Social Policy - Social Justice and Change

Question: Discuss about theSocial Policy, Social Justice and Change. Answer: Settlement of Issues for Refugees Coming to Canada from Situations of Forced Displacement People who are compelled to leave their countries under the fear of persecution and are unable to return home are called refugees. Several refugees undergo dreadful experiences and therefore are forced to leave their own country. The refugees belong to the marginalized group and often face challenges relating to violence, starvation and, in particular, education. The marginalized group are denied equal and full access to the economic, cultural, political and social institutions of the society and are powerless (Lacroix, Baffoe Liguori, 2015). It is a well-known fact that the socially powerful groups have an easy access to all the privileges of a society as compared to the less powerful groups who easily become subject to social oppression (Edge, Newbold McKeary, 2014). Social oppression may be termed as social exploitation of a group of people. The social oppression continues to exist in the society, mostly because it is not recognized by most of the individuals. Consequently, these inequalities become permanent as the oppressed group hardly has access to the social privileges that would prevent them from being mistreated. Social marginalization may be defined as a phenomena wherein a certain group of individuals are deprived of the rights and opportunities that are otherwise, available to a member or members of another group and such rights are elementary to the social integration within that other group. Such rights include employment opportunities, housing, healthcare facilities, participation in decision-making proce ss and other civil rights. Social work practices can be divided into three categories that aims at resolving the issues related to social oppression carried out on a micro and macro level that has been discussed below: Macro level The social work involved on the macro level is extending help to the clients through intervention in big and powerful systems like the health care law system, educational system, promoting social policy reforms, etc (Ott Montgomery, 2015). Macro social practices are often resorted to in order to address mezzo or micro social issues. The main objective of the macro social practices is to make the less powerful groups or the marginalized groups participate in the change that is brought in the system (Netting et al., 2016). This level concentrates on institutionalized form of oppression, which demonstrates the fact, that how the people within the more powerful group are capable of taking advantage of the privileges in order to retain their power. Institutional oppression takes place when the law, practices and customs demonstrates inequalities towards the less powerful groups (Rothman Mizrahi, 2014). The instances of social oppression on the macro level may include the huge differences that may take place in the health care systems, education systems, etc. Micro level- The social work practiced on this level is usually considered as the most common kind of social works. The social worker on this level involves the individuals and their families in order to resolve the issues that are often faced by the marginalized groups. The social workers take into consideration that takes place in the daily lives of the marginalized groups (Harrison, VanDeusen Way, 2016). Mezzo level- The social works on this level are conducted within the small and medium sized groups. The instances of mezzo social practices include managing social organization, organization of the community, to bring about changes in the institutions or culture instead of the individuals. The social workers, who address issues on the mezzo level, also participate in the social works conducted on the macro and the micro level. The social workers aim at meeting the challenges and the requirements of the individuals and focuses on resolving larger social issues. The Isms Classism, Ageism, Sexism, Racism, Heterosexism and Anti-Semitism are some forms of oppressions that purport to retain power and control. Several authors have defined the isms as a social phenomena that defines a particular norm based on which each individual shall be judged. This norm is supported by institutional or individual violence that retains oppression in the society. Each of the isms possesses the ability to destroy lives by causing discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, gender and class. For instance- sexism states that every woman who tries to step out of the rules of patriarchy is expected to be hated. Similarly, racism refers to the belief some races are superior to other races based on their cultural characteristics and respective hereditary factors. Classism denotes that certain groups of individuals are subjected to prejudicial conduct for belonging to a specific social, political and economical status (Miley, O'Melia DuBois, 2016). Social Policies Addressing the Issues Related to the Marginalized Groups The social service non-profit organizations (NPOs) in Canada work in alliance with the marginalized groups in order to attain healthier communities by rendering social service and through policy advocacy. Some of the policy initiatives introduced by the NPOs do not include the marginalized groups. However, there are certain policies that involve the marginalized group of people. Some of them include the low-cost transit policy, domestic violence act, child welfare geographical boundaries, city anti-violence by law, extrajudicial sanctions for youth, provincial social assistance policies, etc. The social policy advocacy of the NPOs focuses on the reforming or modifying the prevailing government policies on behalf of or with the marginalized group of people. The advocacy strategies adopted by the NPOs include public conducting awareness program with the help of the media, interactions with the policymakers and, lastly, obtaining legal aid from the courts. In Canada, there are various social and humanitarian programs for the marginalized group, in particular, the refugees. The refugees who leave their homes because of the immense hardships that they have undergone are compelled to dwell in refugee camps for years. Canada being one of the members of the international community conducts programs and implements policies in order to resolve the issues related to the refugees (Fook, 2016). Canada works in collaboration with the United Resettlement Assistance Program (UNHCR) for the resettlement of the refugees. The legal framework of Canada stipulates that all the resettlement cases must be scrutinized vigilantly to prevent any criminal, health and security issues relating to the refugees. The Immigration Refugees Citizenship Canada (IRCC) deals with the resettlement cases in associating with the Canada Border Services Agency. The individuals and families that are nominated under the Government-Assisted Refugees (GAR) program become entitled to the essential services and financial assistance under the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP). The financial assistance is provided to the individuals for a period of one year or till they find a source of earning, whichever is earlier. The financial assistance provided under RAP enables the refugees to afford food and shelter for themselves. The other essential services provided by RAP include temporary accommodation, providing relevant information about other provincial and federal programs regarding settlement services (Thompson, 2016). The Canadian Federal government has taken several initiatives to provide assistance to the marginalized groups, in particular the refugees. However, these initiatives have not proved to be completely effective because they are single-variable initiatives, which are incapable of reaching out to the intended population, and they are inefficient in resolving all the issues (Rubin Babbie, 2016). For the purpose of uprooting an issue or addressing a crisis, in particular, an unrelenting one, it might take a considerable period of time. However, effective implementation of policies that aims at addressing all the social problems relating to health, housing, education and human rights shall ensure well being of the society as a whole. Reference List Edge, S., Newbold, K. B., McKeary, M. (2014). Exploring socio-cultural factors that mediate, facilitate, constrain the health and empowerment of refugee youth.Social science medicine,117, 34-41. Fook, J. (2016).Social work: A critical approach to practice. Sage. Harrison, J., VanDeusen, K., Way, I. (2016). Embedding Social Justice within Micro Social Work Curricula.Smith College Studies in Social Work,86(3), 258-273. Lacroix, M., Baffoe, M., Liguori, M. (2015). Refugee community organizations in Canada: From the margins to the mainstream? A challenge and opportunity for social workers.International Journal of Social Welfare,24(1), 62-72. Miley, K. K., O'Melia, M. W., DuBois, B. L. (2016).Generalist social work practice: An empowering approach. Pearson. Netting, F. 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