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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Sociology

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Theses/Dissertations

Poverty

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mind Playing Tricks: Individualism, Upward Mobility, And The Commitment To Self-Determination Among The Urban Poor, Will Bryerton Jan 2014

Mind Playing Tricks: Individualism, Upward Mobility, And The Commitment To Self-Determination Among The Urban Poor, Will Bryerton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The ethos of the American Dream offers a popular and straightforward prescription for success: Work hard, rely on yourself before others, avoid bad choices, and prosperity will follow. It is a decidedly optimistic, largely undefined, and intensely individualistic promise with serious implications for Americans’ views on achievement and upward mobility. For all of these reasons, the validity of this ethos has come under attack. Philosophically, it is seen as illusory, ambiguous, and unrealistically demanding of individual exceptionalism. Sociologically, it is admonished for being too dismissive of structural constraints, systemic inequalities, and the value of relationships, social embeddedness, and mutual dependence. …


Lost In Transition: Welfare To Work In Louisiana, Theresa C. Davidson Jan 2005

Lost In Transition: Welfare To Work In Louisiana, Theresa C. Davidson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The decline in welfare rolls coupled with the increase in work activity among former recipients since the mid-nineties might indicate that welfare reform legislation has been a success. This is only part of the story describing the impact of welfare reform. Although many have exited the rolls, a significant number still have not found work, others remain on aid, and some struggle through the transition relying on a combination of welfare and work. Even those who fit the narrow definition of "success" and have left welfare for formal employment experience significant hardship. Overall, regardless of work and welfare status, most …


Does Archieving Social Policy Goals Insure Positive Outcomes: From Welfare Reliance Of Wage Work In Rural Louisiana, Lydia Bentin Blalock Jan 2002

Does Archieving Social Policy Goals Insure Positive Outcomes: From Welfare Reliance Of Wage Work In Rural Louisiana, Lydia Bentin Blalock

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research was Wave II of a longitudinal, qualitative study designed to describe the outcomes of welfare reform legislation on rural families in Louisiana as they tried to comply with provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. This particular study looked at a subset of women (n=12) from Wave II and explored two questions: (a) Whether the decline in Louisiana welfare caseloads translated into rural women finding and keeping jobs; and (b) What is the likelihood that the women employed at the time of this study will be able to sustain their work efforts and …