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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

"Everything Has Changed": Narratives Of The Vietnamese American Community In Post-Katrina Mississippi, Yoosun Park, Joshua Miller, Bao Chau Van Sep 2010

"Everything Has Changed": Narratives Of The Vietnamese American Community In Post-Katrina Mississippi, Yoosun Park, Joshua Miller, Bao Chau Van

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In this qualitative study of the Vietnamese American community of Biloxi, Mississippi, conducted three years after Katrina, we attended not only to individual experiences but to the relationship of individuals to their collective and social worlds. The interlocked relationship of individual and collective loss and recovery are clearly demonstrated in respondents' narratives. The neighborhood and community of Little Saigon was significant not only as a symbolic source of identity but as a protected and familiar space of residence, livelihood, and social connections. The post-Katrina changes in the neighborhood are, in multiple ways, changing participants' experience of and relationship to their …


Social Work And Civic Engagement: The Political Participation Of Professional Social Workers, Sunny Harris Rome, Susan Hoechstetter Sep 2010

Social Work And Civic Engagement: The Political Participation Of Professional Social Workers, Sunny Harris Rome, Susan Hoechstetter

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article examines the involvement of practicing social workers in one type of civic engagement: the use of political processes to promote the public good. Based on a survey of 1,274 randomly selected members of NASW, this is the largest study to date examining the involvement of social workers in political action and policy advocacy. Findings suggest that approximately half of social workers demonstrate high levels of participation in the policy process. The authors analyze the frequency with which respondents engage in specific political and policy-related activities, and compare these results to those of other studies. They also examine respondents'attitudes …


Teacher, Researcher, And Agent For Community Change: A South Texas High School Experience, Francisco Guajardo Jun 2010

Teacher, Researcher, And Agent For Community Change: A South Texas High School Experience, Francisco Guajardo

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

No abstract provided.


The Value Of African American And Latino Coalitions To The American South, Ramona Houston Jun 2010

The Value Of African American And Latino Coalitions To The American South, Ramona Houston

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

No abstract provided.


Dawn Of The Cosmopolitan: The Hope Of A Global Citizens Movement, Orion Kriegman, John Wood Jun 2010

Dawn Of The Cosmopolitan: The Hope Of A Global Citizens Movement, Orion Kriegman, John Wood

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This paper describes global civil society and examines the potential for what we call movement diplomats to facilitate a citizens' movement to action beyond today's fragmented dialogue at the World Social Forum. The paper concludes that while the emergence of a Global Citizens Movement (GCM) may not seem probable, we argue it is possible given the historically unique factors pushing us into a global age. We discuss further some of the necessary missing ingredients for the emergence of a GCM and point to future avenues for exploration. Our work is animated by the prospect of a GCM and we build …


Preventing Violence In Low-Income Communities: Facilitating Residents' Ability To Intervene In Neighborhood Problems, Mary L. Ohmer, Barbara D. Warner, Elizabeth Beck Jun 2010

Preventing Violence In Low-Income Communities: Facilitating Residents' Ability To Intervene In Neighborhood Problems, Mary L. Ohmer, Barbara D. Warner, Elizabeth Beck

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The violence found in low-income communities, including areas of concentrated poverty, is often extensive and can involve illegal drugs, juvenile delinquency, and even homicide. A large body of research has emerged which points to the positive effects of informal social control and social capital in preventing violence in lowincome communities, including neighbors taking leadership roles by intervening themselves. This article contains a description of an exploratory study ofa pilot training program the authors developed to facilitate residents' ability to intervene in neighborhood problems in a low-income community in Atlanta, Georgia. The training incorporated concepts from restorative justice, peacemaking criminology, and …


Family Characteristics, Public Program Participation, & Civic Engagement, Richard K. Caputo Jun 2010

Family Characteristics, Public Program Participation, & Civic Engagement, Richard K. Caputo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study tested for differences on the type and extent of civic engagement between use of visible programs such as Food Stamps and Medicaid and less visible programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit while accounting for family and socio demographic characteristics. Policy feedback theory guided the study which used data from the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Surveys. Challenging prior research, means-tested Food Stamps, Medicaid, or EITC program participants were as likely as non-participants to devote time to activities aimed at changing social conditions. What social service agencies can do to enhance civic engagement is discussed.


