Impacts of War on Social Welfare
War has a wide range of long- and short-term impacts. Although both sides suffer during battle, women, and children, in particular, endure unimaginable crimes, and soldiers perceive combat differently than civilians. Over two million of those murdered in violent conflicts in the previous ten years were children (O’Connor, 2018). The extensive trauma caused by these crimes and the misery of the civilian population, which results in exceptionally high levels of psychological and emotional stress, is another legacy of these battles.
When a war is going on, afterwards, the economy could be severely impacted. Shank claims that unintended negative impacts arise concurrently with the war or evolve as residual effects later, hampering the economy over the longer term. Forced displacement or relocation can be devastating to a society and an individual, and it most commonly happens during times of war. Many evacuate during a fight for their safety and the protection of their families. As a result, they lose their bearings within or outside the building. Internally displaced people are threatened since they lack the privileges granted to refugees and are not qualified for protection under an international system. Since January 2021, the US has provided Ukraine with security assistance totaling more than $13.5 billion (Ling, 2022). As the Russian invasion has gone on, so has the equipment the United States offers. The Javelin and Stinger systems, as well as other anti-armor and anti-aircraft ammunition, were initially supplied by the US. Housing benefits, pension credits, personal independence payments, child disability living assistance, caregivers’ allowances, and attendance allowance are also available to Ukrainian refugees.
Four Types of Policy Analysis
Content Analysis
Content analysis is the most basic type of policy analysis. It is simply an evidence-based description of a current policy in terms of motivations, problem interpretations, goals, and methods for achieving those goals. In a war policy, major focus should be on what caused the conflict, who were the major victims in war and how it affected the people involved. The main intentions on this policy is to help this people overcome the trauma they went through during the war period. At the end, a social worker should be able to help the individuals affected by war (Popple et al., 2019, chapter 3). The social welfare group, through the federal state should offer counselling to those affected. Provide temporary shelter to the needy families, medical care and social security.
Delivery Structure
After the ‘who’ and the ‘what’ questions have been resolved, this set of policy choices is about how services will be delivered. After a war, benefits can be provided by a number of agencies with little coordination, or they can be gathered under one roof. The degree of centralization and coordination within the system is a key distinction (O’Connor, 2018). Even within a single agency, various programs and departments may operate independently. In general, Decentralized systems enhance autonomy, mission, and approach delivery. Planners must choose which structure is most suited to attaining military policy objectives. Another feature of delivery system structure is citizen participation and answers to racial and ethnic needs (Popple et al., 2019, chapter 3). The advantages of war policy are given in a variety of ways. These are public governmental organizations run by private non-profit organizations at the federal, state, and municipal levels.
Historical Analysis
Historical analysis is a subset of policy analysis that goes beyond this, assuming that understanding existing policies requires a comprehensive understanding of their evolution. While content analysis defines policy as what is currently in place, the historical orientation sees policy as a long-term pattern of behavior by the state and private groups. Historical analysis attempts to understand why a war policy deviates dramatically from prior policies in the same field, such as the Social Security Act’s old-age insurance provision. If a war strategy is a continuation of a long-established trend, historical analysis aims to explain why it deviates from conventional practice. For example, after World War II, the United States was principally guided by the containment strategy, which sought to stop communism from spreading outside the countries where it already had sway (Popple et al., 2019,chapter 3,4). When the program was implemented, the world was split by the confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union, known as the Cold War.
Social Problem Analysis
Policies for social welfare are based on speculation responses to viewed social problems. As a result, the first step in practitioner policy analysis is determining what problem the policy’s designers had in mind when they created the policy. In a situation of war the critical phase of a critical analysis is the problem definition phase, and its complexity should not be underestimated (Popple et al., 2019, chapter 5). For instance, in a situation where individuals are displaced after a war, it is the responsibility of a social welfare to provide the homeless individuals with a home. It should be noted that a war policy is frequently a response to multiple problems, which can lead to tension and inconsistency in the policy. After a war policy, financial assistance policy aims to address several issues at once, the most visible of which is the fact that many people are unable to earn a living. Many poor children do not receive adequate care, and the rate of family breakdown is rising.
