SW 4144: Social Policies & Issues - Velazquillo Franco

"Social policy may be defined as any formal government enactment that affects the well-being of people, including laws, regulations, executive orders, and court decisions."

Source: Mizrahi, T., & Davis, L. (2008). Encyclopedia of social work (20th ed.). NASW Press.

For the policy project, it's easiest to focus on legislation (a bill = a proposed law). Talk with your professor if you'd like to focus on a different policy type such as a federal agency regulation or international agreement/treaty.

• Starting with the Grand Challenges, you'll need to narrow down to a manageable topic. Pro tip: If it also matches a "social problem you care about," life will be easier for you as you work on this project.
• Using the Grand Challenges Policy Recommendations is a great way to start.
  • Note these each have References. You can use these but focus on non-scholarly sources and those that are up-to-date.
• Consider keywords that are defineable and searchable, as well as synonyms & related terms. This is important because we'll be searching for specific proposed policies (federal bills) and these tend to be narrow in scope. Examples:
  • Gun violence
  • Homelessness, housing insecurity
  • Health disparities, health equity
  • Social isolation, childcare, parenting stress, solitary confinement
• Searching for the problem may lead to better/more results than searching for the solution. But it's wise to try both in separate searches! Example:
  • Searching for decarceration led to very few results; incarceration or prisons led to many more usable results.

Please watch this short video (9:37) before your class library day. Captions available.