In the June 2025 Vol. 30 issue of the Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, Shannon Lane, director of the Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work and professor-in-residence, and Tanya Rhodes Smith, MSW, former director of the Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work, are co-authors of "Implementing a Model for Voter Engagement Among BSW Students: A Case Study."
Their co-authors include Melissa McCardle, Ph.D., MSW and Adelaide Sander, Ph.D., MSW.
This case study examines the integration of a comprehensive voter engagement model (VEM) within a required policy class in a small baccalaureate social work (BSW) program. Analysis of a focus group with students after the completion of the project revealed three overarching themes summarizing the impact of voter engagement on student learning. Students reported greater critical consciousness about the relevance of voting, increased political efficacy, and the motivation and empowerment to engage voters in their professional practice and personal communities.
In the September 2025 issue of The American Journal of Community Psychology, Sukhmani Singh, assistant professor in the School of Social Work, and Tanya Rhodes Smith, MSW, former director of the Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work, are the co-authors of "Moving from manufactured ambivalence to building power: Recommendations for voter engagement interventions through a participatory project with formerly incarcerated people."
Other collaborators include Joshua G. Adler, Fernando Ricardo Valenzuela, and James Jeter.
Felony re-enfranchisement efforts have expanded voting rights of formerly incarcerated people (FIP) across 26 states. Despite progress, research demonstrates low voter turnout and civic participation among this structurally marginalized population. The authors conducted a community-based participatory research project, rooted in the framework of critical consciousness, to understand how FIP experience voting.
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Research Publications
Lane, S.R., & Bryant, A. (2025). United States: Opportunities and barriers for social work members of Congress. In Kindler, T., Leitner, S., Loffler, E.M., & Stolz, K. (Eds.) Social workers in political office: A comparative perspective on recruitment, career patterns and social advocacy. (First ed., pp. 183-202). Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.25968898.17
Hubley, Danielle '17 (SSW) (2025). The Intersectional Nature of Housing in the United States: Why We Should Focus on Housing First, Why We Don’t & Implications for the Social Work Profession. Journal of Policy Practice and Research. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42972-025-00120-8
Singh, S., Adler, J.G., Velenzuela, F.R., Jeter, J. & Rhodes Smith, T. (2025). Moving from manufactured ambivalence to building power: Recommendations for voter engagement interventions through a participatory project with formerly incarcerated people. American Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.70013
Conley, D., Lane, S.R., Rhodes Smith, T., & Bryant, A. (2025). Political social work’s role in competency-based social work education. Journal of Social Work Education.
McCardle, M., Sandler, A., Lane, S.R., & Rhodes Smith, T. (2025). Implementing a model for voter engagement among BSW students. Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work. http://doi.org/10.1891/JBSW-0102
Lane, S. R., Hayes, C. M., Krase, K., Waller, B., David, S., Hodge, J., Lozano, A., Matthews, N., McClendon, J. & Kagotho, N. (2025). Collective response to the 2020 COVID-19, racial injustice, and political polarization triad: Case studies for social work education. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/10428232.2025.2498239 Full text: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10428232.2025.2498239
Lane, S.R., Newransky, C., Acquaye-Doyle, L., Furmanek, F., Keilty, M., Phanord, L., Quinn-Beers, J., & Roberson-Steele, J. (2025). Social workers as poll workers: Experiences in the 2020 and 2021 elections. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 31(1), 11-27. Full text: https://reflectionsnarrativesofprofessionalhelping.org/index.php/Reflections/article/view/2089/1807
Chiarelli-Helminiak, C.M., Elias-Lambert, N., Lane, S.R., & Papanikolaou, M. (2024). Social work education leadership: Insights from faculty and staff. Advances in Social Work, 24(2), 481-502. https://doi.org/10.18060/27503 Full text:https://journals.indianapolis.iu.edu/index.php/advancesinsocialwork/article/view/27503/25731
Sandler, A., Ostrander, J., Hylton, M.E., & Rhodes Smith, T. (2024) Embedding Voter Engagement Into Field Practice. Field Educator, 14(2). Full text: https://alswe.simmons.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/24-330-Embedding-Voter-Engagement-Into-Field-Practice-v2.pdf
Conley, D.L. & Lane, S.R. (2023). Factors influencing policymaker decision making in the behavioral health-related legislative process: A scoping review. Social Work in Mental Health, 21(6), 587-605. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2023.2192318. Full text:
