Coming Perspectives in the Development of Electronic Advocacy for Social Policy Practice

Advocacy has been seen as part of professional practice since the early days of social work (Specht & Courtney, 1994; Trattner, 1994). Throughout the profession's history, social workers have fought for the rights of groups that could not advocate for themselves. This is a rare characteris...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: John G. McNutt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Windsor 2018-11-01
Series:Critical Social Work
Online Access:https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/view/5514
id doaj-cdbd7cf5a09f41e382663d58f71dec35
record_format Article
spelling doaj-cdbd7cf5a09f41e382663d58f71dec352020-11-25T02:27:38ZengUniversity of WindsorCritical Social Work1543-93722018-11-0111Coming Perspectives in the Development of Electronic Advocacy for Social Policy PracticeJohn G. McNutt0Graduate School of Social Work, Boston College Advocacy has been seen as part of professional practice since the early days of social work (Specht & Courtney, 1994; Trattner, 1994). Throughout the profession's history, social workers have fought for the rights of groups that could not advocate for themselves. This is a rare characteristic for any profession, which almost by definition means an occupation tied to the preservation of the existing social order. For social work to continue this practice, the profession has developed a large number of intervention techniques under the rubric of social policy practice (Jansson, 1999). Electronic techniques, particularly those that utilize Internet based technologies, are changing the way that advocacy is practiced (Fitzgerald & McNutt, 1997, March; McNutt & Boland, 1998; 1999; Turner, 1998; Grobman & Grant, 1998; Schwartz, 1996; Bowen, 1996). New techniques provide a means to make lobbying, campaigning and organizing more effective. They also allow small organizations, under certain situations, to compete with large, well-funded opponents (McNutt & Boland, 1999; Turner 1998). While the use of these techniques is now an established form of practice, electronic advocacy is very much a practice in the developmental stages. The next few years will define the field and determine how practice will evolve and what types of interventions are developed. In addition, changes in advocacy methods, as well as modifications in the political landscape, provide an opportunity to move beyond the profession's traditional stance into a transformed reality. This paper will explore several forces that are shaping the future of electronic advocacy and identify trends and research needs in this new vein of policy practice interventions. The paper is divided into three parts. The first section provides an overview of electronic advocacy. This will be followed by a discussion of the forces that are facing this type of practice. Finally, implications will be draw and research needs identified. https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/view/5514
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author John G. McNutt
spellingShingle John G. McNutt
Coming Perspectives in the Development of Electronic Advocacy for Social Policy Practice
Critical Social Work
author_facet John G. McNutt
author_sort John G. McNutt
title Coming Perspectives in the Development of Electronic Advocacy for Social Policy Practice
title_short Coming Perspectives in the Development of Electronic Advocacy for Social Policy Practice
title_full Coming Perspectives in the Development of Electronic Advocacy for Social Policy Practice
title_fullStr Coming Perspectives in the Development of Electronic Advocacy for Social Policy Practice
title_full_unstemmed Coming Perspectives in the Development of Electronic Advocacy for Social Policy Practice
title_sort coming perspectives in the development of electronic advocacy for social policy practice
publisher University of Windsor
series Critical Social Work
issn 1543-9372
publishDate 2018-11-01
description Advocacy has been seen as part of professional practice since the early days of social work (Specht & Courtney, 1994; Trattner, 1994). Throughout the profession's history, social workers have fought for the rights of groups that could not advocate for themselves. This is a rare characteristic for any profession, which almost by definition means an occupation tied to the preservation of the existing social order. For social work to continue this practice, the profession has developed a large number of intervention techniques under the rubric of social policy practice (Jansson, 1999). Electronic techniques, particularly those that utilize Internet based technologies, are changing the way that advocacy is practiced (Fitzgerald & McNutt, 1997, March; McNutt & Boland, 1998; 1999; Turner, 1998; Grobman & Grant, 1998; Schwartz, 1996; Bowen, 1996). New techniques provide a means to make lobbying, campaigning and organizing more effective. They also allow small organizations, under certain situations, to compete with large, well-funded opponents (McNutt & Boland, 1999; Turner 1998). While the use of these techniques is now an established form of practice, electronic advocacy is very much a practice in the developmental stages. The next few years will define the field and determine how practice will evolve and what types of interventions are developed. In addition, changes in advocacy methods, as well as modifications in the political landscape, provide an opportunity to move beyond the profession's traditional stance into a transformed reality. This paper will explore several forces that are shaping the future of electronic advocacy and identify trends and research needs in this new vein of policy practice interventions. The paper is divided into three parts. The first section provides an overview of electronic advocacy. This will be followed by a discussion of the forces that are facing this type of practice. Finally, implications will be draw and research needs identified.
url https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/view/5514
work_keys_str_mv AT johngmcnutt comingperspectivesinthedevelopmentofelectronicadvocacyforsocialpolicypractice
_version_ 1724841882917273600