Accidental birth reflection
During this course we often observe that different groups experience the American system and the American approach to social welfare differently due to their characteristics at birth. These characteristics include skin color, ethnicity/cultural background, religion, gender assignment, marital status of the mother, family income, geographic location (nation, region of the country, state, city, neighborhood), physical limitations, and others. Should the accident of birth have such a powerful impact on the experiences of individuals who are residents of the United States?
The intent of this assignment is for the student to reflect on the powerful effect accident of birth has on life outcomes in the United States. What the student is expected to do is consider the evidence offered during the course related to the impact of this accident of birth on one, a few, or many groups in the United States. [unique_solution]Perhaps the reflection will consider the societal historical, attitudinal, structural or other factors that result in a higher probability that some groups will be relative “losers” in the American experience. Perhaps the reflection will consider how American social policy has evolved to reinforce the negative impact of the accident of birth for many residents of the United States. Perhaps the reflection will consider what the American political philosopher John Rawls argued regarding how public policy should account for life circumstances. Professor Rawls argued that public policy, including institutional arrangements, should be constructed under a set of assumptions that include that everyone, as the result of the accident of birth and other factors, can potentially experience equally awful outcomes. As a result, public policy should be designed such that everyone is assured of experiencing at least a minimal level of social welfare outcomes that would be acceptable to everyone if they had no knowledge of their future outcomes. Note that the assignment refers to “residents,” not “citizens.” The student is expected to examine this matter from the perspective of the social work profession, social work graduate level education, and the individual social worker. The reflection will be valued at 20 points or 20% of the total semester grade.
The reflection shall be prepared according to the following terms:
- The reflection shall be no less than 2 pages and no more than 5 pages in
length, with 1.5 spacing between lines.
- The reflection will be considered to be an academic work. As a result, it MUST
be carefully composed and include citations and a reference list according to
APA standards. Narrative construction, including accurate citations and
inclusion of a reference list, will be considered in the grade for each report.