POWER AND PRIVILEGE
Advanced human services professional practitioners who regularly engage in critical reflection about their own power and privilege are often more likely to recognize and challenge practices, procedures, and policies that perpetuate discrimination and oppression. Practitioners who do not engage in this type of critical reflection may unknowingly do harm to service users, their organization, and their community. For instance, a practitioner may unconsciously impose their values and beliefs on a service user of a different culture, condone long-standing organizational practices that are discriminatory, and fail to recognize opportunities to effect systemic change to better serve the historically oppressed populations in their community.
Last week, you had an opportunity to engage in critical reflection about your level of power and privilege when you completed the Power Flower exercise. In doing so, you may have realized that every person has a unique combination of social identities from which they derive some level of power and privilege. In this Discussion, you will share insights you had and conclusions you drew about your level of power and privilege as a result of completing the exercise. You also will consider how your awareness in this area may impact how you practice human services at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.
As previously mentioned, the conversation about power and privilege is not an easy one. It is not meant to be. It also is not an indoctrination about a certain way of thinking. It is important to understand the unintended results of being part of a certain group. This is a reality that, as a society, we cannot deny. It does not mean one group is “better” than another. It is important to understand where your privilege and power exists and how that will impact your work as an advanced human services professional practitioner.
Note: Before you begin this Discussion, keep in mind that power and privilege are sensitive topics that often generate difficult conversations not unlike those you might have when practicing human services. Remember to be respectful of your classmates and open to how they may perceive and experience their level of power and privilege.
RESOURCES
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.
TO PREPARE
- Review your Course Announcements for possible information related to this week’s Discussion and Assignment.
- Reflect on the Power Flower exercise you completed last week and revisit the Learning Resources on power and privilege.
- Review the Learning Resources on working with culturally diverse service users and leading systemic change. Consider the examples of how to better serve diverse service users, human services employees, and the community as a whole.
- Consider how a greater awareness of your own power and privilege could influence your work with service users, your leadership in a human services organization, and your role as a social change agent interested in effecting systemic change.
BY DAY 4
Post one insight you had or conclusion you drew about your level of power and privilege as a result of completing the Power Flower exercise last week. Then explain how gaining a greater awareness of your level of power and privilege could influence your work with service users, your leadership in a human services organization, and your role as a social change agent interested in effecting systemic change. Be specific.
- Diller, J. V. (2019). Cultural diversity: A primer for the human services(6th ed.). Cengage Learning.
- Chapter 3, “Working With Culturally Diverse Clients” (pp. 37–46 only)
- Chapter 4, “Understanding Racism, Prejudice, and White Privilege” (pp. 58-93)
- Brimhall, K. C., & Mor Barak, M. E. (2018). The critical role of workplace inclusion in fostering innovation, job satisfaction, and quality of care in a diverse human service organizationLinks to an external site.. Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance, 42(5), 474–492. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/waldenu.edu?url=https://doi.org/10.1080/23303131.2018.1526151Links to an external site.
- Datti, P. A., & Conyers, L. M. (2019).Examining differences of human service utilization among Latino men living with HIV and varied racial identificationsLinks to an external site.. Journal of Human Services, 39(1), 19–32.
- Moscoso, V. (2020, July). Black Lives MatterLinks to an external site.. Human Services Today, 1(2), 5. https://www.nationalhumanservices.org/human-services-today-magazine
Note: Go to Volume 1, Issue 2 of the July 2020 edition, find the article titled, “Black Live Matter, to begin reading the article.
- Sparkman-Key, N., Meade, N., & Borden, N. (2019). Advancing the field of human services: LGBT competenciesLinks to an external site.. Journal of Human Services, 39(1), 73–84. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1058&context=chs_pubs
- Williams, I. L., Rezentes, W. C., III & Makini, G. K., Jr. (2019). Envisioning the future of traditional Hawaiian cultural practice-adapted treatment: Current status and new directionsLinks to an external site.. Journal of Human Services, 39(1), 111–127.
