Research Brief: A systemic lifecycle approach to social policy practice in social work: Illustrations from Irish child welfare and parenting research and practice

Social workers are in effect ethnographers of social issues and are extremely well placed to lead in the shaping, influencing and development of policies that align with the principles of human rights and social justice. Sometimes though, especially for students and less experienced workers, trying to find a way to influence at policy levels can be overwhelming or too complex. In this article, we present the generic lifecycle approach to offer one concrete and achievable way for every practitioner to enhance social policy practice as central to what they do.