Social policy context - Essay Example

Social policy context Social policy context Introduction Social work is one professional and academic discipline that aims at improving the quality of life of individuals in the society and ensures the wellbeing of individuals, families and various groups in the society (Hepworth 2010). They accomplish these through conducting research, crisis intervention, policy, organizing the community, and teaching to benefit the socially disadvantaged including poverty, illnesses, disabilities and various social injustices. It is aimed at advocating for the social justice of the well-being of the oppressed and all the marginalized individuals and communities in the society. This paper is meant to advocate for the social justice of individuals struggling with alcohol abuse and other drugs’ misuse. Since most of these individual drug abusers tend to be isolated and neglected in the society, social workers come in handy to assist such individuals. They find have hopes in these individual drug users where other society members fail to find. The social workers come up with solutions to this drug abuse and derive long-term activities for them to prevent them from drugs’ relapse. Policies influencing social work context There are various policies that influence the social work practice. It is important to note that most governments devote large amounts of funds to these policies. The main aim of social policies is to alleviate suffering and distress to the society members while at the same time providing better access to resources and necessary services (Healy 2008). However, other policies aggravate the problem that they are meant to alleviate while at the same time creating new ones. Thus, it is important for these social workers to enhance the well-being of their clients by engaging in the policy process by either promoting new policies, changing existing ones, and fighting any existing policies that may be detrimental to their clients. Thus, the policies influencing social workers can be grouped into two: general policies and policies specific to drugs and alcohol misuses. General policies These are all the policies that every social worker in the society has to abide to in relation to their respective societies. There are many of such policies including austerity. This is the move by the government to reduce the budget deficits during an adverse economic condition. Its main aim is to reduce the general spending of society’s members thus affect all members of the society. These policies include cuts on spending, increase in the amount of tax levied or a mixture of the two. Social workers have to put this into consideration in their effort to ensure community development and in helping the marginalized in the society including those misusing alcohol and other drugs. Reducing these levels of government’s deficits is likely to increase the level of unemployment in the end. Moreover, the spending of the governments contributes to the country’s GDP, thus, reducing it is likely to a higher level of debt-to-GDP ratio (Gal & Weiss-Gal 2013). This would result into a country and its citizens carrying the debt burden that may result in the long run. Thus, though the government of a country may claim that the policies they come up with are for the benefit of all citizens, they should not be accepted at the face value. It is important for an assessment to be conducted to be carried out and be informed by relevant literature and evidence. This is where the social workers come in. they should ensure that policies that affect the well-being of the ordinary citizens are either changed or eliminated. There are various aspects of austerity and welfare reform that are important to acknowledge. The first one is that there exist contradictions between various progressive or the inclusive policies, and they have varying impacts of cuts in services, which often have an opposite effect. Moreover, much of the discourse that surrounds welfare reform can be seen as portraying service users as undeserving therefore increasing stigma rather than reducing it. This is because often, individuals fighting with alcohol and drugs misuse tend to be shunned in the society thus ending up being stigmatized. Another policy of consideration for the social workers is concerning welfare reform. It constitute changes in the operation of a given welfare system. In the United Kingdom, the reform of the welfare system started with the introduction of a new deal program. Its main aim was to increase the employment level through the requirements that recipients have to make very serious efforts in their bid to seek employment. That is why various welfare reforms have been introduced in the United Kingdom in successive years to ensure that individuals residing there have access to fair employment levels (Healy 2008). The social workers come in handy in ensuring that all individuals in that society are conversant with such welfare reforms. A problem comes up when individuals misusing alcohol and other drugs are denied an equal opportunity to employment like other individuals in the society. Most of the society members do not believe in allocating second chances to such individuals. Social workers come in handy guided by this welfare policy to ensure that such marginalized individuals have equal chances to employment. Policies specific to drugs, and alcohol misuse Most of the social workers encounter individuals with unhealthy misuse of alcohol and other drugs. Most of them specialize in such fields of alcohol and other drugs while others ensure that they provide services to such individuals and their families in various settings be it specialty and non-specialty settings. There are many pathways that guide the treatment and recovery of such individuals. The social worker viewing their clients in