Threaded Discussion How Can You Effectively Communicate with an E

Threaded Discussion: How Can You Effectively Communicate
with an Employee When He/She is Nasty, Has a Bad Attitude,
and Always Negative?
Cedric Wright
No unread replies.No replies.
Your initial response should be posted by Wednesday,
November 10th at 11:59 PM. However, you have until Monday,
November 15th at 11:59 PM to complete your other
requirements for this assignment: respond to at least two of
your classmates and/or Professor Wright. Please make sure you
read the rubric to understand how you will be graded. Lastly,
please make sure your post sentences that are grammatical
correct and don't merely say yes or no. If you have any
questions or concerns, PLEASE do not hesitate to contact me.
Reading Assignment-7
Chapter 11: Communication
Chapter 12: Leadership
Initial response should be at least 150 words for the discussion
post and no less than 100 words for the classmate’s response.
INITIAL RESPONSE IS DUE WEDNESDAY BEFORE
MIDNIGHT AND CLASSMATES POST IS DUE MONDAY.
FIRST CLASSMATE POST: Lillie Leach
YesterdayNov 10 at 9:43am
Manage Discussion Entry
There are five good ways to deal with this type of
person. (Links to an external site.)
1. First empathize, try understanding what they are going
through. Try to find out what's causing them to act that way.
2. Talk to them but don't try to help, give them a chance to blow
off some steam. Listen and try to understand his or her
frustrations, but never get involved it them.

3. Find out what makes them happy, talk about the things that
makes them smile. Maybe it's a child or a spouse, a hobby or
sports that gives them joy and remind them of that.
4. Listen to what they are not saying, pay attention to how they
really feel, things they say between the lines. You can hear it
the dark humor they may use to deal with their hurt.
5. Have fun, sometimes a good laugh is all that is needed to
change a bad attitude. Just allowing a little fun may change a
negative into a positive behavior.
cite works
http://www.inc.com/peter-economy/5-ways-to-deal-with-the-
really-negative-person-in-your-life.html
SECOND CLASSMATE POST: Raymond bellamy
YesterdayNov 10 at 9:31pm
Raymond L. Bellamy Jr.
There are many ways to deal with a rude customer that has a
nasty attitude with one of your workers as a manager. The three
effective ways that come to my mind when dealing with a rude
customer is being caring, actively listening, and staying calm no
matter the situation. In my opinion, the easiest way to calm an
angry customer is being empathetic; show them that you care.
Know the reason why they are mad makes this skill easier.
Listening and doing it actively can play a big role when it
comes to diffusing an angry customer. If you are listening to the
words of the angry customer, you can easily figure out how to
fix the problem. In my opinion, staying calm no matter what, is
the most effective skill to use when dealing with an angry
customer. It is very important to remember you cannot get
emotionally tied into the conversation because the comments
that are being made by the angry customer may be towards you
or coworker, but they are speaking out of anger and most of the

time they don’t mean anything they are saying to you at the
moment.
SOCW 6351: Social Policy, Welfare, and Change Week 11
Discussion 1: Policy Analysis and Application
According to the NASW Code of Ethics section 6.04 (NASW,
2021), social workers are ethically bound to work for policies
that support the healthy development of individuals, guarantee
equal access to services, and promote social and economic
justice.
For this Discussion, review this week’s resources, including
Working with Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Trauma: The Case
of Rita and “The Johnson Family”. Consider what change you
might make to the policies that affect the client in the case you
chose. Finally, think about how you might evaluate the success
of the policy changes.
By Day 11/09/21
Post an explanation of one change you might make to the
policies that affect the client in the case. Be sure to reference
the case you selected in your post. Finally, explain how you
might evaluate the success of the policy changes.
Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be
sure to provide full APA citations for your references.
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 11/10/21
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.
Follow Rubric
Responsiveness to Directions
27 (27%) - 30 (30%) posting fully addresses all instruction
prompts, including responding to the required number of peer
posts.
Discussion Posting Content

27 (27%) - 30 (30%) Discussion posting demonstrates an
excellent understanding of all of the concepts and key points
presented in the text(s) and Learning Resources. Posting
provides significant detail including multiple relevant examples,
evidence from the readings and other scholarly sources, and
discerning ideas.
Peer Feedback and Interaction
22.5 (22.5%) - 25 (25%) The feedback postings and responses to
questions are excellent and fully contribute to the quality of
interaction by offering constructive critique, suggestions, in-
depth questions, additional resources, and stimulating thoughts
and/or probes.
Writing
13.5 (13.5%) - 15 (15%)
Postings are well organized, use scholarly tone, contain original
writing and proper paraphrasing, follow APA style, contain very
few or no writing and/or spelling errors, and are fully consistent
with graduate level writing style.
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. 81–83)
Working With Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Trauma: The Case
of Rita
Rita is a 22-year-old, heterosexual, Latina female working in
the hospitality industry at a resort. She is the youngest of five

children and lives at home with her parents. Rita has dated in
the past but never developed a serious relationship. She is close
to her immediate and extended family as well as to her female
friends in the Latino community. Although her parents and three
of her siblings were born in the Dominican Republic, Rita was
born in the United States.
A year ago, Rita was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance of a
male coworker. Rita and a female coworker met Juan and Bob
after work at a local bar for a light meal and a few drinks.
Because Rita had to get up early to work her shift the next day,
Bob offered to drive her home. Instead of taking Rita directly
home, however, he drove to a desolate spot nearby and assaulted
her. Afterward, Bob threatened to harm her family if she did not
remain silent and proceeded to drive her home. Although Rita
did not tell her family what happened, she did call our agency
hotline the next day to discuss her options. Because Rita’s
assault occurred within the 5-day window for forensic evidence
collection of this kind, Rita consented to activation of the
county’s sexual assault response team (SART). Although she
agreed to have an advocate and the sexual assault nurse
examiner (SANE) meet her at the hospital, Rita tearfully stated
that she did not want to file a police report at that time because
she did not want to upset her family. The nurse examiner
interviewed Rita, collected evidence, recorded any injuries,
administered antibiotics for possible sexually transmitted
infections, and gave Rita emergency contraception in case of
pregnancy. The advocate stayed with Rita during the procedure,
supporting her and validating her experience, and gave her a
referral for individual crisis counseling at our agency.
My treatment goals for Rita included alleviation of rape trauma
syndrome symptoms that included shame and self-blame,
validation of self-worth and empowerment, and processing how
it would feel to disclose to others when the time felt right. In
addition, Rita would receive important information regarding
state policy and procedure for victims of sexual assault that
would assist her in deciding when and how to report the crime if

she chose to do so.
My treatment involved crisis intervention and stabilization
along with emotional support and validation surrounding her
experience. Managing her trauma and acute stress symptoms
were key to her recovery. Those symptoms included guilt,
shame, emotional shock, powerlessness, anxiety, fear, anger,
and doubting her judgment. We processed Rita’s emotional
dysregulation and sense of outrage over what happened. Over
the weeks that followed, we also explored Rita’s relationship to
her immediate and extended family and how they had high
expectations for her and her future. Rita’s shame over the
assault prevented her from telling her family for fear they
would also be shamed and judge her for accepting a ride from
someone she did not know well. We discussed the policy for
reporting a sexual assault to the police in our state and how Rita
only had a 90-day window to report the crime after her forensic
evidence was obtained. After 90 days, the forensic kit would be
destroyed.
The problem with the current 90-day hold policy in our state for
victims like Rita is that a person in crisis experiences strong
and conflicting emotions and is faced with an acute sense of
disequilibrium and disorientation. This, in turn, affects her or
his ability to retain information and make decisions. The
person, therefore, has barely enough time to make sense of what
happened to her or him, let alone decide what to do about it.
The 90-day hold policy may not afford a traumatized victim of
sexual assault enough time to make a decision to report to law
enforcement.
I utilized a strengths-based model in my treatment with Rita to
help her address the decision to report the crime. A strengths -
based framework is client-led with a focus on future outcomes
and strengths that the client brings to a problem or crisis. It is
an effective helping strategy that builds on a person’s resiliency
and ego strength. An integrative strengths-based intervention
can contribute to the development of a positive outcome for
clients in crisis.

