Disenfranchisement In Social Work

Felon Disenfranchisement: Is it Constitutional and Should Felons Be Allowed to Vote? Felon disenfranchisement is defined as, “Any convicted felon currently incarcerated or ex-felon now on parole or probation who cannot vote. ”(Brooks, 2005). There are nearly 5.3 million Americans who have been barred from voting due to criminal conviction (Okechukwu, 2022). This is important to consider because the United States is unlike any other democratic country in the world by doing this.

A felony is a crime that is usually punished by incarceration. The laws on felon voting change from state to state. Some states like Maine and Vermont allow prison inmates to continue voting and never take the right to vote away…Contrastingly, states

A recently released felon making the right moves then we are denying them the very basic human right to vote. In 2010, out of the voting population, 2.5% were denied the right to vote because of a previous felony conviction. In recent years, 28 states have passed laws that allow convicted felons to vote but only once they have completed their sentence and anything that was given to do upon being released from prison. Once released, this means that they have worked off the punishment that

The National Association of Social Work created a code of ethics that guides social workers on what core values that they should uphold during work (NASW, 2008). When discussing social welfare policy’s, the NASW code of ethics can be applied to immigration due to social justice being one the core values. Social justice consists of fighting for rights for individuals who lack the access to resources. The immigrants that are discussed in the articles, have a lack of social justice due to the deportation. This is where social workers need to step in adjust the privileges and distributions within society.

More than two million African Americans, or close to eight percent of black adults, aren’t able to vote. A little less than two percent of non-African Americans are not allowed to vote (Voting Rights: 6 Reasons Ex-Felons Should Vote, Newsmax). About 3.9 million citizens in the U.S. were not able to take part in the current 2016 election because of the U. S. disenfranchisement laws regarding convicted felons. African American males are mostly affected by these laws. In some states, once a felon completes the sentencing, voting rights are restored.

Is it right for an individual who has committed a violent crime to be able participate in voting? A felon should not have the right to vote because, they have displayed dishonesty and irresponsibility by committing a serious crime. Felons have questionable judgment when making decisions. Felons who are still incarcerated are not in the right mindset to make decisions for the public’s good interest. Further, there is no way of telling whether the felon has in fact improved in character since serving time.

Today we live in a society where people are taught that it is acceptable to revoke the born given right of voting. People should be allowed to vote under any circumstances no matter what they have done in the past, this includes felons and ex felons. Assume an american man was convicted of a common assault charge at the age of eighteen and convicted of a felony. Twenty years later the same man is still not allowed to vote because of his ignorance in the past. There is not a person in this world who would like to be defined by their past in such a way.

Ethical Issues in Social Work Practice The social work profession and its Code of Ethics dictate that social workers must act in the best interest of the client, even when those actions challenge the practitioner’s personal, cultural and religious values. In practice; however, ethical decision-making is more complex than in theory. As helping professionals, social workers are constantly faced with ethical decision-making or ethical dilemmas. As noted by Banks (2005), an ethical dilemma occurs “when a worker is faced with a choice between two equally unwelcome alternatives that may involve a conflict of moral principles, and it is not clear what choice will be the right one” (as cited in McAuliffe & Chenoweth, 2008, p. 43).

Social workers’ efforts are focused primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination and other forms of social justice. Social workers should avoid discrimination against people on the basis of age, gender, race ethnicity, sexual orientation and so on. The NASW Code of Ethics further identifies the social workers ethical responsibilities to the boarder society by listing the following

Modern social workers are frequently tasked with certain objectives by their agencies, which leave little room for any work beyond specific treatments and timeframes (Gitterman & Knight, 2016). Although social workers are bound to the set of ethics put forth by the NASW, practitioners are often limited to focusing on the issues of the individual rather than the larger societal issues that may be behind those concerns. Additionally, many social work students end up working in direct practice, rather than macro work. There is a need for social workers to engage at the macro level in order to facilitate community organization and empowerment. Critics suggest this theory may not take into account the unique experiences of each individual and perhaps key characteristics of the individual or group are not taken into consideration (Sadan, 1997).

Correspondingly, it will guide me to provide my clients with the ability to make informed consent. Additionally, this value is important to my future practice because it ensures that I become an advocate for my clients in every capacity, including human rights. Lastly, as a social worker, I will ensure that I work towards my clients being free from violence and the threat of violence (Heinonen & Spearman, 2010, p. 34). Secondly, as a social worker it is necessary that my practice is guided by my value of providing a service to humanity.

Giving prisoners the opportunity to vote is not any harm to others. As a result, Maine and Vermont are the only two states that allow ex-felons and prisoners to vote. In these states felons never lose their right to vote. The other states need to follow in their footsteps and come up with a new law for prisoners voting rights. All states should have the same law as Maine and Vermont because this right is fundamental to a democracy.

Anti-oppressive practice focuses on the structural inequalities and places the blame that service users internalize on the structures and systems themselves (Ajandi, 2018). Humanistic and social justice values and ideas shape anti-oppressive practice (Healy, 2015). They address inequalities that affect opportunities of service users, due to the interlocking of social relations and oppression (Burke & Harrison, 2002). AOP aims to identify oppressions and define ways in which social workers can attempt to become anti-oppressive, avoid discomfort, and end oppression to service users (Strega, 2007). It highlights mutual involvement between the social worker and the service user, challenging forms of oppression and inequalities (Burke & Harrison, 2002), and presents the idea that service users do not occupy a “single identity”, but instead have interlocking oppressions that work together to put clients at a social disadvantage (Strega, 2007).

Session: Autumn 2017 Subject Name: Research Methods and Design Subject Code: MIST 949 Instructor Name: Dr. Feras Hamza Assignment Type: Literature Review Assignment Title: Social Justice in Education: A Literature Review Submitted by: Humaid Obaid Khalifa (ID: 2985287) University of Wollongong in Dubai Abstract This document is a review of social justice literature that provides an analysis of the social justice and equity literature in education.

Social work is a dynamic helping profession, where the main goal is to improve the welfare of every individual in a society. Law is a system of legal rules that governs the way members of society interact with each other. Law is necessary for order, justice, punishment, protection and to settle dispute. Social workers need to have familiarity with the legal process and the understanding of basic legal principles in order to effectively be able to assess and intervene on behalf of clients. Problems where social work and the law overlap have consistently challenged social work professionals.