Why is a Job So Important?

Our culture expects people to be productive, get paid what they are worth, and make their own way. Work is also considered a means for gaining status and self definition and achieving personal goals.

People who work use their jobs as a way to describe who they are. This information, along with other social cues, behavior, reputation, and interests, represents the individual. One’s job may be tied to various aspects of status, including possessions, prestige, power, control and influence.

The social aspect of our lives tends to be the most important to us. Without relationships with friends, colleagues, family, and others, our lives lose much of their meaning and enjoyment. Social belonging is one of the ways we define the quality in our lives.

Having success in helping people with disabilities develop relationships will depend a great deal on our capacity to connect people in an ever-widening circle of friends, relatives, acquaintances, and others. We need to enhance people’s appearance and their competencies and help them obtain good jobs with individual support in community settings.

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