Social Determinants Of Health And Social Care Essay
just family or individual caregiver problems, they are population level and public health concerns.
Philosophical imperative to protect children
The Nursing profession has a strong historical foundation in social justice. Social justice is a concept that has been analyzed, argued and debated about for decades in the nursing literature, but there seems to be relative agreement that nursing has demonstrated a commitment to addressing the social determinants of health, to advocating for the underserved and the vulnerable, and for being able to promote the common good while respecting individual freedoms (McMurry, Hunter-Revell, & Roy, 2009). In her article, Megan-Jane Johnstone states that, “the nursing profession has had a longstanding commitment to social …show more content…
justice as a core professional value and ideal, obligating nurses to address the social conditions that undermine people’s health” (Johnstone, M.J., 2011, p. 34). Child maltreatment is most definitively undermining the health of our population and it is driven by societal conditions involving social, economic and political inequities and injustices. In addition to social justice, another pillar often associated with nursing as a profession is caring. Not dissimilar to the discourse on social justice, caring also has been described and dissected by nursing theorists. Nurses more than any other health care professionals, practice within a caring relationship where they not only care for particular individuals or groups of individuals, but they care about them as well” (Woods, 2012, pg. 60). It is from within these two foundational constructs of social justice and caring that the nursing profession should be leading the movement to protect children from abuse and neglect. The optimal nursing practice lies at the junction of justice, caring and science.
But from where does nursing generate and feed our ongoing commitment and our drive for justice and caring? Generally, our practice is driven by theories that are guided by philosophy. It is from these platforms that we are able to assign meaning and context to the nursing work that we do with individuals, families and communities. Particularly around health issues that generate conflict, internal turmoil or elicit ethical debates, it is helpful to turn to the philosophical assessment of the issue. While the philosophical deliberation may not lead to a clear answer or path forward, philosophy offers a different lens, a different framework for analyzing a complex issue.
It is from early Greek philosophy that we essentially have our foundations for both science and for Western philosophy. Ancient Greek philosophers, including Plato, Socrates and Aristotle, debated over justice, rights, morality, and caring/love. Plato (427-347 BC) emphasized the science of the soul in The Republic. He talked about a just life and the relationship of a just life to a happy life. He spoke to being committed to the interests of the community, and never being prepared to act against it, the necessity of justice, the importance of good character, and the process for ensuring a just and harmonious society between all classes (Coumoundouros, A.). In line with other ancient philosophers, Plato puts forth that human well-being is the ultimate shared goal and this is achieved by the highest moral conduct and by political action. Plato and the other early Greek philosophers largely believed in distributive justice, or the equitable distribution of life’s benefits and burdens. Ancient Greek philosophy can certainly guide nursing leaders in an approach to addressing child abuse and neglect. Child maltreatment is simply not in line with a just society, with harmony and high moral conduct or with a shared ownership of both resources and challenges.
Paul Ricoeur was a French philosopher (1913-2005) who often referred to ancient Greek philosophy in his own thoughts around justice. Ricoeur argued that justice and love do not need to be opposing and in conflict, as had been argued by other philosophers. He posited that the hyperethical nature of love can be transcended when it is guided by justice (Singsuriya, 2016). I see Ricoeur’s discourse on love as one that can be restated as commentary on caring and the caring relationship that nurses frequently engage in with others. And, I agree that caring guided by justice, and by principles of justice as explicated by Plato, can guide our response as nurses to the current plight of maltreated children.
There are abundant philosophical debates regarding the “rights” (moral and legal) of children and how to uphold or even alter those rights versus the “obligations” of adults or of society to behave in different ways.
I do not adhere to either of these arguments, although both have merit. The concern with following the “rights” argument is that rights can change, not everyone in this country has the same rights, and rights remove the caring necessity for this issue. “If we care about children’s lives, we will have a number of good reasons not to base our arguments on appeals to children’s fundamental rights. All rights based approaches are incomplete in that they tell us nothing about what should be done when nobody has a right to its being done: they are silent about imperfect obligations” (O’Neill, pg. 463). My concern with the obligation approach is that it removes the justice component in that an obligation is usually something we are forced to do, or implored to do, not something that we want to do because it is just and promotes the well-being of humanity. For these reasons, the philosophical approach for nursing to take in combating childhood maltreatment is one of caring and of
justice.
