Social justice is becoming a more significant part of our daily conversations as technology, and the development of social media, have established new avenues for individuals to talk as well as consume and spread information.
The discrepancy of experience among various social groupings is currently the subject of intense social scrutiny.
Significant concerns, including legal protections for LGBTQ people, violence against women, the rights of immigrants and indigenous peoples, and racial discrimination, are becoming more common as the world deals with specific societal changes.
This, in turn, has resulted in social workers finding innovative ways to advance social justice within their respective communities. In doing so, they can advocate for policies to combat significant economic and social injustices.
So, how do you advance social justice in your community? This article discusses several ways you can do so as a social worker.
Recognize social injustice
Social injustice is more common than you think. Recent data from the Pew Research Center shows that social injustice is widespread in the US and affects rural and suburban areas as well as urban ones.
That said, you must first understand how to identify social injustice before you can promote social justice as a social worker. This way, you can establish fairness and equity across several aspects of your community.
Although there is no one-size-fits-all approach to getting started, identifying when specific communities are disenfranchised or marginalized is an excellent way. Through this process, you can determine issues your community is currently dealing with and fight for greater power and influence. For instance, if your community is currently dealing with economic injustice, you must identify the root cause of it. This can be related to low pay, workplace discrimination, a shortage of chances for job training, or significant unemployment in specific neighborhoods.
By recognizing the issue firsthand, social workers can find more effective solutions and attack the problem correctly to ensure success.
Educate yourself about social justice issues
Social justice issues span many areas and navigating how to get involved can sometimes feel overwhelming. Therefore, social workers must familiarize themselves with these issues and research what is being done about them.
It does not matter what the issue is – hunger and food insecurity, gun violence, voting rights – learning about its past will help you grasp how it is today.
You might now wonder how you can educate yourself about social injustice when you have other priorities. Enter online learning. Thanks to the emergence of powerful technologies, you can earn an online MSW degree in Kentucky at an online academic institution like Spalding University without disrupting your life.
The advantage of educating yourself about social injustice issues online is it provides you with complete control over your learning. Formal education follows a set schedule. A topic is covered in class, homework is given, and a quiz is given the following day. After a week, a new topic is discussed, and the previous one can sometimes become an afterthought.
This could be highly alarming for someone pursuing social work as a career. Social work concerns are changing. This means that learners must invest significant time in learning technical ideas.
With online learning, you can proceed at your desired pace and ensure you retain what you learn as you go along. This enables you to delve deeply into the specializations that correspond to the foundations of social work.
You will comprehend the processes involved in social change, social workers’ roles in these processes, and how social workers interact with systemic diversity and differences. Moreover, by looking at social justice frameworks and conducting policy research, you can create the tools needed to advance social and economic equity. In doing so, you can implement theories and skills necessary for well-reasoned, justice-promoting judgments as a social worker. Additionally, it can help with inductive reasoning, which is the capacity to take in data and draw inferences from it. This can be especially important in social work, where successful decision-making is essential.
When you can learn at the pace you choose, you can successfully and critically analyze the effectiveness of your education and make the required modifications for the best possible learning.
Requirements for admission
Now that we’ve piqued your interest, you might ask how to get started. Requirements for admission will differ depending on the academic institution you choose. At a minimum, you will need to prepare letters of recommendation, a comprehensive resume, and your official transcripts of records.
You must ensure your chosen academic institution is accredited by organizations such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) to provide good quality education.
You can boost your chances for career progression and land the best job for your talents and abilities by ensuring your selected academic institution has the required accreditations instead of settling for a position unrelated to your degree.
Get involved through civic engagement
Fighting through policy advocacy is another way for social workers to promote social justice within their communities. This way, social workers can raise awareness and establish relationships with diverse stakeholders, including individuals, organizations, and businesses, with common interests.
How do you establish these relationships? Connecting with politicians whose platforms and policies will advance the causes you believe in through local, state, and congressional elections is an excellent start. You can find ways to align with these stakeholders and push for equity by finding out their opinions on social justice matters.
Engaging in civic engagement also provides social workers access to various advocacy activities. These can involve setting up meetings, enlightening the public, sending letters to key individuals, starting petitions, or collaborating with essential stakeholders. Through civic engagement, social workers may inform everyone about their rights and obligations as citizens while enabling them to gain valuable skills.
Get your social work degree today
Advancing social justice is a noble and meaningful cause. Start working towards something bigger than yourself by signing up and enrolling for a social work degree today.
