Assessment of Dasani’s Spiritual, Physical Environment and Cultural Dimensions
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Introduction
The case study of this paper will focus on Dasani’s assessment from the Invisible Child and connection with the theories learned. Some of the evaluation’s key concepts are Dasani’s spiritual life, the physical environment, and cultural dimensions. For assessing these key concepts on Dasani, I will select one theory from each of the chapters provided, followed by the summary of each approach and an evaluation of Dasani’s life regarding the theory. The most critical factors from the theory will be used to describe her behavior supported by specific instances. After a critical analysis between Dasani’s life and theories, a summary of key points from the discussion will be outlined and response to reflection questions such as what I have learned about myself and my own behavior from the assessment and what I have learned about from my own writing and studying skills.
Theory of My Choice from Chapter Six: Transpersonal Theory
Summary of Perspective
The theory is based on the fourth level of human behavior theory that accounts for higher development levels. The theory describes four major therapeutic approaches that have emerged over the past century, each developed in response to the personal understanding of human behavior and human needs. The first force therapies of the theory are based on psychodynamic theories of human behavior. The primary objective of these therapies is dealing with repression and solving instinctual conflicts by improving insight. The second force therapies originate from the behavioral theories, and it focuses on learned habits seeking to remove symptoms through various processes of direct learning. The third force therapies are based on experiential, existential, humanistic theories that help a person to deal with existential despair seeking the actualization of individual potential through techniques rooted in immediate experiencing. The fourth force therapies are rooted in transpersonal theories, mainly targeting the spiritual dimension. They help a person focus on letting go of ego ties through identifications with body, mind, social roles, and rise above self through various spiritual practices.
Transpersonal, when applied to human behavior theories, means going beyond identity attached to individual social roles, body, and ego to include higher levels of consciousness. Transpersonal theory’s primary focus is on humanity’s highest potential. The practice approach should focus not only on the high end of human functioning but also on the very personal realm of ordinary consciousness. A fundamental purpose of transpersonal theories is to integrate spirituality within a broader framework of human behavior. The primary application of this theory is a conceptual underpinning for approaches that address spiritual development.
Assessment of Dasani through the lens of this theory.
For the effective assessment of Dasani’s behavior through the transpersonal theory lens, there are the most important factors to consider. As discussed in the summary of the theory, it dwells on four major therapeutic approaches that are pillars to assessing Dasani’s behavior. The transpersonal theory is all about discovering oneself and rising or going beyond your highest potential in life. From Dasani’s experience, what are the incidences she has gone beyond, discovered herself more than mind, body, and culture, and reached her highest potential. The transpersonal theory focuses primarily on the spiritual dimensions of a person addressing the development. Approach poses an essential question that can help describe Dasani’s behavior like what the person perceiving or aware of beyond the normal states of reality, such as waking, dreaming, and sleeping common to most people. Putting into consideration all these factors from the transpersonal theory, describing Dasani’s behavior will be easy for anybody looking into her life.
For instance, in the invisible child case, it describes the ordinary state of reality like Dasani waking up to the sound of breathing, smaller children entangled beside her with chest rising and falling under winter coats and blankets, and their parents sleeping near mop bucket. But when the girl sits at the window, sees all the way across Brooklyn to the Empire State Building, which the New York first skyscraper to reach a hundred floors, her gaze stopping at the iconic temple and then she says that all that makes her feel like something is going on out there. Form her gazing, and thinking indicate a person going beyond the ordinary states to the highest potential. Dasani is a homeless child struggling in life with her parents and siblings, but regardless of her impoverished life, she is a determined child who wants to make future life different from the current. She goes to the school where change is achieved; she blends in with children who are better off, the type of clothes she wears does not bother where she tells herself brand names don’t matter. These indicate an individual transcending from ordinary states and heading beyond the normal, as described in the transpersonal theory.
Theory of my choice from Chapter 7: Theories of Human Behavior and the Physical Environment
Summary of Theory
Theories of Human Behavior and the Physical Environment is mainly base on the relationship between human behavior and the physical environment. The relationship between human behavior and the physical environment is a multidisciplinary study that encompasses contributions from behavioral, social, and health sciences like sociology and public health. When thinking about human interactions with the physical environment, it is essential to consider both the natural and built environment. The theory is rooted in four categories that help define the connection between the physical environment and human behavior, which include stimulation theories, control theories, behavior settings theories, and ecocritical theories.
