Social work an empowering profession chapter 6

Social and economic rights (Second generation nights)

-Quality of life rights -Rights that relate to an adequate standard of living to ensure health and well-being, including provisions for meeting basic human needs such as food, clothing, housing, medical care, Social Security, education and social services

Collective rights (Third generation rights)

-Relate to solidarity among nations and intergovernmental cooperation on global issues such as environmental protection, social and economic development, humanitarian aid, international security, and peace

Human rights fall in three categories:

1. Civil and Political rights 2. Social and economic rights 3. Collective/People's rights

People with disabilities represent the largest disenfranchise group in the United States

18.7 Percent of the population or about 54.4 million with some level of disability

From an empowerment social work perspective

A just society is one in which all members share the same rights to societal resources and benefits and who, in turn, contribute to the resources of society. What is it

Social stratification results from any quality really to wealth, power, and prestige.

A social hierarchy developes that clusters people within strata or layer like division

Ableism

Accords preferential status to those who do not have a disability

conflict perspective of sociology

Accords that differential access to power and status perpetuates injustice Conflict occurs when one group challenges the power inequities other groups maintain

In the context of empowerment expanding opportunities means:

Activating strategies that enhance clients participation in the social and political structures of society and redress social injustices.

According to Sumner, people should except poverty as a societal ill that would be abolished by their own industriousness and prudence

Although Sumner question the role of public charity, he thought private charity developed altruism I did not interfere with the course of evolution

Gray panthers (Maggie Kuhn)

An activist organization that promotes the interest and rights of older persons, recommends education to sensitize Americans to the social consequences of ageism, and urges political and economic reform and the overhauling of the US healthcare system.

Racism

And ideology that perpetuates the social domination of one racial group by another

The national gay task force in the gay rights national lobby

Are Political advocacy groups that monitor public issues, represent gay concerns, evaluate media portrayals of homosexuals, and lobby for legislative protection of gay rights Within the profession of social work, both the NASW and the CSWE have taskforces on gay and lesbian issues

Civil liberties

Are constitutional guarantees to freedoms, including citizens rights to question and to engage in activities leading to social change.

Human rights

Are the fundamental entitlements that are necessary for personal development and human potential

Societal isms

Are the prejudicial attitudes directed against groups that society identifies as lesser —Less capable, less productive, and less normal. -The isms provide rationalizations for stratified social structures

United Nations Universal' Declaration of Human Rights ncorporates rights regarding equal rights in education, work, and health

Articles 22-26 Review p. 134 Article 22: Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to Social Security and isn't title to the realization...... Article 23: Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment..... Article 24: Everyone has the right to rest and leisure.... Article 25: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for their health and well-being Article 26: Everyone has a right to education

Eaglitarian theory (John Rawls)

"Justice as fairness" All persons should have fairy quality to access resources and opportunities and favors the redistribution of societal resources expressly to benefit those persons who are disadvantaged.

Emancipatory social work

Embracing this radical Commitment to human rights practices

Attribution theory ( psychology theory)

Focuses on the way people infer causes of behavior. This theory suggests that people draw different conclusions about cause depending on their own perspective or point of you In general, people attribute the causes of their own blunders to external situations.

Appraisals influence responses

How people respond to discrimination, dehumanization, and victimization hinges on their appraisals of circumstances that surround them. People's interpretations of events are crucial in determining their behavioral responses

People often narrowly define homosexual identity as a deviant sex act

In the publics mind, the personal identity of homosexuals becomes secondary to their sexuality and as a result, homosexuals often experience depersonalization in addition to social stigma

Americans with disability act of 1990

Points the way to understanding that life with a disability can be as worthwhile as life without a disability and that those with disabilities should be entitled to means that enable them to participate in society

Typically people who are victimized feel powerless

Powerlessness results in low self-esteem, a sense of impotency, and an inability to muster affective responses to oppression

Heterosexism

Prejudice against peoples who sexual orientation differs from that of heterosexuals

Citizens' rights

Promote quality of life through citizens' rightfull access to the resources of society

Utilitarian theory (Jon Stewart Mills and Jeremy Bentham)

Promotes the notion of utility, that is, the greatest good for the greatest number -Reflects shades of social Darwinism - Social justice from the utilitarian perspective, means that although most persons would have their needs met , It is acceptable that some would not while others would have more than They need

Civil rights

Protect citizens from oppression by society or from subjugation by societal groups

Civil rights

Provide for fair, just, and equitable dealings between government and individual citizens and among citizens themselves.

Elitism

Refers to prejudicial attitudes that presume people in lower socioeconomic classes are "slackers" who are less worthy and less competent and than those in upper classes

Victimization

Represents the personal response of those who are oppressed by injustice.

