Advocacy Practice Research Articles

Policy Advocacy Training for Women Victims of Violence in Maros Regency

Cases of violence against women in Maros Regency are quite high. For example, in 2016, according to Department of Women Empowerment and Child Protection (DP3A) data, there were 68 cases and 21 police data cases. Likewise, divorce data in the Religious Courts are more caused by domestic violence. Of course, this social problem must be immediately addressed through local government policies. However, in fact, no policy specifically regulates the handling of this problem. Therefore, community service in the form of policy advocacy training for village women victims of violence needs to be carried out. This advocacy training was attended by 25 participants from various villages. Participants were provided with policy advocacy materials covering (1) government policies and programs on the protection of women; (2) the concept and practice of policy advocacy; (3) issues of violence and protection of women; (4) technical public speaking and lobby strategy, and (5) public opinion and press release materials. The results of the training evaluation resulted in an increase in knowledge and skills for participants after following the entire set of materials provided. Recommendations for activities are suggested to immediately take more concrete action in the form of policy advocacy to encourage the issuance of the Regional Regulation (Perda) of Maros Regency concerning Protection of Women from Violence.

School Library Advocacy Literature in the United States

Despite evidence of school librarians’ impact on student achievement and multiple advocacy efforts, position eliminations and budget reductions continue across the United States. The researchers conducted a preliminary conceptual content analysis of the scholarly and practitioner literature about school library advocacy in the United States from 2001-2011 to determine methods of and rationales for advocacy. The most frequent advocacy method was distributing literature or information about school libraries. The most frequent reason cited in the literature for engaging in advocacy activities was in response to a potential funding or position reduction or elimination. Advocacy is highly contextualized and different situations may warrant different approaches. Viewing school library advocacy through an organizational evolution framework may frame the context. School library researchers should address the dearth of empirical and theoretical work on both the practice and impact of advocacy on the profession.

The Micro–Macro Nexus: Rethinking the Relationship between Social Work, Social Policy and Wider Policy in a Changing World

Abstract To remain relevant in a rapidly changing society, social work must ensure that policies respond timeously and justly to mitigate the impact of continuous change on individuals, families, communities and the wider society. This requires rethinking social work’s role in shaping policy in a broader context to address a new order, going beyond social welfare and social policy. In this conceptual article, the authors argue that to be relevant in the twenty-first century, social work has to adopt a transformative social policy approach, including policy advocacy. Furthermore, social work should contribute to policy transformation at the micro–macro nexus, where social justice can be promoted at the local and global, the personal and political levels. Policy transformation for just societies promotes economic prosperity and environmental sustainability; hence, social work must embrace a developmental approach embedded in a human rights-based framework that contributes to sustainable development. Social work education plays a critical role in preparing graduates to transform policy through advocacy practice and critical pedagogy. The article concludes that social work needs to expand its role from predominantly focusing on social policy to a wider policy scope that embraces social, economic and environmental justice which contributes to sustainable development.

Exploring the role of issue involvement and brand attachment in shaping consumer response toward corporate social advocacy (CSA) initiatives: the case of Nike’s Colin Kaepernick campaign

This study adopts the consumer-centric perspective, through the lens of the consumer involvement theory and stakeholder theory, to examine the role of consumer involvement in shaping individuals’ attitudinal and behavioural responses toward Nike’s 30th Anniversary ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick. Specifically, a survey (N = 345) was conducted to examine how consumers’ cognitive and affective involvement regarding the issue of NFL national anthem protests, their brand attachment, and brand attitude guide their attitudes and word-of-mouth intentions in response to Nike’s corporate social advocacy practices. The findings of this study suggested that consumers’ support for a company’s CSA efforts could depend on their involvement in the social issue that a brand chose as well as their involvement in the brand. Moreover, the interaction of issue involvement and brand attachment factors can serve as a segmentation strategy to cement brand loyalty and strengthen the relationship with the existing stakeholders whose issue attitude was congruent with the corporation’s stances. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

A Business Ethics Center Rethinks Its Role

This paper explores some of the reasons why we, as a business ethics center housed at a state university, are transitioning from being a largely neutral platform on business ethics topics to becoming an advocate for specific perspectives. Comprising the topics of interest are issues such as climate change, capitalism, and certain medical and public health controversies. Presented here are four main reasons behind this move: pluralistic arguments, moral “switching,” existential crises, and combating disinformation. Two examples regarding capitalism and vaccine mandates are used to demonstrate advocacy in practice.

