Advocacy in Human Services Essay Example for Free

Advocacy in Human Services Essay Under the Rainbow Inc. began when a group of four socially conscious people discovered a dire need for quality, unbiased welfare support without prejudice or borders and became an incorporated association in February 2007. Since its inception, Under the Rainbow Inc. has been committed to excellence in the delivery of social welfare services based on their principles of charity, care and compassion. A range of services designed to promote independence and to enhance quality of life are provided by Under the Rainbow, all of which encompass care and support of local community members, in particular those who require relief from poverty and/or the dependents of any such persons. Advocacy is the primary role of case managers who volunteer at Under The Rainbow and in this human service setting and any other it is essential for services to be provided accurately. This essay will define advocacy in a human services context as well as discuss the type of advocacy that is beneficial to clients in this chosen human service setting. In conclusion, this essay will also describe issues that Under The Rainbow have encountered whilst implementing advocacy and change and the way the current political climate can effect their ability to engage in advocacy and deliver quality human services. Whilst the definition of advocacy in general is broad, in human service and social work practice advocacy is essentially the process of protecting human rights or to change discriminatory or abusive treatment to the vulnerable, whether working with an individual or a group (Corey, Corey Callanan, 1998). Human service workers all act as advocates in the course of their work (Sorensen and Black, 2001) and the Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics (2002) supports this view citing, The social worker will advocate for changes in policy, service delivery and social conditions which enhance the opportunities for those most vulnerable in the community however Forbat and Atkinson (2005) argue that advocacy is not social work, but its principles and values resonate closely. Regardless of ones  definition, the key concept in the notion of any type of advocacy, is that it requires at least three parties: the client, the advocate and the other side (School of Health and Human Services, 2007). Literature suggests that the differing types of advocacy seem as broad as its definition and a number of different types of advocacy exist, however within Under the Rainbows human service framework they are predominately concerned with individual or case advocacy. According to Hepworth Larsen (1993), case advocacy is a way to obtain resources or services for clients that would not otherwise be provided and this theory underlies Under the Rainbows belief that to advocate for a client is to bring about some form of personal and/or social change (School of Health and Human Services, 2007). Under the Rainbow is a voluntary community based organisation which now boasts a membership of sixty-five individuals, many of whom work with clients as advocates for change. The goal for each volunteer who manages cases for Under the Rainbow is to promote fair, equal, and humane treatment through fundraising, charity provision (food and clothing), welfare work and social action against injustice for the disadvantaged. Under the Rainbows social work practice is mainly concerned with implementing changes in the local community to assist in poverty relief to predominately voluntary clients (Barker, 1991), though some are referred. While the majority of Under the Rainbows charity work is concerned with lending a hand materially and financially, they also work one-on-one with clients to determine why they needed a hand in the first place and therefore consider both aspects of their human service delivery forms of advocating. However there is some argument as to whether charity and advocating is in fact the same thing. The assertion by LHirondelle (2002) that charity work simply means offering one-on-one help without effort to give people the opportunity to participate in working with others to change their situation is challenged at Under the Rainbow who believe empowerment of a client is both valuable and essential. Individuals who seek help from Under the Rainbow often see themselves as powerless and unable to make changes in their lives and sadly, those who are discriminated against, are often the most vulnerable. Under the Rainbow clients can be distinguished by many inequalities involving social issues in areas such as power, authority, and wealth, working and living conditions, health, lifestyle, gender, education, religion, and culture. Because the nature of Under the Rainbow is predominately a charity, they realise some of the clients who ask for welfare assistance will not want to be involved in any further actions for changing their situation and staff may only be required to advocate once. However, they know from experience there are just as many of their clients who will want to get involved and connect with others in order to work together for social and personal empowerment. To clarify empowerment further, Shulman (2005) states that the empowerment process involves engaging the client, family, group, or community in developing strengths to personally and politically cope and a number of empowerment