Ethnic Diversity within Health and Social Care Assignment Sample

Introduction of Ethnic Diversity within Health and Social Care Assignment

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Ethnic diversity is considered as presence of different people from different backgrounds and different identities. Various countries possess a diverse ethnicity among their citizens and this enriches diversity in a country. Cultural as well as ethnic diversity assists in case of respecting and recognising ethnicity and behaviour of people. The study includes several sections describing different aspects related to ethnicity and race. The study highlights the importance and impact of ethnicity as well as ethnic diversity in health and social care sectors.

Section 1

As per the biological point of view, people can be classified into various races through genetics. On the other hand, from a sociological viewpoint in society people can be categorised into various races. Biology states that race refers to a rank that is informal in case of “taxonomic hierarchy” that includes certain definitions. This biological view utilises subspecies that in certain cases mistaken by races. Depending on the biological views race is of three distinct types such as geographical, chromosomal, and physiological. According to Beltran (2020), Chromosomal race can be determined through “karyotyping” which denotes differences in “chromosome numbers” and structure of chromosomes. Physiological and geographical races are also parts of sociology as people can be divided as per their physiological and geographical races as these are based on physical characteristics known as morphology. 

Distinct populations that are situated in specific areas show different as well as specific characteristics from other populations. Geographical races are the results of certain geographical barriers such as an ocean, mountains, and others. Additionally, as stated by McMillan Cottom (2020), from sociological views, geographical races include Native Americans, African-Americans, and others. On the other hand, sociology also terms physiological races as physical characters depending on body colour, texture of hair, foods they eat, human behavior, and others.

Section 2

Race can be defined by groups of human that helps to classify people based on their physical traits common in “shared ancestry” of individuals. In the other words, race refers to certain groups that share external physical characteristics as well as several commodities of history and culture. On the other hand, according to Go (2018), ethnicity defines several markers that are acquired from groups sharing familial, traditional, and cultural bonds. As per the lecture module on “drootsofracism434” race is a category assigned and defined significance by societies. It also refers to an “ever-changing complex” that is shaped by socio-political conflict. On the other hand, ethnicity is confusing and several sociologists have defined it as shared characteristics of groups of people. This helps to provide an idea regarding people’s heritage, nationality, ancestry, culture, and others.

The idea of race contrasts with ethnicity as ethnicity is concerned with cultural identity of certain groups and on the other hand, race depicts on biogenetic and physical traits of people. As per views of Christian et al. (2019), race can be understood in a recent era as a sociological designation primarily and it can identify external physical characteristics shared by groups of people. Ethnicity refers to a word defining particular characteristics of people that are acquired inherently. At the end of comparison, it can be added that individuals can have racial similarities however, they can possess ethnic dissimilarities. As per the sociologists’ study, sociology of ethnic relations and race refers to a study of economic, social, and political relations between ethnicities and races at entire level of society.

Section 3

Cultural racism refers to an idea that can be applied to discrimination as well as prejudices based on differences in cultures between racial and ethnic groups of people. According to Diamond (2018), cultural racism differs from scientific and biological racism where discrimination is rooted in perceived differences in biological characteristics between ethnic groups. As per the lecture slides, institutional racism contains collective failure of organisations in case of providing professional and appropriate services to employees and people due to their culture, color, and ethnic origins. Institutional racism can be detected in behavior, processes, and cultures which give rise to discrimination by unwitting ignorance, prejudice, racist stereotyping, and thoughtfulness. This institutional racism facilitates disadvantages in case of “ethnic minority” individuals and groups. The concept of “race” evolved with formation of United States and related to other terms “slave” and “white”. The term, race, utilised infrequently prior to 1500s and during 18th century a false notion came into the light.

This notion was about a concept that saw people with white skin tone as superior whereas, people with black coloured skin tone as inferior ones. This categorisation among people was a brief justification for colonisation of European. An example of this false notion of the “race enslavement” of people in different countries can be elucidated. According to Weinzimmer and Bergdahl (2018), enslaved people in different countries were forced to work for others and slavery was highly related to race and ethnicity of people. Discrimination due to race and ethnicity is consistent even in recent years and nearly about 62220 people in Brazil were killed by police in 2018 where 75% of them were of Black skin color (Imf, 2020). On the other hand, the entire world is familiar with the names of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and others who were victims of systemic racism in the United States. Roots of racism were implied in the 17th century and with it came other terms based on races and ethnicities.

Past experiences regarding discrimination, as well as cultural racism, give rise to violence that includes killing people. On the other hand, people with ethnic minorities are also vulnerable to victimisation of cultural racism and institutional racism even in recent years. As stated by Dreyer et al. (2020), George Floyd was killed due to violence against minority races that triggered a “national conversation” about racism and race in Britain. The term hinders economic progress in African countries for decades and African-Americans are vulnerable to various discrimination and racial issues in different parts of the world.

