Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002 An Introduction to Human Services: Policy and Practice Worker Bias in the Helping Relationship §This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; Any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002 Preferences §Workers bring their own preferences and biases to the helping relationship. §Some are not barriers to helping; others are. §Biases about social class, ethnicity, reproductive rights, disabilities, gender, and age can affect the helping relationship.

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002 Effects of Bias §Biases not only affect one-on-one relationships; they also affect social policy. §Attitudes toward affirmative action are affected by bias. §Proponents of affirmative action believe that it is needed to help remedy the discrimination that African-Americans have faced since slavery, and to remedy the discrimination that women have faced historically because of sexism.

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002 Effects of Bias §Opponents argue that African-Americans and women no longer need special treatment and race or gender should not be a factor in hiring or college admission.

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002 Reparations for Slavery §Some people believe that the descendants of African-American slaves should be paid reparations for the exploitation of slave labor. §This might be done in the form of a fund to pay for education and jobs. §Others believe reparations would be divisive, pitting whites against blacks, and would be unrealistic to administer.

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002 International Reparations §Proponents of reparations cite as precedents the German government’s payments to survivors of the Holocaust, and the U.S. government’s payment to survivors of Japanese-American World War II internment camps. §Opponents argue that these reparations were made to the people who were directly affected by the oppression while no living person was directly affected by slavery.

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002 American Reparations §In the present climate of economic recession, it is not likely that Congress will grant reparations to African-Americans.

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002 Class-based Values §A large proportion of agency clientele are poor, and the social class of workers generally ranges from lower to upper middle class. §Sometimes workers impose their class-based values on their poorer clients. §A study of adoption workers showed that middle- class workers selected adoptive parents who were “shockingly similar” to themselves.

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002 Equality §All contemporary cultures are patriarchal to some extent, giving males more decision-making power and importance than females. §Feminists challenge this arrangement, struggling for an equal sharing of power in all spheres of life. §The women’s movement created new social services such as battered women’s shelters and rape crisis counseling.