Systems Theory: Critical Race Theory And Conflict Theory

Shanell Bathersfield conducted a self-assessment. She initially determined that the systems theory was one that she was not comfortable with. Through the last few course weeks, she was able to gain an in-depth perspective on several theories that are impactful in the social work field. The coursework and utilizing Juana and Adelina as case studies, truly gave an exclusive insight on how theories are used to understand the client’s circumstances and improve their well-being.

In The Family Crucible, Augustus Napier and Carl Whitaker’s form of therapy was strongly influenced by family systems theory, a burgeoning theory of the time. General systems theory examines relationships between elements that constitute a whole (Andreae, 2011, p. 243). When applied to families, this theory views the family as an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions in the unit (The

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.

Solórzano and Yosso (2001) asserted that the aforementioned concepts act as a “camouflage for the self-interest, power and privilege of dominate groups in U.S. society” (p. 473). This means that even though over sixty years have passed since the Civil Rights Movement and over one hundred years since the Emancipation Proclamation, there are still forms of racism and oppression that are evident in higher education that require further research through the lens of critical race theory.

The systems Perspective sees human behavior as the outcome of interactions within and among systems with interrelated and interdependent parts; as defined by its boundaries. Changing one part of the system affects other parts and the whole system, with predictable patterns of behavior (Hutchinson, 2015). The family system has been a widely used theory of family interventions and assessment. The family systems theory is focused on the family dynamic, involving structures, roles, communication patterns, boundaries, and power relation (Rothbaum, 2004). Many theorist such as Bowen, developed the systems theory that focuses on how a

Despite changes in the landscape for treatment of ethnic minorities in the United States over the past 200 years, issues with racism has never stopped being an issue and continues to tarnish and tatter the very fabric of our nation. There has been a history of violence against Black people that dates back 400 years, to a time when the first slave was forcefully brought here to the USA (Rogers, 2015). From that time on, people of African descent have been dehumanized and treated as second-class citizens and this has become an ongoing community issue (Diversi, 2016). Racial classification was created as a way to condone slavery and maintain the primacy of the white race (Tolliver, Hadden, Snowden, & Manning, 2016). Aymer (2016) explains that the Critical Race Theory (CRT) provides a way to understand that the violence that Blacks face in America originates from the societal belief in White superiority and, when trying to understand the Black reality, centuries of racial oppression must be discussed (Aymer, 2016). CRT acknowledges that racism is primarily a problem in America and has contributed to the social disparities in the U.S. In addition, it notes other forms of oppression that are important to discuss and work through. CRT does not believe in the legal rhetoric that there is an impartial, equal way of dealing with individuals in the community that has nothing to do with color and everything to do with achievement and hard work. It also takes on an interdisciplinary

The critical race theory is also directly related to the racialization of African Americans. This theory looks at racism, at a broader perspective. It observes the economics, history of the race, the environment of where individuals live, and the context of where certain racism situations occur. In this case, racism is considered a standard part of American society, it is not limited to obvious acts of discrimination or cruelty against minorities, but has become unrecognizable in everyday lives. Viewing and treating people as only a stereotype such as, African Americans as criminals, is a form of racism. The critical race theory can help to understand why people may view African Americans as criminals, dangerous or violent. Whites may not fully

Racial oppression and racism have been an issue seen throughout the history of the United States. During the 60’s the era of the Civil Rights movement Americans saw advances in racial equality. This seems to have created a notion throughout the United States that racism was not an issue for many years. Yet racism still seems to be engrained in American society, it is just hard to realize when it is happening. Recently racial controversies surrounding the United states Justice System have been making the news headlines. What Americas are seeing is institutional inequalities that are creating racial conflict. Institutional inequalities have lead to racial oppression do to the power structure in the United States. Critical Race Theory provides an explanation showing that race is imbedded in American society today; can the theory explain why racial inequalities between the United States Justice System and citizens of different colors seems to be a reoccurring cycle.

An intelligent Black boy, who dumbs himself down to avoid criticism. The Hispanic girl who stays at home to take care of her family, instead of going to school. The Asian who pursues a career in medicine, despite wanting to be an actor. All of these strange actions can be explained by the Critical Race Theory. In short, the Critical Race Theory examines how victims of racism and stereotypes counter prejudice. Under the Critical Race Theory falls stereotype threat in which victims assume the roles that they think are prescribed for them based on popular stereotypes. The aim of stereotype threat and the Critical Race Theory is to explain both negative and positive ways minorities are effected by their race and how this reflected in our society as a whole.

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.

A social system is a special order of systems… composed of persons or groups of persons who interact and influence each other’s behavior. “Within this order can be included persons families, organizations, communities, societies, and cultures” (Robbins, Chatterjee & Canda, 2011). The systems theory allows us to examine the focal system from a micro, meso, or macro perspective. Keeping all of the individual systems autonomous, while still being able to conceptualize the interrelatedness of the systems together.

The role of Critical Race Theory provides us with the idea of “racial realism”, the idea that racism, the normalcy of white supremacy is part of the everyday life of an ‘other’, in other words, racial or indigenous minorities in Canada. Consequently, the Critical Race Theory gives an understanding of the power that can be given to a definition such as ‘race’, and how heavily influence the way society functions and sparked in a cultural divide in Canada due to the simple idea that biological and aesthetic difference. The Critical Race Theory gives us the understanding of how common it is for an individual, but most dominantly, a person who is Caucasian or who has light complexion can easily identifies with their ‘race’, and view a person of another colored complexion as an ‘other’ because this normalized.

Race, Gender, and Social class are all common interests in our American Society since before the Civil Rights Movement until now and will continue to be. Many theories have been developed with the intent to analyze these concepts of human life, and genetics within the scope of society. Critical Race theory, a modern take on the subtle racism and discrimination in institutional society and our American law, is one of these theories that construct the ideas relating race, gender and social class to American society. All groups of people are affected by racism and discrimination throughout the United States. Arab Americans and the Sioux, Native American Indian group, are two groups I will analyze in relation to Critical Race theory.

Critical theories of race and racism have been used by sociologists to not only describe modern societies, but also address issues of social injustice and achieve an end to racial oppression. Critical race theory is one of the most widely used for this purpose. Its utility rests upon the assumption that race is a social construct and not an inherent biological feature. In place of the concept of inherent race, critical race theory proffers the concept of racialization. The tenet that the concept of race is created and attached to particular groups of people through social processes. In tandem with this, critical race theory contends that identity is neither fixed nor unidimensional. It also places importance on the perspectives and experiences of racial minorities (Ritzer and Stepnisky, 2013:66).

Dr. Murray Bowen, a psychiatrist, offered us the family systems theory. This theory views the family as an emotional unit, further providing a thinking systems approach to describe the complex interactions in the unit. Bowen offered, “A change in one person’s functioning is predictably followed by a reciprocal change in the functioning of others” (Kerr, 2000). If one person within the family unit is having a difficult time, it effects everyone within the family unit. An example of this would be a father who is the primary breadwinner for his family suddenly loosing his job. Prior