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Poor Social Services, A Psychological Perspective

Feature Article Poor Social Services, A Psychological Perspective
MAR 18, 2014 LISTEN

The issue of lack of utilities such as water and electricity in some parts of the country and where they are available, the quality of delivery remains nothing but shameful is a deadweight round the necks of consumers.

When fellow citizens in the country side cry for quality social amenities and utilities such as water and electricity, heads drop. For the reason that, in the 21st century, residents of the national capital, Accra are seen carrying what has come to be known as “Kuffour gallon”. Sometimes, residents go miles away from one part of the national capital to the other in search of this precious commodity. If there is no peace in the palace, what do the people in the village expect from the king? If gallons are seen crisscrossing the capital how can those in the country side desire anything?

In spite of the lackluster attitude in the delivery of these social services, supply is equally no better. Since the late 1980s when the Akosombo Hydroelectric dam started having problems electricity supply has been erratic. Industries have been and are still suffering a pinch of the power rationing. Consequently, many citizens have lost their jobs and livelihoods. This is accompanied by attendant consequences, such as inability to carter for school fees and undertakes personal development projects.

Over the years, citizens have been complaining, while the utilities industry players such as mentioned above term them as rants from seemingly noise makers. Citizens have lost their properties through electrical power fluctuations. The popular “Dum sor” has contributed to some market and domestic fires in the country. Many human lives and properties running into hundreds of thousands of Ghana Cedis have gone down the drain courtesy the erratic power supply. When we are assured that, the end of the poor service would be tomorrow, it gets worse that very moment. Why can't we get our heads round this two tormenting evils?

Currently, most citizens are fed up complaining about poor service provision by the two entities. The reason being that, statements and complains made in time past yielded no positive result.

Have we acquired learned helplessness?
Learned helplessness has been defined severally, some scholars in the field of Psychology says is the view that clinical depression and related mental illnesses may result from a perceived absence of control over the outcome of a situation. Other Psychologist also sees learned helplessness as a mental state in which an organism force to endure aversive stimuli, or stimuli that are painful or otherwise unpleasant, become unable or unwilling to avoid subsequent encounters with those stimuli, even if they are escapable, presumably because it has learned that it cannot control the situation.

While the concept is strongly tied to animal psychology and behaviour, it can be applied to many situations involving human beings. When people feel that they have no control over their situation, they may also begin to behave in a helpless manner. This inaction can lead people to overlook opportunities for relief. In the Ghanaian case, rain water harvesting can be exploited to offset the inconveniences that the Ghana Water Company creates. But due to the concentration by citizens in one direction and having lived with the inconveniences of the Ghana Water Company (GWC) most Ghanaians have either no idea about rain water harvesting or discarded it. Same applies to other sources of power, such as wind and solar have all not been exploited with the abounding sunlight.

The concept of learned helplessness was discovered accidentally by Psychologists (Martin) Seligman and (Steven F.) Maler in 1967. Both researchers had initially observed helpless behaviour in dogs that were classically conditioned to expect an electrical shock after hearing a tone.

Later, the dogs were placed in a shuttle box that contained two (2) chambers separated by a low barrier. The floor was electrified on one side and not on the other. The dogs previously subjected to the classical conditioning made no attempt to escape, even though avoiding the shock simply involved jumping over a low barrier.

In order to investigate this phenomenon, both researchers then devised another experiment. In group one, the dogs were strapped into harnesses for a period of time and then released. The dogs in the second group were placed in the same harnesses, but were subjected to electrical shocks that could be avoided by pressing a panel with their noses. The group received the same shocks as those in group two (2), except that those in this group were not able to control the duration of the shock. For those dogs in the third group, the shocks seemed to be completely random and outside of their control.

Later, the dogs were placed in a shuttle box. Dogs from the first and second group quickly learned that jumping the barrier eliminated the shock. Those from the third group, however, made no attempts to get away from the shocks. Due to their experience, they had developed a cognitive expectation that nothing they did would prevent or eliminate the shocks.

This situation does occur among children, a child who performs poorly on math tests and assignments will quickly begin to feel that nothing he does will have any effect on his math performance. When later faced with any type of math-related task, he or she may experience a sense of helplessness. Additionally, a woman who feels shy in social situations may eventually begin to feel that there is nothing she can do to overcome her symptoms. This sense that her symptoms are out of direct control may lead her to stop trying to engage herself in social situations, thus making her shyness even more evident.

In the Ghanaian situation some communities have demonstrated and unfortunately vandalized properties of these utility providers, but there has been no improvement. The poor strategy used to executing their operations which has led to this uninspiring output has not been shunned. Therefore, most Ghanaians do not consider commenting on the current situation as relevant, as it has been the issue over the years, because try as these have nothing seem to have changed or changing. Hence, many citizens have decided to make do with whatever these companies will do.

The issue of galamsey destroying fresh water bodies in Ghana, has also reached a level where every effort to prevent or stop this menace has proved futile.

Now communities, especially in rural areas have given up the fight against these nation wreckers. The Task Force set by the Government has not been able to prevent water bodies from pollution through the activities of these galamseyers. Water which is supposed to appear colourless and odorless in some cases looks similar to milo or diesel. In some instances fresh river bodies which served many village communities have been abounded, leaving them without source of water. Isn't this state of learned helplessness, then what is it?

But we need not give up, as citizens seeking to have improved services, keeping quiet will only live us in a state where later we will have no option but accept that we failed.

Let us keep the pressure on them to attain the desired transformation for a better life for posterity.

Patrick Twumasi
(0209045931)

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