week 2 response 1 386

The social structure addresses the levels of the individual, family, group, organization, and community to work towards building a unified link between social and behavioral sciences (Dale & Smith, 2013). Last year I worked at an organization called ARC, which is a group program that helps individuals with developmental and mental disabilities learn the necessary skills to function properly in society. Using the perspective of social structure, on the individual level, the main focus was to teach the individuals daily life skills such as cooking, cleaning, money management, and other necessary skills so that they can maintain a certain level of independence. Another important task was to show the individuals how to properly compose themselves while in the public eye. We would participate in group outings when the individuals would attend movies, bowling sessions, go to the store or mall, amongst other public places. When the individuals acted out or had behavioral issues it went against social norms and typically resulted in distasteful looks and even being asked to leave. As a direct support professional, it was also our responsibility to interact with the families when they visited to get a general idea as to what it was, they seemed the individuals need to work on or learn. Some of these sessions were heartbreaking as they had expectations that were beyond the capability of the staff or for that matter the individual. As a generalist practitioner, understanding how different levels of a system can work together for the greater good of alleviating the social problem as well as understanding the social norms can be a great benefit. Society is built on norms and what is deemed as acceptable and unexpectable behavior and to go against this leads to being a social outcast.

Breanna Williams

Reference

Dale, O., & Smith, R. (2013). Human behavior and social environment: Social systems theory. Pearson. ISBN-13: 9780205036486