Social Justice and Civil Rights Flashcards
What is Social Justice?
- The level of Fairness that exists in human relationships
- Many issues that SW confront are directly related to a lack of social justice, or injustice.
Injustice can be defined as:
Coercively established or maintained inequalities, discrimination, and dehumanizing, development-inhibiting conditions of living imposed by dominant social groups, classes, and peoples upon dominated and exploited groups, and classes and people.
Barriers to Social Justice
- Prejudice
- Discrimination
- Institutional Discrimination
- Oppression
Prejudice
An attitude that involves judging groups and individuals based on myths and misconceptions
Discriminations
In an action that involves treating people differently based on their membership in a group
Institutional Discrimination
Occurs when discrimination is built into the norms and institutions in society and enforced by those in power
Oppression
Is systematic and pervasive mistreatment of people based on their membership in a certain group including
- racism
- sexism
- classism
- ableism
- ageism
- anti-semitism and other religious oppression
Explanations of Social Injustice
- Biological Determinism
- Social and economic status is biologically determined
- People achieve a certain social and economic status based on innate biological characteristics
The Socialization Process
- People learn from observation
- Children do what they see their parents and other adults do
Psychological Perspectives
- Bias is caused by psychological conditions such as fear of the unknown
- Also includes scapegoating and projection
Sociological perspectives
- Scarce resources and economic insecurity cause conflict between groups
- Discrimination and oppression serve economic purposes and benefit those in power
Models Of Intergroup Relations
- Melting Pot
- Cultural Pluralism
- Separatism
Melting Pot
Exposure to the mass media and a common education system would cause all those living in the US to lose their cultural uniqueness and become “Americans”
-Loss of Identity
Cultural Pluralism
People retain their unique cultural characteristics while they mix socially and economically with other groups
Separatism
Groups live in the same country but do things as separately as possible
Civil Rights
- Rights to which people are entitled because they are members of a society
- these rights afford protection from discrimination and oppression
- throughout history oppressed groups have been denied equal access to political, social, and economic institutions
7 Protection from Discrimination
- 14th amendment 1868
- 15th amendment 1870
- 19th amendment 1920
- Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Civil Rights Act of 1968
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act 1967
- Americans with Disabilities Act 1990
14th Amendment
- 1868
- No state may “Deny any person it’s jurisdiction the equal protection of the law”
15th Amendment
- 1870
- Gave all men, regardless of age race or color, the right to vote
19th Amendment
- 1920
- Gave women the right to vote
Civil Rights Act of 1964
-Outlaws discrimination and/or segregation in public accommodation and employment on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, or national origin and differential treatment of people of color in voter registration
Civil Rights Act of 1968
Added protection against discrimination in housing
Age Discrimination in Employment Act
- 1967
- Protects employees who are 40 years old or over from unequal treatment at work based on age. Additional laws passed since to offer protection in education and benefits.
Americans with Disabilities Act
- 1990
- Outlaws discrimination against people with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, and public services
- Requires “reasonable accommodation” for people with disabilities in work places and public facilities
Affirmative Action
- designed to address past inequities in employment and education based on race and sex
- Requires organization to develop plans to diversity their workforces and student bodies
