Near the turn ot this century， Jane Addams and her colleagues envlslonecl
profession that would make social activism integral to its work. This bold visio:
challenged the members of the fledgling profession to expand their wor
beyond interpersonal transactions. Unlike professions like medicine， law， nurs
ing， or psychology， social work has retained this vision， even through ensuin
conservative periods and in the face of pressures to make counseling the e~
clusive focus of the profession.
This idealistic vision has endured; however， it has not been consistentl
reflected in the school curricula or in the professional work of social worker
in ensuing decades. Although many factors have contributed to this situatior
I believe that the vision of Addams is not outmoded; indeed， many feature
of contemporary society--persistent patterns of inequality， major social prok
lems like AIDS and homelessness， and attacks (such as funding cutbacks) o
prerogatives of the profession--make the vision as compelling as it was nearl
a hundred years ago.
The settlement-house leaders provided a vision but did not provide
detailed methodology for implementing it. The social work profession need
a framework in order to provide strategies and skills for reforming policies
This framework must be simple enough for a wide variety of practitioners t
understand， yet complex enough to avoid suggesting that social change ca
be reduced to a few steps. It must be relevant for a range of professional，
including direct-service staff. In addition， the framework must be readil
applicable to agency， community， and legislative settings. Rather than bein
limited to a single skill or style， the framework should include analytic， pol
tical， interactional， and value-clarifying skills; these skills reflect the actm
work of those who strive to change policies. Further， the framework shoul
bely the widespread impression that policy practice can be understood onl
by specialists， but it should also lay the groundwork to allow some soci;
workers to enter policy-specialized positions. Finally， to be true to Addams
vision， the framework must emphasize advocacy for the powerless an
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