Importance of research in psychology

Research is so important to psychology because it helps researchers understand what makes individuals feel, think, and act in a particular way. In fact, research is conducted in psychology to achieve a more accurate and detailed understanding of human behavior (Wong et al., 2014). Since determining acceptable theories in an area as broad as psychology can be a difficult endeavor, research ensures that scholars have an incredible amount of information at their fingertips. According to Wong et al. (2014) research helps psychologists understand why, how, and when events occur, find ways to measure and describe behavior under analysis, and apply knowledge to solve real-world issues. In general, research is so important to psychology because it helps one understand how culture impacts human beings, the complex relationship between human behavior and the world, how personality influences human actions, what motivates people, and many more.

Basically, research is a critical tool to psychology enabling people to successfully navigate the complex world and avoid living on intuition, blind luck, and other people’s authority (Goodwin, K. A., & Goodwin, C. J., 2016). As indicated at dissertation writing service, the aforementioned things in psychology interest me. I strongly believe that our ability to interact and decipher the world is filled with several examples, however, research helps us recognize the need for evidence in supporting these claims. In psychology, research interests me because it focuses my attention on understanding the psychological and cognitive processes underlining human behavior. For example, when an individual is crying, I try to understand if that person is crying due to being happy, in pain, or sad.

References

Goodwin, K. A., & Goodwin, C. J. (2016). Research in psychology: Methods and design. John Wiley & Sons. Available at https://dissertationwritingservicepro.com/

Wong, G., Derthick, A. O., David, E. J. R., Saw, A., & Okazaki, S. (2014). The what, the why, and the how: A review of racial microaggressions research in psychology. Race and social problems, 6(2), 181-200.

The main concern of social policy is how societies meet human needs. These human needs include health and well-being, education, and security. Social policies are developed to provide mechanisms for how countries and society respond to the demographic and economic changes and social challenges such as poverty. Lightman & Lightman (2017) argues that economic policy is a subset of social policy and that the social benefits should be distributed to all. Social policies are essential in that they ensure that people in the society live in peace and harmony devoid of conflicts. Social policies are in place to ensure social justice, development balance, and integration. However, the government places severe restrictions on an individual group or institution at times. This work seeks to discuss the causes and effects of oppression critically. As shown at HRM assignment help, the work uses examples from human services to demonstrate the causes and effects of suppression. Lastly, the work offers a possible solution to empower the client.

There are various causes of oppression in Canada, such as the social setting, race, gender, and class. According to Russell, Harris, & Gockel (2008), lone mothers are disadvantaged, but their disadvantages depend upon the nature of family policies in a given country. The researchers further argue that in Canada, lone mothers perceive material deprivation and overwhelming mothering responsibilities as the main barriers to parenting their children. Russell, Harris, & Gockel’s (2008) study focused on the lone parents because it is the fastest-growing family constellation in Canada and the US. Unmarried lone mothers head most of these families, and therefore the government has come up with policies that are punitive rather than supportive policies. The lone mothers are disadvantaged economically because they are solely burdened with taking care of the children and providing them with adequate care using limited resources. Besides, the neo-liberal social attitudes toward lone mothers have made society perceive them as a social problem and, therefore, a drain on the economy. It, therefore fore follows that lone mother are oppressed due to poverty and their social lives. For more information, visit health assignment help.

Oppression is the unfair or cruel use of power by people in authority to control others. In the political context, oppression is mostly on minority groups like women, children, and racial minorities. The moment the people in authority misuse their powers or unfairly control others, they become the oppressor. Oppression occurs when lone women are denied an opportunity to own property, children are denied an opportunity to learn, or police kill or maim the minority group. In most instances, oppression is taken to denote political circumstances. Therefore, the perception of what oppression is differs from the perception of groups such as civil rights activists, feminists, and other social groups. Feminists might perceive the attempt by the government to regulate abortion as an oppressive policy. The effect of such policies is that it puts pregnant women in jeopardy because they cannot terminate the pregnancy at will. The oppressed experience internalized oppression and the oppressor, especially the state, shapes the worldview, and such views continue to be held by the society. In most provinces and territories of Canada, abortion is permitted but subject to approval by the government. The operations must be conducted by qualified personnel. Such policy requirements are oppressive to women since their reproductive right is curtailed.

In society, people experience social oppression whereby individuals or groups are treated differently from other people. Social oppression includes racism, sexism, religious persecution, and economic oppression. Racism is social oppression where people are treated differently due to their skin colour or ethnicity. Racism is one of the significant causes of oppression in the contemporary world. People of colour and minority ethnic groups around the globe. According to Mensah (2020), people of colour, especially black people in Canada, are oppressed due to their skin colour. On their part, Nwoke & Leung (2021) argue that marginalization and oppression based on race and poverty are two significant issues facing immigrant women in Canada. It is further argued that in Canada, the oppression of blacks was actively practiced. The increased cases of oppression of people based on their colour and ethnicity are fuelled by government policies. The policies that require individuals to disclose their nationality and ethnicity cause oppression because individuals are re-identified by race.

