Look at that^^^^! (a properly capitalized title) AND, a capitalized sentence... boy is this class going to change some underlying blog habits that I have acquired!
So this week for class I read an article in the Journal of Social Work Education by Leroy H. Pelton titled "Social Work and Social Justice." This article was a bit controversial in the field of social work. (I am assuming this because we also were assigned a response article by Scanlon and Longres, a response to that article by a Mr. Richard Holody, a response to his response by the pair listed above and to all of that by Pelton himself. MAN. That was a long train of thought.) Anyway- so the subject of this "controversy" as I will call it is all about the "right" way to promote social justice in regards to both clients and to policy.
Quick summary (if my understanding is correct):
Pelton argues that group-think (categorizing people into groups and responding to them as a member of such group) is harmful to all of society, research and public policy. Scalon and Longres seem to support a multicultural practice in which the goal is to "effectively aid all people by taking their standpoint" meaning to understand where the client is coming from in terms of their group history, social circumstances, and culture (p. 443). These ideas don't seem to be too different.
So here's what I think.
A. All of these arguments to me seem hard to muddle my way through. Oh intellectuals...
B. I am going to go in a different direction. The line between promoting "group" equality and falling into group stereotyping is really thin. If we create policy that overly benefits one population, our minds tend to add that policy, or I guess what ever problem causes the policy to be implemented, to the group that is benefited.
I do this.
That is difficult to say because I am supposed to view each person as an individual, right? But when I think of the poor SES people, I think of an urban family, and most of the time I think of African Americans even though I know that there is a way bigger picture going on. However, I don't see African Americans and assume they are poor. But Pelton fears this way of thinking can lead to exactly that.
Pelton argues in his response to the chaos of other responses, "When individuals are treated differently {good or bad} based on their group membership rather than their individual qualifications or need, we have discrimination"(p. 201). Period. End of story.
The only problem- changing what society has put in our heads is rather difficult.
I guess we all gotta start somewhere!
So this week for class I read an article in the Journal of Social Work Education by Leroy H. Pelton titled "Social Work and Social Justice." This article was a bit controversial in the field of social work. (I am assuming this because we also were assigned a response article by Scanlon and Longres, a response to that article by a Mr. Richard Holody, a response to his response by the pair listed above and to all of that by Pelton himself. MAN. That was a long train of thought.) Anyway- so the subject of this "controversy" as I will call it is all about the "right" way to promote social justice in regards to both clients and to policy.
Quick summary (if my understanding is correct):
Pelton argues that group-think (categorizing people into groups and responding to them as a member of such group) is harmful to all of society, research and public policy. Scalon and Longres seem to support a multicultural practice in which the goal is to "effectively aid all people by taking their standpoint" meaning to understand where the client is coming from in terms of their group history, social circumstances, and culture (p. 443). These ideas don't seem to be too different.
So here's what I think.
A. All of these arguments to me seem hard to muddle my way through. Oh intellectuals...
B. I am going to go in a different direction. The line between promoting "group" equality and falling into group stereotyping is really thin. If we create policy that overly benefits one population, our minds tend to add that policy, or I guess what ever problem causes the policy to be implemented, to the group that is benefited.
I do this.
That is difficult to say because I am supposed to view each person as an individual, right? But when I think of the poor SES people, I think of an urban family, and most of the time I think of African Americans even though I know that there is a way bigger picture going on. However, I don't see African Americans and assume they are poor. But Pelton fears this way of thinking can lead to exactly that.
Pelton argues in his response to the chaos of other responses, "When individuals are treated differently {good or bad} based on their group membership rather than their individual qualifications or need, we have discrimination"(p. 201). Period. End of story.
The only problem- changing what society has put in our heads is rather difficult.
I guess we all gotta start somewhere!
Unfortunaley every single one of us has been to taught to be prejudice or bias toward one group or another. It is simply human nature to sterotype people. I completely agree "changing what society has put in our heads is rather difficult".
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