NASW Involvement in Legislative Advocacy

NASW serves as the professional association for social workers, yet little is known about how NASW chapters engage social workers and social work students in policy practice. This article presents the results of a survey of 40 NASW state chapters, describing how NASW engages social workers in legislative advocacy, the role of legislative advocacy days, and the involvement of social work students in NASW advocacy efforts. Findings indicate state chapters are very involved in policy practice and legislative advocacy days appear to be one prominent vehicle in engaging members and social work students in legislative advocacy.     

Inter and Intra Professional Social Work Differences: Social Works Challenge

Social work historically has had two overarching domains. One domain is concerned with communities and policy development, the other with direct practice involving individuals, groups and families. Both the macro and micro domains are infused with concerns of social justice and advocacy. Conflict in the profession between social justice and casework began over a century ago, with early social work leaders Mary Richmond and Jane Addams. Controversy within the profession continues today. This paper will present many of the differing viewpoints within the ever-changing kaleidoscope of the profession. The paper will objectively present the issues of debate regarding micro and macro foci and recent debates related to professionalization, licensure, and the education of social workers. It will challenge readers to critically think about their own practices and view points. The synergy of the profession is much more than either people changing or society changing. As a profession we must move beyond the discord to the embodiment of harmony. The problem of AIDS will be discussed in order to demonstrate the challenges of working at both the micro and macro levels. Dorothea Marie Epple, PhD, LCSW, BCD is an Assistant Professor in the MSW program at the University of St. Francis. She received her PhD in 2002 at the Institute of Clinical Social Work Chicago and an MSW from Loyola in 1982. Dorothea has 25 years experience in Clinical Social Work in mental health, hospital and hospice settings.     

Retraining programmes in social work: career considerations,factors influencing the decision to study social work and professional preferences among students

The current study sought to examine the differences between retraining programme (RP) students in social work (SW) and mainstream programme (MP) students regarding career considerations, factors influencing the decision to study SW and professional preferences. RPs are similar to fast-track training programmes known in the UK, as they offer graduates from other disciplines a qualification in SW. This study was conducted among 125 SW students in Israel: 56 in the RP, where studying SW was their secondary choice (after graduating in a different academic discipline) and 69 MP students for whom SW was their first choice for a profession. Both groups were examined in their final year of studies. When choosing their profession, RP students attributed greater importance to considerations such as personal development, satisfaction and interest in treating people, while for MP students, working conditions were more important. In addition, RP students also preferred to engage in individual therapy and policy practice. Furthermore, there were several differences between the groups’ preferences regarding types of populations, services and sectors. Correlations were found between various preferences of populations, services and fieldwork training. Lastly, a higher percentage of RP students compared to MP students had expressed their intention to work as social workers once they complete their studies.     

Autism spectrum disorder and the science of social work: A grand challenge for social work research

The social work profession has not yet taken a leadership role in addressing the myriad of challenges that individuals on the autism spectrum encounter across the lifespan. In this essay, we argue that social workers are well equipped to engage in research and practice aimed at promoting full and meaningful inclusion in society, as well as social and economic justice, for individuals on the autism spectrum. We highlight short- and long-term goals that provide the social work profession with a framework to engage in research, practice, education, and advocacy aimed at supporting individuals on the autism spectrum and their families.     

Sustaining and Strengthening a Macro Identity: The Association of Macro Practice Social Work

Macro practice focuses on community-level interventions, such as management, organizing, research, and policy advocacy. Despite social work's deep roots in this type of work, macro practice and macro practitioners often practice without support or connections with other macro practitioners, and are underrepresented in the profession. In 2006, a group of social workers, including academics and practitioners, formed the Association of Macro Practice Social Work (AMPSW). AMPSW works to strengthen the professional identity of macro practitioners, elevate the status of macro social workers, and address common concerns within the social work profession.     

Under the Cover of Books

There are any number of factors in the political economy of the social work profession which may inhibit or encourage social action activities among its members. In Canada, the precalence of government funding for advocacy organizations, a high level of unionization among social workers, and professional commitment to social action as expressed in the Canadian Code of Social Work Ethics are some of the factors that affect the profession's capacity to engage in social action.     

