Addressing race, ethnicity, and poverty in policy assignments: students’ opportunities and constraints

ABSTRACT Policy practice is central to social work and has particular potential for furthering social justice. This paper presents and analyzes data collected as part of an assessment of a project aimed at advancing policy practice skills of foundation year MSW students. Specifically, it aims to address the question: how do students incorporate social justice issues related to racial, ethnic, and poverty inequity within their understanding of policy practice? One hundred and sixty one students described their field-based policy practice project and how it related to social justice. Review of these reports identified several key themes. We provide further reflection on how to strengthen field-based policy practice activities and their linkage with social justice.