In Week 3 you are reintroduced to the family case studies you have seen throughout your concentration year. You will analyze the social problems within each family and apply the skill you would use in working with these family members as clients. You are provided with additional media for each family that allow you to use your skills to identify the policy and social problems that are impacting these families. Additionally, you explore policy advocacy skills in relation to your clinical social work skills.
This week you also will complete Part I of your Social Change Project.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Analyze social problems related to social work practice
Apply policy advocacy skills to address a social problem
Analyze the impact of social problems on social work populations
Analyze social policies
Learning Resources
Required Readings
SOCW 6361 Webliography
These websites will be required throughout the semester. Become familiar with these websites, especially when doing research for your assignments.
Community Toolbox. (n.d). Chapter 5 Section 3: Social planning and policy Change. Retrieved from http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/promotion-strategies/social-planning-policy-change/main
Community Toolbox. (n.d). Chapter 5 Section 4: Social action. Retrieved from http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/promotion-strategies/systems-advocacy-and-community-organizing/main
Jansson, B. S. (2018). Becoming an effective policy advocate: From policy practice to social justice. (8th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning Series.
Chapter 7, “Analyzing Problems in the First Step of Policy Analysis” (pp. 204-243)
Midgley, J., & Livermore, M. M. (Eds.). (2008). The handbook of social policy (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Chapter 14, “Critical Social Policy” (pp. 215–235) (PDF)
Required Media
Laureate Education. (Producer). (2013). Bradley (Episode 7 of 42) [Video file]. In Sessions. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 2 minutes.
Accessible player –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload TranscriptCredit: Provided courtesy of the Laureate International Network of Universities.
Laureate Education. (Producer). (2013). Cortez Case Study [Multimedia file]. In Sessions. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 2 minutes.
Laureate Education. (Producer). (2013). Levy (Episode 7 of 42) [Video file]. In Sessions. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 4 minutes.
Accessible player –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload TranscriptCredit: Provided courtesy of the Laureate International Network of Universities.
Laureate Education. (Producer). (2013). Petrakis (Episode 6 of 42) [Video file]. In Sessions. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 2 minutes.
Accessible player –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload TranscriptCredit: Provided courtesy of the Laureate International Network of Universities.
Optional Resources
Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. M. (Eds.). (2014). Sessions: Case histories. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].
MSW home page
Use this link to access the MSW home page, which provides resources for your social work program.
Discussion: Analyses of Social Problems in Case Studies
As a social worker, often you need to use your policy advocacy skills to ensure that your clients are receiving the services that they need. Although you may tend to think of policy advocacy skills as separate from your clinical social work skills, they are very similar. Think of the skills that you would use in working with a client such as Jake Levy. How could you apply these skills to policy advocacy? How will you use these skills to identify the policy and social problems that are impacting these families? In this week’s Discussion, you will continue to follow the Levy, Bradley, Petrakis, and Cortez families to start the process of policy advocacy.
In this Discussion, select one of the four integrated videos and identify the problems experienced by the client(s).
By Day 3
Post your responses to the following:
Who is defining the problem?
What values are reflected in this definition of the problem?
What is being omitted in this definition?
What other problems do you see that are not being acknowledged?
Be sure to support your post with specific references to this week’s resources. If you are using additional articles, be sure to provide full APA-formatted citations for your references.
By Day 5
Respond to a colleague who chose a case different from yours by addressing the following:
Describe another way the identified problem can be defined.
What policy advocacy skills do you think should be used to address the identified problem?
What makes a social problem a social work problem?
Submission and Grading Information
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:
Week 3 Discussion Rubric
Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 5
To participate in this Discussion:
Week 3 Discussion
Project: Part 1: Identification of a Social Problem and Identification of a Policy
As an astute social worker and professional policy advocate, you must be adept at identifying social problems that exist in your community or in an agency or organization with which you are acquainted. Once you have selected a social problem, you begin the process of creating and implementing a policy that addresses that social problem.
In this assignment, you identify and describe a current social problem. You also identify a policy created and implemented to address the problem. This is the first part of your Social Change Project final assignment.
By Day 7
Complete Part 1 of your Social Change Project.
Address the following items in a 3-4 page paper:
Describe a current social problem. How might this problem be incongruent with social work values/ethics?
How/when has this problem been identified historically, and what were the actions taken to address this concern?
How have the groups affected by this concern changed over time?
Describe the policy area related to this social problem.
Is the policy identified by your group dictated by local, state, or federal statute—or a combination thereof?
What are the different aspects of the policy?
How long has the current policy been in place?
Who supports and who opposes the policy?
What changes/amendments have been made to the policy?
Explain how this policy affects clients you might see in a clinical setting and why, as a clinical social worker, it would be important to advocate for change.
Make sure that your assertions are supported by appropriate research and reputable resources.
