This essay will identify and critically evaluate the learning achieved from child observation, through self-awareness and understanding self and the child’s world using psychodynamic theories to consider conscious and unconscious processes. The essay will further critically examine personal experiences and reflection on theories and models such as Freud’s theory, transference, and countertransference and how these skills and knowledge can be applied in future social work practice and settings.
The reflection and critical evaluation of learning achieved will be on the experience got from observing a three-year-old boy in his house for one hour during which time I was to avoid becoming involved or interacting with the child, nor am I to write notes or require or try to gain any additional information about the child. Some of the demands of the task are to tune into the child’s state of mind, suspend judgment whiles being aware of the feelings and emotions evoked, recognizing and responding to them.
Save your time!
We can take care of your essay
- Proper editing and formatting
- Free revision, title page, and bibliography
- Flexible prices and money-back guarantee
On the first day of the observation and on my way to the house of the child, I had a feeling of excitement of having the opportunity to observe a child for the first time, but as I was getting nearer to the house, the excitement turned to fear and anxiety for the unknown. As I started the observation, I felt very anxious because this was my first time observing and it is natural to feel anxious at the beginning of an observation (Hobart et al. 2004). I was uncomfortable and unable to concentrate because I thought I was going to make the child feel uncomfortable as well, but within twenty minutes into the observation I began to relax and so felt a little bit at ease and was able to concentrate on the child as well control and contain my emotion and my feelings better and so able to actively observe the child and on my subsequent observations.
On subsequent observations, I gained more experience, skills, and knowledge so was able to concentrate and observe the child better. In the process of observing the child and at the seminar my tutor and peers were able to support me in reconsidering my conscious and unconscious self, and questioning some of my assumptions, feelings, and thoughts, for example, I felt that the child was a spoilt child who was over pampered and as such did not have boundaries but my peers were able to make me reflect on why I felt that way, at that moment I was able to Consciously engage with my brain activities and experiences and reported or recounted with accuracy and vividly of how I was brought up and how I would have been punished or reprimanded and made to stop that behavior, and according to Baars et.al (2003,) Conscious events are those brain activities and experiences that one can report or recount with high accuracy under optimal conditions, minimal distraction, and time delay.
Baars further explained Unconscious events as brain activities and experiences that exist in one’s brain that one is not able to report accurately and are subliminal in memories and “ some unconscious networks, called contexts, are needed to shape conscious contents” Baars et.al (2003 p.672) and in the process of consciously describing my experiences and I was unconsciously expecting how the child ought to behave or the parent should train him and this made realized how I was consciously being judgmental and wishing the child to have the same experiences I had.
In trying to have a sense of my world and the world of the child after observing the child, I will use Freud’s idea of personality or human psyche is made up of three components or aspects which are the id, ego, and superego and each of these components develops at different stages in people lives starting from when one is born. Every human is born with an id this is the inherited and biological component of human personality such as sex and instincts, the id is the impulsive or unconscious part of the psyche and demands immediate satisfaction.
The three-year-old child I observed and myself have both the id, and the ego which according to Freud is “the part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world” (Freud 1923), to further explain the ego McLeod (2018) indicated that the ego points the id to the right direction and it develops to mediate between the id and the realities of the world and so is the decision making aspect of the personality, therefore a child of three can make decisions on how to behave regardless of it being a wise and unwise, and the child has the ability at that age to manage relationships with people and things or objects (Payne M) and the child I observed was relating well with the girl and I was able to manage my relationship with the boy and the girl in a professional manner. According to Freud, the superego starts to develop from the age of three to five this is the “phallic stage of psychosexual development (MCleod, 2018 p.), and it integrates values and morals of society which are learned from parents and others (MCleod 2018 p.), and therefore the child I observed who is the age of three have not yet learned from his parents and other people to incorporate the values and morals of society because that is what the superego does, and as such the child does not have any placed values and morals and as cannot be blamed or judge as not to be morally compliant or to be a moralist and to be a perfectionist. The lack of superego is the reason why the child was hitting and biting me and his aunt. According to Payne “the ego and superego together exert control on the id in the cause of social responsibility creates further conflicts with causes anxiety (M. Payne 3ed.) and because the child has yet to develop the superego, he may be incapable of feeling anxiety. According to Freud,” the key to a healthy personality is a balance between the id, the ego, and the superego”
During the observation, I realized that the child was not listening to the adults(mother and aunt) and kept on ignoring them when he was called, this made me feel disappointed in the child and started thinking about what my parents would have done to me if I disrespected them in that way especially when a stranger was observing, I also reflected on If I might have done that to my mother I was not able to remember what I did at the age of three, at that moment there was a transference which is the ‘idea that in our current relationships and interaction, we may unconsciously “transfer” feelings into here and now which belong in our previous relationships’(Ruch 2010 p.34).