I counseled Rita for 6 months. After 5 months, Rita felt strong
enough to disclose to her family and file a report with the
police. However, because the 90-day window had closed by the
time she was stabilized and emotionally ready to file, her
forensic evidence was unavailable.
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. 11–13)
The Johnson Family
Talia is a 19-year-old heterosexual Caucasian female, who is a
junior majoring in psychology and minoring in English. She has
a GPA of 3.89 and has been on the dean’s list several times over
the last 3 years. She has written a couple of short articles for
the university’s newspaper on current events around campus and
is active in her sorority, Kappa Delta. She works part time (10–
15 hours a week) at an accessory store. Talia recently moved off
campus to an apartment with two close friends from her
sorority. She is physically active and runs approximately three
miles a day. She also goes to the university’s gym a couple of
days a week for strength training. Talia does not use drugs,
although she has smoked marijuana a few times in her life. She
drinks a few times a week, often going out with friends one day
during the week and then again on Friday and Saturday nights.
When she is out with friends, Talia usually has about four to six
drinks. She prefers to drink beer over hard liquor or wine, but
will occasionally have a mixed drink.
Talia has no criminal history. She reports a history of anxiety in
her family (on her mother’s side), and on a few occasions has
experienced heart palpitations, which her mother told her was
due to nervousness. This happened only a handful of times in
the past and usually when Talia was “very stressed out,” so
Talia had never felt the need to go to the doctor or talk to

someone about it until now. Talia is currently not dating
anyone. She was in a relationship for years, but it ended a few
months ago. She had since been “hooking up” with a guy in one
of her English classes, but does not feel it will turn into
anything serious and has not seen him in several weeks.
Talia’s parents, Erin (40) and Dave (43), and her siblings, Lila
(16) and Nathan (14), live 2 hours away from the university.
Erin works at a salon as a hairdresser, and Dave is retired
military and works for a home security company. Erin is on a
low-dose antidepressant for anxiety, something she has been
treated for all of her life.
Talia came to see me at the Rape Counseling Center (RCC) on
campus for services after she was sexually assaulted at a
fraternity party 3 weeks prior. She told me she had thought she
could handle her feelings after the assault, but she had since
experienced a number of emotions and behaviors she could no
longer ignore. She was not sleeping, she felt sad most days, she
had stopped going out with friends, and she had been unable to
concentrate on schoolwork. Talia stated that the most
significant issues she had faced since the assault had been
recurrent anxiety attacks.
Talia learned about the RCC when she went to the hospital after
the sexual assault. She went to the hospital to request that a
rape kit be completed and also requested the morning-after pill
and the HIV prevention protocol (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, or
PEP). At that time, a nurse contacted me through the Sexual
Assault Response Team (SART) to provide Talia with support
and resources. I spent several hours with Talia at the hospital
while she went through the examination process. Talia shared
bits and pieces of the evening with me, although she said most
of the night was a blur. She said a good-looking guy named Eric
was flirting with her all night and bringing her drinks. She did
not want to seem ungrateful and enjoyed his company, so she
drank. She also mentioned that the drinks were made with hard
liquor, something that tends to make her drunk faster than beer.
She said that at one point she blacked out and has no idea what

happened. She woke up naked in a room alone the next morning,
and she went straight to the hospital. Once Talia was done at the
hospital, I gave her the contact information for RCC. I
encouraged her to call if she had any questions or needed to talk
with someone.
During our first meeting at the RCC, I provided basic
information about our services. I let her know that everything
was confidential and that I wanted to help create a safe space
for her to talk. I told her that we would move along at a pace
that was comfortable for her and that this was her time and we
could use it as she felt best. We talked briefly about her
experience at the hospital, which she described as cold and
demeaning. She told me several times how thankful she was that
I had been there. She said one of the reasons she call ed the RCC
was because she felt I supported and believed her. I used the
opportunity to validate her feelings and remind her that I did, in
fact, believe her and that the assault was not her fault.
We talked briefly about how Talia had been feeling over the last
3 weeks. She was very concerned about her classes because she
had missed a couple of assignment deadlines and was fearful of
failing. She told me several times this was not like her and she
was normally a very good student. I told her I could contact the
professors and advocate for extensions without disclosing the
specific reason Talia was receiving counseling services and
would need additional time to complete her assignments. Talia
thanked me and agreed that would be best. I introduced the
topic of safety and explained that she might possibly see Eric on
campus, something that might cause her emotional distress. We
talked about strategies she could use to protect herself, and she
agreed to walk with a friend while on campus for the time
being. She also agreed she would avoid the gym where she had
seen Eric before.
The Johnson Family
Erin Johnson: mother, 40
Dave Johnson: father, 43

Talia Johnson: daughter, 19
Lila Johnson: daughter, 16
Nathan Johnson: son, 14
During our second meeting, Talia seemed very anxious. We
talked about how she had been feeling over the last week, and
she indicated she was still not sleeping well at night and that
she was taking long naps during the day. She had missed days at
work, something she had never done before, and was in
jeopardy of losing her job. Talia reported experiencing several
anxiety attacks as well. She described the attack symptoms as
feeling unable to breathe, accompanied by a swelling in her
chest, and an overwhelming feeling that she was going to die.
She said that this was happening several times a day, although
mostly at night. I provided some education about trauma
responses to sexual assault and the signs and symptoms of post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We went over a workbook on
trauma reactions to sexual assault and reviewed the signs and
symptoms checklist, identifying several that she was
experiencing. We practiced breathing exercises to use when she
felt anxious, and she reported feeling better. I told her it was
important to identify the triggers to her anxiety so that we could
find out what exactly was causing her to be anxious in a given
moment. I explained that while the assault itself had brought the
attacks on, it would be helpful to see what specific things (such
as memories, certain times of the day, particular smells, etc.)
caused her to have anxiety attacks. I gave Talia an empty
journal and asked her to record the times of the episodes over
the next week as well as what happened right before them. She
agreed.
We met over several sessions and continued to address Talia’s
anxiety symptoms and feelings of sadness. She told me she was
unable to talk about what happened on the night of the rape
because she felt ashamed. She said that it was too difficult for
her to verbalize what happened and that the words coming out
of her mouth would hurt too much. I reassured her that we

would go at her pace and that she could talk about what
happened when she felt comfortable. We practiced breathing
and reviewed her journal log each week.
It had become clear that the evenings seemed to be the peak
time for her anxiety, which I told her made sense as her assault
had occurred at night. I described how sleep is often difficult
for survivors of sexual assault because they fear having
nightmares about what happened. She looked surprised and said
she had not mentioned it, but she kept having dreams about Eric
in which he was talking to her at the party. The dreams ended
with him holding her hand and walking her away. She said she
also thought about this during the day and could actually see it
happening in her mind. We talked about the intrusive thoughts
that often occur after trauma, and I tried to normalize her
experience. I told her that often people try to avoid these
intrusions, and I wondered if she felt she was doing anything to
avoid them. She told me she had started taking a sleep aid at
night. When I asked about her exercise habits, she said that
right after the assault she had stopped running and going to the
gym. We set a goal that she would run one to two times a week
to help her with anxiety and sleeping. I also suggested that now
would be a good time to start writing her feelings down because
journaling is a very useful way to express feelings when it is
difficult to verbalize them. Talia mentioned that she had
decided not to go to the police about the sexual assault because
she did not want to go through the process. I informed her that
if she wanted to, she could address the assault in another way,
by bringing it to the campus judicial system. She said she would
think about this option.
During another session weeks later, Talia came in distraught.
She said she had been feeling better overall since working on
her breathing and doing the journaling, but that a few things had
happened that were making her more and more anxious and that
her attacks were increasing again. Talia said her parents were
pushing her to drop out of school and to come home. She said
they had been calling and texting her often, something she

found annoying but understandable. They were very upset about
what had happened, although they were more upset with her that
she had waited for weeks to tell them about “it.” Her father
threatened to come and beat the guy up, and her mother cried.
She avoided talking with them, but they had become relentless
with the calls. Her mother had shown up with her sister
unannounced the previous weekend and had treated Talia like
she had a cold—making chicken soup and rubbing Talia’s feet.
The pressure from her parents was weighing on her and
upsetting her. Talia was also distressed by a friend who kept
pushing her to talk about what happened. When Talia finally
relented, her friend asked her why she had gone upstairs with
him. Talia said this made her feel terrible, and she started to
cry. This friend also told her that Eric had heard she had gone
to the hospital and was telling people that she had wanted to
have sex. Eric had been telling people she was “all over him”
and that she had taken her own pants off. This made Talia very
angry and upset.
Key to Acronyms
HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection
PEP: Post-Exposure Prophylaxis
PTSD: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
RCC: Rape Counseling Center
SART: Sexual Assault Response Team
We talked about how there are certain myths in society around
sexual assault and that the victim is often blamed. We also
talked about how the perpetrator often blames his or her victim
to make himself or herself feel better. Talia said she has felt
some sense of blame for what happened and that she should not
have drunk so much. She started to cry. I gently reminded her
that she was not at fault for Eric’s actions, and her drinking was
not an invitation to have sex. I reminded her that he should have
seen how incapacitated she was and that she could not have
consented to sex. Talia continued to cry. She clearly had a

