Running Head: ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY

ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
SW 3510
Ivy Schihl 10/22/2012

Running Head: ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY

Introduction To most the world, family means a group of people you grow with, learn, and are close with connected by blood. According to Dictionary.com (Harper, 2009), Family is a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not. This may not always be the case for some given the circumstances. Family also is defined as a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head ("Merriam-webster," 2003). In todays society, people are more open to use the word family and friends and coworkers can fall underneath the family category. Family My family is a very close knit family that supports each other. Growing up I learned that respect is key, everything is earned not given, and to have fun. I am a practicing Lutheran with a Romanian background and I value a lot in my life. I work hard for everything I have and have learned to be that way from my parents. My family places high values on friends, family, and religion and I think that this stems from our cultural background. For Romanians, the family is the foundation of the social structure and forms the basis of stability for most people ("Kwintessential," 2011). I feel that many of my families customs relates to our cultural background and the way my parents were raised. Biophysical Through the biophysical dimension, behaviors are understood through the development of a human. Piagets nature vs. nurture debate questions whether our behaviors come from genetics or from our environmental factors. Family is part of our environmental factors because we are around the same people many times in our lives. There are two major methods for studying whether family resemblance is a result of shared heredity or shared environment (Ashford & LeCroy, 2010 p.72). The two methods used are the twin study and the adoption

Running Head: ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY

study. The twin study examines whether a certain trait exists between a set of twins based on genetics and environment. The idea is that if biology is a main factor in the behavior of a person, then a certain trait will exist between a set of identical twins because they carry the same genes compared to a set of fraternal twins which do not. The adoption study focuses on whether a set of identical twins that were separated at birth and raised in two different environments carry a certain trait. If the twins have a certain trait after being raised in two different environments than this shows that heredity plays a role in the development of behaviors. If they do not share a certain trait after being in different family environments than this shows that their different families and the way that the family interacts has impacted the way they are. There is really no precise answer to the question of nature vs. nurture and that is why so many people debate about this idea. According to recent research, for many characteristics there is a one-third to one-half contribution from genetics. This means however, the most differences in human behavior are a result of the environment (Ashford & LeCroy, 2010 p.72). In my family, I think that the way I was raised plays a huge role on the way I act. My Romanian culture has taught me that you value your family and your elders so my behavior as a child and now shows that. I grew up learning that you do not talk back to your parents and elders so I feel that I show more respect when I interact with my elders in the community. My family places a high value on education as well. I remained on the honor roll throughout school and I was raised to think that school is my main priority. My mother always says that education is the gateway to a better life. With education you learn different skills and put those skills to use in the community. My siblings and I share a lot of similar characteristics when it comes to our schooling, respect for others, and some of our behaviors because our parents raised us the same. We received the same consequences and we were told the same things. We are different in some ways as well though

Running Head: ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY

because we have different groups of friends and we are put in different situations throughout our lives that make us feel differently about certain things. The biophysical dimension relates to my family because we can carry similar genes, but our behavior in certain situations is not the same. Psychological Through the psychological dimension, behaviors are understood to stem from psychological theories. John. B. Watson wanted to clear the idea of psychological processes and focus more on the behaviors themselves. Watson is recognized as the father of behaviorism, a learning theory that is based on observable behaviors (Ashford & LeCroy, 2010, p.100). He believed that development is based off of learning throughout a childs life compared to Freud and Piagets stages of behavioral development. In one of his experiments, he presented two stimuli to a child and made the child learn to relate them to each other. The child was shown white rats and then heard a loud noise when shown the rats. The child learned to fear the white rats because of the loud noise in this experiment because he related the two stimuli together. The experiment proved that fears are learned through experiences and that you are not born with them. Watson used a type of learning called classical conditioning. Classical Conditioning is the strengthening of an association between a stimulus and a response through the presentation of a second stimulus (Ashford & LeCroy, 2010, p.100). B.F. Skinner then advanced the study of operant conditioning which is the acquisition of new responses because of their effects on the environment (Ashford & LeCroy, 2010, p.100). The idea of this concept is that behaviors are not repeated if followed by a negative consequence and they are repeated if followed by a positive consequence. The negative consequence is called the punishment and the positive consequence is known as the reinforcement. In my family, I was punished for the wrong and rewarded for the right I had done. My siblings and I are very close in age so we always wrestled around. We

