identifying a Social Problem

For your Social Change Project, due as your Final Assignment in Week 10, you will propose policy alternatives that address the social problem you selected for study in Week 2. Before you search for, select, and review policies that already exist for your social problem—and before you propose alternatives based on your findings—it will help to practice the skills of policy review so you can navigate the scope of a policy, narrow your focus, and identify critical areas that relate to your selected social problem

Submit a 2- to 3-page paper that addresses the following: 

· Describe the social problem(s) addressed in the policy. 

· Which areas in the policy indicated the social problem(s) to you? 

· Why, as a social worker, should you be concerned with the problem(s)? 

· Are there other problem(s) not directly identified that might be impacted, positively or adversely, by the policy? 

· Which population(s) is/are impacted by the problem? 

· What is the relationship between the social problem(s) and the population(s)? In other words, why are some people impacted by the problem(s) when others are not? 

· How is/are the population(s) taken into consideration in the policy? 

· Summarize the excerpt from the policy that you identified as needing change. 

· What are the strengths of this excerpt in helping to alleviate the social problem? If you do not see any strengths, that is okay—explain why. 

· What are the limitations of this excerpt in helping to alleviate the social problem(s) for the population(s)? 

· What specific changes would you make to the excerpt to alleviate the social problem(s) for the population(s)? You can describe the changes or quote direct policy language you would change. 

SOCIAL PROBLEM:

Racial inequality has become a growing social problem for several years now. Racial inequality is commonly defined as “imbalances in the distribution of power, economic resources, and opportunities” in social science. Racial disparities in wealth, poverty rates, educational chances, unemployment rates, bankruptcy, housing patterns and crime levels are all examples of racial inequalities happening in American culture. Specifically males within the African-American population struggle the most with racial inequality. African-American males have been treated within our society as second-class citizens for decades. Loury (2019) stated that African-American young boys that are the most vulnerable in this social problem, because of the likelihood of them being unable to attain their full human potential to the extent that they do not have the experiences needed. They are not exposed to positive influences, and often have to struggle their way through life and injustices in order to avoid “sinking”. This lack of development is the root of the continuing and widening racial gaps in income, wealth, education, family structure, and other areas. How/when has this problem been identified historically, and what were the actions taken to address this concern? The social problem mentioned has been identified as historical trauma of communities of color. An incident, or a series of events, that occurs to a group of people who have a common identity is referred to as historical trauma. That common identity can be shaped by these factors: nationality, tribal origin, ethnicity, and/or race. Each individual event in historical trauma is highly traumatic, and when events are considered collectively, they create a history of prolonged cultural disruption and devastation in society. Slavery in the United States lasted from 1619 to 1865. During the 18th century alone, it is estimated that 6 to 7 million Africans were brought to the United States. Slavery became a category that was associated with African origin. Slaves were typically denied the opportunity to learn to read and write, as well as the ability to form groups. Slave murder was legal if the slave was “resisting” or if it was done “under moderate correction.” Slave women were frequently raped and sexually abuse. “Concrete measures are being taken to improve the human rights situation of people of African descent in a number of countries worldwide.” A couple actions are reported by UNESOCO. For instance, UNESCO has created instructional content for various levels of education based on the General History of Africa (including curriculum outlines, textbooks, films, radio programs, teacher’s guides, and illustrated books) in effort to combat widespread misunderstanding of African history. UNESCO is also improving on forming a worldwide coalition of artists for the General History of Africa in order to reach out to youth and the general public with the messages. How have the populations affected by the social problem changed over time? The affected population have the potential to adapt to what has happened in the past and what’s happening now. These historical traumas, however, have a long-term impact not only on the older generation, but also on the current and future generations. That’s why current policy makers need to address the social problem

Though they are not categorized as slaves anymore, they still experience now the racial gaps they had before in income, wealth, education, family structure, and other areas. Sadly, in the past few years there has been a rise in homicides and racism against African-Americans. Reeves and colleagues (2020) mentioned the likelihood of children in low-income households advancing up the income ladder. In terms of their individual income, African American men reared by low-income parents had twice the probability of remaining locked in intergenerational poverty (38%) than Black women (20%), according to research. It implies that African-American young boys raised poor are most at most risk of remaining stuck in the poverty cycle than not. How might this social problem be incongruent with social work values/ethics? These negative social problems reinforce societal biases, which are not limited to White American culture. It’s because everyone has biases and stereotypes about a certain group of people. No one is free from being a racist. They can be implicit, which means we didn’t choose to feel that way and are unaware of it. However, this is not an excuse on not battling such social problem. It takes great collective effort from us, not only to the affected but those who inflicted as well. Describe the next steps for how you will identify a policy. Identifying policies by location and identification of key policy areas to address are the steps. As what mentioned, societal biases resulting to racial inequality are not limited to White American culture. There must be action plans at a macro level and local levels, because there are different policy areas and levels of severity in each designated locations. Speaking of policy areas, MA Ciolek(2020) wrote 6 policies to address social problems affecting African-American particularly boys and men. Two of them are improving the education system and criminal justice reform. This would greatly impact livelihood and improve socio-economic status for African-Americans