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Тема 8: The Role of Education
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Education is the lifelong process of learning the attitudes, values, and behaviour appropriate to members of a particular culture.
The basic function of education is the transmission of knowledge. Each generation of young people studies the existing beliefs, norms, and values of a distinctive culture.
Another important function of education is promoting social and political integration. It transforms a population composed of different racial, ethnic, and religious groups into a society, whose members share a common identity. This function is obvious through promoting a common language.
The third function is maintaining social control. Schoolchildren are taught standards of proper conduct in public life; students are trained for their adult life.
Conflict theorists point out three factors that cause inequality in social status. The first is public versus private education. Private schools provide a better education and students, who graduate from private schools, enter the most prestigious universities. So, schools sort and select students for future high-status subordinate position.
The second factor is economic disparities between school communities. Upper- and middle-class schools get more funding, better facilities, and more experienced teachers.
And the third factor is tracking (streaming) students into curriculum groups. Students are placed in specific curriculum groups according to their intelligence tests. Thus, low-income students are put at a disadvantage.
All these factors prove the idea that education promotes social inequality.
Words and word combinations
attitude - отношение
value - ценность
behaviour - поведение
adult life – взрослая жизнь
proper conduct – соответствующее поведение
inequality - неравенство
graduate from private school – окончить частную школу
economic disparities – экономическое неравенство
social inequality – социальное неравенство
Тема 9: Social Work Theory and Model
A practice theory offers both an explanation of certain behaviors or situations and guidance on how they can be changed. A practice theory serves as a road map for bringing about a certain type of change. Most practice theories are rooted in one or more orienting theories. An example is psychosocial therapy, which is based primarily on psychodynamic theory and ego psychology. Another is behavioral therapy, which derived from the psychology of learning.
A distinction is made here between a practice theory and a practice model. A practice model is a set of concepts and principles used to guide intervention activities. However, in contrast to a practice theory, a model is not tied to a particular explanation of behavior.
Crisis intervention is viewed as a practice model rather than a practice theory because it does not rest on a single explanation of crisis situations. For the same reason, task-centered practice is termed a model.
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Most often, a model develops out of experience and experimentation rather than as a derivation from a theory of human behavior.
Тема 10: Alcohol
Alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by continuous or periodic: impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notable denial.
There is no cure. Experts generally agree that it is not possible for an alcoholic to become a social drinker; if the alcoholic tries, he or she soon slips back into a pattern of problem drinking.
In its early stage, alcoholism is difficult to recognize because symptoms are subtle. However, one may observe that the person drinks a lot and that alcohol has a part in many of his or her activities.
In the middle stage, the alcoholic is physically addicted. When his or her blood alcohol level is lowered, the alcoholic will experience withdrawal symptoms, including anxiety, agitation, and tremors.
In the later stage of alcoholism, the existence of a serious problem is apparent to all but the alcoholic. It may take from 5 to 15 years of drinking for an adult to develop alcoholism.
The following list identifies a number of the symptoms of alcoholism. Usually, the alcoholic will display several of these:
. Inability to stop at one or two drinks;
. Increased dependency on alcohol;
. Inability to remember what occurred while drinking (blackouts);
. Drinking alone; needing a drink the next morning;
. Lateness and absenteeism at work;
. Neglect of financial obligations;
. Neglect or indifference to personal appearance;
. Deterioration of moral and ethical behavior;
. Family quarrels and family tensions over drinking;
. Lateness in returning home;
. Changes in eating and sleeping habits;
. Grandiose beliefs;
. Hallucinations;
. Increased irritability;
. Suspiciousness of family and friends;
. Hand tremors and increased nervousness;
. Angry denial that there is a drinking problem;
. Health problems affecting such vital organs as the brain, liver, and gastrointestinal system.
Тема 11: Cocaine
Cocaine is smuggled into the United States as a fine, white, crystalline powder (cocaine hydrochloride).
The most common method of administration is intranasal, or "snorting" the diluted powder. When snorted, the euphoric effects begin within a few minutes, peak within 15 to 20 minutes, and disappear within about 45 minutes. During this brief period, the user often feels confident, energetic, talkative, and omnipotent.
