PROMOTION OF LIFE SKILLS
What is a problem?
Problem: is a something which is difficult to deal with or to understand and is usually need quickly answer or solution or to be solved.
Social problem: are the difficulties that affecting the communities and they usually bring about many negative consequences.
Example of social problems
i. Violence.
ii. Drug Abuse.
iii. Conflict.
iv. HIV/ AIDS.
v. Poverty.
vi. In adequate health care.
vii. Corruption.
viii. Poor housing.
ix. In adequate clean and safe water.
x. In adequate health care.
SOCIAL PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES
Social problem solving: is the way of trying to find solution for ending the problem in the society. These are the way that a person or community deals with a difficult solution. They involve analyzing a problem to determine the best way of reading or ending it.
They are related to decision making because they require to make a choice and act on it.
WAYS/SKILLS/TECHNIQUES OF PROBLEM SOLVING
Problem solving tools: Are different mechanisms applied by people in solving different social problems.
Social problem-solving techniques: These are the ways or techniques or methods which people use or employ to solve different problems facing the societies. these techniques are known as SOCIAL because they are applied or used in the society. Problem solving is related to decision making as it requires one to make choice. Therefore the problem solving involves the following techniques:-
1. Cooperative/ collective technique: It is a way of problem solving where by a person who has a problem exposes it to other people so that they can contribute their ideas which eventually solve the problem. It is very useful because different people are involved in tackling the problem.
2. Guidance and counselling: Counseling means provision of psychological relief and advisory to a person who has a problem. It includes problems which cannot be solved physically or mechanically instead they need psychological relief or treatment. Guidance means giving a person with problems way to follow as to care a problem. Guidance and counseling are applied to a problem found by the people who have mental or emotional suffering for HIV/AIDS. Victims need counseling so that they may cope with the situation revealed to them.
3. Working hard: This is very appropriate method to the problems caused by laziness. For example, lack of food and good shelter can be solved by working hard. It is advisable that hard work should be employed in both metal and physical activities.
4. Seeking advice from other people: This is technique that has been employed by people for years in problem solving, normally, people who are considered wise, knowledge and experienced about the problem. for as students seeks advice from his/her fellow student or teacher or how to conduct private studies so as to overcome failure in examinations.
5. Reading documents: There are some books with some information about life skills they suggest ways to follow so as to solve the problem. For example, think big, skills for students to pass their exams”. So, students or people are encouraged to develop a host of reading both fictional and non – fictional stories so as to refresh their minds.
6. Consulting experts: It is important for a person who seeks advice to consider the nature of his or her problem before deciding which expert to see. For example, disease needs to be solved by experts through scientific ways such as experiment or body examination.
SYSTEMATIC STAGES/PROCEDURES/STEPS OR PROCESSES OF PROBLEM SOLVING
Problem solving processes: Are number of steps or stages or procedures involving in problem solving. These steps include initiating mediation, gathering information, defining problem, generating alternatives, agreeing to alternatives and evaluation. Normally the problem solving is done step by step such as follows:-
1. Problem identification: This is the first stage of social problem solving where the mediator has to identify first the problem facing the society. The process of trying to solve problem is called mediation.
Mediation: is the process of trying to end a conflict between the two or more parts through reconciling by the third part called mediator. This is because initiating mediation makes good encouragement for a person to understand the problem which cause the conflicts by assisting the people who have participate in the conflicts.
2. Gathering/collecting information: This stage deal with collecting facts and information about the problem facing the society. It is not possible to solve any problem without knowing the cause of the conflict.
