SYSTEMS PSYCHOLOGY
AND SOCIOLOGY

    Views: 260

UDC 159.9.07

DOI 10.25688/2223-6872.2021.37.1.7

THE SYSTEM OF IDEAS ABOUT AN OLD PERSON AMONG SOCIAL WORKERS

AT THE INITIAL STAGES OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

V. V. Lemish,

Dostoevsky OmSU, Omsk,

verlem2004@yandex.ru

In the article, the system of ideas about an old person is considered to be a key aspect of the interaction of a social worker with a client, which sets the direction and nature of professional actions, which ultimately determine the effectiveness of social work. The aim of the research is to analyze the content of ideas about old people. The research uses the author’s psychosemantic methodology aimed at assessing the system of psychological manifestations: cognitive, affective, regulatory, communicative and personal.

The respondents, social workers, were at different stages of professional development: students (adepts) and social workers starting their labor activity (adapters). The total number of subjects is 80. Among them: 40 people — students of 2–4 courses of the direction “Social work” aged from 19 to 24 years; 40 people — employees of complex centers of social services for the population with a professional experience of no more than 5 years aged from 26 to 32 years. It was revealed that the image of an old person in both groups of respondents is heavily loaded with negative connotations, which indicates a significant influence of old age stereotypes on the formation of the system of ideas. It is quite stable, especially when it touches upon the ideas about personal and communicative qualities. At the same time, direct involvement in professional activity contributes to a partial transformation of the system of ideas about an old person in the positive direction. The most significant changes have occurred in the perception of an old person’s ability to regulate his behavior. In general, changes in the system of ideas about an old person are associated not only with an increase in positive assessments, but also with softening of negative ones: social workers are less categorical in their negative assessments of an old age.

Keywords: systematic approach; presentation system; an old man; students; Social worker; professional development.

For citation: Lemish V. V. The system of ideas about an old person among social workers at the initial stages of professional development // Systems Psychology and Sociology. 2021. № 1 (37). P. 81–94. DOI: 10.25688/2223-6872.2021.37.1.7

Lemish Vera Vasilievna, PhD in Psychology, Assoc. Prof. Associate professor at the Department of Social Work, Pedagogy and Psychology of the Dostoevsky Omsky State University, Omsk, Russia.

E-mail: verlem2004@yandex.ru

ORCID: 0000-0001-7165-5248

References

1. Aleksandrova M. D. Starenie cheloveka i ego individual`ny`e proyavleniya [Human aging and its individual manifestations] // Vestnik SPbGU [Bulletin of St. Petersburg State University]. 2014. Ser. 16. Vy`p. 2. P. 81–86.

2. Gudzovskaya A. A. Social`no-psixologicheskie faktory` gerontologicheskogo e`jdzhizma [Socio-psychological factors of gerontological ageism] // Social`ny`e yavleniya [Social Phenomena]. 2018. № 2 (9). P. 49–55.

3. Elyutina M. E`., Ivanova I. D. Starost` kak prostranstvo «otsutstviya» [Starost’ as a space of “absence”] // Sociologiya v izmenyayushhemsya nauchno-obrazovatel`nom prostranstve sovremennogo obshhestva: mat-ly` Mezhdunar. nauchno-prakt. konf. VII Dy`l`novskie chteniya. [Sociology in the changing scientific and educational space of modern society: materials International Research and Practice conferences. VII Dylnovsky readings]. Saratov: Saratovskij istochnik, 2020. P. 158–161.

4. Ivanov D. V., Galyuk N. A. Konceptual`ny`j apparat raznourovnevoj samorealizacii lichnosti [Conceptual apparatus of multi-level self-realization of the individual] // Novaya paradigma organizacionnogo upravleniya v usloviyax vy`zovov XXI veka (k 95-letiyu L. I. Umanskogo): monograficheskie materialy` Vserossijskogo simpoziuma [New paradigm of organizational management in the conditions of challenges of the XXI century (to the 95th anniversary of L. I. Umansky): monographic materials of the All-Russian Symposium]: in 2 vol. Vol. 2. Kostroma: KGU, 2016. P. 272–275.

