Beyond Band-Aids- Why Social Workers Champion Social Justice Through Policy Advocacy

Beyond Band-Aids- Why Social Workers Champion Social Justice Through Policy Advocacy

Certain issues at times plague societies. These issues affect members of given societies, and policies are created and enforced to salvage the situations. A policy is a set of guidelines, including laws, regulations, and incentives that guide given actions to regulate certain issues put forth by governments, organizations, and other institutions. Policies guide people’s everyday lives, and there are numerous policies enforced in different sectors (Jansson, 2019). Given that social workers interact with members of society during their work, they get to see policy efficiency in the clients they work with. In some cases, policy inefficiency may be shown in a client’s life, and social workers help their client acquire the services or benefits they are being denied despite being in need. Accordingly, social workers find themselves involved in social justice and policy advocacy in their work.

Social justice and policy advocacy go hand in hand. Social justice ensures equality in society in terms of social rights, opportunities, and political and economic fairness. Subsequently, social workers are concerned with social justice to advocate for equality to safeguard their clients regarding access to healthcare services and protect them from social injustice, such as discrimination and oppression (Brown et al., 2015). Most policies ensure social justice by promoting equality in society. Accordingly, social workers concerned with policy advocacy would promote access to equal opportunities for society members and increase the choices of what they can access. Therefore, social workers can address and promote social justice through the use of policy.

As social workers, we can address and promote social justice through the use of policy advocacy. Social workers can advocate for policy development to address areas that are lacking, as witnessed in their work, to make society equitable for all, maintaining social justice. Additionally, with unjust social policies, social workers can advocate for their reformation, initializing micro and macro policy interventions, creating social change, and ensuring social justice. Therefore, through policy, social workers address and promote social justice on behalf of society to ensure members of society can access resources such as food, housing, and healthcare.

References

Brown, M. E., Livermore, M., & Ball, A. (2015). Social work advocacy: Professional self-interest and social justice. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 42(3). https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.3919

Jansson, B. S., PhD. (2019). Social welfare policy and advocacy: Advancing social justice through eight policy sectors. SAGE Publications.

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Using the chapter reading as a guide, explain what policy is. Why are we, as social workers, concerned with social justice and policy advocacy?

How can we address and promote social justice through the use of policy?