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Structural Functionalism

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The results of the survey and interviews conducted indicate that, in general, individuals in UPD exhibit about a 65.69% likelihood to seek help for mental health problems. They would also be willing to seek help from institutions on campus, which was perceived to be about 65.75% accessible; however, several conditions hampering the likelihood of seeking help from certain institutions on campus exist. Among these are the perceived unaccommodating nature of some of the institutions on campus, such as the OCG and the UHS. For comparison, in general, the most known about institution on campus was the OCG, but the institution individuals were most willing to seek help from were the professionals at the department of psychology. Other reasons individuals …show more content…

Social ties have long been proven to be important in maintaining ones mental wellbeing. Take Durkheim’s proposition of lack of social integration as a possible cause for suicide. Pope (1976 in Hughes & Gove, 1981) further simplifies Durkheim’s structural functionalist perspective by stating that social integration is as much a product of the rate of social interactions as well as the emergence of similar beliefs. Additionally, Hugh and Goves posit that social integration is more a form of social control than a form of support. This is in contrast to the Stress Buffering Mechanism of Cohen and Wills, also employing a structural functionalist lens, that Kawachi and Berkman (2001) provide a succinct explanation of. Cohen and Wills posit that the structure, in this case, integration into social groups, including friends, family, and other groups of social belonging, serve the function of providing support to the individual. Together, they act as a stress buffering mechanism. This functional support acts to buffer stress by improving coping mechanisms; it is suggested that institutions such as the OCG (here criticized by some students to be unaccommodating) employ such a milieu. In order to provide a similar stress buffering mechanism, it is suggested that institutions on campus be able to provide the same perceived support to the individuals seeking

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Over the last few years, there has also been a significant increase in the severity of presenting concerns for college counseling center clients (Watkins, Hunt, & Eisenberg, 2012). While primary concerns such as depression and anxiety are on the rise in counseling centers, they are coupled with a surge of complaints of more serious mental health issues (Benton, Robertson,

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Social support can be defined as both real and perceived support from the community, social networks and close friends, whether it is instrumental or emotional support (Hombrados, Gómez, Domínguez, García and Castro, 2012). Lack of peer support was also said to be a reason as to why students GPA’s are low (Dennis, Phinney &Chuateco 2005). Furthermore, college students are known to experience massive amounts of stress which can cause them to be unsuccessful their first

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In his book, Suicide, Emile Durkheim explores the social reasons that would someone to commit suicide. The basis of his argument laid in his ideas of social integration and social regulation. Social regulation is the many facets in which a person can be involved with society, such as political groups, religious groups, and domestic groups. Social regulation in comparison are the social and moral rules that a society decides what is right and what is wrong. Durkheim believes that people need to find a balance within social integration and social regulation to live a healthy lifestyle.

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Functionalism Functionalism emphasizes how social structures maintain or undermine social stability in macrostructures (Brym,

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In the mid 1800s, psychology was flourishing. Seemingly each new psychologist would often research mental phenomena with a slightly different perspective. In the 1890s, Edward Titchener brought Wilhelm Wundt’s psychology to the United States of America, establishing what is now known as structuralism. Generally, structuralists believe that everything within conscious experience is merely a combination of mental ingredients, which can be parsed apart via introspection (Hergenhan, 2017). Around the same time, a new school known as functionalism began to develop.

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I very much believe that the social ties you have with other people can affect your quality of life and social behavior. Personally, I can’t go for long periods of time without seeing anyone, as the longer I go, the more I feel myself getting increasingly sad and lost. If you have people in your life to interact with and support you, I think you will definitely live a more fulfilled life. It doesn’t surprise me at all that those who are lonely are more likely to commit suicide, as loneliness can make you feel like there is no one in the world who can understand or help you. We are social creatures and to deprive us of those social interactions is bound to have a negative

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