Dialectic Analysis
The costs of further conflict cannot be justified by the interests involved when there is a disagreement between two parties and their separate interests. A new equilibrium indicates that both parties are ready to live with whatever mutual interest fulfillment results from the dispute and have a greater understanding of their shared interests that were at stake. There is a new, shared reality regarding each side’s capacity to advance the pertinent interests. Reality testing has made what was formerly unclear or ambiguous clearer (Davydov, 2021). The disagreement has made it evident that each party is resolved and determined to achieve its goals. Various accelerating factors might bring a conflict to the end, but there are no simple or universal causes of war. Some of the most potent forces that lead to a conflict’s termination are domestic resistance, constant expectations of the outcome, a change in military strength, and ideological devaluation.
Impact Analysis
War often suspends the development of a nation’s economic and social structure in addition to obliterating communities and ruining people’s lives. Conflict leads to a loss of money and human resources, long-term physical and psychological harm to children and adults, and other effects (Marszalek, 2019). Human costs of conflict in developing nations include forced migration, hunger, and the collapse of public services due to the broader effects of protracted battles on the country’s economic and administrative structure. They also include casualties from fighting between combatants, troops’ disobedient behavior, deliberate terrorization of civilians, and the planting of landmines.
The impacts of war on the poor are numerous; first, the youth population is enormous. The average age of the poorest people in the world is under 25. According to a study, parents in underdeveloped nations have more children to make up for the absence of environmental resources in places with a high youth population. Long-term demographic and economic data show that high fertility increases absolute poverty levels through decelerating economic growth, lessening the reduction in poverty that change would have contributed to, and skewing consumption distribution against the poor. Some nations profit from war, and the American energy and defense industries are already enjoying the benefits of the situation in Ukraine. Californian lawmakers are working to increase the state’s oil production as the EU tries to wean itself off Russian oil.
Latent Agenda Analysis
For generations, the US has seen substantial changes in its army armaments, transforming it into the most fearsome military force following the Cold War. In 2020, the US had the most extraordinary military spending. It did invest $801 billion in its military forces (Davydov, 2021). At 3.4 percent of its GDP as of 2019, the US ranked last among industrialized nations in terms of military spending (Davydov, 2021). Although the US does not have the most massive army globally, it offers the best-trained and equipped troops on the planet. Surprisingly, the American military used small and varying arms during the revolution.
The National Nuclear Security Administration of the Department of Energy, which also fights nuclear terrorism and proliferation, is in charge of maintaining America’s nuclear arsenal and naval reactors. The U.S. military frequently participates in operations in unanticipated locations, as was the case when it was asked to stop mass murder and genocide in Kosovo and Libya. The military frequently participates in humanitarian missions due to its logistical reach and wide range of capabilities. Examples include the response to the Fukushima tsunami and nuclear reactor catastrophe, earthquake assistance in Haiti, and the fight against Ebola in West Africa. The free movement of marine trade worldwide, including at essential choke points like the Strait of Hormuz, Malacca, and the Horn of Africa, is expected to be guaranteed by the U.S. military, according to a widely held belief.
Stakeholder Analysis
The practice of evaluating a system or structure and making modification recommendations based on pertinent stakeholders is known as strategic analysis. Using the above knowledge, one can incorporate the interests of those constituents into a planning phase, policy, program, or any other operation. The federal, state, and municipal governments and the general populace are among the military’s stakeholders. Political decision-makers, military leaders and personnel, civilian populations, prosecutors, and humanitarians are just a few individuals who could have personal reasons for wanting a conflict to go on or cease. Another element is whether or not the rules of armed conflict under international law are applied during that war.
In war, there are no beneficiaries since everyone is affected. The consequences are unavoidable: the nation that has been attacked is struggling to hold its ground and protect its citizens, the government that is attaching is struggling to understand the chaos being perpetrated in its name, and neighboring nations are dealing with an unprecedented influx of refugees. As uncertainties and worries increase, other countries also suffer. The children are the ones who are suffering from the effects of these challenging times, regardless of nationality, allegiances, or geopolitics.
