Students will select a social justice-related treatment topic (e.g. socioeconomic barriers to treatment) and write a paper integrating theory, research, and practice regarding a socially just treatment approach regarding that topic. In addition to describing how social justice can effectively be reflected in treatment plans and interventions at the micro (interpersonal, family) level, students will describe how meso (school, workplace) and macro (broader culture) interventions can be developed to sustain and support therapeutic gains at a micro level. In writing their papers, students will interview a counseling psychologist who is actively implementing social justice in a treatment context in order to acquire a more complete perspective. They will then describe that psychologist’s perspective, and their own reactions to it, in their paper.
You can write that I interviewed Rev. Brendan McLoughlin PhD psychologist from Dover, NJ who is Catholic priest I know him very well and he is counseling psychologist – like I would like to be.
He always have time for people; helping immigrants, showing compassion etc…
12 pages
Format APA
Topic 2:
2. Students will complete a thorough review of one social justice organization (…..), detailing the mission, services offered, and populations served by the organization. Describe the importance of the social justice addressed by this organization and what need gave rise to its formation. Discuss the ways in which the organization evaluates itself and evaluates its service outcomes. Include in this paper your reasons for choosing this particular issue and organization, what you have learned about the importance of social justice and advocacy as of your work, and how you intend to implement social justice themes in your professional work.
12 pages
Format APA
I would like you to write about Catholic Charites of Diocese of Paterson
https://www.catholicharities.org/
https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/sharing-catholic-social-teaching-challenges-and-directions.cfm
https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/vatican-statements-on-social-justice.cfm
!!!!!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rerum_novarum Leo XIII
Health Approximately 47 million Americans are currently without health care, and many others are underinsured. This statistic is unacceptable, as the Catholic Church believes that health care is a basic human right, and is a matter of life. Every person, no matter their economic status, race, ethnicity, or any other sometimes divisive factors, deserves affordable health care.
The Catholic Church applauds the efforts of the federal government to pass a health care bill that offers affordable health care, and will continue to encourage legislation and implementation that is amenable to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church.
Do you want more information?
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Human Trafficking Today, over 27 million people are enslaved globally. There are more slaves now than ever in recorded history. The U.S. State Department estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 men, women, and children are trafficked across international borders each year. Of this number, approximately 14,500 to 17,500 of them are trafficked into the U.S. annually; one-third of foreign-born trafficking victims are children. In the last several years, many Oklahoman children and women have been rescued from forced prostitution, and many workers who had been lured to the United States by unscrupulous business practices, have been freed from forced labor exploitation, which amounts to nothing less than modern day human slavery.
In a 2009 Palm Sunday address, Pope Benedict XVI called for rgent international action to halt human trafficking. Pope John Paul II described human trafficking as “a shocking offense against human dignity and a grave violation of fundamental human rights.” Additionally, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops condemns human trafficking as “a horrific crime against the dignity and rights of the human person” and is committed to working with the government “to end this scourge.”
Do you want more information?
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Oklahomans Against the Trafficking of Humans
Trafficking In Persons Report 2012
Migrants and Refugees Migrants and refugees are among the most vulnerable in the population, due to the circumstances that bring them to emigrate and their unfamiliarity with their new host country, including its language, culture, and customs. Migrants and refugees do not emigrate for frivolous reason, but count political or religious persecution and economic hardship among the reasons for leaving. Some are even forced to flee their native countries.
Therefore, the Migration and Refugee Services of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops commits to welcoming every person as if he/she were Christ himself through the following methods:
• Assisting the bishops in the development and advocacy of policy positions at the national and international levels that address the needs and conditions of these populations.
• Engaging in educational efforts designed to influence public, particularly Catholic, attitudes toward these populations and to create a welcoming and supportive Church in the United States.
• Anticipating, providing, and arranging critical services to these populations in collaboration with government, Catholic partners, and other allied organizations.
Do you want more information?
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The Spero Project
Poverty In 2008, the rate of poverty in the United States was 13.2%, roughly 39.8 million people, and is likely higher today. Additionally, because this definition of poverty is still startlingly low, the rate of poverty is much higher if considering a dignified standard of living. Even though 2009 Census data states that the poverty threshold for a family of four with two children is $21,834, most Americans believe that at least $35,000 is needed annually to sustain a family of four.
The Catholic Church believes, “All economic life should be shaped by moral principles. Choices and institutions must be judged by how they protect or undermine the life and dignity of the human person, support the family, and serve the common good.” Therefore, we seek sustainable solutions to permanently reduce the level of poverty.
Do you want more information?
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops – Poverty USA
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops – Economic Life
Economic Justice The tradition of the Catholic Church is one that advocates economic justice, using one’s moral principles as a foundation for such justice. It does not advocate “wealth redistribution.” Rather, the Catholic Framework for Economic Life offers ten principles to guide one’s economic activity. These principles include:
• The economy exists for the person, not the person for the economy.
• Economic choices and institutions must be judged by how they protect or undermine the life and dignity of the human person, support the family, and serve the common good.
• A fundamental moral measure of any economy is how the poor and vulnerable are faring.
• All people have a right to life and to secure the basic necessities of life.
• All people have the right to economic initiative, to productive work, to just wages and benefits, to decent working conditions, as well as to organize and join unions or other associations.
• All people, to the extent that they are able, have a corresponding duty to work, a responsibility to provide for the needs of their families, and an obligation to contribute to broader society.
