Respecting differences
Your role as a community services worker focuses on providing services that meet the needs of diverse people. To this end we will briefly look at the issues of social justice, using a non-judgmental approach and respecting differences.
Principles of social justice
Social justice principles are about making sure that everybody in society has a fair go and receives their share of whatever society has to offer. They are concerned with:
- equal distribution of economic resources
- equality of civil, legal and industrial rights
- equality of opportunity for participation and decision making in society
- fair and equal access to resources such as health, welfare, justice, housing and education.
The main principles to social justice are:
- access
- equity
- equality
- participation.
Access and equity are terms frequently used together and therefore are often seen as having the same meaning. They are, however, different concepts.
Access
Access is primarily concerned with ensuring that no matter what their circumstances, abilities or background, all people are able to find out about and use services in their community. Examples of this are ensuring buildings are wheelchair accessible, that information is available in a variety languages and support mechanisms in place to ensure access to information.
Equity
Equity is about providing additional services to ensure that people from disadvantaged groups have equal access to all that the community has to offer.
Equity is not the same as equal opportunity (equality) which is about making sure that people are not discriminated against and treated unfairly on the basis of difference. Equal opportunity focuses on everyone having an equal start, whilst equity focuses on participation and achievement to an equal level.
Equality
Equality is about ensuring access and equity will ensure equality (uniformity of equal terms for all). This means that all people are treated equally, no matter who they are, or what their background is.
Participation
Participation means that clients are given the opportunity to, and are actively supported in, having a say and being heard in decision making about policies and services that affect them. An example of this would be where a service implements a questionnaire to all clients to provide feedback on the service they are receiving.
There are some organisations that are specifically set up to be the voice for the people where their role is to lobby governments to ensure participation and a say in policy development. These organisations are called peak bodies or advocacy services.
Access and equity
It is important for us to understand the impact of powerlessness when working with people from diverse backgrounds. Some of the more established cultural groups in our communities have gained power through having networks and involvement in our society. Newer cultural groups have to negotiate unfamiliar territory and systems before then can even attempt to address some of the power issues they face in their new communities. As workers, our role is to empower our clients by helping them to express their issues and concerns with the society they are living in.
Part of empowering clients is to encourage them to participate in their own decision-making, as well as decision-making within organisations and in communities. Our work with people is governed by anti discrimination laws and legislation. This means that services are required to ensure that access and equity policies are adhered to.
Empowering clients means to promote the idea of participation. This means actively encouraging clients to have a say about the decisions in their lives as well as the way your organisation runs. It begins with clients understanding and stating their wants and needs. This might seem to be simple at first, but is in fact a process that requires skill and insight from the worker. Many times we do not know what our options are or understand our abilities. These issues might be further complicated by language or cultural barriers. It can be helpful for a client to have an advocate from their own cultural background when dealing with your organisation. It is also important for organisations to involve representatives from different cultural groups on their management committees and in service development plans.
Access means that all barriers of access must be removed so that people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, including Aboriginal people, or people who have disabilities and other marginalised groups, have access to mainstream services. This means that if a person has a language barrier to accessing certain information then an interpreter would be needed to assist with communication so that everyone can access the mainstream services they need.
Equity means that if mainstream services can’t meet the specific needs of certain groups in the community, then special services need to be set up to address these special needs. Certain groups in the community have been identified as people with special needs and, therefore, require certain services to address their needs.
The tasks of the worker in empowering clients and ensuring participation are to:
- assist the client to understand their situation from different perspectives (eg educate the client about the dominant values and beliefs and how they impact on their lives, and help them to understand their environment)
- assist clients to know their rights (eg for new immigrants)
- be aware of the resources and options available to clients (eg by networking, identifying culturally appropriate services and how to access them)
- assist clients to make informed decisions about their lives
- assist in developing clients’ skills in dealing with problems independently
- help clients to gain confidence (eg through learning new skills, understanding the system and knowing their rights in our society).
