Organizational Psychlogy And Behavior - Case Study Example

Preferential Treatment Situation Paul was a junior at the Upland and he was in his early twenties. He had been born in Korea, but he had come to the United States when he was nine years old, so he was Korean American. Paul had initially chosen for his academic career a biochemistry major, in order to become a doctor later on, but after starting he found out that he had serious difficulties with several subjects and that he could not overcome them. As a result, he became more and more depressed and could not get over this state, so he chose to take one year off from his studies in order to think over his decision of becoming a doctor. Paul returned to school discouraged and changed his major to psychology. Having done that, he noticed that he liked the subject matters much more than he did biochemistry and, as a consequence, he was also getting very good grades. All the time Paul had had Dr. Richard David as his academic advisor, and he had needed his help and advice, especially when he was having difficulties with biochemistry. Dr. David was a principal academic advisor at the university. He was an unmarried Caucasian man in his mid-forties. He had known Paul from the beginning and they had had six meetings prior to the one in question. The first two meetings went on normally, as Paul did not have much advice to ask for. From the third and fourth meetings on Paul went to Dr. David in order to get advice on what to do about biochemistry, but he could get very little useful support and the discussions were professional and distant. The last two meetings were about Paul`s change of curriculum to psychology, but Dr. David had little advice for Paul and he merely agreed to the desired change. On the seventh and problematic meeting Dr. David hardly ever looked at Paul, and that was just to ask for his social number, so he could check out on his school record. After having disapprovingly reviewed Paul`s grades, Dr.David found out from David that he wanted to change to psychology and further adviced him, coldly, that psychology is what he should do further. The meeting ended and Paul was convinced that he could not have obtained more from Dr. David. Paul felt discriminated, but did not know how to answer this attitude, so he just left. Because he was upset, Paul left his cap in Dr. David`s office and did not realize that for some time. Then he went back to get his cap, but found that Dr. David had began another counselling session, with a female student whom Paul could only hear talk, because Dr. David had left the door open. Not wishing to intrude, Paul waited outside and unwillingly heard the whole session. And, to his surprise, Dr. David gave a lot of useful advice to the student as to her future career and even got personal and shared with her experiences from his college days. Even more, Dr. David told the student she could come back at any time if she needed more information and he even gave her his phone number. The session finished, the student left, so Paul could see she was one of his coleagues, a Caucasian female in her early twenties, who was also majoring in psychology. Confused as to what to do, Paul walked into Dr. David`s office in order to get his cap, but could not find the strength to face him, so he just took his cap and left. At that moment Dr. David seemed to realize what had happened and appeared to be at a loss, but he could not say anything to Paul either. Paul left the office feeling more confused than ever, not knowing what to do next and being pretty sure that he did not want to see Dr. David ever again, as a human being, let alone as his advisor. System problems The system of assigning advisors for all students is a very good one, because it can ensure that each student can be helped to find a suitable path in life. However, the system should have such mechanisms as to provide real equal opportunity to all. People are all different, and there should appear no such differences in treatment as it happened to Paul. Since the school must have had an antidiscrimination policy, Dr. David , unfortunately, could not even tell Paul that he did not like him and did not want to give him advice. On the other hand, Dr.David`s behavior towards the female student could possibly be interpreted as sexual harassment, so Dr. David had behaved improperly twice, not once. The system of advisors should be revised in such a way as to prevent such events and allow both students and advisors to express their beliefs, so that there should not appear any discriminations. Perhaps it would be a good idea to aks the advisors beforehand if they wish to work with that particular student, although that could give space for further discrimination. But, on the other hand, assigning Paul to Dr. David and letting Dr. David discriminate Paul anyway is not a good course of action, either, because Dr. David is entitled to his own opinions, too, and if he feels any disliking at all he will never advise Paul with an open heart. Afterall, one is allowed to change the doctor in case of disliking, and the doctor can choose (although not always) not to treat a patient. Perhaps it would be best to allow the advisors, to some extent, to choose their students, as long as each advisor has the same number of students and as long as all the students are advised by someone. The case discussed through Lewin`s Theory of Change The case fits very well Lewin`s theory. In the beginning Paul faces the stage of unfreezing, when the individual must leave the comfort area and find a new interest. It is best that this stage take place with previous preparation, which Paul did not have, and that is why he was so confused. Paul feels the need to change something, but he does not have a deadline, so it would be very difficult for him to go through with the change. At this stage, without the proper preparation, some people do not go through any change at all, in the end. In order to make a change, Paul must weigh all the pros and cons and decide, and he cannot do that in a hurry, because that would lead to a wrong decision. The second stage, called change, was meant by Lewin as a process and not as an event, which means that it would normally take some time. It is the hardest stage, because people always fear the unknown. Paul appears to be in this very stage and it is now that he needs help most from Dr. David, so it could be very unfortunate if he should not get that help. Usually at this stage people look for role models in order to see what can be achieved. That is what Paul wants and does not get from Dr. David: possible ways to continue his life after not being able to become a doctor. Dr. David should, by providing possible careers for Paul, help him choose and stimulate him towards making a change, because the process is long and easily intreruptible. Finally, there is the freezing stage, when the change becomes permanent and the individual gets used to living differently and develops a new sense of identity. From then on the individual can begin to form new connections with the people. Paul is not currently in this stage and, if he does not find someone to advise him properly, he may never get to it at all. At this point, Paul needs someone just to explain to him why Dr. David did not wish to work with him, and only then can Paul begin to talk to someone else about his future. Read More