5. Kachorovska-Brej K., Milevski S. Sociolingvisticheskie aspekty` obshheniya s pozhily`mi lyud`mi [Sociolinguistic aspects of communication with elderly people] // Sistemnaya psixologiya i sociologiya [Systems Psychology and Sociology]. 2017. № 4. P. 65–74.

6. Kolpina L. V. Gerontologicheskij e`jdzhizm v praktikax medicinskogo i social`nogo obsluzhivaniya [Gerontological ageism in medical and social service practices] // Sociologicheskie issledovaniya. [Sociological Research]. 2015. № 5. P. 72–77.

7. Kon I. S. Rebenok i obshhestvo: (istoriko-e`tnograficheskaya perspektiva) [Child and society: (historical and ethnographic perspective)]. M.: Nauka, 1988. 269 p.

8. Lemish V. V. Predstavleniya social`ny`x rabotnikov o pozhily`x i stary`x lyudyax [Representations of social workers about the elderly and old people] // Vestnik Tyumenskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Pedagogika. Psixologiya [Bulletin of the Tyumen State University. Series: Pedagogy. Psychology]. 2014. № 9. P. 173–180.

9. Maksimova S. G. Social`no-cennostny`e aspekty` vospriyatiya starosti [Socio-value aspects of the perception of old age] // Izvestiya Altajskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Proceedings of the Altai State University]. 2001. № 2 (20). P. 28–32.

10. Melyoxin A. I. Specifika psixologicheskogo kapitala v pozhilom i starcheskom vozraste [Specificity of psychological capital in the elderly and senile age] // Klinicheskaya gerontologiya [Clinical Gerontology]. 2018. T. 24. № 9-10. P. 43–45.

11. Miklyaeva A. V. Soderzhanie vozrastny`x stereotipov: e`mpiricheskaya tipologiya [The content of age-related stereotypes: empirical typology] // The Emissia. Offline Letters. E`lektronnoe nauchnoe izdanie [Electronic scientific publication]. 2014. ART 2148. Available online 10 February 2021 at: http://www.emissia. org/offline/2014/2148.htm

12. Miklyaeva A. V. Zrelost` i infantilizm lichnosti v social`ny`x predstavleniyax razlichny`x pokolenij [Maturity and infantilism of personality in social representations of different generations] // Azimut nauchny`x issledovanij: pedagogika i psixologiya [Azimuth of Scientific Research: Pedagogy and Psychology]. 2016. № 4 (17). P. 473–476.

13. Mosina O. A., Gonezhuk A. G. Sovremenny`e tendencii razvitiya gerontoobrazovaniya v Rossii [Modern trends in the development of geron formation in Russia] // Sovremenny`e naukoemkie texnologii [Modern science-intensive technologies]. 2019. № 3-2. P. 284–288.

14. Ry`zhov B. N. Sistemnaya psixologiya. [Systems psychology]. 2-e izd. M.: T8 Izdatel`skie Texnologii, 2017. 356 p.

15. Ry`zhov B. N. Istoriya psixologicheskoj my`sli. Puti i zakonomernosti. [History of psychological thought. Paths and patterns]. 2-e izd., pererab. i dop. M.: FLINTA, 2021. 352 p.

16. Strizhiczkaya O. Yu. E`mocii i starenie: sovremenny`e paradigmy` i aktual`ny`e napravleniya [Emotions and aging: modern paradigms and current trends] // Sovremennaya zarubezhnaya psixologiya [Modern Foreign Psychology]. 2017. T. 6. № 3. P. 71–76. DOI: 10.17759/jmfp.2017060308

17. Suslova T. F., Zhuchkova M. V. Issledovanie udovletvorennosti zhizn`yu i smy`slozhiznenny`x orientacij v pozhilom i starcheskom vozraste [Research of satisfaction with life and life-meaning orientations in elderly and senile age] // Sibirskij psixologicheskij zhurnal. [Siberian psychological journal]. 2014. № 53. P. 21–32.