number of emotions she wanted to express but was having
difficulty sharing them, so I offered her some clay and asked
her to use it to mold representations of different areas in her life
and how she felt about them. We spent the rest of the session
talking about the shapes she made and how she felt. Toward the
end of the session she told me she had decided to put in a
complaint with the campus judicial system about the assault.
She worried that Eric would assault another woman and she
would feel responsible if she did not alert the university. I
offered my support and told her I would be there for her through
the process.
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)
Conclusion
Lessons From Policy Analysis
When in graduate school, one of the authors had a favorite
economics professor who was fond of saying that the key to
understanding economics is the realization that everything is
related to everything else—in at least two ways. This is also a
useful observation for social welfare policy. All parts of policy
are infinitely complex and interrelated in a seemingly endless
variety of ways. This same professor also used to say that if you
took all the economists in the world and laid them end to end,
they would never reach a conclusion. Although a cynic might
also say this about social welfare policy analysts, we do not
want to end this book on such a note. We think several broad,

general conclusions can be drawn from the analyses we have
presented, and we will identify these in the following sections.
Thoughts for Social Work Practice
Social workers are often asked to address groups of influential
citizens, such as Rotary Clubs, on issues of social welfare
policy. Realizing that policies such as financial assistance to the
poor are not popular, how might a social worker -giving an
address to a civic group use the concept of partisan policy
analysis to present financial assistance policy in a manner that
might result in increased support?
The Bottom Line Is the Bottom Line
The primary issue in practically every area of social welfare
policy is cost. Put another way, social welfare policy is always
subservient to economic policy. Every policy reform we have
discussed has as its driving goal the reduction of expenditures,
or else a fear that costs will get out of control. The 1996
welfare reform legislation has as its centerpiece requirements
that recipients become employed, with time limits for this to
happen. The argument is that we are spending too much and that
work requirements will reduce costs. The main argument for
family preservation is that by intervening in a family quickly
and intensively, we can avoid foster care and thus reduce total
long-range cost. Most proposals for reform of Social Security
are based on assumptions that the system will go broke at some
future date unless costs are reined in. The current debate about
reform of the Affordable Care Act is largely about cost. Issues
of humanitarianism, quality of life, promoting a good soci ety,
and mutual responsibility are all secondary to doing it cheaper.
As social workers, we have often been pulled into the cost game
and we have sold policies we wished to pursue based on
promised cost reductions. Lindblom’s notion of partisan policy
analysis is why we do this. (If you will remember from Chapter
3, -Lindblom is the political scientist who argues that people

perform policy analyses directed toward the goals of those they
wish to influence.) Realizing that policymakers are greatly
concerned with cost, social workers try to sell policies based on
cost reduction. Social workers did this in 1962 when we
convinced Congress that providing social services to welfare
recipients would help them solve the problems leading to their
dependency, get them off welfare, and thus save costs. We did
this again in 1993 with arguments advocating for the Family
Preservation and Support Program. Legislators quickly soured
on the 1962 Social Service Amendments when they did not
produce the expected cost savings. Now that family preservation
is firmly in place and foster care placement rates—hence
costs—are continuing to rise, it is highly likely that Congress
will also sour on this, even if it can be demonstrated that by
other criteria the concept is a success.
Compassion and Protection: Dual Motivations for Social
Welfare Policy
Our review of current social welfare policies has confirmed
Ralph Pumphrey’s (1959) historical review of social welfare in
the United States. He argued that all social welfare is driven by
two more or less compatible motives. On the one side is the
desire of people to make the lives of others better. “This aspect
of philanthropy may be designated as compassion: the effort to
alleviate present suffering, deprivation, or other undesirable
conditions to which a segment of the population, but not the
benefactor, is exposed.” On the other side are aspects of
policies that are designed for the benefit of their promoters and
of the community at large. Pumphrey (1959) called this
motivation protection and stated, “It may result either from fear
of change or from fear of what may happen if existing
conditions are not changed.” Pumphrey (1959) concludes by
offering the hypothesis that social welfare policies that have
proved effective have been characterized by a balance between
compassion and protection.

A policy that seeks to keep mental patients on their
medications, but only results in extending their compliance time
by a few weeks will be judged by many people to be a failure.
However, perhaps an average of few weeks of extra compliance
is actually a very significant accomplishment.
val lawless/Shutterstock
Aspects of compassion and protection have been evident in all
the policies we have analyzed. Public welfare policy is
concerned with helping poor people (actually the children of
poor people) but is also concerned with protecting society
against the threat of dependent adults; family preservation
policy seeks to help keep families together but also seeks to
protect society from the excessive costs of an escalating foster
care population; Social Security is designed to assure that the
elderly are afforded a reasonably comfortable retirement, but it
also protects families from having to assume responsibility for
the care and support of aging relatives.
Ideology Drives Out Data in Social Welfare Policymaking
Social welfare policies are influenced much more by social
values than they are by data from empirical research. It causes
policy analysts no end of frustration to see situations such as
the welfare reform debate. Even though masses of data have
been presented to Congress demonstrating that many poor
people can’t work and that there are not jobs for a majority of
those who can, Congress continues to pass reform packages that
feature time limits on assistance (“Testimony of Sheldon
Danziger,” 1996). These time limits are based on the work ethic
and confidence that America is the land of opportunity, which
often results in the belief that work can be found by anyone who
tries hard enough. As empiricists and social scientists, we
express outrage, sometimes amusement, at what we view as
antiscientific, anti--intellectual behavior.
Is this tendency to promote values over data really so difficult

to understand? We don’t think that it is. Even social workers
and allied social scientists find it hard to accept data that
contradict deeply held values. For example, we are finding the
research that casts doubt on the effectiveness of family
preservation programs difficult to deal with because these
programs are embodiments of some of our most cherished
values. When Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray (1996)
published The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in
American Life, social workers immediately rejected the book’s
main theses, in most cases never having bothered to read the
book. We have read the book and found ample grounds on
which to reject Herrnstein and Murray’s assertions empirically.
However, and this is our point, many of our colleagues rejected
it without objectively assessing the arguments because these
were so out of line with social work values.
Although we understand the tendency for ideology to drive out
data in policy-making, we do not excuse it. One of the ongoing
challenges to policymakers will always be to make the process
more rational and data based. This is the only way we will ever
bring about meaningful social change and a more just society.
Policymakers Are Generally More Sophisticated Than They
AppearOur Expectations
Political scientists Theodore Marmor, Jerry Mashaw, and Philip
Harvey (1990) argue that the central feature of social welfare
policy is misinformation. They say,
A quite remarkable proportion of what is written and spoken
about social welfare policy in the United States is, to put it
charitably, mistaken. These mistakes are repeated by popular
media addicted to the current and the quotable. Misconceptions
thus insinuate themselves into the national consciousness; they
can easily become the conventional wisdom.
However, policymakers themselves generally know better. With
the legion of consultants, expert staff members, and social
scientists providing testimony before committees and all of the

data and expertise available from government bureaus and
private think tanks, all at the beck and call of legislators, they
usually have a pretty good grasp on the reality of social welfare
problems. Also, some policymakers, for example, the late
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, were experts in social welfare-related
areas before they were elected to office. Others specialize in
one or two areas of policy after election and quickly become
quite expert.
With popular misconceptions about social welfare so strongly
entrenched, how can legislators make policy in this area and
hope to remain in office? Marmor, Mashaw, and Harvey present
three options. They can try to correct the conventional wisdom,
they can act as if the conventional wisdom is true, “or they can
speak in terms that reflect popular understanding but attempt to
govern on the basis of their quite different conception of the
facts.” The first option is a sure road to political death; the
second is generally too cynical even for career politicians. So
most see “dissembling as the only path available to policy
reform combined with political success” (Marmor, Mashaw, &
Harvey, 1990). Marmor, Mashaw, and Harvey were writing in
1990, perhaps a more reasonable time. We fear that, in 2017,
acting as if the conventional wisdom is true (for example, the
belief that the coal industry can be revived in West Virginia) is
no longer too cynical for many career politicians.
These observations explain why reforms of social welfare policy
have such a high failure rate. If reforms are marketed in terms
of dominant misconceptions, they are destined to fail. As we
saw in the chapter on welfare reform, nearly every politician is
currently on the bandwagon supporting the five-year time limit
on welfare benefits. However, all except for perhaps the most
dense have seen the data that, having now passed five years,
there are large numbers of welfare recipients for whom there
simply is no work, or who, for various reasons, are unable to
work. They further realize that taking the steps necessary to
guarantee work will result in a more, rather than a less,
expensive welfare program. Thus, because social welfare

