Role Conflict Role Engulfment

Journal Entry Two
In our class discussion on how roles and status have an effect on our behavior, one of the key points of the discussion was Role Conflict and Role Engulfment. Simultaneously, I had also started my first professional job at a private school in Kenosha. Throughout my entire life, my work had been my studies. When I was relieved of an activity, I labored over assignments. For the first time, I left the comfort of behavior I knew, adopt completely different social norms, and meet advanced demands and responsibilities. While I prepared for my first day, I was gripped with a sense of confusion and panic. To my embarrassment, I cried in the parking lot when I tried to call my mother and she did not pick up. In a strange twist,

Did I treat them as my peers, or as superiors? Did I care for the kids as I did my niece and nephew at home, or as customers at a volunteer event? Did they expect me to know my tasks ahead of time? Were the kids staring at me due to my novelty, or for abnormal behavior in comparison to their other caretakers? I had no idea what behavior and guidelines to follow and mimic to “be a good worker,” or a “competent

The girl began to cry and I knew I was required to act in some way. With my niece, I would have gone over and given her a hug, probably let her ride on my back until she forgot about the incident. For a volunteer on my team, I would notify my supervisor. In this case, neither was ideal since I was not this girl’s aunt, and she was not a volunteer. While I was not thinking about it at the time, my conundrum was due to Role Strain. At the time, the boundaries of my behavior in the given situation had yet to be determined, thus I felt confusion and stress. What this resulted in, was a strange mixture of what I had adopted from my colleagues and what I had experienced in the past. I calmly asked her what happened, just as I would with my niece, however refrained from giving her a