Social Environment and Social Work

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the Social Environment and Social Work lecture.

Social Environment

The social structures, relationships, and networks that impact a person's life, including family dynamics, friendships, social support, community involvement, values, norms, and structures of a given community or society.

Social Imagination

A concept introduced by Charles Wright Mills that enables a person to understand the larger scene in terms of its meaning for their inner life, allowing individuals to see how their private lives are shaped by historical and structural factors beyond their control.

Personal Troubles

Private problems experienced within the character of the individual and the range of their immediate relation to others, where individuals function as actors making choices within their control.

Social or Public Issues

Matters that lie beyond one’s personal control and inner life, pertaining to broader matters of organization and process rooted in society rather than in the individual.

Conflict Theory

A theory associated with Karl Marx that views social behavior from the perspective of conflict and tension among two or more groups perpetually fighting and competing for resources and power.

Economic Aspect

Aspects such as income, wealth, employment, trade, production, and resource distribution that shape the well-being of people and the growth of economies.

Human Capital

The skills, knowledge, experience, and abilities that individuals possess, which contribute to their economic value and ability to participate in the workforce.

Social Capital

The networks, relationships, and social ties that individuals or groups build and maintain within their communities or society, involving trust, norms, and reciprocity that facilitate cooperation and collaboration.

Financial Capital

The money, assets, and financial resources that individuals, organizations, or governments have at their disposal to invest in economic activities, start businesses, or accumulate wealth.

Political Aspect

The influence of political systems, political structures, power, policies, and legislation on individuals and communities, affecting access to resources and opportunities.

Community Structure

The arrangement and mutual relationship of the constituent parts to the whole at the local or neighborhood level, including both formal and informal organizations and horizontal and vertical relationships.

Community Process

A continuous series of actions, events, or changes that are directed toward some end or performed in a specific manner within communities, groups, and organizations.

Culture

The result of all human endeavors, encompassing norms, values, customs, symbols, thoughts, traditions, politics, religions, languages, philosophies, and material objects.

External Components of Culture

Components of culture that are not readily observable, such as ideas, interpretations, perceptions, and the meanings that people attach to external components.

Internal Components of Culture

Tangible components of culture that can be observed or quantified, such as behaviors, products, artifacts, and other objects.

Social Class

A category for a group of people who share similar economic stratification.

Ethnicity

How people associate themselves with a group through the use of aspects such as norms, values, traditions, and customs.

Ideology

One’s dominant ideas about what is correct and how things should be.

World View

The way in which people perceive their world that gives them a frame of reference, personal philosophy, how things are, and the way things should be.

Ethnic Identity

How people form their identity in relation to their ethnicity.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one culture is superior to others and that one's culture serves as the norms by which others should be judged.

Cultural Relativism

The idea that different cultures should be treated equally and cannot be ranked based on which is better or superior.

Multiculturalism

Refers to the idea that all cultures should be recognized, respected, and treated equally.

Cultural Pluralism

Refers to the recognition and accommodation of a variety of cultures that have different values and norms.

Spirituality

Refers to a human being's subjective relationship (cognitive, emotional, and intuitive) to what is unknowable about existence and how a person integrates that relationship into a perspective about the universe, world, self, moral values, and sense of meaning.

Religiosity

Belief in institutional doctrines or a divine being with superhuman powers and the worship and rituals that accompany those beliefs, as well as the experience of reflecting upon and aligning with the divine.

Religion

Social institutions that help organize systems of beliefs and practices usually associated with the natural, including a community of believers and rules and norms of behavior.

Faith

Devotion or commitment to or belief or trust in a divine entity, without having actual proof that this entity exists.

Technological Aspect

How technological advancements, innovations, and digital tools influence individuals, businesses, industries, and society, shaping growth, communication, education, healthcare, and governance.

Environmental Aspect

Examines the influence of the physical environment, including housing, neighborhood conditions, and access to green spaces, on people's well-being and quality of life.

Environmental Space

Refers to the amount of natural resources, land, energy, and ecological capacity available for human use without exceeding the planet's limits.