policies are designed and marketed in a way that virtually
assures eventual failure, reform will always be a key feature,
perhaps even focus, of the system.
Our Expectations for Social Welfare Policy Are Unrealistic
The common denominator of all the policies we have analyzed,
with perhaps the exception of Social Security, is that, for some
of the reasons already mentioned, they have had disappointing
outcomes. In an interesting analytical twist, the prominent
sociologist Amitai Etzioni (1994) argues that the problem may
well be not that the policies are failures, but rather that people
expect too much from them. He argues that human behavior is
extremely difficult to change and that the very act of attempting
to do so is a tremendous challenge. He says, “We all know how
difficult changing human behavior is, but this knowledge has
not changed our basic optimistic predisposition. Once we truly
accept that human behavior is surprisingly resistant to
improvement, however, some rather positive, constructive
lessons follow.” These lessons are summarized below.
Lower Your Expectations—Expect Change to Cost Much More
than Predicted
Because behavior change is so difficult to accomplish, we
should be happy with any positive results at all. Viewed from
this perspective, we should celebrate the fact that family
preservation programs are successful in reaching and helping a
few families, that a welfare-to-work program places 10 or 15
percent of participants in jobs, that boot camps for young
offenders have a 50 percent graduation rate. Regarding this last
example, Etzioni (1994) observes, “We must acknowledge that
hoping to assimilate people raised for twenty years in one
subculture (say, the inner city, as a gang member) into a
different subculture (of work and social responsibility) in only a
few months is laughably ambitious” (p. 16).
Creaming Is Okay

Social programs are often criticized for concentrating on the
part of the target population with the fewest problems. For
example, welfare-to-work programs often admit recipients with
a comparatively high level of education, few problems, and
recent work experience because they are easy to place in jobs
and make the program look effective. As we saw in the review
of family preservation, that policy is currently under criticism
because the clients selected for services are not the most serious
cases. Researchers have concluded that most of family
preservation’s clients were never in danger of having the
children removed in the first place. Critics say that the practice
of creaming is undesirable because it directs services to people
who may not even need them and it avoids dealing with the
really tough problems. Etzioni disagrees, arguing that we never
have enough money to help everyone and so it only makes sense
to concentrate our efforts on those most likely to benefit. “The
resources saved this way can then be applied to some of the
more difficult cases. Policymakers should, though, recognize
the fact that the going will get tougher and tougher” (Etzioni,
1994, p. 16).
Don’t Expect to Scrape the Bottom of the Barrel
We must recognize that even with concentrated and persistent
effort, no social welfare policy will ever be able to reach
everyone and every social problem. In a situation analogous to a
medical patient with an illness too severe to cure, there are
some people who will never be adequate parents, some welfare
recipients who will never be able to get a job, some criminals
who will never be “rehabilitated,” and some social problems,
such as poverty, that will never be completely eradicated.
Thoughts for Social Work Practice
The sociologist Amitai Etzioni argues that we should consider
the practice of creaming to be okay. Do you think that you, as a
professional social worker, can do this within the strictures of
the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of

Ethics?
Don’t Allow the Best to Defeat the Good
We generally tend to evaluate social welfare policies relative to
the original promises of their sponsors rather than to some
reasonable level of achievement. Because of the nature of the
political process, policies are almost always oversold initially
in order to get enough support to be enacted. Because, as we
have noted again and again, social welfare policies rarely
exhibit spectacular success, they should be measured against
other policies rather than against some ideal standard. For
example, a welfare-to-work program that increases the level of
paid employment by nine hours a month will be considered a
failure if measured against the standard that all participants
should find full-time jobs. However, if compared with other
programs that increased work by only five hours per month, this
program could look very good. “As long as the social goal at
hand must be served, we must settle for the comparative best
(which is often not so hot), rather than chase elusive perfection”
(Etzioni, 1994, p. 16).
Be Multifaceted but Not Holistic
In social work school, we teach students to utilize a systems
approach. This approach illustrates how the various aspects of a
person’s life and problems are related and that anything
affecting one aspect of a system will reverberate throughout the
whole system. This approach also illustrates that policies must
address a number of facets of a person’s life to be truly
effective. Probably the best example in this book is child
welfare policy. It is now quite fashionable to point out that it is
impossible to address child abuse and neglect effectively
without at the same time addressing poverty. Etzioni accepts
this but argues that a holistic approach would cost so much and

be so complex that it would never be practical for the large
number of people who need help. We must search for policies
that recognize the systems aspect of problems but are less
exacting than a holistic approach. Thus, while we recognize that
poverty is the major factor leading to child neglect, we can still
provide therapeutic day care programs that address only a few
targeted aspects of the neglect and by doing so make some
children’s lives better. As Etzioni (1994) concludes,
It’s no use pretending that poverty or welfare will be abolished,
AIDS or cancer cured in this century, drug abuse or teen
pregnancy sharply reduced. Let’s instead dedicate our efforts to
effective but clearly delineated projects in each of these areas.
This humbler approach is likely to have a very attractive side
effect: it may enhance public willingness to pay for such
projects and may also restore public trust in our leaders and
institutions. (p. 16)
There are slight indications that Etzioni’s advice about lowering
expectations is beginning to sink in, for program evaluators at
least. In their meta-analysis of scientifically adequate
evaluations of family support programs, Dagenais, Begin,
Bouchard, and -Fortin (2004) found evidence of only very slight
effects by the twenty-seven programs evaluated. After
discussing the disappointing data, they surprisingly conclude,
“Investigators would, therefore be wise to give up on obtaining
spectacular results and content themselves with more modest
program gains. Not even a small change in a family should be
taken lightly, however.”
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare The Journal of
Sociology & Social Welfare
Volume 37
Issue 3 September Article 7

2010
Social Work and Civic Engagement: The Political Participation
of Social Work and Civic Engagement: The Political
Participation of
Professional Social Workers Professional Social Workers
Sunny Harris Rome
George Mason University
Susan Hoechstetter
Alliance for Justice
Follow this and additional works at:
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw
Part of the Civic and Community Engagement Commons,
Politics and Social Change Commons, and
the Social Work Commons
Recommended Citation Recommended Citation
Rome, Sunny Harris and Hoechstetter, Susan (2010) "Social
Work and Civic Engagement: The Political
Participation of Professional Social Workers," The Journal of
Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 37 : Iss. 3 ,
Article 7.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol37/iss3/7
This Article is brought to you by the Western Michigan
University School of Social Work. For more information,
please contact [email protected]

Social Work and Civic Engagement:
The Political Participation of
Professional Social Workers
SUNNY HARRIS ROME
George Mason University
Department of Social Work
SUSAN HOECHSTETTER
Alliance for Justice
This article examines the involvement of practicing social
workers
in one type of civic engagement: the use of political processes
to
promote the public good. Based on a survey of 1,274 randomly
se-
lected members of NASW, this is the largest study to date
examin-
ing the involvement of social workers in political action and
policy
advocacy. Findings suggest that approximately half of social
work-
ers demonstrate high levels of participation in the policy
process.
The authors analyze the frequency with which respondents
engage
in specific political and policy-related activities, and compare
these
results to those of other studies. They also examine
respondents'at-
titudes toward political participation and share
recommendations

for increasing this aspect of civic engagement within the
profession.
Key words: Policy, advocacy, civic engagement
Despite its great promise, the new millennium has wit-
nessed the continued erosion of benefits and services for pop-
ulations at risk (Parrott, Cox, Tristi, & Rice, 2008). In addition
we face war and alienation abroad, an economic crisis and
new hazards for immigrants at home, and profound threats to
our civil liberties. In the face of these challenges, scholars and
Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, September 2010,
Volume XXXVII, Number 3
107
Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
activists have decried America's low levels of civic engage-
ment. Distrust of government runs high, with turnout at
the polls hovering around 45% for non-Presidential federal
elections (Day & Holder, 2004) and topping off at 60-64% in
Presidential races (Holder, 2006). The 9/11 tragedy boosted
trust in government temporarily (Putnam, 2002), but the gains
were short-lived. Even at their height, positive attitudes failed
to generate concomitant changes in behavior. The tide may be
turning, however. The Presidential elections of 2004 and 2008
generated larger voter turnouts than at any time in the previ-
ous forty years (Wolf, 2008), with voters in 2008 representing
unprecedented racial and ethnic diversity (Lopez & Taylor,
2008).
As social workers who value social justice and human

rights, we have an ethical responsibility to participate in civic
life by advocating for compassionate leaders and constructive
social policies. This obligation appears explicitly in the NASW
Code of Ethics:
Social workers should engage in social and political
action that seeks to ensure that all people have equal
access to the resources, employment, services, and
opportunities they require to meet their basic human
needs and to develop fully. Social workers should be
aware of the impact of the political arena on practice and
should advocate for changes in policy and legislation to
improve social conditions in order to meet basic human
needs and promote social justice. (1999, Sec. 6.04)
The Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards of
the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE, 2008) and the
International Federation of Social Workers' mission statement
(IFSW, 2005) similarly testify to the importance of political
action. This emphasis is a natural outgrowth of social work's
long history of involvement in championing important social
causes.
Commitment to social and political action has taken many
forms within the social work community. Some choose public
service. There are currently ten social workers who are members
of the U.S. Congress and sixty-eight who hold statewide office
(NASW, 2008). Social workers also serve as staff in national,
108
Social Work and Civic Engagement
state, and local legislative offices. Others work as advocates or

