Economic problems and social injustice are often interconnected in developing countries. A child labor social worker in a Southern country might face various cases of abuse of children’s rights because minors often work in unfair and unhealthy conditions in these states. The absence of governmental supervision contributes to child exploitation and the overall aggravation of conditions of children’s life (Payne, 2021). The immediate family cannot help these children; in most cases, parents make their children work to provide for themselves due to poverty. Due to the complex nature of this problem, there is a critical need to introduce a plan that opposes child labor on all levels, including individual, communal, and state.
The reasons that lead to the exploitation of child labor are connected with more general problems in the country, including poverty and lack of social mobility. The root of the situation on the individual level is that the family cannot provide for their children, who need to start working when they are still young (Payne, 2021). There is not enough food for all children in the family, and the responsibility for survival is on the child instead of their parents. The second root of the problem is the level of the community. Children do not have opportunities for education and personal growth, their families often neglect them, and society does not control this situation. Child labor is regarded as an acceptable situation due to the dominant cultural context in the particular community (Payne, 2021). For instance, when the generation of adult people used to work from their earliest childhood, they did not think that there was a problem with child labor. Their children also operate when they can do something and receive payment for their services.
There are no regulations prohibiting child labor in the country, and it is a problem on the governmental level. The state does not guarantee children education, food, and shelter, so they have to find ways to survive. At the same time, children are among the most vulnerable categories of people in society (Payne, 2021). Without state supervision and protection, they are abused regularly, and unhealthy work conditions illustrate this point.
It is essential to develop a plan of action that might help achieve social justice for children laboring in this country in unhealthy, unfair conditions. One possible intervention at the state level of social work practice is implementing legislation protecting children’s rights. It is vital to start from the state level because it is the guarantee that controls the conditions of life of minors in families. Moreover, the state should provide opportunities for children to develop, including compulsory education (Payne, 2021). State officials and social workers should ensure that all children in the country receive a school education and do not work instead of learning. In addition, state regulations will control the conditions of life in families and help those parents who cannot afford to buy all the necessary things for their children. The state program for helping children and for controlling their conditions life is the central point in implementing innovation in the developing country.
The problem of child labor should also be addressed on the community level. For example, people should start perceiving child exploitation as unacceptable, and these cultural changes require time. After decades of successful implementation of the plan at the state level, it is possible. It is critical to understand that changes in the community’s views on the problem of child labor are gradual and require much time (Payne, 2021). As mentioned, the immediate family often exploits the child’s work because adults cannot provide for them. The changes on the individual level require the assistance of social workers who supervise families living in extreme poverty conditions. They should also explain that child exploitation is unacceptable and control how the family follows these recommendations.
In all cases, solving the existing issues of child labor and exploitation requires a holistic approach due to the significant social injustices that lead to it. It is more effective to start by implementing changes on the state level because the government serves as the guarantee for the realization of the reforms. The community’s views on child labor will change with the time when all people understand that the exploitation of minors is unacceptable.
It is possible to hypothesize that crime is inevitable because it is the consequence of various reasons contributing to this situation. Criminal activity is higher in places where the population is poor, which emphasizes the direct connection between the level of well-being and the rate of breaking the law. For example, the inhabitants of the district where the immigrant population lives have a higher crime rate than the district where upper-middle-class families reside. Lack of social mobility does not allow people from immigrant neighborhoods to break the cycle of crime and punishment (Sue, 2016). They cannot often receive higher education because they have to support their families when they are adolescents. Criminal activity, including drug dealing, gives them more accessible options for earning money. In most cases, this illegal work ends with detention, which ruins the person’s subsequent life, depriving them of all career opportunities (Sue, 2016). As a result, the criminal activity becomes the only work that will give these people from poor social classes money and the opportunity to survive.
The measures that can stop the increase in criminal activity should target general problems of social inequality. Increasing social mobility is the key issue in helping people from poor and marginalized groups improve their quality of life (Sue, 2016). Therefore, it will improve the well-being of society in general. This situation influences the criminal rate directly, which means that crimes do not happen when most people are satisfied with their level of life.
Microaggressions are the problem that most people disregard, thinking that it is not essential. Though, it significantly impacts human interactions and personal psychological well-being. It can spoil relationships between people, lead to misunderstanding at the workplace, and lead to a nervous breakdown when the individual does not understand the ways of coping with microaggressions. For example, many people suppress their negative emotions every time they feel them, which can save their relationships with others at that particular moment. However, in the long-term perspective, it has multiple adverse consequences on communication and the psyche.
I started to understand that there is a more general reason behind my microaggressions than I used to think before learning. For instance, people often think they dislike a particular individual, but in reality, they share discriminatory views and attitudes they do not understand consciously. Racism, sexism, and lookism are among the most common examples of segregation that people do not analyze critically (Sernau, 2022). When they see the person does not correspond to the expected standards of beauty, they automatically think that this individual has negative character traits. The over-weighted woman is regarded as a lazy person who does not care for her health and beauty, which means she does not want to work. This example of the stereotypical perception of the person leads to microaggressions against her, including jokes or pieces of advice concerning her body shape. It is an example of the typical lookist perspective and microaggressions against a person who does not have a conventional appearance.
There are several critical steps I should take personally to stop microaggressions. First, it is vital to understand the reasons that make me think negatively about a particular person and to distinguish between the stereotypical perception of this individual and our actual conflicts (Sernau, 2022). Second, it is essential to control how I communicate with another person even when I have reasons to treat this individual this way. Being respectful in interactions with other people is crucial because sometimes minor details in the dialogue can seriously insult another individual. Third, I should develop empathy to avoid insulting another individual unintentionally in communication. It is difficult for the person to understand that they have stereotypical thinking that leads to a biased perception of others. Most people have prejudices about the surrounding reality and divide people into categories to simplify their thinking. These actions are the basis of microaggressions, and I need to control stereotypical thinking to improve my communicative skills and speak without insulting others.
References
Payne, M. (2021). Modern social work theory. Oxford University Press.
Sernau, S. (2022). Global problems: The search for equity, peace, and sustainability. Pearson.
Sue, G. W. (2016). Multicultural social work practice: A competency-based approach to diversity and social justice. Wiley.