Social workers' advocacy roles in politics and policy engagement

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. Social workers' involvement in political advocacy is usually influenced by the impact of politics on social work practice. Through advocacy and lobbying in the political arena, social workers seek to promote changes in legislation and policy to enhance social conditions and promote social justice towards meeting basic human needs. In essence, social workers' participation in political advocacy is geared towards protecting individuals' rights and enhancing people's lives.

An example of a political campaign issue I would participate in as a social worker is reducing economic inequality, which has emerged as a major social and economic issue in the United States. According to Lewis (2013), the U.S. Congress has done relatively nothing to lessen the ever-increasing economic inequality that has made millions of Americans to be treated as second-class citizens. Therefore, economic inequality is gradually becoming a major issue that affects the lives of millions of Americans and require urgent measures to address it. The need to address this issue is attributable to the fact that the Congress has seemingly done nothing to deal with this problem. As a social worker, economic inequality political campaign is a political advocacy and lobbying initiative that I would participate in to enhance the lives of millions of Americans.

My participation in economic inequality political action as a social worker would entail considering the most suitable strategies for social workers' engagement in political action. There are several ways through which social workers can become involved in political issues and campaigns including lobbying/advocating for creation of policies that address the specific issues affecting people. Additionally, social workers can engage in political issues/campaigns through voting, vying for elective positions/seats, contacting elected officials, and making political contributions (Hamilton, 1998). To support the issue of reducing economic inequality facing millions of Americans, my role as a social worker would entail contacting elected officials to help in creating policies that promote economic equality. The process of contacting elected officials will be part of measures to ensure that sensible policies to help poor and middle-class Americans are created. I will then lobby and advocate for the implementation of the economic equality policies in order to address this problem.

In light of the various ways of involvement of social workers in political action, lobbying and campaigning plays a crucial role in social work practice. Lobbying and campaigning is crucial in social work practice since it helps in putting responsible people in office and ensuring the development and implementation of sensible policies that enhance people's lives. Lobbying and campaigning helps social workers to ensure that responsible/right leaders are elected, which is the first step towards the creation and implementation of suitable policies. Additionally, lobbying and campaigning also helps in getting social workers elected into office. Social workers have a powerful and positive effect as elected officials through lobbying towards the development and implementation of sensible policies. This implies that as elected officials, social workers have positive effects through promoting the creation and implementation of policies that improve people's lives. Therefore, the role of social workers as powerful and positive elected officials involves lobbying for establishment of effective policies.

References

Hamilton, D.H. (1998). Factors Affecting Social Workers' Political Participation: Resources, Professional Associations and Perceived Efficacy. Retrieved from Virginia Commonwealth University website: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5770&context=etd

Lewis, C.E. (2013, June 25). How Can Social Workers Get More Politically Involved? Retrieved May 11, 2017, from http://www.socialjusticesolutions.org/2013/06/25/politics-with-a-purpose/