Westheimer And Kahne: The Perfect Citizen For The Perfect Community

the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained (Lewis, 2012).” This quotation by her simplifies my own idea of what social justice is about. I feel a sense of responsibility for other’s welfare and I want to work with people using the field of social work to achieve progress toward my own goal of social justice.

For that reason, Dalton (2009) believes that the changing norms of citizenship are the most relevant answer to this debating issue. Therefore, the theory on duty-based citizenship and engaged citizenship will be the center framework to examine the following three levels of political

With more events disputing over a child’s enrolment in taking social justice positions learned in school, it is hard for society to decide whether social justice should be apart of the curriculum. Cynthia Reynolds, author of Maclean’s article Why are schools brain washing our children, explores the topic of social justice in our education system.

My dynamic vision of social justice looks like a combination of individual empowerment and group empowerment. Albano (2015) argues that group empowerment is the better form of social justice because individual empowerment is a limited way to change the system and works within the existing power structure. I believe both empowerments are best combined into an effective approach to social justice. A client cannot even begin to advocate with the community if he or she still worries about attaining the basic necessities of living like housing of food. For instance, I work in the San Francisco South of Market (SOMA) district where the youth organizations and the activist organizations struggle over the response

This result cannot solely be achieved by charity; education is necessary when serving a community in order to fully grasp the scope of the injustice. As a member of the Dance Marathon Executive Board, I have led fundraising events for charities and raised awareness about the significance of education towards reducing injustice. This past summer, I traveled to Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota on a service trip. Prior to the trip, I extensively studied the current situation on the reservation. I read articles about Native American history such as the Wounded Knee Massacre as well as watched documentaries about the ongoing uranium water crisis. When working on the reservation, I couldn’t fully empathize with what the community members were feeling, but I could sympathize with their pain and understand what was causing it. After listening to the people share their experiences surrounding economical, agricultural, and medical issues, I conveyed these stories to my community. Through education and altruism, I serve my community as a leader furthering social

Community is built of two main elements. First, community requires communal caring. Members need to put themselves in positions where they are able to relate to other members and does everything “within reasonable limits of self-sacrifice” (65). The second is communal reciprocity. Individuals will serve other members of the community, not for exchange of goods, but to provide generosity and support. These elements of community appear in the lives of all individuals, even the most capitalist ones. Humans are entirely capable of these.

On July 18, 2017, I attended the City of Gulfport’s City Council Meeting. The council is made up of elected members of the community whose focus is the city’s goals, major projects and infrastructure improvements. The council makes decisions that range from community growth to land use to finances and strategic planning. Competencies demonstrated during the meeting were Competencies 3 and 5. Competency number 3 focuses on Advanced Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice. The meeting demonstrated knowledge of the ideas and concepts related to the notions of social justice, advocacy, leadership, social change, social support, social networks, and social capital consistent with a MSLC perspective. This competency was demonstrated by addressing community concerns by incorporating ideas of citizens and community leaders. Community leaders such as council members and the mayor provided support and clarification of city policies. The citizens advocated for changes in their community by bringing their issues to the city council for resolutions. Competency 5 focuses on Engaging in Policy Practice. This was demonstrated by advanced skills in social work practice including the ability to link theory, policy-practice, and research/ evaluation, and to employ leadership skills to demonstrate and promote such a linkage. This competency was demonstrated by city council members and the citizens of Gulfport, MS. They worked together to ensure

Global Citizenship & Equity at Centennial College: Global citizenship refers to the social well- being of various communities and its main focus is to minimize inequity which means try to protect our surroundings and don’t harm others. Global citizens support equity at all levels local as well as globally. In equity we have to change different strategy not only changes the version of current strategy to ensure equity.

The article addresses the three kinds of citizenships. The descriptions for each are very similar to the other article read in class. Participatory citizen is being an active leader and service. Justice-oriented citizen was explained as a good citizen who questions what is going on around them and why. They approach the systems or issue to face it head on. Searchers from the article stated “justice-oriented citizenship that is linked to social action.” The article addresses how research can be unclear, documented, and unrealistic. They reference that people may do these things out of their heart or just for a an award to themselves. It is important to educate our children to really focus on the facts, and think outside the box that will impact all of the society in the best possible way.

