Social workers’ engagement in social rights advocacy: individual capacities, organizational milieus, and associations with the working alliance

Abstract

ABSTRACT The non-take-up of rights among social service-users is a well-known phenomenon, with grave implications. In response to it, social workers holding various roles are tasked with assisting service-users in obtaining their rights, in accordance with national policies and professional ethics. Despite its importance, research examining factors possibly connected to social workers’ engagement in social rights advocacy for/with service-users is very limited, and was mostly conducted several years ago. The purpose of the present study was to explore the role of three types of such factors – organizational milieus (supervisors’ support and the adequacy of the working environment); individual capacities (knowledge and skills held by social workers); and the relational aspect (the working alliance between social workers and their service-users). 247 Israeli social workers participated in the study, all employed in public social services. Data were collected using a quantitative approach via an online questionnaire. The results of the study underscore some potent correlates and predictors of social workers’ engagement in advocating for social rights, in themselves and especially in the interaction between factors. This is discussed with relation to previous research, policy trends, and contemporary theoretical approaches to social rights advocacy.