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Theory Paper

Molly Tuttle

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke

SWK 4450-800-S22: Human Behavior and the Social Environment II

Dr. Jody Thomas

April 27, 2022

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Introduction

When working with the foster care population, specific theoretical framework knowledge

is important for workers in that field to not only be able to understand a child’s actions but also

to have the knowledge about how to work with children to improve behaviors. The two theories

that will be discussed in this paper include the learning theory and the psychoanalytic theory.

Additional topics that will be discussed throughout this paper include how the two theories

explain the existence of social privileges and oppression, a problem that impacts the foster care

population, a policy that impacts the foster care population, and possible interventions that could

be used to benefit the foster care population.

Learning Theory

The learning theory provides a framework to explain how a person’s social environment

affects behavior development (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2019). The learning theory suggests that

there are three primary types of learning that affect a person’s behavior – respondent

conditioning, modeling, and operant conditioning (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2019). Respondent

behavior is a reaction to a specific stimulus such as salivating when smelling dinner cooking.

Modeling is watching someone else’s behavior and then copying it, like a dance student

watching their instructor perform new choreography and then trying it themselves. Operant

conditioning is when a person engages in a specific behavior because of a positive or negative

consequence that will occur shortly after. There are two consequences for operant conditioning,

reinforcement, and punishment.

An example scenario to explain positive and negative reinforcement would be 16-year-

old Lana who hates when her parents nag her about cleaning up her room. Lana noticed when

she remembered to pick up her room here and there, that her mom thanked her for being
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responsible (positive reinforcement) and she was not nagged nearly as often as she was if she let

her room go for weeks at a time (negative reinforcement). An example of punishment would be

if Lana’s mom asked her multiple times for three days in a row to pick her room up and she still

had not, then take away something such as Lana’s cell phone until the requested task has been

complete. While usually unpleasant, punishment can be used to decrease the frequency of

undesired behavior.

Strengths and Limitations

The most significant advantage of the social learning theory is that it is the most natural

way for a human being to learn as learning occurs both consciously and unconsciously which

equals higher retention (Social Learning Theory: Benefits, Examples, and Best Practices, 2021).

Another strength of the learning theory is that it yields higher learning retention because it has

been scientifically proven that humans only remember 10% of information from formal sources

but remember 90% of information from social learning (Social Learning Theory: Benefits,

Examples, and Best Practices, 2021).

Disadvantages of the social learning theory include inner conflicts, less authenticity, and

self-doubt (Social Learning Theory: Benefits, Examples, and Best Practices, 2021). Additionally,

the learning theory is directed towards individual group members rather than an entire group like

in a macro setting (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2019). Although potentially obvious, when an

individual learns behavior from someone else, it may go against how they feel naturally. An

example scenario could be a middle school-aged student who makes friends with the new kid in

class and quickly learns the new student has a desire for petty theft. The new friend convinces

the student that “it’s okay, no one will even notice” and it conflicts with what the student knows

is right but by trying to be cool like their new friend, they become less authentic.
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Psychoanalytic Theory

The psychoanalytic theory places emphasis on the impact early life experiences has on a

person’s current feelings and behavior (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2019). The psychoanalytic theory

has three key points of group functioning – how group members act out in the group, attention

given towards the emotional reactions in the group, and distortions in one’s perception of others

which derives from past life experiences (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2019).

In using the example of a foster child which ties into the population of this paper, if

Jimmy, a seven-year-old boy in foster care was abused by his father who had blonde hair and

glasses, and he is attending a group therapy session that is led by a man with blonde hair and

glasses as a temporary fill-in, Jimmy may act out in the group as a result of being triggered by

memories of his father. How Jimmy behaves in the group could have a major impact on how

other children in the group with similar backgrounds behave. The third group focus ties into

Freud’s three levels of consciousness.

The psychoanalytic theory is most commonly recognized by Sigmund Freud’s identified

three levels of consciousness – the id, the ego, and the superego (American Psychoanalytic

Association, 2009). The id, which operates unconsciously, is driven by natural factors such as

hunger and self-preservation (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2019). The ego is a rational-based

component in the brain that evaluates consequences and then determines courses of action in a

logical manner (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2019). The superego is the conscience that helps a person

determine between right and wrong (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2019). An additional concept in

understanding the psychoanalytic approach is the defense mechanism, which is an unconscious

attempt to adjust to stimuli that are painful to experience or cause anxiety, frustration, or guilt

(Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2019). An easily identifiable defense mechanism in a group setting
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would be a person withdrawing from the group and remaining exceptionally quiet. The main

assumption about the psychoanalytic theory is “the belief that all people possess unconscious

thoughts, feelings, desires, and memories” (Mcleod, 2019).

