Becoming an adult

My childhood consisted of so many responsibilities, so for me adulthood came at a very young age. Due to a neglectful provider I had to find my own way. Most of my friends were so eager to grow up and get out of their parents house. I on the other hand was looking for a resting place with a nurturing parent. Unfortunately, I ended up in foster care at age seventeen. I became very emotional, but I didn’t give up.

Adulthood came with many egrets for me, but this sorrow due to loss of childhood had to wait, because responsibilities were “knocking on the door”. After the hasten process of maturity, I begin to view life from the eyes of what I was, an adult. Grasping the concept made things much easier. I begin learning my way and creating my own path at the same time. So therefore, I graduated high school early got a Job and attended a community college for my Nurse Aide 1 certification. Once I reached 18 1 got an apartment. I then obtained a position In substance abuse working as a Certified Nursing Assistant.

After two and a half years of work I decided to attend college for Nursing, and It Is very telling getting off a night shift Job attending morning classes, but that Is part of being an adult nothing comes easy It takes hard work and determination. However, people seem to not understand the meaning of being an adult. I feel Like age Is irrelevant when it comes to being an adult due to the simple fact an adolescent can have more sense than a person that’s middle aged. I myself have personally encountered this several times in my life.

I will admit being an adult comes with a lot f responsibility, and you have to be responsible for your own actions and make decisions. Sometimes I would find myself getting upset, because I didn’t have parents there for me and I had to be an adult before it was time for me to be one, but now as I look back I am thankful where I stand in life as a young lady, and I continue to learn and grow every day. The more that life goes on, I realize that I benefited from all the negatives I experienced as a child. I learned to turn all the negative Into a positive to make me a better person as an adult.

BY seamiest jesting place with a nurturing parent. Unfortunately, I ended up in foster care at age obtained a position in substance abuse working as a Certified Nursing Assistant. After two and a half years of work I decided to attend college for Nursing, and it is very tiring getting Off night shift Job attending morning classes, but that is part of being an adult nothing comes easy it takes hard work and determination. However, people seem to not understand the meaning of being an adult. I feel like age is negatives I experienced as a child. I learned to turn all the negative into a positive to

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Adult Protective Services

Supportive services which are not of constitutional setting can also be provided to children and other people who care for the elderly person so as to protect him/her against elderly abuse by unscrupulous people. These services prevent the elders from being thrown out of their own homes by perpetrators. The elders however may be prone to abuse by the society and their families if they luck support services.

(Wiehe, 1998). There are various reasons as to why the elderly people may be susceptible to financial abuse by other people such as the family members and their financial advisors. One is that the old people fail to realize the value of their assets; this is due to lack of current financial information about their assets and they may not know that their homes and other assets have appreciated markedly.

Family members and financial advisors who are in charge of their assets will mostly want to take advantage of this fact by not disclosing the real current value of the assets that the elder has and therefore these perpetrators end up acquiring illegal gains from the elder. According to (Wilber & Reynolds, 1996), another reason why the elderly may be a target of perpetrators for the purpose of financial gains is because they maybe disabled requiring helpers to depend on them.

These guardians mostly have access to the finances and assets of the old person and may therefore gain a significant level of influence over them which they may end up using to gain financially from the elderly person. Another reason is that the elderly persons mostly receive monthly checks in their homes; this predictable pattern at which they are updated on their financial status may be used by their abusers to siphon them their finances since they will be able to predict when the elderly receives his money at home or when he will be needed to go to the bank.

The persons who may be interested in an elderly persons wealth believe that the person will not live long enough to take legal actions or get convincing witnesses to help them with their cases against them, the severely impaired are also not likely to take action against their perpetrators due to illnesses or a feeling of embarrassment since the persons abusing them may be the ones giving them love, care, shelter and companionship. The perpetrators therefore view these as perfect chances to manipulate the elderly and gain access to their finances and assets.

