INTEGRATING DELIBERATIVE JUSTICE THEORY INTO SOCIAL WORK POLICY PEDAGOGY

Abstract

Deliberation that upholds the social work values of justice and inclusion is anessential component of the policy-making process; yet most social welfare policycurricula focus instead on the goals of distributive justice. This article presentsa model that demonstrates how deliberative justice can be easily incorporatedinto beginning level social welfare policy classes. Feedback from socialwork students indicates their understanding of the concepts of deliberative justicepresented in a policy class and their appreciation of a class role-playdesigned to illustrate the implementation of related theory. Social work practitionersat the policy level may also find this model useful.