workshops and programmes covering issues such as budgeting, self-esteem and parenting are implemented at Under the Rainbow to facilitate this. Clients also often need help when dealing with other agencies and a Justice of the Peace service and help with letter writing, telephone and electronic correspondence is also offered. Often clients feel they have been treated unfairly by other advocacy and law agencys and challenging another organisations reasoning, on a clients behalf or as an individual can be referred to as persuasion advocacy (Reardon, 2001). Many times writing a letter or involving law enforcement agencies to negotiate a point has been successful for Under the Rainbow and their clients to further instil empowerment. Therefore, Under the Rainbow staff believe offering an individual help, whether through the distribution of groceries or an activity similar to the ones discussed above, is seen as empowerment for social change. Under the Rainbow advocate for and empower their clients, bringing people together where they are then able to take action to change their situation. Schneider   Lester (2001) include empowerment in their definition as part of the practice of advocacy and conclude that this value is based on the belief that individuals have strengths to acquire knowledge, become assertive, and develop skills, and through social work advocacy, these strengths can be set in motion. Vanessa, who has worked with Under the Rainbow for nine months states, when I interview clients, I encourage and pay attention to the capable person I see in front of me. My focus as an advocate is never on their previous history, as there is nothing I can do personally to change it. The importance for me is what the client wants from life and how it can be achieved (Pers comm. 2/4/08). Whilst working as an advocate Vanessa does not expect nor require a client to self-disclose, however they usually do, which Vanessa defines as a relationship based on trust and mutual respect. Respecting the privacy rights and confidentiality of Under the Rainbows clients is extremely important and they believe that excellent ethical conduct must be practiced in order to be a credible community advocate. Cultural, language, disability and other accommodations are also provided for. If personal conflicts of interest should occur the advocate will step aside and ask for help from another party. As Under the Rainbow is are self-regulating, ethical decision-making and the process of critical reflection, evaluation and judgment through which a practitioner resolves ethical issues, problems and dilemmas (Trevino, 1986) is extremely important in both a personal and professional context. As well as individual and personal advocating, dissolving barriers and building a sense of community on a local level, Under The Rainbow promote global consciousness and pride themselves on their broad worldview and high awareness of the inter-relatedness and sacredness of all living things. All Under the Rainbow Inc. members are active, both personally and professionally, in many social arenas confronting a broad range of social and political issues. Advocacy of this type, which refers to a connection with social movements, is known as activist or cause advocacy (Healy, 2000) and often involves active criticism of or engagement with government  policies and practices (School of Health and Human Services, 2007). Many members of Under the Rainbow have strong lobbying and media skills and some of their more prominent contributions and support include subscriptions and memberships to other advocacy groups and organisations such as New Internationalist Magazine, Bush Heritage Australia, Amnesty International and Greenpeace as well as Indigenous organisations, animal and environmental protection groups and interests in many other diverse global activist platforms. Under the Rainbow has also purchased and helped plant thousands of trees in South East Queensland through the Queensland Folk Federation at the Woodford Folk Festival site. Under the Rainbow is self-sufficient and as yet to receive any government funding. Relying on donations from its members and the general public to support their services is successful, but often unpredictable and can cause frustration when resources are limited. However, being an incorporated association means that Under the Rainbow is only accountable to themselves, their donors, members, clients and community. Not being affiliated with any government, church or social agency means they are not subject to any other types of accountability usually required under public auspice and this is preferable. Under the Rainbows projects, which are both broad and long-range, draw only on individual and group advocacy skills from its membership pool, preferring to remain exclusive and not out-source help from other agencies. In recent years, new set of ideas, such as advocacy, consumerism, empowerment, participation, and anti-discriminatory practices have all influenced social work practice and this has had an impact on social work values. This new set of ideas is referred to as radical values (Adams et al, 2002) and are concerned with challenging oppression and discrimination, it is within this value system that Under the Rainbow continues to operate. Advocacy is essentially the process of standing up for the rights of others who are being unfairly treated (Sorenson