Reconstructing Citizenship In A Global Economy: How Restricting Immigrants From Welfare Undermines Social Rights For U.S. Citizens, Rupaleem Bhuyan Jun 2010

Reconstructing Citizenship In A Global Economy: How Restricting Immigrants From Welfare Undermines Social Rights For U.S. Citizens, Rupaleem Bhuyan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Scrutiny of immigrants' use of public benefits is a reoccurring theme in U.S. politics. Yet while the tough stance on immigrants taps into popular anti-immigrant sentiment, the consequences of such scrutiny are shared by all welfare recipients. Drawing upon interpretive policy frames, I examine how new requirements to verify citizenship and identity for Medicaid directly impacts social entitlements for both citizen and non-citizen populations. Analysis of state reports and policy studies of citizenship verification requirements for Medicaid illustrate that verification costs may exceed the costs of fraudulent misuse by unqualified immigrants. I argue that devolutionary shifts in welfare and immigration …


Liminal Living At An Extended Stay Hotel: Feeling "Stuck" In A Housing Solution, Terri Wingate-Lewinson, June Gary Hopps, Patricia Reeves Jun 2010

Liminal Living At An Extended Stay Hotel: Feeling "Stuck" In A Housing Solution, Terri Wingate-Lewinson, June Gary Hopps, Patricia Reeves

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As a result of unaffordable housing, many of America's working poor are forced to seek shelter in hotels to avoid homelessness. The concept of liminality has been used in discussions of place to describe the subjective experience of feeling in-between two states of being. Research is scant on the liminal experiences of low-income hotel residents, who are culturally invisible in society. This paper draws from data qualitatively collected via semi-structured interviews from ten low-income residents living in an extended-stay hotel. Descriptions of these residential experiences are presented along with recommendations for social workers practicing with families in this liminal situation.


Challenges For Nonprofit Organizations. Introduction: A Theoretical Framework. Civil Society And Challenges Faced By Nonprofits, Amnon Reichman Mar 2010

Challenges For Nonprofit Organizations. Introduction: A Theoretical Framework. Civil Society And Challenges Faced By Nonprofits, Amnon Reichman

New England Journal of Public Policy

This introduction will tackle two issues. The first is theoretical: a framework will be proposed with which to approach the activity of nonprofit organizations within civil society in modern democracies. Whereas the traditional approach posits three sectors in a triangular setting (the top corner occupied by the government, the bottom-right corner occupied by the market, and the bottom left corner by the “third sector”), a better conceptualization defines civil society as a social space between the state (located above) and the individual or the private sphere (located below). This space is where for-profit organizations (usually clustered in one side of …


Transnational Social-Change Network Learning. Introduction: Shared Responsibility, Collective Reflection. Boston–Haifa Learning Exchange Network, Donna Haig Friedman Mar 2010

Transnational Social-Change Network Learning. Introduction: Shared Responsibility, Collective Reflection. Boston–Haifa Learning Exchange Network, Donna Haig Friedman

New England Journal of Public Policy

This LEN project has emerged as both experiential and active. The in-person learning exchange seminars, which since the project’s inception have been taking place once a year in Haifa, Israel, and once a year in Boston, Massachusetts, were planned and facilitated jointly by the NGO partners as well as by outside trainers. Dedicated staff time and collaborative, generous attitudes on the part of planners in both cities have been essential for power sharing, efficiency, and thoroughness in the planning processes. Preparation has been extensive, requiring the core planning team, a Haifa–Boston mix, to use conference calls and e-mail communications, months …


Foreword, Nancy K. Kaufman Mar 2010

Foreword, Nancy K. Kaufman

New England Journal of Public Policy

The “Haifa–Boston Connection” began twenty years ago under the auspices of Combined Jewish Philanthropies as a way to deepen the connections between people in the Greater Boston community and Israelis from the City of Haifa. The Mayors of Boston and Haifa signed a formal Memorandum of Agreement between their cities in 1999. The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston (JCRC) was charged with the responsibility of developing projects that would promote social justice and advance civil society, making Haifa a model for all of Israel. Working with the emerging nonprofit sector in Haifa, JCRC worked with the Council of …


Nonprofits And Social Change. Introduction: An Anchor. Reshaping The Relationship, Jennifer Cohen Mar 2010

Nonprofits And Social Change. Introduction: An Anchor. Reshaping The Relationship, Jennifer Cohen

New England Journal of Public Policy

In response to a variety of internal and external forces, including the recent economic downturn, nonprofit organizations in both Israel and the United States have increasingly been called upon to provide a safety net and serve as central players in the development, strengthening, and maintenance of civil society. These shifts include the privatization of services, blurring of the sectors and their traditional roles in providing services, reduced funding from traditional sources, welfare reforms including devolution, opening of new markets, enhanced role of faith-based people and organizations in service provision, intensified dependency and connectedness of policy makers and stakeholders, and the …


Service And/Or Advocacy: Nonprofit Sector In The Twenty-First Century, Nancy K. Kaufman Mar 2010

Service And/Or Advocacy: Nonprofit Sector In The Twenty-First Century, Nancy K. Kaufman