(Hardings, King & Kelly, 2002). The elderly persons may also lack financial knowledge about their assets therefore assigning other people to manage them for them which may lead to the manager manipulating the elder and making unscrupulous deals using their finances especially if the person has ill intensions. The advancing technology has made financial management complicated therefore the financial advisors or persons who may be having intension of stealing from the elders may use this technology to gain financially since the elders may not understand these new managing methods.

A study referred to as the National Elderly Abuse Incidence Study (NEAIS) which was funded from united states and conducted in 1996 provides a preview of new cases of elderly abuse that are taking place. The findings from the study indicated that the rate of abuse of the elderly persons is twice or three times higher than their general rate of population in the country. The study showed that the rate of abuse of female elders is higher that the abuse of male elders.

The study conducted by NEAIS further showed that almost half of the elderly persons who had reported cases of abuse or neglect to the Adult Protective Services were physically unable to take care of themselves. The study also showed that the rate of financial and domestic abuse is mostly conducted by family members and substitutes nine out of ten of the entire abuse of the elderly person. Further more, the study the study indicated that for every reported cases of neglect and abuse against the elderly persons, five cases went unreported. (Wilber & Reynolds, 1996).

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Safeguarding Adults And Personalisation

This essay will focus on adult safeguarding and how law and policy applies to working with vulnerable adults, which in turn will recognise how this can protect or hinder their rights. In addition to this, it will also demonstrate my understanding of what the role and responsibilities of a social worker is in regards to safeguarding and personalisation. The adult safeguarding national policy agenda was set out in 2000 by the department of health called ‘No Secrets’; named such to outline that there can be no secrets or somewhere to hide when it comes to exposing the abuse of vulnerable adults.

This guidance defined a vulnerable adult as ‘a person who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or may be unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation’. (Department of Health, 2013) However, safeguarding services have considerably developed since then and in the draft Care and Support Bill 2012, a new term, ‘adult at risk’ has now replaced ‘vulnerable adult’ as a more acceptable alternative and because the term ‘vulnerable adult’ may wrongly imply that some of the fault for the abuse lies with the adult abused.

It was proposed by the Law Commission and it is now defined as: ‘anyone with social care needs who is or may be at risk of significant harm’. Although this is a much shorter definition it is still clear that no matter what your circumstances, anyone can be classed at risk and is entitled to be safeguarded and protected from abuse. (Department of Health, 2013) Many social workers feel frustrated by the fact that when dealing with adult abuse cases there is no statute that is equivalent to the Children Act 1989.

However, there are several pieces of policy and legislation that social workers can draw upon to support their practice that will both empower and protect individuals who find themselves in vulnerable situations. (Pritchard, 2009) Legislation dating back from 1948 to the present day provides a range of duties and powers based on various definitions and criteria. In England and Wales there is not a statutory duty to investigate abuse, however, No Secrets clearly places a responsibility on social services as the key agency responsible for adult protection and this position is strengthened by the Human Rights Act 1998.

(Wilson et al, 2008) The Human Rights Act didn’t come into force in the UK until October 2000 and it meant people could take cases regarding breaches of their human rights into a UK court. This would have provided a breakthrough to victims who thought that their perpetrators would always get away with abusing them. Although, without the help of a social worker encouraging them to seek help and support this would not be able to happen. (Galpin&Bates, 2009)

There are particular articles within the Act that are relevant to safeguarding adults such as; Article 2, everyone has a right to life; Article 3, the prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and Article 5, everyone has the right to liberty and security. In addition to this, the right to respect a person’s home, private and family life under Article 8; investigating and responding to the risk of abuse will almost invariably involve this article; interventions must be lawful, justified and proportionate given the risk. (Pritchard, 2009)

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides a framework to support individual decision-making, allowing choice of appointing their own decision maker and to also promote decision-making in a person’s best interests should they lack capacity. The Act encourages forward planning, for example, people who have capacity but feel that they would lack capacity in the future they can nominate others to act for them under a Lasting Power of Attorney which would involve decisions about welfare, health and financial matters.