It is difficult enough to set goals and carry out the necessary tasks to complete goals in a culture you are familiar with and can adequately communicate in. It is much more difficult and complex to attempt making changes in a culture you are unfamiliar with. It is important for workers to actively involve clients in services, in their case plans and in decision-making that affects them. We can do this by ensuring that our services are responsive to people from diverse cultural backgrounds. We need to be aware of these aspects:
- What is the image of my service?
- What kinds of employment practices do we have? (Do we employ people from culturally diverse backgrounds, or who have familiarity in working with people from culturally diverse backgrounds?)
- Does my service include funding for interpreters and translators in its budget?
Legislation
Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 No 48 (NSW)Makes it illegal to treat people differently and unfairly based on their race, gender, sexual preference, marital status, age, physical or intellectual impairment or carer responsibilities.
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1996 (Commonwealth. No. 126, 1986) Allows The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission HREOC to investigate complaints under acts such as the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, Sex Discrimination Act 1992, and the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, as well as dealing with infringements of human rights. It states that people have a right to respect and dignity, assistance to become as self reliant as possible, education, training and work, family and social life and protection from discrimination. www.hreoc.gov.au/about_the_commission
Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Commonwealth. No 52, 1975)An Act relating to the elimination of racial and other discrimination.
Activity: Social justice
Think about some of the services in your local community. How do they rate in terms of the four principles of social justice — access, equity, equality, participation?
Valuing diversity
Valuing diversity means that differences between people and groups of people, including cultural background, where people live, disability, sexuality, religious beliefs and age, are respected, valued and incorporated into service provision.
Services, while being accessible to everyone, should also be provided in a way that is appropriate to the target group and is respectful of these differences.
Empowerment
This means assisting clients, groups and communities to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to take control of their own lives, stand up for their rights and advocate for their own needs. Empowerment enables people to have choice in their lives, speak out about their needs and make their own decisions.
Activity: Quick quiz 1
Activity: Quick quiz 2
Activity: Quick quiz 3
The concepts of social justice — access, equity, equality, participation valuing diversity, and empowerment are promoted by governments these days. Community organisations receiving government funding are often required to demonstrate how they will address these issues. You will often find these concepts mentioned in the aims and objectives statements developed by community organisations that form part of the information provided to the community about their service.
Non judgmental approach
This is one of the principles of ethical work practice that was articulated by Father Felix Biestek in his book, The Casework Relationship (1974).
Being non-judgemental means that we do not have the right to judge our clients or communities with which we work. There is an old Indigenous American saying ‘Never judge another man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins’ and as we cannot walk in another person’s shoes, we have no right to judge them. Often, when we do make judgements about people, it is on the basis of stereotyping and prejudices, and often result in disadvantage and disempowerment. It would be nice to say ‘Oh no, I wont do that!’ but the reality is, that for whatever reason, there will be times when you will make judgments. It is more effective to develop the self awareness to know what your prejudices are and work out strategies for recognising and dealing with them.
Activity: Working with judgment
In this activity you are asked to reflect on a series of questions. What is important is your ability to be honest with yourself, be prepared to acknowledge and accept the areas you need to work on, and to develop strategies to do this.
While you study, it is helpful to keep a journal (or diary) in which you record your learning journey, e.g. identifying times when you make judgments, exploring why this may have happened, what the history of this judgment is and why it happens for you. Also include strategies you use to challenge your behaviour and attitudes, and what the outcomes are. Remember, this is your own personal journey and no one need ever see it (unless you choose to share it). It is a great tool to use to be able to look back and remember your learning journey and how far you came.
Make notes in your personal journal or diary that reflect on these questions:
- What happens to you physically when you judge someone, or come into contact with someone you don’t feel comfortable with?
- What do you feel?
- Where does this feeling come from?
- How is this feeling reflected in your communications with people belonging to this group?
- What about your non verbal signals?
- Are you able to recognise the events or situation?
- Are you stereotyping a group of people on the basis of one or two experiences?
