Competency 2: Advance Human Rights and Social, Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice
Social workers understand that every person regardless of position in society has fundamental human rights. Social workers are knowledgeable about the global intersecting and ongoing injustices throughout history that result in oppression and racism, including social work’s role and response. Social workers critically evaluate the distribution of power and privilege in society in order to promote social, racial, economic, and environmental justice by reducing inequities and ensuring dignity and respect for all. Social workers advocate for and engage in strategies to eliminate oppressive structural barriers to ensure that social resources, rights, and responsibilities are distributed equitably and that civil, political, economic, social, and cultural human rights are protected.
Social workers:
a. advocate for human rights at the individual, family, group, organizational, and community system levels; and
b. engage in practices that advance human rights to promote social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
Competency #2 In Practice
Competency two and its focus on human rights details a perspective we hope would be shared by everyone and wouldn’t need mentioning. Yet, history has shown that human rights need to be clearly outlined and then fiercely protected. Social work helps do that for people whose rights need protecting. This competency challenges me as a social worker as critically evaluating the distribution of power in a society is usually not looked on favorably by the majority because power does not want to be questioned. This competency reminds us that instead of accepting what’s considered normal in society, we as a profession must continually challenge the status quo and challenge oppression in all of its forms. Eliminating oppressive structural barriers is not something that happens quickly or easily, but I commit to practicing this competency through my voting on local and federal officials and continuing to question how we’ve built our society to function.
Evidence from class work:
In this book review for my policy class, I was challenged by the perspective on economic justice that Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan provided. I had previously thought of economic justice as primarily wealth redistribution, which is a key part of how our systems need to address inequity but is not the entirety of the solution. From this economist’s perspective, we are all arguably better off when we grow the economic pie so that everyone has a more significant piece. By creating policies that foster a more robust economy, we increase the opportunities and resources needed to promote economic, social, racial, and environmental justice. By giving me an economic perspective on issues close to the core of what I address every day in my social work practice, I am further empowered to advance social and economic justice for my clients. By continuing to stay informed about policies that impact my clients and advocating for sustainable and economically beneficial policy policies, I demonstrated a commitment to advocating for my clients and will continue to integrate this knowledge as I move forward in my practice.
Evidence from field:
In my practicum with CASA, the most critical part of our job is testifying in court and advocating on behalf of children whose families are involved in the court system. By working on cases, interviewing kids to see their concerns, and presenting those to the judge, I am developing the skills to express another person’s needs convincingly to a person in authority. This task has taught me to be empathetic to clients in a variety of situations and speak on their behalf against systems that are not in their favor. This part of my practicum has taught me to advocate for clients in a courtroom setting. I see firsthand injustice due to racial and economic prejudice and have used my position as a CASA advocate to fight for justice on behalf of my clients by making sure they are heard and respected.
Other evidence:
I helped run the Purple Thursday Domestic Awareness booth on Southern’s campus. I helped educate students about aspects of domestic violence they might not have considered before, such as financial and emotional abuse. One of the most rewarding parts of this opportunity was seeing students I know who I had texted the night before to wear purple stop by the booth to show that they had actually worn purple and find out about the cause they were wearing it for. This booth was important because survivors of domestic violence need to be shown dignity and respect, which they might not expect after various types of abuse have eroded their self-worth. Domestic violence is one of the most hidden and prevalent forms of oppression. By helping with this booth, I helped with our strategy to fight this oppression. By raising awareness, we bring dignity to survivors, hope and opportunities to those experiencing it, and prevention by teaching the warning signs of abuse.