Strengths and Limitations

One strength of the psychoanalytic theory is that it can be used in individual or group

settings, although it is more commonly used in individual treatment (Kirst-Ashman & Hull,

2019). Another strength of the psychoanalytic theory was Freud’s discovery of the three-level

conscious and learning how the various levels work for different desires and at various times in

our life. Freud focused his therapy attention on a person’s unconscious in order to release

repressed emotions and experiences; basically, he looked into a person’s past to identify past

troubles so a person could heal and correct their present and future (Mcleod, 2019).

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory faced its fair share of rejection and criticism over the

years, largely in part because there was not enough research to back his findings. Another

limitation of the psychoanalytic theory is that it is the same for everyone and does not take into

consideration the individual differences in clients such as temperament, family history, or

limitations.

Social Privilege and Oppression

When examining how the learning theory and psychoanalytic theory explain the

existence of social privilege and oppression, we can first examine one alarming statistic and that

is, according to a Pew Research Center study, over 80% of children in the United States live in

single-parent households with only their mother (Watson, 2021). This is not to say that children

cannot grow up to be well-rounded productive members of society with just one parent, however,

it is much more difficult for single parents to play both roles and teach their child(ren) different
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responsibilities in life, many of which come from stereotypical gender roles. To add to that,

many single parents are burning out in life trying to effectively raise their child(ren) and work

overtime just to make ends meet and survive. It is in situations like these where important life

lessons may fall through the cracks such as teaching children responsibility, accountability, and

honesty, as mentioned in the example above for learning theory.

When examining the psychoanalytic theory, which examines a person’s past for repressed

memories and feelings, one could begin to understand how the total absenteeism of one parent

and the partial absenteeism of the remaining parent, due to the financial responsibilities of a job,

one would begin to understand current behaviors that stem from the past. All of this to say, it is

an incredible privilege to have a two-parent household, especially during the early, formative

years of a child’s life when the learning theory would appear to be the most important.

Government assistance programs are somewhat a form of oppression themselves. They

were created to help people in need and while they are lifelines to many single-parent

households, they offer little to no help for two-parent households who also struggle, thus placing

parents in a place where they are better off single than being together for the financial sake of

their children. Because of situations like these, children are subject to frequent parental

absenteeism as well as the guilt and shame of having to do without due to a lack of means. It is

no surprise that government assistance programs are long overdue for an upgrade. If that were to

happen, programs should include higher income limits for families to help encourage them to

stay together thus minimizing the childhood experiences that would later lead to the need for the

use of the psychoanalytic theory.

Social Work Specialization

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The area of social work that I desire to specialize in is foster care and adoption,

specifically permanency placement or fostering to adoption. I am unsure of how much

counseling I would do as an adoption or foster care social worker, however, if I wound up in

family counseling, the social learning theory, and the psychoanalytic theory would both be

helpful and practical when working with children. If a foster child is having trouble controlling

their anger and potentially lashes out and hurts others, both theories that I focused on could help

explain that behavior. Perhaps the child witnessed violence in his biological home, and no one

taught him/her that hitting others was not okay – this would be the social learning theory at work.

Perhaps the child was neglected during the vital early years of his or her life – this would make

use of the psychoanalytic theory to explore the three levels of consciousness and try to identify

how the behavior came about and how it can be improved.

Problem Affecting Target Population

A significant problem that affects children in foster care is food insecurity. Although the

problem is often remedied while a child is in a foster placement, the stress and trauma do not

disappear as quickly and can follow children into adulthood if they are unfortunate enough to age

out of the system. Food insecurity is a significant barrier to a child’s autonomy because its

absence can affect a person’s neurological development (Barnett, 2020). Additionally, foster

parents are presented with various additional problems such as unhealthy eating behaviors or the

ability to make healthy food choices as well as sometimes limited background information about

a child’s nutritional upbringing (Helton et al., 2016).

For some children, their access to food may have been limited to what they receive

during school hours only. For others, their food access may have been restricted to a lock and

key, only accessible by their parent(s) or guardian (s). Some children may not have been
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restricted at all to food but instead were only given foods that are considered bad such as junk

food full of sugar and empty calories, juice, or soda before bed without proper dental hygiene,

highly processed food, and fried food and very little if any, healthy fruits, and vegetables thus

creating a resistance to colorful new foods when children are placed in new homes.

Unhealthy diets are not all fault of the biological parent(s) as many food deserts exist

across America and families do not have access to local produce stands or farmers' markets for

fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables (Helton et al., 2016). Even as hard as it may be to believe,

some parents simply do not understand nutrition and how to balance a plate for their children

(grains, proteins, and fruits and vegetables) because they were never taught themselves. With all

of this said, many foster parents have additional challenges outside of simply caring for someone

else’s child and must work to help children unlearn unhealthy behaviors carefully so as to not

create or stir up additional traumas surrounding food for whatever their current placement’s prior

situation may have been.