Stimulation theories focus on the physical environment as a source of sensory information important for human well-being. It concentrates on the concrete and direct effect of stimulation on the behavior of a person. It encompasses color, light, heat, scent, texture or buildings, forests, parks, and streets. Thus, stimulation patterns influence the emotions, thinking, health, and social interaction of a person. Control theories are based on how much control human beings have over the physical environments and attempts made to gain control. Control theories have four concepts: personal space, privacy, crowding, and territoriality central to the theorists. Behavior setting theories is the consistent uniform patterns of behavior occurring in particular settings. Behaviors of different individuals in the same setting are more alike than the same individuals’ behaviors in various settings. Ecocritical theories state that all elements of nature and the physical world are interconnected. That humans have no more values than other forms of nature.
Assessment of Dasani through the lens of this theory
The most important factor that can help describe Dasani’s behavior is understanding the physical environment’s influence on human beings. Key things in the theory are the patterns of stimulation influence on the way Dasani thinking, her social interactions, health, and emotions. The issue of how humans desire control over their physical environment and how uniform patterns of behavior happen in particular settings. In assessing Dasani’s behavior, it is necessary to study the physical environment she is living in, understanding stimulations such as buildings, streets, light, heat, color, which influence human thinking, social interaction, feelings, and health. From the invisible child story, Dasani lives in three kinds of environments that impact her thinking, feeling, and social interaction. The first type of environment is the place where she stays, which is described in the story to be of low standards accommodating homeless families like the Dasani’s. Dasani’s family room is the scene of debilitating chaos with shoes stuffed under a mattress, stacks of dirty laundry, coats of piled high, and bicycles. Another physical environment is the buildings and streets in town where empire buildings and skyscrapers are erected in town with beautiful scenery. These environments are influencing Dasani in that both of them are motivating, where she wants to move from her home with bad status and afford the life of town life living in a good house. School another type of different environment that influences Dasani’s feelings and social interactions with other children. At school, she interacts with few friends to dance by scrutinizing experienced dancers influenced by different stimulation in the school vicinity.
Theory of your choice from Chapter 8: Theories of Culture
Summary of Theory
Culture is divided into two main streams, which are the humanities approach and the social science approach. In the humanities approach, culture is connected with serious literature, fine and performing arts. Traditionally, communities and groups were evaluated based on their literature and art products in possession. In the social science approach, culture is described as society’s total way of life. Anthropologists classify theories of culture to materialist perspectives, mentalist perspectives, and other perspectives. The materialist perspective emphasizes the role of technology, the environment, and changing culture. Culture, values, beliefs, and ideas products are perceived as adaptions to technological, environmental, and economic conditions. Marxism is the best know theory in the materialist perspective, which proposes that society’s economic organization drives culture. The mentalist perspective sees human beings creating, maintaining, and changing the culture based on their language, beliefs, values, and symbolic representations. Culture is comprehended by understanding the way participants speak, think, and feel. Thus, culture should be comprehended through peeling back layer upon layer of socially structured meaning.
Assessment of Dasani through the lens of this theory
Theories of culture’s most important factor to consider when describing Dasani’s behavior is how well you understand her culture. Culture is the society’s total way of life, and Dasani is living in a community with its own beliefs, values, and cultural products. Environmental, technological, and economic conditions influence society’s culture. A society’s culture can be well understood when you look at it from a materialist perspective and a mentalist perspective. Dasani’s homeless life where she is even referring to herself as a ghetto kid, a term used by to refer to people living in slams who are adapted to a harsh life. Dasani even dares to challenge arm-wrestle girls and boys hence the muscle girl. Homeless life culture has influenced her behavior in that when she goes to another different environment, and she feels like she does not belong there.
Conclusion
In the assessment of Dasani’s spiritual life, the physical environment, and cultural dimensions, several factors have emerged from the theories that influence individual behavior. Transpersonal theory concentrates on assessing the connection between human behavior and the spiritual life of Dasani. The theory’s key point is about discovering self and going beyond normal states of life. Theories of Human Behavior and the Physical Environment is concerned about establishing a relationship between human behavior and the physical environment. In theory, stimulation factors such as color, light, buildings, streets, forests influence emotions, thinking, health, and social interaction of a person. Lastly, the theories of culture where society culture determines individual behavior is influenced by environmental, technological, and economic conditions. All the factors in theories greatly influence human behavior and should be considered when describing a person’s behavior like Dasani.
From the assessment of this case study and the theories I selected for my study, I have learned key things that contribute immensely to my own behavior that I was not aware of an influence. Factors such as physical environment, spiritual life, and culture are core in determining human behavior. The transpersonal theory is essential, especially in discovering oneself and moving from ordinary things to the highest potential. It encourages self from thinking beyond and explores beyond your body, mind, and social roles through improving insights. Through this assessment, I have learned vital things in my own writing and studying skills. The idea of comparing different concepts and examine them critically is vital, especially in papers of this kind. It is essential to take note of key details when doing your assessment for good work.