Coates & Besthorn, 2010) of ancient people that theoretically caused them to be more nurturing toward and aware of others.

The transition from ancient cooperation and its highly personalized, visceral nature to modern, industrialized, mass-produced helping professions of the modern age (Coates & Besthorn, 2010).  It was this shift that was blamed for dehumanizing and standardizing the helping professions to make them all but helpless.  A number of outside sources all speaking to correcting this were then cited and discussed by Coates and Besthorn (2010) with the focus on ways to increase interconnectedness between helping professionals as well as between those professionals and their clients.

Another theme of this article was how important it was for professionals to develop their education and interests outside of their own disciplines (Coates & Besthorn, 2010).  This was consistent with the earlier theme because it also suggested the importance of becoming more connected with everything else, rather than becoming more segregated and specialized within a particular field.  The audience of the paper was primarily social workers, as might be guessed by the journal name, but the principles were suggested for anyone in any field and certainly for anyone in a helping profession.

Single Significant Dimension

The article’s theme of interconnectedness was most important to the writer and came across as most important for the reader.  While obviously directed at social workers in particular and helping professionals as well, the concepts of acknowledging the needs and concerns of other people and the surrounding world are very important to anyone who aspires to do good for other people, professionally or otherwise.  It makes sense for the article to be applicable to other professions besides social workers, since its theme is openness, and these principles would most definitely be relevant in other helping professions, like human resource management in which a variety of world views and occupational needs would need to be considered on a daily basis, as well as cooperation with other departments that each employee might be accountable to.

Evaluation and Critique

This article is clearly intended as more of an overview than an in-depth discussion of these ideas.  Because of that, it lacks specifically developed support for its claim and its analysis of outside sources is brief and shallow.  But it does effectively raise the question it seeks to and it opens the readers’ minds to the ideas of interconnectedness and unselfish responsibilities.  As a message it is effective, but as an academic article, it is mediocre.

Cowie, A. (2010). Anti-oppressive social work practice in child welfare: Journeys of reconciliation. Critical Social Work, 11(1). Retrieved from http://www.uwindsor.ca/criticalsocialwork/anti-oppressive-social-work-practice-in-child-welfare-journeys-of-reconciliation-0 

Summary

A. Cowie’s (2010) article was primarily concerned with the obligations and limitations of social workers in Canada.  It is clear from early on that these principles would also be applicable to similar jobs in the United States since the primary problems that social workers face in Canada are very similar to the situation one would face in America.  The focus of statistics was on Canada, however, and so other countries will not be compared in this way.

In its introduction, the article lists the reasons social workers are at odds with the indigenous population of Canada.  “Colonial and assimilationist ideologies and agendas” (Cowie, 2010) were blamed for the many regulations and methods that served to oppress the First Nations People for generations.  Particular concern was mentioned for how many First Nations children were in the social care system.  Cowie (2010) also suggested that the fundamental attitude held by social workers in general toward First Nations people needed to become more accepting and more personally interactive with the people they serve.

The central concern of the article was with getting social workers to acknowledge the harm they have done to the First Nations People.  Historically, the First Nations Peoples suffered first dramatic segregation and then forced assimilation and the social workers were the agents of these movements (Cowie, 2010).  In order to move away from this culture, both individual social workers and the system they operate in was advised to acknowledge its role as an oppressor and move toward reconciliation from that perspective (Cowie, 2010).  A considerable portion of the article was spent condemning modern social workers for the harm done by past government actions.

There were some proactive elements in the article as well.  Cowie (2010) recommended that social workers adopt “a constant position of curiosity in terms of expanding their knowledge of First Nations culture, traditions and ways of being.”  The purpose of this attitude was suggested as a way to keep the social worker constantly learning about those being helped and make sure that the help provided is actually beneficial and not a perpetuation of the status quo.

Single Significant Dimension

The central issue for helping professions in this article is a concern for the needs of those being helped, not just the good intentions of those doing the helping.  It is important for a system to consider both sides of every perceived problem and that must be done by the individuals who enact the system in question.  This is true for almost any helping profession since the needs of those being helped might not be fully understood by those who are in a position to provide help.

Evaluation and Critique

This article includes extensive citation and strong driving support for its thesis.  Its content seems intentionally inflammatory, especially with some of the language choices about modern-day social workers as well as the premise of present people being held personally accountable for past actions.  But the point of this article is to describe a situation that is poorly understood by those outside it, so in that way, it is at least effective in making the reader want to learn more.

Wright, P. M., & McMahan, G. C. (2011). Exploring human capital: putting human back into strategic human resource management. Human Resource Management Journal, 21(2), 93-104. 

Summary

The article “Exploring human capital: putting the human back into strategic human resource management” by P. Wright and G. McMahan (2011) was an article that made an argument for increased human connection in business in the impersonal language of business that things only in terms of departments and systems.  This odd combination of theme and language highlighted the topic of the article, the ways that business is working both toward and against an increased interest in human capital.  Wright and McMahan (2011) acknowledged that businesses think of human capital in distinctly inhuman terms “at the individual level, human capital consists of the characteristics possessed by an individual that can yield positive outcomes for that individual while at the unit level, human capital can refer to the aggregate accumulation of individual human capital that can be combined in a way that creates value for the unit” (p. 95).  This kind of definition has almost no human qualities at all and could just as easily have described a piece of machinery on an assembly line.

After an extensive discussion of the objective aspects of human capital, Wright and McMahan (2011) finally got around to the human aspect of human capital.  He acknowledged that “characteristics do not, in and of themselves, result in productivity, rather they provide the foundation” (Wright & McMahan, 2011, p. 99).  At this point, the article argued that motivation was key to getting the best results out of available human capital and then transitioned into pointing out the importance between individual and organizational concerns of employees.  The conclusion of the article was that human capital is still too complicated an unpredictable on an individual level to have any kind of formula (Wright & McMahan, 2011, p. 102).  This conclusion could be used to determine that a helping profession dedicated to human capital would be the best investment possible since a person in that role could take into account the individual needs of employees to maximize motivation.

Single Significant Dimension

This article made a very important note that helping professions are, by definition, professional.  Especially in the case of a job like human resource management, the position exists to help employees do the best job they can and be as profitable as possible for their employers.  In the case of this article, keeping employees content and motivated would be the primary concern of a human resource manager to get the most out of their potential human capital.  In pursuing any helping profession, no matter the personal reasons, there are always real-world aspects to consider as well.

Evaluation and Critique

This article is very professionally organized and thoroughly supported.  It is kind of a dry read and seems to run on unnecessarily in some places, but that might just be a characteristic of business articles.  Regardless, it supports its thesis very effectively.  Its only clear downside is that its relevance is limited to readers who would have to balance individual and organizational human capital management since this issue is probably of little interest to anyone not in a managerial or human resource management role.