SWRK 1000H Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Ageism, General Service Corps, Social Gospel
28 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
first test - october 11th
worth 25%, during week 5
covers all material - textbook, lectures, video clips, case studies - from weeks 1, 2, 3, 4
50 multiple choice questions, 70 minutes
readings will be on test but not lectures
second test - november 8th
worth 35%
covers all materials “ up to week 8
70 multiple choice questions
cumulative, emphasis will be placed on last half
final exam
worth 40%
covers all course material “
weeks 1 - 12, emphasis on 9 - 12
80 multiple choice questions, 120 minutes
Micro - direct practice with individuals - one on one
Mezzo - working with groups and communities
Macro - working with organizations or communities to improve or change laws or policies
⁃critical, anti-oppressive social work sees these three levels as interconnected
the first “rule” of critical, anti-oppressive practice is that we cannot simply blame marginalized individuals for their
experiences of hardship and suffering
Key Concepts/Ideas in Social Works
⁃“helping”
⁃oppression?
⁃privilege!
there is a focus on the individual being at fault and not the system - blame is put on the individuals actions and not the
norms of society
Helping
⁃making an effort to help individuals change
⁃creating an outside connection not related to the subject
⁃gives people a second chance and someone to listen to their problems
⁃being a good listener and being empathetic
⁃acknowledging your biases and putting them in the open
⁃physical and mental health
⁃learning from past experiences, constantly learning and growing
Social Work started with wealthy white woman in the 1800’s wanting to help disadvantaged individuals, making
decisions on who they think needed help and who didn’t based on what they thought poverty looked like
Oppression:
Exploitation
⁃work/labour which benefits the dominant group, economically/financially, socially, politically
⁃dominant group sets terms of exchange i.e. labour costs low/profits high
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⁃deepens inequities
⁃
Marginalization
⁃category of people isolated from social, political and economic spaces
⁃based on ideologies, assumptions, stereotypes and prejudices
⁃marginalized depend on dominant group for support
Powerlessness
⁃those without power or access to power have little or no autonomy, authority over their work lives
⁃few options for developing skills to promote themselves
Cultural Imperialism
⁃dominant groups is the norm
⁃stereotypes and ideologies become so normalized that they are invisible, therefore difficult to contest
⁃allows others to be grouped by supposed characteristics associated with “them” - white males are not grouped in
the same way
Violence
⁃becomes “acceptable” and in some cases expected because of social context and group identity
⁃threat of violence always exists
Lecture Two:
Colonialism
⁃began in the late 15th century, when Europe used violence, exploitation, power, and control to take over and rule
80% of the globe
⁃european colonialism established colonies (restricting individuals to act and be in certain ways) in over 80% of
the globe, including Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Canada was included in European colonialism and/or “expansion”
⁃“bothering” was used as a major justification for colonial expansion - classification of certain groups (indigenous
populations, women) as inferior, savage, backwards, uncivilized, heathen, subhuman, abnormal; therefore needing to be
“saved”, “helped”, and ruled by imperial authorities/colonists who considered themselves to be superior, rational, human
beings
⁃women need to be considered less so men are considered to be more powerful
⁃control and exploitation of land and of bodies was justifiable because “others” were deemed to lack qualities and
characteristics necessary to survive and thrive in Western, capitalist civilizations. they simply could not survive without
help
⁃populations were surviving and thriving without the Europeans help, but they came in and told them that they
actually could not survive without their help
⁃colonialism was (and still is) the sit of false distinctions/categories which create colonizers and colonized,
superior and inferior, civilized and uncivilized, along the lines of racialization and race
⁃introduced sexism - women were leaders in indigenous communities and then we changed the perspective on that
⁃ageism - elderly people are incapable, younger people are not knowledgeable, spot in the middle where they know
everything and are unstoppable
⁃ableism - differently abled people are inferior and lacking, and those who are able are better than everyone, those
while mental health problems need someone to make their decisions for them, as they are incapable of making decisions
for themselves
⁃history of social work is founded on colonialism
⁃always have to keep in mind where structures some in, and how they shape individuals’ experience
Race is the made up assumption that your skin colour matters, even though it doesn’t - if you don’t have white skin, you
are inferior, and therefore you need to be changed
whoever has the power in history gets to tell the story, and they choose what gets put in and what doesn’t
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Orientalism: the study of the east by those in the west - the East is the “other”
Social Work in 3 Phases
Phase 1: The Church
⁃pre-1890, pre-industrial moral reform - 2 types of religious motivation (or 2 “streams”) as a response to urban
poverty in Canada after industrialization:
⁃missionary - concern for strangers, outsiders (unchurched) - lead to Charity Organization Society (COS) and
social casework. if you were poor, you were unchurched and didn’t find God, because you didn’t have a Christian faith -
nothing to do with industrialization, had nothing to do with industrial societies being bad for the population
⁃solidarity - ‘working with’: lead to settlement house movement, community work, ’social justice’. held capitalism
and industry responsible instead of the lack of service to God. introduced things like workers health insurance because
they believed it would minimize the impacts of urban poverty.
The “Charity Visitor”
⁃part of the missionary aspect
⁃the role of the “charity visitor” was to promote industry, thrift, and virtue among the poor
⁃charity visitors were elite women and some men whose task was to classify applicants as either deserving or
undeserving, based on strict religious principles
⁃poverty is sinful, and to take up work to relieve poverty meant that you embodied good Christian principle and
high moral character. better than those who were living in poverty simply because they were helping those who are ‘less’
then them
⁃deserving: good moral character who were “out of luck”, clean and tidy
⁃undeserving: lazy or morally degenerate
⁃poor laws 1601 and reform in 1832 - poorhouses for elderly and sick (deserving), workhouses for able-bodied
who worked for relief. public assistance was made to be cruel and demanding (undeserving)
⁃immigrants coming into our country have to do the lesser work
Deserving Poor
⁃good moral character
⁃temporarily out of luck through no fault of your own
⁃did not ask for help directly
⁃clean and tidy
Undeserving Poor
⁃deemed lazy
⁃seen as ethically immoral
⁃poverty is a result of their own actions and ethical principles (or lack thereof)
⁃not clean and tidy
The history of social work begins with the power to categorize poor people as deserving/undeserving.
as a social worker, only identify problems the you and your agency would intervene in
What problems would you identify this family having?
father is a drunk and leaves whenever he blacks out, there is a lack of regular income, no motherly figure other than the
oldest daughter, lots of drugs and drinking, not a lot of supervision within the household, lives in a smaller house in a bad
neighbourhood, six children including one toddler, don’t have sufficient food, children are exposed to the fathers
alcoholism, one child had a black eye and was trying to drink alcohol (could be seen as abuse), lots of illegal activities
What course of action would you recommend for this family?
recommend to move the children to foster care or have a different, more responsible family member look after them, put
an end to the father’s alcoholic tendencies so he is able to keep up a job and maintain a steady income, some form of
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
First test - october 11th worth 25%, during week 5 covers all material - textbook, lectures, video clips, case studies - from weeks 1, 2, 3, 4. 50 multiple choice questions, 70 minutes readings will be on test but not lectures second test - november 8th worth 35% covers all materials up to week 8. 70 multiple choice questions cumulative, emphasis will be placed on last half final exam worth 40% covers all course material weeks 1 - 12, emphasis on 9 - 12. Micro - direct practice with individuals - one on one. Helping oppression? privilege! there is a focus on the individual being at fault and not the system - blame is put on the individuals actions and not the norms of society. Social work started with wealthy white woman in the 1800"s wanting to help disadvantaged individuals, making decisions on who they think needed help and who didn"t based on what they thought poverty looked like.
