Social justice problems may affect different populations in unique ways. Social workers must understand the special challenges that may arise when providing services and supports for these populations, as well as the policies that may address the social justice problems that impact them.

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following EPAs and practice behaviors:

Competency 2: Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice

C2.GP.A: Apply and communicate understanding of the importance of diversity and difference in shaping life experiences into practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.

Related Assignment Criteria:

• 1. Analyze the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination that exist within a selected social justice problem and their impact on a specific population or subgroup.

2. Analyze the ethical problems associated with the selected social justice issue with support from scholarly sources.

• 4. Analyze the feasibility of policies related to the selected social justice problem.

Competency 5: Engage in Policy Practice

• C5.GP.B: Assess how social welfare and economic policies impact the delivery of and access to social services.

Related Assignment Criterion:

• 5. Assess the impact of policies related to the selected social justice problem on a specific population or subgroup.
• Competency 5: Engage in Policy Practice
• C5.GP.C Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice.
• Related Assignment Criteria:

3. Analyze current, enacted policies to address the selected social justice problem, supporting analysis with scholarly, peer-reviewed research.

• 6. Compare advocacy methods for the selected social justice problem.

Assignment Description

• In preparation for your course project, the purpose of this assignment is to explore a social justice problem that addresses a specific population or subgroup (for example, access to health care, access to social services, immigration, or veterans’ mental health and services). This should be a problem that presents current challenges for social workers providing services and support. You will need to investigate the various forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination within this social justice problem and identify policies that are currently enacted to address this problem. Ultimately, you will choose one of these policies to analyze as the topic for your federal policy analysis course project.

To ensure this is a viable scholarly topic, explore the literature in your area of interest by doing article and book searches through Capella University Library databases and other electronic resources, including government, educational, and organizational websites. Exploring scholarly, respected literature will be the preliminary work for this project. Congress.gov will be an invaluable resource for your research during this project.

• Assignment Instructions
• To complete this assignment:

Choose a social justice problem that addresses the needs of a specific population or subgroup that interests you. To find scholarly research about your topics, use the Capella University Library; government, educational, and organizational websites; and the United States Congress website, Congress.gov. Refer to the SWK5002 library research guide, Social Policy Research Tutorial, for assistance in doing policy research and locating resources.

• Analyze the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination of your chosen population or subgroup that exist within this social justice topic (for example, race, religion, disabilities, gender orientation, socioeconomic status, or access to services).

In your analysis, describe how the oppression and discrimination impacted this population.

• Analyze ethical problems associated with your selected social justice problem.

Use the NASW Code of Ethics Web page to guide your analysis:

• What ethical considerations in your selected social justice problem must be addressed?
• What are implications for social work practice and positive client outcomes?

Describe the current, enacted policies for this social justice problem.

Research current, enacted policies that seek to address this social justice problem. These policies must be passed legislation currently in practice. Legislation can be at the federal or state level, but ultimately your course project will require you to select a federal policy.

Analyze how effective these policies are in addressing the needs of your chosen population or subgroup.

Do the policies effectively address the social justice problem? Provide a rationale that includes scholarly, peer-reviewed research.

Assess the impact these policies have had on your selected population or subgroup.

What policy constraints exist for this population?

Compare advocacy methods for the selected social justice problem.

1. What are the strengths and challenges of the advocacy methods? What additional steps could be taken to address the challenges?

Guidelines

• Read the Exploration of Social Justice scoring guide for information on how your work will be graded.

1. Reference the Social Policy Research Tutorial for guidance on how to conduct your research.