Philosophical imperative to protect children
The Nursing profession has a strong historical foundation in social justice. Social justice is a concept that has been analyzed, argued and debated about for decades in the nursing literature, but there seems to be relative agreement that nursing has demonstrated a commitment to addressing the social determinants of health, to advocating for the underserved and the vulnerable, and for being able to promote the common good while respecting individual freedoms (McMurry, Hunter-Revell, & Roy, 2009). In her article, Megan-Jane Johnstone states that, “the nursing profession has had a longstanding commitment to social …show more content…
justice as a core professional value and ideal, obligating nurses to address the social conditions that undermine people’s health” (Johnstone, M.J., 2011, p. 34). Child maltreatment is most definitively undermining the health of our population and it is driven by societal conditions involving social, economic and political inequities and injustices. In addition to social justice, another pillar often associated with nursing as a profession is caring. Not dissimilar to the discourse on social justice, caring also has been described and dissected by nursing theorists. Nurses more than any other health care professionals, practice within a caring relationship where they not only care for particular individuals or groups of individuals, but they care about them as well” (Woods, 2012, pg. 60). It is from within these two foundational constructs of social justice and caring that the nursing profession should be leading the movement to protect children from abuse and neglect. The optimal nursing practice lies at the junction of justice, caring and science.
But from where does nursing generate and feed our ongoing commitment and our drive for justice and caring? Generally, our practice is driven by theories that are guided by philosophy. It is from these platforms that we are able to assign meaning and context to the nursing work that we do with individuals, families and communities. Particularly around health issues that generate conflict, internal turmoil or elicit ethical debates, it is helpful to turn to the philosophical assessment of the issue. While the philosophical deliberation may not lead to a clear answer or path forward, philosophy offers a different lens, a different framework for analyzing a complex issue.
It is from early Greek philosophy that we essentially have our foundations for both science and for Western philosophy. Ancient Greek philosophers, including Plato, Socrates and Aristotle, debated over justice, rights, morality, and caring/love. Plato (427-347 BC) emphasized the science of the soul in The Republic. He talked about a just life and the relationship of a just life to a happy life. He spoke to being committed to the interests of the community, and never being prepared to act against it, the necessity of justice, the importance of good character, and the process for ensuring a just and harmonious society between all classes (Coumoundouros, A.). In line with other ancient philosophers, Plato puts forth that human well-being is the ultimate shared goal and this is achieved by the highest moral conduct and by political action. Plato and the other early Greek philosophers largely believed in distributive justice, or the equitable distribution of life’s benefits and burdens. Ancient Greek philosophy can certainly guide nursing leaders in an approach to addressing child abuse and neglect. Child maltreatment is simply not in line with a just society, with harmony and high moral conduct or with a shared ownership of both resources and challenges.
Paul Ricoeur was a French philosopher (1913-2005) who often referred to ancient Greek philosophy in his own thoughts around justice. Ricoeur argued that justice and love do not need to be opposing and in conflict, as had been argued by other philosophers. He posited that the hyperethical nature of love can be transcended when it is guided by justice (Singsuriya, 2016). I see Ricoeur’s discourse on love as one that can be restated as commentary on caring and the caring relationship that nurses frequently engage in with others. And, I agree that caring guided by justice, and by principles of justice as explicated by Plato, can guide our response as nurses to the current plight of maltreated children.
There are abundant philosophical debates regarding the “rights” (moral and legal) of children and how to uphold or even alter those rights versus the “obligations” of adults or of society to behave in different ways.
I do not adhere to either of these arguments, although both have merit. The concern with following the “rights” argument is that rights can change, not everyone in this country has the same rights, and rights remove the caring necessity for this issue. “If we care about children’s lives, we will have a number of good reasons not to base our arguments on appeals to children’s fundamental rights. All rights based approaches are incomplete in that they tell us nothing about what should be done when nobody has a right to its being done: they are silent about imperfect obligations” (O’Neill, pg. 463). My concern with the obligation approach is that it removes the justice component in that an obligation is usually something we are forced to do, or implored to do, not something that we want to do because it is just and promotes the well-being of humanity. For these reasons, the philosophical approach for nursing to take in combating childhood maltreatment is one of caring and of
justice.