Advanced human services professional practitioners who regularly engage in critical reflection about their own power and privilege
My Social Identities
Power and privilege create advantages for some people and disadvantages for others. The concept of intersectionality posits that various social factors combine to create benefits for some groups or marginalize them. One of my social identities is that I am educated to the university level. My level of education benefits me because I can apply for many jobs that uneducated or less educated people cannot. Also, being educated has increased my chances of getting a good job, living a decent life, and understanding my health status.
I suffer from no disabilities and thus, have access to some buildings disabled people may not easily access. The absence of disability made learning in any school easier and I did not encounter any form of discrimination. Regarding sexual identity, I am heterosexual, and therefore, I am not a target of any discrimination whenever I interact with different people in public or private. I live in an urban area, and I am therefore close to hospitals, and good sporting and educational facilities. Living in an urban area also presents more opportunities for me to seek employment in various organizations. I speak English which is a primary language in the United States. Speaking English eliminates language barriers whenever I interact with other people. I can freely express myself and also listen to others talk. Speaking English is an added advantage in my academic life because almost everyone in schools I attended spoke fluent English. Lastly, I am a Christian and I strongly believe in the existence of God. Being a Christian has also limited encounters of discrimination that some of my friends report encountering due to their religious status.
How I perceive the World
My level of power makes me feel that life offers many enjoyable moments for everyone. For instance, I have access to quality care offered in my area, can perfectly interact with other people using my English language and I also have access to several job opportunities because I qualify academically. Secondly, because of my power and privilege, I always feel that some groups like disabled people and girls need constant support to achieve their dreams. I love interacting with these groups, learning from them, and giving hope to them that there is a life to live. Lastly, my power and privileges sometimes lead me to discriminate against other people and feel that they have made wrong life decisions. For example, I tend to have negative attitudes toward homosexuals for their social identity because I think they made wrong decision to belong to these groups. Therefore, I would be quick to support some groups like the disabled and women, and criticize others such as homosexuals.
My Level of Power and Privilege and Ethics
First, I am literate. When making decisions I rely on logic and not intuition. In any ethical decision-making scenario, I analyze the merits and demerits of my decision before I eventually decide. Also, I engaged scholarly evidence and even discussed with some of my friends the way forward. Secondly, as a Christian, there are Biblical perspectives I also consider during decision-making. Some of the values I use to make ethical decisions is honesty and integrity. I understand that whatever decisions I make can have an eternal impact on my destiny and thus, have to make decisions that are in line with Godly perspectives.
One insight I gained from the Power Flower exercise is the recognition of the various intersecting dimensions of power and privilege that shape my identity and experiences. These dimensions include aspects such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and ability, among others. Through this exercise, I came to understand that my positionality within society affords me certain advantages and opportunities while simultaneously placing limitations on others.
Gaining a greater awareness of my level of power and privilege can profoundly influence my work with service users, my leadership in a human services organization, and my role as a social change agent interested in effecting systemic change.
- **Work with Service Users:**
– Recognizing my own privileges allows me to approach interactions with service users from a more humble and empathetic standpoint. It enables me to acknowledge and validate the diverse experiences and challenges they may face due to systemic inequities. By actively listening to their perspectives and respecting their agency, I can better tailor interventions and services to meet their unique needs.
- **Leadership in a Human Services Organization:**
– As a leader, I can foster a culture of inclusion and equity within my organization by promoting diversity initiatives, implementing anti-oppressive policies and practices, and advocating for marginalized voices at all levels. By acknowledging my own biases and privileges, I can model reflective leadership behavior and encourage staff members to engage in critical self-reflection as well. This can lead to a more supportive and empowering work environment for employees and better outcomes for service users.
- **Role as a Social Change Agent:**
– Armed with a deeper understanding of my own privileges, I am better equipped to challenge systems of oppression and advocate for structural change within society. This may involve actively supporting policies and initiatives that address systemic inequalities, amplifying the voices of marginalized communities, and collaborating with diverse stakeholders to dismantle barriers to social justice. By leveraging my privilege to uplift others and dismantle oppressive structures, I can contribute to creating a more equitable and inclusive society for all.
In summary, heightened awareness of power and privilege enables me to approach my work in human services with greater sensitivity, compassion, and a commitment to social justice at all levels of practice.
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