Policy Foundations – Understanding Visions of Social Justice, Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Getting Started

Justice and social justice are foundational ideas undergirding the social work profession, affecting its vision for policy, and informing its theories, interventions, and advocacy efforts. Therefore, developing a clear understanding of social justice and its terminology and related ideas are vital to social work practice.

In this assignment, you will review a chart of terminology and definitions related to justice and social justice including antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI). You will also read about the theory of Antiracism and a critique of the theory. You will also review a glossary of current terms and definitions related to social justice and ADEI and explore the meaning and importance of epistemology in understanding these ideas. You will then write a reflection paper identifying and explaining your perspective on important ideas related to the vision and definitions of social justice explored in the material.

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

• Recall and recognize social justice concepts.
• Evaluate and critique social justice theories.
• Apply social justice concepts to social work practice.

Background Information

To better understand views of justice and social justice affecting social work theory and practice today, you will read several documents located in the course tools folder and obtained through library services regarding important terms and epistemological understandings. After you have reviewed these documents, you will complete a 3-4-page APA formatted reflection paper.

Keep in mind the definition of Epistemology as you read through the comparison grid.

Epistemology (Oxford English Dictionary) 

• The theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.

Epistemology (Dictionary(new tab)) 

• Noun – a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge.

Epistemology (Merriam-Webster(new tab))

• the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. Read the following course resources located in the course tools folder:
   1. Comparison Chart of Social Justice Ideas and Terms(PDF document) (focus specifically on origins, problem, evil, solution, and areas of the chart related to justice, social justice, equity, equality, inclusion, racism, and antiracism)
   2. Glossary of ADEI Terms(Word document)
   3. Understanding Epistemology(Word document)
3. Read Chapter 4, Why Antiracism Fails in Beyond Racial Division(new tab) (Yancey, 2022).
4. Based on your reading of the assignment material, write a 3-4-page APA-style paper responding to the prompts below. Your paper should include proper grammar, APA formatting, style, citations, and references, as well as an introductory paragraph with a thesis statement, body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.
   1. Define epistemology and explain its importance to one’s worldview and definition of social justice terms such as antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Describe your overall understanding of the differences that you see in the epistemological assumptions of a historic Judeo-Christian worldview and that of modern social justice theories and ideas in these areas and how they affect the terminology and visions of justice represented. How are these differences related to their understanding of truth, what it is, and where it comes from?
   2. Based on the readings and course material provided, identify and describe 2-3 themes you see in the Judeo-Christian view of the world and the vision they represent regarding issues of justice.
   3. Based on the readings and course material provided, identify and describe 2-3 themes you see in the Critical Social Theories and Justice view and understanding of the world and the vision they represent for issues of justice.
   4. Based on the worldview areas of Problem, Evil, and Solution indicated on the comparison chart, provide a summary of at least two differences you see between the worldviews in their definitions, understandings, and approaches. Discuss how your approach to a specific issue would be impacted if you believed one of these visions of truth and the world versus the other.
   5. Explain your thoughts and the insights you gained overall from the reading and information provided in the resources for this week. Identify one or two ways the material can help you think more critically and effectively about issues of social justice, including ideas such as antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion, as you engage with these ideas in social work.
5. Before finalizing your work, ensure that you:
   1. Have followed the assignment instructions carefully.
   2. Use the computer’s spelling and grammar check.
   3. Your writing incorporates concepts and demonstrates your understanding of the resources required for the assignment (journals, videos, texts, etc.) and follows all conventions of academic writing, including the use of essay-style paragraphs (topic sentence, supporting sentences, and summary or final statement), proper grammar, correct use of spelling and punctuation, well-written introductory and concluding paragraphs and use of currently required APA writing standards including format (use of cover page, proper headings, page numbers, indented paragraphs, double spacing throughout, one-inch margins, same font throughout, reference page) and APA style including proper use of in-text citations, concise language, paraphrasing and active voice in the first or third person.
6. When you have completed your assignment, save a copy for yourself and submit a copy to your instructor using the Assignment submission page by the end of the workshop.