Introduction
In the decades, a disabled community group has faced various challenges in their daily life activities, for instance, in sectors like social services, employment, education, and healthcare. In the work environment, this disadvantaged community group enables social workers the privilege to improve their equity, human rights, and social justice. In addition, the essay provides the advantages of working with this disadvantaged community group. Such advantages include how it fosters economic and social engagement, improves health and well-being, and fosters social inclusion. The essay shall also focus on the different forms of discrimination, like classism, sexism, ableism, and racism.
It also focuses on how those forms influence their disabilities in the environment. The paper also considers how working with these people may be well-versed and directed by critical social work theories like Feminism, Marxism, and Critical Race Theory in the environment. Implementing these theories can establish inclusive and more equitable societies favourable for including this disadvantaged community group as they realize their full potential.
Forms of discrimination and contents of the theories
Marxism contends that the exploitation and marginalization of individuals with disabilities by the capitalist system results in their oppression (Pike & Vickers, 2022). Disabled people are more vulnerable in societies due to their prejudice associated with common exclusion and disability from the workforce. They also face discrimination in their lives, like in education, healthcare, and housing jurisdictions.
According to Badwall (2022), the intersecting identities of disabled persons of colour make them targets of discrimination, supported by critical race theory. Racism and ableism affect disabled people of colour. Accessing resources and social and professional opportunities is harder for these folks. Discrimination, prejudice, and stereotyping also marginalize and exclude these people.
It is suggested that feminist theory must be intersectional and acknowledge the interdependence of various types of oppression in Moosa-(2022) Mitha’s chapter on feminist thinking. Feminist theory can show how ableism and gender-based discrimination overlap for people with disabilities. In most cases, a wide range of discriminatory practices is frequently encountered by disabled women. Their difficulties are majorly experienced in sectors like education, employment opportunities, and healthcare in the current and the past society. Feminist theory can therefore aid in highlighting the ways that disabled women are oppressed as a result of their intersecting identities (Hutzter & Bar‐Eli, 2018).
Application of the theories
To apply these theories to disabled persons, one must understand how oppressions interact with disability. A practice-based intersectional approach that recognizes the unique experiences of multi-identity persons can achieve this. Practitioners should know how oppression and prejudice affect persons with disabilities and seek to fix them. A social worker could establish a disability-inclusive policy framework to help disabled persons access resources and opportunities to create a program or initiative. Such people should be granted access to all opportunities like other normal people. That should include concepts like human rights, equity, and social justice. In addition, collaboration with disabled people can be established by the experts to create individualized support plans that consider their special challenges and requirements (Hutzter & Bar‐Eli, 2018).
Reason for being the right person to handle this work
My intellectual personality and linguistics attributes, lack of experience handling this group of people in society, enable me to be a perfect entrant for this job. In addition, experts need to be well conversant on how oppression and discrimination influence the living standards of disabled people in society and to be devoted to solving these issues through their work in the social environment. In addition, they should be open to understanding and learning with disabled people, especially from their viewpoints and experiences, and working cooperatively with them. It shall establish effective support plans to enable them to meet their needs in the living societies (Hutzter & Bar‐Eli, 2018).
The guiding principles and values
When handling the disabled community group, the guiding principles and values include human rights, equity, and social justice in current and past society. Social justice involves the workforce laid to remove the institutional and structural impediments that may facilitate the exclusion and marginalization of disabled people. The principle of equity involves establishing and implementing equal access to opportunities and resources for disabled people in society. It also entails addressing and identifying these people’s precise difficulties and needs. Lastly, human rights involve ensuring that disabled people have the same access to basic rights and freedoms as other normal people in society. Such access includes healthcare, employment, and employment opportunities (French, 2018).
The benefits gained by the disabled community and me
Working with people who have disabilities has many broad advantages. When professionals collaborate with people with disabilities to meet their needs and problems, they can support social inclusion, encourage social and economic involvement, and enhance health and well-being.
Disability rights require social and economic inclusion if people with disabilities are to enjoy full citizenship. The likelihood of social poverty and marginalization of the influenced people in the society increases due to the labour force realized by the disability-related absence in the society. Working with these disabled people can enhance their economic engagement and quality of life. These shall establish access to education, training, and employment possibilities for the disabled (French, 2018).
A social inclusion benefit is realized by working with disabled people in the working environment. Social and cultural hurdles, a lack of accessibility and possibilities, and the prevalence of social isolation among the disabled are the main causes. The inclusion of social policies and opportunities provided to disabled people promotes their access to public areas and services. Such may include participation in social works and community activities, and other specialists can lay down their essential strategies to overcome these societal obstacles (French, 2018).
Disabled people may benefit greatly by improving their well-being and health status when working with them since they experience poorer mental and physical health outcomes. They also encounter minimal access to social support services and medical care in society. By working with them, we need to establish and develop personalized support plans to improve their well-being and general health status in the current society. We should link them with society’s essential health and social services. In addition, we should also promote empowerment and self-advocacy that shall improve their existence and well-being in society (French, 2018).
Moreover, it is essentially complex and difficult to work with disabled people. Disabled people may experience a variety of types of prejudice and oppression, as well as specific requirements and difficulties that need specialized knowledge and abilities. A practitioner’s commitment to continual learning and growth, cooperation with disabled people and their communities, and partnership with them are all important for their work with disabled people.
Conclusively, people with disabilities have faced various challenges due to their vulnerability in their daily life activities, for instance, in sectors like social services, employment, education, and healthcare. In the work environment, this disadvantaged community group enables social workers the privilege to improve their equity, human rights, and social justice. In addition, the essay provided advantages of working with this disadvantaged community group. Such advantages include how it fosters economic and social engagement, improves health and well-being, and fosters social inclusion.
The essay focused on the different forms of discrimination, like classism, sexism, ableism, and racism. In addition, it also focused on how those forms influenced disabled community groups in the environment. The paper also examined how working with these people may be well-versed and directed by critical social work theories like Feminism, Marxism, and Critical Race Theory in the environment.
References
Badwall, H. (2022). Critical Race Theory for Social Work. Critical Social Work Praxis. Chapter 23.
French, S. (2018). Experiences of disabled health and caring professionals. Sociology of health & illness, 10(2), 170–188.
Hutzter, Y., & Bar‐Eli, M. (2018). Psychological benefits of sports for disabled people: A review. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 3(4), 217-228.
Moosa-Mitha, M.(2022). Interrogating Routes to Feminist Theorizing Indigenous, Anti-Racist, Poststructural and Liberal Frameworks. Critical Social Work Praxis. Chapter 14.
Pike, J. & T. Vickers. (2022). Marxist theory for Social Work. Critical Social Work Praxis. Chapter 2.
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