Social Work Values
Social workers ensure everyone has access to the tools, information, and experiences they need and a significant voice in their choices. Social professionals honor each person’s inherent rights and values. The values are integrity, competence, human services, and social services. Individual, family, and community empowerment is a top priority for all social workers (Davydov, 2021). The value of service is the foundation for all other social work ideals. To better the well-being of others, social workers frequently put the needs of their communities before their interests (O’Connor, 2018). Social workers must act with integrity to build these connections and provide others with the resources they need to improve their lives. Counselors must be continually informed of their profession’s mission, beliefs, and ethical standards to provide the most excellent care to their clients.
Professional social workers frequently have bachelor’s degree degrees in community development but also learn a great deal on the job. Each social worker must work within their expertise and refrain from giving false information to prospective clients as part of the social work ideals. Social workers must always endeavor to broaden their skills and competencies to contribute to the industry and the communities they represent. The social work profession demands continual education, which can take the form of any activity that broadens a social worker’s skillsets. These are examples of subjects’ research and study, attendance at webcasts and presentations, and obtaining additional licenses or degrees.
Integrity social workers need to operate in a way that inspires trust to foster these connections and assist people in improving their lives. Each social worker owes it to their patients to uphold their field’s moral principles, core values, and mission. Social workers help the victims involved in the war by providing the most benefit to the communities they serve by acting honestly and with integrity (Davydov, 2021). Interpersonal relationships are essential social services that link persons in need with people and organizations who can give the support they seek. Social workers thrive in attracting potential partners who can assist families, neighborhoods, and entire communities in creating, maintaining, and improving their well-being. They understand that cultivating human relationships may be an effective instrument for effecting change.
Justice for all social workers stands up for the marginalized, the outcasts, and every person who requires a voice. In addition to educating people who may not directly experience prejudice about the difficulties faced by those who may not have the same privilege level in our culture, they frequently focus on issues like homelessness, poverty, harassment, and other forms of injustice. Social workers assist those seeking equality by providing them with resources, knowledge, and support. Social professionals must examine personal prejudices to address inequities and encourage others to do the same. They work to identify structural reasons contributing to inequalities in people’s and societies’ health and well-being and create more equitable support networks.
Policy Relevance to the Subtopic
The primary goals of peacebuilding efforts are to provide stability, reboot socioeconomic development, advance democratic governance, and promote transitional justice. The immediate security concerns of impacted communities are of the highest significance, as evidenced by the fact that foreign peacekeeping deployments are frequently vital for stabilizing peace following the civil conflict (Davydov, 2021). Peacekeeping is more effective when it is included in a multifaceted strategy, supporting the idea that political, economic, and social issues must also be addressed early on if peace persists. Second, proponents of security sector reforms and other related initiatives must accept the political nature of these initiatives. It runs the risk of igniting new conflicts rather than averting them if one treats them just as technological problems, as outside actors frequently do. Finally, transitional justice is a crucial component of post-conflict peacebuilding, but only if it has the interest and backing of influential members of the affected community, including those in the legislature, the executive branch, and civil society.
References
Davydov, S. (2021). Relations between a social subject and a social institution: Philosophical foundations and public policy practices. Aspirantskiy Vestnik Povolzhiya, 21(3-4), 39-42.
Ling, X. (2022). Russia – Ukraine war in 2022 and the overall international plan of the United States. Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 5(1), 47-48.
Marszalek, J. (2019). Embattled freedom, journeys through the civil war slave refugee camps. Civil War Book Review, 21(2).
O’Connor, P. (2018). Ambivalent nation: How Britain imagined the American civil war. Civil War Book Review, 20(4).
Popple, P. R., Leighninger, L., & Leighninger, R. D. (2019). The policy-based profession : an introduction to social welfare policy analysis for social workers (7th ed.). Pearson.