Jena Six Theory

What exactly contributes to human behavior and why do individuals react differently in certain situations? This loaded question can seem very overwhelming and often too confusing to express clearly. However, if human behavior is viewed through a specific social work lens, clarity starts to form. In the following, the behaviors of the Jena Six, a group of six African American students whose convictions sparked nation-wide attention, will be analyzed through the ecological systems theory perspective. This theory will foundationally direct insight on human behavior, potential ethical value conflicts and separate not only strengths, but also areas of growth within a system. The ecological systems theory was introduced by Bronfenbrenner …show more content…
In the case of the Jena Six, the following social work ethics, as stated in the NASW Code of Ethics, need to be considered before the creation or implementation of any interventions. The overall social work ethical responsibility to the broader society is most applicable to this scenario, (NASW, 2008). Specifically, the social work ethic stating, “Social workers should promote the general welfare of society and cultural values that are compatible with the realization of social justice,” (NASW, 2008). This ethic invites the social worker to conclude that the cultural values of the Jena Six were compromised within the judicial system and social injustice occurred. Conflicted social work values may come into play within this ethical dilemma if 1) the social worker resides within the Jena community and views the community in a different, culturally competent light and 2) if the social worker believes social injustice occurred, the school interventions would be constructed to mitigate the inequalities sanctioned by the judicial system. Basically, the interventions of the social worker would conflict with sentencing of the Jena Six, placing that social worker in a position to defend proposed interventions to the school and possible to the community …show more content…
When contemplating interventions the social worker must deliberately develop strategies to occur within the school district to promote students to learn culturally from one another and to assure that each culture is equally represented. Due to the composition of the school district leaning heavily in favor of white students, the social worker may have a harder time obtaining support from not only the students, but their parents and school administrators to infuse interventions with various