Giving Voice to the Oppressed of Society

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews five reasons why dispossessed and oppressed individuals should have a voice in society. Specifically, the paper looks at the social costs that attend failing to pay attention to the needs of these individuals and at the poor public policy that flows from ignoring the dispossessed. Finally, the paper explores the ethical and moral issues that come with overlooking the less-fortunate and considers the impact upon the reputation of a society if it fails to offer social justice in its own land while hectoring others abroad about their human rights record.

From the Paper:

"At the level of the individual, the costs associated with not heeding the voices of the down-trodden can be very grim, indeed. For one thing, people who struggle with their sense of self and who lack a strong sense of self-empowerment are people who are much more susceptible to thoughts of suicide (Martin, 2006). At the same time, people who feel as though they cannot change their lives for the better - in no small measure because no one seems to care what they think - are people who are very much likely to fall prey to mental illness - such as depression (Laitinen et al, 2006). Thus, there are compelling reasons why, at the level of the individual, people need to be given a sense that they are not viewed as ciphers by others and that their needs will be accepted as genuine."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Creuziger, Clementine G.K. (1997). Russia's unwanted children: A cultural anthropological study of marginalized children in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Childhood: A Global Journal of Child Research, 4(3): 343-358.
• Dilulio, John J. (1994). The question of black crime. Public Interest, 117, 3-32.
• Juska, Arunas, and Paulikas, Vygandas. (2006). Rural marginalization, policing, and crime in Lithuania. Police Practice & Research, 7(5): 431-447.
• Kawachi, I. (1999). Crime: social disorganization and relative deprivation. Social Science & Medicine, 48(6): 719-731.
• Laitinen, Irmeli, Ettore, Elizabeth, and Sutton, Carole. (2006). Empowering depressed women: changes in individual and social feelings in guided self-help groups in Finland. European Journal of Psychotherapy, Counseling & Help, 8(3): 305-320.

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