Where decisions have to be made regarding serious medical treatment, long-term accommodation moves or an adult protection investigation, an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) may be appointed to support and represent the individual. (Wilson et al) The IMCA service started in 2007 when it provided a service for 5,266 people and has been providing a statutory service for five years. Although the IMCA service is a statutory service, it is provided by the voluntary sector and is a national service provided by 60 local providers which sets out to both empower and to safeguard people.

It is accountable to local commissioners as well as local clients; it works with both the NHS and 152 local authorities and it is designed to support and represent people as well as challenge and change organisations and their practices. In 2009, IMCAs were given additional duties under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS). Their focus was to safeguard some of the most vulnerable circumstances that people can find themselves in.

Therefore, where, for their own safety and in their best interests, people need to be accommodated under care and treatment regimes that have the effect of depriving them of their liberty, but where they lack capacity to consent to the regime. (Department of Health, 2013) Another act that is relevant to adult services is the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 which provides a framework for all assessments of vulnerable adults. It emphasises the importance of case monitoring and reviewing. (Pritchard, 2009) Prior to the act there had been criticism about the way in which community care services were organised.

Therefore, when the Act was implemented, qualified social workers were given the task as care managers and many going into adult services for the first time. A key aspect of care management was that the assessment process should be based on an individual’s needs rather than the service they require which would enable user empowerment and choice; and in turn provide a personalised approach. (Parker&Bradley, 2010) Personalisation means starting with the person rather than the service and it reinforces the idea that the person should know best what their needs are and how they can be met.

The social workers job working with adults at risk would be to ensure they had the right information and support to access the appropriate services. Personalisation is about giving people much more choice and control over their own lives and good social work practice is about putting the individual first. (SCIE, 2008) The personalisation agenda was outlined in three important documents. Firstly, Fair Access to Care Services (FACS) which called for local authorities to set eligibility criteria for providing services based on balancing resources against need.

Secondly, Transforming Social Care which was introduced to develop a personalised approach to the delivery of adult social care through the use of direct payments and personal budgets. Finally, the document, Putting People First placed personalisation at the centre of social care policy, practice and performance. These policies were introduced to promote independent living and the funding for these initiatives took on two forms in the way of Direct Payments and Personal Budgets. (Trevithick, 2012) The legislation for direct payments is incorporated in the Community Care Act 1996.

The Act gave local authorities the power to implement direct payments. However, it was not until 2000 that the service was extended to people over 65 which obviously led to them being more vulnerable and unable to access services. Direct payments is a way of enabling people to manage their own care and support services; it is seen as a right not a privilege. (Parker&Bradley, 2009) Although direct payments are seen as central to the government’s agenda for the modernisation and transformation of adult social care, it needs to be noted that there are concerns regarding risks and possible reduction in rights for people who use direct payments. (Galpin&Bates, 2009)

The main concern is that people will use their direct payments to employ unregulated care workers or relatives or will not manage well which may leave them open to a greater risk of poor quality care or even abuse through neglect, exploitation, physical, etc. (CommunityCare, 2013) On the other hand, whom the service user employs is generally their choice and responsibility which would give them a sense of independence. However, regulation and training of personal assistants is not compulsory, therefore, evidence of qualifications or certificates is at the employer’s discretion.

This in itself poses a risk to service users who take this route. (Galpin&Bates, 2009) Personal budgets or individual budgets refers to funding that is allocated by the local authority to enable service users to buy services in regards to their personal and social care needs which can include domestic, social leisure and educational activities. Administration is viewed as less intrusive than direct payments, for example, receipts are not required for individual expenditure. It is the responsibility of a social worker to play a key role in delivering this personalised service. (Parker&Bradley, 2010)

In 2010, the UK Coalition Government confirmed its commitment to the principles which are embodied in the personalisation agenda and the target was for local councils to offer personal budgets to one million social care service users by 2013 as part of its social care provision. (Trevithick, 2012) However, a joint discussion document on the future of services for older people called ‘The Case for Tomorrow Facing the Beyond’ was produced in 2012. The document addressed that the opportunities of personal budgets and direct payments have not been a constant acceptance by all those who are entitled to them.

