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ERIC Number: EJ902152
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Oct
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0037-8046
EISSN: N/A
Political Activities of Social Workers: Addressing Perceived Barriers to Political Participation
Rocha, Cynthia; Poe, Bethanie; Thomas, Veliska
Social Work, v55 n4 p317-325 Oct 2010
This article reviews the literature on political participation of social workers and the variables that promote or impede political advocacy. Early research in the 1980s and 1990s most often reported education, feelings of efficacy, having a macro-type job, and being a member of a national association as factors that determine greater political participation. Since the late 1990s, organizational and legal issues have surfaced more prominently as barriers to political participation by social workers. This article addresses barriers to participation, such as not feeling competent to perform policy-related tasks and perceived legal barriers. It then analyzes the actual restrictions that nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations and publicly employed social workers face in lobbying and partisan politics. The article summarizes the activities that are legally allowed in these areas and concludes that social workers can be more politically active than they often realize.
National Association of Social Workers (NASW). 750 First Street NE Suite 700, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-227-3590; e-mail: press@naswdc.org; Web site: http://www.naswpress.org
Publication Type: Information Analyses; Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Practitioners
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A