Like all beliefs, prejudicial attitudes are difficult to change, and they even perpetuate themselves.

Research in cognitive psychology indicates that the information people tend to process and store in long-term memory is information that is consistent with expectations In essence, the information is more readily perceived and remembered

Civil and political rights ( first generation rights)

Restrict the role of government with regard to the political status of societal members. -Due process rights -rights to a fair trial -freedom of speech and religion —freedom of assembly - guarantees against discrimination slavery and torture

Another psychological theory suggests:

That some people may blame victims in order to protect themselves or even mask their anger *One ego-defensive attitude results when people see specs of sawdust in the eyes of others, yet ignore the logs in their own

In the context of the implementation of social programs

Workers and clients work and partnerships to enhance public services.

Disabling environments further discourage people with disabilities from participating in the mainstream of society

Barriers in architecture, transportation, communication methods, sociability, economics, and legal rights confront people with disabilities and impose serious limitations with their environments

Sexism

Belief that one sex is superior to the other *Sexism most frequently manifests as a prejudicial attitudes toward and discriminatory actions against females, giving ginger privilege to men. Sexism has roots in gender socialization

Reverend S Humphries Gurteen (Founder of the Charity Organization Society) COS

Believed that, unlike animals, humans are social and can combine to defeat the law of natural selections. When humans defend the unfit, the unfit survive and societies deteriorate. This, he said, is the scientific origin of poverty

Learned helplessness

Both personal experiences and beliefs contribute to one's sense of control or lack thereof. Telling ourselves amd being told by others that we have no control leads to feelings of helplessness.

William Graham Sumner, the leading proponent of Social Darwinism in the United States in the late 19th century

Combined spencer's view, laissez-faire economics, and the Protestant work ethic in his theory

Ego-defenses

Develop from internal conflicts and relate more to personal needs than to the actual character of the victim who is blamed

Racial discrimination manifest itself on three levels:

1. Individually 2. organizationally 3. structurally

3 primary classifications of social justice theory derive from social and political philosophy

1. Libertarianism 2. Utilitarianism 3. Egalitarianism

Libertarian theory of justice (Robert Nozick)

Emphasizes the centrality of individual liberty or freedom as the sole concern of social justice -Oppose both the welfare system and affirmative action and initiatives that promote equality by according preferential treatment to any disenfranchised groups

Resource rich environment contribute to peoples bases of power.

Empowerment based professionals created resources in social support systems and influence social change and political and economic institutions and social welfare policies that enhance citizens access to societal resources

Structural level discriminatory Practices in one social institution limit opportunities in another.

Ex. Denying access to educational opportunities limits employment options, which then limits choice and housing or access to healthcare.

Misconceptions and stereotypes foster ageism

Ex. Exalting youthfulness equating age with death segregating people Senility All old people are alike Old people are ridgid, inflexiable, unable to change.

Individuals reveal discrimination through prejudicial attitudes and behaviors

Ex. Landlords discriminate racially when they screen tenant applications on the basis of race.

Organizations that enforce policies, rules, and regulations in ways that adversely affect certain groups exhibit discrimination.

Ex. Personal practices that do not follow affirmative action guidelines may result in preferential hiring.

Elitism extends beyond the boundaries of a society to the international arena, we're highly industrialized nations take advantage of other countries

Ex. US Disposal companies contract with individuals to dump medical chemical and nuclear waste in economically impoverished parts of Africa These families trade the use of their land for income to meet their immediate needs and it exposes them and their children to contaminated waste and jeopardizes their health

The abolition of poverty (sumner's essay)

He Correlated poverty with ignorance, voice, and miss fortune. Moreover he argued that giving money to the poor granted capital to ineffective members of society who would not use it productively

Social Darwinism (Originated with Herbert Spencer)

He applied evolutionary theory to society, drawing on Darwins theory of evolution and Lamarck's theory of inherited characteristics. He described evolution as the "survival of the fittest" and believed that eventually an ideal society of the "fit" would evolve.

Peoples irrational fears for homosexuals form the basis for homophobic behaviors

Homophobia escalated after male homosexuals became one of the first populations in the United States identified as being at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS

Blaming the victim

In contemporary society, blaming the victim is an ideology that emphasizes environmental causation rather than one that regards victims as inferior, genetically defective, or Morally ufit from birth This, even when people consider the social circumstances of poverty, they blame victims for their lower status and people also attribute causes to some defect in victims.

Minorities experience indirect and direct barriers to empowerment

Indirect barriers: our attitudes, beliefs, or ideologies that result and prejudice and bias, stereotyping, discrimination, and stigmatization Direct barriers: include covert and overt policy directives that limit access to societal resources such as an education, public assistance, and healthcare

Discrimination

Is a civil rights issue that segregate people and limit their access to societies opportunities and resources

Stereotype

Is an overstated characterization and simplified generalization of a minority group based on selected traits

Dehumanization

Is considering people as less than human, stripping them of their individuality and potential

Oppression

Is the collective injustice perpetuated by those who dominate by controlling resources and opportunities.