Whilst people have usually been very positive about the impact of personal budgets on their lives, older adults report less satisfaction than other adult groups. More older people receive adult social care services than any other age groups but the amount that are actually receiving personal budgets or direct payments is small. In addition to this, the legal responsibilities of the personal budget holder are also presenting some challenges in the way of the holders acting as employers. When a service user directly employs someone to deliver a service, issues of employment law, quality and safeguarding still remain.

There is a challenge for policy makers, local authorities and their partners to balance concerns about the impact of less well monitored systems on quality, reliability and safeguarding on one hand and the bureaucracy and cost of additional monitoring on the other. (Adass, 2013) As mentioned previously, FACS is a national eligibility framework which allocates social care resources to individuals, carers and communities based on four eligibility bands – critical, substantial, moderate and low risk to independence.

However, in 2010 it was said to have proved difficult to adhere to, especially in the economic climate with rising cost pressures and an increasing need to ration services. The BASW’s joint manager noted there was a need for a national framework and more should be left to the professional discretion of social workers, working with the personalisation agenda and a person-centred approach. However, this can only happen if councils are given enough resources to manage peoples care. (CommunityCare, 2013)

Putting People First; a shared vision and commitment to the transformation of adult social care was a key document from the government to outline the future of adult service provision. It sets out the government’s commitment to independent living for all adults. In addition to this, it seeks to develop a collaborative approach between local and central government, providers and regulators to facilitate the development of a personalised system of adult social care. The first step in a personalised approach to social work practice is Person Centred Planning (PCP).

PCP addresses issues of exclusion that can be overlooked in the assessment process because it focuses on the person’s capacities and not their impairments. The listening involved in PCP is good social work practice and can be used to understand a person’s choices and abilities. It also helps to ensure that the person is placed at the centre of the assessment and planning process. However, there is an issue of funding when it comes to PCP for all individuals with a learning disability and can rely heavily on the trust of the individuals informal or unpaid support network to make their aspirations and plans a reality.

Although in my opinion I do think PCP is the way forward and should be used more frequently in social work practice. (Galpin&Bates, 2009) In conclusion to this essay and with the information gathered it can be noted that there are several policies and legislation that support the safeguarding of adults. Therefore, it seems unimaginable as to why vulnerable adults or adults at risk find themselves in a position of abuse or neglect. However, unfortunately due to the recent Winterbourne View scandal and others like it, abuse obviously still remains of individuals who are clearly too vulnerable to speak out.

It does appear that although guidance and policies are in place to safeguard adults who may be at risk, it obviously doesn’t seem to be enough or it is simply that abusers are getting away with their crimes. The future of adult safeguarding must be improved and to do this, all agencies should work together in partnership and ensure the implementation of policies; procedures, etc. are in place. Outstanding social work practice is of the utmost importance.

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Adult Life

What I feel the definition of being an adult means to be mature and responsible with your things that you have to do in life to life basics. Age doesn’t have anything to do with being mature or being in the adult section. It’s about self realization of you becoming mature. Some people when there maturing there starting college, or a new job, or even just going through with your life. When you are an adult you can make life judgments without any ones help from family or friends. You start identifying yourself of how independent you can be by your own. One important thing that you need to be an adult is responsibility.

You would need responsibility towards your family, friend members, and yourself. As a member of society you would need to engage in the community you live in, so you know your whereabouts in the place you live at. You can have a social responsibility which means to volunteer and recycle to keep the place clean. If you’re a responsible friend you would help him or her to make a good decision before he realizes he make a bad mistake. Be there for hem whenever he needs help. A responsible adult will take care of their family and help support them when they need it. Your family should be an important thing in your life.

