Creating Social Change: “Mission”-Oriented Research and Entrepreneurship

Abstract

This chapter describes agency-level actions that can promote changes in public policies. It discusses the collection of data to serve strategic political purposes or "missions". The chapter considers that the unique blend of scholarship, administrative skill, and advocacy that has characterized the Homebuilders organization, implications for program development and professional training. Research and development projects such as the ones that led to the development of psychotropics, as well as specialized training or knowledge dissemination projects, may create change in the status quo. The Homebuilders model was developed specifically for families in crisis. Knowledge about the etiology of child abuse, delinquency, spouse abuse, and mental illness was combined with knowledge about crisis intervention, parenting training, communications skills, and relationship-building to create the model. If the Homebuilders' experiences were to be used as a guide for creating research curricula in schools of social work, course content in many schools would be found deficient.