Social justice helps us in creating human interactions in society and social institutions. These institutions can provide us with what is good for the person and for our associations with others. This happens so long as our institutions are

Community life and civic engagement are a huge responsibility of citizens, although it is not required by citizens, it is an important aspect of a proper citizen. Residents of a community have the constant responsibility of making the society around them reflect an advance in the eminence of lives in the community. The simple duty of any citizen is to give to the common good. Civic responsibilities are achieved by volunteering and choice. Volunteering, involving in positive organizations and aids, or tutoring people in certain subjects, are all ways that people can subsidize to the good of the community. Small deeds that seem to prosper someone in some way or the other is still a way of helping. To learn something from the assistance that one does to another, the deed does not have to be big, as long as the person providing the assistance is doing it with a good heart they can always acknowledge a lesson. Compassion and love is necessary in helping others. When people have the opportunity to help others they may not always get a gift in return, sometimes they may not even get a reply back. This is when the person has to realize that the purpose of helping someone is not for the thank you or the gift, but is for the satisfaction of their soul, betterment of the other, and the ability to learn a lesson. Assisting people needs to be done in a thoughtful and effective way for it to create a lasting impact on his/her self and on society itself.

Being an active citizen is something that everyone in the United States is required to be, yet not everyone actually is one. Many people may believe that just voting is enough to be a good citizen, but voting is actually the least of their duties. Citizens have a set of rights and responsibilities, including the right to participate in decisions that affect public welfare. Being an active citizen means that people get involved in their local communities and democracy at all levels, from their town to nationwide activity. This can be volunteering to clean up the park or street, or educating students on democratic values, skills and participation. Active citizenship is a mixture of knowledge, attitude, skills and actions that aim to contribute to building and preserving a democratic society. When citizens speak up about problems in their communities, public officials take notice and may take action to answer their concerns, which empowers the citizens of the community.

Social justice is not an “us versus them” mentality; rather it is a “were in it together” mentality where the powerful and powerless work together. Obviously those who are in need are the poor and oppressed: women, African-Americans, Jews, Latin Americans, etc. However, due to the fact that these people are in these oppressive situations, they gain insight into the injustices that surround them specifically, and society in general. Although they are made poor by those in power and the structures, institutions, and organizations run by those in power, they still possess “strength to resist, capacity to understand their rights, [and the ability] to organize themselves and transform a subhuman situation (Boff, 1)”. The poor and oppressed are held above the rich and powerful, in other words are given preferential treatment. Due to their oppression in life,

The rapid advancement of society in recent years has greatly increased connectivity and communication capabilities across the globe, such as the development of the worldwide network known as the Internet. The increased connectedness between countries has also brought greater visibility to the substantial cultural differences around the world, from religious freedoms to accepted social behaviors. This global expansion has furthered the opportunity to promote the development of global citizenship, which Reysen and Katzarska-Miller (2013) defined as the embrace of cultural diversity through awareness, acceptance, and the promotion of social justice and responsibility. Global citizenship allows individuals from many cultural backgrounds to develop productive relationships by decreasing the tensions brought on by cultural differences, as well as promoting open sharing of contrasting views to develop better ideas as a group (Wang & Hoffman, 2016). Becoming a global citizen is essential to furthering societal development, improving cross-cultural communication, and promoting awareness and acceptance of different cultures.

The concept of what defines a global citizen varies, for people have their own opinions and say about how they see an ideal one as. Kwame Appiah wrote Cosmopoltianism, and in his opinion, a global citizen is seen as one who sees no division within themselves and “others”; that it is necessary to agree with one another to behave morally. The view of an ideal global citizen has been altered for centuries, and in every culture it is uniquely seen and educated differently. Many Americans may agree when asked, “what is an ideal global citizen”, their responses would be, following the laws, paying taxes, helping out around the community, having a job or