Also you should be respectful of your mom and dad, brothers and sisters. A good father or mother for your child. Without responsibility you won’t be able to fulfill your duties of being a good parent. Without it you might forget to pick up dinner for your wife. Or you could be late to pick up your son from soccer practice. As an adult, you would need to be financially responsible to support yourself. You can’t expect to be taking care of a family if you can barely support yourself. It’s an adult’s responsibility to pay the bills of the house, and worry about the money to see if he has enough to support himself.

But a responsible adult is usually good with money, so he won’t be low for the month. He would know how to save money, or not waste it on anything that is not necessary. And know when to use the money if they absolutely need it, or if it’s a requirement thing. Respect is also an important part of being an adult. For example if you got hired at a job, and you don’t like someone your goanna have to learn how to deal with them. Adults have to learn how to deal with one another in daily basics. They don’t let little things get in the way of there working environment.

They don’t let there emotions get the best of them. They have self control which comes from being or becoming an adult. One of my role models for being an adult is my father. He is responsible by, he pays the bills, makes sure he has food in the table, and money in the bank. When things get bad or stressful he just keeps a calm mind and thinks of what the solutions are cause that’s what a responsible adult does. My dad is teaching me of responsibility not by telling me, but as me just watching him and seeing what he has to do to maintain us. I respect him for everything he has done too keep us in place.

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Adult Development – Summary

This paper explores and details the biological, cognitive, and social development of the author during the stages of infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. It will compare the author’s experiences and developmental milestones with the theories presented in the textbook. The combination of all of these factors, combined with the reactions and […]

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Tried as Adults

At the age of 17, Robert Acuna was convicted of killing two elderly neighbors, James Caroll and Joyce Caroll. The young teenager shot them “execution style” as prosecutors described it (Liptak 1). Should this young man be tried as an adult? Why yes, of course he should be tried as an adult. It is because […]

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Adulthod final

The distinction of the age range within each stage of development or within a single stage say childhood or adolescence varies from one community to another. These distinctions are not fixed and they vary greatly depending on the culture and the social orientation of the society doing the distinction.

For instance, the age at which an individual is seen as a juvenile varies from state to another and therefore it is automatic that the age of at which one converts to an adult from adolescence will also vary. Therefore the distinction between childhood and adulthood will also vary between these states and generally vary from one cultural and social group to another all along history.

It is important to note that the passage year into adulthood or passage years within adulthood itself as a stage of development is socially and culturally fixed. All cultures divide the entire life of human beings into more all the same but what differ are the transition ages from one stage to another or from one sub stage (within one development stage say adulthood) to another.

Of great importance are the roles that come with the attainment of each development stage (Barber, 1957).

These roles are assigned or expected in each society or culture differently and on the basis of the developmental changes observed at each stage. For instance, one will be expected to marry and raise a family at the entry into adulthood whereas other societies will prefer on to move on to the middle adulthood before he or she could marry.

This paper seeks to address the stages of adulthood giving a detailed description of the changes observed at each stage of adulthood and at the same time addressing how public policy affects each period of development and examine the different cultural influences during each developmental period.

2.0 Literature Review

Life development stages are often marked by certain specific social, physical and psychological developments or changes. When these changes are observed the assignment of rights, roles, privileges and responsibilities then takes place but this assignment is depended on the culturally defined or defined as a matter of official policy.

For instance, in Western industrialized societies, the life development stages are defined as Prenatal stage (conception- birth), Infancy (birth-2 years), Early childhood (3-6 years), Middle childhood (6 years- puberty which of course varies), Adolescence (beginning of puberty to adulthood), Young adulthood (20-40 years), Middle adulthood (40-65 years) and Later adulthood old age (sixty-five and older).

Of great concern especially for this paper are the stages of adulthood which as seen from above list is divided into 3 stages: Young adulthood (20-40 years), Middle adulthood (40-65 years) and Later adulthood/old age (65 years and older) (Pikunas& Eugene, 1991).

