Social Workers and Policy Practice: An Analysis of Job Descriptions in Israel

Abstract

Social workers' involvement in the policy-making process (policy practice) is an important aspect of social work. This article examines formal social work job descriptions in an effort to determine whether, and to what extent, social workers in Israel are required to engage in policy practice and which specific activities are required of them in this sense. A quantitative content analysis of 78 job descriptions showed that nearly half the descriptions stipulated at least one policy practice activity, usually within the organization itself. The analysis also indicated that policy practice is constructed largely as an administrative practice, usually performed at managerial levels and defined narrowly.