- What impact do your judgments have on your relationships with members of that group?
- What impact could your views have on your workplace relationships?
- Are you basing your judgments on biased or unproven information?
- Are you prepared to challenge these judgments? If not, why not?
- What steps could you take to find other information about the client or client group that you are judging? (Eg this may include doing further reading or speaking with organisations that work with the group to gain further understanding of their needs.)
- What was the outcome of this process?
 These are the sorts of questions that you can ask yourself as part of the process of recognising and working with your prejudices. It is important that as community service workers we take these steps. Our clients have often experienced discrimination, harassment and prejudice as a result of factors in their lives, which may include their age, ethnicity, cultural backgrounds, gender, disability or sexual preference, as well as their personal problems. Asking for help, for many, may have been a difficult process and, often, a last resort. We live in a society where there is an expectation that we are able to look after ourselves (with some family assistance). For some, however, this is an unrealistic expectation and for many family help is not available. So having sought help, the last thing a client needs to feel is that they have once again been judged.
Being able to be non judgmental is important and it is a skill that needs to be worked on. It is also something that we need to constantly evaluate throughout our working lives in the community services sector by maintaining our awareness, being honest with ourselves and being prepared to change.
Respecting differences
Current government policy at both state and Federal levels clearly articulates the need for service provision to be focused in a way that recognises that our society is made up of a whole range of groups that have differing needs. If we genuinely want to meet these needs then we have to develop appropriate strategies, and the strategies developed for one group may not meet the needs of another group. The most effective way of doing this is to consult with the various groups and work with them to develop strategies.
In both the NSW Government Plan of Action and the National Drug Strategic Framework a number of groups have been identified as having specific needs. These include:
- young people
- families
- people from culturally diverse backgrounds
- those with mental health/AOD problems
- indigenous groups
- those experiencing chronic pain
- rural and remote communities
- offenders/prisoners
- disadvantaged communities.
Therefore, it is important that as a worker you take into account the needs of these groups, as appropriate to your organisation. This means not only looking at what your service offers, but barriers that may exist in your service that could prevent these groups from accessing your service. Often funding for services will be directly linked to meeting outcomes relating to these groups. Therefore, it is an essential aspect of an organisation’s planning, delivery and evaluation processes.
Regardless of who the client or the client group is, regardless of their behaviour and values, the person/group you are working with deserves to be treated with respect and dignity—they too are human beings. If you respect your clients they will, through feeling valued, be given the best conditions to grow and maximise their chances in life.
If you judge your clients, discriminate and try to impose your moral value system onto them, you are more likely to make them feel worthless and disempowered. They are also likely to reject you and the growth and positive regard that you may have shared together.
If, however, you are able to accept your clients are worthy of being treated with respect (regardless of their behaviour) then you may well find over time that they are better able to be honest with themselves, challenge what they perceive needs to be changed in themselves and their situation, and grow.
Non-discriminatory approaches to work
When dealing with clients you should take the following issues into consideration:
- Personal prejudice may affect your relationships and disadvantage the individuals concerned.
- Resources may not be available for certain groups or may not be appropriate for their needs. For example, very few rehabilitation centres cater for the needs of women with children or for the cultural needs of migrants.
- There may be a stronger emphasis on a certain type of approach according to the prevailing prejudice towards a particular group (for example, Aboriginal people are more likely to end up in prison for drunkenness than non-Aboriginal people).
Being disadvantaged within a society is usually coupled with the society’s lack of recognition of this disadvantage. Individuals not only suffer disadvantage through lack of access to resources, but they internalise the implicit values held by the power structure: that some people are more valuable to the community than others.
Often disadvantage occurs either as a result of discrimination, or can lead to discrimination. Discrimination may be defined as treating someone unfairly because they belong to a particular group (Office of the Director of Equal Opportunity in Public Employment, 1997).
Two general types of discrimination are direct and indirect discrimination. Direct discrimination is easy to see since it is clearly unfair (eg refusing to employ a person who has children).
