Chapter 1: Joining a Tradition of Social Reform

Vocabulary practice flashcards generated from Chapter 1 lecture notes on social policy advocacy, vulnerable populations, policy forms, and practice skills.

Vulnerable populations

Groups of people that have experienced discrimination and prejudice over an extended period of time.

Racial groups

Persons who have been subjected to overt racism in interpersonal interactions, and policy discrimination in education, training programs, community amenities, and other areas.

Sociological groups

Persons who have been subjected to discrimination stemming from assumed dependency (such as women or people with disabilities) and who are denied access to certain kinds of jobs and roles.

Dependent groups

Persons, typically children, who must rely on society for basic amenities but who have little or no political clout.

Nonconformist groups

Persons subjected to discrimination because they are viewed as violating sexual norms (gay men and lesbians), social norms (criminal offenders), or social expectations (persons with mental illnesses).

Model groups

Persons who are denied social support and resources because of the assumption that their group has no social problems, such as Jewish Americans, Asian Americans, and some white ethnic Americans.

Economic groups

Persons in low and moderate income groups who lack sufficient resources or stable employment, which precludes participation in other social or political structures.

Compensatory strategies

Extra services or supports advocated by policy practitioners to assist members of vulnerable populations with achieving parity.

Social policy

A collective strategy that prevents and addresses social problems, described as goal-driven problem solving.

Statutes

A form of social policy consisting of legislation approved by governmental bodies.

Rules and regulations

Administrative rules that direct or limit action within organizations and policy systems.

Informal, unwritten policies

Unstated standards of practice within an agency that guide behavior even though they are not recorded in an official manual.

Personal policy actions

Actualized policy representing what an individual practitioner enacts or ignores in relation to a specific policy.

Analytic skills

Policy advocacy skills used to obtain data, identify alternatives, compare relative merits, and develop recommendations.

Political skills

Policy advocacy skills used to assess policy feasibility, identify power resources, and develop and implement political strategies.

Interactional skills

Policy advocacy skills used to make contacts, develop networks, build personal relationships, communicate effectively, and facilitate coalitions and committees.

Value-clarification skills

Ethical reasoning skills used to decide which objectives to favor when analyzing problems and developing proposals, and to determine what risks to take when questioning existing policies.

Jane Addams

A pioneer and founder in social work who militantly supported an array of social reforms during the Progressive Era.