Walla Walla University Social Justice Assignment Social Justice Assignment Please complete the following worksheet based on your experience in field practicum and the assigned materials for this class. 1. Describe the population that you currently work with. The populations I currently work with include: homeless, low income, disabled, social security beneficiaries, individuals with substance use disorders, children, adolescents, and families. 2. What are the structural barriers and injustices that your clients face? The major structural barriers that my clients face is that they live in a rural area with limited access to essential resources including health care, low income support, and mental health/behavioral support.
The current living situation of the children and family members and their access to health care services including transportation method, health insurance, financial concerns, and other economic constraints.
wide and diverse portfolio includes mental health and substance use, adult and older adult, home
I have a passion for social services, program development, children’s safety and welfare, family rehabilitation and reunification, and community development through education and action. I have a heart for working with and learning from youth. I have recently developed a desire to help transition the homeless to better-living circumstances. My education and career experiences have solidified that social justice is an international cause, but change starts locally. I believe in helping your neighbor and want my life to be a ministry to be a helper to others. I believe that knowledge is empowering and I intend to live my life constantly
Poverty in mental health prevents patients from seeking out medical attention due to lack of insurance. “insurance coverage disparities make mental health care less accessible than other forms of health care” (Safran, 2011). Due to lack of insurance patients are not receiving adequate care, such as being evaluated, receiving the appropriate treatments, and not going to doctor follow up appointments to ensure proper care. Without receiving proper treatment, it can cause the patient condition to get worse and would not have a chance of a successful outcome. Also, poverty can cause additional stress and anxiety making the mental illness progress. “The stresses of living with someone who has a mental health problem may be particularly pronounced for families who live in resource poor areas where treatment options, accurate information, and social support may be limited.” (Bischoff, 2017). Lack of attention is another health disparities, due to lack of attention, there is limited funding sources to help mental health patients. Since there is a lack of funding these individuals are not getting the appropriate help that is needed. As well since mental health lacks attention and funding, there are limited mental health institutions, so people who need to be institutionalized may be required to be relocated to another city/state. We must try our best to provide all resources for our patients and
Social justice is a core value in the social work field. We define social justice as, “all citizens would possess equal fundamental rights, protection, opportunities, obligations and social benefits (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2015, p. 29). Unfortunately, we understand there are many members in today’s society that are not receiving social justice. Some may not want help and believe that s/he is able to do it on their own and then there are the individuals that we may not know about that could really use our help. Our jobs as social workers is to help those who need help no matter if they are rich, poor, disabled, white, Hispanic, it does not matter because everyone should be treated equally. As NASW states, “The original mission of social work had much to do with championing the rights of society’s most vulnerable members, from children to homeless people to the physically disabled” (NASW: National Association of Social Workers, 2015, para. 1).
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a push for equality for minorities was in the forefront of America. The obstacles restricting equality amongst all were race, class, and gender prejudices. An example of this can be seen in the Voter's Right act of 1965, which banned racial discrimination in voting. Prior to this act, minorities faced many obstacles including taxes, literacy test, harassment and physical violence. The battle to receive the rights that whites had was a long struggle both physically and mentally, reasons being: first, the laws had to be changed and second, combating the opposition of those who valiantly resisted these changes .The result has been every expansion of civil and political rights in American history.
based off of several barriers. Some of these included “lack of information in the health care system, inability to pay, and negative past experiences in the health care system” (Admed, Lemkau, Nealeigh,
What does it mean when we say that social problems may arise out of objective or subjective concerns? What are the differences between these two distinctions in how they explain problems?
In a truly just society, justice would lead to a heightening of the vulnerable patients making their health perhaps the only position of their life that is no longer vulnerable. Until social justice is applied to our geopolitical stage, gender and ethnicity differences will continue to limit work opportunities and fair pay. But, if we were to get the health component right, their health would not be a compounding factor in their vulnerability. Instead, good health can help to establish one’s capabilities to explore opportunities and better their lives. Whether it is Nussbaum’s (2000) exhaustive list of 10 essential capabilities or liberalism’s primary good (Almgren, 2013, p. 35), good health and well-being enables a person to fulfill their
1. Identify a social justice-related problem that concerns you. How do you envision a social worker's role in addressing the issue?
Social justice is the fair and just relation between the individual and society. This is measured by the explicit and tacit terms for the distribution of wealth, opportunities for personal activity and social privileges. In western as well as in Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fulfill their societal roles and receive what was their due from society. Today social justice lies in between the balance of chaos and insanity. In what possible way could law enforcement be viewed as criminals while professional athletes who show no respect to the country that pays them millions of dollars be viewed as political figures and heroes?
“Social Justice in Education” by R. W. Connell discusses the role of education in society and the implications that social justice issues have on education. Connell begins by establishing that education and social justice can be examined separately yet they are inescapably linked through the social medium of their implementation. “Education concerns schools, colleges and universities, whose business is to pass knowledge on to the next generation. Social justice is about income, employment, pensions or physical assets like housing.”(Connell, 1993) Three points validating the equal importance of social justice and the education system to people of all delineations are: 1.) in Western society public schools are key forums of social interaction and comprise some of the largest social institutions 2.) educational institutions are highly economic bodies and have become “major public assets” (Connell, 1993) 3.) teaching becomes a vehicle by which society is ultimately determined and has a great influence over society’s morality. Connell describes the meaning of justice in education as being “a question of fairness in distribution… equality.”(Connell, 1993) “Justice cannot be achieved by distributing the same… standard good to… all social classes.”(Connell, 1993) By stating this, Connell summarizes that in the attempt to achieve equality, unequal means must be employed.
This is an inevitable consequence of the barriers in seeking timely and effective treatment for mental illness in rural India: unavailability of mental health services, low level of literacy, socio- cultural barriers, superstition stemming from traditional and religious beliefs, stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness.
Some of the major problems that I have noticed in my community and that were listed by Levine, D. D. Perkins and D. V. Perkins (2005) are substance abuse, suicide, domestic violence and assault, arrest, poverty, unemployment, lack of health care, low income, lack of affordable housing, debt, gender inequality, not having access to trained professionals, child abuse and neglect, divorce, teen pregnancy, and rise of sexually transmitted disease. People have also been impacted by current events such as the devastating fires occurring in northern California, the mass shootings and also, (but unrelated to the mass destruction), the presidential election. These are some of the factors have created emotional constraints and they are some of the many stresses in a society that can cause chronic disorders and negatively impact personal relationships. However, there can be several acts in this community that I believe can be done to aid and prevent mental
Discrimination is all over the world and it's is a very serious problem in society. We judge each other daily because of their gender, ethnicity, religion, age, and the way a person behaves. Discrimination is the “unequal treatment provided to one or more parties based on a mutual accord or some other logical or illogical reason” (merriam-webster). In the modern world of the United State of America the topic of discrimination in the Justice system is debatable because there is considerable evidence confirming both individual and systemic biases. The United States has an extended history of discrimination in several aspects of life, including employment, public accommodations and education. Nowadays there are extremely biased individuals and