In the following scenarios, what might some of the conflicting values be between societal expectations and the individual...
...a man who is married to an active alcoholic; they have two young children, and both parents are employed full time
...a supervisor who is sexually attracted to an employee who has let it be known that the feeling is mutual; both recently ended long term relationships; the "break-ups" were talked about quite openly around the office
6 comments:
The societal expectations would be to have the husband leave the active alcoholic and take the children with him. He should take the children out of a situation like that. Kids should not be subjected to that kind of life where one of the parents are an alocholic. If someone shuld call DCF the children would be pulled out of the home with no parent at all. For the husband, he might think that since his wife is still working and drinking has not interfered with her job that he shuld stay with her for the children's sake, even though he should know that is not a good reason. Whether or not she takes care of the children, he might think that she is still present in their lives.
The societal expectations for the second scenario might be that the two individuals should have kept their personal life situations out of the office especially since it is between a supervisor and an employee. But sicne they didn't of course people are going to talk. I think if it was just two employees with no supervisor involved there would not be as much talking. With the individuals, since they both just ended relationships they probably need to feel wanted by someone and they found that within the workplace.
In the case of the man married to the alcoholic
Societal expectations:
-the wife is a bad mother/wife
-the children are not being taken care of properly
-the man is an enabler
-he should take a stance either she gets help or he leaves
Individual:
-the man may feel loyalty to his wife
-he may feel that he needs to cover for his wife
-he may think that he can make it work
-he may want to protect and keep his family together
-he may feel that she is not that bad because she is functioning (holding a job)
In the case of the supervisor and employee workplace affair
societal expectations:
-they should not bring their personal lives into the workplace
-it is unethical for a supervisor to date an employee even if they are both consenting adults
-if they both just got out of a relationship they should not rush into another
Individual:
-they are both in need of companionship
-they need to express their feelings about what they went through
-they are both consenting adults so it should not matter
The societal expectation of a family with an alcholic mother would be, that the children are not being taken care of and the father is allowing it. This could turn into a case where someone would call DCF and the parents could lose their children. The father is enabling the mother to continue with this type of behavior and would be expected by society to change the behavior or to remove the kids from the environment.
On a individual expectation, the father really should try to get his wife to admit she has a problem and enter into a rehab program. He more than likely is trying to protect the family by ignoring the situation. By pretending that the family is okay, he creates a false sense of security. The kids are going to follow along to protect the family and keep it secret. However, this will lead to emotional scars and possible problems coping in their own future lives.
The societal expectations for a supervisor dating his employee is unethical. The supervisor is expected to conduct himself in a manner that is at a higher standard. Do to his position, his behavior is expected to remain professional at all times. He should not have approached the employee in a personal manner. The assumption in the workplace will be that he is showing favoritism toward her, and more than likely that will be the case.
For the individual expectation of the supervisor and employee, if a love affair were to spark up because both parties are lonely, then one of them should look for another job. Two people in a relationship should not be working directly with one another. In this case, the man is her boss. She should ask for a department transfer or get another job all together. If they don't, then they will both lose credibility with their coworkers.
I think that the social environment would be that the mother/wife is looked upon as a bad mother and a wife. The expectation would be that the husband leave her and take the children so the children are not subjected to that kind of a lifestyle. The husband may feel that he loves his wife and he can get help for her so their family is not split.
The second scenario:
The supervisor should not get involved with his employee. It is not professional. Their personal relationship should not be brought into the workplace. The other employees will talk and also will think that there is favortism going on. Its just not professional or ethical in the workplace.
If they want to pursue their relationship one of them should leave or be transferred to another department.
The conflicting values in the first situation are that the husband may want to leave his alcoholic wife but the societal expectation is that he should stay and work things out. Divorce is seen as negative for the family and the children. The fact that they are also both employed may be adding stress upon their relationship and the societal expectation is that working parents cannot spend enough time with their children. Individually the husband may want to leave his wife but finances and keeping the family together are potentially causing conflicting values.
In the second scenario, the individuals may truly have feelings for one another. Unfortunately, the typical drama played out in mass media shows the supervisor leaving his wife for the office secretary. She may be looked upon as the "homewrecker". The employee could be looked at as causing the break-up with the supervisor and the spouse. Societal expectations are that we should not have personal relationships in the office environment. This is usually seen as scandalous. Individually, it could be a good relationship between the co-workers but the rumors keep it difficult to continue a relationship.
In the following scenarios, society would expect the husband of the alcoholic wife to get her to accept the fact that she needs help even though she is employed full-time. Society would expect the husband to stop being an enabler. The wife is harming the entire famliy and the husband is the only adult in the home who could put a stop to it. The wife would have conflicting values because as long as she is in denial she will continue to thnik that her behavior is not hurting anyone.
In regards to the supervisor who is sexually attracted to an employee, society would have expected them to keep their private lives separate from their professional life. Of course everyone loves a bit of gossip but publicly announcing their mutual breakups. I think the supervisor is putting his career in jeopardy.
On an individual level both the employee and supervisor think that they have every right to pursue a relationship even at the work place.
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