Walden University Week 4 Social Policy Discussion

• Offer an explanation of how public opinion can be influenced to address the problem identified by your colleague.
• Suggest policy advocacy approaches and skills he or she can use to address the problem with political leaders.
• Comment on the social justice implications of the approach or approaches you suggested.
• Use Reference When Responding

DB 1

Courtney—

Post a description of the importance of public opinion in addressing the homeless (social problem) you have selected.

Homeless and poverty is a social problem that interest me due to a lot of people and their family dealing with the issue in our community. When you drive down your local downtown you observe numerous of homeless individuals. According to the United States Interagency Council on Homeless (n.d), In Alabama 3,261 people are experiencing homelessness in the area.Public opinion is imperative in addressing this social problem. The community members can provide knowledge and information to social workers or policy advocates about the community assets and the resources they have or lacking (Burns, Paul, & Paz, 2012).

How does public opinion influence political approaches to the problem? Explain.

Advocacy groups can influence political approaches by getting their point of view across to decision makers in city council, board of supervisors, state and federal legislators to make changes in their community relating to the social issue of homelessness in the community (Jansson, 2018). They understand that if they do not it can end their political career ( Jansson, 2018).Public opinion can be used as a tool or guide to create economic policies (Hayes, n.d).

What policy advocacy approaches and skills can you use to address the problem with political leaders?

According to the National Association of Social Work Social and Political Action 6.02 (2017), 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. As a social worker there are many approaches that can be implemented such as making lobbying visits, contacting the media, writing a letter to legislator, or attending a march (Rome & Hoechstetter, 2010 ). As a social worker I would help approve the policies that are in place such as the Housing program. I would talk to the community to understand the resources they need in the community and the resources they currently have. I would also look at the funding for homeless programs in the community. The policy advocate skill that I will implement is interactional skills to place the issue of lack of resources for the homeless population on the agenda of decision makers (Jansson, 2018).

What are the social justice implications of your approach?

According to the National Association of Social Work Social and Political Action 6.02 (2017), “Social workers should be aware of the impact of the political arena on practice and should advocate for change in policy and legislation to improve social conditions in order to meet basic human needs and promote social justice.” I will address homeless and poverty on the local and state policy level to secure resources in the community. I will improve the programs that are currently in places

Reference

Burns, J. C., Paul, P. D., & Paz, S. R. (2010). Participatory asset mapping: A community research lab toolkit.Retrieved from https://www.communityscience.com/knowledge4equity/…

Hayes, K. (n.d.). Homelessness: Causes and Solutions. Retrieved December 22, 2020, from https://rampages.us/homelessnesscausesandsolutions…

Jansson, B.S. (2018). Becoming an effective policy advocate: From policy practice to social

justice. (8th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning Series.

National Association of Social Workers. (2017). NASW code of ethics. Retrieved December 15, 2020, from https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of…

Rome, S., & Hoechstetter, S. (2010). Social Work and Civic Engagement: The Political Participation of Professional Social Workers. Retrieved December 22, 2020, from https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol37/iss3/7/

United States Interagency Council on Homeless (n.d). Homelessness Statistics by State. Retrieved December 22, 2020, from https://www.usich.gov/tools-for-action/map/

DB 2

Fatmata—

A description of the importance of public opinion in addressing the social problem you have selected.

Social problems are increasing day by day globally and there are many factors that contribute to social problems. Poverty is the biggest issue in this century today undeniably. When the situation in the community becomes severe, unstoppable, and unsafe so that solutions come to address these symptoms a society is considered to have a social problem. Programs to address poverty need to be implemented where it emphasizes on the economic, social, and political contexts that are closely related to the poor (Suzuki, Pramono & Rufidah, 2017). Meanwhile, Liu, Liu, & Zhou (2017) stated that imbalances in socio-economic development could contribute to the existence of poor settlements. In addition, there are various views of economists on the dimensions of poverty.

Public opinion is important in addressing poverty when it comes to educating the citizenry on anti-poverty policies. The public must be aware of public officials’ position on poverty and hunger. Public opinion is the useful check on the authority of leaders therefore, the public needs to be enlightened.

How does public opinion influence political approaches to the problem? Explain.

Americans sympathize with the problems of hunger and poverty and are more receptive to a candidate’s message when it includes solutions to these problems. Rather than being a vague notion of governmental responsibility, voters consider a candidate’s position on poverty and hunger when casting their votes. Ninety-three percent say that “fighting the hunger problem” is important in deciding their vote for Congress and 74 percent say it is an important issue when deciding their vote for president (Freedman, 2004). “Politicians may sometimes attend to the public interest, particularly when they believe that voters will hold them accountable for decisions that may hurt the public interest” (Jannson,2018, p 117).

What policy advocacy approaches and skills can you use to address the problem with political leaders? What are the social justice implications of your approach?

Advocacy is the active support of an idea or cause expressed through strategies and methods that influence the opinions and decisions of people and organizations (Buckley, 2018). To effectively advocate requires long-term as well as short-term thinking, the readiness to form alliance, the flexibility to seize windows of opportunity, and an understanding of the points of resistance and the means to gain traction because policy change rarely happens overnight and most times is linked to broader change in the political environment. I would familiarize myself firstly with the effectiveness of policies in place already by identifying the problems and policy issues, get public opinion on changes anticipated by consulting and building relationships, developing strategies, channeling those opinions to authorities (local, state, or federal) and campaigning for policy change. Creating awareness is another means of educating the public on issues that affect them and holding rallies is a means of getting the attention of political leaders.

The social justice implications of this approach are the changes advocated for will not impact everyone equally. Everyone will not benefit from employment opportunities at the same level, healthcare and other benefits will not be distributed at an even level. There are citizens with criminal records who may not be eligible for benefits advocated for.

References

Buckley, S. (2018). Advocacy strategies and approaches: Overview. Retrieved fromhttps://www.apc.org/en/advocacy-

strategies-and-approaches-overview

Freedman, T. (2004). Poverty and public opinion. Progressive policy institute. Retrieved from

https://tfreedmanconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads…

Jansson, B.S. (2018). Becoming an effective policy advocate: From policy practice to socialjustice. (8th ed.).

Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning Series.

Liu, Y., Liu, J., & Zhou, Y. (2017). Spatio-temporal patterns of rural poverty in China and targetedpoverty alleviation

strategies. Journal of rural studies.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.04.002

Suzuki, Y., Pramono, S., & Rufidah, R. (2017). Islamic microfinance and poverty alleviationprogram: Preliminary research

findings from Indonesia. Journal of Islamic economics andfinance. https://doi.org/10.22373/share.v5i1.910