and Black, 2001) and has the potential to bring significant and sustainable change for the better. It can  empower individuals and communities and generate many resources whilst bringing diverse organisations together to work on common issues. Effective advocacy takes specific skills, commitment, effort, resources, perseverance, wisdom and collaboration all of which are faced by the Under the Rainbow volunteers on a daily basis. The case managers at Under the Rainbow realise they need to successfully master the skills needed to be an advocate, which takes time and experience. They are also aware that learning to be persuasive and using resources available to them will increase their level of competence and better assure a positive outcome for both themselves and their clients. I am proud to be a member of Under the Rainbow and my involvement in the challenging albeit very rewarding endeavours to facilitate advocacy for change in this small but powerful association. REFERENCE LIST Adams, R., Dominelli, L., Payne, M., (2002). Social Work, Themes, Issues and Critical Debates (2nd ed.), Palgrave, Basingstoke. Australian Association of Social Workers (2002), Code of Ethics, Retrieved April 2nd, 2008, AASW Website: http://www.aasw.asn.au/adobe/about/AASW_Code_of_EthicsCorey, G., Corey, M., Callanan, P., (1998). Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions, Brooks/Cole, USA. Forbat, L., Atkinson, D., (2005). Advocacy in Practice: The Troubled Position of Advocates in Adult Services, British Journal of Social Work, 35:3, pp. 321-335Healy, K., (2000). Social Work Practices: Contemporary Perspectives on Change, Sage, London. Hepworth, D., Larsen, J., (1993). Direct Social Work Practice: Theory andSkills (4th ed.) The Dorsey Press, Homewood, Illinois. Trevino, L.K., (1986). Ethical Decision making in Organizations: A Person-Situation Interactionist Model, The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 601-617. LHirondelle, C., (2002), Characteristics of Remedial Work vs. Social Change, Retrieved April 4th 2008, Victorian Status of Women (SWAG) Website: http://pacificcoast.net/~swag/index.htmlReardon, K.K., (1991), Persuasion in Practice, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, California. Schneider, R.L., Lester, L., (2001). Advocacy: A New Definition, Social Work Advocacy, Brooks/Cole Publishing, Pacific Grove: California. School of Health and Human Services, (2007). Study Guide: Advocacy and Change, Southern Cross University, Lismore. Shulman, L., (2005). Skills of Helping Individuals, Families, Groups and Communities, Wadsworth Publishing Company, USA. Sorenson, H., Black, L., (2001). Advocacy and Ageing, Australasian Journal on Aging, Vol. 20.3, Supplement 2, pp. 27-34.

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Introduction (110/600 words) The White Cube Gallery in London is known for its traditional approach to gallery space, as the name of the building implies, and is the approach most galleries around the world take for displaying work. The white walled, highly lit design is what many consider the optimum way to view art (insert quote) but since the rise of alternative exhibition spaces, the ‘white walled gallery’ has been greatly challenged by media and artists alike (insert quote). Most modern galleries offer a neutral, private, timeless place to display and experience art but also creates a natural barrier between the audience and the art. Alternative and makeshift galleries are becoming more popular. Christopher Green 142/600 Christopher Green is a young artist based in London, United Kingdom and after completing university; he and a group of artists he lived with created a gallery space inside their house and curated shows open to the public from 2006 to 2007. It is a unique venture as it is a gallery where the art is produced in the same space and it is being shown but it is not a studio space. Over 11 months they exhibited and curated approximately 55 artists’ works in 9 exhibition shows. Although most of the house was in a state of run down, the gallery area maintained a white walled, brightly lit area though some rooms of the old Georgian town house still contained white washed fireplaces that adds a certain character and human touch that is not necessarily seen in a usual gallery space. White Cubicle Gallery (221/600) The White Cubicle Gallery, located in the women’s toilets of The George and Dragon, London, and it describes itself as ‘an antidote to London’s sometimes extremely commercial art scene ‘. It... ...ything as it should be, the right pieces of art in the right places, making sure information is correct upon publication and of course the galleries main purpose, selling art and also making available to the public for viewing, all of this now being done online as well as on site. The appeal of the online gallery vs. the real life gallery is it is almost a simpler way to display work and project to audience because you are more than projecting to a small group of people, online it is the whole world, for everyone that cannot go to The Museum of Modern Art you can see its collection online. And it is open for anyone to use, the restrictions of getting the right space and art and cost is not feasible online, anyone can start a collection for an audience to view and it is the collecting and curating of what you find into a selection is what makes it an online gallery.

