Social Workers and Sociological Perspectives on Social Class - Essay Example

?Why do social workers need an understanding of sociological perspectives on social in the 21 century? The profession of social worker compriseencouragement of social change and solving problems in human relationships apart from giving power to the people and improving their welfare. According to International Association of Schools of Social Work, “Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamentals to social work” (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer, 2008, p.5). The roles of a social worker comprise a vast range of domains. These might include the roles of “caseworker, advocacy, partnership, assessment of risk and need, care manager and agent of social control” (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer, 2008, p. 6). Certain roles might be in conflict such as the roles of advocacy and case management. Providing supportive relation with clients and enabling their access to facilities is a significant role of a social worker. Their specific roles depend on the particular area where they practice and also the nature of the social problem addressed. Sociology is an important subject of study for social workers as it helps in perceiving the nature of communication between social worker and his or her clients. This subject also helps in understanding the orientation of the society people live in. In fact society shapes and structures individuals. A prime responsibility of a social worker is to place him or her in the place of the social victim or a particular social group and respect the viewpoints of other individuals they deal with. This facilitates them to appreciate diversity and execute in a manner which is not repressive. Sociology in general provides realistic assistance towards people by evaluating the outcomes and efficiency of policy measures from opinions of others. The study of the subject imparts knowledge with respect to the reasons behind oppression, differentiation, diversity and social activities. Only by understanding the social circumstances and the self, one can determine the future better (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer, 2008, p.11). For this purpose it is crucial to understand the dimensions of social classes. In fact several basic differences or problems arise owing to the social stratification or social classes. For instance health inequalities arise mainly owing to the differences in social classes and in fact sociologists project that different kinds of classifications lead to different patterns of problems related to health. Similarly access to education is also determined by social classes (Heineman, 2000, p.99). Hence in order to deal with such differences social workers would require learning more about the classes which are responsible for the diversity and the differences arising from the stratification. The idea of social work came into effect mainly from the concerns or thoughts about exploitation of people who are marginalized and under poverty stricken conditions owing to industrialization. Marx stratified the society into classes on the basis of means of production. Class society according to Marx, depends on the existence of surplus labor and their requisition by a minority possessing the means of production. When these means belonged to common people, surplus labor was very less. In those days production was mainly for subsistence but later owing to technological upgradation, productivity of labor increased and these surplus labor was hired by the more advantageous (in terms of economic resources and political accessibility etc) groups and from this basic concept emerged the idea of exploited and exploiters and the ruling and oppressed class (Callinicos, 2010, p.99). The classification of social classes has become more and more complex in recent times. Earlier one used to recognize three categories – upper class, middle class, lower class, working class and underclass. The stratification is done on the basis of access to economic, social, political and cultural facilities along with lifestyle resources. The factors determining political impact or cultural empowerment of a group depends on social resources. Political resources enable the individual to influence political leaders or government bodies. The popular concepts are given form and shape through use of mass media and education with the application of cultural resources. Lifestyle resources influence group behaviour and customs or values in a society. Different forms of speech, dressing styles, approaches and values are included here. The process of understanding social class would generally come under two categories –Marxian and Weberian models of social class. Marxian structures concern identification of individuals amongst specific groups, traditionally into owners and workers. However in topical times, there are further divisions of classes according to more complicated criteria based on wages and designations. For instance, while some are working only for wages, there are corporate leaders who work closely with the owners. This unequal distribution of resources also influences social crimes to deal with which social workers require proper understanding of the social class divisions in the 21st century. In a society where economic competition prevails, it is inevitable for the society to be divided into classes on the basis of different categories of material achievements (Miller, 2009, p. 154). The tradition in the Victorian humanitarian ideas emphasized more on “changing society, education, housing, health and employment” (Miller, 