P3 - Describe the application of psychodynamic in health and social care
The unconscious mind
The unconscious mind is part of the brain that stores repressed memories that have been forgotten or stored away so that they are not brought to the surface to be remembered as they may be unpleasant.
Freud believed that the unconscious mind is very important as it determines someone’s behaviour. This is called the dynamic unconscious.
Behaviour is changed through the unconscious mind because when a bad memory has been stored away and not resurfaced because of the pain it entails it makes someone unconsciously, for example more anxious, erratic and possibly scared of certain situations. According to ‘[the] unconscious mind has been restricted to potentially harmful memories that might be stored or stirring there, memories of bad experiences that influence our conscious behaviour even though we are unaware of their impact.
Because of this, behaviour is different and changed in someone and the unconscious mind is unaware of it which in conclusion makes the person unable to change their behaviour.
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Peer Reviews
Here's what a star student thought of this essay
Quality of writing
The Quality of Written Communication (QWC) isn't very good either. Much of the essay relies heavily on quotes from other sources, and here, the more complex use of English is very good, but what the candidate has actually written is fairly basic. They do not use much advanced, field-specific lexis required of A Level Psychology candidates such as "defence mechanisms" and "retrospection", and there is a limited use of challenging punctuation, meaning the overall QWC marks is low. To improve, the candidate should familiarise themselves with the appropriate terminology required to answer a question like this, as this would demonstrate to the examiner a confident writer who has a good understanding of psychological terminology and how to apply it.
Level of analysis
The Level of Analysis is poor here. This candidate can expect to achieve no higher than a high D grade because they do not describe, in the depth required, the whole of the psychodynamic perspective. There are hugely important factors missed out, all of which could contribute to the candidate's answer as they all link well with the development of health and social care. For instance, missing out the assumption that psychodynamic approach builds itself upon (that our adult behaviour is shaped by unconscious childhood experiences) is shooting yourself in the foot, as it is such a fundamental basis and candidate will lose easy marks for not identifying something so simple. To improve further, the candidate should consider what roles the Id, Ego and Superego play in controlling our behaviour in the present, and how an imbalance may lead to a certain reaction to certain health and social are programmes. For instance, a dominant Id may see someone kicking and screaming for more medication because they feel it works better if they take more - this is because the Id is the most fundamental and childish parts of our psyche and it does not understand nor appreciate society's moral rules - the is a job for the Ego. The candidate should've also mentioned defence mechanisms such as Denial, which is hugely important in diagnosing mental illnesses that require health and social care programmes to be treated.
Response to question
This essay is a response to a question focusing on how the psychodynamic approach to Psychology has contributed to the development of health and social care. There is some fair evidence of understanding of Freudian theory, though it has not been successfully applied to a study such as, say, the Case Study of "Little Hans" and so it's validity as description is limited. I would also have liked to have seen a more in-depth description, rather than a paragraph on the unconscious mind that boils down to what we store inside it. Perhaps to focus more on how this relates to health and social care the candidate should has considered the other two parts of the mind - the conscious and the preconscious/sub-conscious. This would've shown a far better focus on the question and would has also won the candidate marks for a profound understanding of Freudian theory of memory.
