Does Social Work Education Have an Impact on Social Policy Preferences? A Three-Cohort Study

Idit Weiss, Tel-Aviv University
John Gal, Hebrew University
Ram A. Cnaan, University of Pennsylvania

Article comments

Reprinted from Journal of Social Work Education, Volume 41, Issue 1, 2005, pages 29-47.
The authors assert their right to include this material in the ScholarlyCommons@Penn.

Abstract

This article examines the impact of social work education on the social policy preferences of social work students through a panel study of three cohorts of students at three universities in two countries - the United States and Israel. The findings of the study indicate that though the initial policy preferences of the students at the beginning of their studies at the three universities differed, by the end of their studies, the students' preferences were similar and supportive of the welfare state model.