2009, p.18). Social work might at times be considered as an occupation which addresses social problems and works in those areas which cannot be addressed by social policies. These comprise “education, crime, health, housing and maintenance of income” (Miller, 2009, p.18). This automatically entails working with different groups of users with differences in experiences with changes and trends in social policies, for e.g. work with unemployed, the poor and homeless people or the psychologically sick and the physically handicapped ones. This kind of social work was concerned mainly with humanitarian assistance towards people and was a consequence of the 19th century economic and political situations. Most social problems and backwardness of different individuals and groups begin from the system of social stratification, for the society comprises “plurality of groups and divisions” (Miller, 2009, p.18). The solution to the problems of individuals would fall under broader categories of social and community structures. The broader social and structural frames have an impact on the decisions of individuals’ disposition. The activities of individuals and their experiences could be associated with the processes of interaction and theories of social action. Social workers who work against oppression and authorization of individuals need to understand the needs of the vulnerable population and protect their liberty and independence and help them shake off the stigma associated with their social status. This vulnerable population might include different stratification of groups such as children, people from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds, those with disabilities, criminal offenders and older people. Disadvantages of social groups are the result of social stratification or differentiation and this is a dynamic process. The categorisation of social classes signifies some individuals are different from others in terms of access to various resources or empowerment. Since individual behaviours and actions are often formed by group interactions or collection activities, the structural identity is important. Sociological labels categorize the population and hence people’s social interactions and experiences will get affected (Miller, 2009, pp.18-19). The common risks and challenges faced by modern society are not equally distributed across different social classes. Therefore, in order to deal with these, a social worker needs to understand the characteristics, behaviour and actions of different social classes. Social work was primarily oriented towards meeting the basic needs of human beings and developing communities disrupted by storms, economic downfall and migrations. Apart from helping households achieve the basic needs to life, social workers are also involved in building organizations to promote human capital and restructure of knowledge and learning. This would require dealing with individuals as victims where the services rendered would be heterogonous in nature. Social work itself can be referred as a ‘life changing work’ but in the twenty first century social work itself needs changes in order to address the expectations of the people for good quality personalised services which would be approachable. In fact lives of people are changing fast and consumers are becoming better informed and hence the job of a social worker would be more demanding in a ‘fragmented and ageing society’ (Roe, 2006, p.2). Social work should be aimed at improving the lives of people who use the social services. Hence social services would become more individual oriented. Social work in the 1st centuries needs to be well equipped such that the challenge to protect and support the most susceptible communities and groups could be protected. In order to determine specific patterns of services to fit individuals’ needs, social workers can partner with certain organizations to deliver the most appropriate outcomes. The role of a social worker has mainly three features. First, they target towards improving the most vulnerable groups and work with families and different communities or other public and private services to achieve their objective. They provide protection to different families or individuals and help them safeguard themselves from various risks. Thirdly, they aim at bridging the difference between the wealthiest and the poorest people of the nation by assisting the individuals and families to control their lives and aspire for a better future. Class essentially determines the pattern of growth and development in an individual. Marxist and feminist sociologists propose that ‘normal’ transition does not hold and the way towards adulthood (whether it could be longer or shorter, simpler or more complex) is determined by class, gender and ethnicity. Also contribution of women depended a lot on social class and studies find that women belonging to working class contributed more towards household works. When family social work is considered, it is worth mentioning that the nature of the same has undergone rapid changes over the past years. Social work with families has been a subject of research and study since long. A family is a “living arrangement” which depends on social structures like race, ethnicity etc (Cree, 2010, p.44). Again class determines behaviour as already noted earlier. The young people from working class are supposedly to be feared more for antisocial behaviour. In fact researchers like Gans have inferred that the choice of life path is more associated with social class and stages of family cycle rather than urban and rural location. Social class can help in protecting some