Watson and Spock

HEADLINE: A Blended Approach to Caregiving: based on a developmental approach towards elders and those who work with elders

In our Aging 600 course we explored the views of famous childrearing doctors, John B. Watson and Benjamin M. Spock and paralleled how we treat our elders today. We discovered through our discussions that finding a balance in these approaches was both necessary and essential to ensuring that elders can continue to prosper and thrive in their environment while feeling secure in taking risks.


Watson Views
• Rigid scheduling (eat, bathe, go to bed; formulas;)
• Not touchy feely
• Emotion between child and parent is unhealthy: let them cry – not expressive; not touchy feely
• Behaviorist
• Predict and control actions
• Reduce thinking; just action
• Conditioned responses (fear, rage, love – Albert)
• Behaviorism is the study of what people do
• Stimulus is a response and that is what causes relationship
• Conditioning is learning to react to the environment
• Anti-kiss, anti-touch
• Parents are incompetent


Spock
• Pro-touch
• Pro-affection
• Children prosper by mind-body connection
• Pay less attention to experts; trust your instincts
• Rebelled against his harsh, rigid parents
• Father of permissiveness

















Best of both worlds:
• With regard to organizations, which behaviors in which situations are beneficial
• How can you find the best seat on the bus for each type
• Good Behavior would foster consistent values for the organization and the customer and all other stakeholders
• Watson model is efficient – needed to run an organization
• Behaviors should nurture growth without excess risk
• Watson systematic approach allows us to create a roadmap and framework for putting in place our instinctual values
• Trusting our instincts allow us to enhance quality of life through relationship building via touch, talk, smell, ya da ya da ya