Social Work Term Paper

Students will write a 7 page paper that addresses a specific issue in social work.You must include at least 7 peer-reviewed journal articles in your paper. You must include recent research – published in the last 15 years (2005-2020).  You may include one older source (prior to 2005), but it should be in addition to the 7 required peer-reviewed journal articles. For statistics, you should you use only government websites (i.e. .gov). You should not include information from any other websites, as many are not scholarly in nature. 

The topic I choose is: immigration and how it pertains to social work. I believe that now more than ever, social workers are trained to be culturally competent to work with families of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. However, despite this increase in education, it can be noted that immigrant families still struggle immensely while navigating through the social welfare system. In my paper I will discuss the diverse struggles immigrants are faced with, such as: lack of resources, having limited education, legal status, biases they face, not being able to understand the language or the culture, etc. Furthermore, I will also discuss how having culturally competent professionals can help alleviate these issues and provide better support to this vulnerable population. Lastly, I will dive into best practices that social workers and other helping professionals can take into consideration to be better advocates for immigrant families in the social welfare system.

Paper structure should be: 
 Introduction/Description of the Issue (Literature Review) (2-3 pages):
-Why is this topic important?  
– What is the issue’s impact on the subjects?  
– What is the impact on society?  
– Explain the history of this issue and how it came about.  
– Give current trends, facts, data, and research to describe the current status of your topic.
– What have been the barriers to addressing the problem?
– Incorporate at least four peer reviewed journal articles.I

Advocacy Efforts (2 pages)
-What advocacy efforts have been attempted to address this so far (i.e. legislation, research, public education on the matter, other types of advocacy?  
– Who are the lead advocates on this matter (are they specific individuals, perhaps politicians, researchers, activists, or are they agencies such as watchdog organizations, universities, etc.?)
-Who are the targets of these advocates?
– How have the targets responded to the advocacy?
– What were the outcomes of advocacy efforts?
– How would you address these obstacles? 
–  What methods would you use? 
– Who would you align yourself with?  
– What are reasonable outcomes you would expect to see to know that you’ve been successful?
-Use data, research, case examples from literature to illustrate (at least 4 peer reviewed journal articles)

Your Advocacy Project/Campaign (2 pages)
– Design an advocacy project/campaign to address the aforementioned issue based on the knowledge you have obtained, particularly regarding what seems to be working, what obstacles have been faced, and who the supporters are.
-Identify where your project/campaign might be based (organizations, workplaces, communities, government agencies) and outline how you would proceed. 
-Describe your rationale, goals, strategies, targets, collaborators, and expected implementation process.  What would your project/campaign look like?  
-Address how you would deal with obstacles and build essential support.

Conclusion/Relation to Advocacy Theory (1 page)
-How does the information you found about this topic relate to concepts learned in your other courses?  Be specific!!
-This is your chance to synthesize all of your research with the information you have learned in your  courses and “make it all come together.”