SWRK 1001H Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Human Conditions, Child Benefit, Redistribution Of Income And Wealth
28 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Swrk1001H: Introduction to Social Welfare
Tuesday, January 17 th
, 2017: Lecture Two
Questions I hope you will think about in this course…
What is Social Welfare?
What is the role of social workers in the administration of social welfare?
Who and what factors decide how social welfare is administered?
What changes has the Canadian social welfare system undergone, and why?
Who gets left out?
Some key concepts/ideas when learning about Social Welfare
Globalization
Social Welfare
Client as “customer/consumer”
Oppression
Voluntary sector
Social Policy
Economic Recession
Basic Needs
Low income cut-off (LICO)
Unemployment insurance -> Employment insurance
“Workfare”
“Special interest groups”
Residual versus institutional
What is 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 deepens inequalities
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 or lives few
options for developing skills to promote themselves
Cultural imperialism
dominant group 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.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
What exactly IS social welfare?
When you hear the term “Social Safety Net”, what comes to mind?
(if we were to put on our critical thinking hats) what comes to mind when you read the very first passage
in the textbook?
“Undeniably, the ‘social safety net’ we built over the past several decades helped make Canada one of
the world’s most successful countries, rich in prosperity and opportunity” (p. 3).
When did the term ‘social welfare’ gain momentum?
Increasing industrialization, urbanization, and immigration brought with them a host of challenges
relating to city life, standards of living and care.
Challenges include(d) poverty, unemployment, and family breakdown.
Why were there increases in poverty, unemployment, and family breakdown, and how did
industrialization, urbanization, and immigration propel these changes?
“Charity” gave way to social welfare – a governmental approach which would ensure a basic and fair
standard of living for all.
Three ways of viewing “social welfare”:
1. As a concept: society’s vision of health, well-being, and fairness for all.
2. As a system: services, policies, practices, and programs designed to help individuals, families, and
communities meet their basic needs.
3. As a field or discipline: the study of how to (best) alleviate human suffering, systemic oppression, social
injustice, and prevent social problems. Social work is most closely associated with social welfare as a field.
Critical social work focuses on how social welfare, as a concept, system, and field, might inherently (continue
to) disadvantage certain groups in society.
The “job” of a critical social work is not only to ask and see WHY, but to work to eliminate the existences of
disadvantage.
How would YOU measure whether or not society is doing “well”?
What is the goal of our work within the social welfare system, as well as our advocacy efforts to change
it?
Do we want to see zero poverty? Less poverty? What is “less”, for us?
There are subjective viewpoints on what well-being is in society, as well as how it is determined, by
whom, and for what reasons.
Subjective viewpoints must in many ways give way to objective viewpoints and measurements,
particularly when the social welfare system is housed and administered by governments.
In other words, “subjectivity” must give way to “objectivity”, particularly when resources, time and
money are spent to determine and improve society’s overall well-being.
Objective measurements include quality of life indexes, which measure elements such as health,
housing, literacy, education, standard of living, life expectancy, economic and social activity, and
environmental assessments. Quality of life indexes typically chart changes in conditions – why they
might be occurring, and if negative, what needs must be met.
Types of objective indicators to determine well-being and progress
1. Status: measures human conditions and progress in life, in areas such as employment.
2. Life events: Tracks significant life events, including marriage and divorce.
3. Key influences: measures and connects access to resources, availability of resources, and maintenance of
resources.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Tuesday, january 17 th , 2017: lecture two. Questions i hope you will think about in this course . Some key concepts/ideas when learning about social welfare. 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 deepens inequalities. 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 or lives few options for developing skills to promote themselves. Violence becomes acceptable and in some cases expected because of social context and group identity. threat of violence always exists. Undeniably, the social safety net" we built over the past several decades helped make canada one of the world"s most successful countries, rich in prosperity and opportunity (p. 3).
