Role theory says that: “If a person is expected to fill a certain role, then they will often fulfil it.” This can happen in the family, for example, where individuals may fill the different roles of ‘problem child’, ‘perfect child’, ‘peacemaker’, ‘encourager, ‘workaholic’, ‘suffering martyr’, ‘sick child’, ‘achiever’, ‘responsible one’ or whatever. It can also happen in teams, organisations and society. Role theory can be used to help people to succeed; or it can be abused to ensure they fail. Let’s explore how this works in practice.

1) You can recognise the power of role theory.

So let’s start by revisiting role theory. This states that: a) People are expected to fill certain roles; b) People find these expectations are re-enforced by others around them. These are communicated through messages, norms, rewards and punishments that show how people are expected to behave; c) People are then more likely to fill the expected roles. One key point is worth underlining. Role theory rests on the assumption that many people want affirmation and they seek this by tending to ‘conform’. They behave in a way that is accepted. This also explains why some people make radical shifts in their lives. They leave one ‘system’ that rewards certain behaviour – but where they feel uneasy – and move to another where they develop a more rewarding role. Bearing in mind these factors, let’s explore how role theory can be used in different ways.

A frightening experiment in role theory took place during the 1960s. A group of junior doctors were asked to spend a day taking the roles of patients in a mental hospital. This was to be part of their training – an exercise in empathy. The doctors duly filled the task and acted-out in ways they had seen patients behave. The day ended and they went to put on their coats, but were met by staff saying: “What are you doing? You are patients. You must stay in the hospital.” The doctors went crazy – explaining they were actually on a training exercise. The staff said: “Many of our patients think they are doctors. Go back to the wards.” The doctors started protesting, screaming and behaving irrationally. “See,” said the ward staff, “you are crazy.” The nightmare continued with the doctors becoming more like patients. They were finally released, but it was a salutary lesson. The doctors realised how quickly they had lapsed into odd behaviour after being treated as patients.

Role theory can also be used to get positive results. When I ran a therapeutic community for young people, for example, they were expected: a) To be responsible; b) To encourage other people; c) To visit universities to teach budding social workers how to encourage troubled teenagers. The young people met these expectations and – by and large – fulfilled the positive roles.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. First, looking at your own life and work, can you think of a time you have seen role theory in action? Describe the example. Second, describe the specific things that were done to reinforce people to continue to stay in a certain role. Try completing the following sentences.

The time I saw role theory in action was:

*

The specific things that were done to
reinforce people to stay in a certain role were:

*

*

*

So how you can use role theory to, for example, succeed in an organisation? Let’s explore this area.

2) You can use role theory to design people’s roles.

Imagine you are a manager. You can use elements of role theory to help your people to achieve success. This means moving from older views of ‘roles’. Traditional organisations defined roles in terms of activities – what people should ‘do’. Managers then supervised employees, making sure they completed the tasks. This might appear efficient, but it was not always effective. Why? Organisations confused activity with results. People spent time on activities that might or might not contribute to achieving success. Newer organisations focus on results – defining roles in terms of what people should ‘deliver’. People clarify the ‘what’ – the specific results to achieve. They then focus on the broad principles of ‘how’ they will produce the results by ‘when’. This calls for hiring responsible people who do what is necessary – within parameters – to produce success. ‘Roles’ have therefore become focused on ‘deliverables’ – though they still contain clear ‘dos & don’ts’. How does this work in practice? Imagine you are creating a role. You will cover the following areas:

Designing a role

The Deliverables. The specific results
we want the person to deliver are:

*

*

*

The ‘Dos & Don’ts’. The dos & don’ts we want them
to follow on the route to delivering the goods are:

*

*

*

The Desired Support. The specific support they will need to
do the job – and how we can supply this support - is:

*

*

*

The Deadlines. The specific deadlines by which
we want them to deliver certain results are:

*

*

*

How to make this work? Following classic role theory, it is important to ensure that: a) You define the required outcomes; b) You ‘reward the behaviour you want repeated’; c) You then do everything possible to help the person to fulfil the role successfully. This brings us to the next stage.

3) You can use role theory to help people to succeed.

Role theory emphasises the need for constant reinforcement to keep people on track. This is certainly the case if a system wants to suppress people – because otherwise they break out and grow. Many years ago I taught family therapy. Working with families, we saw how the parents, for example, shifted responsibility for problems onto the ‘scapegoat’ – such as a son who was misbehaving at school. “Everything would be alright if it wasn’t for him,” was the creed. Certainly the youngster must take responsibility – but he was also used to deflect attention from other issues. The family maintained him as the scapegoat, however, by constantly criticising and setting him up to fail. They seldom nurtured his talents, encouraged or helped him to succeed. If he did succeed, the parents and other family members must examine their relationships. The family system found a way to deal with its pain – albeit a dysfunctional way – and reinforced him in the scapegoat role.

You can also use role reinforcement in a positive way - especially if people have chosen a role they will find fulfilling. Imagine that you have employed somebody to deliver the goods. You can use the best elements of role theory: a) To agree with them on the deliverables – the results to achieve; the ‘dos & don’ts’; the desired support and the deadlines. b) To encourage by giving specific feedback on what they do well; c) To meet with regularly to check on their progress and, if necessary, do some ‘course correction’. You can invite them to describe what they are doing well - plus what they can do better and how; d) To publicise success stories about their own and their team’s achievements; e) To ‘reward the behaviour you want repeated’. This may seem artificial – but it mirrors many elements of role theory. But it often delivers the goods.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. First, describe a specific situation where you can use role theory to enable people to succeed. Second, describe the specific things you can do to help them to get positive results. Try completing the following sentences.

The specific situations where I can use
role theory to help people to succeed is:

*

The specific things I can do to help
people to get positive results are:

*

*

*

There are many ways to enable people to succeed in organisations. Providing it is used in the right way, role theory can help them to deliver positive results.

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