How Does Technology Influence Our Daily Lives Essay

The tÐ µrm „ technologyâ€Å" has been defined by the ancient Greeks as a collective term of human achievements, inventions, creations, knÐ ¾wledge and expertise. Without a doubt, technology dramatically affects our lives in virtually each and every aspect and area. One of the greatest and most heated contemporary debates has been: „Does technology influence our lives in a positive or negative way?â€Å" In my opinion, technology by itself has neither positive nor negative consequences. The only defining factor is how people use technology. Nevertheless, I would rather support the idea that technological inventions serve predominantly good purposes. It is really hard to point out the areas where technological achievements have been the most spectacular. Therefore, the present work will focus on three sectors: nuclear technology, internet and medical applications. Since nuclear power’s earliest discovery as a theoretical principle, and later as practical applica tions, methods, equipment and devices, this exceptional breakthrough has played a great role in our lives. The only large-scale and applicable alternative to fossil fuels for generating electricity is the nuclear power. Despite their numerous flaws, NPPs ( Nuclear Power Plants) are so widespread around the world, that without them huge regions in the globe would be left in darkness and silence. Scientists have put enormous efforts into modernizing and mastering not only the principle of nuclear fusion and fision, but also into the whole equipment and machinery behind. Such problems as nuclear waste disposals, contamination, natural disasters, etc. do not deter people from relying on this reasonably-priced energy source. Moreover, an easily accessible and moderately-priced energy source is of great significance for vast, overpopulated but poor world regions, as it contributes to developing these areas to achieve higher living standards. Even though there are many issues with nuclear power production and waste management, I believe it will remain a desirable source of energy in the future because of its reach and application.I believe that the developments and discoveries in medical sciences, appointed to saving human lives, improvement of quality of life and expansion of the ifespan, are the greatest and most noble achievemen The discovery of X-ray methods gave doctors the opportunity to look inside the human body and know exactly where surgery is needed or see the broken bones. Furthermore, another crucial breakthrough is lazer technology which made bloodless operations possible and dramatically shorten ed the recovery period of patients. The MRI , ultrasound and computer tomography all provide a unique chance to observe and analyze pathogenic tissues, cells, tumors, the fetus growth, and make extremely complex heart and brain surgeries more accessible. The outstanding combination of medical and engineering research gave the world unbelievable access to sub-cell processes, the discovery of the human genome and DNA structure. This has widely opened the doors for fundamental genetic research, powerful pharmaceutical development and generally, the expansion of life expectancy of humans. Here it is a point to mention one extraordinary latest discovery in medicine- nanotechnology, and one special application- Quantum Dots. Combined with the knowledge about the human genome, this high-tech method gives a reliable tool for fighting different types of cancer. First ly, QDs can spot and trace very small tumor formations, even separate tumor cells by marking them in different light from the spectrum. Later, all the tumor cells and tissues emitting fluorescence are traced and consequently, being destroyed with the help of similar dots. Such QDs are charged with miniature laser source inside, encapsulated safely and put into the blood stream. When detecting the tumor cell or tissue, a laser impulse is emitted, and within the tumor cell it is transfered into heat which destroys the tumor without harming the healthy cells.( Wood, 2004). Another fascinating application of nanotechnology is the so called polymeric micelles, which can help the efficient delivery of drugs directly into cells and tissues. These compounds have much greater tissue penetrating power, more controlled drug release and are less harmful. This recent discovery gave doctors a great hope to make fine cure on cell and tissue levels and make treatments much more effective and less i nvasive. Computer invention and development, combined with one of the greatest achievements in the modern technological world – the Internet, have really changed the nature of contemporary communication and ways of doing business.