lobbyists. Meanwhile, policy practice has gained some curren-
cy in social work education with faculty teaching courses, re-
quiring assignments, and providing practicum experiences in
political and policy settings (Anderson & Harris, 2005; Hoefer,
1999; Sundet & Kelly, 2002; Wolk, Pray, Weismiller &
Dempsey,
1996).
Review of the Literature
Most research examining the political participation of social
workers has sought to identify whether or not social workers
are politically active, what characteristics distinguish those
who are highly active from those who are not, and how social
workers express their political involvement. Several studies
have concluded that social workers, as a group, are more polit-
ically active than the general population (Parker & Sherraden,
1991; Ritter, 2007; Wolk, 1981). A number have categorized
respondents into those who are inactive, active, and highly
active. Replicating an earlier study by Wolk (1981), Ezell
(1993)
found that the proportion of politically active social workers
had increased by nearly 20% over the course of a decade, from
66% to 85.7%. In a more recent study using a different mea-
surement scale, Ritter (2007) found only 46% of her national
sample of social workers to be active or very active in political
affairs.
The relationship between various demographic character-
istics and level of political participation has been examined in
a number of studies. Those found to be more active include
African Americans (Ezell, 1993; Reeser & Epstein, 1990; Wolk,
1981), NASW members (Ezell, 1993; Hamilton & Fauri, 2001),
macro practitioners (Ezell, 1993; Reeser & Epstein, 1990;
Wolk,
1981), those with higher levels of education (Ezell, 1993;

Parker
& Sherraden, 1991; Wolk, 1981), those who are older (Wolk,
1981), those with higher salaries (Wolk, 1981), those who own
their own homes (Parker & Sherraden, 1991), and those with
more years of professional experience (Ezell, 1993).
Finally, researchers have attempted to identify the specific
activities in which social workers are most likely to engage.
Because different researchers have employed different sub-
jects, scales, definitions, and time frames, readers should
109
exercise caution in comparing results across studies. Instead,
the findings are useful in painting a picture of what seem to
be common trends. Studies that have asked about "voting"
(Hamilton & Fauri, 2001; Parker & Sherraden, 1991; Ritter,
2007)
found it to be the single most common activity, even compared
to other forms of electoral participation. "Contacting legisla-
tors" and "belonging to organizations that take a stand on po-
litical issues" were also among the most common (Ezell, 1993;
Hamilton & Fauri, 2001; Ritter, 2007; Wolk, 1981). At the other
end of the scale were "campaigning" and "testifying," which
consistently ranked last (Ezell, 1993; Hamilton & Fauri, 2001;
Parker & Sherraden, 1991; Ritter, 2007; Wolk, 1981).
Despite its importance, there remains little scholarly lit-
erature on the topic of civic engagement among social work
professionals. Increasing our understanding of whether, how,
and why social workers use political processes to promote the
public good is critical to identifying strategies for increasing

social work's influence in important policy debates affecting
vulnerable client groups. The descriptive study presented in
this article adds to the growing body of literature on this topic
in several ways. First, it is one of the few to use a national
sample. Most have relied upon subgroups of social workers:
members of a single NASW chapter, licensed social workers
within a single state, NASW chapter directors, etc. Second, this
study features the largest sample size to date. With the excep-
tion of Reeser (1986), sample sizes have fallen in the 200-400
range, averaging about 350 respondents. This study is based
on 1,274 valid responses. Third, the activity scale used here is
more detailed than those used in other studies, addressing a
larger number of activities and permitting finer distinctions in
terms of frequency. Finally, this study includes a set of ques -
tions about social workers' attitudes toward political participa-
tion that adds a new dimension to previous research findings.
Method
A self-administered, self-report questionnaire was devel-
oped by the authors in 2000, and pre-tested with social work
colleagues and students. Final revisions were made, and the
instrument-together with a cover letter and business-reply
110
Social Work and Civic Engagement 111
envelope-was subsequently sent by first-class mail to a com-
puter-generated list of 3,000 randomly-selected "regular"
members of NASW. Four weeks later a follow-up mailing,
including cover letter, duplicate survey instrument, and reply
envelope, was sent to those who had failed to respond to the
initial mailing. Surveys returned by the post office as "unde-

liverable" were excluded, as were surveys completed by re-
spondents indicating they were not currently practicing social
workers. A total of 1,274 valid responses were obtained, for a
return rate of 43%.
The instrument is divided into three sections. The first con-
tains a series of 20 statements representing various types of
political activity. The activities were derived from two sources:
some were based on those used in other studies; others were
suggested by the direct experience of the researchers, both of
whom are former registered lobbyists. Respondents were asked
to signal how often they engage in each activity listed, using
a Likert scale of "never," "rarely," "sometimes," "often," and
"always." The second section contains a list of 22 statements
expressing attitudes or beliefs regarding political participation
and social work. Respondents were asked to indicate their level
of agreement with each statement by marking "strongly dis-
agree," "disagree," "no opinion," "agree," or "strongly agree."
The final section asks for demographic information concerning
educational background, practice background, age, sex, and
political party affiliation. There is also an open-ended question
soliciting additional thoughts regarding political participation
and social work practice.
Frequencies and cross-tabulations were computed using
SPSS, allowing for percentage comparisons. A content analysis
was performed on the responses to the open-ended question
using open-source coding and categorization to identify recur-
rent themes.
Characteristics of Respondents
The vast majority of respondents (93.8%) hold an MSW
degree. The modal length of time in social work practice is 11-
20 years. Approximately 78% identify as female and 22% as
male. The largest age concentration (40.8%) is in the 46-55 year

112 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
old category. Slightly more than 70% of respondents identify
themselves as Democrats. Independents (12.4%) outnumber
Republicans (7.9%). Those reporting no political party affili -
ation represent 6.4%. In addition, several respondents identi-
fied themselves as having run for, having held, or currently
holding elective office.
The largest cohort of respondents indicates working in
nonprofit agencies (33.4%), followed in descending order by
public agencies (25.9%), private clinical practice (23.8%), and
for-profit settings (12.5%). Most (86.2%) work in urban or
suburban areas. Nearly half (45.7%) are employed in health
or mental health settings, including private/group practice,
mental health facilities, and hospitals. Only 7% work for advo-
cacy or membership organizations. Of the entire sample, 61.8%
identify themselves as direct service providers. The clients
served are largely lower and middle income (84.5%), with very
few respondents primarily serving upper income clients.
Results
An overall rating of political participation was devised,
based on the list of identified behaviors. Scores were divided
into "high" and "low," reflecting the frequency with which
respondents engaged in each political activity. Slightly fewer
than half (46.6%) of respondents fell in the "high" range, while
slightly more than half (53.4%) fell in the "low" range.
Comparing rates of overall participation to various re-
spondent characteristics yielded few significant differences.
There was no discernable difference in level of activity related

to issues of personal interest versus issues of professional in-
terest. Respondents with a BSW degree were equally divided
between the high and low categories, as were respondents with
an MSW degree. Only doctoral level preparation showed a dif-
ference, with 75% of those with doctoral degrees falling in the
"high" category compared with 25% in the "low" category.
Age and years of social work practice experience both were
positively correlated with civic engagement. The older the re-
spondent, the more likely to be highly involved in political
activity; similarly, the more years of social work practice ex-
perience, the more likely to be highly involved. Respondents
employed in the public sector showed the highest percentages
of political activity (equally divided between the "high" and
"low" categories), followed in order by those in nonprofit agen-
cies, those in private clinical practice, and those i n for-profit
agencies (one-third of whom were in the "high" category and
two-thirds of whom were in the "low" category). In terms of
employment setting, those with the strongest showing in the
"high" category work in universities (86.3%) and advocacy/
membership organizations (85.7%). Those with the lowest
overall participation rates work in nursing homes (25% in the
"high" category), correctional facilities (22.2%), and substance
abuse programs (17.6%).
In addition to overall participation, frequencies were cal-
culated for each individual behavior in order to get a clearer
picture of how social workers participate in civic life (See
Table
1). The most common activities, defined as those engaged
in "often" or "always" by more than half the respondents,

include: voting (95.0%), keeping up with the news (89.2%),
knowing who represents them in state and national govern-
ment (79.4% and 85.3% respectively), encouraging friends,
neighbors, or colleagues to vote (67.0%), monitoring legisla-
tion of interest (58.0%), sharing political opinions with others
(54.6%), and discussing current policy issues with others
(53.6%). The least common activities include: participating in
(7.8%), helping to organize (3.4%), or encouraging others to
attend (9.5%) rallies, marches, or demonstrations; voicing opin-
ions through the media (7.1%); attending or testifying at hear -
ings (11.5% and 4.3% respectively); actively campaigning for
a candidate (13.4%); contacting legislators (17.9%); participat-
ing in community groups that seek to influence policy (18.2%);
and keeping track of how legislators vote (26.7%). Particularly
noteworthy is that more than 40% of respondents report never
having attended a rally, march, or demonstration; nearly half
(48.2%) have never contacted the media; and more than two-
thirds (68.3%) have never testified at a public hearing.
Respondents were also asked about their attitudes and
opinions regarding participation in the political process. For
ease of reporting, responses have been organized into three
thematic categories: Professional Role, Perceived Influence,
and Educational Preparation. In a few cases where statements
113
Table 1. Frequency of Participation in Specific Activities
10 11 43 264 941
I vote on election day 1269 (0.8) (0.9) (3.4) (21.0) (74.0)