Twenty-Five Years of the Partners in Policymaking<sup>®</sup> Leadership Institute: A Longitudinal Survey of Tennessee Alumni

Partners in Policymaking^® is a leadership and advocacy training program for adults with disabilities and family members of persons with disabilities. The Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities began implementing this intensive seven-weekend program in 1993. <i>Objectives</i>: The lasting influence of such a training program on the advocacy practices and leadership activities of graduates once they have completed the program has not been examined; this was the aim of the study. <i>Methods</i>: A follow-up survey seeking to quantify graduates’ current levels of advocacy, community involvement, accomplishments, and overall satisfaction with the training experience was created and sent to 361 graduates across a variety of formats; one hundred and thirty-five individuals completed the measure. <i>Results</i>: The findings suggest that program completion had a lasting impact on participants’ disability-related knowledge, advocacy, and self-assessed ability to create change in disability-related policy. Specifically, a majority of the graduates affirmed increases in leadership skills, leadership ability, and sense of empowerment. In addition, graduates reported increased feelings of connectedness to others with similar life experiences, with a majority even reporting increased quality of life due to participation. <i>Conclusions</i>: Use of a structured training program in leadership and advocacy to increase perceived self-efficacy in disability policy advocacy and leadership is supported. Graduates’ qualitative comments reveal enduring community activism and engagement in systems change, including statewide and national disability-related policy advocacy, years after completing the program.

Exploring advocacy practices for interpersonal violence survivors on college campuses: Approaches and key factors.

Exploring advocacy practices for interpersonal violence survivors on college campuses: Approaches and key factors.

Place Consciousness: A Narrative Inquiry of the Advocacy Practices of Five Rural/Frontier School Librarians

This study investigates how place consciousness affects the advocacy practices of five rural/frontier Montana school librarians. Eighteen Montana rural/frontier school librarians were interviewed about their advocacy activities. A grounded theory analysis revealed that the recognition of community context is vital to effective school library advocacy. A secondary data analysis using narrative inquiry was conducted, resulting in five narratives anchored in the conceptual framework of place consciousness and using the hero’s journey story structure to further explore how rural/frontier school librarians advocate for effective programs. Lessons learned about rural/frontier school librarian advocacy are shared, as are implications for practice and suggestions for future research.

Transforming the Campus Foodscape Through Participatory Mapping

University campuses are dynamic foodscapes that meet the needs of thousands of diverse community members. These foodscapes are difficult to comprehend in their entirety, and inequities based on race, class, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, dis/ability, and other forms of marginalization often remain unidentified and unaddressed. Since 2015, the UC Berkeley Foodscape Mapping Project has emerged as a model of participatory, justice-oriented food systems education. Drawing on critical pedagogy principles, it uses the Berkeley campus as a living laboratory for students, staff, and faculty to generate food systems knowledge. We trace the project’s development to show how what started as a set of workshops to address campus climate problems grew into a major mapping effort and advocacy projects that aim to improve the campus food system. Early on, workshops found that the biggest barrier to changing our campus food system was understanding the system itself: who the individual and departmental decision makers are and how different parts of the foodscape interact. Foodscape mapping is one possible pathway for changing a campus food system. This pathway was chosen because it could create a much-needed data foundation for advocacy at UC Berkeley. We discuss the concept of mapping and work through the process of building the Campus Food Players map. Several examples of Spotlight Maps and a practical policy advocacy project are presented to show the variety of outputs. Finally, we analyze financial, personnel, and pedagogical resources needed to realize the map, along with important constraints on its development. Readers will learn about campus foodscape mapping and be better equipped to develop projects at their own campuses.

Reconsidering humanitarian advocacy through pressure points of the European ‘migration crisis’

AbstractThis paper contributes to discussions on humanitarian advocacy. The European migration regime as constituted by the Dublin regulation, the EU‐Turkey deal and border deals with Libya among others, contributes to generating migration pressure points where migrants find themselves stuck and in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. Assistance and protection at these sites, inasmuch as they are available, are provided by a makeshift humanitarian arena of volunteer organizations, activists, national social welfare agencies, human rights organizations, international humanitarian organizations and UN agencies. Drawing on interviews and field research, this article analyses the relations between, and advocacy practices of, various actors within humanitarian arenas in three settings: Calais (France), Lesbos (Greece) and Libya. The article reveals how many humanitarians at these pressure points feel disempowered in the scope of their action beyond the provision of limited services, and abandoned by established agencies, especially the UNHCR. They feel that humanitarian principles are not enough to guide their actions in these cases. Emerging advocacy practices at these sites suggest that web‐based humanitarian advocacy based on actor complementarity may be a way forward, making advocacy more effective and contributing to better motivate aid workers who feel disempowered in these contexts.

ID/HIV Physician Ambassadors: Advancing Policy to Improve Health.

