Discussion 2: The Social Work Advocate in Politics

Social workers often have commitments to specific policies, laws, or funding of programs that are vital to the population they serve or an issue that they strongly support. Such commitments often lead social workers to become involved in political issues and the campaigns of specific candidates. Being a social worker, such campaign experiences, the outcomes of your efforts, and how effective you felt you were may affect your view of the political process and the likelihood of becoming involved in similar campaigns in the future.

For this Discussion, reflect on your experiences if you have ever participated in a political campaign. What was the outcome of your participation? If you have not participated in a campaign, choose a campaign topic you support or oppose and consider the ways you might like to participate in that campaign. Likewise, think about your experiences if you have ever lobbied on a topic. If you have not, choose a topic for which you might like to lobby in favor or against. Finally, consider how you think social workers might have a powerful and positive effect as elected officials.

By Day 4

Post an explanation of the role of lobbying and campaigning in social work practice. Then, explain how you think social workers might have a powerful and positive effect as elected officials. Finally, explain of the impact, if any, the experiences and opinions of your colleagues have had on your own experiences and opinions.

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

Learning Resources

Note: To access this weeks required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

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. 8183)

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. 1113)

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)

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013). Sessions: Johnson family (Episode 4 of 42) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Accessible player –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload TranscriptCredit: Provided courtesy of the Laureate International Network of Universities.