I encourage others to vote on 45 100 267 385 471
election day (4.0) (8.0) (21.0) (30.0) (37.0)
I share my political opinions with 126 25 86 463 463 227
others (2.0) (7.0) (36.6) (36.6) (18.0)
I actively campaign for candidates 1266 384 411 302 105 64
of my choice (30.3) (32.5) (23.9) (8.3) (5.1)
9 23 105 348 786
I read, listen to, or watch the news 1271 (0.7) (1.8) (8.3) (27.4)
(61.8)
I know who represents me in the 1266 14 50 197 364 641
state capital (1.1) (3.9) (15.6) (28.8) (50.6)
I know who represents me in 1265 10 42 134 318 761
Congress (0.8) (3.3) (10.6) (25.1) (60.2)
I follow the progress of legislation 1265 31 120 381 460 273
that interests me (2.5) (9.5) (30.1) (36.4) (21.6)
I discuss current policy issues with 1269 35 114 440 489 191
others (2.8) (9.0) (34.7) (38.5) (15.1)
I attend public hearings on issues 1269 402 418 304 105 40
that interest me (31.7) (32.9) (24.0) (8.3) (3.2)
I contact my legislators to share my 1266 209 397 434 177 49
opinion on policy issues (16.5) (31.4) (34.3) (14.0) (3.9)
I keep track of how my legislators 1269 170 327 434 256 82
vote on issues that interest me (13.4) (25.8) (34.2) (20.2) (6.5)
I participate in political rallies, 1264 513 396 257 64 34
marches, etc. (40.6) (31.3) (20.3) (5.1) (2.7)

I encourage others to participate in 1265 513 379 254 78 41
political rallies, marches, etc. (40.6) (30.0) (20.1) (6.2) (3.2)
I help organize political rallies, 1266 906 235 83 21 21
marches, etc. (71.6) (18.6) (6.6) (1.7) (1.7)
I testify at federal, state, or local 1263 863 220 125 42 13
hearings (68.3) (17.4) (9.9) (3.3) (1.0)
I participate in community groups 1265 355 342 338 166 64
that seek to influence policy (28.1) (27.0) (26.7) (13.1) (5.1)
I voice my opinions on policy 1261 608 331 233 69 20
issues to media outlets (48.2) (26.2) (18.5) (5.5) (1.6)
I take an active role in relation to 1242 137 314 455 267 69
issues that affect my clients (11.0) (25.3) (36.6) (21.5) (5.6)
I take an active role in relation to 1261 129 291 506 255 80
issues that affect me personally (10.2) (23.1) (40.1) (20.2) (6.3)
114
were phrased in the negative (to avoid acquiescent response
set), they are re-phrased in the positive to allow for compara-
tive analysis. The items comprising Professional Role are dis -
played in Table 2. A full 87.5% disagreed or strongly disagreed
with the contention that it is unethical for social workers to be
involved in politics, demonstrating that the vast majority find it
ethically acceptable. Of the seven remaining statements, more
than half the respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the

first five, affirming the relevance of political action to their
jobs
and recognizing their professional obligation to stay informed,
educate others, and advocate for constructive policies. The re -
maining two statements apparently were more problematic.
Table 2. Professional Role and Political Participation
N
(Valid SD D N A SA
Responses)
It is unethical for social
workers to be involved in
politics
I consider it my professional
obligation to stay informed
about changes in social
policy
Every social worker has an
obligation to promote poli-
cies that benefit their clients
I wish I had enough time to
advocate for policy changes
affecting my practice or my
clients
Increasing the general
public's understanding of
social policy is an integral
part of the social work role
I consider political action

relevant to my job
It is part of my mission to
empower my clients politi-
cally as well as personally
I wish my agency would
let me be more involved in
politics
1238 651 432 115 29 11
(52.6) (34.9) (9.3) (2.3) (0.9)
1264 11 35 106 692 420
(0.9) (2.8) (8.4) (54.8) (33.2)
36 140 255 564 2451240 (2.9) (11.3) (20.6) (45.5) (19.8)
1232 47 144 267 564 210
(3.8) (11.7) (21.7) (45.8) (17.0)
1232 45 177 328 532 150
(3.7) (14.4) (26.6) (43.2) (12.2)
1228 62 161 179 498 328
(5.0) (13.1) (14.6) (40.6) (26.7)
92 290 330 375 1411228 (7.5) (23.6) (26.9) (30.5) (11.5)
145 276 512 131 571121 (12.9) (24.6) (45.7) (11.7) (5.1)
SD= Strongly Disagree; D= Disagree; N= No Opinion; A=
Agree; SA= Strongly Agree
115

The statement on politically empowering clients generated the
most ambivalence, with approximately 42% agreeing that it
is part of their mission, 31% disagreeing, and 27% expressing
no opinion. Finally, the statement "I wish my agency would
let me be more involved in politics" elicited stronger levels of
disagreement (27.5%) than agreement (26.8%), with 45.7% ex-
pressing no opinion.
The second theme represented by the attitude/opinion
questions concerns Perceived Influence. Responses are sum-
marized in Table 3. These statements were designed to measure
the degree to which social workers believe they have the power
to influence policy outcomes. The vast majority of respondents
(93.4%) agreed or strongly agreed that voting is important.
Nearly 85% disagreed or strongly disagreed that influenc-
ing policy should be left to professional lobbyists, suggesting
that they potentially see a role for social work practitioners in
shaping policy outcomes. More than 65% indicated that they
believe they could influence social policy if they tried.
Table 3. Perceived Influence on Public Policy
N (Valid SD D N A SA
Responses)
Voting is an important tool 1243 16 23 42 490 671
for influencing social policy (1.3) (1.9) (3.5) (39.4) (54)
Influencing policy should be 1249 422 637 126 52 12
left to professional lobbyists (33.8) (51.0) (10.1) (4.2) (1.0)
It is unlikely that I would 254 579 215 165 32

have much influence, even if 1245 (20.4) (46.5) (17.3) (13.3)
(2.6)
I tried to affect social policy
Finally, several statements sought respondents' opinions
about the adequacy of their Educational Preparation for civic
engagement. These appear in Table 4. The strongest level of
agreement (78.1%) concerned the link between social work
practice and social action. This compares favorably to the
36.2%
who felt they'd had adequate guidance on integrating political
action into their professional roles. A total of 41.7% said they
wished they were more knowledgeable about how to impact
the political process, and 47.5% expressed being satisfied with
their level of political involvement.
116
Table 4. Educational Preparation for Political Participation
N (Valid
Repose) SD D N A SAResponses)
My social work education
emphasized the link between 1251 25 121 129 665 311
social work practice and social (2.0) (9.7) (10.3) (53.2) (24.9)
action
I wish I were more knowledge- 75 332 318 437 81able about

how to effectively 1243 (6.0) (26.7) (25.6) (35.2) (6.5)
impact the political process
I believe I've had adequate
guidance on how to integrate 1243 102 431 259 346 103
political action into my profes- (8.2) (34.7) (20.9) (27.9) (8.3)
sional role
I am satisfied with my level of 1251 52 419 186 505 89
political involvement (4.2) (33.5) (14.9) (40.4) (7.1)
Discussion
The nearly equal division of respondents between high
and low overall levels of political participation is not surpris -
ing, given the breadth and diversity within the profession. It
echoes the profession's historical dual emphasis on casework
and social action. The fact that nearly half of NASW members,
nationally, are highly politically active is a positive sign, espe -
cially since some view NASW as a mainstream organization
in which social work activists may be underrepresented. The
levels of participation here are lower than those found (using
a different index) by Wolk (1981) and Ezell (1993), but very
similar to those found by Ritter (2007).
The effects of educational preparation (PhD), age, and
number of years in social work practice are consistent with
other findings. The fact that those with BSW and MSW degrees
are equally active might be considered at odds with previous
findings in which higher levels of education correlated w ith
higher levels of civic engagement. The finding here may be a
positive one, reflecting the attention paid to policy practice in
BSW curricula, as required by the CSWE curriculum policy

