Preconceived Notions and Breaking Them

Preconceived Notions and Breaking Them (Prompt #1)
By Kendrick Tran

Source: https://socialwork.asu.edu/tucson

In the world of today, there lie numerous different preconceived notions about the world. Different professions and areas each have their unique stereotypes that try to define the line of work in a very general way. The fields of criminal justice and social work have some of the saddest stereotypes that portray both fields in a negative light. In today's society, both fields are addressed as occupations that rely more on helping themselves more so than others, the primary goal of these two lines of work. However, we are here to break some stereotypes of these respective fields and to show that these are the types of people that we need in our society and by discouraging them from approaching these professions severely limit the growth of our community.

Criminal Justice, a field that has a large scope in terms of what a person can do, is generally stereotyped as a person wanting to be a cop. In recent years, police officers have caught a lot of flak for the corruption and needless violence that comes with having power over others. However, this cannot be stressed enough. A small sample does not represent the whole every time, especially in this case. Many stories that appear on the news only surface because of the emotions that can be provoked from people that see/read it. These typically are the negative stories of police officers abusing their power or violent acts under the uniform. Rarely stories that talk about the positives and the service that these police officers dedicated to their communities surface because it does not make as interesting of a headline as police brutality. The media holds a strong influence over the general population and can severely impact the officers who are doing their responsibility day by day. In Stacy L. Mallicoat's introductory book on Crime and Criminal Justice talks about the controversy surrounding the occupation. In this textbook, Mallicoat I learned about the ethics and discretion that police officers are sworn by. Every single department under the law is bounded by a set of ethics. Ethics in criminal justice are defined as "the understanding of what constitutes good or bad behavior" (Mallicoat). Although ethical violations do occur, I argue that there are more police officers following proper procedure and due process than those that break the fundamental rules that they were sworn to protect. As said previously, the media and reported crime rate help to inflate the fears of a crime itself and those who are supposed to prevent them. "For the majority of Americans, the images generated by the media regarding crime and criminal justice are often internalized as 'facts' about the world we live in" (Mallicoat).  This creates preconceived notions that are negative in the general public because they have limited direct experience with crime. As said before, only the sensationalized stories ever get heard. Having said this, the field of criminal justice gets a bad rap due to the small minority of corrupt officers working in the force.Most of this information introduced to me by this book was already known to me because of my interest in the field. However, I think that this textbook provides a strong foundation for people that are not versed in this particular field. Since stereotypes are so prevalent in this field, the negativity outweighs the positives that police officers bring to the community. People need to learn to appreciate all of the good that police officers bring to our society. They bring peace, justice, and a sense of safety to the community. Without them, society would fall into shambles due to the lack of rules and regulations.

While police officers focus more on the issues after they occur, social workers focus more on preventing them, to begin with. This epic profession relies on alleviating the conditions of people in poor positions in life and on welfare. This primary purpose, however, is shadowed by the many stereotypes that follow this profession. Reading the article called "The Public's Perception of Social Work: Is It What We Think It Is?" by Craig Winston LeCroy and Erika L. Stinson, they go much more in-depth about the nature of the job and how the public views social workers in general. The results are not good. In the first few paragraphs, LeCroy and Stinson describe that "When the public's approval of social work wanes, recruitment into the profession suffers, as does the professional credibility of social workers in both the public eye and in the eyes of other professionals" (LeCroy and Stinson). This statement comes after a study was conducted asking what people thought of social workers and their role in society. Under the category of beliefs, social workers having the right to take children away from parents received 35% in support and primarily caring for people on welfare received an abysmal 23% in support (LeCroy and Stinson). This part changed my understanding of the field because I did not realize how much social workers were regarded as enemies more so than people that just want to help. Most respondents agreed that social workers did not care for people on welfare and just wanted to take the kids away. This breaks my heart because it is a thankless profession that deserves some praise for the dedication and hard work that they provide to the community. This article further assesses the negative perception of social workers and I think it provides a good understanding of how people perceive social workers. Many of the people came into the job because they truly care about others and they should be thanked for that.

Works Cited

LeCroy, Craig Winston, and Erika L. Stinson. "The Public's Perception of Social Work: Is It What We Think It Is." Perceptions of Social Work. Great Basin College, n.d. Web.

Mallicoat, Stacy L. Crime and Criminal Justice: Concepts and Controversies. N.p.: SAGE, 2017. Print.