Section 4

Sources of ethnic and racial disparities in healthcare as well as social care involve differences in geography, shortage of access to sufficient health coverage, and shortage of effective communication between healthcare providers and patients. Ethnic and racial minorities in case of Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with “dementia” are less nearly about 30% compared to people with white skin tone to utilise anti-dementia medications. Ethnic barriers can be considered as factors facilitating disadvantages among minority ethnic groups. Disparities in social as well as healthcare sectors experience ethnic and racial discrimination and certain factors are there influencing racial discrimination in these sectors. According to Williams et al. (2018), cultural barriers such as languages are a major issue in case of both social and health care sectors as service providers and people from minority groups face linguistic issues. This issue in return minimise efficiency of services provided to them and this facilitates racial discrimination issue. On the other hand, a lack of effective communication between patients and service providers hinders quality of services as people fail to communicate efficiently due to differences in languages.

Witnesses of racism in educational sectors

(Source: Weforum, 2020)

Additionally, in the majority of cases, service providers both in health and social care centers possess stereotyping behaviour and prejudices. This behaviour of them gives rise to racial discrimination in health and social sectors. The provided case study shows that around 44.3% of Pakistani, 44.9% of Black Africans, and 48.4% of Bangladeshi were likely to live below the poverty line in 2016. This is a major cause as they fail to get proper and sufficient care from service providers as they fail to provide adequate payment to them. Some groups of ethnic minorities experience worse outcomes regarding mental and physical health as they are financially weak than others. People from minority ethnic groups are vulnerable to racial victimisation in different areas such as workplaces, educational institutions, and others and this situation results in depression and mental trauma. According to Ali (2020), act regarding “Racial and Religious Hatred” in 2006 was enforced aiming to punish the guilty when “racial hatred” against individuals is recorded and considered an offense. Ascendance of “Strain theory” in critical race and criminology theory has spawned an approach emphasizing salience of racial hatred and inequality.

Conclusions

Ethnicity is considered a cultural feature that can be used to classify individuals into various groups considering their different characteristics. The study highlights ethnic diversity in both social and health care sectors where people from minority groups face racial discrimination. It can be concluded that the term, race, is rooted deeply in the 15th century and it gives rise to a false notion due to the evolution of the term. The entire world has experienced the fatality of racial discrimination in recent days. Additionally, people from minority ethnic groups are vulnerable to racial discrimination in both health and social care sectors. It can be concluded that people from Africa and other minority groups experience racial discrimination in workplaces and educational sectors as well as experience depression and mental trauma. Additionally, the study highlights factors affecting quality of services provided by health care and social care sectors in case of people from minority ethnic groups.

References

Ali, L. (2020). The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 and the Freedom of Anti-Muslim Social Media Personalities to Incite Religious Hatred. Sunderland Student Law Journal, 2020(1), 5-20.

Beltran, R.S., Marnocha, E., Race, A., Croll, D.A., Dayton, G.H. and Zavaleta, E.S., (2020). Field courses narrow demographic achievement gaps in ecology and evolutionary biology. Ecology and Evolution, 10(12), pp.5184-5196.

Christian, M., Seamster, L. and Ray, V., (2019). New directions in critical race theory and sociology: Racism, white supremacy, and resistance. American Behavioral Scientist, 63(13), pp.1731-1740.

Diamond, J. B. (2018). Race and white supremacy in the sociology of education: Shifting the intellectual gaze. Education in a new society: Renewing the sociology of education, 345-362.

Dreyer, B.P., Trent, M., Anderson, A.T., Askew, G.L., Boyd, R., Coker, T.R., Coyne-Beasley, T., Fuentes-Afflick, E., Johnson, T., Mendoza, F. and Montoya-Williams, D., (2020). The death of George Floyd: bending the arc of history toward justice for generations of children. Pediatrics, 146(3).

Go, J. (2018). Postcolonial possibilities for the sociology of race. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 4(4), 439-451.

Imf, (2020), WHAT RACISM COSTS US ALL, Available at: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/09/the-economic-cost-of-racism-losavio.htm [Accessed on: 10.05.2022]

McMillan Cottom, T. (2020). Where platform capitalism and racial capitalism meet: The sociology of race and racism in the digital society. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 6(4), 441-449.

Weforum, (2020), Almost all Black British children have experienced racism at school, Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/11/racism-united-kingdom-schools-black-children-inequality/ [Accessed on: 10.05.2022]

Weinzimmer, J. and Bergdahl, J., (2018). The Value of Dialogue Groups for Teaching Race and Ethnicity. Teaching Sociology, 46(3), pp.225-236.

Williams, J.P., Kirschner, D., Mizer, N. and Deterding, S., (2018). Sociology and role-playing games. In Role-Playing Game Studies (pp. 227-244). Routledge.