statement. Alternatively, it could be interpreted as negative,
reflecting the sometimes narrower "clinical" focus of many
117
MSW social workers. It is not surprising that public sector and
nonprofit agency employees show higher levels of involve-
ment than those in private clinical practice or for-profit agen-
cies. Nor is it surprising that those employed by universities
and advocacy/membership organizations show the highest
levels of participation. Of some concern, however, are the
overall low levels of participation by social w orkers in nursing
homes, correctional facilities, and substance abuse programs -
settings beset by systemic problems and often in need of policy
interventions.
Looking at the various ways in which social workers mani-
fest their involvement in the political process, a clear pattern
emerges. With the exception of voting, the activities engaged
in most often are those that require the least amount of effort;
they could be described as passive rather than active. These
include: keeping up with the news, identifying one's legislative
representatives, following the progress of legislation, sharing
political opinions with others, and discussing policy issues
with friends and colleagues. At least half of the respondents
indicated engaging in these activities "often" or "always." By
contrast, those activities requiring greater commitment scored
lower. These include contacting legislators, actively campaign-
ing for candidates, testifying at hearings, attending marches or
rallies, contacting the media, and joining community groups
that advocate for policy change. A similar preference for activi -
ties requiring lower, rather than higher, levels of commitment

was identified by Parker and Sherraden (1991) in their study of
electoral politics and social work participation.
Of the behaviors identified in the survey, perhaps the most
widely studied is voting. The fact that 95% of respondents in-
dicated they vote often or always is impressive. Even account-
ing for possible social desirability bias, this far outstrips the
voting rate in the general population. It is, in fact, consistent
with other studies all of which show more than 90% of social
work respondents indicating they vote.
Findings on several other items were more surprising. Only
18.2% indicated that they "participate in community groups
that seek to influence local, state, or federal policy." First, this
is at odds with the findings of previous studies that iden-
tify organizational membership as one of the more common
118
ways of expressing political involvement. Second, everyone in
the sample is a member of NASW, an organization that has
an active lobbying presence at both the national and chapter
levels. The outcome here may be a function of how the item
is worded: Perhaps most NASW members don't view their
membership as "participation"-or perhaps they don't con-
sider NASW to be a "community group." Another possibility
is that members are unaware of NASW's role in political ad-
vocacy. This suggests that more aggressive outreach to NASW
members around the Association's policy efforts could be an
important strategy for increasing overall levels of political par -
ticipation within the profession.

The other finding that seems inconsistent with previous
research is the small proportion of respondents who report
contacting their legislators. The difference might be due to the
ways in which the variable is measured across studies. For
example, 60% of social workers may have contacted a legislator
at least once during the past year (Hamilton & Fauri, 2001), but
they might not characterize this in the present study as doing
so "often" or "always." This interpretation of the data is sup-
ported by the fact that 34.3% say they contact their legislators
"sometimes" and an additional 31.4% do so "rarely." Perhaps
the findings are less inconsistent than they first appear.
Also rated surprisingly low was "participating in marches,
rallies, or demonstrations." Reeser and Epstein (1990) charac -
terize this as one of a set of "non-institutionalized" social action
behaviors. One of their key findings is that, between the 1960s
and the 1980s, social workers increased their use of "institu-
tionalized" methods of political participation and decreased
their engagement in "non-institutionalized" behaviors. This
finding is consistent with that pattern, yet it remains counter -
intuitive. With so many causes sponsoring walks and runs and
rallies (AIDS, breast cancer, genocide, suicide prevention, gun
control, gay rights, etc.), one would expect more social workers
to participate. Perhaps respondents weren't thinking of the po-
litical agendas underlying these events, but only of their social
or fundraising goals.
Consistent with other research findings, involvement in
electoral campaigns ("I actively campaign for the candidates
of my choice") scored low. This may reflect the profession's
119

lagging attention to the importance of electoral politics. Unlike
policy advocacy, electoral politics does not appear in the NASW
Code of Ethics, nor is it mentioned in the CSWE curriculum
policy statement. Some social workers remain uncomfortable
with partisan politics, believing it is unethical or "dirty"-or
mistakenly viewing it as an incursion into others' self-deter-
mination. (Haynes & Mickelson, 2010) Others may be wary of
publicly affiliating themselves with a specific party or candi -
date, lest they jeopardize government or foundation support
for their agencies. Social workers and social work students
should clarify their legal rights to engage in partisan politics.
Where appropriate, they can then begin with small expressions
of their own electoral convictions: by putting up a yard sign,
making a monetary contribution, sporting a bumper sticker,
etc. Though looked on as relatively minor, these behaviors are
a vital part of campaigning and may lead to more ambitious
activities.
Also consistent with previous research is the low ranking
attributed to attending or testifying at public hearings. What
is curious about this finding is that testifying is among the
policy practice exercises most often incorporated into policy
courses in schools of social work. The low numbers are likely
due to lack of opportunity to attend hearings or to testify in the
context of one's job. The work force might benefit from train-
ing that focuses on increasing social workers' comfort level
with the art of testifying. Issues of great importance to human
service agencies often are considered by state and local gov-
erning bodies. Increasing the visibility and input of profession-
al social workers would be an invaluable asset in influencing
budget and policy outcomes that can determine the survival of
key programs and services.
Using the media is another low-scoring activity, and one
that has rarely been studied. Its importance, however, is un-

deniable. Political scientists have long observed that public
call-in shows on radio and television skew conservative; social
work voices are rarely heard. Fortunately, several policy text-
books now incorporate material on working with the media;
hopefully the next generation of practitioners will be more
comfortable with that role and will voice their opinions on im-
portant policy issues through strategic use of broadcast, print,
120
and electronic media.
Finally, although more than half of respondents indicated
they often or always discuss current policy issues with friends,
neighbors, or colleagues, this is a number that can and should
be increased. This kind of discussion is critical to shaping
public opinion, and public opinion is an important determinant
of policy change. Amidei (2002) extols the virtues of talking
about the issues in public: on the subway, in the elevator, etc.
Social workers often are reticent about expressing their views.
This will require a cultural shift that should begin with social
work education. We have an obligation to be knowledgeable
and to share that knowledge (and resulting convictions) with
policy-makers and with the public.
Many social workers continue to harbor ambivalent feel-
ings toward participation in the political process. Haynes
and Mickelson attribute this reluctance to a "perceived con-
flict between political ideology and professional impartiality"
(2010, p. 23). Students often express the mistaken belief that it
is unethical for social workers to be involved in politics. The
survey findings suggest, however, that among a strong major-

ity of NASW members (87.5%), political participation is not
viewed as ethically suspect. This comfort with political action
on ethical grounds is essential; until we reach 100% agreement,
we must continue to stress the integral relationship between
political action, social work practice, and the quest for social
and economic justice.
Respondents were asked to express their views regarding
what functions are relevant to their jobs, what obligations they
hold as social work professionals, and how they perceive the
parameters of the social work role. The responses were impres -
sive: 88% said they consider it their professional obligation to
stay informed about changes in social policy, approximately
67% said they consider political action relevant to their job,
and approximately 65% agreed that every social worker has an
obligation to promote policies that benefit his or her clients. In
regard to relevance, however, many of the clinical practitioners
expressed a different opinion in response to the open-ended
question. A typical comment was: "In my opinion, community
action is far removed from clinical practice." Another mental
health professional wrote, "Politics is not much relevant to the
121
day-to-day issues in my practice."
Comparing beliefs to action reveals some disparities; despite
positive attitudes, fewer than half of the respondents demon-
strated high overall levels of political participation. It is likely
that lack of time is one explanation: 62.8% said they wished
they had enough time to advocate for policy changes affecting
their practice or their clients. Lack of time also emerged as a