The smoking of "crack" produces a short but very intense "high." Whereas the users of powdered cocaine may develop their addiction over many months or even years, "crack" smokers can become addicted in a matter of days.
Since freebase cocaine is water soluble, it can also be injected. This is the most dangerous method of administration. Because it produces an immediate and intense euphoria, intravenous use is highly addictive.
Regular users of cocaine often report feelings of restlessness, irritability, anxiety, and sleeplessness. Cocaine causes physical and mental damage similar to that caused by the amphetamines. High doses over a long period may precipitate a "cocaine psychosis" with hallucinations of touch, sight, taste, or smell. Because cocaine stimulates the body and its nervous system, it is not uncommon to experience a physical "crash" and a mental depression following a period of use. The depressions can be debilitating and last from a few hours to several days.
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Тема 12: Marijuana
Marijuana is the common name for a drug made from the plant cannabis sativa. The main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). The amount of THC in the marijuana determines how strong its effects will be on the user. Hashish, or hash, is made by taking the resin from the leaves and flowers of the plant and pressing it into cakes; it contains more THC than crude marijuana. Marijuana and hash are usually smoked but sometimes taken orally.
Research and the clinical experience of drug treatment programs identify several adverse effects. Some individuals become psychologically addicted and heavy users may develop "a motivational syndrome," a general loss of interest in life's activities and an increase in passivity and sluggishness.
An individual "high" on marijuana or hashish will feel euphoric and may speak rapidly and loudly. Some individuals experience sensory distortions. The drug can impair short-term memory, alter sense of time, and reduce the ability to do things that require concentration and quick reactions such as in driving a car. A possible response to marijuana is an acute panic reaction.
Тема 13: PCP
PCP (phencyclidine) was developed as an anesthetic but later taken off the market for human use because it sometimes caused hallucinations. It continues to have use in veterinary medicine. PCP is easily manufactured and is available in a number of forms (i.e., white crystal-like powder, tablet, or capsule). It can be swallowed, smoked, sniffed, or injected.
The sought -after effect is euphoria. For some, small amounts act as a stimulant. For many users, PCP changes how they perceive their own bodies and things around them; movements and time are slowed. The effects of PCP are unpredictable, and for this reason many "experimenters" abandon its use. Others, unfortunately, become dependent.
Negative effects include increased heart rate and blood pressure, flushing, sweating, dizziness, and numbness. When large doses are taken, effects include drowsiness, convulsions, coma, and sometimes death. PCP, sometimes called "angel dust," can produce violent or bizarre behavior.
Regular use affects memory, perception, concentration, and judgment. Users may show signs of paranoia, fearfulness, and anxiety. When under the drug's influence, some become aggressive; others withdraw and have difficulty communicating. A PCP-induced psychosis may last for days or weeks.
Тема 14: Opiates
Opiates (narcotics) are a group of drugs used medically to relieve pain, but they also have a high potential for abuse. Some opiates (opium, morphine, heroin, and codeine) come from the Asian poppy. Heroin accounts for most of the opiate abuse in the United States.
Opiates are ingested, snorted, smoked, or injected intravenously. After causing an initial rush, they tend to relax the user. Indicators of opiate abuse include needle scars on the arms and the backs of hands, drowsiness, frequent scratching, red and watering eyes, sniffles, and a loss of appetite overall but an attraction to sugar and candies. In contrast to the effects of most other abused drugs that dilate the eye's pupils, the opiates constrict the pupils.
When an opiate-dependent person stops taking the drug, withdrawal symptoms begin within 4 to 6 hours; symptoms include anxiety, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, chills, sweating, nausea, and runny nose and eyes. The intensity of these symptoms depends on how much was taken, how often, and for how long. Withdrawal symptoms for most opiates are stronger approximately 24 to 72 hours after they begin but subside within 7 to 10 days.
Most of the physical dangers of opiate abuse are caused by overdose. Over time, opiate users may develop infections of the heart, skin abscesses, and congested lungs.
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