Unit 10: Social Exchange Theory

As we continue working through this class I find myself amazed at how all these moments in my life fall into "theories", but non has as hit more close to home as the social exchange theory. I truly believe that people choose and stay in relationships based on the rewards they are receiving from the relationship. the opposite is true as well, you leave relationships that are becoming to costly for the individual. I also believe that individuals will stay or leave a relationship based on their self-esteem or perception of themselves as an ideal partner. There is a particular movie that comes to mind when I think of this theory and that is Hitch with Will Smith. He is a self-proclaimed dating expert and helps men find their ideal partner with the use of high-risk initiation strategies. That article we read about the study done on individuals who viewed themselves as ideal partners said resulted in high risk for a higher reward. That is what Will Smith's character believed as well. He took men who did not consider themselves ideal partners and guided them into becoming ideal partners for he type of ideal partner they wanted. Ironically he could not ultimately guide his own love life. 

"The biggest risk is not taking any risk...In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risk." -Mark Zuckerberg

Unit 9: Ecological Systems Analysis

First off let me begin by saying that I really enjoyed reading about this system. I have always believed that individuals are a product of both their biological and external influences. I get to see that first hand in my classroom everyday teaching student's with mental illness. In my blog I want to give an example of one particular student who I have had for 4 years and describe their external and biological influences using the systems from this unit.

My student, let's call him Jim, is a 10 year old boy with bipolar disorder, ADHD, severe depression, and PTSD. His microsystem consisted of a mom on drugs, a dad in and out of jail, a grandmother who was trying her best but struggled with her own mental illness, an older brother who was taken by DCF, peers who are equally troubled, and a teacher who was willing to look beyond that. Jim's exosystem was his neighborhood which is covered in trash, and riddled with gang members and violence. The media Jim is exposed was local news showing the negativity of the neighborhood he lives in and the people he considers "family" were constantly being shown on the news as having committed a crime. His mesosystem was parent who never came to scheduled parent/teacher meetings, who spoke badly about the teacher that Jim actually adored and felt loved by, and school that was so frustrated with his mother leaving him at school that they began calling the cops at 2:30 to take him home because mom was not showing up. His macrosystem was very damaged. His family were not law abiding citizens and neither were their friends. The only values instilled in Jim were that no one is going to look out for you so do what you need to no matter the consequences. Lastly, his chronosystem was filled with events such as death, arrest of loved ones, contact with drugs, and a teacher who for four years never gave up. Jim had all the cards stacked against him at only 10 years old, and there were plenty of times I felt like giving up on him. I saw Jim make some good progress and even worse upsets. I wish I could say that my influence was enough to help Jim but the truth is it was not. His external and biological influences were against him, no matter how hard he tried at times. Jim is now in middle school with an arrest record and several baker-acts. 

Unit 7 Family Systems Theory

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."-Henry Ford

I really enjoy this quote by Henry Ford and have actually used it for several years in my classroom. In my blog I want to address the movie we saw I don't Know How She Does It. This movie brought a very real experience in my life that I am currently going through. I am 28 years old and have always been successful at most things I have attempted to do. I also have this fun habit of taking on to much and not wanting to say no to anybody or anything I care about. Currently I work full-time, nanny everyday after work, have a home to take care of, two dogs, training for a marathon (which surprisingly takes up a lot of time), do patrols at my school and hospitality, and am taking three classes. Did I mention I just found out that all of this was overwhelming prior to me finding out my husband is being deployed October 17th! I kept telling myself that I could handle this and it was no big deal, I mean what's one more responsibility. But before I knew I was at home crying telling my husband I was quitting everything!!! He helped talk me through it and we created a plan for when he leaves on how I will complete all these tasks. Many times we like to think we can do it all but the truth is we take on to much and don't stop until we are no longer in balance. Equilibrium is important in a family and takes all members in the family to help achieve that. Like in my case my husband and mom helped me during my time of crisis and unbalance within my family.