theme in the analysis of the responses to the open-ended ques-
tion. The responsibilities of parenthood emerged as another.
As one respondent wrote, "Since the birth of my baby, my time
and energy are devoted to the politics at home! It feels impos-
sible to march in D.C. like I did when I was in grad school. I
suppose this is an area I will return to when my life changes
again." The effect of agency rules and expectations is less clear.
While only 6.8% indicated that they wish their agency would
let them be more involved in politics, this could reflect one of
two things: either their agencies already do permit their po-
litical involvement, or they lack interest in becoming more
politically involved. Greater levels of concern about agency
constraints surfaced in response to the open-ended question,
largely among public employees. In some cases the agency's
position seems to depend on the particular issues involved.
For example:
I believe my state agency (public health) is quite
paranoid about lawsuits and doesn't encourage
political action. An exception was when there was a
threat to privatize all home health in the state. With
agency leadership, we individual workers contacted
fellows in other agencies and clients to write, call and
testify at the state Congressional level.
Perhaps the most interesting responses were to the state-
ment: "It is part of my mission to empower my clients politi -
cally as well as personally." While 42% agreed, more than 30%
disagreed and more than one-fourth expressed no opinion. The
role of social workers in encouraging clients to be politically
active-as distinct from advocating on their behalf-is an area
that deserves further investigation. Although our profession
subscribes to client empowerment as a fundamental practice
goal, how we operationalize it remains unclear. This is an area
122

of enormous promise that could help give our clients a voice
while promoting the public good and facilitating broad-based
civic engagement (Rome, Hoechstetter, & Wolf-Branigin, In
press).
Scholars have long taken an interest in identifying what
factors might predict greater engagement in the political
process. Political scientists, in particular, have defined a series
of variables that comprise a measure of what they call "psy-
chological engagement" (Verba, Schlozman & Brady, 1995).
Among them is something similar to what social workers call
"agency"-that is, the belief that one has the ability to affect
outcomes. Hamilton and Fauri (2001) and Ritter (2007) have
tested this notion with a social work audience. They found
that those who believe they have the power to influence out-
comes are indeed more likely to engage in the political process.
Against this backdrop, the findings in the current study are en-
couraging: a strong majority of respondents believe that voting
matters and disagree that influencing policy should be left to
professional lobbyists. More than two-thirds believe that, if
they tried, they would be likely to have some influence over
social policy. One respondent wrote: "It continually amazes me
how one or two or three people-plain citizens-can get leg-
islation passed or killed, if they have a good case that doesn't
gore anyone's ox, and they are persistent in their efforts." On
the other hand, a few responses suggest skepticism about the
political process: "As someone who was very politically active
in the 60s and 70s, I have become totally disillusioned with
the political system and increasingly cynical about the political
change process."

Finally, respondents were asked about the adequacy of
their preparation for policy practice. It appears that most re -
spondents got the message about the interdependence of
policy and practice, but many are having difficulty applying
this conviction on the job. This suggests a need for continu-
ing education that helps administrators, supervisors, and
workers identify opportunities to incorporate political action
into the work place as seamlessly as possible. Consider this
comment: "Political involvement is an 'extra' when you have
too few resources, too little time, and are generally doing more
with less." The goal is for policy and practice to exist as an
123
integrated whole, rather than as two separate pursuits.
According to a few respondents, political participation can ac -
tually help relieve some of the stresses of the workplace: "I feel
very strongly that it is our duty to become active in the political
arena. Public policy impacts on our families in dramatic ways.
I also feel it will help us to fight bum-out. I first became active
as an advocate for child welfare when I was a CPS worker.
When things felt hopeless I'd get involved in shaping policy."
The study further suggests that another topic for continu-
ing education should be skill development in policy practice.
Over 40% of respondents said "I wish I were more knowledge-
able about how to effectively impact the political process."
While not a majority, this constitutes a sizeable number of
social workers who might well become more active with the
confidence and comfort that stem from proper training.
Limitations

As mentioned previously, this study adds to a limited body
of research on the topic of social workers' political participa-
tion. Yet caution should be exercised in drawing direct com-
parisons across studies. Each has asked somewhat different
questions, employed somewhat different samples, used some-
what different instruments, and applied somewhat different
interpretations to the results. Taken together, however, they
begin to create a picture of the status of the profession in rela -
tion to the political process.
Although this study draws on a large, national, random
sample of social workers, all are members of NASW. Although
NASW is the largest association of professional social workers
in the world, NASW represents only a fraction of those practic-
ing social work. Since the responses were self-reported, there is
also a risk of social desirability bias. Answers may be inflated
in an effort to "look good" to the researchers. This study mea-
sured engagement in specific activities using a Likert scale of
"never," "rarely," "sometimes," "often," and "always." These
categories are imprecise, calling on respondents to interpret
the labels and make judgments about the frequency of their
various behaviors. Readers should consider this a relative,
rather than an absolute, measure of participation. Finally, the
124
response rate of 43%, though respectable for a mailed ques -
tionnaire, suggests that findings should be generalized with
caution. There is no way of knowing how those who didn't
respond might have answered the questions. It is possible that
non-respondents, as a group, have less interest in political

action than those who took the time to complete and return
the survey instrument.
Conclusion
This study surveyed a randomly-selected national sample
of 1,274 practicing social workers, seeking to describe their
attitudes toward, and engagement in, political action. The
results show that slightly fewer than half of the respondents
are "highly" politically active, with doctorally-prepared
social workers, older social workers, and social workers with
more years of practice experience demonstrating greater
involvement.
With the exception of voting, behaviors requiring lower
levels of commitment were far more common than those re-
quiring higher levels of commitment. Consistent with previ -
ous findings, testifyi ng at hearings and campaigning for candi-
dates were among those activities engaged in least frequently.
Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the social workers sur -
veyed express little ethical ambivalence about engaging in
political action. Most expressed the belief that political action
is relevant to their jobs, and that they have an obligation to
stay informed about policy changes and to promote policies
that benefit their clients. Lack of time may inhibit some social
workers from acting on these beliefs. Their comfort with en-
couraging political activity on the part of their clients is less
clear. Respondents were divided about whether they have a
role in empowering their clients politically. This is an issue de -
serving of further discussion and investigation. On the other
hand, strong majorities expressed confidence in social workers'
ability to influence policy outcomes. Other studies have found
this "psychological engagement" to be a predictor of political
involvement.
Most respondents indicated that their social work edu-

cation stressed the relationship between policy and practice.
125
Many, however, expressed a desire to learn more about how
to impact the political process and felt they needed guidance
on integrating political action into their professional roles.
Overall, the findings paint a positive picture of the status of
social workers in relation to political action. There is certainly
room, nonetheless, to strengthen the profession's hand. It is
critical that we persevere in delivering the message that politi -
cal behavior matters, and that our engagement in the process
benefits our clients. Social work education must continue in-
creasing its emphasis on policy practice, incorporating it into
courses, assignments, exercises, and field practica. This content
should be required of all students, not just those in macro con-
centrations. Given that social workers in private clinical prac -
tice were found to have comparatively low levels of political
participation, this exposure may be especially critical for stu-
dents in clinical concentrations. For all students, early train-
ing in policy practice skills could help lay the foundation for
greater comfort in integrating political action into the profes -
sional role. Meanwhile, the definition of policy practice should
be broadened beyond policy advocacy to include electoral
politics. CSWE and NASW, respectively, should entertain in-
cluding references to electoral politics in the Education Policy
Statement and the Code of Ethics.
With practicing social workers, we can start by encourag-
ing those who are inactive to take small steps: share their ideas
and opinions with friends and neighbors; become active in
NASW's efforts or affiliate with other communi ty groups that

engage in advocacy; attend a march or rally; donate to a politi -
cal action committee, a political campaign, or a cause of their
choice; or sport a bumper sticker, button, or yard sign at elec-
tion time. For many social workers (as for the general public),
writing to a legislator, making a lobbying visit, contacting the
media, or testifying at a hearing can be very intimidating. As
in all social work practice, we should start where the client is.
Meanwhile there are plenty of social workers, as evidenced by
this study, who do want to know more and do more. Some
just need occasional reminders, as demonstrated by the fol -
lowing comment: "This survey makes me feel guilty as hell.
I'll be writing Congress tonight!" Others could benefit from
continuing education that provides opportunities for social
126
work practitioners (including those in private practice and for -
profit agencies) to become more knowledgeable about how to
influence policy outcomes, how to present testimony at a
hearing, how to work with the media, and how to integrate
political action into their professional role. In order ensure that
the workplace provides the necessary climate to support politi -
cal activity, administrators and supervisors should be targeted
as well, and helped to identify strategies for promoting politi -
cal engagement without jeopardizing ongoing organizational
activities.
Research should continue to examine social workers' po-
litical participation and its impact, identifying how we can
maximize the effectiveness of that participation in positively
influencing policy outcomes. Social workers should become
leaders in the current national movement for increased civic

engagement. After all, our Code of Ethics exhorts us not only to
engage in social and political action ourselves, but to facilitate
the political action of the broader society. This article addresses
one type of civic engagement: the use of political processes to
promote the public good. We must continue to expand our role
as visible, credible, and effective agents of social change.
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Threaded Discussion How Can You Effectively Communicate with an E

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