Teaching Literature to Highlight Social Policy Issues

Abstract

Graduate social work education can be enhanced through extensive and appropriate use of relevant literary works. This paper describes an elective course for second-year graduate social work students in which twentieth-century novels were used to highlight social policy issues. The paper deals with the relationships between art and social realities and the usefulness of literature for social policy analysis. A detailed account of this course and its evaluation is presented as well as its potential for replication.