ID/HIV physicians and other healthcare professionals advocate within the healthcare system to ensure adults and children receive effective treatment. These advocacy skills can be used to inform domestic and global infectious disease policies to improve healthcare systems and public health. ID/HIV physicians have a unique frontline perspective to share with federal policymakers regarding how programs and policies benefit patients and public health. Providing this input is critical to the enactment of legislation that will maximize the response to infectious diseases. This article discusses the advocacy of ID/HIV physicians and other healthcare professionals in federal health policy. Key issues include funding for ID/HIV programs; the protection of public health and access to health care; improving research opportunities; and advancing the field of ID/HIV, including supporting the next generation of ID/HIV clinicians. The article also describes best practices for advocacy and provides case studies illustrating the impact of ID/HIV physician advocacy.

Struggle for Legal Women’s Rights in Russian Empire (second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century)

The article goal – showing struggle for legal women’s rights in A. Koni and others legal profession, including work in advocacy institutions in the Russian Empire in second half of XIX – beginning of XX century. Methods of research: modernization and gender history. The main results. In article author establish that the Russian Empire society in the end of XIX – beginning of XX century matured till understanding the equality principle of women and men role in social affairs, their leveling in property rights and in professional activities. Despite of lawyers struggle for women rights in conditions of autocracy were tiny (only the woman question discussion in press) it shows to empire power opposition from lawyers’ side and to society – necessity of changes in women’s legal status. The originality. Author uses memoirs and speeches of famous judge, member of State Council of the Russian Empire A. Koni and articles of leading lawyers, which were published in such newspapers as “Law”, “Law Herald”, “News of Jury and Trusted Council”. Scientific novelty: at the first time article describes the main issues about struggle for legal women’s rights, namely: attitude toward women in general and in legal cases; widening personal and property rights of women; giving them access to higher law education and possibility to apply it in their professional activity. Type of the article: descriptive and analytical. In article author insist that one of the first men, who outline the woman question and started to debate about widening legal women’s rights, was A. Koni. His activity was supported by famous scientists, lawyers, advocates such as D. Stasov, V. Spasovych, V. Nabokov, P. Liublinskiy, I. Foynytskiy, V. Sluchevskiy, and S. Shelukhin. A. Koni achieved particular regulation of widening property rights for women. In struggle for allowing advocacy practice for women author point out 2 stages, during its women tried to hold an appointment as private jury. Author notes first women-advocates in the Russian Empire and Ukraine, for example: E. Kozmina, K. Fleyshyts, L. Ginsburg, and O. Yaroshevska. Author determines that problems in female advocacy in Russian Empire were the same, as problems in Western Europe and USA. Question about allowing women to be advocates and notaries in Russia and Ukraine weren’t decided till 1917.

Infectious Diseases/Human Immunodeficiency Virus Physician Ambassadors: Advancing Policy to Improve Health.

Infectious diseases/human immunodeficiency virus (ID/HIV) physicians and other healthcare professionals advocate within the healthcare system to ensure adults and children receive effective treatment. These advocacy skills can be used to inform domestic and global infectious diseases policies to improve healthcare systems and public health. ID/HIV physicians have a unique frontline perspective to share with federal policymakers regarding how programs and policies benefit patients and public health. Providing this input is critical to the enactment of legislation that will maximize the response to infectious diseases. This article discusses the advocacy of ID/HIV physicians and other healthcare professionals in federal health policy. Key issues include funding for ID/HIV programs; the protection of public health and access to healthcare; improving research opportunities; and advancing the field of ID/HIV, including supporting the next generation of ID/HIV clinicians. The article also describes best practices for advocacy and provides case studies illustrating the impact of ID/HIV physician advocacy.

Sustainability, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and the Catholic Church’s Ecological Turn

The promulgation of the encyclical letter Laudato si’ by Pope Francis in 2015 has been interpreted as the final phase in the integration of sustainability concerns into Catholic Social Teaching. In this recent historical development, academic research has paid particular attention to how different eco-theological traditions, sociocultural developments, and local advocacy practices influenced the Church’s ecological turn. However, the key role played by non-magisterial, intermediate institutions, particularly highly qualified interlocutors such as the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS), has not been studied in depth. This article argues that, over the past 60 years, the PAS has been instrumental in this development: Raising awareness on socio-environmental issues, promoting environmental literacy, fostering ethical reflection, and catalyzing interdisciplinary dialogue in order to orient policy.

Why moral advocacy leads to polarization and proselytization: The role of self-persuasion

This research is the first to examine the effects of moral versus practical pro-attitudinal advocacy in the context of self-persuasion. We validate a novel advocacy paradigm aimed at uncovering why moral advocacy leads to polarization and proselytization. We investigate four distinct possibilities: (1) expression of moral foundational values (harm, fairness, loyalty, authority, purity), (2) reliance on moral systems (deontology and consequentialism), (3) expression of moral outrage, (4) increased confidence in one’s advocacy attempt. In Study 1 (N = 255) we find differences between moral and practical advocacy on the five moral foundations, deontology, and moral outrage. In Study 2 (N = 218) we replicate these differences, but find that only the expression of moral foundations is consequential in predicting attitude polarization. In Study 3 (N = 115) we replicate the effect of moral foundations on proselytization. Our findings suggest that practical compared to moral advocacy may attenuate polarization and proselytization. This carries implications for how advocacy can be re-framed in ways which minimize social conflict.