people and family cycles help determining the choice or preference in a social class. Earlier studies have noted that care is individualistic communication but it is also to be noted that care is determined by the structural aspects like social class and these led to decide the ways in which care is rendered. Care experiences with respect to mental health etc are determined by aspects of income, social class which impact resources and opportunities open to the caregivers (Cree, 2010, p.44). Most class structures are based on occupations and it is often rightly believed that people belonging to a certain class will be most likely to access the same set of social advantages and disadvantages. Hence class divisions are often associated with social inequalities. Class locations are classified into three main groups – a service class, intermediate class and working class. There is also an elite class of property holders above these groups. Goldthorpe has however categorized classes with respect to employment relations instead of the idea of work location. He even discusses various types of contracts amongst labourers. For instance, a labor contract denotes an exchange of wages or salaries and effort in terms of labor hours and a service contract has a probability of growth and promotion. The stream of Sociology finds itself in a changing pattern where the traditional class schemes have changed into another form of inequalities based upon prestige and social status which in turn is decided by lifestyles and consumption patterns. This concept produced by Pakulski and Waters often mixes up the concept of class and status. Researchers like Scott and Morris have debated that a distinction needs to be made between the positions of people on the basis of class as people would then have a scope or outlet to express their views and sense of identity. However the sense of class would depend upon social, economic, and political factors. This significance of class divisions has decreased overtime, but divisions are now based upon social stratification and class structures are becoming more complex but not nonexistent (Giddens, 2009, pp.309-310). For instance, the word ‘underclass’ is used to describe a group of population at the base of class structure with living standards that are lower than most of the people. This group has various disadvantages since some of them are unemployed or work in temporary jobs and others might be homeless without any permanent residence. They are often marginalized or excluded from the society. Social workers need to understand the parameters on basis of which this underclass is determined in order to render social work services to them. Even while dealing with women, sociologists believe that women from different social classes and even ethnicities are oppressed in different ways and not all women face oppression or are disadvantaged. A white woman in a rich capitalist nation will be in a different position compared to an African immigrant woman. Their problems would be different and so will be the solution required. While functionalists opine that roles are determined by social system and that individuals would behave just as instructed by a script and follow the predetermined roles by the specific social class, interactionists believe that the roles are unclear and often indefinite. Roles and behaviours are determined not be classes or structures but through a continuous process of interaction (Haralambs and Holborn, 2008, pp. 12-14). Within the society work, industry and productivity actions are of great importance or significance and hence one would find that outside world is viewed with the help of economic filters and windows where people suppose that work heightens and idleness or absence of work reduces the value of a person. Reality can be formed with the help of understanding how means of production are distributed and used (Morrison, 2006, pp.388-389). Social work which is concerned with improving the society in general, needs to consider the problems of the communities as well as individuals. Social work therefore tends to deal with inequalities and sociology provides a great scope to the social workers to understand the structural inferences in the society mainly caused by social class. From the above discussions one can say that understanding social structures as they exist in the modern society is a prime task of the sociologists and mainly the social workers who aim towards levelling the inequalities existing in the society. Even in dealing with individual families it is necessary to identify he behavioural pattern on the basis of class defined in the modern way and constantly undergoing transformation. References 1. Callinicos, A (2010) The Revolutionary Idears of Karl Marx London, Bookmarks 2. Cree, V. E. (2010) Sociology for socialworkers and probation officers (Second edition) London, Routledge 3. Giddens, A. (2009) Sociology sixth edition Cambridge polity press 4. Haralambos, M. and Holborn, N. (2008) Sociology - Themes and perspectives (Seventh edition) London, Harper Collins publishers 5. Llewellyn, A., Agu, L. and Mercer, D. (2008) Sociology for Social Workers Cambridge Polity press 6. Miller, M. (2009), 21st Century Criminology, 1st edition, London: SAGE 7. Morrison, K. (2006) Marx, Durkheim and Weber: formations of modern social thought second edition, London, Sage publications 8. Roe, W. (2006) Changing Lives, Social Work review, available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/91931/0021949.pdf (accessed on April 23, 2013) 9. Yuill, C. and Gibson, A. (2011) Sociology for social work: An introduction London, Sage Read More