Sources of problem information
There are various ways of gathering or collecting the problem information which include:-
i. Observation: This is a way in which a person sees a problem physically in the field by using eyes. In cholera eruption for example, one can observe the presence of dirty environment and conclude that cholera is caused by littered environment.
ii. Questionnaire: This involves asking questions which are already prepared in a sheet of paper. People are brought to answer them accordingly from the answers of the questions a person will get to collect enough data or facts based on the data collected questionnaires are possible for the literate people and not for the illiterate people.
iii. Interview: This is a verbal interaction between interviewer and interviewee (respondent) designed to list the feelings they have on their own. It is the face to face conversation between the interviewer and interviewee. In this method the problems solvers may face individual person or the relationship of the facts collected and the problem finally conclusion and suggestions are made.
iv. Literature reviews: Through reading books and materials which relate with the problem identified. These materials provide data to those people who want to solve a certain problem. These are known as secondary data. A person who is solving problems will try to pass through other previous works in order to see how other people tried to solve the same problem on the previous time. These materials should recent and related.
v. Mass media visual and audio-visual material: These are good programmers in the mass media which are educating and have information on how to solve the problems. They provide nice lessons which can help to draw a conclusion about solving problems. Example ITU, “HUDUMA YA KWANZA”, “IJUE SHERIA and many other programmers. Therefore, a problem solver will develop strategies of solving the problem.
vi. Scientific experiment: This method normally is applied by doctors in which experiments involving investigation for cause of different diseases in the body of patients. Example taking blood, stool test and urine. Through scientific experiment much information can be gathered.
3. Defining the problem: This involves finding the factors which cause the problem he/she is trying to solve. It also enables making elaboration about the factor which makes the problem of malaria in a certain area obtaining information he/she can generate that malaria is caused by mosquito influenced by presence of tall grass, water and others sources that definition of statement of the problem is formed when a person had on idea about the problem without facts. Otherwise he or she will make a settlement which is in form of questions.
4. Generating alternatives/solution: This means preparing different situations which you can see can help you analyze different ways or solution so as you can choose the best from them. Thereafter, the researcher generates various solutions to the problem such as boiling water, constructing latrines and educating people to use latrines and proper waste disposal.
5. Agreeing to a solution/implementation: This is the stage of making agreement to the suggested altenative or solution and putting into action or implementation: It involves the implementing and testing if the selected solution work effectively or not. If it does not do so, the same procedures can be repeated to solve the problem again until the problem solved.
6. Evaluation/ Follow up: This is the stage following up or evaluating the the suggested solution to see that the solution is achieved to end the problem or not.
IMPORTANCE OF APPLYING PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES
Applying the problem solving techniques has the following importance in the societies:-
1. It help to bring a peace in the societies, by resolving conflicts in the community.
2. It helps to improve living standard to the society. E.g. improving housing health services.
3. It promote fair treatment to all members of the given community.
4. It helps in stoping social evils such as drug abuse, child labour and prostitution
5. It help to protect the environments against degradation. Example by recycling plastic containers instead of throwing them a away or burning them.
6. It encourages development to both individual person and nation.
7. It improves international relations among the countries.
8. It strengthen the democracy in the given country.
9. It helps to save life to people with some problems. Through problem solving people's can be saved.
10. It help to reduce the spread of diseases. Through problem solving some diseases like covid 19, HIV/AIDS are can be prevented.
CONSEQUENCES ASSOCIATED WITH FAILURE TO APPLY PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNITUES IN THE SOCIETY
1. Occurrence of many conflicts in the societies: Due to disagreement among the community members.
2. Decline of development: Failure of problem solving techniques resulted in to decline of development because societies are in conflicts.
3. Separation of families: due to many divorces caused by conflicts.
4. Collapse of international relations: Due to conflict between two contries. Example Russia against Ukraine by the 2022 they were in conflict.
5. Occurrence deaths: Failure to solve the problems in the society resulted in to emergence of unexpected deaths due to wrong decision making.
6. Increase in human rights abuse: Due to conflicts between two parts like war.
7. Increase in poverty: due to decline of productive activities caused by disagreement or poor relations between parts.
8. It may led to the spread of diseases: Normally failure to solve various problems in the society may increase the spread of dangerous diseases like HIV/AIDS.
9. Increase in street children: Due to separation of families and death of parents.
GUIDING QUESTIONS
1. Analyse six important steps involving in peace keeping in the societies.
2. Explain six (6) importance associated with applying problem soving techniques in the society.
3. Elaborate in six (6) points the problems which resulted from failure to solve different problems in the society.
