(DOWNLOAD) "Political Activities of Social Workers: Addressing Perceived Barriers to Political Participation (Essay)" by Social Work " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Political Activities of Social Workers: Addressing Perceived Barriers to Political Participation (Essay)
- Author : Social Work
- Release Date : January 01, 2010
- Genre: Social Science,Books,Nonfiction,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 217 KB
Description
Although social workers are expected to advocate for their clients, many social worker activities revolve around individual advocacy. For example, Ezell (2001) found that 90 percent of social workers reported advocacy as part of the professional role of social work, but 75 percent of social workers who performed advocacy practiced individual, or case, advocacy (Schneider & Lester, 200l). Far fewer social workers become involved in political, or class, advocacy (also known as policy practice)--participating in the political system on a larger scale, either within or outside of their jobs. There are many reasons for this, including lack of training, not feeling competent to perform policy-related tasks, restrictive employment settings, and fear of losing one's job. Although there are legal restrictions on how much social workers can participate politically, depending on their place of employment, social workers can advocate substantially more than they sometimes assume they can. This article reports the research that has been conducted on what makes social workers more likely to participate in the political process and the barriers that social workers perceive to becoming politically active. Barriers may be internal (for example, feelings of inefficacy) or external (for example, potential legal restrictions). We first address internal barriers to participation and provide resources designed to increase practitioners' feelings of competency to perform policy-related activities. Next, we analyze external barriers, including the Hatch Act and the Internal Revenue Service (INS) regulations for 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, to understand how these laws affect social work political participation. Finally, we draw conclusions on what types of political advocacy social workers can perform within and outside of their places of employment, both for public and nonprofit organizations.
 "Political Activities of Social Workers: Addressing Perceived Barriers to Political Participation (Essay)" by Social Work " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}