Multidisciplinary Team In Rehabilitation

The aim of this assignment is to discuss the importance of inherited and environmental factors to human development and the role of a multidisciplinary team in rehabilitation using the case study of Genie. Resources from the library and textbooks will be used as well as internet searches, the aspect of human development, nature and nurture will be discussed in relations some theorists. The roles of different professional in a multidisciplinary team in rehabilitation process will also be discussed.
The ways we feel, think, speak and behave are usually as a result of genetic or environmental factors. Our genetic inheritance and upbringing as well as the environment we live in determine to an extent what we are therefore our heredity and environment
plays a big and important role in our growth and development. Piaget (1896 – 1980, cited in Hayes, 2000) believes that cognitive development depend solely on our genetic factors while Bandura(1977, cited in Barbara Woods,1997), believed that our behaviours and other part of human development is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning, this shows that people see human development from different perspectives.
There are different aspects of human development; these include physical, intellectual, language, emotional and social aspect. These aspects are all affected by our genetics and environment. Looking at the language aspect for example, when a child is born, naturally we expect the child to start using words at about 12months old. Chomsky (1959, cited in Barbara woods, 1997) argues that this was possible because children are born with a language acquisition device; this means that humans have an inbuilt mechanism to help them recognise and speak languages. He also said that human being has got innate abilities which help us make sense of language and use it. Vygotsky (1894 –1934, cited in Berk, 2009) on the other hand believed that language development was motivated by the experience of communicating with others; he believed that social interaction or provides the basis for both the development of thinking and language ability. This means that the environment a child is born
or grows into determine or affect the language development. In Genie’s case, she was said to be relatively normal until the age of 14months (BBC 1994), that means she must have been born with the innate abilities but because of the environment she grew up in, because of her social deprivation, lack of attachment and positive reinforcement from her primary care givers which was her parents, she was not able to learn language at the early stage of her life. Skinner(1957),buttress this point when he put forward the idea that children learn language because of the influence of the environment. Skinner believed that parents would provide more attention and pleasurable reactions when an infant make correct sounds or words, this way, a child would gradually learn to speak and learn language. Genie did not experience this, she experienced horrible reactions, shouting and barking from her father, therefore, if Genie had ever learnt any language or behaviour at all, it was negative behaviours like spitting, sniffing and non vocal. Piaget (1896 -1980 cited in Hayes, 2000) identifies different stages of cognitive development and that a particular stage has to be reached before language would develop. Genie did not go through this stage at the right age. For example, Piaget argues that children learn to adapt to the world through assimilation and accommodation which means that the innate abilities of a child helps him to cognitively explore the objects and the environment around him. The child goes through different stages to accommodate the thing that has been assimilated. Genie started experiencing the sensor motor stage which is the first stage at the age of 13yrs, Genie did not go through the natural process of cognitive development but as soon as she was exposed to the environment around her she started to feel and touch things. According to the video (BBC, 1994), when Genie was taken to the butcher who gave her a bone and meat, we were told that Genie would tactically explore the bone, this shows the process of the sensory motor stage identified by Piaget, but one can also say that though genetic materials sometimes influences human development but the environment also has a major role to play as well because in Genie’s case if she was not introduced to her environment after she was discovered, she would not have achieved the little development she had.

Another important aspect of human development is the social emotional development which has to do with ability to form relationships and emotional attachment. According to Bowlby (1969), attachment is a lasting psychological connectedness between human beings. Bowlby believed that the earliest bonds formed by children with their care givers have a great impact that continues throughout life. A mother’s attachment to the child gives such child a sense of security and dependability. Bowlby also believed that early attachment is essential for a child’s emotional, social and intellectual development and that mother’s love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health. One can therefore say that if a child did not form an attachment with her mother in the early stage of life, this can have both mental and physical negative impact on such child. For examples, if a child wants to start walking, the attachment between such child and the parent would act as a catalyst for reinforcement needed for such child to walk that is, the mother has to be there to give the necessary prompts, reassurances and praises for such child to be able to take the bold step. In Genie’s case though it was not mentioned in her story if there was a bond (attachment) between her and her mother between the age of 0-14months before she was confined but the fact that she was socially and emotionally deprived shows that she did not form any attachment with her mother from the age of 14months.Genie also showed that she had the capacity to form attachment and to learn when she was being taught by the special education teacher(Jean Butler),with this, one might be tempted to assume that Genie must have formed a little attachment with her mother before she was confined by her father. Genie lacked a sense of self as a result of her confinement as she did not have the opportunity to interact with other people(children and adult) therefore she was not able to distinguish herself, she was living in her own world emotionally and socially.

If a case like Genie was discovered today and it was referred to a multidisplinary team, one can not necessary determine the success or the outcome of such case at the initial stage, that is, weather in the long term Genie is going to be able to lead normal life or not. This is because as a mulitidisplinary team, it is not possible for just one professional to conclude that it is possible for Genie to lead a normal life, the success of the case depends on the combination of the contributions of all the professionals. The team can decide to deal with Genie’s case using the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory.Maslow identified some human needs which has to be met in order of hierarchy. He said that human basic needs (which are the first in the hierarchy) like food, water sleep and warmth are very important and that the basic needs are similar to instinct and that they play a major role in motivating behaviour, that is, if this needs are adequately met, it would be very easy to start a rehabilitation programme. In Genie’s case, the first step towards a successful rehabilitation should be the provision of these basic needs, the social worker would first of all look for a warm, homely and secure accommodation for her, provide her with one to one care so that she can then start to form an attachment with a particular staff member, this in turn would give Genie a sense of safety and security which is the second stage of Maslow theory. The psychologist can then start to provide psychological care starting with the baseline assessment of Genie, this will help him to determine what type of specialist/therapeutic needs Genie would need e.g. speech therapist, physiotherapists and others. The Psychiatrist on the other hand might want to consider helping Genie by finding out if there are any other underlying factors that might need treatment with medication e.g. check if Genie is autistic.

In conclusion, Chomsky(1959),says that children are born with innate ability which helps them to learn language, one can now say that even if it were so, if such child does not have the right environment where such ability can be nurtured and adequate support and reinforcement given towards the language development, such child will have less or no chance of developing their language.
Genie seemed to have learnt some language through her innate ability, this was evident in the video when Marilyn Rigler asked Genie what she was thinking about and Genie replied “father”, she could remember her father and how she was tied to a potty and chair but could not expressed herself properly. This goes further to show that sometimes the environment can help to reactivate the innate abilities. If Genie was referred to a multidisplinary team with professionals who would be sincerely ready to help and if they could come up with a good and reasonable care package for her, taking into consideration the Maslow hierarchy of needs, there would be about 75% hope that she would lead a normal life, though she might not get to the top hierarchy of Maslow’s theory. The video(BBC,1994).shows that the professionals were not keen on helping Genie, they only used her case for scientific research and they caused more damage to her socially and emotionally and one of the reasons she could not form an attachment was because there was a lot of people involved in her life, she was moved from one place to
another.

REFERENCE LIST

Berk,E.L.(2009) Child development (Eight Edition), Boston: Pearson International Edition.

Hayes, N. (2000) Foundation Of Psychology. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Publishers.

Http:// psychology.about.com/od/developmental psychology, accessed on 27/11/2011.

Http//simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html,accessed on 18/11/2011.

Horizon,(1994) Genie.London.bbc.co.uk

Ilona,Roth(1990) Introduction To Psychology,Vol.1,Open University.

Martin,N.G.,Carlson,N.R.,Burkist,W.(2007) Psychology(Third Edition),Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Woods.(1997) Discovering Psychology. London: Hodder and Stoughton Educational.