Policy: History, Oppression, and the Pursuit of Justice
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2025
Choose Your Format
Choose Your Platform | Help Me Choose
Ebook
$60.00 USD
Policy: History, Oppression, and the Pursuit of Justice maintains a focus on policy, through the lens of social, economic and environmental justice. These areas are the call to action for social workers and are centered in our Council on Social Work Education standards. This new publication moves through foundational concepts and quickly into social welfare policies and identity based policies. In each section, there is a history of the policy, the current policy, and a discussion of any oppressive features of that policy. There are also discussions of social justice warriors in history and groups that stood together to make change.
Policy: History, Oppression, and the Pursuit of Justice:
- highlights foundational concepts such as: social justice, political ideologies, and the effect of capitalism and neoliberalism on policy formation
- outlines all of the racist provisions in history and then describes the administrative fraud that is still occurring
- provides an overview of how to fight for liberation and advocate for change
- includes PowerPoints and test banks for use in this course
Chapter 1 - Policy Basics
Social policies versus social welfare policies
Social Justice in a Social Work Perspective - Interpreting Policies through a Social Justice Lens
How Social Justice has been Understood in the Social Work Profession
What is Social Justice?
Historic values that shape policies
Looking at policy with a policy analysis framework
Chapter 2 - How Politics Define Existing Policy (August)
The Balance of Powers
Government Creation of Policy at the Local and National Level
The Two-Party Political System in the U.S.
Issues Connected to Our Political System
The Impact of Capitalism and Neoliberalism on Policy Making
- Capitalism
- Neoliberalism
Politics, Neoliberalism and Social Work
- Social workers are the front line of implementing assistance to people in need
- Social workers often work in individual fields of practice, which creates a focus on the issue being individualized instead of systemic
- Social workers can become co-opted by the neoliberal system as a way of doing business
Social Work Solutions to Political Divides and Neoliberalism
- Mutual Aid
- Worker Cooperatives
- Vote and Hold Political Conversations
- Standing in Solidarity
Chapter 3 - Income Support Policies - Not Everyone Is Welcome
Introduction
The Evolution of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
- Mothers Pensions
- Aid to Dependent Children (ADC)
- Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
- Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Social Security
Chapter 4 - Race Based Policies Resulting in Wealth Disparities
Overview of Indigenous Colonization
Japanese Internment Camps
Policies impacting Black and White Racial Wealth Gaps
- 40 acres and a mule
- The Homestead Act
- Redlining and segregation practices
Chapter 5 - Immigration - A Southern Border Perspective
History of biased US immigration policy
Immigration Today - a Complex, Misunderstood, and Divisive Issue
Overview of Immigration Classifications
- Visa System
- Humanitarian Migration
- Undocumented Migration
Federal and State Immigration trends
Detention Centers and Family Separation
The Threat to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
Chapter 6 - Inclusive Marriage Policies and a Movement Towards Equity?
History of Oppressive Marriage Policies
- Marriage of Enslaved People
- Interracial Marriages
- Gay Marriage
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
Hodges v Obergefell
Respect for Marriage Act
Chapter 7 - Disability Policies and How Advocacy Can Change Outcomes
History of Disability Caretaking
Willowbrook and the Deinstitutionalization Movement
The Rehabilitation Act
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
How Disability Policies can Help Children in Schools
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Institutionalization of Older Adults with Disabilities
Chapter 8 - Cis Women: The Fight Continues
Political Rights by History
Economic Rights by History
Personal Autonomy Rights
Chapter 9 - Acts of Resistance and Joy: Trans* Equity and Policy
Trans* History
- Third-Gender Identities
- Gender Diversity in the Colonies
- Trans* Activism During the 1960’s
Wave of Anti-Trans legislation (and some Victories for Trans* Equity)
- Employment Equity and Title VII
- Legal Gender Recognition
- Gender Affirming Care with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
- Gender Affirming Care Bans
- Gender Affirming Care for Trans* Youth
- The Exclusion of Trans* Youth in K-12 Schools
Trans* Military Service - A Cycle of Expulsion and Inclusion
Chapter 10 - Environmental Justice
Climate Change and the Populations Hardest Hit
- Environmental Justice
- What is Climate Change?
- What is Global warming?
- Impact of Climate Change on People
- Hurricanes Katrina and the unequal recovery
What is the Prognosis and What Can be Done?
Human Made Environmental Damage and Populations Adversely Affected
- Water Struggles in Flint, Michigan
- Indigenous Water Rights and Environmental Racism
- Protection Measures
Chapter 11 - Healthcare - A Universal Human Right
Health Disparities and their Connection to Identity
The United States and it’s lack of a universal healthcare
Early attempts at universal healthcare
- Medicare
- Medicaid
The Affordable Care Act: the good, the bad and the ugly
What would it take to get Universal Healthcare in the United States?
Chapter 12 - Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment
Mental Health Treatment:
- Institutionalization of the Mentally Ill and Women
- The Deinstitutionalization Movement
- Rules for Involuntary Care
- Mental Health Holds
- Court Appointed Guardians and the Stripping of Rights
Substance Use Treatment:
- Fake Cures and “Inebriate Asylums”
- Substance Use Criminalization and the War on Drugs
- The Opioid Epidemic
- Models of Abstinence or Harm Reduction
- Dual Diagnosis - Treating the Whole Person
Chapter 13 - Child Welfare Policies (July Start - half)
The History of Child Abuse and the Community Based Response
Definitions of Abuse and Neglect
Mandated Reporting
To Remove a Child From Home - A Long Term Decision
- Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA)
- Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act
- The Adoption and Safe Families Act
Child Welfare - Rates of Maltreatment
Disproportionate Child Removal Rates Based on Race
“Indian Child Welfare Act” and the Gold Standard it Represents (ICWA)
Chapter 14 - Raising our Voices - Liberation and Politics
Advocacy and Anti-Oppressive Practices
What can people do to create policy change?
- Educate Yourself and Others
- Write Your Congress Members
- Attend Public Meetings Where Decisions are Made
- Vote
- Petition for Signatures
- Join an Advocacy Group
- Become a Lobbyist
- Run for Office
I am a Senior Instructor at Colorado State University in the School of Social Work. I had the pleasure of working in mental health and child welfare for 20 years before becoming an educator. I currently teach in courses around social justice, policy, and clinical work. I identify as a proud Mexican cis woman, non-disabled, spiritual, heterosexual and middle class. It is important that I situate myself and my bias (which I continue to work on) when writing this textbook, as the book reflects social justice values and discusses policies connected to oppressed identities in the United States.
This book also incorporates the voices of others in two key ways to highlight social justice perspectives: (1) it features four stories from individuals directly affected by the policy areas explored in different chapters, and (2) it includes four co-authored chapters with experts who bring valuable content knowledge.