What is a belief?
Beliefs come from real experiences but often we forget that the original experience is not the same as what is happening in life now. Our values and beliefs affect the quality of our work and all our relationships because what you believe is what you experience. We tend to think that our beliefs are based on reality, but it is our beliefs that govern our experiences.
The beliefs that we hold are an important part of our identity. They may be religious, cultural or moral. Beliefs are precious because they reflect who we are and how we live our lives.
Pre-existing beliefs
As a care worker in the community services industry, the pre-existing beliefs you may have could be related to stereotypes that have developed for you around issues like sexuality, alcohol and other drugs, ageing and disabilities, independence, health, the rights of people, your idea of health and what it’s like to be older and/or disabled.
These stereotypes could affect the way you interact and work with clients. This is because you have assumptions about what your clients can and can’t do for themselves, the way they should think about issues and what is best for them. If you make assumptions as a worker then you are denying clients their rights, respect and dignity. As a worker this would be regarded as a breach in your duty of care towards clients.
The need for older people and people with disabilities to express their sexuality does not necessarily diminish over time. The desire for intimacy can in fact intensify. The development of new relationships may occur as a result of living in a residential care setting or as people’s social networks change over time. The right to express sexuality is a quality of life issue and is part of one’s self-identity. The way people choose to express their sexuality may change over time in a variety of ways. Intimate relationships enhance a person’s quality of life and contribute to their feelings of well being. As a care worker it is important to respect a person’s right to express their sexuality in a way which is appropriate for them.
What is an attitude?
The word ‘attitude’ can refer to a lasting group of feelings, beliefs and behaviour tendencies directed towards specific people, groups, ideas or objects.
An attitude is a belief about something. It usually describes what we think is the ‘proper’ way of doing something. The attitudes that we feel very strongly about are usually called values. Other attitudes are not so important and are more like opinions. Sometimes our own attitudes can make us blind to other people’s values, opinions and needs. Attitudes will always have a positive and negative element and when you hold an attitude you will have a tendency to behave in a certain way toward that person or object.
You will need to be aware of your own personal values, beliefs and attitudes and how they might impact on your work.
It is important to consider the mapping of your own life – what have been some significant events that have shaped you, what qualities you admire in yourself and others, what beliefs are important to you, what you value and so on. Some examples of these may be personal features such as strength of character, helping people, respect, honesty, wealth, success, health etc.
What we believe are important qualities, or what qualities we admire in ourselves and others, generally reflect our life experiences and the values which we established in our early years through the influence of family, teachers, friends, religion, our culture, our education.
Given that all of us have differences which have been shaped by our life experiences, we can understand that we will all have different sets of values and beliefs. We do not all think about issues in the same way!
To work effectively it is critical to understand your own values and beliefs and to understand the importance of not allowing them to affect the way in which you work with clients. Remember they are your values and may be quite different to the values held by your clients.
In order to remain professional it is necessary to leave your personal values out of the client/worker relationship. This means that it is important that you allow clients to make decisions based on their own values and beliefs rather than decisions that reflect what you think they should do.
When we are carrying out our daily duties at work we rarely think about our attitudes, we are immersed in work itself and often remain unaware of just how different our attitudes could be to others around us.
As previously defined an attitude is simply a belief, and describes what we think is the proper way of doing or thinking about something. Attitudes vary in intensity.
When we feel strongly about something attitudes are called values. Attitudes that are less important to us are called opinions. For example we may feel strongly that older people should give up their jobs when they reach a certain age, so that younger people can get work. Strong attitudes are often very emotional and can cloud our judgement in meeting other people’s needs. This means that some people or clients may be denied their rights to be allowed to make their own choices and decisions about their life.
The influence of attitudes
Our attitudes develop over time and not only reflect where we have come from i.e. the influence family, friends and experiences have had on our attitudes, but also how we will proceed with our life in the future. Attitudes are therefore a powerful element in our life, are long enduring and hard to change—but not impossible!
The problem with attitudes
One of the problems with our attitudes is we often ignore any information which is not consistent with them—we become selective in the way we perceive and respond to events and issues—and lose our ‘objectivity’ about the world. By developing insights about our attitudes we reduce the risk of making decisions at work based on our unconscious, pre-existing perceptions, allowing us work more professionally with clients.
Awareness of personal attitudes
It is good practice to think about your attitudes and beliefs: it helps you to understand yourself better. It is beneficial to reflect on your life, identify some of the significant events that have shaped you, consider what qualities you admire in yourself and others and be mindful of what values and are important to you.