Earth Month may be ending today, but the social work professional should not return to protecting the racist, capitalist systems that lead to environmental, economic, racial and social injustice and inequity that has been standardized over decades. According to the National Association of Social Workers’ Code of Ethics, ” the primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession’s dual focus on individual well-being in a social context and the well-being of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living.”
Value: Social Justice
Ethical Principle: Social workers challenge social injustice.
Social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social workers’ social change efforts are focused primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and other forms of social injustice. These activities seek to promote sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers strive to ensure access to needed information, services, and resources; equality of opportunity; and meaningful participation in decision making for all people.
Because of the wide range of social conditions that fall under the social justice or human rights umbrella, NASW has identified a set number of issues on which to focus. Environmental justice is one of NASW’s Social Justice Priorities.
Jim Crow, redlining, highways, gentrification, and…
Whether you call it environmental racism, ecological racism, or ecological apartheid, low-income communities of color experience more frequently and more intensely the negative environmental exposure from landfills, incinerators, and hazardous waste disposal plants as well as the accompanying related health outcomes. Weather disasters, natural disasters, and public health emergencies are more detrimental in the short and long-term in low-income communities of color.
Disproportionate levels of pollution, noise, economic inequality, mental and physical health issues, land acquired through imminent domain, and elimination of green spaces happen because policies and practices deprioritize the health, wellness, and economic opportunities of low-income communities of color.
Pause and visualize the design of your city, county, and state. Think about where most of the highways, parks, hospitals, train tracks, electrical and cell phone towers, data centers, and plants/factories are located.
NASW Climate Change and Health: A Call to Social Workers is a good starting point as we continue to protect people and the planet all year long.
MORE NASW RESOURCES:
- EP98: Environmental Justice as Social Work Practice (podcast)
- EP108: EcoSocial Work (podcast)
Nicki Sanders, MSW, is committed to career development, professional development, and organizational development. As Founder and CEO of Nicki Sanders Leadership Consulting, her mission is simple – to eliminate toxic workplaces by developing skilled, empathetic, and goal-oriented leaders who have the vision, support, and resources to create a culture where business prospers, and employees thrive individually and collectively. Nicki has an extensive background in nonprofit management leading high-functioning, multi-disciplinary teams, volunteer recruitment and retention, and social impact programming. She is a thought leader dedicated to dismantling the outdated, narrow view of social work and an accomplished professor, coach, trainer, and group facilitator who has combined her gift for authentic relationships, Master of Social Work degree, and over 20 years of diverse work experience to create a life and career aligned with her values and purpose. She is a lover of nature, cupcakes, travel, and 80’s hip hop and R&B music.
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