Social Work, Politics, and Social Policy Education: Applying a Multidimensional Framework of Power

The call to promote social justice sets the social work profession in a political context. In an effort to enhance social workers' preparedness to engage in political advocacy, this article calls on educators to integrate a broad theoretical understanding of power into social policy curricula....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of social work education 2019-04, Vol.55 (2), p.224-237
Main Authors: Krings, Amy, Fusaro, Vincent, Nicoll, Kerri Leyda, Lee, Na Youn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advocacy
Agenda Setting
Citizen Participation
College Faculty
Current Events
Curricula
Curriculum Enrichment
Decision Making
Federal Legislation
Ideology
Polarization
Policy Formation
Political Attitudes
Political factors
Political Issues
Politics
Power
Power Structure
Public Affairs Education
Racial Bias
Social Justice
Social policy
Social power
Social Problems
Social Work
Social work education
Social workers
Teacher Responsibility
Teachers
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Summary:The call to promote social justice sets the social work profession in a political context. In an effort to enhance social workers' preparedness to engage in political advocacy, this article calls on educators to integrate a broad theoretical understanding of power into social policy curricula. We suggest the use of a multidimensional conceptualization of power that emphasizes mechanisms of decision making, agenda control, and attitude formation. We then apply these mechanisms to demonstrate how two prominent features of contemporary politics-party polarization and racially biased attitudes-affect the ability of social workers to influence policy. Finally, we suggest content that social work educators can integrate to prepare future social workers to engage in strategic and effective social justice advocacy.
ISSN:1043-7797
2163-5811
DOI:10.1080/10437797.2018.1544519