Race Unconscious Bias and Social Work Essay

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Q1. What does diversity mean to you? After watching the videos and reading the article, has your definition changed. In what ways?Before watching the videos and reading the articles, I would have thought of diversity primarily in terms of inclusion, or including individuals regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or disability status. My definition would reflect that of Boccagni (2015) and his discussion of the most common definition of diversity, namely that it reflects heterogeneity. However, as noted in Wheeler (2015), unconscious inclusion does not address the issue of unconscious bias. Just because someone is not actively prejudiced against members of other groups does not mean they are truly fostering a diverse, inclusive environment within the workplace and society as a whole.Assuming that a man has more leadership skills because he is tall, the ethnicity of a woman’s name impacts her confidence, or the fact someone is in a wheelchair will impede her ability to do a job is not something many people would consciously articulate. But because of a lifetime of media images and socially reinforced stereotypes, unconscious biases have become like typing or driving a car—something we do by rote, without really questioning how and why we learned to see the world in such a manner.Diversity now means to me an institution or an individual taking active steps to thwart such biases, and an honest reckoning with history. It also means a willingness to be uncomfortable and to break out of my comfort zone. Wheeler (2015) also notes, for example, that he is more comfortable with highly extroverted people like himself. While this may seem like an obvious, innocent bias, it could easily result in him excluding differently abled persons (such as individuals with mild autism), or even individuals of different races or persons like Abdel-Magied (2011), who do not feel comfortable speaking up in an environment where they anticipate hostility because they have been treated differently because they are not like others in the room, visually.Q2. Do you agree with the speaker’s and author’s perspectives on diversity? Why?I do. I was moved by the anecdote chronicled by Wheeler (2015) about a relative of his who, even among his own family, often finds himself relegated to social gatherings to the side, ignored by others.

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People are very uncomfortable about revealing their own unconscious biases, or simply not knowing the accepted social script they feel they must follow. So, they avoid people who seem different. This is even true within families, so it can only be imagined the extent to which this effect is enhanced outside of the family, in the workplace, and among strangers. Diversity and acceptance of difference, and humility about what one does not know and a…

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…of images on the news or on film can impact biases against certain groups is important; it is also important to remember that even if someone is a member of a particular group themselves, they can still be biased. Women may perpetuate unconscious sexism against other women, for example.As well as awareness, educating one’s self about the challenges of particular groups can be helpful. If a workplace is not friendly and accessible to employees with disabilities because there is only a single accessible entrance or area that is out of the way and makes it difficult for disabled employees to mingle, even if the workplace is technically compliant with the law, such a layout can still reinforce bias. There must also be care to not presume that there is a “norm” when addressing clients, even if deviations from that norm in terms of family status, sexual orientation, religion, and economic status are not characterized in a negative fashion.Boccagni (2015) notes that for social workers in particular there can be pressure to categorize clients, even though true tolerance and diversity requires sensitivity to individual needs. It is not simply enough to acknowledge intersectionality in identity, but also to understand how the client’s context impacts that experience (Boccagni, 2015). Someone who tries to be unbiased must still take time to listen to the client and how the client….....

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