Social Work Speaks Abstracts

Peace and Social Justice

Social justice is inherent in efforts to create a peaceful world, whether in our own families and neighborhoods or globally. The events of September 11 made clearer the relationship between unrest in other parts of the world and the safety of residents and citizens in this country. Responding to terrorism, especially against civilians and on our own shores, in ways that do not maim and kill is a tremendous challenge, but appears to be a vital step for establishing and maintaining peace. In spite of the challenges of terrorism, we need to reduce the use of violence in our language and as a solution to both domestic and international problems.

The welfare of all people and the balanced economic and social development of nations should be the goals of U.S. foreign policy. The United States needs to emphasize economic support rather than Western dominance in its foreign policy language and actions. The United States should ratify and support implementation of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that individuals have the right to a standard of living adequate for their well-being, and related U.N. treaties. A long-range goal should be reduction of military spending and diversion of the subsequent savings to social needs. Resentments inevitably are created by the wide discrepancies in basic needs such as food, shelter, and a livable wage.

At the same time, the United States should work peacefully for the abolition of nuclear testing by all nations and the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide, as well as elimination of chemical and biological warfare and weapons. In addition, full participation with such organizations such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and the World Court are critical first steps in reducing violence against innocent civilians. Rather than providing military shipments to other nations, the United States should decrease the numbers of refugees by providing economic and social assistance. Furthermore, the United States should support each country’s right to: political and economic self-determination, in compliance with international law and U.N. conventions on human rights; non-intervention; and control over its own natural resources. Whenever possible, the United States must foster cooperation in its foreign policy, rather than unilateral military action.

Domestically, the peace and justice agenda needs to include gun control legislation; stopping the illegal weapons trade; early and ongoing intervention through economic revitalization, education, and employment opportunities; and addressing the role of media and other institutions that glorify violence and weapons. Social justice has special meaning for women — who always have been a majority of both the social work profession and its clients — in a world in which education, the vote, work outside the home, and rights within marriage and the family are not assured for significant numbers of them. Thus, it is not surprising that members of this profession feel passionately about peace and social justice. The social worker’s activist tradition is the most powerful way to carry the message of peace and social justice and make it a reality.