Order Description
Assignment measures the following competencies:
C2-Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice. Social workers have an obligation to conduct themselves ethically and to engage in ethical decision-making. Social workers are knowledgeable about the value base of the profession, its ethical standards, and relevant law.
C5-Advance human rights and social and economic justice. Each person, regardless of position in society, has basic human rights, such as freedom, safety, privacy, an adequate standard of living, health care, and education. Social workers recognize the global interconnections of oppression and are knowledgeable about theories of justice and strategies to promote human and civil rights. Social work incorporates social justice practices in organizations, institutions,
Dr. Jimenez writes ?Ideologies are really social constructed beliefs and values that have been made into explanatory systems to make disparate events meaningful. They are explanations of why things happen and what they mean. If I explain poverty as a function of individual laziness or failure, then my ideological stance toward poverty is that it is internally caused. If I explain it as a function of the economic system, then my ideology centers on a belief that the market economy is implicated in poverty. Each of these positions is an ideology, based on a system of interdependent beliefs and values about things that cannot be proved but are deeply held. All of us have ideologies about the causes of social problems and the usefulness of current social policies.? (p.44) Dr. Jimenez goes on to say, ?Individuals develop ideological positions largely based on what they learn from others, including family, peer groups, educational experience, government, popular culture, and media. In order to think critically about the prevailing ideologies in a society at any one time, individuals must see them as elaborate social constructions whose truth is not self-evident.? (p. 45)
In this brief 3-5 page paper, you will conduct an analysis of the causes of poverty as a social problem, and will make an ethical argument for what, as a result of your analysis, we should do (or not do) to address poverty in this country. It is not necessary to draw from the literature to research this topic?rather, use your experiences and beliefs coming into this course to inform your argument. Cite the sources for your beliefs, whether from professional literature or other sources. The paper should follow APA standards.
Your ethical reasoning should draw from ethical materials from texts, blackboard and class discussions. In this paper you must apply at least 2 of the three primary ethical frameworks covered in the course?utilitarianism, deontology or Rawls? distributive justice. The paper grade will not be based on the ethical position you take, but rather the strength of your ethical argument to support your position and your insights about what influenced your ethical positions. In this analysis you will be deconstructing your thinking processes around this topic. Your positions will be graded on the basis of:
Clarity ? Are your arguments, insights, and change clear or do they need more clarification?
Relevance ? Is your reasoning relevant and supportive of your ethical positions?
Depth ? Are your reasons and insights sufficient to address the complexity of the social problem and personal beliefs and values?
Breadth ? Do arguments focuses on multiple perspectives, and insights about the range of factors that influence people?s positions?
Logic ? Are your combined thoughts mutually supporting and support your overall positions?
