Assignment #3 Part II: Social Problem. Poverty among Women in Colorado
Assignment #3 Part II: Social Problem Paper
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Due Nov 17 by 3pm Points 100 Submitting a file upload
Part II: Social Problem Paper 30 % of grade
Since you have already identified a social problem/issue that you are interested in, students will write an 8-page paper that includes an introduction to the problem/issue, including how this issue relates to social work values and ethics. Using the same articles that you have used for your annotated bibliography, continue your research on the social problem and use a total of at least 8 sources from peer reviewed journals that describe this social problem and describe the social work response. These articles should include a theoretical, historical and research perspective. Your articles should give you an understanding of the extent and prevalence of the problem, assumed causes of the problem, and examples of the interventions at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Please use these headings:
The intent of the social problem paper is the present an understanding and analysis of a social problem that social workers address in their everyday work. Students will write an 8 to 10 paper that includes (1) an introduction to the problem/issue and its relevance to social work, (2) a historical perspective of the problem and how we have viewed the problem, and (3), a thorough analysis of the social problem. The problem identification should include the extent and prevalence of the problem, assumed causes of the problem and consequences of the problem,
(4) The next section should focus on how social work values & ethics, particularly social justice, are relevant to the social problem and (5) what interventions would you advocate for to address this problem at a micro, mezzo and macro level.
Using the same articles that you have used for your annotated bibliography, continue your research on the social problem and use a total of at least 7 sources from peer reviewed journals that describe this social problem and describe the social work response. Your articles should give you an understanding of and examples of the interventions at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. A quality paper will include a strong critical analysis throughout the paper including appropriate citations throughout.
Please use these headings:
The following headings must be included:
Introduction: Brief introduction to the problem including brief discussion of relevance to social work. Discuss what questions or ideas will be explored.
Historical Analysis: Use your research to integrate a historical understanding of the development of the social problem from a critical perspective. How have views changed over time?
Problem Identification: Name the social problem and discuss the theoretical context of the problem. Highlight the assumed causes of the problem and what consequences are known or could be predicted to occur if the problem is not addressed. How have those with power framed this problem? Discuss the prevalence of the problem using current data from your references. Consider the social construction of the problem. What individuals or groups are impacted by this problem?
Application to Social Work Values: Using some of the six NASW core social work (with a focus on social justice), why is it important for social workers to address the problem? What is the ideal? What is the gap between the actual and the ideal? Are there any ethical issues involved?
Advocacy steps at the micro, mezzo and macro levels: Outline the advocacy steps at these three levels for social work to be able to address this issue. The recommendations should consider evidence of existing practices and research or new ideas from successful grass roots efforts. The advocacy steps or recommendations synthesize material presented in the paper and make a clear connection between the needs and the responses.
Summary: This section recites the key points made (including sources) and wraps up the paper with a clear conclusion, names any significant limitations of the paper and makes recommendations for future research and advocacy.
Poverty among Women in Colorado
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Institution
Poverty among Women in Colorado
Introduction
Women in the United States have made great accomplishments in the steps aimed at enhancing their economic positions in society. According to Gallagher Robbins and Morrison (2014), the ability of the female gender to attain the desired levels of economic success greatly depends on the opportunities availed to ensure that they gain access to quality education and training, effective health care, and affordable business networks. However, Hess et al. (2015) explain that even with the availability of these opportunities and resources, women in Colorado are still faced with financial insecurities; an aspect that has increased their levels of poverty. According to Williams, Pries, and Anderson (2016), women in Colorado are less likely as men to get the opportunities needed to access and complete college education. Similarly, women in this state are less likely to operate their business enterprises compared to their male counterparts.
