Social workers should possess a deep realization that every human, regardless of status, inherently has rights. Every person should have access to their basic needs, freedom, safety, and education. Social workers understand how unmet needs and unacknowledged human rights contribute to oppression worldwide. As professionals, social workers exercise knowledge and techniques in order to promote human rights and social justice. Through advocacy, they work to transform policies and institutions that create oppression. They actively work to promote environmental, political, cultural, economic, and social justice through spreading awareness, contacting elected officials, and advocating for their clients. The efforts of one individual can make a difference. Like a candle, the light is more noticeable and impactful when combined with the efforts of others.
3A – Demonstrate leadership in advocating for human rights, social, economic and environmental justice.
Within field, I demonstrated leadership in advocating for human rights by creating an informative handout to give to parents regarding the signs and symptoms of abuse and steps to making a CPS report. By spreading awareness, more will be empowered to take action on behalf of this vulnerable population. The theoretical framework that I based this on was the Diffusion Theory which supports the idea that increasing awareness on an issue is the first step to advocating for change. On an affective level, I believe that I was at valuing when completing this project. I was able to take the information and show commitment to the cause by producing a resource. When it comes to the cognitive process, I demonstrated creating. I processed information and produced a product based on that. One social work value that this project clearly rested on is social justice. In order to better protect children, this handout was created. Another value that was a guiding factor was competence. By providing this information to parents, the aim was for parents to be competent in recognizing and reporting abuse and neglect.
3B – Design and implement social action strategies.
I demonstrated this within my course work by working together with a team to create a PowerPoint Presentation and presenting about the program that I helped design. The program focused on empowering LatinX and Hispanic high-school students who have been impacted by second-hand trauma. The presentation and the content portrayed key aspects of taking social action on behalf of this population. In order to complete this, I had to have knowledge of what was needed on behalf of the identified population and what interventions would be effective in addressing this. I also needed to have knowledge of the best way to convey this to my audience. I utilized the skills of organization, collaboration, and public speaking in order to successfully finish this project.