Role Theory: Expectations, Identities, and Behaviors presents the applications of role concepts for education, social work, and clinical practice. This book examines the advantages as well as the shortcomings of the role stance.Organized into nine chapters, this book begins with an overview of behaviors that are characteristics of persons within contexts and the various processes that are employed to explain and predict those behaviors. This text then examines the concepts of the role field and discovers their applications to social problems of pressing concern. Other chapters consider the empirical evidence that has been developed within the role orientation concerning social problems. This book discusses as well the behavioral comparability, behavior linkage, behavioral effects, and complex linking concepts for behaviors. The final chapter discusses how contexts may affect the behaviors of persons and how those behaviors may have subsequent functions.This book is a valuable resource for anthropologists, sociologists, and social psychologists.

Preface.Relevance, Role Theory, and Ratiocination.The Study of Social Behaviors:Behavior and Related Concepts.The Comparing and Linking of BehaviorsEnvoi.RolesThe Concept of Role.Concepts and Variables for Roles.On the Empirical Study of Roles.Envoi.Identities and Social Positions:Concepts of Identity and Position.Varieties of Positions.The Study of Positions.Envoi.Expectations:Simple Expectations.Complex Expectations and Presumtions of Sentience.Variables of Expectations.Envoi.Comparison Concepts and Expected Roles:Comparison Concepts.Expected RolesEnvoi.The Analysis of Social Systems:Overt Structure.Positional Structure.Conceptual Structure.Envoi.The Person in a Social Context:Socialization and Other Explanations.Individuality.Occupations and Role Changing.Adjustment and Therapy.Envoi.Ultima Rolle:Where Are We Now.what We Might Do About It.The Social Use of Role Theory.References.Glossary.Author Index.Subject Index.