Explaining the policy practice of community social workers

Abstract

Summary Policy change is a core goal of community social workers. This study aims to identify the motivational and facilitating factors associated with community social workers’ engagement in policy practice, defined as policy involvement undertaken in the workplace context. The sample comprised of 106 community social workers employed by local government in Israel and the data were collected between June 2015 and February 2017. Findings The findings showed that community social workers are more likely to engage in policy when they enjoy higher professional status, possess more policy practice resources, have higher psychological involvement in politics, are more involved in political and professional networks, and sense that they enjoy greater organizational support for policy practice. Applications In seeking to enhance the engagement of community social workers in the policy process, social work education should provide future community social workers with policy practice skills and a sense of psychological engagement in politics. It should also encourage their participation in political networks and offer training that affords them opportunities to develop the organizational skills needed to further macro goals in a social service agency setting. In their workplace, community social workers seeking to engage in policy practice need to nurture an organizational culture that supports social workers’ policy involvement. Given that this study is on a single Israeli sample, future research on community social workers in additional work settings and in other countries is required in order to advance knowledge on this crucial, yet understudied, form of professional activity.

Transforming Classroom Learning Through Community Study Projects in Macro-Social Work Practice Courses

“…These classroom projects can create an interest and commitment among students during their training to actively engage in community practice after their graduation. In fact, studies show that macro-practice training during graduate studies is positively associated with PPE in the community (Reisch, 2016; Weiss-Gal & Gal, 2018).…”

“…To this end, social work faculty and researchers have identified community projects and policy advocacy action projects to develop macro-practice skills and learning outcomes through innovative assignments. Some of these action projects include the use of experiential advocacy assignment (Manalo, 2004), case-based collaborative learning model (Kilbane, Freire, Hong, & Pryce, 2014), practising policy, pursuing change and promoting social justice (3P) approach (Heidemann, Fertig, Jansson, & Kim, 2011), advocacy week model (Kilbane, Pryce, & Hong, 2013), internet-based assignment (Tower & Hartnett, 2011) and policy practice engagement (PPE) model (Pawar, 2019; Weiss-Gal & Gal, 2018). The findings of these studies document how creative assignments have been used to achieve macro-practice skills.…”

“…According to Brueggemann (2006, p. 7), ‘macro-social work is the practice of helping individuals and groups solve social problems and make social change at the community, organizational, societal, and global levels.’ A common theme in these conceptualisations is solving social problems and bringing social change through professionally guided intervention and planned change in societal institutions. Some authors (Das, O’Neill, & Pinkerton, 2015; Mendes, 2008; Pawar & Thomas, 2017; Weiss-Gal & Gal, 2018) note that this aspect of the profession has been marginalised in many programmes around the globe although it is an important practice domain in social work.…”

Beautiful stranger: Voices from the front lines of community practice in Israel

“…Additional studies have examined the ethical dilemmas community practitioners may encounter (Hardina, 2004), the factors contributing to their involvement in the policy arena (Weiss- Gal & Gal, 2018), and the characteristics and motivations of community members (Zanbar & Ellison, 2019;Zanbar & Itzhaky, 2018). Scholars have also debated the question of whether community social work today has a radical potential (Butcher, Banks, Henderson, & Robertson, 2007;Ledwith, 2011).…”

Predictors of hospital‐based registered nurses' engagement in on‐the‐job policy activities

“…Motivational factors encompass the personal perceptions, experiences, and acquired knowledge and skills that professionals possess, and that lead to a willingness to engage in policy‐related activities as part of their professional endeavors. Existing research based on the PPE framework has shown that three types of individual motivation factors are linked to the policy engagement of care professionals (Weiss‐Gal & Gal, 2020). The first of these are personal resources, which include skills and professional status.…”