Indirect discrimination is harder to see. It results form having a rule or situation that is the same for everyone, but this makes it unfair for some groups of people (eg to require everyone doing a certain job to be above a certain height, even though this is not necessary to perform the job role).
It is also important to understand that some discrimination, while it is unfair, is reasonable. This may be for reasons of public or personal safety.
Activity: Reasonable or unreasonable discrimination?
- Not to issue a driver’s licence to a person who is blind.
- Not to modify a training course to meet the needs of a learner with an intellectual disability.
- To refuse an adult with cerebral palsy access to a brothel.
Discrimination is against the law in Australia. It is illegal to discriminate in relation to a person’s sex, marital status, race, religion, age, sexual orientation, transgender or disability.
As a worker you must ensure that you demonstrate a non-discriminatory approach to your work—in relation to both clients and other workers, both within your agency and in other organisations. If you practise discrimination then a complaint may be filed against you with organisations such as the NSW Anti Discrimination Board, or at a Federal level The Australian Human Rights Commission, who have the authority to hear and deal with these matters. Both these organisations have websites that can provide you with additional information about these issues:
Australian Human Rights Commission: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/
Anti Discrimination Board: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/ADB
The video Working on Rights (produced by the Redfern Legal Centre) gives an excellent summary of discrimination and what can be done to counter it. This video is available through the TAFE library system or through the State Library of NSW. To borrow material form the State Library you will need to go to your local library and ask them to apply for it on inter-library loan. Your library may charge you a small fee for this service.
Regardless of who the client or the client group is, regardless of their behaviour and values, the person/group you are working with deserves to be treated with respect and dignity—they too are human beings. If you respect your clients they will, through feeling valued, be given the
If you judge your clients, discriminate and try to impose your moral value system onto them, you are more likely to make them feel worthless and disempowered. They are also likely to reject you and the growth and positive regard that you may have shared together.
Respecting differences is about recognising that your way, your culture, your beliefs are not the only ones. In the eyes of some of your clients, you may have had a privileged life, free from discrimination, constant barriers and stereotyping, so it is important that you acknowledge their ways, their cultures and their beliefs as being just as important as anyone else’s.
If you are working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people it is important that you have an understanding of their experiences historically in relation to support from the white community. You need to understand their culture and how you can work with them, not how they can work with you. Spend time getting to know about their culture and experiences by either talking to an Aboriginal community leader, liaison officer or Aboriginal Development Unit as well as doing research in your local library and/or on the Internet.
Helpful websites include:
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies: http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/Social_Justice/index.html
Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health: http://www.health.gov.au/oatsih
Activity: Respecting differences
Case study 1: Muriel and Armando
Armando is gay and he would like his personal care attendant, Muriel, to drive him to a local gay bar. Muriel tells Armando that he will grow out of being gay and that he just needs to find a nice girl. She then takes him to a local heterosexual disco.
Case study 2: Barry and Petrina
Petrina is Jewish and does not celebrate Christmas. She lives in a group home with two other young adults with a physical disability who are Christians. Petrina asks that they also celebrate Hanukah.
Her support worker, Barry, spends time with Petrina finding out the different Jewish activities she would like to participate in and also spends time researching on the Internet everything he can about Jewish celebrations.
Together they do a presentation to the other residents and as a group decide how they will celebrate both holidays.
Case study 3: Wendy and Marianna
Wendy is providing Marianna with job skills training and they spend the entire work day together. Marianna is Lebanese and her mother always packs her traditional Lebanese meals for her lunch. Wendy says to Marianna, ‘so what wog food are you going to stink us out with today?’
Case study 4: Dana and Gary
Dana is an outreach community support worker in rural NSW. She visits some of the Aboriginal communities as part of her role. She notices that one of her Aboriginal clients, Gary, has a bad case of the flu and asks his mother if she can take him to the doctor in town. The client’s mother says, ‘No, our community doctor is taking care of him’.
Dana ignores the mother and takes the client to see her own doctor.
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