Cultural history analysis and professional humility: historical context and social work practice

This article explores the importance of history context to the cultural humility of the social work profession. Four graduate student reflections on history context using simplified cultural history method are used to illustrate how important it is to take a critical approach to social work policy and macro practice history. An important element of cultural humility is becoming conscious of social work blind spots on an interpersonal and professional level. Social workers have been involved in institutional practices in the past that are now considered insensitive to cultural difference. The profession has, at times, supported practices of discrimination. Thoughtful history analysis allows social work students and educators to begin to reveal blindness in the past that could help provide insight into current implicit bias and unintentional injustice.     

‘Politics is social work with power’: training social workers for elected office

Training social workers for leadership roles in electoral campaigns and political offices increases the profession’s effectiveness in promoting public policy that reflects our professional values and commitment to social justice. This research describes and evaluates an educational experience in the US that prepares social work practitioners and students to run for elected office; to work in leadership positions at the local, state, and federal levels; and serve as effective advocates for social change. Participants’ plans for future political engagement before and after the training were compared. Following the training, participants are more likely to plan to be politically active in general. Their intentions to work on campaigns, run for office, and engage with elected officials increased. These results can inform education in other social work settings.     

An Analysis of the Political Activities of NASW State Chapters

Abstract

NASW state chapters provide a mechanism through which members can become involved in formal political and community advocacy practice. However, there is little understanding of the strategies and processes undertaken by NASW to affect legislative and electoral outcomes. Through a mailed survey to state NASW chapters, this paper describes the scope of chapters' political practices, their policy goals and priorities, and their perceived effectiveness in advocacy work.     

Developing social work students’ professional identity: the role of England’s Professional Capabilities Framework

ABSTRACT

Developing professional identity is a key aim of social work education. This paper argues that the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) – a holistic, capability approach to student assessment used in England’s social work education programmes – is ideally placed to promote the development of students’ professional identities. The paper discusses two research studies, each of which was stimulated by significant policy changes in England’s social work profession. The author draws out the implications of both studies for supporting social work students to develop their professional identities. It is concluded that the PCF is valued by practice educators as an assessment and teaching tool, while acknowledging that its future is uncertain due to the lack of continuity impacting on England’s social work profession. This paper is equally of relevance for social work educators outside the UK who may be developing and evaluating their assessment approaches and also for those experiencing the impact of rapid policy changes in their own countries.     

Express

This paper describes an integrated approach to teaching social policy within a unique experience-based social work education program. It argues that the teaching of social policy should not be separate within the social work curriculum and provides an example of the integration of policy and practice in teaching students about child protection. It examines the teaching of policy practice using a strengths perspective where it is seen as a bottom-up, inductive process rather than an activity carried out by social work experts with or without the participation of their client groups.     

Political Advocacy in the Context of “Show Me Your Papers”: How Do Human Service Administrators Respond to Policy Upheaval?

This study focuses on the political advocacy of human service administrators following implementation of a highly restrictive state immigration law. It tests hypotheses to assess whether factors associated with the political advocacy of human service administrators generally are also associated with advocacy at a time of policy crisis. Findings suggest that few human service administrators engaged in immigration-related advocacy, and that those who did advocate were those most likely to perceive organizational benefit for doing so. The findings raise questions about the conditions under which human service administrators will advocate for social benefit in an organizational or individual role.     

The National Protection and Advocacy System

Abstract

Many in the profession of social work are unfamiliar with the national system of protection and advocacy services that were set in place by Congress. The system provides advocacy and legal representation to protect the civil rights of all persons with disabilities, with a particular emphasis on persons with developmental disabilities and persons with mental illness. The article describes this system of resources, its method of operation, and shows its compatibility with the purpose and mission of social work.     

Social Work Leadership: Identifying Core Attributes

This article argues that social work academics are educationally remiss for not defining the concepts touted as important for the profession and for our students. Through a content analysis of published literature, the author distilled five core attributes of social work leadership that underpin all other knowledge, personal, and skilled capacities. These core attributes are defined and how they have been used to date is described. This work is aspirational, and the author hopes that other academics and social work professionals may add to its thinking and application.     