When I was observing, the child introduced me to the girl he was with as his aunt so it was not surprising that he later asked me to play with them, given that, he plays with his aunt which can be seen in the appendix (1), this might be what he usually does with his ‘aunt’ and so unconsciously or consciously felt that I am his aunt or maybe his mother told him I am his aunt and as such he expected of me to play with him as his aunt or aunts does with him, but I declined. It can also be seen in appendix(1) that he hits and bites his aunt and so because he saw me as his aunt he might have thought or felt it was right to be pulling, hitting, and biting me as he does to his aunt which his aunt seems not to be bothered or tried to stop him, this may be due to what Payne explained as transference, he stated that transference is where a person transfers unconscious feelings about someone to another person and treat them as though they were that person (Payne M. p.77).
Countertransference is when me the child projects his feelings unconsciously onto me the observer or when I take on a parental tone with the child if he reminds me of my child or nephews (Hoffman 2018), during the observation when the child introduced me to the girl as his aunt, for a moment I unconsciously responded to him as I would have to my own child or nephew, because it reminded me of my relationship with my nephews and how I feel when I am with them, it also awaked a feeling of happiness to realise that the child did not see me as a stranger but rather as family member on my third observation, I did not recognise or aware of these emotions until when my peers prompted me at seminar to the fact that I smiled and looked happy when I got to that part during my narration of what I observed, this made me reflect on how I reacted and felt when he did the introduction and made me question whether he was aware of my reaction and is that why he later asked me to play with him as I observed he played with his aunt on my first visit because Hoffman(2018) stated that sometimes the clients are aware of the countertransference.
The learning outcomes of undertaking the child observation are, first and foremost negotiation, negotiation because I had to find a child to observe by myself, in the process I had to negotiate with schools and parents to be allowed to observe their child, I feel I have acquired the ability to negotiate because I was able to find a parent who agreed for me to observe her child. I was able to behave professionally when I was in the house of the child I was observing, and I was able to behave in a professional way when the child was hitting and biting me by deciding to end the observation just in time and leave. I was able to gain emotional intelligence, that is to be able to engage with my emotions and as well as control them and not lose my emotions, but rather remain professional, and through emotional intelligence, I became aware of myself (self-awareness).
The task of observing made me learn observational skills, as I was preparing for the child, an observation I had to learn and improve on my skills, so I started practicing it with my family and friends and after having five observations I felt I had learned and have some experience of observing and I am sure I can use the acquired skills confidently in any future academic and professional settings.
During the observations I learned some theories to help me understand my and the child’s world, some of the theories learned are transference and countertransference, conscious and the unconscious, and Freud’s theory of id, ego, and superego, these theories were taught in lectures but I could not understand or make any meaning of them, but as I was researching and writing this reflective essay and starting to connect the theories with my child observations the theories started to make sense and meaning and so in my next observation, be it academic or as a professional social worker, I will be able to effectively observe and make better sense of the behavior of the child theories.
To conclude, child observation has made me understand ethics in professional practice and how to work in an anti-oppressive manner by respecting diversity and promoting equality, it made me learn how not to be judgemental and discriminatory in social work practice or setting through the ability to be self-awareness and be aware of my values and professional values to be able to work with individuals, families, groups, and communities as a social worker. Through writing this essay and the observation narrative, feelings, and thoughts I have acquired the skills to reflect and write reflectively as well as engage and understand key concepts of knowledge relevant to social work, which can be used in interventions and empowering individuals and families. It has made me able to make sense of my world and that of the child and has made me acquire the skills to use psychodynamic theories in understanding human behaviors especially that of a child and myself which I can use in social work practice or setting.
Stuck on your essay?