this situation as part of a larger system while at the same time providing individualized services is one way of providing effective services. Given that the individuals misusing alcohol and other drugs often face extensive stigma from the social settings and have various misconceptions garnered towards them. It is also important to note that such misuse of drugs can disorient a family of the affected victim. Social workers encompass a supportive approach aligned with the core values of social work profession. To meet the needs of their clients, social workers ought to always be on the frontline when it comes to legislation, and regulation governing a society concerning individuals suffering from substance abuse. One of the policies governing social workers concerning substance abuse is the misuse of drugs act 1971. It requires that every individual should not knowingly permit any production, use or the supply of controlled substances on any of their premises except in certain circumstances including when a doctor has prescribed them. It is upon the social worker to ensure that the individual members of the society are aware of such policies and the effect they have on them (Allen 2009). Challenging stigma and discrimination To understand how crucial the PCS model is in relation to challenging stigma for the individuals who misuse alcohol and other drugs, it is important to consider the structure of the Thomson’s theoretical model. The model recognizes that discrimination and stigmatization occurs in three levels that are highly interrelated including personal, cultural, and structural. It explains the reason why such levels of stigmatization occurs leading to stigmatization. The links between discrimination and stigmatization is visible through things like economy, different distribution of various financial resources, and the allocation of various rewards in the society is the best factor in underpinning social deprivation. Other social reasons include the integration of these individuals in the society and the ability to receive the benefits of such opportunities. Often, such depends on the social status of such individuals in terms of their social divisions including class, gender, race, and ethnicity. Social workers have to challenge this discrimination by ensuring that all individuals in the society have equal opportunities despite their alcohol or drugs misuse. In fact, social workers are more inclined to ensure that individuals struggling with alcohol and drugs misuse to avoid a relapse. The personal level of the model indicates how an individual’s thought, actions and emotions impact on stigmatization and discrimination. Stigmatization and discrimination on a personal level refers to prejudice where an individual forms a judgment and refuses to change those judgments. Such judgments are based on various perceived stereotypes of the individuals’ status including class, race and ethnicity. At the cultural level, an individual’s beliefs, actions, and values are social patterns that are shared across specific groups. This level of the PCS model is crucial in explaining stigmatization and discrimination of individuals abusing alcohol and other drugs. The reason is that culture in itself is a site of discrimination. Social workers challenge this discrimination by encouraging inter-cultural associations between individuals. They bring together individuals suffering from misuse of alcohol and other drugs together from different cultures to share their way of lives. By so doing, they are able to reduce the stigmatization based on cultures. Racism is the belief that one culture is more superior to another culture (Doel & Shardlow 2012). The resulting discrimination of such individuals is socially constructed. The structural level considers the impact of various social, economic, and political factors since they are constantly interacting. Political factors are often the unequal power distribution between various individuals that lead to various economic differences including wealth and poverty increasing the social divisions in the society. The structural patterns of stigmatization and discrimination of mental health patients and individuals struggling with alcohol and substance misuse are as a result of other individuals in the society with various attributes are better able to control or shape their right and opportunities form their own ends. As a result, such advantaged groups are better able to benefit profit from great opportunities and other resulting privileges that are available in the society. The model also recognizes that capitalism is involved in the discrimination of these victims by other individuals in the society for an economic control. Social workers challenge this discrimination by advocating for unequal distribution of power. By so doing, they reduce the differences in wealth, poverty thus reducing the social divisions visible. The individuals struggling with alcohol and misuse of other drugs are able to seek for help without stigmatization or discrimination from others in the society. Various service users of social work are often faced by stigma including substance abusers and mental health patients. Stigma is the negative attitudes and behavior towards such individuals by other members of the society. As a result, most of these individuals fail to ask for help due to feeling scared or ashamed of what others in the society have labeled them (Ruiz, Strain, & Langrod 2007). Due to this, most of them fail to find it difficult to find a shelter, job, maintaining serious or any type of relationships, and many other important aspects of their life. Originally, stigma was a physical mark of shame to these individuals. Nowadays, it is one invisible mark that often separates such individuals from others in the society. Stigma and discrimination focus on the