What are Social Work Students’ Perceptions of the Community Practice Method?

Summary. A unique aspect of the social work profession is the combination of intervention on the personal, community, and societal levels and their interaction. The purpose of this research is to determine students’ perceptions of community practice. Qualitative research was conducted among Israeli social work students before gaining any practical experience in community practice. Findings. The results demonstrated a change in students’ perceptions of the importance of community practice to the profession, and the factors that contributed to this change. Applications. Recommendations that may contribute to changing students’ perceptions of community practice are offered to educators.     

Do Canadian Social Workers Practice Advocacy?

Involvement in advocacy and social action activities by direct practitioners as well as community organizers is essential if social workers are to develop the capacity to oppose economic and social oppression. Little is known, however, about advocacy as a component of social work practice or those factors which determine whether a social worker engages in such activities. Although a number of researchers have examined the prevalence of advocacy practice among social workers in the United States, no similar studies of advocacy have been conducted among Canadian social workers. The author examines the prevalence of case, self-help, and class advocacy practice among social workers in southwest Ontario. The prevalence of social action-related activities (lobbying for legislation, protests, and involvement in politics) is also assessed.     

Science as a Strategy for Social Work

For more than one hundred years, various forms of science have been promoted to boost social work’s status as a profession. Evidence-based practice and talk about the science of social work are only the most recent manifestations of this pattern. Counter to this trend, this article argues that the latest upsurge of interest in scientific social work is no more likely than any of its predecessors to address the problems of the profession. Beginning with a linguistic analysis of the words science and scientific as positive signifiers, the article traces social work’s long history of science talk as a means of reassuring funding agencies and bolstering the profession’s status. Drawing on a critique of this discourse as the latest example of abstracted empiricism, it then contends that while scientific social work can only rarely capture what occurs in the field, its attempt to do so actually undercuts practitioners’ professional judgment and discretion. Last, after rejecting science talk as counterproductive, the article concludes with recommendations for an alternative strategy that might better position social work to reconcile its advocacy of social justice with its concerns about its professional status.     

Social work and macro-economic neoliberalism: beyond the social justice rhetoric

Macro-economic policy shapes and structures social welfare policy, services, and their implementation. As a result, the commoditisation of social welfare services and the use of markets as well as private sector management philosophies and tools have colonised and fashioned the design, provision and implementation of social welfare policy and structures. The impact has been far reaching, from limiting social welfare responses of elected democratic government to shaping the profession in a range of intended and unintended directions. Written from a UK perspective, this paper proposes a discussion of the impact of macro-economic neoliberal policies in the field of social welfare and explores the implications for social work practice. The paper also promotes a debate within the profession regarding the importance of macro-economic analysis and possible responses, as well as suggesting a way forward within European and, more broadly, international practice contexts.     

Pedagogy of international social work: a comparative study in the USA,UK, and Georgia

The social work profession worldwide has been increasingly influenced by globalization and its effects on social issues that require social workers to be responsive and knowledgeable in addressing them. In recent years there has been an increased emphasis on the internationalization of the social work profession and education. With limited examples of international social-work-teaching methods discussed in the literature, there is also a lack of information obtained directly from students on methods of instruction that they most prefer and find beneficial. This collaborative, comparative project examined students' perceptions of methods that make teaching international social work successful at three universities in the United States, United Kingdom, and Georgia. While there were different preferences for content- and process-driven approaches in teaching, students' common interest was in gaining practice examples and exposure to real-life practice of international social work in their own and other countries. The findings suggest that international social work education needs to be more experiential and practice-based.     

Human Rights and the Social Work Curriculum: Integrating Human Rights into Skill-Based Education Regarding Policy Practice Behaviors

This article provides a model for social work educators seeking to integrate human rights content in the policy course. Each of the four policy-related practice behaviors (e.g., policy formulation, policy analysis, policy advocacy, and collaboration in policy practice) is examined with respect to the traditional methods used in social welfare policy courses and the ways in which these methods can be expanded to include human rights content. Available literature and multimedia resources are noted and practical human rights applications are presented with the goal of supporting efforts to achieve this integration.