Social justice is one of the hottest topics in today’s community. It acts as one of the most important indicators of the effectiveness of social development of society, the fundamental basis of human development. The main requirement of justice as an ethical category is respect for the rights and dignity of people. A special kind of justice is social justice, the subjects of which are large social groups, society as a whole, and humanity. Social justice is a system of social institutions, which by its structure, constantly provides a satisfying majority of society members distribution of political, legal, economic, and other rights and material values.
Justice is defined in the light of two key ethical values: fundamental ethical equality and impartiality, projected onto the nature of interpersonal relations and social institutions. It can be said that the recognition of the varying degrees of realization of fundamental ethical equality between individuals in social relations creates markedly different conceptions of social justice.
People strive for social justice because everyone is born with the same rights and responsibilities, with the right to vote and to choose. The desire for justice is an inherent feature of modern man. Humanity is progressing every day and becoming more humane. That is why the question of social justice at this stage of development is so relevant.
The professional activity of a social worker is based on three fundamental provisions that define the ethical features of work:
- Respect for the person, recognition of his unconditional value, regardless of the real achievements and behavior of the individual;
- The recognition that man is a unique social being who realizes his uniqueness in his relations with other people and depends on them for his development;
- Recognition that man has an inherent ability to change, improve his life, to grow, and hence the desire for freedom of choice and decision-making.
At the micro level, the life situation is influenced by the immediate social environment. A social worker can provide social protection for his or her client only if he or she has a good command of methods for individual work with people. At the meso level, the client interacts with other people and small groups within society (family, collective, peer group). In this case, the social worker should have a good command of the methods and techniques of working with the group. At the macro level, the client interacts with big organizations, systems, and groups and faces big social problems that are difficult for him or her to solve alone, so the social worker must help find the best ways to solve problems.
As a specialist in social services, this code helps me to focus and find the cause and the solution to the problem: “The imperative to engage in policy advocacy at three levels stems from policy shortcomings in each of the eight sectors where most social workers are employed”(Jannson, 2015, p.2). To better understand a client’s problem, one must be prepared to look deeper into the problem to find the root cause. Therefore, this interaction on three levels should be studied and applied in social work. This code clarifies that vulnerable populations have the same right to protection as others.
Using the eight policy sectors, I will think more deeply about each and find a different approach. For example, in criminal justice, a person needs social adjustment. After a long prison stays, a person becomes unaccustomed to normal society, so there are often relapses. The solution could be to provide the person with employment and sessions with a psychologist.
Reference
Jansson, B. S. (2015). Social welfare policy and advocacy: Advancing social justice through 8 policy sectors. Sage Publications.