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Open in new tab Hylton, M., Lane, S.R., Rhodes Smith, T., Ostrander, J. & Powers, J. (2022). The Voter Engagement Model: Preparing the next generation of social workers for political practice. Journal of Social Work Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2021.2009945 Full text: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/2S7AF9JAF8KYRIFJRRWS/full?target=10.1080/10437797.2021.2009945
Lane, S.R., Hill, K., Krase, K.R., Rhodes Smith, T. (2021). Political efficacy in social workers before and after 2016. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol48/iss4/3
Hill, K., Rhodes Smith, T., Lane, S. R., & Shannon, S. (2020). Giving a voice to those with felony convictions: A call to action. Social Work, 65(4), 406-408. htps://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swaa036 Full text: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344391455_Giving_a_Voice_to_Those_with_Felony_Convictions_A_Call_to_Action
Lane, S.R. Hill, K., Ostrander, J., Powers, J., Rhodes Smith, T., & Hylton, M.E. (2020). Creating a culture of voting in direct and generalist practice: Training field instructors. Advances in Social Work, Special issue on “Promoting social change: Policy advocacy, research, and innovation in social work” https://doi.org/10.18060/22614. Full text: http://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/advancesinsocialwork/article/view/22614/22980
McClendon, J., Lane, S.R., Ostrander, J. & Rhodes Smith, T. (2020). Training social workers for political engagement: Exploring regional differences in the United States. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 40(2), 147-168. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2020.1724240 Full text: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338923802_Training_Social_Workers_for_Political_Engagement_Exploring_Regional_Differences_in_the_United_States
Sandler, A., Hylton, M. E., Ostrander, J., & Smith Rhodes, T. (2020). The three-legged stool of voter engagement: Social work’s role in mobilizing the vote among marginalized communities. Critical Social Work, 21(2), 42-56. https://doi.org/10.22329/csw.v21i2.6463. Full text: https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/view/6463/5282
Abramovitz, M., Sherraden, M., Hill, K., Rhodes Smith, T., Lewis, B., & Mizrahi, T. (2019). Voting is social work: Voices from the National Social Work Voter Mobilization Campaign. Journal of Social Work Education, 55(4), 626-644. https://doi.org.10.1080/10437797.2019.1656690. Full text: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336076752_Voting_is_Social_Work_Voices_From_the_National_Social_Work_Voter_Mobilization_Campaign
Hill, K. M. Lane, S. R. Powers, J. & Rhodes Smith, T. (2019). From The Empire State To The North Star State: Voter engagement in the 2016 election. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 46(1), 91-112. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol46/iss1/7/. Full text: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4131&context=jssw
Hylton, M., Rhodes Smith, T., Powers, J., Ostrander, J. & Lane, S.R. (2018).
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Lane, S.R., Ostrander, J.A., & Rhodes Smith, T. (2018). "Politics is social work with power": Training social workers for elected office. Social Work Education, 37(1), 1-16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2017.1366975. Full text: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319230315_%27Politics_is_social_work_with_power%27_Training_social_workers_for_elected_office
Ostrander, J., Bryan, J., Sandler, A., Nieman, P., Clark, M., Loveland, E., & Rhodes Smith, T., (2018). The political participation of first year social work students: Does practice specialization matter? Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 45(3), 39-49. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol45/iss3/4. Full text: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4215&context=jssw
Ostrander, J., Lane, S.R., McClendon, J., Hayes, C. & Rhodes Smith, T. (2017). Collective power to create political change: Increasing the political efficacy and engagement of social workers. Journal of Policy Practice, 16(3), 261-275. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15588742.2016.1266296. Full text: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313666405_Collective_Power_to_Create_Political_Change_Increasing_the_Political_Efficacy_and_Engagement_of_Social_Workers
Lane, S.R. & Humphreys, N.A. (2015). Gender and social workers’ political activity. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, 30(2), 232-245. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109914541115. Full text: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271525505_Gender_and_Social_Workers%27_Political_Activity
Lane, S.R. (2011). Political content in social work education as reported by elected social workers. Journal of Social Work Education, 47(1), 53-72. https://doi.org/10.5175/JSWE.2011.200900050
Lane, S.R. & Humphreys, N.A. (2011). Social workers in politics: A national survey of social work candidates and elected officials. Journal of Policy Practice, 10(3), 225-244. https://doi.org/10.1080/15588742.2011.582809
Lane, S.R., Humphreys, N.A., Graham, E., Matthews, N. & Moriarty, J. (2007). Voter registration: Empowering clients through agency-based voter registration. Journal of Policy Practice, 6(4), 79-94. https://doi.org/10.1300/J508v06n04_06