The readings in this week discuss the intrinsic and necessary link between research and social justice. The first reading outlines that steps and processes that are involved in becoming an anti-oppressive researcher. This initial reading discusses the steps and responsibilities that are necessary in order to comprehensively act as an anti-oppressive researcher. The main responsibility that an anti-oppressive researcher must take, is to be dedicated to upholding social justice principles. Within a research context, this means creating an environment where social justice and research can be used together to work towards social equality. The main idea evident throughout this reading, is that research can be used as a powerful tool to change unequal …show more content…
Furthermore, since anti-oppressive research is committed to the eradication of unequal power structures, the relationship between the researcher and the research participant is also grounded in principles of anti-oppressive practice. Within anti-oppressive research, there is the commitment to a transparent and open relationship with research participants, and the hierarchal relationship of researcher and participant is restructured within anti-oppressive practice. I find this particularly interesting, as social issues and unequal power structures cannot be resolved, if they are being replicated within the very research study that is meant to address it. Therefore, employing an anti-oppressive approach to research is the best way to ensure that research studies are comprehensive and fair towards research participants, and also ensures that the results of the research are used to create real social …show more content…
The one main points that I took away from both of these readings, was that research can be used to promote social change. I used to believe that the only real way to create social change was through protest and civilian demand, but I learned that research gives social movements the resources and information to comprehensively solve social issues. I also learned that if research employs an anti-oppressive approach that is focused on the reflexivity and openness with the movements and participants that it studies, then outcomes of the study, will be the most comprehensive and informed facts that can be used to create social change. Furthermore, I learned how research can be applied and linked to any of the social issues that exist within contemporary Canadian society, therefore research is an integral part of the fight towards social equality. For example, organizations like Black Lives Matter, would not be able to fully fight the fight against racial inequality, if they didn’t have all the facts on the
Oppression exists at varying levels and the way in which we choose to view it can have a significant impact on our ability to break down the barriers that continue to oppress disenfranchised groups. Much like the analogy of a caged bird facing both individual cage wires as well as the confining cage as a whole, examining the microscopic and macroscopic levels of oppression is essential in furthering our understanding of social justice. Long-term and persisting injustices towards subordinate social groups can also lead to internalized oppression, creating a complex system of disempowerment and self-loathing. As members of society committed to social change, it is important that we continue to educate ourselves on the issues of oppression and oppressed groups while ensuring we act at allies and advocates in our efforts to tackle these barriers.
Social work is based on respect for the inherent worth and dignity of all people as expressed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights(1948) It is therefore of paramount importance that a social work professional should work towards promoting the best interests of individuals and groups in society. I very much recognize the contribution that social work brings to inclusion having worked alongside social workers during the course of my shadowing placement. I possess a real commitment to promote equality which I have had the pleasure of doing in a multitude of different roles. From academic journals as well as my lecture notes I now appreciate the central importance of using the fundamental principles of human rights and equality to underpin my practice, and the inherent need to promote justice in relation with the people I will work.
In Sleeping with One Eye Open: The Perils of Fieldwork in a Brazilian Juvenile Prison, Greg Simon provides a detailed analysis of his experience as a researcher in Indonesia. Simon specifically describes his experience doing fieldwork in Bukittinggi, Indonesia. During his studies, Simon was treated with much disrespect (from his perspective). Simon stresses that it is important for a researcher to understand their biases, disproportions, and also the relationship they have with the people/community being studied. The author also states that it is important to use one’s self as a tool to study others.
Anti-oppressive groupwork theory remains focused on ending socioeconomic oppression while valuing empowerment, diversity and accountability for the powerful (Adams, Dominelli & Payne 2002). Anti-oppressive practice involves reflecting on power, listening to the oppressed, and challenging oppression while connecting and collaborating with the people experiencing oppression (Rogers 2012). It includes identifying issues as well as joining with people to challenge and instigate change (Rogers 2012). Anti-oppressive principles will become the foundation for my practice to minimise power differences and become agents of change and promote social justice.
As an undergraduate student, I never imagined becoming a social worker. At that time, I did not have a complete understanding of all the aspects social work encompassed. I was also unaware of the various pathways social work had. Now, to my understanding, social workers are aiming for social and economic justice. Social justice leads to greater social welfare and social change. Social work also aims to help those who face various hardships. Situational, cultural, ethnic diversity and intellectual abilities each play a role. I have come to look at social justice comparable to the American philosopher John Rawls. Both Rawls and I view social justice as a safeguard to members of society who are at a disadvantage. It works to secure equal access to liberties, rights, and opportunities. When denial of liberties and basic human rights is clear, we are looking at the face of injustice. Social justice aims to provide members of society facing injustice the necessary opportunities. Social welfare can be of help to any population: men, women, the elderly, and children. Every race, ethnicity, and religion. Immigrants, veterans, the mentally ill, the mentally disabled and so on. Through my experiences, I have decried multi folds denied liberties and opportunities. I look at these people and ask myself, "What can society do to help them? What can I do to help them? What resources are available to them? How can we meet these people in the position they are and help them overcome?" These
The social injustice I humbly relate to is the intolerance toward Hispanic populations in America; whether the person is documented or undocumented. Before moving to Carthage, Missouri; I had essentially no interaction with Hispanic people. Embarrassingly, I admit, I relied on stereotypes to build my opinion of the Hispanic population as a whole. On May 22nd, 2011, we lost our home, every personal belonging, and our car in the Joplin tornado. We anxiously awaited our homeowner's insurance payout; with three dogs and nowhere to stay, we fretted, meanwhile homes available for sale shrunk by the hour. Soon, an acquaintance approached us, he had a home in Carthage; that was for sale and vacant. Built in 1910, I immediately fell in love with the home; it is my perfect home, with historically abundant features.
