Human Rights and Social Policy in the United States

This Social Welfare Policy II challenges student to use human rights standards to ensure strong social protections in the United States. The idea that social policies embody economic and social rights remains controversial in the US as challenges deeply held assumptions about individual responsibility, the market economy, and the role of government. We are familiar with civil rights. However, human rights principles--especially economic and social rights--have informed the nation's core social welfare policies that, in turn, helped shape human rights in and outside of social work. The course presents and applies the human rights framework to a range of domestic social policies such as health, housing, decent work, childcare, and education, all of which have major implications for social work in all fields of practice. Includes current efforts by grass roots groups, human rights organizations and social workers to advance human rights.