New England Journal of Public Policy

In both Israel and the United States over the past twenty years, there has been an explosion in the number of nonprofit organizations that live in a space somewhere between government agencies and for-profit companies. While the growth of these organizations may have been stimulated by different factors in each country, there is much to be learned through a cross-cultural exchange like the one between organizations in Haifa and in Boston. In order to analyze some of the challenges facing nonprofit organizations across a wide spectrum of mission, purpose, and size, I have categorized the type of organizations being discussed …


Global Learning Partnerships, Margaret Leonard Mar 2010

Global Learning Partnerships, Margaret Leonard

New England Journal of Public Policy

The title of this section is profoundly significant to those of us who have experienced global partnerships. Our experience has revealed to us that there is a profound organic integrity to these five words, Transnational, Social Change, Learning, Networks, and together they are revelatory of an emerging future we are stretching to envision and realize in the twenty-first century. In this brief essay I would like to share with you five core experiences of global learning partnerships that I have had over the past half decade. From these experiences I have learned volumes about the organic relationships of these five …


Speaking Up And Taking Charge, Urban Teens, Claudio Martinez Mar 2010

Speaking Up And Taking Charge, Urban Teens, Claudio Martinez

New England Journal of Public Policy

The beginning of this article will describe an authentic youth-led organizing effort is a model of social change that has developed at the Hyde Square Task Force (HSTF) over the past decade in our work with urban youth. We believe that members of this segment of the population are critical change agents, those with the potential to have a major impact on the future cultural and political development of our society.


We Make A Difference: Balancing Advocacy And Service, Marina Zamsky Mar 2010

We Make A Difference: Balancing Advocacy And Service, Marina Zamsky

New England Journal of Public Policy

The present essay deals with the problem of balancing community service provision and social-change advocacy, as well as other strategies, from various aspects: efficacy in achieving short-term and long-term goals, necessary resources, the benefits for society as well as for individuals, empowerment, and empowerment deficit.


Joining Forces In Boston: Community Development Corporations, Carl Nagy-Koechlin Mar 2010

Joining Forces In Boston: Community Development Corporations, Carl Nagy-Koechlin

New England Journal of Public Policy

In 2005, the Jewish Community Relations Council organized a Learning Exchange in which a group of Boston antipoverty leaders traveled to Israel with the goal of fostering cross-fertilization between the Boston delegation and their counterparts in Haifa. The Exchange achieved that goal remarkably. At the time, I was the director of a Boston-based community development corporation (CDC) that faced challenges related to rapid neighborhood change, and my experience spurred me to seek out opportunities for cross-fertilization and collaboration within greater Boston of the type we experienced in Haifa. Specifically, I brought colleagues together to share our experiences leading CDCs in …


Change From The Inside Out, Miriam Messinger Mar 2010

Change From The Inside Out, Miriam Messinger

New England Journal of Public Policy

In this article, I proffer that one way to build social change is to create organizations, lead, and build relationships that model and reflect the change being sought on a grander scale. Sometimes this necessitates burrowing deeper and focusing inward as a means to building sustainable change. I was engaged in this work for eight years at The City School of Boston. While The City School is a functioning, vibrant organization, I no longer work there and so will talk about the work I was a part of in the past tense.


Collaborations, Partnerships, Networks. Introduction: From The Personal To The Professional. Interorganizational Partnerships And Networks, Liron Peleg-Hadomi Mar 2010

Collaborations, Partnerships, Networks. Introduction: From The Personal To The Professional. Interorganizational Partnerships And Networks, Liron Peleg-Hadomi

New England Journal of Public Policy

Often, when I think about the nature of interorganizational partnerships and networks, I find myself thinking about the broader meaning of relationships, which form an integral part of our lives. What is it about relationships that make them so intricate, unique, mysterious, and full of opportunities? What are the components required for building a successful relationship that allows us to grow and develop in the complex world in which we live? Is it the ability to trust one another? Is it the ability to recognize one another’s needs and interests? Or maybe it is the belief that together, we can …


Kayan–Feminist Organization: Sustainable Grassroots Community Activism, Rula Deeb Mar 2010

Kayan–Feminist Organization: Sustainable Grassroots Community Activism, Rula Deeb

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article describes the process by which Kayan (Being) created the model for the Women’s Leadership Development and Sustainable Community Activism Program. The organizational model presented here was developed as a result of activities that began in 1998, during which Kayan worked with approximately 180 Arab women’s groups, with over 3,000 women from around fifty villages and towns across Israel. The model changed and solidified, through repeated evaluations and testing of the program’s goals in general, and through the program’s ongoing feedback specifically with groups of women involved. Evaluations were gathered from women participating in the groups and also through …


A Story Of Collaboration: Haifa Council Of Volunteer Organizations And Shatil, Hagit Sachar Mar 2010

A Story Of Collaboration: Haifa Council Of Volunteer Organizations And Shatil, Hagit Sachar

New England Journal of Public Policy

The present essay tells the story of a partnership between two organizations: the Haifa Council of Volunteer Organizations (CVO) and the Haifa branch of Shatil (The New Israel Fund’s Empowerment and Training Center for Social Change Organizations in Israel). They have cooperated for many years and, in the last two years, have further tightened their partnership. The first part of this essay presents a theoretical framework that serves as a basis for the case study discussed in the second part. The summary offers a number of open ended questions for further consideration and research.


