Part 1
Have you ever felt that you couldn’t catch a break, or that you couldn’t dig yourself out of the hole you found yourself in? People can become stuck in cycles of poverty, incarceration, or discrimination due to forces largely outside their control—forces at play in the economic system, criminal justice system, educational system, or larger society. Such forces involve biases, historical inequities, and discriminatory legislation, all leading to oppression. Individuals can experience additional risk of oppression by having more than one non-dominant identity (for example, Indigenous + female; Black + gay).
Anti-oppressive and anti-racist social work practice calls for removing bias and dismantling systems of oppression. One such idea for addressing bias in the educational system was through affirmative action. In this Discussion, you explore oppression, its effects, and the application of affirmative action.
Define oppression in your own words.
Explain what it means to experience double or even triple jeopardy based on an individual’s oppressed identities. Provide an example.
Debate has arisen over differences in levels of need and the application of affirmative action. Explain how affirmative action promotes racial and gender equity in employment, government contracting, and educational access.
how affirmative action promotes racial and gender equity, argue the opposite position.
Part 2
Consider a baby. From its first cries, that baby is being molded by the environment: the smell of their parents, the lights, the sounds, the temperature, and the abundance or absence of food when needed.
Of course, we know now that the environment also includes the prenatal one in the womb. What a mother eats and drinks, her level of stress, and her physical health affect the fetus as it is developing. So, too, does the home in which the mother lives: If the home involves violence, smoking, or drug use, the pregnancy is placed at greater risk. In this Discussion, you examine environmental factors in a case study involving a newborn and their parents.
Identify two developmental challenges that the baby in your chosen case may exhibit.
Explain how the dimensions of the person-in-environment perspective can be applied in this case.
Describe two practice skills the social worker can employ when working with the parent(s).
Zastrow, C. H., Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hessenauer, S. L. (2019). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Chapter 2, “Biological Development in Infancy and Childhood” (pp. 45–94)
O’Sullivan, A., & Monk, C. (2020). Maternal and environmental influences on perinatal and infant developmentLinks to an external site.. The Future of Children, 30(2), 11–34. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2020.a807759
Kulikov, E. (2021). Psychosocial effects of infertilityLinks to an external site.. [Conference presentation]. SOARS Virtual Conference. https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/soars/2021/spring_2021/28
Part 3
Imagine that you are a child growing up in 17th century England. Your parents have recently died due to illness. None of your extended family can take you in, due to financial challenges and famine. What will happen to you and your siblings? During this time period, the English government assumed responsibility for orphaned and abandoned children under the Elizabethan Poor Laws. However, the treatment was questionable by today’s standards.
In this Discussion, you examine the Elizabethan Poor Laws more closely and compare the treatment of children earlier in history with their treatment now.
Describe the Elizabethan Poor Laws of 1601 and how the laws affected the treatment of children.
Identify two ways the treatment of children has changed since the Elizabethan Poor Laws.
Explain a social worker’s responsibility to protect the rights of a child. Then, apply this responsibility to your chosen case study.
Use the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the NASW Code of Ethics to support your perspective.
Cullen, M., & Cullen, M. (2021). Social work and social welfare: Modern practice in a diverse world (2nd ed.). OER Commons. https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/82483/overview
Chapter 2, “History of Social Work and Social Welfare”
Note: Read “The History of Social WelfareLinks to an external site.” and “The Elizabethan Poor LawLinks to an external site.” sections only.
Hansan, J. E. (2011a). English poor laws: Historical precedents of tax-supported relief for the poorLinks to an external site.. VCU Libraries Social Welfare History Project. https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/poor-laws/
United Nations. (1989, November 20). Treaty series: Convention on the rights of the childLinks to an external site. (Vol. 1577, p. 3). UN General Assembly. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child
National Association of Social Workers. (2021). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social WorkersLinks to an external site.. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English.aspx
