Investment Definitions Three Community Functions of Social

Investment Definitions

Three Community Functions of Social Welfare

At the heart of the ideas of community are notions of social justice (p. 9). The authors argue that the objectives of social welfare programs, redistribution of wealth to increase well-being and the creation of communities and sustaining them in healthy ways are vitally interrelated (p. 9-10). At least six community functions of social welfare are discussed. I focus on three including the functions of production, contribution, and consumption; the function of socialization; and, the function of social control in the fostering of social welfare and in the building of communities.

The function of production, contribution, and consumption in social welfare is to link individuals into the larger Canadian economic community in a non-exploitive manner so that individuals have control over their lives (p. 99-100).

The function of socialization in social welfare is to integrate immigrant communities and first nation's peoples fully into Canadian society by equipping them with the behavioral, social and political skills necessary to thrive within their communities and outside of their communities (100).

The function of social control in social welfare is to step in when socialization does not fully address the negative behaviors of some community members. Social control steps into to find ways to protect the larger community (101).

Three Communities who have been marginalized by Canada's social welfare programs

Among other groups, several communities have been particularly marginalized, including senior citizens, disabled individuals, and aboriginal communities.

Senior citizens have experienced marginalization because there are very few centralized programs which focus specifically on their needs. Unfortunately lots of disparate unconnected programs often deal with different aspects of the needs of senior citizens (p.71).

Disabled individuals have experienced marginalization through a pattern similar to that of senior citizens. Because they come with so many other characteristics, they could be elderly, disabled, immigrants, sometimes the unique resources needed to address their disability is not readily identified (p. 71). The marginalization is particularly severe with respect to the effect of disabilities on employment and poverty.

Aboriginal communities have experienced marginalization through language barriers, reservation census miscounts, and lack of access to resources. The extent of their poverty is undetermined and unclear (p. 62).

Dominant Cultures Resistance to Diversity & The Role of Social Workers

In large part, some of the dominant culture's resistance to diversity is rooted in the historical relationship between communities of color and the former European colonizers (p. 108). There are still remnants of the superiority and inferiority conceptual model that was used by Europeans in subjugating native populations and forcibly taking their land. The resistance to diversity is more about resistance to change and resistance losing control over these populations. Current models of interaction severely the limit the freedom of aboriginal and other native communities and populations to govern themselves (p. 108). Even as the dominant culture groups attempt to move towards greater inclusivity, true inclusion will only occur when barriers such as financial overview and legislative limitations are removed.

In practical terms the dominant culture's resistance manifests itself in a number of different ways, restrictions over autonomy through legislation, language restrictions, benefit restrictions, and financial restrictions, are all ways that the dominant culture maintains the final say.

The role of social workers is twofold- firstly, their role is policy and theory oriented. Secondly, their role is to build practical skills within the communities that they serve. We can see this in the ways in which they helped to implement and represent the rights of first nation's peoples (p. 106). In many ways the role of a social worker lies directly in between the dominant culture group-who they work for- and the marginalized communities of color- to whom they provide services. As such they occupy a unique and at times, tentative space. Part of the tension in occupying this space is clearly determining in which group their primary loyalties lie. Social workers are and should remain invested in the health of all communities whether they are a part of the majority culture or the indigenous and minority populations. They recognize that a truly pluralistic society- one in which there few hierarchies based on ethnicity, race, and class, is the healthiest model for Canada as whole.