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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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