Ethnocentrism

Is the dominant groups belief in it's superiority that leads to self righteousness and contempt for other groups

Institutional discrimination

Maintains the status differential between the majority population in the racial minorities

Engaging in a human rights and social justice approach requires the transformation of oppressive conditions through empowerment

More recently, the empowerment method integrates the social justice and human rights agenda into the broad base of generalist practice at the micro mezzo and macro levels.

Since 1990 women have been actively advocating equal rights.

More recently, the women's rights movement has centered on economic equity. The equal rights amendment (ERA) which twice failed to pass as a constitutional amendment , simply asked for equal protection for persons under the law, regardless of sex Opponents of the amendment believe that it's passage would disrupt the "natural order."

Empowerment derives from activating both personal and political power

Personal power: Is a cheap through a sense of competence and affirming experiences Political power: reflects access to opportunities and the ability to influence decision-making

Ageism (Robert Butler)

Negative attitudes prevalent in the United States toward aging Ageism is particularly blatant as a response to people who are older, even though age prejudice can be directed at any age group.

People who experience stigma incorporate it's negative connotations into their self images, thus leading to self victimization

One early study of the effect of labels and self-fulfilling prophecy suggest that people have a tendency to live up to the labels assigned to them by others.

Same sex couples generally do not

Share the same benefits in housing laws, insurance coverage, or legal protection of inheritance and investment as do heterosexual couples.

In the 1960s

Social activist brought the plight of racial groups to national attention pressed for the passage of civil rights legislation. It resulted in legislation for school desegregation, anti-discrimination laws, a rejection of the doctrine of separate but equal facilities, and affirmative action in the workplace. To confront institutional discrimination, the civil rights movement supported equal pretending education and employment for minority.

Just world beliefs

Social psychologist suggest that belief in a just world legitimize blaming the victims Research indicates that many people believe that there is a positive correlation between individual worth amd fate—A connection between virtue and reward Study site evidence that belief in a just world is associated with the tendency to derogate victims of social injustice—Especially women, blacks, and the poor Believe in a just world predicts lower reported levels of social activism, perpetuating social injustice

The structural functional perspective of sociology

View society as an organism with interrelated parts integral to the functioning of the whole This view, even social injustice has a function in the overall balance and society

World health organization defines disabilities as

The consequences of impairments that restrict activities

According to Sumner

The constant law of nature is competition. Nature is a neutral force that rewards those who are most fit: "Economic life was construed as a set of arrangements that offered inducement to man of good character, while it punish those who are in Sumner's words, 'negligent, shitless, inefficient, silly and imprudence.'"

In the heyday of social Darwinist thought, COS leaders distinguished the "worthy poor" and the "unworthy pauper

The distinction between the poor and the pauper suggest that paupers were consider the unfit, whereas the poor were worthy of carefully scrutinized Charity Social Darwinist proponents believe that scientific private Charity was more appropriate then the unsystematized methods of public relief

According to Herbert Gans poverty serves economic, social, cultural, and political functions

The economic function: Is to provide a group of people (the poor) who are willing to do societies dirty work The poor become A handy label for deviance to validate dominant societal norms The worthy poor provide gratification to the upper class as an outlet for altruism, pity, and Charity. Cultural function of poverty is to abide labor for the cultural arts and art forms, such as jazz, that are enjoyed by people in higher social strata Politically, the poor serve as a rallying point for political groups

Handicapism

The prejudice and discrimination directed against people who have mental or physical disabilities

Social policy

Then mechanism through which social benefits are distributed and equal rights are protected

The general public's apathetic response to the Nazi atrocities and civilian massacres in wartime documents that dehumanization occurs

This reaction predisposes people to regard others as somehow deserving of pain and suffering

Gender socialization and shapes how we perceive our rules and defines our self-identity

This socialization also prescribed "gender-appropriate" choices for men and women Sexist social structures devalue women, discriminate against them economically, and discourage there for participation in society.

Human rights

Those intrinsic rights that protect human life, and secure freedom, and secure personal liberty.

The United Nations define human rights as:

Those rights which are inherited in our nature and without which we cannot live as human beings.

Civil rights and civil liberties provide citizens protection from discrimination and oppression

Together, civil rights and civil liberties ensure harmony and order in society and dignity and freedom for individual citizens

Dehumanization simultaneously directs itself in word and others

Where as self-directed dehumanization diminishes ones own humanization And Object-directed dehumanization fails to recognize an others they're full complement of human qualities