Social Workers′ Political Participation

Abstract

This article reports on a survey of the political activity of 242 professional social workers. The research found that social workers are more politically active than the general public. Survey respondents engaged in a range of activities from voting to campaigning, but the most politically active respondents were engaged in professional associations and were more likely to feel capable of affecting the policy process. The authors suggest that social work educators can use strategies based on social learning theory to increase students’ political participation in the future.