1. CHCLD514A
Analyse impacts of sociological factors on clients in community work and services

2. What we will do this week 1. Review last week 2
What we will do this week 1. Review last week 2. Presentations on your topic of interest 3. Culture 4. Inequality 5. Project work 6. Assessment & discussion of issues of concern

3. Review last week Sociological perspective History Key theories
Socialisation
The family
Key influences

4. Culture – “is the shared products of human society” (Robertson, 1989, 55)
The UN definition of culture is the “set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of a society or a social group ...and that it encompasses ....in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs”

5. On a piece of paper make a list of:
ACTIVITY 1
On a piece of paper make a list of:
Family celebrations as a child
Memories of food
Your favourite foods now
The social activities you participated in as a child
Your own family “rituals” & where they came from
Discuss with your partner

7. Culture is transmitted from the past to each new generation (trans-generational) – the main way is through the socialisation (the primary influence is the family)
- think about the first activity – what has been transmitted through to your own family from your grandparents time?
- Culture is transmitted to each generations through norms and values

8. ACTIVITY 2 What is Australian culture?
In small groups define Australian culture
Does Australia have it’s own culture? How is it different to the USA, China, Dubai, Aboriginal culture
How does it influence
Life aspirations
Roles of women/men
Marriage
Work

9. Norms and values Norms and values are the building blocks of culture
Norms are the shared rules or guidelines that prescribe the behaviour appropriate in a given situation – eg. Eating with a knife & fork, marrying one person at a time (Robertson, 1989, 62)
Values are socially shared ideas about what is good, right & desirable – eg public, free education (Robertson, 1989, 64)

10. Norms & values Norms are specific guidelines for different situations
Values are abstract, general concepts such as freedom, fairness, democracy etc
For example, if a country values education then it’s norms would support all students being able to go to a school (attendance 5 days a week, wouldn’t exclude particular social or economic groups from going to school etc)

11. Norms & values ACTIVITY 3 In pairs write down the following:
What are some Australian values?
What are the norms that support those?

12. Inequality
Why is it important in Community Services Work to understand the causes and impacts of inequality in society?
Because we need to understand how are the personal experiences of individuals is explained by the social influences surrounding them
All societies treat their members differently depending on certain characteristics – eg. Age, religion, education, gender etc

13. Inequality
Is “the unequal sharing of such social rewards such as wealth, power and prestige” (Robertson, 1989, 253)
Conflict view – inequality occurs because capitalist society is designed for profit by the few (system based)
Functionalist view – is based on the ability & contribution & that it is normal & necessary (system based)
Interactionist view – inequality is created by social labelling (people try & minimise anxiety by stereotyping) (Kellehear, 1991, 60-62)

14. Key terms relating to inequality
Social inequality
Social stratification
Class
Power
Status
Social mobility
Poverty

15. Key terms relating to inequality
Social inequality
is the differing access to power and resources of a particular group – they are often labelled as disadvantaged
What are some groups that are commonly understood in Australia to be disadvantaged?

16. Social stratification
Is “the structured inequality of entire categories of people who have different access to social rewards as a result of their status in a social hierarchy” (Robertson, 1989, 254)
2 forms of stratification systems
Closed (Caste, an ascribed status determined by birth & you can’t change your status)
Open system (Class, an achieved status - more flexible & you can move up or down depending often on your income)

17. Class Modern Western countries have 3 main classes
A small wealthy upper class
Fairly large middle class – professionals or white collar workers
Large working class – less skilled blue collar workers
Agricultural societies have 2 main classes
A small & wealthy class of landowners
A large and poor class of peasants
ACTIVITY 4
What are some examples of each ?
In pairs – Is Australia an classless society

18. Power Weber (German sociologist, 1946) separates class into 3 elements
Economic status or wealth
Political status or power
Social status or prestige
Power is the ability to control the behaviour of others even without their consent

19. Power
ACTIVITY 5.
What are some situations where a Community Services Worker may have power over the people they are working with (with and without their consent?)

20. Status A position in society
Ascribed status is one you have no control over – age, race, gender
Prescribed status is one you have some control over – become a spouse, a member of a different religion or political party
Most societies have inequality among different statuses
eg the difference between the status of a supreme court judge & a fruit picker is huge! (Robertson, 1989, 91)

21. Status
ACTIVITY 6 Make a list of the a range of occupations ranging from highest to lowest status Would these rank similarly in India, East Timor,China or the USA?

22. Social mobility Is the movement from one social status to another
Exchange mobility – someone in a high status job gets downgraded to a lower status job
Structural mobility – economic recession causes people to lose their jobs or vice versa
Intergenerational mobility – where a fruit picker’s son becomes a high court judge
(Robertson, 1989,258)
- Can you think of some examples?

23. Poverty
Relative deprivation - The inability to maintain the living standards of society
Absolute deprivation - The inability to afford minimum standards of shelter, health care, food etc (Robertson, 1989, 276,277)
What is the poverty line in Australia?
Who are the poor in Australia?

24. Poverty
Usually minority groups (CALD, indigenous, mental health issues, A&OD, criminals etc)
Female headed households
Children & young people
Are there other emerging groups in Australia experiencing poverty?
What about older people, self funded retirees, students?