Advances in Understanding Advocacy and Improving Policy Practice Education : Recent Applications of Theory and Evidence

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 unintegrated into a larger context. Improvements in understanding how to conduct effective advocacy emerge, helping practitioners to be more successful in their advocacy efforts. Similarly, bringing evidence and data to teaching methods improves confidence in their applicability to more than one course or institution. Readers of this book will discover how to be more effective policy practitioners as well as more engaging instructors by focusing on theories and evidence which demonstrate successful advocacy and teaching. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Policy Practice.

Richard Hoefer is Roy E. Dulak Professor for Community Practice Research at the School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, TX, USA. He directs the Center for Advocacy, Nonprofit, and Donor Organizations (CAN-DO) and the School’s Professional Development Program. He also edits The Journal of Policy Practice.