relationships within society, and thus, the purpose of knowledge construction is to aid people to improve society (Mertens, 2003). Moreover, Creswell (2014) concedes there is not a standardized body of research differentiating this worldview, but it includes a diverse group of researchers who are critical theorists; participatory action researchers; Marxists; feminists; racial and ethnic minorities; persons with disabilities; indigenous and postcolonial peoples; and members of the LBGTQ communities. This study’s philosophical worldview is guided by transformative research. The transformative paradigm embraces the belief that research analysis should have a connection to politics, yet possess an agenda for political change, which at its core
In the reading “Small Change : Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted,” Malcolm Gladwell discusses the act of four brave college students and their act of social activism. The four freshmen from a local all black college sat down at a counter in a diner near Greensboro, North Carolina and were denied service because of their race. The students refused to leave and instead started a protest there at the restaurant. The numbers of people protesting with the four young men increased as the story spreaded across states. The story of the sit in was done without the use of any technology or social network. Gladwell discussed the effectiveness of the sit-in because of the relationship between
Civil Rights Movements recollections are responsible for shaping how people behave in society as well as the numerous protests on human rights that are seen in present day. What was evidenced back in the 1950s and 60s was focused on breaking racial barriers which were centered around degrading, confining and marginalizing the minority population of the United States. The case is relatively different in present day, what is conceptualized is a case of people supporting the movement driven by different purposes. With the history of what transpired throughout time is what shapes our daily politics. Social movements of the 19th and 20th Century are responsible for shaping progressive thought. The movements were driven by the need for racial disenfranchisement with legal requirements of segregation were constitutionally inconsistent with a focus on its eradication. What was conceptualized back in the early 20th Century is a case scenario where the women suffrage, environmental protection to dismantlement of Jim Crow laws. These were considered as relatively utopian ideas but that is not the case in present day where they are considered as being common sense. Radical issues for yester years have been considered into mainstream policy formulation of present day. During the 20th Century, the whole process reads as some of the most progress accomplishments until present day. The whole process of social justice was conceptualized
The lack of representation in research fields, including anthropology and sociology, where white women have been able to be represented, has formed false truths about the subjects they study. Over the past 50 years, the Civil Rights and feminist movements in particular presaged a radical change in the way social life was constructed, structured, and enacted in the United States. The orice unchallenged predominance of a particular race, gender, and class analysis of our social and economic lives became the complex and sometimes elusive target of our collective reforms. Where historically social scientists were supposed to be objectively removed from even their own "gaze" on the research project (Kanuha, 2000). Moreover, these false truths seep into social policies, textbooks and organizations in which social workers interact with; therefore, it is important for social workers to adapt antiracist feminist research methods in order to “decolonize” their own knowledge and the world around
Though the concept of social injustice is universal in nature, the experience varies with each person. Factors like a person’ race, or gender can further influence the severity of the injustice; victims caught in the overlap between discriminations often go unrecognized by the law and society. Many people recognize the names Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice as African Americans who were murdered by local police. But names like Michelle Cusseaux, Tanish Anderson, and Meagan Hockaday often receive less feedback even though they are also murdered African Americans. The only distinction between the sets of names is gender. Even within racial injustice, discrimination is present between genders as some cases get national
Within the social work that we encounter on a daily basis, anti-oppressive (AOP) practice is generally referred to as the wider term that covers various practices and approaches as structural, radical, feminist, critical, anti-racist and liberating actions. AOP is viewed as a social work practice that attempts to address the structural inequalities and social divisions that is usually experienced in the social work. The ultimate aim of AOP is to provide more appropriate and sensitive services that ensure the social status is not an impediment to them enjoying the social service. AOP is egalitarian in approach and caters for personal philosophy while suppressing the negative effects of the structural weaknesses and inequalities (McGraw, n.d). It is deemed to cater for both the process and the outcome and aimed at reduction of the negative effects of hierarchy that may be experienced in the social work.
The limitation of the anti oppressive approach does not distinguish powerlessness and power between the worker and clients. The approach is lack of attention on micro and individual level services and provides little room for power relationships at the local level, and also neglects personal and psychological factors (Danso, 2009). Anti-oppressive practice in the structural level has benefited the dominant groups by addressing institutional arrangement, social process and practice. However, in the structural anti-oppressive practice approach, social reform does not belong to social transformation. The approach does not focus on the factors of the barriers or oppression. For example, unemployment insurance principle is address financial assistance for the unemployed worker but does not focus on what the cause of the unemployment is. In another example, the policy of affirmative action favor oppressed persons until to achieve employment but does not reduced or eliminate racism, sexism and other type of oppression in the workplace
Social sciences and social justice are both based on the structure of rights. Our rights were designed to create equality for all. However, there are always outliers in our justice system and these outliers can be seen by all. My background and demographic are aggressively average growing up in a small, rural community with little diversity which has affected my views about justice. The class Social Problems and Social Injustice has aggressively opened my eyes to new statistics about society and has made some of my intuitions validated and destroyed some of my prior views. My new understanding of social justice is that is was created for all by excluding some. Justice is the structure of our institutions and society.
Social justice is mutually a practice and a goal. The goal of social justice is complete and equal contribution by all people in a society that is equally designed to meet their needs. Social justice allows for all members of society to be physically and psychologically safe and secure. It is a set of values that allow us to understand what is right and wrong in our world regardless of race, culture and economic status. That we take care of those in need of help, so that they can take care of themselves. Social justice allows equal rights and opportunities to everyone in society.