SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY Social contract theory (or contractarianism) is a concept used in philosophy‚ political science and sociology to denote an implicit agreement within a state regarding the rights and responsibilities of the state and its citizens‚ or more generally a similar concord between a group and its members‚ or between individuals. All members within a society are assumed to agree to the terms of the social contract by their choice to stay within the society without violating the contract;
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understanding of this concept. Henri Taijfel’s social identity theory proposed that instead of seeing identity as individualistic it should be looked at in terms of social processes. He and other social identity theorists suggest that identity can be divided into two broad categories. The first is our personal identity‚ with regard to who we are in terms of our personal relationships and our individual personal behaviour. The second being our social identity‚ which is who we are in terms of the
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and a conflict theorist‚ the two major theories of Sociology. Sociology: The Essentials defines both of these perspectives. Functionalists “view society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole.” Conflict theorists “emphasize the role of coercion and power‚ a person or group’s ability to exercise influence and control over others‚ in producing social order” (16-18). These two theories have very different perspectives on social issues. For example‚ poverty is a major social
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Evaluate Social Identity Theory making references to relevant studies. Social identity theory is designed by Tajfel and Turner (1979) to explain how it is that people develop a sense of membership and belonging in particular groups‚ and how the mechanics of intergroup discrimination. Several interconnected mechanisms are at work with social identity theory. The core idea is that people tend to seek out-group membership as an affirmation of self-esteem‚ but that membership in a group alone is not
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Social control theories focus on the influences that assist the regulation of human behavior and which lead to conformity with the “rules” of society. The influencers include family‚ community‚ school‚ faith‚ values‚ and beliefs. The essence of control theory is that people will be less likely to deviate if they are integrated into mainstream institutions. The less people connecting to the conventional values of society‚ the more likely it is that deviance will occur. Does the existence of societal
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Social work theories and perspectives are at the core of every social workers practice framework. Theories drive the worker to understand the best way to work alongside clients. The following essay discusses‚ analyses and critiques a specific practice theory. The theory that was chosen is empowerment theory. The key factors‚ political and historical aspects will also be shown throughout and the theory will be assessed for its effectiveness in regards to a specific case study. Empowerment theory
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using the social disorganization theory. Using this theory can help police understand why neighborhoods with high levels of concentrated disadvantage‚ and residential instability have higher levels of crime. This paper will examine why some communities have higher crime rates than others‚ what can be done to reduce recidivism in poor communities‚ and the routine activity theory. To better understand crime‚ we must learn why crime is more prevalent in economically deprived areas. Social Disorganization
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Social penetration theory was formulated by psychology professors Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor as their attempt to describe the dynamics of relational closeness. They proposed that closeness occurs through a gradual process of self-disclosure‚ and closeness develops if the participants proceed in a gradual and orderly fashion from superficial to intimate levels of exchange as a function of both immediate and forecast outcomes.[1] This psychological theory‚ as with many others‚ is applied in the
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Crime can be critically assessed from many different sociological and criminological theories. The reasons why people commit crimes are their own‚ and can be a result of copious amounts of factors that get compounded‚ driving offenders to commit certain acts. These factors can be numerous‚ and range from internal factors such as mental diagnoses‚ to outside environmental factors‚ affecting the individual‚ such as peer associations and unstable family relations. The goal of this paper is to critically
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MODERN SOCIAL WORK THEORY Contents List of Figures List of Tables Preface to the Third Edition A Note on Terminology xiii xiv xv xviii PART 1 Thinking about social work theory 1 The Construction of Social Work Theory What this chapter is about MAIN POINTS Practice and practice theories Practice and other theory The social construction of welfare and social work Are there paradigms of social work? Is social work theory ‘modern’ or ‘postmodern’? Arenas of social work construction The social
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