Gallagher Robbins and Morrison (2014) explain that the increasing rates of poverty among women are owed to multiple social and economic factors that include the widespread changes in family structures, the periodically shifting political and government policies such as the welfare "reform" and the transformations experienced in the monetary system. For instance, Lange et al. (2017) explain that women across the country have been worse hit by social issues such as the increasing number of divorces in the last twenty years, as well as the rise in population of children born out of wedlock. On the other hand, the dramatic alterations experienced in the national and global economies have imposed detrimental influences on the status of women. For instance, Gofee and Scase (2015) reveal that the situation has affected the domestic market by replacing the well-paying job opportunities presented by the manufacturing industry with the low-income service industry. Similarly, Gilman (2017) reveals that the institutionalization of policies such as the welfare reform has led to the feminization of poverty across the United States by shoving women into the low wage service industry without availing them with effective health benefits. The current study seeks to undertake an in-depth analysis of the prevalence of poverty among women residing in Colorado through the application of the perspectives of the values and ethical stands of social work.
How the Issue Relates to Social Work Values and Ethics
Social work entails the provision of opportunities aimed at fostering shared decision making among the members of the communities in which they offer their services. Three interactive conceptualizations can be advanced to explain how the issue of poverty among women in Colorado and the global landscape at large is associated with the values and ethics of social work. The first perspective is based on the values that oblige social workers to offer their services by considering their clients' good parties in the processes of availing the desired interventions. Beneria (2001) highlights the need for institutionalization of frameworks aimed at fostering universalities such as social justice, promoting equality, and particular points of view that relate social philosophies with normative ethics. From a theoretical perspective, the aforementioned philosophies play a crucial role in providing the ground to link social theories with the existing social imbalances that are manifested through the evolution of avenues aimed at demeaning transformative interactions as well as the poorly organized structures of power that are revealed by the existing status quo imbalances (Abdela, 2000).
Second, the relationship between the values and ethics of social work and the state of poverty depicted by women in Colorado and the global landscape at large can be established on the basis of the paradigmatic ideologies that are concerned with epistemological foundations upheld by social workers concerning the disposition of individual truths and the ability of these professionals to foster communications with the targeted populations (Hess et al., 2015). According to Gallagher Robbins and Morrison (2014), the communications established between social workers and the affected members of a populace need to uphold the highest levels of ethics and morality in order to uncover the underlying truths through the promotion of dialectic exchange. As a consequence, social workers are faced with the obligation of building relationships with the affected groups by inculcating professional practices aimed at building the necessary social structures, fostering adherence to certain set social norms and respecting the systems and institutions established to boost social care. Lamge et al. (2017) explain that these perceptual intricacies avail social workers with the obligation of establishing functional processes of initiating shared decision making notwithstanding the wide range of challenges and social tensions.
Shared decision making is one of the most effective cues depicted by social workers when dealing with the members of the community that are affected by poverty. According to Abdela (2000), shared decision making is based on the strong moral standings and ethical principles that direct social work as an occupation. The national code of ethics guiding social workers in the Western welfare states put much emphasis on the importance of inculcating shared decision making based on its efficacy in fostering the manifestation of equality and respect as the primary values that must be promoted by this profession.
Historical Perspectives of the Problem
The issue of poverty among women in Colorado and the United States at large is a historical problem that requires the adoption of effective measures aimed at reducing its far-reaching effects. According to Hess et al. (2015), women and children account for about 70% of the poor people in the United States. Gallagher Robbins and Morrison (2014) explain that this trend is heightened by the increasing population of single mothers, historical segregation of women into low paying occupations, the increasing gender wage gap, inadequate social safety net, expensive childcare, the responsibilities of becoming key breadwinners of their families, issues of violence and abuse and the burden associated with the costs of pregnancy. Similarly, Gilman (2017) explains that the increasing population of immigrants in the United States has been of the critical essence in increasing the number of women living in poverty.
The increasing rate of poverty among women in Colorado is attributed to the inadequate nature of the existing social safety net. According to Hess et al. (2015), 70% of the country’s population living in poverty comprises of women and children. Gilman (2017) explains that unfortunately, past political regimes have made efforts of coming up with disastrous anti-poverty and safety net policies and programs. Such failures could be attributed to the fact that most of these regimes did not put into consideration pertinent issues such as the roles played by women in pulling their families from the menace of poverty. For instance, the state of Colorado only offers unemployment insura...