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POWER, SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND DIVERSITY SOWO 874 Lecture

POWER, SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND DIVERSITY SOWO 874 Lecture . Walter C. Farrell, Jr. Professor, School of Social Work . University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3440 wfarrell@email.unc.edu. POWER.

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POWER, SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND DIVERSITY SOWO 874 Lecture

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  1. POWER, SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND DIVERSITYSOWO 874 Lecture Walter C. Farrell, Jr. Professor, School of Social Work .University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3440 wfarrell@email.unc.edu

  2. POWER • Power is “autocratic,” “participatory,” “unilateral,” “collective,” “political,” a degree of control over resources (human, fiscal, intellectual, etc.) • Power is transferred through inheritance, anointment, violence, requests, or other means • Power inequality perpetuates oppression of ethnic minorities and others in the social services system. True or False? Explain

  3. POWER (cont’d) • Power is both VISIBLE and INVISIBLE • Is current welfare reform an example of VISIBLE or INVISIBLE power? • Are low-income, poverty-ridden communities largely powerless? • Are social workers largely buffers for the system; do they support existing power structures? Why or why not?

  4. SOCIAL WORK PATRIARCHY • Why is welfare/social work under-girded by patriarchal ideologies when it is female-dominant? • What role(s) have females played in this process? • How can women change the patriarchal pattern of social work? • How does POWER intersect with and differ from LEADERSHIP?

  5. EMPOWERMENT • Mis-education “depowers” the oppressed. • Pedagogy of the oppressed • Advocacy  Empowerment  Power • Advocacy  Reaffirmation of Status Quo • Social workers do not usually engage in ADVOCACY and EMPOWERMENT for the oppressed and downtrodden. True or False? Explain “Pro” and “Con”

  6. WHY SHOULD SOCIAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS BE CULTURALLY COMPETENT? PERSONAL IMPERATIVE: Individuals who have learned to function in multiethnic/multicultural situations develop superior communications skills, tend to be better leaders, better coaches, better at influencing others, better at giving and receiving feedback SOCIAL IMPERATIVE: Changing complexion of the clients of social services. We must learn to deal gracefully with more and more people who are not “like” us LEGAL IMPERATIVE: Discrimination law suits are expensive

  7. Projected U.S. Racial/Ethnic Growth from 1992 - 2050 Asian & Pacific Is. 412.5% Amer. Indian Eskimo & Aleut 109.1% White 29.4% Black 93.8% Latinos 237.5%

  8. Diversity Imperatives • Demographic • Social • Legal • Effective Customer/Client Service

  9. The New Melting Pot Ranked by percentage increase of immigrants from 1995 to 2000* (Estimates) *For states with a foreign-born population of at least 50,000 in 1995 Source: Urban Institute

  10. Net Population Change Attributed to Non-White Population Growth , July 1, 1990 to Present (United States) Est.

  11. U.S. Population By Race: 2012 (Est.)

  12. APPROACHES TO DIVERSITY • TRADITIONAL - • Assimilation / Affirmative Action (Legacy) / Melting Pot Model • UNDERSTANDING DIVERSITY - • Assumes that difficulty in organizations flows from a lack of understanding, so that the objective is to enhance your ability to accept, understand, and appreciate differences among clients • MANAGING DIVERSITY - • An emerging supplement to the traditional option. The objective is to create an environment that fully taps the potential of all clients, in pursuit of your practice objectives, without blaming the client

  13. DIVERSITY/CULTURAL COMPETENCE PUZZLE -- INDIVIDUALSFOUR KEY BEHAVIORS: 3. SUBJECT-MATTER UNDERSTANDING & EXPERTISE (CON’T) • You must know the demographic/diversity profiles of clients being served by your organization • You must understand the effects of public and/or private sector policies, systems, and practices on clients in the context of their ethnicity, gender, lifestyles, and cultural differences 4. FACILITATION SKILLS - • You must “know the clients of your organization” and know how to design your service delivery based on their needs. • SELF KNOWLEDGE - • Understanding how one’s own personal beliefs and values may affect others • LEADERSHIP - • Take responsibility for championing diversity • SUBJECT-MATTER UNDERSTANDING & EXPERTISE - • You must understand affirmative action/equal employment guidelines and how they differ from valuing and managing diversity • You must be knowledgeable of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992 and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

