[Platt]
> I assume the theory is that if you can get the
> residents to talk about
> their problems that, with the help of a therapist,
> they will then be
> better able to deal with those problems.
yes... and also what's happening is the hot
stove. The residents feel uncomfortable, they will
admit something's wrong, and they don't feel good. I
think... notice I'm winging it here... but I think
talking about the problems is putting dynamic quality
into static patterns. Static patterns are structured
and organized, and thus, better understood. With all
the disruptions in their lives, but not really
understanding what they can do to change these
disruptive behaviors, the residents get even more
confused and a stronger feeling of helplessness.
Also, by saying no and deterring them from going into
certain areas without permission I 'think' the idea
behind this is to help them change their behaviors.
Therefore it's not just idle thinking about problems,
but it's also active behavior that is to change.
What's barreling down on society here is years and
years of repeated misbehaviors, strong habits of
destructive behavior that has to choose a more
positive route. The crux of all of this, is - without
them wanting to change, they can slide by, hide their
true intentions, seem all well and such, go home and
start getting into trouble all over again.
[Platt]
> I wonder. What did you think of
> Pirsig's views on treating the mentally troubled in
> Chapter 26 of "Lila?."
> Did you take any ideas away from his observations
> that helped you on the job?
I'll try to review this chapter when I have time.
Unless you can summarize some points.
[Platt]
> Is job training included in your facility? Or are
most of the residents
> too young?
The residents do go through what's Independent
Living Group, which prepares them for the living on
their own. This group teaches them how to pay bills,
write a check, write a resume, they go through a
pretend interview (where the residents must dress
appropriately as if they were going to a real
interview), etc...
Some residents get jobs while they are at the
facility. They work off-campus or on-campus in the
cafeteria. Yet, this is only 5% of the residents that
go through this program. What's sadly funny is most
residents can't behave enough to get a job while at
the facility, but they still go home eventually.
> > > [Platt]
> Well said, a living testament to the failure of
amoral intellect.
I agree.
> > > > > [Platt]
> Your experience of being on a treadmill certainly
> indicates problems
> beyond control It's probably presumptuous for me or
> anyone here to
> suggest solutions. But it seems to me if the MOQ is
> ever to be of real
> value, it must open avenues to answers heretofore
> unknown or unapplied. I
> haven't anything helpful to offer, but perhaps
> others do.
What would help is better staff. Staff are not
trained well enough. The turn-off of staff is
tremendously high, so a consistency problem exists.
It takes so long for staff to learn how to do their
jobs (1 year to be competent), but with a turn-over
rate at about 5-6 months - well that's a big problem.
People that are to set limits and get a chance to get
to know the residents don't stick around and are not
around that much. Residents thus go through more
staff at times than fellow residents. Some staff
don't set limits and some do. The ones that set
limits are the bad guys and the residents don't like
them and give them a harder time. The staff that
don't set limits handicap the staff that do set limits
by implanting in the minds of the residents this idea
that some staff are just mean when it's really these
staff that are holding the structure together on the
unit as to avoid total chaos. What the staff that
don't set limits provide for the residents is this
compared relief that they wouldn't no any different if
all staff set-limits. If all staff didn't set limits,
then the residents wouldn't have anything to compare
to and the residents would then NOT like sitting
around and doing nothing or watching movies all day.
I've seen this before. This only leads to the
residents getting bored, and therefore they begin to
cause more trouble. These are internal problems in
which I have to write people up today by the way due
to their not doing what I ask of them. I have this
one staff who tries to reason with the residents all
the time. Two days ago, after working here for 5
months, he said to me, "I don't think I can reason
with them anymore. They just never listen." The
girls yell at him the most. They swear at him.
Ignore him. When he asks them to do one thing, they
do another. They have pushed their way into the staff
office and used the telephone while he keeps saying,
"Oh, that's not something you should be doing. Please
don't do that." But they do, and he just lets them
go. I've seen them push him, and walk away. They do
this to him more than any other staff. He never backs
up his word with any kind of action. Even if he would
give them a consequence, which entails the resident
quietly sitting at a table reading, drawing, or
writing something, but he doesn't. I have to write
him up due to another supervisor telling me he let
them watch movies all morning yesterday and the
residents didn't have to follow the routine at all.
Therefore when a staff comes in to do his or her job
that is routinely done, the residents will ho-hum and
get mad because they have to follow the routine. The
staff asking them to follow the routine is just doing
the program, and then wonders why all the residents
are so mad. When this staff found out what happened
earlier, well then, it was a no-brainer as to why the
residents argued and had to be prompted so many times
to do every part of the usual routine. It makes ones
job that much harder. Oh... it's endless.
[Platt]
> Thanks for taking the time to fill us in on the
details of your work.
Thanks for listening. I see the MoQ as a moral
hierarchy. I noticed Pirsig discussed that the social
level is to be help by the intellectual level and this
is a major aspect of reality. This is why I find
understanding the structure of the static patterns to
be worthwhile and a big help morally in spurring what
the MoQ reality deems as the reality - the truth of
life's generative actions (as opposed to degenerative
actions).
crickets,
SA
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