Open AccessGlobalized consumer culture
Author(s) -
Fred H. Besthorn
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of practice teaching in social work and health/the journal of practice teaching in social work and health/the journal of practice teaching and learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.12
H-Index - 6
eISSN - 1746-6113
pISSN - 1460-6690
DOI - 10.1921/jpts.v5i3.313
Subject(s) - ethos , alienation , happiness , balance (ability) , sociology , public relations , field (mathematics) , environmental ethics , social psychology , psychology , aesthetics , political science , law , philosophy , mathematics , neuroscience , pure mathematics
Globalised consumer culture and its corresponding ethos that accumulation of material possessions equates to happiness are having a profound impact on the physical, social and emotional health of human beings. For social work practitioners and field educators the issue is how we balance the charge to serve our clients without unwittingly forcing them into a system that is designed by its very nature to increase their dissatisfaction and alienation. This essay discusses these concerns and offers some initial suggestions for how social work may respond.