Change Agent

     Many individuals are known for contributing to macro practice social work. Macro practice social work is working with society as a whole to fix societal issues. Two individuals that I found to be interesting and had and still have a large impact on society are Jean Henri Dunant and Van Jones.

            Jean Henri Dunant was born in May of 1828 and passed in October of 1910. He is well known for being passionate in humanitarianism and working closely with the Red Cross organization. The idea of the Red Cross was recognized in 1859 when Dunant came across a battle of bloody soldiers in Italy. Many soldiers were unattended and suffering from wounds (History). Dunant strongly believed that nations around the world should form relief groups to provide care for wounded men from the war. This would work by each society having a governing board where each member would recruit volunteers and train these volunteers for disaster relief. He organized local people to help with soldier’s wounds and to comfort them. In February of 1863 the Geneva Society for Public Welfare appointed Dunant and four other individuals to review and put this plan into action (Jean Henri Dunant Biography). By 1864 the plan was activated and the symbol was a red cross painted on a white battle field. Unfortunately in 1867 Dunant went bankrupt and everything began to go downhill; he was no longer a part of the Geneva Society. Shortly after he became very ill and remained in solitude until his death. He made a lasting impression on society with his contributes to the Red Cross and also winning a Noble Peace Prize in 1901 (Jean Henri Dunant Biography).

           

 Van Jones is another man in society who contributed to macro practice. He was born in 1968 in Tennessee. Jones is currently working as a social activist. Jones is well known for being the co-founder of three non-profit organizations. These non-profit organizations include the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Color of Change and Green for All (Van Jones Biography). He is also the author of The Green Collar Economy which defines green jobs within society. Along with his book he put together an organization to work towards putting green jobs in place for communities that are disadvantaged. With a strong practice in human rights, Jones is one of Americas leading individuals with creating pathways out of poverty and help rebuilding America’s middle class. Van Jones has received many awards and honors including being named one of the most influential people in the world during 2008 by TIME magazine, he was designated by the World Economic Forum as a young global leader and he was a recipient of the international Ashoka Fellowship (Van Jones).

            Both Jean Henri Dunant and Van Jones have had a lasting impact on society; as for Van Jones he is continuing to impact society today. I learned a lot from researching both of these social activists. I learned a lot about the Red Cross and how it came about. The Red Cross is a wonderful organization that helps individuals who are in need and less fortunate. It is great how society comes together and volunteers to help others within society or a community to better others lives. I found it interesting that the Red Cross came about because Dunant saw a war in Italy with many casualties and wounded soldiers laying in the field unattended. After the Red Cross Organization took off they were geared with assisting soldiers in battle. Van Jones also gave me knowledge on “green jobs” and how he enforced getting green jobs within societies that are less fortunate and unemployed so all have a fair chance to working opportunities. From his biography and successes within society he seems focused on social welfare and all individuals within society having an equal opportunity. One has impacted the other and both plus many other activist has changed issues within society little by little.

           

I am most passionate about changing the societal problems of poverty and welfare qualifications. If I were to become a change agent and work in macro practice I would want to work closely with Van Jones because of his interest in poverty and welfare. I strongly believe that there are individuals and families in society that need the welfare assistance while there are others who scam the system and are taking away from the true needy. It will take a long time to get these societal issues under control. For the qualifications for welfare I feel that a family or individual can be on welfare but only for a short while. Currently welfare qualifications depend on family size, gross income and medical emergencies like pregnancy, disability, homelessness or unemployment. Individuals can only remain on welfare for up to two years and they need to be showing proof of job looking. (US Welfare System - Help for US Citizens) This law to me is great except for the people who work the system and remain on welfare for a longer period of time. I know many people who are and have been on welfare for a long time and they have no interest in looking for a job. In order to change a societal issue within society it takes a group of individuals to advocate and leaders to take charge. Leadership is a large part of macro practice and implementing change. I strongly believe that leaders should have characteristics that include effective communication, dependability, being able to work both independently and within a team, they should not have any fear of promoting and trying to change a societal issue that many may feel is not an issue. These characteristics and skills of an individual that is a part of macro practice or change help the process run smoothly and they help assure that everything is in order.

            As I stated previously I would like to change a few things within society today including welfare qualifications and poverty. Poverty really has taken a toll on our society because everyday more and more individuals are losing their jobs and cannot afford to pay on their homes which causes foreclosure. Society really needs to come up with some alternatives to help supply more jobs for society. The economy today is very low and I feel it will get to a point where poverty will be so bad that it will be difficult to reverse. Both the issues of welfare and poverty will take many individuals to change and it is a long time coming but that does not mean that it is not possible with a leader and advocates.

            If I were to become a change agent and have a lasting impression on society I would focus on teen pregnancy. In my view teen pregnancy is a societal issue that is easier to approach and hopefully change while poverty and welfare one needs to go through the government and policies which could take many, many years. There needs to be more education on sex education and preventatives. Many individuals think that supplying preventatives like condoms in middle school and high school is condoning the teens to have sex. I feel that it would only help prevent many of the teen pregnancies that are occurring. Some teens are embarrassed or just do not have the money to go buy condoms to have safe sex which leads to a child of which they also cannot support. Another issue which I know is already being passed is supplying free birth control. I have spoken with many teens and friends who are simply not on birth control because of the expense; I guess some do not realize that it is much cheaper than having a child to support. Macro practice is a hard job and it is hard to advocate for a large portion of society but I know that with dedication and hard work issues within society do have the probability to change greatly over time.

Works Cited

History. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2012, from International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: http://www.ifrc.org/en/who-we-are/history/

Jean Henri Dunant Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2012, from The Official Web Site of the Nobel Prize: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laurenates/1901/dunant-bio.html

Mirpuri, A., Feldman, K. P., & Roberts, G. M. (2009). Antiracism and Environmental Justice in an Age of Neoliberalism: An Interview with Van Jones. Antipode, 41(3), 401-415. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8330.2009.00680.x

Van Jones. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2012, from Center for American Progress: http://www.americanprogress.org/experts/JonesVan.html

Van Jones Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2012, from http://vanjones.net/index.php?p=bio

 Von Planta, M. (2007). Jean-Henri Dunant: The Founder of the Red Cross organization. Resuscitation, 73(1), 8-11. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2006.11.019