The sociocultural and political influences on the practice of media advocacy: The case of sexual harassment in Egypt

The sociocultural context, in which media advocacy is practised, results in several influential factors that affect its effectiveness, outcomes, and success/failure. The objective of this article is to identify and discuss the sociocultural and political factors for the media advocacy efforts in fighting sexual harassment in Egypt and to evaluate their influence on the campaign’s outcomes. Using the triangulation approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with advocates, media experts and policy-makers. The analysis revealed six influential factors that can inform and improve future media advocacy campaigning. The pivotal factor is ‘focusing events’, which are a golden opportunity due to its effectiveness in getting the attention of various publics and pushing forward the required policy solutions, which is discussed from the agenda-setting lens. Other influential factors include coalition-building, political will, public opinion, the image of advocates, and the influence of social media, which are discussed in further detail.

Medical advocacy in the face of Australian immigration practices: A study of medical professionals defending the health rights of detained refugees and asylum seekers.

While medical advocacy is mandated as a core professional commitment in a growing number of ethical codes and medical training programs, medical advocacy and social justice engagement are regularly subordinated to traditional clinical responsibilities. This study aims to provide insight into factors that motivate clinician engagement and perseverance with medical advocacy, so as to inform attempts by policymakers, leaders and educators to promote advocacy practices in medicine. Furthermore, this study aims to provide an analysis of the role of medical advocates in systems where patients' rights are perceived to be infringed and consider how we might best support and protect these medical advocates as a profession, by exploring the experiences and perspectives of Australian clinicians defending the health of detained asylum seekers. In this qualitative study thirty-two medical and health professionals advocating on asylum seeker health in immigration detention were interviewed. Transcripts were coded both inductively and deductively from interview question domains and thematically analysed. Findings suggested that respondents' motivations for advocacy stemmed from deeply intertwined professional and personal ethics. Overall, advocacy responses originated from the union of three integral stimuli: personal ethics, proximity and readiness. We conclude that each of these three integral factors must be addressed in any attempt to foster advocacy within the medical profession. In light of current global trends of increasingly protectionist immigration practices, promoting effective physician advocacy may become essential in ensuring patients' universal right to health.

Practising feminist politics in legal geographic research

AbstractIn this paper, I reflect on my experiences conducting legal geographic research within a Central Pennsylvania courtroom. This research builds on my former professional experience as a legal advocate where I worked for five years providing advocacy services to over 800 survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. I discuss how I incorporated two common advocacy practices – accompaniment and institutional advocacy – into my research praxis as a means to fulfil my commitment to conduct activist research as a feminist legal geographer. I argue that the advocacy skills I learned outside of academia helped me navigate the tensions of studying power with legal actors in the privileged space of the courtroom. This paper contributes to recent interest in the methodological practices that legal geographers utilise within courtroom spaces, while also encouraging legal geographers to consider what knowledge and skills – beyond academic methodologies and methods – might serve to support activist research within spaces of power.

Urban resilience – An urban management perspective

This paper seeks to contribute to the increasingly pressing debate on urban resilience. It does so from an urban manager's perspective. It reviews three conceptual approaches to the subject. These are then set against current urban development programmes in Kenya. It suggests a three-stage set of interventions. In year one, the environmental and physical vulnerabilities are surveyed and plotted on maps. The ideal is through modern GIS. In year two, the softer side of the urban system gains more analytical credibility; the ‘health and well-being’ and ‘economy and society’ dimensions. Year three sees the consolidation of analysis and action through the vertically integrated and iterative spatial and policy-based budgeting processes. These are practical interpretations on how urban resilience might be put into practice. While the concept of urban resilience and practical advocacy centres on Kenya, its application can have resonance in other Africa countries.

Toward a Personally Situated Approach to Advocacy: Expanding Community-Engaged Rhetoric to Parent Advocacy in Special Education

ABSTRACT A “personally situated” approach to community-engaged rhetoric highlights the personal and performative dimensions of advocacy, which are often obscured in public and community-oriented frameworks. When applied to the advocacy practices of parents of disabled children within the context of special education, personally situated advocacy reveals how a strong personal commitment to advocacy within a highly institutionalized space can create unique and often difficult rhetorical challenges. By making these challenges more visible, personally situated advocacy suggests new possibilities for affiliation between community partners and community-engaged scholars.