Critical Reflection on the Human Rights Lens Scale It was a reflective experience to take the Human Rights Lens in Soc

Critical Reflection on the Human Rights Lens Scale

It was a reflective experience to take the Human Rights Lens in Social Work (HRLSW) Scale as developed by McPherson, Siebert, and Seibert (2017). The questions made me think how far I bring the way I conceive social problems into a rights-based approach. The majority of the declarations such as the ones which referred to the human rights as either access to healthcare or housing still echoed with me and what I had heard concerning social justice. Nevertheless, other items appeared to presuppose the agreement with the rights-oriented point of view, and this could influence answers.

Discussing the scale with a family member, we found that there were certain differences in the interpretation. Although I perceived most social matters as human right matters, my family member believed that not all social and economic matters ought to be termed as violation of rights. Through this discussion, it was revealed that personal values and education influence the attitude towards human rights. It also showed that the scale might not be fully responsive to subtle or culturally different conceptualizations of what is assumed to be a right.

I think that several questions can be brought up or that one can reword them and include additional human rights issues such as environmental justice or cultural inclusion. The existing scale is much more concerned with social and economic rights, but the contemporary social work is also intertwined with ecological and participatory rights. The questions related to empowerment and client voice may be added to make it more comprehensive.

The human right lenses are quite a useful social work tool because it empowers the practitioners to look beyond the immediate needs of structural inequalities. It does not oppose the role of the profession in promoting dignity, equality and social justice. This lens can be used to achieve the activation of ethical decision making, advocacy and program development nature in a way that will leave a challenge to systemic oppression.

I agree with McPherson and others that a rights-based approach may be able to inform goal-setting and action-planning therewith. Placing the needs of clients as rights will encourage social workers to strive to produce long-term change and policy changes rather than short-term ones only. Collaborating with one of my relatives, I came to a conclusion that, despite the difficulty of this approach, it offers social work in the moral and professional pilot, the idea which is founded on the concepts of justice and responsibility. 

Reference

McPherson, J., Siebert, D. C., & Seibert, C. (2017). Measuring rights-based perspectives: A validation of the Human Rights Lens in Social Work scale. Journal of Social Work Education, 53(3), 451–463. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2016.1272510