  14. IF YOU PLAN TO WORK IN A SOCIAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY, NOTE THE FOLLOWING TRENDS: • Every one belongs to a minority group • By 2000, one employee in four will come from a minority group • Hispanics will continue to lead Blacksas the nation’s largest minority • Immigrants will become more important to U.S. population growth than natural increase Challenge to Social Service Organizations: Target the diverse cultures, age groups, lifestyles, etc. with right practices and messages

  15. IF YOU PLAN TO WORK IN A SOCIAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY, NOTE THE FOLLOWING TRENDS: • The family must be redefined. • By 2010, married couples will no longer be a majority of households • An increasing number of children will be single female- and/or teen-parented (never married), and in poverty, with working mothers, and offspring of ex-offenders • By 2010, about one in three married couples with children will have a stepchild or an adopted child • Interracial marriage will darken the faces of the average family?? • Alternative family types will become more prevalent, including unmarried heterosexual couples, homosexual couples, and friends who live together Bottom Line: Social Service organizations will need to be tactful when depicting 21st Century home life

  16. IF YOU PLAN TO WORK IN A SOCIAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY, NOTE THE FOLLOWING TRENDS: Bottom Lines: Social Service organizations that effectively manage client diversity and look for ways to adjust agency practices to client needs are the ones most likely to excel in the 21st Century An organization’s reputation for cultural competence will be as valuable an asset as the professional backgrounds of its personnel

  17. IF YOU PLAN TO WORK IN A CUSTOMER-FOCUSED ORGANIZATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY, NOTE THE FOLLOWING TRENDS: • The U.S. population, age 55 and above, increased by 27% between 1990 and 2000 • The elderly population(>65 years of age) increased most rapidly in the following states between 1990 and 2012: Nevada(72%), Alaska(60%), Arizona(40%), Utah(27%), Colorado(26%), and Georgia(20%) • The U.S. population, age 65 and older, is projected to increase by 131% during the 21st century

  18. IF YOU PLAN TO WORK IN A CUSTOMER-FOCUSED ORGANIZATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY, NOTE THE FOLLOWING TRENDS: • Effective Social Service organizations will manage and adjust agency practices to client needs • An organization’s reputation for good human values will be as valuable an asset as the professional backgrounds of its personnel

  19. Observations From Joan WalshWhat’s The Matter With White PeopleJohn Wiley: New York, 2012 • W.E.B. DuBois—”The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line” (in reference to the racial oppression of Black Americans) • Joan Walsh---”The problem of the the twenty-first century is the problem of the color lines” (in reference to the rapidly changing demographics of America)

  20. Observations From Joan WalshWhat’s The Matter With White PeopleJohn Wiley: New York, 2012 • We need to acknowledge that our black and white paradigm---victim vs. victimizer---is an outdated script, reducing Native Americans, Latinos, Asians, and the growing number of multi-racial Americans to bit players in our national drama • Weneed a more generous language of inclusion

  21. Observations From Joan WalshWhat’s The Matter With White PeopleJohn Wiley: New York, 2012 • We need to make the experiences of White Americans a central part of the diversity, multi-cultural mix • Too often, our rhetoric of multiculturalism has a tinge of payback, of retribution, a touch of “We’re the future, and you’re not, especially in reference to White males • We’re all the future. And the future is here

  22. Take Aways • Judgments in the workplace will become increasingly complicated • Racial Fairness and Cultural Competency will change in their meaning • Pluralism in society will cause a redefinition of what is meant by minority. • Diversity and power will collide

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