A young adult is lies between the age of 20-40 and individuals in this sub stage of adulthood display energy and vigor. They are generally of perfect health and bereft of problems related to senescence. Physical performance reaches the peak at the age of 20-35an starts to wane after 35, Strength peaks at 25 and remains constant through 35-40 after which it starts to decline and Flexibility decrease as the age goes past 35 or 40.

It is important to note physical differences in which a 40 year old may out beat a 20 year old on many of the aspects highlighted above. Women in this group reach their fertility peak which then decreases gradually as age progresses. For instance, there is 50%, 40% and 30% for women aged19-26, 27-34 and 35-39 respectively (Lesser & Pope, 2007).

At this sub stage of adulthood, the members think in a more mature way as oppose to the preceding adolescence stage and focus more on the positive construction of a bright future ahead of them. Further, they learn to appreciate value in things and issues, tangible or intangible, and their relationships with adults improve markedly.

Middle adulthood, according to the US official policies , includes the ages 35-54 year olds but Erik Erikson deems otherwise and thinks that this stage end later and thus sets the stage to last from 40-65 years old. This stage succeeds young adulthood and it is defined by visible aging signs such as graying of hair and loss of skin elasticity, put up of body weigh usually due to reduced physical activity and decrease in strength and flexibility.

Female fertility also decreases significantly during this stage of middle adulthood. However, the aging process observed in this stage varies from one individual to another mainly through the concept of individual differences (Shephard, 1998).

Finally, late adulthood or old age starts from 65 years and above. However this boundary between the middle adulthood and old age may not be categorically placed because it doesn’t share the same connotations in all societies and therefore it varies from on society to another.

For Instance, in most parts of the world, old age is assigned to people based on certain changes in their lives, activities and social roles i.e. people are said to be old  when they assume or become grandparents, or when they retire.

European and North American societies identify old age with attainment of specific number of years. This apparently last stage of the human life cycle is distinct of limited regenerative ability with the members being highly prone to disease sickness and syndromes besides other aspects of senescence.

3.0 Statement of the Problem

The stages of adulthood development vary from one society or government to another. It is evident that the age definitions of these sub stages of adulthood differ from one official government policy to another and these governments fix these age .numbers based on the societal assignments of roles.

The society on the other hand assigns roles, responsibilities, privileges etc basing on the public policy defined by the government. Therefore, it goes without saying that public policy affects each of the sub stages of adult development cultural orientation immensely influences each sub stage of developmental period.

4.0 Research Methods

The method of collecting data is designed in a way that one randomly observes various people in various sub stages of adulthood noting the common physical, social and even psychological features where possible. Further, at least ten individuals in each sub stages of the adulthood stage i.e.

Early Adulthood, Middle Adulthood, Late Adulthood, Elderly are interviewed to state why they think they qualify to be in their respective sub stage of adulthood and what are some of the responsibilities, roles, rights etc that come with each sub stage of adulthood development. The research schedule was set a below:

4.1 Early Adulthood

Observation: physical, psychological and social features

Interview: to state why they think they qualify to be in their respective sub stage of adulthood and the responsibilities, roles and rights that come with this sub stage

Time: 3 Hours

4.2 Middle Adulthood

Observations: physical, psychological and social features

Interview: to state why they think they qualify to be in their respective sub stage of adulthood and the responsibilities, roles and rights that come with this sub stage

Time: 3 Hours

4.3 Late Adulthood

Observation: physical, psychological and social features

Interview: to state why they think they qualify to be in their respective sub stage of adulthood and the responsibilities, roles and rights that come with this sub stage

Time: 3 Hours

4.4 Elderly

Observation: physical, psychological and social features

Interview: to state why they think they qualify to be in their respective sub stage of adulthood and the responsibilities, roles and rights that come with this sub stage

Writing Quality

Grammar mistakes

F (55%)

Synonyms

B (87%)

Redundant words

F (48%)

Originality

80%

Readability

F (42%)

Total mark

D

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