How Deeply Influences Social Behavior

A contemporary issue that strongly influences social behavior is stress. Thoits (1995) states how psychologist and sociologist research the negative effects that stress can have on ones physical and mental health. For example, working in the human service field can be very demanding and challenging. Many employees, such as social workers, within this filed experience stress due to the various cases they have and the demanding condition of the workplace. Feeling and experiencing stress is different among each person who experiences it; however, it still affects an individual’s behavior if the stress is not managed. In order to view the different perspectives of the social behavior theories, an example of a highly stressed social worker who has experienced burnout and has quit their job. Role Theory is based on an individual’s behavior being influenced by their position or status, as well as the expectations of others within a social context (Lewin, 1936). If a social worker is experiencing stress to the point of burnout, it can be correlated with the constant pressures of the demands from work. Social workers have cases that go through crisis situations on a daily basis; therefore they constantly have to provide the services needed to resolve the situation to ensure the safety of …show more content…
Again, social workers work with many different clients that experience physical and mental abuse. These clients experience their own stress from the trauma that they have been through. Social workers behavior can be influenced by the stress that they constantly see from their clients. Typically this is called vicarious trauma or secondary traumatic stress, which is a possible result of caring for others within this field. Dealing with this can cause behaviors, such as isolation, difficulty sleeping, and feeling trapped (American Counseling Association,