Anti-Racist Approach To Social Work

“Racism is oppression based on colour.” (Bishop,1994) therefore social workers must be aware of the extent and impact that racism has on the wide range of ethnic minorities that they work with.

|DH3W 34 |Sociology for Social Care Practice |(02) Understand the causes of discrimination and analyse its effect |

In health and social care sector, health care professionals take into account four key ethical principles when providing service to the service users. The key ethical principles are justice, autonomy, beneficence and non-maleficence. In health and social care settings people must be treated fairly without being judgemental regardless of who they are or where they come from. Health care professionals must allow their service users choose the type of services or treatment they want and the professional should support them in getting quality care that will benefit their service users. Also, health care professional must not

1 Anti-Discriminatory Practice in Counselling identifies the ease with which individuals can be disadvantaged merely on the basis of their gender, race, culture, age, sexuality or ability.

Further, my experience in life has influence my interaction between my social identities and becoming a social worker. As a multiracial female I have experienced both target and agent status. This experience will assist in my journey and growth in becoming a social worker. I will have the knowledge and skills to help individuals escape the stigma of a particular social identity. In time my growth in the field of social will give me a different perspective on topics I am bias towards. As a social worker certain values are demonstrated to assist the client in receiving adequate service. Dedication is a value I admire in the field of social work, but at times clients may feel differently and a conflict of interest can

In relation to social work diversity does not simply mean difference in race and gender but also the unnoticeable differences such as values, religion, social background, economic wellbeing and political beliefs. It is important to acknowledge and understand diversity in social work as there have been matters of holding assumptions and prejudices about an individual or group in the manner they are treated and the services they receive. The issue with making assumptions and prejudices is acknowledged in the Social Work Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) as domain 3 explains that diversity is multi-dimensional, diversity can effect an individual’s life experience in a positive or negative way. This is due to the issues that occur with differences such as oppression, marginalisation and alienation as well as the positive side which includes privilege, power and acclaim (Capabilities within the PCF, 2014). “Anti- oppressive practice

Social workers are often on the forefront in the fight against any form of oppression as against the marginalized society. These demanding but oftentimes unappreciated efforts are often addressed through the conscious use of skills and knowledge of the problems being solved against. When such oppression is however committed against them within the organization where they work, the social worker seems to be mum about the situation, or their efforts perhaps are rendered inutile. North America social workers experience this form of oppression within the social service institution. For this reason, I examine the arguments why the social workers need to be aware of the existence of this unique form of oppression. In order to eliminate oppression in the social welfare workplace, the social workers, in their pursuit of social change, must have a competent understanding of the theory around racism and oppression.

In this assignment I am going to design a booklet explaining of how national initiatives promote anti-discriminatory practice. I am going to explain an assessment of the influences of a recent national policy initiative promoting anti-discriminatory practice in health and social care settings. Then I am going to evaluate the success of a recent initiative in promoting anti-discriminatory practice.

Race is a particularly powerful way of maintaining the dominance of the social group in power. The construct of race is about stratification, which puts a racially justified hierarchy among people in society to keep the dominant social group in power. Stratification can influence the resources an individual receives. Therefore, social workers sometimes use a theoretical approach called, Critical Race Theory (CRT), to guide their work in making certain general assumptions about issues of power, race, ethnicity, and racism. This is because CRT is an alternative theory that offers a radical lens to make sense of racial inequality in society, which could prove useful when analyzing a client’s situation. The

We talk a lot about our social location, or identifying who we are. Before I get further into this paper I wish to identify myself. I am a white male born to two white, heterosexual Anglican parents. I grew up having mostly white friends, until graduating high school. I also have been diagnosed with clinical depression, which is a significant attribute of my identity. As a result of these intersectional attributes they create an identity that is both privileged and oppressed and these elements change depending on the situation (Curry-Steven, 2007, p.37). It is important to understand who you are, as it will shape who I am in the work I do as a social worker.

Explanations that justify the use of racism directly relates to differential treatment of minority groups and contributes to racism’s existence as an unstoppable social problem. The foundations of these explanations are based on the common misunderstanding of the definition of race. Thus, problems that tend to concentrate in one race are mistakenly judged as “race problems”. This judgement leads to the establishment of a system of inequality between a superior race and inferior races. However, the logic behind these explanations don’t account for the true reasoning behind minority individuals value status. In fact, these explanations contribute to minority individuals’ further struggle in life.

One of the most challenging professions for African American males is social work. As a social worker, I have realized that I have to work under two domains. The first one is to work under the race identity and the second one is to work as a class identity. Although I am proud of being an African American, I usually feel sorry for myself being from unprivileged social class in the American society. The identity of being an African American male has affected my social work in many aspects. This is because it has made it impossible to carry out my professional duties because of negative perspectives and discrimination in the society. African American social workers are considered to be incompetent by the rest of the society hence making it impossible to delegate duties without any form of discrimination. This paper provides my own reflections as an African American male in the field of social work and how this identity has affected my practice in community work and advocacy duties.

Being anti-racist is not simply distancing yourself from the “lunatic fringe” — or looking for approval from black friends — or showing your “appreciation” for diversity. Anti-racism is about never accepting the status quo — the western patriarchal system of capitalism that seeks to dominate and destroy some “races” and plays out in the corporate hold over governments of developing countries

Social action plan is a way of embarking on a plan after identifying a particular problems and addressing that problem in an effort to fight social injustices (Maria, 2013, p.329). I identify myself as a Black male, a father, and a student as well. What I would do to engage in multisystemic social change is to first talk about why racism is a problem in this country. I would lay out some of the issues that have been created as results of racism. Being a Black person, I see racism as a silent code that locks the doors of opportunity to young people like me and other minorities due to our race. Racism is pervasive in America but a lot of people are afraid to talk about it because of the fear of the unknown.

Racism not only leads to social problems but it also causes mental illness and violence for example, self-harm, depression and the harming of others. In most cases the victim starts to feel helpless, isolated, depressed and irritated. Experiencing racism can change a victim’s life forever. Nearly half of all Australian residents from a diverse background have experienced racism at some time in their life. WHY? Only because they look different? On a Wednesday afternoon a well-dressed 54 year woman in a mustard jacket unleashed a lecture of abuse at other passengers on a Sydney to Newcastle train, it started because some young kids aged between four and ten didn’t automatically give up their seats