Controversial Topics in Human Services

Research published viewpoints, found in no fewer than two scholarly sources or other credible sources, regarding the pros and cons of legalization of marijuana from the perspective of the human services discipline and profession. Based on these sources, your required readings on controversial issues and marijuana legalization, and reflections on your values and ethics, write an initial post to the forum identifying and evaluating one or more implications of this issue for the provision of human services.

Then, apply these reflections to a fictional or real (if you happen to know of one) case study concerning a human services client who is a heavy marijuana user. Specify gender, age, and related environmental and personal issues and circumstances, such as: Is this a legalized state? Is the client’s use related to a medical and/or psychological need? How is the client claiming to get the money for the marijuana?

In your initial post, address the following:

• Describe how the issue of legalization and its controversial character affect your professional responsibilities broadly and your practice with regard to the client.
• Provide one or more examples describing how you, as a human services provider, would act in response to specific scenarios that might come up in practice, assessing how social factors, legal factors, and/or the larger moral context might create tensions or a conflict with respect to values.
• Tie in this scenario (or scenarios) with conceptual discussions and arguments put forth in your sources, describing how your (fictional or actual) experience is informed and explained by the literature and this week’s readings.

In your responses to no fewer than two of your peers, compare and contrast your cases, commenting on how similar and/or divergent analyses apply in each case.

Review Section 1.3: Writing for an Audience, Section 3.3: Narrowing the Topic and Developing a Focus, and Section 5.3: Ensuring the Conclusions Match the Type of Data Collected, from Sole’s and Landrum’s (2015) Academic Research and Writing: A Guide for the Social Sciences.

Your initial post should contain between 300 and 350 words, and any specific references to sources must be cited in APA Style (6th ed). Respond substantively to a minimum of two peers by Day 7 of this week by offering alternative approaches to cases presented in class.

This assignment is worth 4 points of the total course grade.
This assignment aligns with the following weekly outcomes: 1, 2.
This assignment aligns with the following course outcomes: 2, 3, 4, 5.