Equality’ and Diversity Sociological Issues Essay

In the public sector, discriminatory practices include any deeds that segregate the quality of public goods such as healthcare and education depending on characteristics like ethnicity, race, sexuality, disability, gender, age, and nationality among others. Private sector may also explore discriminatory practices.

For example, a fast-food organisation explores discriminatory practices if it offers different and/or separate eating areas for people who come from different racial backgrounds. Such an organisation can also offer different qualities of foods and services to such people. This situation suggests that anti-discriminatory practices uphold equality, diversity, and rights of all people amid their demographic and psychographic differences.

Equality refers to the state of affairs in which people in a society or even isolated groups of people possess a similar status. Social equality upholds equal rights as stipulated by the law on property rights, freedom of speech, equal access to public social goods and public services, assembly rights, and voting rights. Equality also covers health impartiality, social security justice, and monetary fairness (Thorvaldur & Zoega 2011).

Diversity refers to differences among people within an organisation based on their diverse religious and moral believes. It also includes professional disparities together with their ability differences based on their gender, ethnic origin, racial background, sexuality, and age among others.

People have the right of access to quality public goods. Civil rights address any infringement of people’s freedom by privately established organisations, other people, or even the government (Hudson 2009). Rights should apply without discrimination on the grounds of faith, disability, or sexual orientations.

Embracing diversity has incredibly benefited the society in terms of health and social care provisions with regard to arts, language, diet, tolerance, social cohesion, employment, and expertise. The need to embrace diversity has translated into the establishment of healthcare policies that seek to promote quality healthcare in an anti-discriminatory manner to all US citizens.

This plan ensures equity and equality in terms of access to healthcare for the American citizenry. Indeed, Daley and Feit (2013) confirm that healthcare professionals have the duty to offer services of equal quality to people, irrespective of their differences.

Campaigns against exploration of discriminatory policies and their practice along diversity lines have been effective in fostering social cohesion and promoting diversity tolerance so that all people can access quality healthcare regardless of their linguistic differences or employment status.

Cultural diversity has the impact of creating different cultural artefacts such as foods or diets. With the embracement of diversity, people freely consume other communities’ diets freely without considering the communities’ cultural status. This situation has the implication of creating a healthier American citizenry.

Upholding diversity makes it possible to promote equality and individual rights in health and social care settings. In a healthcare environment, this goal can be achieved through compliance with guidelines and rules that are applicable when practitioners provide services to clients.

These guidelines include the promotion of anti-discriminatory policies, ensuring confidentiality of health-related information, promotion of individual dignity and civil liberties, protection of people from abuse in care homes, respecting individual identities and beliefs, and/or offering individualised care (Moore & Savage 2012).

Equality and individual rights in terms of empowering patents/service users in a hospital can be actively promoted through offering services in a fashion that is similar to the one that is applied in care-giving homes. In terms of staff development and training in a youth club setting, equality and individual rights can be promoted by providing a room for registration and participation in training and staff development programmes without any discrimination.

References

Daley, C & Feit, D 2013, ‘The many roles of social workers in the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug addiction: A major health and social problem affecting individuals, families and society’, Social Work in Public Health, vol. 28 no. 4, pp. 159–164.

Hudson, D 2009, The Right to Privacy, Infobase Publishing, New York, NY.

Moore, L & Savage, J 2012, ‘Participant Observation, Informed Consent and Ethical Issues in Nursing Practice’, Nurse Researcher, vol. 9 no. 4, pp. 58-69.

Thorvaldur, G & Zoega, G 2011, ‘Educational. Social Equity And Economic Growth: A View of the Landscape’, CESifo Economic Studies, vol. 49, no. 4, pp. 557–579.