Week 4:Sociological Aspects of Young and Middle Adulthood

Week 4:Sociological Aspects of Young and Middle Adulthood. As individuals transition into young and middle adulthood, they make important lifestyle decisions. These may include decisions about whom to marry or whether to marry at all. They may include decisions about whether to have children or about how to take care of elderly relatives. The decisions adults make in the young and middle adulthood life-span phase affect the new roles they assume, such as parent, spouse, significant other, or caregiver. Life changes may occur that require adults to adapt these roles, for example, to stepparent, widow, or divorcee.

This week, you explore the sociological aspects of young and middle adulthood. You consider the complexity of family systems as well as the macro systems that affect families. You also focus on poverty’s critical impact on family systems.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze the impact of poverty on individuals in young and middle adulthood
• Evaluate theories of poverty
• Apply genogram analysis to social work family cases

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2016). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

• Chapter 12, “Sociological Aspects of Young and Middle Adulthood” (pp. 549-616)

Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., Brocksen S. (Eds.). (2014). Sessions: Case histories. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].

• “The Hernandez Family” (pp. 3–5)

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013). Hernandez family: Episode 6 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

 

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 3 minutes.

Accessible player –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload Transcript

Credit: Provided courtesy of the Laureate International Network of Universities.

Optional Resources

Use the link below to access the MSW home page, which provides resources for your social work program.
MSW home page

Park, K., & Yang, T. (2017). The long-term effects of self-esteem on depression: The role of alcohol and substance use during young adulthood. The Sociological Quarterly, 58(3), 429–446.

Sutin, A. R., & Costa, P. T. (2010). Reciprocal influences of personality and job characteristics across middle adulthood. Journal of Personality, 78(1), 257–288.

Discussion: Poverty in Young and Middle Adulthood

Poverty has a strong influence on the lives of adults. When an adult lives in poverty, the effects extend beyond that individual to all those who depend on the adult. The problem of poverty in the life of an adult becomes a family or community problem, and few social problems are more impactful than poverty.

As a social worker, you are likely to address the needs of clients whose adverse circumstances are strongly influenced by poverty. Increasing your understanding of poverty and its influence will equip to you to better understand and assist your clients.

As you read this week’s resources, select the theory of poverty that most resonates with you to address in your Discussion post for this week.

By Day 3

Post a Discussion that includes the following:

• An explanation of how poverty impacts the experience of individuals in young and middle adulthood
• A statement as to whether you think poverty is the result of cultural or individual. characteristics; provide support for your position
• An answer to the following questions about the theory of poverty you selected:
  • What aspects of this theory would be most suitable for your practice? Why?
  • What aspects of this theory do you find problematic in terms of your knowledge of social work practice? Explain.

By Day 5

Read a selection of your colleagues’ posts.

Respond to at least two colleagues in one of the following ways:

• Critique your colleague’s explanation of how poverty impacts individuals in young and middle adulthood.
• State whether you agree or disagree with your colleague’s position on whether poverty is the result of cultural or individual characteristics. Provide support for your position.
• Reply to a colleague who selected a theory of poverty that differs from the one you selected by critiquing his or her evaluation of the theory.

Be sure to support your posts with specific references to the resources. If you are using additional articles, be sure to provide full APA-formatted citations for your references.

Return to this Discussion to read the responses to your initial post. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 4 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 5

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 4 Discussion

Assignment: Genogram: Hernandez Family

As you have been exploring human behavior and the social environment, you have likely increased your awareness of the many biological, psychological, and sociological factors that affect individual behavior. Human relationships are complex, and social workers may find it difficult to keep these important interactions in mind when addressing a client’s needs. Murray Bowen (as cited in Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016, p. 595) developed the genogram, a tool to help social workers and other practitioners create a record of family relationships. Once a social worker creates a genogram for a client, he or she may refer to it when analyzing the client’s situation.

To prepare for this Assignment, become familiar with how to create a genogram, which is presented in this week’s resources. Also, review this week’s media about Juan and Elena Hernandez’s visit with their social worker.

By Day 7

Submit a 2- to 4-page paper that includes the following:

• A genogram of the Hernandez family
• An analysis of the Hernandez family’s case based on the genogram including the following information.
  • Identify an element of the Hernandez family’s case that may influence the way Juan and Elena Hernandez address their issue with the social worker.
  • Explain how the genogram you created might help you address the needs of the Hernandez family.

Support your Assignment with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

Week 4:Sociological Aspects of Young and Middle Adulthood

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK4Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 4 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 4 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK4Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 4 Assignment Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity

To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 4 Assignment draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7

To submit your Assignment:

Week 4 Assignment

Week in Review

This week you evaluated theories of poverty and applied genogram analysis to social work family cases.

Next week you will explore issues related to gender identity and sexual orientation and their impact on social work practice.

To go to the next week:

Week 5