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

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

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

Developing Nonprofit and Human Service Leaders comprehensively prepares students with the skills to successfully manage human service organizations. Authors Larry D. Watson and Richard Hoefer explore core managerial competencies tailored to the unique environment of these organizations, including administrative responsibilities, values and ethics, organizational theories, leadership, boards of directors, fundraising, supervision, research, cultural consideration, and more....

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

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

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

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