Advocacy for social and economic justice is an ethical responsibility of all social workers.

Advocacy for social and economic justice is an ethical responsibility of all social workers.

Week 11: Policy Skills and Practice
Advocacy for social and economic justice is an ethical responsibility of all social workers. The social workers need to analyze policies from many different aspects, anticipate unintended consequences, and educate legislators, stakeholders, and the population on policy issues. This requires a specialized skill set, and this week’s Assignments will provide you with some of these skills.

This week, you examine social policies and analyze how they are evaluated. You also examine the role of lobbying and campaigning in social work practice. Finally, you explore the steps for incorporating policy in social work practice that reflects professional ethics.

Learning Objectives
Students will:
Analyze social policy changes
Analyze how social policies are evaluated
Evaluate how policy advocacy is related to social work practice
Analyze the role of lobbying and campaigning in social work practice.

Discussion 1: Policy Analysis and Application
According to the NASW Code of Ethics section 6.04 (NASW, 2021), social workers are ethically bound to work for policies that support the healthy development of individuals, guarantee equal access to services, and promote social and economic justice.

For this Discussion, review this week’s resources, including Working with Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Trauma: The Case of Rita and “The Johnson Family”. Consider what change you might make to the policies that affect the client in the case you chose. Finally, think about how you might evaluate the success of the policy changes.

By Day 3
Post an explanation of one change you might make to the policies that affect the client in the case. Be sure to reference the case you selected in your post. Finally, explain how you might evaluate the success of the policy changes.

Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

Learning Resources
Required Readings
Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (Eds.). (2014). Social work case studies: Foundation year. Baltimore: MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].

“Working With Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Trauma: The Case of Rita” (pp. 81–83)
Rome, S., Harris, S., & Hoechstetter, S. (2010). Social work and civic engagement: The political participation of professional social workers. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 37(3), 107–129.

Plummer, S. -B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. (Eds.). (2014). Sessions: Case histories. Baltimore: MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].

Part 1, “The Johnson Family” (pp. 11–13)
Popple, P. R., & Leighninger, L. (2019). The policy-based profession: An introduction to social welfare policy analysis for social workers (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Chapter 13, “Taking Action: Policy Practice for Social Workers” (pp. 285-306)
Chapter 13, “Conclusion” (pp. 307-312)