Alan's Case: The Lasting Power Of Attorney

As Alan wanted to give his stepchildren full access to make decisions and take action concerning his finances while he still had mental capacity, Alan set up an ordinary power of attorney. This legal document grants the attorney (stepchildren) temporary authority to act on his behalf, but is only valid while Alan had mental capacity to make his own decisions (Department for Constitutional Affair, 2007). The application was in the process when Alan lost capacity. A lasting power of attorney gives family members or advocates the legal authority to make decisions on his behalf, or if the service user is unable due to the lack of mental capacity or no longer wishes to make decisions for himself. There are two types of lasting power of attorney,
I observed Alan repeatedly quoting three reasons as to why he was in a care home, coached by his nephew. It was excruciating to observe, again I reflected on this with my practice educator as I found the whole situation extremely bizarre. The theory I associated with the behaviour was ‘behaviour conditioning’. This form of learning occurs when: 1) a stimulus becomes effective in evoking the desired response or 2) the response occurs regularly in a specific environment. The nephew initiated the behaviour using reinforcement, rewards of chocolate and a round of applause if Alan could cite why he was in a care home. The conditioned (conditional) stimulus, occurred when the nephew would kneel in front of Alan and before asking, Alan would start to cite the three sentences (Maclean, Harrison,
The ‘incentive motivation theory’ indicates that people become motivated by external rewards. Alan’s behaviour is operant conditioned and strengthened by the rewards he receives; reinforcement is also imperative in incentive motivation theory. Instead of a learned behaviour, motivation theory proposed that family members behaved intentionally to pursue and gain rewards (Geen, 1995). Alan’s last will and testament, I believed is the motivation for his nephew and son, who perceive large monetary gain; therefore they are motivated to be involved purely to pursue the reinforcement of inheritance.
The family definitely showed the signs of the sociological ‘conflict theory’ in the way they all strived for power over the situation. Conflicting sides of the family all disagreed what actions would be beneficial for Alan. I was able to study the family dynamics and the roles played by the various family members undergoing conflicts and disharmony. Again, I identified the source of the power and the cause of the conflict was to gain access to assets and wealth. The theory also uncovered how the family dealt with changes and adversity (Sociology Guide,