Running Head: ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY

would bite, kick, hit, and yell at each other all the time. My parents always found out what would happen because one of use would go crying to them because we got hurt. My mom and dad would punish us by sending us to our rooms every time it happened. They took out all of our toys so we just had to sit there. Over time, we realized not to fight because we did not want to be bored sitting in our rooms. This shows that if an action is done and a negative consequence follows, then the likelihood of that action is less likely to be repeated again. When my siblings and I received good grades on our report card at the end of the year, she would give us money so we could have fun on our summer vacation. It was never really a lot, but at the time we thought it was so cool. By receiving this positive consequence, we tried our hardest in school so we would be given more money the following year to go out with friends and have fun over the summer. I think that Watsons approach on behaviorism helps me understand the psychological aspect of where behaviors come from and shows that family plays a role on behaviors as well. Social According to the Ecological systems theory (Gemain, 1991), human beings, like all other living beings, can be understood only in the context of the systems in which they live (Ashford & LeCroy, 2010 p.143). These systems in which we live relate to our families and social institutions that we interact with. This idea is known as the social dimension. Many of our behaviors are learned through people we meet in these social institutions. There are many types of groups that people come in contact with throughout their life. My family comes from a strong Romanian background and our church really affects our everyday lives. We go to church and interact with many people and those people have an impact on the way we act. This type of environmental group is known as an interaction group. This is, A group that is a social system involving regular interaction among members and a common group identity. This means that

Running Head: ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY

groups have a sense of weness that enables members to identify themselves as belonging to a distinct entity (A.G. Johnson, 1995, p.125) (Ashford & LeCroy, 2010 p.149). Through my learned behaviors as a child, I know that church is a sacred place and it is not a place to joke around. It is a place my family goes to practice our beliefs and we have a sense of belonging there. People in general are different because we grow up being taught different beliefs, values, habits, and customs so we all behave differently. The family in general is a huge group that is impacted by many different people and many different social institutions. Families interact with hospitals, schools, churches, neighborhoods, etc. and all of which are social institutions. Throughout our lives we learn and share various behaviors that live on even when we are gone by those we impact. Social Work While being in the social work field you come across many systems. These systems include the micro, meso, exo, and macro systems. In the area I am going into which is child protective services, I will be experiencing micro, meso, and exo systems. I think that my cultural identity may influence my work as a social worker because I am very open to ideas and I understand the meaning of closeness. I am dedicated to everything that I do because of the way my family has raised me. I place high values for myself and I feel that if I can make someone else understand their problems and want to change for the better than they can accomplish anything. If a parent is having a drug problem and had their children taken away, then I would want to give them the resources to get help and get their children back. I think that many people just need confidence in themselves and they need help getting there. As a social worker, I will be there for them and try to direct them to achieve their life goals. Summation/Conclusion

Running Head: ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY

Overall, behaviors can be learned and some may be inherited as we understand through Watson and Piagets work. Families are unique systems that incorporate many other systems to function and we learn and grow in these groups to become who we are today. People are very different culturally, ethnically, and developmentally but we all experience groups throughout our lives. Family is the start of our journey whether you are born into a family and stay with that family or you are adopted. Through many other studies being developed in the future we will have the opportunity to find answers to the questions and we can use that knowledge in the field of social work.

Running Head: ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY

Ashford, J. B., & LeCroy, C. W. (2010). Human behavior in the social environment: A multidimensional perspective. (5th ed.). Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning. Harper, H. (2009). Family. Retrieved October 19, 2012 from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/family Kwintessential. (2011). Retrieved October 19, 2012 from http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/globaletiquette/romania.html

Merriam-webster. (2003, July 01). Retrieved October 20, 2012 from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/family