社会政策分析的三种取向与社会工作实践

Approaches to social policy analysis and implications for social work practice

本文梳理了西方文献和实践中社会政策分析的三种不同取向,它们分别是证据为本、价值为本和参与为本,各自遵循不同逻辑和实践方式。三种取向的区别尤其体现在对知识的来源和性质的基本假设上,并因此决定了政策分析者的不同角色以及他们对政策变革模式的不同观点。这三种取向在政策科学发展历史上并不互相取代或呈线性发展。但总体而言,参与为本的取向在西方政策分析实践中越发受到重视。本文认为这种发展趋势与社会工作者的专业价值和能力相吻合,为实务工作者提供了广阔的参与空间。本土的社会工作教育和研究可以借鉴西方经验,推动专业社会工作的政策实践。

In this paper,we review three approaches to social policy analysis that have appeared in the English literature and practice in the Western societies. The "evidence-oriented","values-oriented",and "participation-oriented"approaches manifest divergence in their logic and practice,especially assumptions about source and nature of knowledge,which further suggest different roles of policy analysts and pathways to policy changes. While these three approaches did not replace one another in a linear fashion,it is observed in the policy analysis literature that the participation-oriented approach has been gaining prominence. We argue that professional values and skills of social workers identify with this approach and that this trend of development offers ample room for social work practitioners’ involvement in policy work. Local social work education and research endeavors may draw fruitful lessons from this body of literature to advance policy-related practice in the Chinese context.