2 Chapter 2 – HOW IS EVIDENCE INFORMED PRACTICE A CRITICAL THINKING EXERCISE?

This chapter supports Module 2 in which you will:

• Reflect on your own personal and professional perpetuation of oppressive systems and structures that maintain social injustice and
• Interpret similarities and differences between critical thinking and problem solving as a social worker

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In this module, we look at a few pieces of research that can inform our perspectives on voter engagement and social work’s role in it. Mimi Abramovitz and five other social work scholars share the results of their study about perspectives and experiences of social work programs and social services agencies regarding voter engagement vis a vis the Voting is Social Work campaign. They also offer us more history on how historically, social workers have been involved in the work to expand voting rights and access, but please keep in mind that a great deal of social work history — especially early history — does not include the work of people of color and others who were not “officially” considered social workers for a variety of reasons including barriers to education and a narrow definition of what social work is and was.

We will dig into Abramovitz, et al’s findings and implications more, but for the present, I’m wondering — what is it about voter engagement that makes people think it is a partisan activity instead of a civic contribution? We’ll puzzle through that. One of the many other things they found is that some social workers responded that they didn’t participate in electoral politics because “candidates didn’t represent them.” Sean McElwee would say, “Darn tootin’ they don’t!” but then would add — that’s because for many reasons (I bet you’ll know more reasons after listening to Civics 101), primarily affluent white voters participate in the elections process. Therefore, many politicians are elected to promote white affluent interests. That can be discouraging, except that McElwee shows that when more people participate in the voting process, policies change.

How do policies change when more people vote (especially poor people, BIPOC, and so on)? We get more policy that aligns with our social work values — affordable housing, accessible and affordable healthcare, childcare, eldercare, income support, nutrition support, educational access and lots of other things. Here’s a connection I hadn’t made fully before this module: I’ve always thought, “Why can’t we have systems and services like they do in Sweden?” I chalked it up to a combo of American exceptionalism and that the elite benefit from the status quo. I think those things are still true, but also this: “Everyone who is entitled to vote and who is registered in the Population Register in Sweden is automatically included on the electoral roll (röstlängden) and receives a voting card by post”

Hmmm. What if everyone in the US who was to be 18 by the time an election was held was automatically included on the electoral rolls and received a voting card? Oh, and it’s worth mentioning that elections happen on Sundays in Sweden. What difference would that make? When we look at evidence-informed practices, let’s not limit ourselves to US practices. Let’s learn from other countries and the way they do things.

Felderhoff, Hoefer, and Watum research the connection between social workers’ political knowledge sources, expectations, and behaviors. They offer us some perspectives on how we can leverage expectations to increase voter engagement and political engagement behaviors. The research shows that if we have expectations of ourselves — and of others — to do something and we are reminded of those expectations, the behavior is more likely to follow.

The ideas in this module can generate many ripples through lots of systems. Let’s explore them.

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Read

• Abramovitz, M., Sherraden, M., Hill, K., Rhodes Smith, T., Lewis, B., & Mizrahi, T. (2019). Voting is social work: Voices from the National Social Work Voter Mobilization Campaign. Journal of Social Work Education, 55:4, 626-644, DOI: 10.1080/10437797.2019.1656690 https://votingissocialwork.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2468/2020/09/Voting-is-Social-Work-Voices-From-the-National-Social-Work-Voter-Mobilization-Campaign.pdf
• Felderhoff, B.J., Hoefer, R., & Watson, L.D. (2016). Living up to the Code’s exhortations? Social workers’ political knowledge sources, expectations, and behaviors. Social Work, 61(1), 29 –35. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swv053
• McElwee, S. (2015). Why voting matters, large disparities in turnout benefit donor class. http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/Why%20Voting%20Matters_0.pdf

Visit

• 866ourvote.org – https://866ourvote.org/states/ and review voter registration/voting requirements for your state

Listen:

• Civics 101 Podcast – Civic Action: Voting, Part 2. https://www.civics101podcast.org/civics-101-episodes/votept2?rq=vote