difference of the affected individuals rather than the people setting them apart. Discrimination on itself is capable of leading to mental health and substance abuse. Moreover, individuals in the society who might have faced discrimination at some point in their life find it very difficult to find help for their drugs misuse or mental health problems. Most of the stigmatized members of the society who misuse drugs may try to conceal it by engaging in violence in the society including domestic violence. Their ability to instill fear in other people somehow improves their ego to account for the part of their ego that is already ruined by stigmatization (Hothersall & Bolger 2012). It is not unusual to find that even young children have little respect for such individuals since they have heard stories from their parents or other grownups in the society about them. This is challenging to such individuals substance abusers and those suffering from mental health since such are the times that they require moral and emotional support from the society members. On the contrary, you find that even their close family members including their wives, husbands, children, and relatives forsake them. Social workers challenge stigmatization and discrimination of such individuals by creating awareness in the society that such individuals have equal right like other individuals in the society. They ensure that they give such misuses of alcohol and other drugs an opportunity to change by incorporating them in rehabilitation centers and later enabling them keep themselves busy and avoid relapse. Causes of stigma and discrimination There are various causes for stigma and discrimination among substance abusers and patients of mental health. One of them is the ethnic minorities disadvantage in mental health services. Ethnicity plays a major role in enhancing stigma and discrimination. These ethnic minorities find it very difficult to access mental health services and thus remain stigmatized and discriminated. This is also the case with ethnic minorities who misuse alcohol and other drugs. Such individuals obtaining help is worsened by ethnicity. Ethnicity is a vice that eats on people in many continents (Sheppard 2012). Thus, the ethnic minorities who suffers from mental health and substance abuse may have a very difficult time in the society trying to access various services. Racism is also another cause of stigma and discrimination. In countries where racisms is much practiced, normal individuals with no history of substance abuse or mental illness find it difficult to gain access to various job opportunities, and other important services in the society. Therefore, you can imagine what those individuals suffering from mental illnesses and those who misuse alcohol and other drugs have to undergo in such environmental settings. In most instances, such individuals may end up committing suicide because the moral support that they yearn for is unavailable. The social workers come I handy in such situations, provide a listening ear to such individuals, and help them. All that such individuals ask for is moral support and family connectedness and in this case, the whole society is their family. Social workers come in handy to educate the society members on the effects that their level of racism and ethnicity have on such substance abusers and individuals suffering from mental health. They advocate for equality for all members of the society despite the racial or ethnic background of an individual making it easier for any individual in the society to seek help. In the challenging stigma and discrimination, it is crucial to note that most of these service users have come up with initiatives to eradicate these forms of discrimination and stigmatization labeled on them. Most of them have come up with movements and campaigns that advocate for the rights of such members of the society. Such movements often have representatives who are struggling with the problem or had that problem at some point in time (Sanders 2014). For instance, there is an alcoholic anonymous which states that the main aim is to stay sober and assist other individuals to attain the desired levels of sobriety. Such a movement enables the individuals struggling with a similar problem to gain access to useful services in the society regardless of their ethnicity or race. Such campaigns and movements have influenced policy by changing the prejudice and the levels of discrimination that other members of the society held on such individual victims. Such campaigns and movements make it easier for the social worker since they do not have to transverse the society in search of individuals suffering from various substance misuse or those with any form of disability. They only consult with the movement and if their actions are genuine, they are allowed to access other members of the movements and they can start helping them from there. Bibliography Allen, N, 2009. Making Sense of the Children Act. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons. Doel, P. M., & Shardlow, P. S. 2012. Modern Social Work Practice. New York: Ashgate Publishing Limited. Gal, J., & Weiss-Gal, I, 2013. Social workers affecting social policy. Bristol: Policy. Healy, L. M, 2008. International social work . New York: Oxford University Press. Hothersall, S. & Bolger, J. 2012. Social Policy for Social Work, Social Care and the Caring Professions. New York: Ashgate Publishing. Hepworth, D. H, 2010. Direct social work practice. Belmont, Calif: Brooks/Cole. Ruiz, P., Strain, E. C., & Langrod, J, 2007. The substance abuse handbook. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Sanders, J. M, 2014. Women in Narcotics Anonymous. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Sheppard, M. (2012). Social Work and Social Exclusion. New York: Ashgate Publishing. Read More