18. Brewster P. W. H. Life experience and demographic influences on cognitive function in older adults / P. W. H. Brewster et al. // Neuropsychology. 2014. Vol. 28. №. 6. Р. 846–858. DOI: 10.1037/neu0000098

19. Carstensen L. L., Fung H. H., Charles S. T. Socioemotional selectivity theory and the regulation of emotion in the second half of life // Motivation and Emotion. 2003. Vol. 27. № 2. P. 103–123. DOI: 10.1023/a:1024569803230

20. Cheung C.-K., Chan C.-M., Lee J.-J. Beliefs about elderly people among social workers and the general public in Hong Kong // Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology. 1999. № 14 (2). P. 131–152.

21. Fisher G. G. Mental Work Demands, Retirement, and Longitudinal Trajectories of Cognitive Functioning / G. G. Fisher et al. // Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. 2014. Vol. 19. № 2. Р. 231–242. DOI: 10.1037/a0035724

22. Gerstorf D. Secular changes in late-life cognition and well-being: Towards a long bright future with a short brisk ending? / D. Gerstorf et al. // Psychology and Aging. 2015. Vol. 30. № 2. Р. 301–310. DOI: 10.1037/pag0000016

23. Gerstorf D. Terminal decline in well-being: The role of social orientation / D. Gerstorf et al. // Psychology and Aging. 2016. Vol. 31. № 2. Р. 149–165. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000072

24. Kite M. E., Wagner L. S. Attitudes toward older adults // Ageism: Stereotyping and prejudice against older persons / еds. T. D. Nelson. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002. P. 129–161.

25. Lenehan M. E. Sending your grandparents to university increases cognitive reserve: The Tasmanian healthy brain project / M. E. Lenehan et al. // Neuropsychology. 2016. Vol. 30. № 5. Р. 525–531. DOI: 10.1037/ neu0000249

26. O’Connor B. P., St. Pierre E. S. Older persons’ perceptions of the frequency and meaning of elder-speak from family, friends, and service workers // Aging and human development. 2004. № 58 (3). P. 197–221. DOI: 10.2190/ly83-kpxd-h2f2-jrq5

27. Pagnini F., Bercovitz K., Lang E. Perceived control and mindfulness: Implications for clinical practice // Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. 2016. Vol. 26. № 2. Р. 91–102. DOI: 10.1037/int0000035

28. Robbins L. A. The pernicious problem of ageism // Generations. 2015. Vol. 39. №. 3. Р. 6–9.

29. Rook K. S., Charles S. T. Close social ties and health in later life: Strengths and vulnerabilities // American Psychologist. 2017. Vol. 72. № 6. Р. 567–577. DOI: 10.1037/amp0000104

30. Sung K.-T., Dunkle R. E. How social workers demonstrate respect for elderly clients // Journal of Gerontological Social Work. 2009. № 52 (3). P. 250–260. DOI: 10.1080/01634370802609247

31. Sutter M. Do ableism and ageism predict college students’ willingness to provide care for a family member with a chronic health condition? / M. Sutter et al. // Stigma and Health. 2017. Vol. 2. № 2. P. 110–120. DOI: 10.1037/sah0000045

32. Wang D., Chonody J. Social workers’ attitudes toward older adults: A review of the literature // Journal of Social Work Education. 2013. № 49 (1). P. 150–172. DOI: 10.1080/10437797.2013.755104

33. Wolk R. L., Wolk R. B. Professional workers’ attitudes toward the aged // Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 1971. Vol. 19. № 7. Р. 624–639. DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1971.tb02583.x