Community, Value and Culture

Question 1

What was McMillan and Chavis’ Theory?

Answer 1

• Defined a sense of community as “a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together”
• Proposed four critic criteria that had to be met for an individual to feel a sense of community; membership, influence, integration and fulfilment of needs, shared emotional connection

Question 2

What is Membership?

Answer 2

• Memberships provides a feeling of belonging , being apart of something bigger than yourself, it establishes boundaries that divide who belong and who don’t
• McMillan & Chavis defined 5 elements of membership
  1. Boundaries: often includes dress codes, rituals and language to indicate who is a member and who is not
  2. Emotional Safety: security, willingness to allow others to know one feels
  3. A Sense of Belonging & Identification: expectation or faith that I belong; acceptance by the community
  4. Personal Investment (cognitive dissonance): Putting something in to gain something, If one suggest something is important and then don’t put any effort in they will experience cognitive dissonance
  5. A Common Symbol System: Name, logo, flag, language

Question 3

What is Influence?

Answer 3

• Influence in a community is bi directional
• Members of a group must feel empowered to have influence over what the group does (otherwise they would not be motivated to participate)
• Group cohesiveness (cooperation) depends on the group having some influence over group members, people who have the most influence in the group acknowledge that others’ values and opinions matter

Question 4

What does integration and the fulfilment of needs refer to?

Answer 4

• Needs of what is desired and valued (more like wants), members of groups are rewarded for their participation (called person-environment fit)
• For any group to stay together membership of the group must be rewarding, e.g. status

Question 5

What does a shared emotional connection refer to?

Answer 5

• McMillan and Chavis called this the “definitive element for true community”
• Refers to the feeling that we might have of being connected to another person through a common emotional response to a shared activity or event
• Includes: contact, quality of interaction, closure to events, importance of shared events, honour or humiliation and spiritual birth

Question 6

What are the 3 main factors that influence whether a person experiences an event as stressful

Answer 6

There are three main factors about events that influence whether or not we experience them as stressful; predictability, controllability, and whether we experience threat or loss

Question 7

What is Predictability?

Answer 7

Whether the event is predictable or not, some events such as an eruption of a volcano maybe predicted but can still be stressful, usually unpredictable events are more stressful and have a longer lasting impact

Question 8

What is Controllability?

Answer 8

Whether an individual has control over an event is a major source of stress e.g victims of terrors attacks have no control

Question 9

What does whether a person experiences threat or loss mean?

Answer 9

Whether we experience threat or loss: Whether ourself or people we knows lives are threatened - died or injured

Question 10

What is Post Traumatic Growth?

Answer 10

The positive psychological change experienced as a result of a struggle with challenging life circumstances that represent significant challenges to the adaptive resources of the individual and/or an individual’s way of understanding the world

Question 11

What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Answer 11

A particular set of reactions that can develop in people who have been through a traumatic event which threatened their life or safety

• Physical symptoms of PTSD include: disturbed sleep, nightmares, exhaustion, restlessness, head aches and in particularly young children - bed wetting, thumb sucking and lost of trust in adults
• Cognitive symptoms can include: poor concentration, disturbances to attention and memory, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts and disorientation
• Emotional symptoms can include: fear, avoidance, anxiety and panic attacks, depression, guilt and withdrawal