Policy Affecting Target Population

In North Carolina, state policies regarding FNS, or SNAP benefit eligibility are not

favorable for children in foster care. For instance, in the frequently asked question information

section about adoption and foster care from Mecklenburg County, N.C., a foster parent “cannot

receive public assistance such as food stamps, Temporary Assistance, Work First benefits or

public housing to be a foster parent with Mecklenburg County” (Frequently Asked Questions:

Adoption and Foster Care, 2019). However, licensed foster parents receive a monthly stipend

based on the child’s age - $514 for ages 0-5, $654 for ages 6-12, and $698 for ages thirteen and

older (these are the Standard Foster Care Board Rates as of January 1, 2022) (FORMAT OF

FUNDING MANUAL, 2021). This money is to be used towards food, shelter, clothing, personal
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items, school expense, transportation expense, and any other costs that may occur during

placement (FORMAT OF FUNDING MANUAL, 2021).

Respectfully, foster parents should also be given SNAP benefits for each foster child in

their home during the duration of a child’s stay because of the additional costs that occur to raise

a child. For instance, if an infant enters a foster placement, the foster parent would be responsible

for a car seat, a crib, a highchair, clothing, bibs, pacifiers, formula, diapers, wipes, and so much

more. Although some items are a one-time purchase, to assume that $514 per month for an infant

is enough to meet all needs is almost absurd. Just because many foster families have biological

or even other adopted children and can foster, does not mean it should become a financial burden

to do so. Ensuring that foster children come with additional funds via SNAP benefits not only

could help invite more people to foster knowing there is less of a financial burden at stake, but

also helps ensure that foster parents have plenty of flexibility when introducing new foods while

also trying to combat potential food insecurity that comes with a new placement and their past

experiences.

Intervention Using Theories

As a social worker using the learning theory and understanding of how behavior

develops, I would work with children who have experienced food insecurity, specifically

children who have gone without food thus resulting in hoarding food when the opportunity

exists, using operant conditioning. For children who went without food as a form of punishment,

their brains would essentially have to be retrained to understand that bad behavior doesn’t

warrant starvation. In retraining a child’s brain to understand that withholding food should not be

a form of punishment, oftentimes, they must also be taught about proper nutrition because many

children in the United States do not receive the proper daily nutrition that is recommended.
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As a social worker using the psychoanalytic theory for children who have experienced

food insecurity, I would work to uncover what the experience was like for the child(ren) and how

long they experienced it and how it made them feel. On the surface, the work sounds easy,

however, when working with small children, it can be difficult for them to express how they are

feeling because children often do not fully understand how they are feeling or can put into words

how they are feeling. Considering the psychoanalytic theory emphasizes the impact early life

experiences has on a person’s current feelings or behavior, understanding what children went

through when experiencing food insecurity (and other likely underlying factors such as verbal

and emotional abuse) is key in healing and improving negative behaviors (Kirst-Ashman & Hull,

2019).

Conclusion

In conclusion, different traumas require different theory responses. In the example used

for this text, food insecurity, a social worker could likely benefit from the use of the learning

theory as well as the psychoanalytic theory to help understand why a child behaves the way they

do due to their past experiences and can use these theories to help shape the child(ren)’s future.

There is still much work to be done to improve the lives of children in the United States but in

the meantime, social workers can and must continue to advocate for policy changes to benefit the

children. After all, they are our future, and we owe them all the tools and resources possible to

ensure the opportunity for bright futures and better tomorrows.

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References

American Psychoanalytic Association. (2009). Psychoanalytic Theory & Approaches | APsaA.

Apsa.org. https://apsa.org/content/psychoanalytic-theory-approaches

Barnett, S. (2020). Foster care youth and the development of autonomy. International Review of

Psychiatry, 32(3), 265–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2020.1720622

FORMAT OF FUNDING MANUAL. (2021). https://policies.ncdhhs.gov/divisional/social-

services/child-welfare/policy-manuals/appendix-3-5-foster-care-funding-1.pdf

Frequently Asked Questions: Adoption and Foster Care. (2019). Mecknc.gov.

https://www.mecknc.gov/dss/adopt/howto/Pages/FAQ.aspx

Helton, J. J., Schreiber, J. C., & Fiese, B. H. (2016). Foster Parents’ Nutritional Strategies and

Children’s Well-Being. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 34(2), 159–169.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-016-0454-4

Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H. (2019). Chapter 3. In Human Behavior in the Macro Social

Environment: An Empowerment Approach to understanding communities, organizations,

and groups (Fifth, pp. 75–79). essay, Cengage.

Mcleod, S. (2019). Psychoanalysis | Simply Psychology. Simplypsychology.org.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/psychoanalysis.html

Social Learning Theory: Benefits, Examples, and Best Practices. (2021, March 10). Valamis.

https://www.valamis.com/hub/social-learning#advantages

Watson, J. (2021, September 23). US Has Highest Rate of Single-Parent Households in the

World. ParentsTogether. https://parents-together.org/us-has-highest-rate-of-single-parent-

households-in-the-world/