Teaching Students to Become Effective in Policy Practice: Integrating Social Capital into Social Work Education and Practice

Abstract

Social workers must integrate social capital more fully into social work policy practice. In order to do so, social work educators must recognize the complexities of social capital and must provide opportunities for students to learn about the utility of social capital within policy and practice realms. Since its inception, professional social work has used elements of social capital in interventions at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Educators must recognize this and integrate social capital into the curriculum so that our students can effectively use social capital in policy practice.