Issues of Discrimination and Harassment

 

There are many issues of discrimination and harassment in the work place. A person can be discriminated or harassed because of their race, religion, ethnicity, economic status, gender, age, sexual orientation, or physical ability. Most organizations have policies on employee’s refraining from any sort of discrimination and harassment. The NASW code of ethics states, “Social workers should not practice, condone, facilitate, or collaborate with any form of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, color sex sexual orientation, age, marital status, political belief, religion, or mental or physical disability” (Manning, 2003, p.295-6). Statement 17 of the Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals is very similar to the NASW code of ethics.

Discrimination and harassment still exist in the workplace. According to Conrad (2012) the findings indicated that, “ 1) women who worked in medical units with a larger percentage of men reported more gender harassment; 2) women who had a male supervisor reported less organizational support; and 3) women who worked in an organization with a male head reported more gender discrimination. ”However, the report goes on to explain that “gender composition was unrelated to any of the outcome measures” for men (p. 1661). Men were not experiencing harassment or discrimination according to this study.

            I feel that it is important for the leaders to promote a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment. They can do this by setting an example of what behavior is appropriate, and they can provide training and assistance to stop (put an end to) behaviors that are inappropriate.

References

Council for Standards in Human Service Education adopted 1996. Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals. Retrieved September 4, 2012, from http://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-standards-for-hs-professionals.

Manning, Susan. (2003). Ethical Leadership in Human Services: A Multi-Dimensional Approach. Pearson, Allyn and Beacon, New York.