Sowk 331 Critical Reflection Paper 1

Critical Reflection Paper
Nevaeh Kuhl
SOWK 331: Diversity and Social Justice in Contemporary Society
University of South Carolina
November 27, 2022
Introduction
This class and our readings have taught me so much over the semester. I have learned
how important it is to understand your own and others' cultural identities. When I first found out
I had to take this class, I giggled. I thought that everyone in society had a basic idea of diversity
and why it is an important thing to understand, but I learned from this class I was wrong. If
people understood diversity better, would rates of oppression and marginalization go down? “We
believe that learning about the specific legacies and historical trajectories of different groups is
critical for understanding the specific ways different fonns of oppression operate,” (Adams,
2018). There are hundreds of questions I could ask and when I do have questions, I always try
my best to ask them. All semester I had to challenge myself to be open minded of other people's
beliefs and values. As a social worker, it is important to understand your own values and others.
Understanding your beliefs and values and your culture helps you figure out what you can do as
a social worker and what area of social work is right for you. I am a person who always feels
insecure and has anxiety all the time. However, this semester taught me that I have a voice and
I'm very strong minded of my opinions.
Questions
One of the main questions I had this semester was, why is diversity an important thing to
understand as a social worker? Diversity is an important thing to understand as a social worker

so you will be able to understand a client's background and be able to respect a client’s
background, beliefs, and values. Another question I had was, why does this class seem so
opinionated? The answer to this question is because it is opinionated. Anybody can give the
dictionary definition of diversity, inclusion or oppression. However, do you really believe we all
incorporate those actions/words in our lives the same way every day? Someone can say they
incorporate males, females, asexual, and transgender people in their work community and say
they are a diverse place, but they refuse to hire any Muslims, Hispanics, or black people. Would
you consider that a diverse community? The answer seems unknown and would only be a matter
of opinion.
Implications
The main implication for social work practice is fighting for access to resources. No
matter what negative experiences I always try to push those experiences, so it won’t affect my
learning process for social work. However, my experiences have helped me have a better
understanding of certain things we have learned. I was nine years old, and I used to get beat in
bathroom stalls and at recess. I would come home with black eyes, bloody noses, cuts and burns
all over me. I was treated differently because of my disability and because of my disability and
the medications, I was always too weak to fight back. I had to deal with traumatizing experiences
because of an identity I have. I was just a kid when that happened, and of course I didn't see
myself as an oppressed person, but clearly, I was. My disability returned when I was 19 years old
and my whole entire world turned upside down. Even I am an oppressed disabled woman, being
part of an oppressed group lets me have an easier time understanding other people's oppression.
With me also being a bisexual woman, some of my reactions were less ethical and more
personal. I feel like I have an easier time being a woman that's bisexual rather than being a man
that’s bisexual. However, I still have received a lot of hatred and negative comments because of
my love interests. Me being bisexual helps me be more open minded as a social worker. It helps
me understand the feelings of hurt and judgment that other people must go through.
Illuminating Issues
The issue I decided to write about is sexism. The dictionary definition of sexism is
“Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender.” Also, sexism can affect
anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls. Sexism creates a power in our society, it creates
a power system. Women all over the world deal with marginalization in just about every major
social institution (Adams, 2018). Sexism is where someone is looked down upon or are treated
differently just because of their body parts. When we learned this section during class and when I
read the book, I was disappointed that sexism and heterosexism were the same chapter. Before
this class, I always called it homophobia but now it's heterosexism. Being gay and being a
woman are not the same thing, yet it’s the same chapter. I have dealt with sexism and
‘homophobia’ and the experiences were not even close to the same.
Rethinking Old Ideas
The readings and our class discussions have made me rethink problems in our society.
Learning about classism, sexism, racism, heterosexism, and ageism challenged me to see other
people’s perspectives. I really thought I was a person who accepted everyone, but I found out I
was wrong. I found out that I am agist and I look down upon many religious views. I used to
believe that Christians, men, straight people, middle class people, and white people were
privileged. When I took this class and read the book, those groups may be the privileged groups
of society but because of their “privileges” they are looked down upon by society just like the
oppressed. The privileged look down upon the oppressed, and the oppressed look down upon the
privileged. “People in both marginalized and advantaged groups are dehumanized by
oppression,” (Adams, 2018). This semester we learned about patriarchy while we were talking
about sexism, but why did we not talk about matriarchy? This made me realize that when I
become a social worker, there will always be privileged and oppressed, but as a social worker
you must be ready to help both and understand the problems of both. Even though one might
have a harder time than the other, your job is to help all even if they are male, female, gay,
straight, Chistian, Muslim, upper class, or even lower class.
Fazit
This class and our readings have taught me so much over the semester. I have learned
how important it is to understand your own and others' cultural identities. One of the main
questions I had this semester was, why is diversity an important thing to understand as a social
worker? Diversity is an important thing to understand as a social worker so you will be able to
understand a client's background and be able to respect a client’s background, beliefs, and
values. I had rough experiences as a child and had to deal with extreme bullying that led to
oppression. I have had to deal with many horrifying experiences because of who I am, and so
have others. I wrote about sexism and heterosexism because those are things, I deal with all the
time. The readings and our class discussions have made me rethink about problems in our
society. I really thought I was a person who accepted everyone, but I found out I was wrong.
This made me realize that when I become a social worker, there will always be privileged and
oppressed, but as a social worker you must be ready to help both and understand the problems of
both.
References
· Adams, M., Blumenfeld, W., Catalano, D., DeJong, K., Hackman, H., Hopkins, L., Love, B.,
Peters, M., Shlasko, D., & Zúñiga, X. (2018). Readings for diversity and social justice, 4 rd
Ed. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis.

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Critical Reflection Paper

SOWK 331: Diversity and Social Justice in Contemporary Society

University of South Carolina

November 27, 2022

I'm very strong minded of my opinions.

understand as a social worker? Diversity is an important thing to understand as a social worker

Rethinking Old Ideas

privileged. “People in both marginalized and advantaged groups are dehumanized by

straight, Chistian, Muslim, upper class, or even lower class.

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