Adaptive Capacity And Social Change. Introduction: A Conceptual Framework. Organizational Learning And Long-Term Stability, Nancy Strichman, Fathi Marshood Mar 2010

Adaptive Capacity And Social Change. Introduction: A Conceptual Framework. Organizational Learning And Long-Term Stability, Nancy Strichman, Fathi Marshood

New England Journal of Public Policy

If there is one kind of certainty for social-change nonprofits such as those participating in the Haifa–Boston Learning Exchange, it is that they will continually be challenged to cope with periods of instability and possible crises. The ability to adapt to changing environments, learn from experience, and perform in conditions of uncertainty are considered critical tools for organizations in order to ensure sustainability. Developing this “adaptive capacity” is a particular challenge for nonprofits at the start-up or growth phase of their organizational development, as are many of the Haifa–Boston Learning Exchange participants. This discussion presents a conceptual framework for adaptive …


Leadership As Legacy, Elias Sussan Mar 2010

Leadership As Legacy, Elias Sussan

New England Journal of Public Policy

I joined the House of Grace twenty-three years ago when I was looking for a job as a social worker and, very soon after, I found myself taking part in important and fulfilling social and community work, in an ever-renewing and developing institute — a house that is a home for people in distress. I chose social work and not one of the professions because I had a strong desire and a need to do something for the community: to work with prisoners, women survivors of violence, the homeless — with underprivileged and disadvantaged people. In my childhood and youth, …


Hope In The Room, Cheri Andes Mar 2010

Hope In The Room, Cheri Andes

New England Journal of Public Policy

The most powerful moment of the learning exchange for me was a discussion that Haifa and Boston leaders had about violence and post-traumatic stress syndrome during my second trip to Haifa. Quite a bit of relational work had already been done that allowed this discussion to occur. This was no theoretical discussion, but rather a deep sharing of personal experience.


Management For Growth, Michal Dagan Mar 2010

Management For Growth, Michal Dagan

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article describes the Haifa organization and dealing with a missle crisis. This also deals with how the center took charge of a dire situation and helped many victims of the missle attacks. It talks about the work the organizers had done and the social impact of the organization.


Lessons From The Field, Mary Nee Mar 2010

Lessons From The Field, Mary Nee

New England Journal of Public Policy

Organizational growth can fundamentally undermine the social-change mission of a nonprofit organization if the adaptive responses to growth are not continually checked against mission and vision. As the executive director of a U.S. nonprofit created in response to the crisis of homelessness, I have observed that this danger is particularly acute when an organization evolves from advocacy to service delivery.


Nonprofit Leadership. Introduction: Miracle Workers At The Helm. New Ways Of Exercising Leadership, Kristen Mccormack Mar 2010

Nonprofit Leadership. Introduction: Miracle Workers At The Helm. New Ways Of Exercising Leadership, Kristen Mccormack

New England Journal of Public Policy

Leading a nonprofit organization in today’s world requires nothing less than a miracle worker at the helm. That could be the conclusion one might draw from reading the literature on the traits, skills, and characteristics required to lead a nonprofit organization. Today’s leaders should be honest, competent, forward looking, and inspiring as well as intelligent, fair-minded, broad-minded, courageous, straightforward, and imaginative. Leaders should be of high integrity, dedicated, magnanimous, humble, open, and creative while energizing others. Able to cope with change, leaders must establish direction, align people, motivate, and inspire while effectively communicating their story. He or she must be …


Doing The Right Thing: Doing Things Right, Jane Matlaw Mar 2010

Doing The Right Thing: Doing Things Right, Jane Matlaw

New England Journal of Public Policy

I was privileged to be a part of the “birthing” of the Learning Exchange Networks (LENs) and am a veteran participant. I sat through many superb workshops and led a piece on social justice and advocacy. I had no idea that during year three of our endeavor, I would see how my world of work would so clearly intersect with the mutual learning that was happening with my colleagues in Boston and in Haifa. In my job as Director of Community Relations at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), I am responsible for the community relations activities of a 560-bed …


Raising The Gaze, Mary Coonan Mar 2010

Raising The Gaze, Mary Coonan

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article describes how our challenge is to move beyond our current vision. We must move beyond sharing our impressions of the elephant to seeing the elephant within its broader context. This kind of vision requires our joint effort and a willingness to live with uncertainty until clarity emerges through the chaos because we have been willing to look.