Disadvantaged By Association

I find the concept of being “disadvantaged by association” to be highly accurate and interesting.  Groups of people who are disadvantaged by association can include family members of people with disabilities, family members of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender people, or white people who have a partner of color or children of color. (Adams, et al., 2010)  “People in these situations are “disadvantaged by association” and live a dual existence: having access to privilege and resources in some capacities due to their dominate status, but also being a target of discrimination and manifestations of oppression due to their family status.” (Adams, et al., 2010)

               I am the proud sister of an openly gay man.  I say proud, not because of his status of being a homosexual, but because he is an awesome man and adoring brother. Let me make this very clear, I am not ashamed or embarrassed by my brother’s sexuality.  I want people who are homophobic to realize, there is so much more to my brother, than the fact he is gay.

               My brother in numerous ways is my hero.  I was struggling with working full time as a pharmacy technician and being a full time Pre-Pharmacy/Pre-Med student, my brother made the decision to support me financially so I could quit my job and focus solely on school.  How many brothers do you know, that would make that type of financial commitment to his sister?  Keep in mind, I am in my thirties and have a house mortgage to pay, so the financial burden is much larger than it would be if I were younger. 

               Unfortunately as wonderful and generous as my brother is, I have certainly experienced discrimination due to his sexuality.  A few years back, I was a member of a large non-denominational church.  I had a very close group of friends at this church.  Once my brother moved to Bastrop and my group of church friends found out his sexuality.  I was no longer invited to parties, dinner, and other social events.  In fact many members of the group acted as if they did not know me at all.  The few people, who choose to remain my friend, also became excluded from this church group. 

Social Justice Only for Some

 

I read all four articles about social justice or rather the lack there of. While the articles made me think a great deal about certain populations, I will focus on the main points.  I came away with the overall concept of social justice being based on the concept every single individual should have the same opportunities, finances, freedoms, and rights. Clearly our society is far from being socially just. It is not difficult to find an individual who is being treated unjustly. The real problem is we as a society have very limited amount of resources. The current government works by allotting our limited resources to different special interest groups, who in turn provide services to the individuals the group deems worthy of receiving help. Our current of distribution is unjust in many ways. How can social workers help make distribution of resources more just? I honestly do not have an answer. The reality is regardless of how social workers attempt to make resources available for each individual within our society, it is virtually impossible. There will always be a group or a specific individual that falls through the cracks and does not receive help. I am not suggesting that we should just accept this, and choose not to work toward a more equal playing field for all. I am simply admitting that in looking at all of the prejudices different groups in our society hold, I do not know how social workers are to advocate for a more just system.