Social Justice is Vital in Relationship to Social Policy

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.

Human Rights are the rights everyone is supposed to be given no matter their discrepancies. Although many don’t realize it human rights play a huge role in our everyday lives. It may seem like they do not affect people. Our world acts as a safe little bubble, and as the world outside of our safe little bubble is examined, it’s realized that what many take for granted, others don’t even have. Some don’t even have the basic rights most are given. But without them the world would be a whole lot different.

Human rights as stated in the universal declaration of human rights is that every human is born with equal rights no matter what sex, age, race or sexuality they are. It also means every person is protected by and under this law no matter what.

Human rights are moral principles or norms that describe certain standards of human behaviour and are regularly protected as legal rights in national and international law.

Social Justice. Generalist social workers should engage in macro practice when possible to promote social and economic justice. All families should have access to the resources and services they need. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), created a code of Ethics to use in practice. “Social Workers advocate for fair and equitable access to public services and benefits. Social workers advocate for equal treatment and protection under the law and challenge injustices, especially injustices that affect the vulnerable and disadvantaged,” (McLaughlin, 2009). The worker involved with the Grape family must advocate for medical, legal, financial and any other injustices that are occurring in the families lives.

Human rights are the recognition of basic rights and freedoms believed to justifiably belong to all human beings.

The role of social work professionals in aiding those in poverty, is to the Code’s principles of Social Justice. According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), “Beneath this practicality lies a strong value system that can be summarized in two words: social justice. “Social workers can often liaise with advocacy groups in local, state, and national jurisdiction to assist specific vulnerable populations” (Jansson,

Human rights are entitlements inherent to all human beings and they apply to everyone regardless of sex, religion, ethnic origin or any other status.

According to the United Nations, human rights are defined as “rights inherent to all human beings, whatever their nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. Humans all equally entitled to human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.”

The Human rights are defined as: “rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion,

(Thomas and Pierson, 1995, pp. 134-5) It is the role of a social worker to comment, on procedures and practices which are anti-oppressive and empowering and to contribute and promote the development of these. They should also be respectful towards people’s values, culture, goals and preferences. As social workers there should be no discrimination in the work place by recognising their own prejudices and not use that to oppressive groups or individuals. Colleagues that display any act of discrimination or prejudice should be challenged and be reported by social workers and insure services are delivered and proposed in a suitable way. Another ethical principle under the human rights act is respecting the right to self-determination. As social workers irrespective of their values and beliefs should support people’s judgement and right to form their own choices if this does not affect the rights and safety of others. Self-determining requires the capability to form a resolution and carrying out the choices of the decision due to one’s own desires. (Pg.29 Sarah banks)

Human rights are universal rights that we are entitled to. It is a freedom that is guaranteed based on the principle of respect for an individual. As mentioned in the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights are a “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all member of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world” (Kent, page 80). When asked what our rights are, we tend to get different answers and meanings. Some people recite the rights that they know; but let’s face it, not everyone knows all of the rights that they truly have. The rights we have consist of many things such as the right of having an adequate food supply. The right to

Improving the lives of individuals is the objective of the social work profession. There is six values within National Association of Social work Code of Ethics (NASW): Service, Social Justice, Dignity, and Self-worth of the person, Importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. These values are for social workers and their work with the client(s). Regardless of one’s race, religious belief, sex or sexual orientation each value benefits all individuals. Social workers should always practice professional values. Clients suffer from when the social worker does not uphold values. Code of Ethics is established for all social workers to obey and follow them. In this this paper, I will discuss the how “Importance of Human Relationship” will be the easiest to uphold and how “Social Justice” will challenge me as a social worker working with future clients, community and organizations.

Human rights can be summarized as the activities and freedoms that all human beings are entitled to enjoy and only by virtue of their humanity. These conditions are generally guaranteed in the constitution of the land. They are widely felt in the area as they are divided and not limited to political, social economic and cultural rights. Some of the main principles of human rights include the fact that they are inherent, inalienable and indivisible as well. In this relation, human rights can never be taken away from an individual whereby the enjoyment of one right should not infringe the enjoyment of other. They must all be respected and maintained.

Human rights describe equal rights and freedom for everybody by the fact of being human and without distinction of any kind of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions. However, many people have always suffered from the lack of them throughout history. In fact, the lack of human rights has a lot of effects on people lives.