Assignment Samples - Context of Human services A1 PDF

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Context of Human services A1...

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Human service work can provide an opportunity for social change as well as means of maintaining social order

In this assignment, students will reflect on the above statement and consider the way in which they think about human service provision. Do you think that providing human services is an opportunity for social change? Or do you think providing human services is a means of maintaining social order or a social control within society? In your reflection essay you may agree or disagree with either concept as long as you support your argument by including reference to:

1. Your own values and the way your values have impacted on your view of the world; 2. How dominant ideologies (as expressed by media and politics) impact on the way human services are provided.

Social change is inevitable and is always happening as it is a human interaction and relationship that transforms cultural and social institutions. Social change is also a profound impact of society. The various components in social order can be social relations, social interactions, institutions, social structure and behaviour. To maintain the status quo, norms, values and belief must work together. The purpose of a human service worker is to improve individuals lives, live at ease and maintain a better condition. To empower people and strive to make the lives of people of the society better without bias, my personal values are based on core purposes such as dignity and the worth of an individual. Every individual must accept that change is constant and the collective power to influence social change. As an ideology is the concept seen as the world view, belief system and values. It is also seen as the world can be defined as an individual experience and is a fundamental connotation. This

essay will discuss how human service work can provide opportunity for social change as well as a mean of maintaining social order

According to Fawcett et al. (2010), human services work is often measured through a set of positive ideas and values. It is enhancing an individual’s well-being about the purpose of life or standard of living. This demonstrates the importance of empowerment and freedom and the principle of social justice and human rights are the core values on which they depend on. Through these actions, governments and politics are shown in different ways because they are involved in social change with a variety of effects. This can be shown through promoting things that can enhance well-being, but they can also neglect or undermine them.

Another sample

Human services have been studied, analysed and constantly reviewed as a separate body of knowledge in the discipline of social science. It is defined as the study of all the human systems, social innovations and most importantly service technology, which are designed for the purpose of improving and making the lives of people, their family, the community that they live in ease and in a better condition (Herzberg, 2014). There are different school of thoughts on the subject, one such, leaves us with the suggestion that human services and social work promote, social change, it brings in empowerment and liberation among people and believes that the principle of social justice and human rights are the core values on which they depend on (Chenoweth & McAuliffe, 2008). There are others who echo the opinion that human service as often used as a disguise to gain social control (Healy, 2000). Sociologist Michael Foucault suggest that social control is very much a part of any human

service activity and from it, we may have to be content that, social control is inevitable (Healy, 2000).

My personal values are based on the philosophy of existentialism and socialism, a work and a thought pioneered by Jean Paul Sartre (Internet Encylopedia of philosophy, 2014). I believe every activity’s core purpose should be to empower people, liberate them from all the chains and strive to make the lives of people in every stratum of the society better without any bias. Therefore, my views on human service, in its current form are slightly pessimistic. I think today human service is a tool to have social control and order rather than any real empowerment and improvement in the lives of people. It is very selective and has a tendency to tilt towards, profit motivation rather than serving people without any bias (Pratap, n.d.). Today, most often than not most of the things that are around us today is a function of perception management where realities are created and destroyed every day for the masses by the mainstream media (Knobloch, 2014). Most of the human service endeavours taken by the multi-billion-dollar corporations are nothing more than hogwash, and an activity to further their business interests and increase their brand awareness (Lifeworth, 2013). Author Naomi Klein in her book 'The Shock doctrine' (Klein, 2007) shows us how, corporations in a time of destruction or chaos when people are both emotionally and physically drained, choose to help them on the outside, in the name of human service, but in reality they are there to take advantage of the poor conditions and make money out of the disaster and make people dependent on them. In worst cases, often the disasters (which are not caused by nature) in itself in some way are caused to the interests of these corporations (Klein, 2007). Having socialistic value at heart, I find such activities a blow on the face of all those entities and academic organizations which genuinely

work to understand human service as a discipline and work towards making the lives of people better. The focus has to be diverted from such farce to these genuine organizations and instead of giving free sops to the organizations; the state should fund these entities. We are creating more strata's in the society and are being exclusivist in our dissemination of the benefits of human services (Inequality for all, 2013). That's why I think, it is today more so as a mechanism to maintain social order. The principles of social justice and human rights should at the heart of human service and not motivations like profiteering and exclusivism (Chenoweth & McAuliffe, 2008). Transparent participation between, the state and the private players, is the need of the hour, to make human service truly inclusive and effective. Author Adam Jamrozik, in his book, suggests a two-tiered welfare system, for the free market society that we live in, the issue of human service and welfare's onus does not all lie on the State alone. He proposes, step by step methods where, human services can be made more efficient and effective in the neoliberal economic governance system, that most of the world lives on today, by equal participations from the private organizations along with the state (Jamrozik, 2009). Reform activities need to be, undertaken the discipline of human services to truly make a difference in the lives of the people and community worldwide bringing in liberation and welfare in its true sense.

Another sample

I believe that our societies have benefited a lot from the support from human service workers. Human service workers have provided communities with opportunities for social change through their provision of support in research, policy making with government

officials, advocacy, intervention and implementation. Muncie (2004) agrees that the work provided by human service workers is essential for the well-functioning of the society. Human service workers are also involved in collaboration work with other professionals which increases more ideas on how to tackle social change.

According to Fawcett et al. (2010, p. 1), “social change is described in terms of global, national and community transformations as well as changes that occur at the individual level. Social policies are implicated in social change: the very idea of developing and implementing public interventions to address social problems or social needs involves a commitment to social change. As such, human service workers are also implicated in social change”. Human service workers are qualified individuals who support people and groups to have a better living as much as possible (National Organisation of Human Services). A human services worker also needs to have greater knowledge of the policies available, provide intervention to individuals and be able to advocate for the society in need. The interventions and advocacy provided can also bring structural changes in the society (Younghusband, 1964).

For me, human service workers’ values and beliefs are very important when it comes to the quality and type of support human service workers offer. As a human service worker, my attitudes and beliefs which include working with integrity, advocating for justice and maintaining respect towards diversity, privacy and confidentiality in each individual, have impacted the way I view the communities I work with and this impacts the support and interventions I can provide for them. In my line of duty as a case worker, I have worked with families that have been in high need of support from the government and I have been able to support them to receive the appropriate help they need. I have had the chance to partake...