Social Work: Policy Practice with International Social Welfare

Discussion for a Social Work Class
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Discussion for a Social Work Class
Reflection
My social work specialization during this academic year will be Policy Practice with International Social Welfare. I have gained significantly through sharing with peers and gaining skills that I will find relevant during my practice as a social worker.
I learned about an important development that identity politics has made in the lives of women, people of color, and lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) in modern society. Reading the work of Crenshaw (1991), I have understood the historical struggles of this special group of minorities who did not have the strength to share their experiences in public. For instance, political identity has transformed the way society understands gender-based violence such as rape and battering that were once considered to be errant sexual aggression. Sometimes, women could not share their suffering in public because such actions were known to be private. In “Mapping the Margins”, Crenshaw argues that identity-based politics has served as the engine that propels intellectual and community development among the minority (Crenshaw, 1991). This form of politics resulted in Crenshaw coining the term “intersectionality” that has been misunderstood as a form of feminism and places the minority on top. However, the author described a concept to show how class, gender, race, and other characteristics can overlap and intersect with one another. In the 2017 Women’s March, many women regardless of class and race displayed intersectionality to show how issues of human rights and social justice cut across all divides (Coaston, 2019). This is an important concept I have learned and will use during my social work career.
I had an opportunity to take online studies and develop my social work skills for undertaking policy advocacy, analysis, and research. While it seemed to be challenging at first, I realized that the approach strengthened my skills as an independent student that could take up responsibilities without...