Affirmative action policies should be extended to offer equal treatment to minority groups.
The affirmative action policies through the social work professions can empower the minorities in society, i.e. people living in poverty, the disadvantaged and the marginalized ("Code of Ethics", 2017). This will ensure the advancement of everyone's well-being in society. As equal care is offered to minority groups by affirmative action policies, they may feel empowered and aspire to be on a par with the rest of society. According to Lowenberg, Dolgoff & Harrington (2000) Ethical Assessment Screen (EAS), one of the principles of empowering minorities is the quality of life. To ensure that they are empowered to have quality like the rest of groups, they should be given preferential treatment.
Qn. 2
Listening and laughing at racist jokes contributes to perpetuating stereotypes and prejudices. When laughing at disparagement jokes, it appears as if one is supporting that behavior and thus may influence others negatively. Racist jokes, actually contribute to the discrimination of the targeted group. Laughing at such jokes would sound as if one was waiting for the opportunity to justify the expressions of prejudice against these minority groups and thus fostering discrimination against the minority social groups such as the black Americans. Moreover, the impact of the racist jokes will also depend on the social position occupied by the person unleashing the joke. Humor is not a good excuse for the perpetuation of stereotypes and prejudices. Since racial humor is bigotry, it should be shunned at all costs. Social workers are expected to avoid any unwarranted negative criticism of colleagues in communications with clients or with other professionals. Such unwarranted negative criticism includes any belittling remarks that touch somebody's ethnicity, gender, color, religion, age or disability ("NASW Code of Ethics Summary", 2017).
References
Code of Ethics. (2017). Socialworkers.org. Retrieved 17 September 2017, from https://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/default.asp
Loewenberg, F.M. & Dolgoff, R. (2000). Ethical Decisions for Social Work Practice (6th Ed.).Itasca, Il.: FE Peacock
NASW Code of Ethics Summary. (2017). Jsu.edu. Retrieved 17 September 2017, from http://www.jsu.edu/socialwork/career/NASW_Code_of_Ethics.html