• In economic life, free markets have both clear advantages and limits; government has essential responsibilities and limitations; voluntary groups have irreplaceable roles, but cannot substitute for the proper working of the market and just policies of the state.
• Society has a moral obligation, including governmental action where necessary, to assure opportunity, meet basic human needs, and pursue justice in economic life.
• Workers, owners, managers, stockholders, and consumers are moral agents in economic life. By our choices, initiative, creativity, and investment, we enhance or diminish economic opportunity, community life, and social justice.
• The global economy has moral dimensions and human consequences. Decisions on investment, trade, aid, and development should protect human life and promote human rights, especially for those most in need, wherever they might live on this globe.
Do you want more information?
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Housing Various facets of housing are a critical issue. Some estimates state that in a given year 35 million people will be homeless at some point. Additionally, some people pay disproportionate amounts of their income to rent (sometimes up to half of their income), or have inadequate housing.
In a letter to the United States House of Representatives in 2007, Bishop DiMarzio of Brooklyn stated, “From our pastoral experience in poor communities, from the work of diocese in poor neighborhoods, and the efforts of our parishes with poor people, we know that homelessness and inadequate housing destroy lives, undermine family life, hurt communities, and weaken the social fabric of our nation. The tragic reality of so many people without decent housing is a sign of serious social neglect and moral failure.”
Do you want more information?
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
National Coalition for the Homeless
Labor In his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI states that decent work means “work that expresses the central dignity of every man and woman in the context of their particular society: work that is freely chosen, effectively associating workers, both men and women, with the development of their community; work that enables the worker to be respected and free from any form of discrimination; work that makes it possible for families to meet their needs and provide schooling for children, without the children themselves being forced into labor; work that permits the workers to organize themselves freely, and to make their voices heard; work that leaves enough room for re-discovering one’s roots at a personal, familial and spiritual level; work that guarantees those who have retired a decent standard of living.”
Because of these tenants, we support legislation and other solutions that advance these facets of decent labor.
Do you want more information?
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Abortion 1.29 million abortions took place in the United States in 2002, and the U.S. has one of the highest abortion rates among developed countries throughout the world. Women cite reasons such as being unmarried, being unable to afford a baby, and concern that the baby would interfere with their education, job, or career, as reasons to have an abortion. These decisions are not easy, but the Church acts as a guide during such difficult circumstances.
The Catholic Church’s position on abortion can be understood through the doctrine of Catholic Social Teaching: life and dignity of the human person, and option for the vulnerable. We work to preserve life from conception to natural death.
Do you want more information?
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The Second Look Project
Adoption is the option
Capital Punishment In the period from 1976 through the first weeks of 2010, 1,193 people were executed in the United States. Economically, capital punishment cases can cost more in the long-term than life in prison cases. Additionally, there is much concern regarding the tendency of death row inmates to be poor or a minority; over 90% of persons on death row could not afford their own attorney, and minorities constitute a disproportionate share of death row inmates. Instances of wrongful conviction are another cause for concern.
The Catholic Church cherishes the inherent dignity of victims and offenders. Because life should be respected from conception to natural death, capital punishment is a violation of the gift of life that all people possess. According to a statement made by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2005, “Ending the death penalty would be one important step away from a culture of death and toward building a culture of life.”
Do you want more information?
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty
Death Penalty Campaign PDF
Embryo and Fetal Research The issue of embryo and fetal research can best be described by Pope Benedict XVI in a 2008 address:
“The two fundamental criteria for moral discernment in this field are: a) unconditional respect for the human being as a person from conception to natural death; b) respect for the originality of the transmission of human life through the acts proper to spouses… When human beings, in the weakest and most defenseless stage of their lives are selected, abandoned, killed or used as mere ‘biological material,’ how can it be denied that they are no longer being treated as ‘someone’ but rather as ‘something,’ hence, calling into question the very concept of human dignity?”
“Of course, the Church appreciates and encourages the progress of the biomedical sciences which open up unprecedented therapeutic prospects, for example, the use of somatic stem cells, or treatment that aims to restore fertility or cure genetic diseases. At the same time, the Church feels duty-bound to enlighten all consciences to the only authentic progress, namely, that scientific progress truly respects every human being, whose personal dignity must be recognized since he is created in the image of God.”
Do you want more information?
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Human Cloning
Stem Cell Research
End of Life Issues The mission of the Commission for Justice and Human Development is to educate and motivate individuals, parishes, and other Catholic institutions to be responsive to unmet social needs and unjust social conditions, and to promote the understanding and practice of the principals of Catholic Social Teaching. As a commission, we pray and work in solidarity with those who await the coming of the Kingdom. The Commission serves as the Archdiocesan Committee for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The Commission promotes the annual collection and administers the portion of the annual collection given for Archdiocesan use.
The Commission is a voluntary group that works with Catholic Charities through the Director of Social Action and the Chairperson’s membership on Catholic Charities Board, with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and with the Council of Priests. The group works in collaboration with existing coalitions and efforts to emphasize “option for the poor” by pursuing issues which address the dignity and rights of people who are socially, politically or economically disadvantaged. They support issues that address the sanctity of life from conception to natural death.
The work is directed to maximize opportunities to assist and work with parishes, organizations, coalitions and neighborhood groups to promote our common interests.
Priority is given to strategies that enable people to realize and act on their own power.
Do you want more information?
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops