Social work students and social change: on the link between views on poverty, social work goals and policy practice

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the factors that are associated with social work students’ willingness to engage in policy practice. It examines a model according to which the willingness to engage in policy practice is linked to the importance that students attribute to the goals of social work and to their views on poverty. The sample consisted of 138 social work students in one of Israel's leading universities. The measures consisted of four questionnaires developed specifically for this study. The findings revealed strong relationships between students’ views regarding the causes of poverty and their attitudes towards the preferred ways to deal with poverty. In addition, strong relationships were found between the importance that students attributed to the goals of social work and their willingness to engage in policy practice. However, no significant relationships were found between students’ views on poverty and their willingness to engage in policy practice. Different explanations for these findings are advanced in the article.