Sociological factors
CHCDEV002Analyze impacts of sociological factors on clients in community work and services
The unit is about seeing the broad social and cultural context of work in the community services industry. This unit applies to workers who seek to better understand issues that affect their client groups and hence their delivery of services.
How you will be assessed
This unit will be assessed mainly by the assignments below:
- At this level, we expect some serious reflection on your socio-cultural context and your role in it, in particular relating to the target group of your services.
- The assessor will need a firm briefing of your organization and and its community services program. This is best done as a walkaround tour.
- In doing some assignment tasks, you will probably find that some workplace documents are helpful, e.g. program evaluations, plans, case notes.
- Your assessor will interview you on your assignments.
You will also be assessed through an assessor's observation on the job and a supervisor reference (if the assessor is not the supervisor)
Practical
You will be assessed in the workplace. You need to show that you have:
- Advised, referred or given at least three clients access to services based on socio-cultural information that you have gathered.
- Monitored and reviewed the effectiveness of client services.
- Revised the your services to clients to improve results for clients and better address their social and cultural issues.
- Done the activities in this unit for at least 100 hours of work in a community services workplace.
In doing so, you need to show that you have:
- Managed tasks and contingencies on the job.
- Followed Commonwealth and State/Territory legislation, Australian/New Zealand standards, and industry codes of practice.
Interview
- What personal values and attitudes do you bring to community services work? How they could affect your clients?
- Describe your organization's policies and procedures.
- Describe your organization's standards for community services work.
Assignment 1: Social structure
- Describe the major social and cultural institutions in Australian society and their functions (e.g. aged care system, education system, family, health system, labour market, legal system, media, political systems, religious systems, work). Describe them and the kind of influence they have. What kinds of effects to they have on communities, families and individuals?
- What are the major social and cultural institutions that affect Australian society? Describe them and the kind of influence they have.
- What are the possible effects and consequences of inequality on clients as individuals? As family groups? As part of the wider community?
- What social factors are associated with age in Australian society?
- What is their impact on clients as individuals?
- What is their impact on clients in family and community settings?
- Describe how the "typical" Australian family has changed in the last fifty years. Include both positive and negative effects, as well as changes that are neither particularly positive or negative.
- Describe how gender roles in Australia have changed in the last fifty years, especially in relation to the workforce.
- What is social stratification?
- Describe different beliefs about various kinds of stratification in Australian society? (For example, how do a working class person and a wealthy corporation owner see our class system differently?)
- Describe three cohorts of different ages (e.g. teenagers, older people, the elderly) using the following questions:
- Who are they?
- Describe how each forms its own micro-culture.
- How does each group perceive society differently?
- How do stereotypes develop in each group?
- What effects do stereotypes have?
- How do new beliefs develop in each group?
- What positive ways can each age group contribute to our society?
Assignment 2: Impacts of social and cultural issues
- What are the effects of unemployment on a person’s health and well being?
- What are the effects of unemployment on the wider society?
- To what extent do environmental factors affect the general health and well being of a community, family and/or persons? Can people gain general health and well-being free of environmental factors?
- Draw up a table like the one below, and fill in the blanks with enough detail to be useful in community services. That is, describe each factor and its effects and consequences on individuals, families and society.
Factor
Describe the factor
Describe the effects and consequences on individuals, families and society
Kinds of inequality
Long-term unemployment
Factors associated with age
Socio-economic background
Ethnic cultural background
Assignment 3: "Perfect storm"
Describe two case studies of two people who both suffered the "perfect storm" of negative social effects. However, their "perfect storms" needs to be different. In your analysis, identify each of the specific sociological causes. Describe what you as a case manager should do to alleviate those effects.
Assignment 4: Case studies
Using the questions below, write three case studies of clients describing the effects of social and cultural factors on community work and client services. Each case study should be about 500 words and cover a period of at least six months. Your observations must be done according to your work role and within your organization’s policies and procedures.
- Describe the demographic of the client and the social context (socioeconomic group, family, and community).
- Over the period, what were the effects of client services on clients?
- From the information available to you, what are the specific effects of social and cultural factors on the target group of your service?
- What effect did those factors have on the effectiveness of services to clients?
- In the target group of your services, what are the current core needs in health, well being, etc.?
- What decisions have you/your organization made to address those issues?
- How have you implemented those decisions?
- Does your organization have any policies and procedures for monitoring their effectiveness?
- In addressing those problems:
- How effective have community services in general been?
- How effective has your organization been? How do you know?
- How effective has your own role been?
- What changes would you or have you made to aspects your community services work so that you:
- better address the social and cultural issues?
- get better outcomes?
Assignment 5: Effects of government policy
- Government has a changing role, with more power centralized in Canberra and many Australians now wary of becoming a "nanny state." How does the role of government power affect community services and their clientele?
- What frameworks does the government have for social policy?
- What influences affect the government's social policy? (E.g. views of major lobby groups, political pressures.)
- What kinds of frameworks and influences currently underpin social policy? (Some are federal government, some state government, and some come from private organizations, mainly non-profits and lobby groups. Some might derive from political pressures.)
- Describe the influence of government policy decisions on general health and well being. What other factors affect general health and well being?
- How have specific government policy decisions affected your organization’s community work? Your own community work?
- The political and economic views of the major political parties significantly affect and their community services policies, which in turn affect you and your work.
- What are the main differences in community services policies between the major parties?
- How do their political and economic views result in their community services policies? In your answer, make a list of political views and their resultant community services policies.
Note: Keep in mind that the same political party might have different views at state and federal levels.