Religious persecution is the other form of oppression experienced across the globe. Religious persecution, especially of the Islamic community, is rising because religion is associated with terrorism. Following the 9/11 bombing of the World Trade Centre, governments across the globe have enhanced their security. Smith (2020) opines that there is rampant Islamophobia in Canada. However, Akram (2021) believes that it is undeniable that Islamophobia existed before the 9/11 terrorist attack. The perception that Muslims are terrorists causes them to be subjected to unwarranted arrest, prosecution, and searches. These procedures are mostly not conducted on other people. Kanji (2018) argues that the Muslim’ Terrorist’ has been constructed in Canadian national security. It is further indicated that most Muslim incidents were more likely to be labelled terrorism and linked to other episodes of violence. Therefore, Muslim perpetrators are most likely to be labelled terrorists. Chronic oppression has far-reaching effects because it has severe consequences on a person’s mental health. This, therefore, indicates that subjecting people to oppressive arrest and detention due to their religion may affect them psychologically. Besides, oppression based on religion lowers self-esteem, reduces life opportunities, and places people in danger of abuse or other forms of violence.

Over the years, sex has become a tool of oppression in society. Sexuality and sexual orientation of people, especially LGBTQ, have become rampant in Canada. According to Sadika et al. (2020), there is increased discrimination experienced by LGBTQ Canadians. The oppression and discrimination arise from the conservative nature of the society and the active role of religions. Westwood (2022) asserts that people with faith-based objections might display homophobic behaviour. Westwood further argues that older LGBTQ people fear religious organizations. This is because religious organizations condemned LGBTQ due to their sexual orientation. The oppression of this minority group extends to other aspects of life, such as education, and employment, among others. Flett (2021) argues that while Canada may appear to be a haven for LGBTQ, the members continue to face discrimination, with some not offered employment. By denying this category of people employment opportunities, the LGBTIQ are subjected to economic oppression because they are not in a position to earn. However, the Canadian government is taking steps to have LGBTQ law reform. Smith (2020) asserts that Canada seems to be the only case where the government has apologized and employment discrimination against LGBTQ. This, therefore, shows that the government is striving, through policy and law reform, to end the oppression of LGBTQ.

Unless the government takes the necessary measures to reform society, various categories of people will continue being oppressed. According to Aravacik (2018), with the social reform movement in England and Canada between 1880 and 1920, social policies adopted a descriptive approach from a prohibitive approach. In essence, this means that the state is supposed to regulate social conditions to remove negativities in the work-life. For example, the Canadian government apologized for homophobia and discrimination against LGBTQ (Smith, 2020). This, therefore, indicates that the Canadian government is focused on addressing the issue of oppression. Human service workers should also play a part in tackling the issue and factors causing oppression in society. The government can deal with economic oppression by establishing permanent housing facilities and economic policies that promote employment. The government needs to understand the dynamics that challenge communities. This will enable the government to develop policies that deal with discrimination and oppression of people based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other factor. Individuals in power, such as police, use their position to arrest, detention, and oppress immigrants, citizens, or people of color.

Conclusion

There are numerous causes of oppression in contemporary society in Canada. Government policies, laws, and regulations, especially those dealing with terrorism, are used by the police as a tool for terrorizing people, especially Muslims. Islamophobia in Canada is the cause of oppression in the country, leading to unjustifiable arrest and detention of Muslims. Besides, people of color and minority groups are discriminated against and oppressed due to their ethnicity and sexual orientation. Unless the Canadian government takes deliberate measures to address the causes of oppression, the people will continue being oppressed. This is because oppression harm people. Apart from the mental or psychological impact caused by oppression, individuals develop low self-esteem. The oppressed people resign to fate and accept oppression as part of life. This work points out that lone mothers are disadvantaged due to the overwhelming mothering responsibilities. The unmarried lone mothers are forced to take care of the family single-Handley, and therefore, they get oppressed due to poverty and social lives. It is prudent for the government to put in place policies that seek to promote people’s lives and eliminate oppression.

References

Akram, N. (2021). History of Islamophobia in Canada. Global Mass Communication Review, VI, 22-34. Retrieved from https://epicessayhelp.com/tag/psychology/

Aravacik, E. D. (2018). Social policy and the welfare state. In Public Economics and Finance. IntechOpen. https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/64579

Flett, J. (2021). Youth-serving organizations’ inclusivity of LGBTQ newcomers in Canada—A content analysis. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 33(3), 356-375.

Kanji, A. (2018). Framing Muslims in the “war on terror”: Representations of ideological violence by Muslim versus non-Muslim perpetrators in Canadian national news media. Religions, 9(9), 274.

Lightman, E. S., & Lightman, N. (2017). Social policy in Canada. Oxford University Press.

Mensah, J. (2020). Home sweet home: Understanding the geographies of return migration intentions among Black continental African immigrants in Canada. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 52(3), 107-127.

Nwoke, C. N., & Leung, B. M. (2021). Historical antecedents and challenges of Racialized immigrant women in access to healthcare services in Canada: an exploratory review of the literature. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 8(6), 1447-1455.

Russell, M., Harris, B., & Gockel, A. (2008). Canadian lone mothers describe parenting needs: European solutions explored. Canadian Social Work Review/Revue canadienne de service social, 169-185.

Sadika, B., Wiebe, E., Morrison, M. A., & Morrison, T. G. (2020). Intersectional microaggressions and social support for LGBTQ persons of color: A systematic review of the Canadian-based empirical literature. Journal of GLBT family studies, 16(2), 111-147. Retrieved from https://247essayhelp.com/assignment-help-service/get-language-and-culture-assignment-help-from-expert-writers/

Smith, M. (2020). Homophobia and homonationalism: LGBTQ law reform in Canada. Social & Legal Studies, 29(1), 65-84.

Smith, S. J. (2020). Challenging Islamophobia in Canada: non-Muslim social workers as allies with the Muslim community. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 39(1), 27-46.

Westwood, S. (2022). “People with faith-based objections might display homophobic behaviour or transphobic behaviour”: older LGBTQ people’s fears about religious organisations and staff providing long-term care. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 1-26.