(Passion Computing, 2012) The discovery of computer principles and construction is also connected to the name of a scientist with Bulgarian roots – John Atanassov, who is considered a person with great contribution to this breakthrough. Computer technology gave people the opportunity to make mathematical calculations with immence speed and accuracy never seen before. The following developments such as the ability to solve complex technical, technological and scientific problems; visualizingprocesses and trends in business; transmitting and transfering information to each and in any point of the world, – changed completely the way of thinking and working in our globalised world. The first one is undoubtedly education. This area has benefitted greatly from modern high-tech inventions.First of all,students have the option to search quickly and easily information on the Internet about their academic studies, written assignments and courseworks, numerous projects and multimedia presentations. The variety of options in visualization and graphical applications expanded the usage of visual aids and the ability to interprete, discuss and predict different trends in the processes under study and research. Another great advantage is given to education by the chance to share, exchange and communicate new ideas, discoveries and suggestions with professors and colleagues. (Lewis H. 2009) This way, it became possible to make panel discussions, conference talks, even to take exams and tests during distant learning courses.These developments augmented immensely the boundaries of education and provided opportunities for lifelong learning and continuous training and qualification for professionals of all walks of l ife. The access to virtual libraries, databases of knowledge, archives and other sources of stored information made it possible to attend a university or course in a really distant location, and get your diploma without even being physically at the educational institution. Another area with great benefits from Internet technology is business and banking. The nature and content of modern business deals changed dramatically due to modern methods.(Passion Computing, 2012).Nowadays, making a complex deal and trade, even an export of goods, is possible without moving away from the office. All the necessary documents, contracts, invoices, specifications and licences can be transfered over the Internet, all the changes can be negotiated the same way within a couple of days. Moreover, the shipment documentation can also be transfered online and even opening of the Letter of Credit, money transfer and other payments can be done online by a service bank. What is more, huge projects with many drawings, schemes, charts and graphs can be exchanged over the net, and even great architecture projects can be made by international teams based in several countries.The world of money is also of great use from the Internet. Huge funds may be transfered from one bank to another with just one click of the button. This development saves efforts, time and makes the modern business payments easier than ever before. All these deals are accompanied by the problems with data security, illegal access to database, fraud problems and abuse oj personal data, but the work and efforts never stop to resolve these issues. Last but not least, we have to mention the sphere of manufacturing and production. Internet and computerised methods of processing metals, plastics, cotton and textile, leather, vegetables and fruit, gave the greatest ever advancement in producing all the necessary goods and services for the life of modern humans. We are now able to create complex telescopes, planes, spaceships and equipment to explore the processes in space and Universe, and maybe to find a new planet for humanity to settle and develop in the future. To put it in a nutshell, advanced technology is an integral part of our modern life and will be even more important in our future.

The Importance Of Managers Pressure And Experience...

demands of their roles. This study aims to prove that managers feel pressure and experience negative feelings when they are forced to follow the organisation’s rules making tough decisions. 2.1.2. Emotional Labour in Management Positions For decades, scholars recommended that employees should follow Weber’s argument to keep emotions out of the work place and to practice â€Å"administrative rationality† (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1995). When emotions were discussed it was in terms of how they interfered with rational decision-making or were part of interpersonal conflict. In this paper, it is argued that managers have to perform emotional labour especially, when they have to make tough decisions regarding their colleagues. Emotional labour has been conceptualized primarily as a duty of front line service employees (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1993; Brotheridge and Grandey, 2002). During the past few decades, the study of emotional labour has proven to be vital. It has been shown how employees are required to manage their emotions as well as their behaviours, at least in the workplace. Hopfl and Linstead (1993, p.91) state: Organisations adopt styles of presentation, motivation and cultural manipulations which are thoughtful, calculated, strategically planned and executed and depend almost entirely upon effective agitation and channeling of emotion for their success. Initially, studies of emotional labour focused on employees dealing with clients, customers, and the public outside theShow MoreRelatedBelonging Crucible Essay1187 Words   |  5 PagesBelonging Essay All individuals unmistakably experience a sense of belonging in a multifaceted and convoluted process. Arthur Millers play â€Å"The Crucible† and George Clooneys film â€Å"Good Night and Good Luck† are both texts where acceptance into society is explored in characters through various and complex measures. 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