Social Class And Social Work Essay

The social class in America is everywhere but it is often quite hard to recognize only because it is against the American principle for the social class system to exist. Whether we know it or not, we tend to participate in the class system.. By doing so, this leads us to separate ourselves based on our social class system, including class discrimination and social mobility

There is much debate about the issue of social class in the United States. There are arguments about whether social classes are distinctly separate or fluid, dependent upon one’s community or society as a whole, and if they are subjective or objective (Hughes and Jenkins). However, despite the debate surrounding social classes, it is still important to try to define them and analyze their effects, as they are such an important part of our identity and our opportunities in society. Although our society has tried to appear as though we have no classes, and it is becoming harder to tell what class someone is in by material goods, classes do still exist today (Scott and Leonhardt). The trend has been to divide the U.S. into four major

Social workers play a crucial role in many professional realms. With the focus on social workers in educational settings, I interviewed Erika Bougdanos who is a Dean of Students at Niles North High School, located in north suburban Skokie, Illinois. Bougdanos has been working at Niles North for over ten years as a Dean and holds her MSW degree and Type 75 certification (Illinois Administrative Certificate). Bougdanos mentioned that although the high school is highly ethnically diverse, the majority of the student population is White. While Bougdanos interacts with many students throughout her work week, she mentioned that the students she primarily sees in her office are those from low-income or minority backgrounds.

Is it true that social class in the United States is still a major problem? Some individuals would like to believe that we are a nation that no longer has social classes, and that everyone is much better off than they were many years ago. William Sumner and Jane Addams were two talented writers, who had different outlooks on social class. William Graham Sumner wrote “What Social Classes Owe to Each Other” in 1883. Sumner essential question that he asking is, “What do social classes owe to each other?” he is ultimately saying that they owe each other nothing. In the book he asks vital important questions, which makes you ponder. Sumner was a sociologist at Yale University and a great individual of classical laissez-faire. In this book Sumner is tackling the attempt to adjust economy and improve social problems. On the other hand, Jane Addams is known as a peace activist. She published “Democracy and Social Ethics” in 1902. This book indicates the issues that delay the capability of all individuals of society to establish their own comfort. Addams came from a privileged family and dedicated her life to other women. She advocated for women’s rights, and labor rights, and she was among the first generation of college-educated women in the United States. This essay will analyze the important aspects of comparing and contrasting social inequality, poverty, and education.

This section of the paper will discuss the definition of social work, values associated with social work and arguments for and against the use of systems theory in social work practice. Social work can be described as a field of study that encompasses individuals and their environment. Social work can be defined as work trained professionals do to elevate stressors of individuals so they may become more self-sufficient and empowered to live to their fullest potential.

Social class is a topic of discussion that is generally avoided, especially in America. In a country where all of one's dreams can allegedly come true; the notion of class highlights the jarring inequalities and social divisions between one American and another. In recent years, recognizing one's privilege is beginning to become a cultural value. However, it has always been something that people were aware of, as seen in the eye-opening documentary, People Like Us: Social Class is America (2001). The documentary strives to accurately portray how the contrasted people of America live, interact, and see themselves and others. Of the ideas the doc showcases the most important are, the higher classes influence over the poor, and the poor's poor self-image, as these ideas strike the core of why one should be conscientious of their class.

Culture has an effect on behavior based on the beliefs, values, and norms accepted in that culture. To understand a client’s behavior, it’s important to understand their culture and the influences it has on the client. By understanding culture and analyzing it through one or more sociocultural lenses, social workers can understand how society perceives clients and how clients view themselves (Rogers, 2016). According to NASW standard 1.01a (1999), social workers need to understand how culture influences human behavior and society. To efficiently work with clients and understand their behavior, a social worker needs to view a client through an applicable sociocultural lens.

Inequality materializes the upper class, vulgarizes our middle class, brutalizes our lower class. In Australia, social class is a widely recognised concept, however some individuals, particularly the wealthy people, will argue that social class in non existent, that with hard work anyone can achieve, what they set their mind onto. The social stratification system, is based on objective criteria, including wealth, power, and prestige. The Australian notion of equal opportunity, insinuates that social class does not affect, the opportunities someone will have in life. However many sociologist, will argue that social class does create an underlying disadvantage, amongst groups in society, in particular education and health, of an individual is impacted. In this essay, I will strive to critically examine, the conflict and functionalist theories, behind social class. This will allow me to determine, weather some groups are constrained, or advantaged, by their current social status.

The history of social class can be tracked to the late 18th century. The term “class” had began to replace normal classifications that were used at the time such as “ranks” or “orders”. Two broad definitions of social class emerged after the 18th century being the 19th –century materialist economic models of the Marxist and anarchists and the 20th-century sociological stratum models of society.

Akers, R. (2006). Parental and peer influences on adolescent drug use in Korea. Asian Journal of Criminology.

The axis of inequality that will be focused throughout this paper is the social class. Social class is defined as a group of individuals who are categorized according to class (i.e. poor, middle, and upper) due to their income, wealth, power, and occupation. Social class is socially constructed by the way we view how much income and wealth a person possess (Ore, 20011a, 10). In reality it is much more than that. According to the text, poverty is not only the shortage of income, but it is the rejection of opportunities and choices that leads a person to a standard way of living (Ore, 2011a, 10). Stereotyping also contributes to it being socially constructed. These stereotypes influence us by defining who is who based on their principles in each class category. This can cause some to feel worthless.

Social class refers to the system of stratification of the different groups of people in a society. These different forms of classification are, in most instances, based on gender ethnicity and age. Social class makes everyone’s lives extremely different. For example: How long one can expect to live. In a wide range of ways, from success, to one’s health class, social class influences people’s lives (Grusky,2003).

According to the ‘Office of National Statistics’, social class can be defined as ‘a group of people brought together, as far as possible, with similar level of occupational skills’. This group beyond, sharing the same level of

The social issue that the author of this report has decided to focus on touches on two of the enumerated types of social issues and problems that could be selected for this assignment, and that is social mobility and poverty. There seems to be much banter about how immensely difficult it is for people to break the mold of the class that they are raised in or that they enter in early adulthood. The author of this paper holds that people slide up and down the social and economic scale all the time. It is true that generational changes are usually not major and vast, but that is more a function of choice and inaction than it is doom or fate.

Most discussions regarding class adopt a position that it is related to work and economic life; that it is determined (at least at some level) by employment status and financial affluence. Conversely, the neo-Weberian theory postulates that position in the housing market broadly determines class, (McLennan et al., 2004) and although this appears valid it is my opinion that culture rather than class underpins this theory. This view is supported by Conley (2001) in her study on housing and social stratification. I find it is often as difficult to separate class from culture and ethnicity as it is to separate class and stratification, since they each contain elements common to each other. Day (2001, p. 200) supports this view in stating that