Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2022
Abstract
Various international and national social work ethical principles call social workers to participate in politics, yet not much research exists in the field of a political social work. Little is known about the actual voluntary political engagement of social workers as well as factors influencing their political activity. Especially, few studies with an international comparison focus have been conducted. Consequently, this study used cross sectional survey design to better understand the factors influencing the political activity of social workers in Switzerland (n = 1242) and in the United States (n = 3033). The results indicate that the political activity of social workers is strongly associated with the political influence of parents, with membership in a professional social work association as well as with political efficacy. There are some differences between Swiss and US social workers, mainly concerning the influence of memberships in trade unions. As one of few international practice comparison pieces, this article aims to further stimulate the discourse on social workers’ political activity. For this purpose, implications for social work education, practice, and research are outlined in the final section.
Recommended Citation
Kindler, T., & Ostrander, J. (2022). Factors influencing the political activity of social workers: A comparative study among Swiss and United States social workers. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 49(1) pp. 148-173.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Comments
This article has previously been published in JSSW, Volume 49, Issue 1, pp. 148-178, 2022.
Author's permitted use: Posting of the article on the internet as part of a non-commercial open access institutional repository or other non-commercial open access publication site affiliated with the author(s)'s place of employment.