The social work profession has long touted a dual focus on service within micro and macro realms of practice, preparing social workers to serve marginalized populations at the boundary between the powerful and the powerless. Research, however, has shown that macro social work, or policy practice, has diminished. Current research has been inconsistent in identifying predictive factors of increased policy practice. With recent efforts by the profession to bolster waning policy practice among social workers, it is vital to identify factors that predict higher engagement. Theoretical frameworks suggest that professional socialization in policy practice as a group norm, having resources to participate in policy practice, being psychologically engaged in politics, and engaging in recruitment networks tends to increase policy practice. Based on these frameworks, professional socialization, policy practice preparedness, type of employment, and social media use were considered as potential predictive factors of engagement. The purpose of this study was to analyze these factors that may predict policy practice among social workers. Survey research was used to gather data from practicing social workers in Illinois (N = 93). A hierarchical multiple regression analysis empirically validated that higher levels of perceived professional socialization and policy practice preparedness both predicted higher levels of policy practice. Additionally, social workers who reported primary roles as administrative were more likely to engage in policy practice than direct practitioners. The results point to a need for the social work profession to bolster knowledge and skills in policy practice, reinforce professional identification in policy practice, and mobilize leaders to recruit and mentor direct practitioners.

Similar to other generations, millennials are attracted to organizations whose causes align with their interests, yet millennial college students' participation in nonprofit voluntary organizations is declining in the United States. Little academic literature explores the causes for the declines in participation, particularly related to civil rights organizations on college campuses. As a result, grassroots civil rights organizations are viewed as dying. Using Howe-Straus' generational theory as a foundation, this case study was to gain the perspective of 20 millennial generation students born between 1980 and 2000 on three college campuses and three civil rights organizations in the southeastern United States. Data were collected from 20 millennial generation students in two phases. Participants completed Clary and Snyder's volunteer functions inventory prior to being interviewed with a focus on understanding the factors that motivate or serve as a disincentive for the millennial generation to volunteer in civil rights organizations on campus. Survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics; interview data were transcribed, inductively coded, and subjected to a thematic analysis procedure. Findings indicate that participants perceive that civil right organizations overlooked opportunities to engage in effective outreach and recruitment of millennial students by focusing on causes that are perceived to be of value to this population. Furthermore, organizations underutilize millennial-friendly outreach, including use of social media campaigns. The positive social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations to engage in recruitment activities that are appealing to the millennial generation in order to garner the contributions of this population of students.

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This thesis aims to understand the everyday use of digital media by Chinese ordinary citizens as new forms of civic engagement under strict online censorship and CCP’s authoritarian control. With the announcement of the Third-child Policy as the analytical background, I adopted a qualitative research method and conducted digitally mediated ethnography on Sina Weibo users. Specifically, I took a close look at their strategic usage of social media practices, memes, as means to participate in the discussion of third-child policy on the platform. My theoretical framework builds off on James Scott’s (1989) theory of everyday forms of resistance and Flinders & Wood’s (2018) notions on everyday political participation, supplementing with concepts of connective action and collective identity. This paper shows how participants used low-key, tactical, and mundane memes to criticize third-child policy, the motivations, and intentions behind their acts, how meme expressions are organized, sustained, and what makes these acts politically effective. By doing this, I highlight how participants’ everyday self- determined online practices result in the formation of collective identities that eventually lead to the emergence of underground centrality among ordinary Chinese people and challenge CCP authority and legitimacy. As such, it will contribute to a deeper insight into the collective nature of and resistance power of participants' individual online actions and enrich our understanding of the active agency of Chinese actors and their civic engagement under censorship regimes.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors which promote and/or dissuade America’s youth (thirteen to nineteen) from becoming civically engaged. This is particularly important because currently these young people are one of the fastest growing demographics in America. Like generations before it, this demographic stands to inherit the social and political tasks of the current day as well as those that will unfold over their lifetime. But, because research suggests a large proportion of this group are apathetic to this process we need to know what can be done to cultivate civic mindedness among this demographic so that stakeholders can effectively appeal to this demographic’s sense of civic duty. There are many ways to figure out the communication processes which promote engagement among youth. Yet, probably the best way to accomplish this task is to actually talk with young people about their own experiences and ask them to identify factors, which have promoted and/or dissuaded them from becoming civically engaged. Therefore, this thesis does exactly that. It asks the questions and explores the answers that the youth themselves give regarding their own experiences with civic engagement and the factors that promoted or dissuaded them from becoming engaged. It is also important to note that civic engagement is defined in many ways, but rather than having a priori definition, this study allows the definition to emerge from the data. Finally, the following is a review of the literature pertaining to the factors which tend to promote civic engagement among youth as well as what is absent in promoting or fostering civic mindedness among this demographic.

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This study argued that the purpose of social studies education is intimately connected with civic engagement. The function of civic engagement shifts in accordance with the political roles a teacher plays in the classroom (Westhaimer & Kahne, 2004). The literature review defined the possible parameters of these political roles. The research then explored how secondary social science and elementary teacher candidates, if at all, planned to address the political issue of civic engagement in education and their self-awareness as political actors. This research study aimed to expand the available body of research on this topic by exploring the perceptions of social studies teacher candidates concerning their roles in promoting civic engagement. This study conducted a survey of social science and elementary teacher candidates to qualitatively measure these perceptions. The study found that teacher candidates possessed entrenched conceptions of good citizenry but fail to connect social studies’ primary purpose of civic engagement with the promotion of good citizenry. The study also indicated teacher candidates lack sufficient civic engagement conceptual understanding and corresponding pedagogy to adequately perform their political roles as democratic gatekeepers. Consequently, the study’s educational implications were that social studies teachers’ and teacher candidates’ awareness of civic engagement in the social studies classroom is necessary to facilitate an effective, ethical, and objective education. Additionally, more attention must be given in teacher candidate education to address the political reality of the social science education profession.

This research analyzes the political and social engagement of UCF College of Business students in order to grasp a better understanding of what youth engagement looks like in the 21st century. Through the implementation of a survey, data is collected on the level of students' social involvement, political participation, and civic engagement – the three vital metrics of citizen engagement. These metrics are then split across the online and offline realm, as well as across key demographics of race, gender identity, political ideology, and party affiliation. Data is also collected about which social media platforms students engage most on, allowing us to understand what demographics of students are participating in society and where they are doing so.

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