Despite their long history and growing influence, social work professional organisations (SWPOs) remain underexplored in social work research. Created and fully or partly governed by professionals for professionals, SWPOs comprise millions of practitioners worldwide – some groups having existed for around 100 years – to develop activities that are increasingly relevant for practitioners, users, schools of social work and policy makers.This edited volume provides the first comprehen...

This book provides fresh perspectives on the state of policy practice. Leading scholars explore such vital conceptual topics such as how to impact social justice, what the strengths-based perspective means to policy practitioners and how to bridge the all-too common gap between community organizing and direct practice in social work. Other esteemed academics address topics including how to use technology to impact social justice, what the impacts of the recent changes in the United States’...

Based on data from 12 diverse societies, this is the first cross-national comparative study on academic engagement in social policy formulation.The chapters present survey data on the policy involvement of social work academics in different countries and an analysis of this data by country experts. The findings relate to the levels and types of policy engagement of the social work academics, their perceptions regarding this type of activity and the factors associated with this....

A perennial issue in social work is the lack of clear evidence showing how to be a successful advocate and how to create enthusiasm among students for policy practice. Researchers are now applying theory to understand better the topics of effective social work advocacy and policy practice. The results of testing conceptual models with carefully gathered evidence are beneficial, helping us to advance our knowledge more quickly than merely collecting descriptions of case studies that remain ...

This book provides insights into the way social protection policy is being redefined as a result of the new commitment by governments around the world to use these programs to reduce poverty. The case studies presented show how innovations in social protection have emerged in different countries. They also discuss various aspects of social protection that will be of interest to readers. While some of the case studies are primarily descriptive and seek to document recent trends in different...

Learn what you can do to promote social policy initiatives that really workInternational Perspectives on Welfare to Work Policy presents the latest available research on the various interpretations of welfare-to-work in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Hong Kong, and on the role social work plays in cr

Apply knowledge from the latest research to urgent social problems and programsCutting-Edge Social Policy Research is a careful selection of the finest papers from the 2004 Social Policy Conference held in Charleston, South Carolina. These presentations from respected experts spotlight the latest and best research on a wide variety of crucial social policy issues. Explanations are provided on how to use qualitative and quantitative methods to research social policy questions, with ...

Featuring contributions from practitioners, researchers, and academics, this volume synthesizes and analyzes current trends in rural social work practice and considers the most effective ways to serve rural communities. Contributors consider the history and development of rural social work from its beginnings to the present day, addressing the value of the Internet and other new information technologies in helping clients. They also examine the effects of nonprofit organizations and welfar...

Universal healthcare, perhaps the most distinguishing feature of Canada's public policy, is under fire, criticized for its heavy expense and questionable sustainability. In Where to From Here?: Keeping Medicare Sustainable, Stephen Duckett defends Canadian Medicare, addressing key concerns and refuting criticism, while also acknowledging flaws in the system and room for improvement.Duckett argues that while the fundamentals of Medicare are sound, a great deal of change is ...

Affirmative Action examines the larger structure of institutional white privilege in education, and compares the magnitude of white racial preference with the policies typically envisioned when the term "racial preference" is used. In doing so, the book demonstrates that the American system of education is both a reflection of and a contributor to a structure of institutionalized racism and racial preference for the dominant majority.

This groundbreaking book provides a comprehensive treatment of the political economy of aging. From the founder and key thinker in the field comes a work that aims to contribute to the understanding of old age and aging in the context of problems and issues of the larger social order in America. Since Carroll Estes′ first writing on the political economy of aging in 1979, there has been growing recognition and incorporation of her critical perspective as one of the major paradigms in the f...

Co-published by Routledge for the American Educational Research Association (AERA)Educational policy continues to be of major concern. Policy debates about economic growth and national competitiveness, for example, commonly focus on the importance of human capital and a highly educated workforce. Defining the theoretical boundaries and methodological approaches of education policy research are the two primary themes of this comprehensive, AERA-sponsored Handboo...