Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Early Education Experiences & School-To-Work Program Participation, Richard K. Caputo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study assesses the effects of Head Start participation and demonstrated academic ability during elementary school on School-to-Work (STW) program participation. The study sample comes from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort and comprises 4,370 adolescents who reported grades they received while in the 8th grade and whether or not they ever repeated a grade in grammar school. Findings indicate that STW programs attract disproportionate numbers of students with histories of marginal demonstrated academic ability. This is so because STW programs are also more likely to attract Head Starters. Demonstrated academic ability varies by race/ethnicity and sex, with …

Review Of From Immigration Controls To Welfare Controls. Steve Cohen, Beth Humphries, & Ed Mynott (Eds.). Reviewed By Miriam Potocky-Tripodi., Miriam Potocky-Tripodi

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Steve Cohen, Beth Humphries and Ed Mynott (Eds.), From Immigration Controls to Welfare Controls. New York: Routledge, 2002. $90.00 hardcover, $28.95 papercover.

Participants' Perceptions Of The Childcare Subsidy System, Sue Pearlmutter, Elizabeth E. Bartle

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper presents a focus group study of perceptions of cash assistance participants in Cuyahoga County, Ohio and the San Fernando Valley in California regarding childcare subsidy use, choices of care, and perceptions of quality. TANF participants discuss experiences in the subsidy system and indicate needs and preferences for childcare. Advocates, policy makers, and parents recognize the need for suitable childcare so that TANF recipients can go to work. However, discussants' comments demonstrate one result of a changing, but not yet changed, social safety net. The authors explore strategies to address participants' concerns-childcare systems that neither function as promised, nor …

Student Satisfaction With Michigan Community College Distance Education Courses, Eugene H. Mckay Iii

Dissertations

Distance education courses offered by community colleges and other higher education institutions are becoming popular options for students who seek a more convenient method to obtain a college education. Community colleges are actively expanding their offerings of distance education courses, both nationally and in Michigan. Yet minimal research has been conducted on a large scale to discover the factors which contribute to satisfaction with distance education courses at community colleges.

This study consists of a cross-sectional survey of over 6000 Michigan community college students in Michigan, who completed a distance education courseduring the fall semester of 2002. Sixteen of Michigan's …

Prevalence Of Child Welfare Services Involvement Among Homeless And Low-Income Mothers: A Five-Year Birth Cohort Study, Jennifer F. Culhane, David Webb, Susan Grim, Stephen Metraux, Dennis Culhane

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper investigates the five-year prevalence of child welfare services involvement and foster care placement among a population-based cohort of births in a large US city, by housing status of the mothers (mothers who have been homeless at least once, other low-income neighborhood residents, and all others), and by number of children. Children of mothers with at least one homeless episode have the greatest rate of involvement with child welfare services (37%),followed by other low-income residents (9.2%), and all others (4.0%). Involvement rates increase with number of children for all housing categories, with rates highest among women with four or …

The Lived Experience Of Welfare Reform In Drug-Using Welfare-Needy Households In Inner-City New York, Eloise Dunlap, Andrew Golub, Bruce D. Johnson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Welfare reform has transformed a needs-based family income support into temporary assistance for persons entering the workforce. This paper uses observations from an ethnographic study covering the period from 1995- 2001 to examine the impact on drug-using welfare-needy households in inner-city New York. The analysis suggests that studies may underestimate the extent to which substance use is associated with welfare problems. Nearly all of these already distressed households lost their AFDC/TANF benefits, had difficulty with work programs, and were having more difficulty covering expenses. The conclusion highlights ways to better study this population and policy initiatives that could help them …

Review Of The Assault On Social Policy. William Roth. Reviewed By Larry Nackerud., Larry Nackerud

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of William Roth, The Assault on Social Policy. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. $49.50 hardcover, $22.50 paper cover.

Serving The "Hard-To-Serve": The Use Of Clinical Knowledge In Welfare Reform, Rufina Lee, Laura Curran

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This critical analysis of recent research and evaluations of welfare reform efforts describes how states have increasingly drawn on clinical knowledge in their efforts to move "hard-to-serve" recipients into the labor force. It argues that a clinical perspective is helpful as it brings attention to the mental health needs of low-income women. At the same time, however, this article suggests that states' use of a clinical framework is problematic in so far as it based on limited knowledge, dampens a broad discussion of the relationship between poverty and mental health, contributes to policy ambiguity, and increases recipient oversight.

Examination Of The Skills And Dispositions Needed For Assistant Principals To Be Effective Disciplinarians, Sherie Lynn Williams

Dissertations

The main purpose of this study was to identify the set of key skills and dispositions needed by secondary school assistant principals to function as effective disciplinarians. A secondary purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of males and females concerning this topic. This was accomplished by exploring the perceptions of experts and practitioners, both male and female, concerning their ideas on the skills and dispositions needed by assistant principals at the secondary level to be successful disciplinarians.

This study used two methods of data collection, the Delphi Method of collecting information and focus groups. A panel of …

What's Need Got To Do With It? Barriers To Use Of Nonprofit Social Services, Rebecca Joyce Kissane

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In recent years, legislators have called upon private nonprofit and proprietary organizations to assume a larger role in provision of public benefits to poor persons. Little research, however, has examined poor people's willingness to use nonprofit agencies in lieu of public welfare. This analysis draws data from over 2 years of fieldwork and in-depth interviews with twenty poor women in Philadelphia. I demonstrate that decisions to use nonprofits are contingent upon stigma, information, practical predicaments (e.g., agency hours), and perceived need. I explore the implications of these impediments in a post-welfare reform landscape, while focusing on how decisions to use …

Review Of Drug War Heresies: Learning From Other Vices, Times & Places. Robert J. Maccoun And Peter Reuter. Reviewed By Lorraine T. Midanik., Lorraine T. Midanik

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Robert J. MacCoun and Peter Reuter, Drug War Heresies: Learning from Other Vices, Times & Places. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. $75.00 hardcover, $25.00 papercover.

Linking Welfare Clients To Jobs: Discretionary Use Of Worker Social Capital, Michelle Livermore, Alison Neustrom

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The overarching theme of the 1996 welfare reform law was to move clients from dependency to self-sufficiency by facilitating their entry into the labor market. While numerous mechanisms were used to do this, this study explores discretionary actions taken by workers to help clients find jobs, namely, tapping into their own social capital. Respondents in one urban and one rural county in a southern state reported using their own social capital to get information regarding job openings and to exert influence to get clients hired. Notably, respondents at all levels of the bureaucracy expected this behavior to occur. Both the …

Head Start, Other Preschool Programs, & Life Success In A Youth Cohort, Richard K. Caputo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study assesses the effects of Head Start and other preschool programs on five life success measures in a U.S. cohort of youth (N = 5,621). The life success indices are average annual income-to-poverty ratios, economic mobility, and number of years the youth lived in families whose incomes fell below official poverty thresholds, received Food Stamps, and received TANF/AFDC. Controlling for a variety of background and other factors in separate regression models for each life success measure, results show that youth who participated in preschool programs other than Head Start had higher average annual income-to-poverty ratios than nonpreschoolers. Bivariate findings …

Review Of Diminishing Welfare: A Cross National Study Of Social Provision. Gertrude Schaffner Goldberg And Marguerite Rosenthal (Eds.). Reviewed By Charles Guzzetta., Charles Guzzetta

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Gertrude Schaffner Goldberg and Marguerite Rosenthal (Eds.), Diminishing Welfare: A Cross National Study of Social Provision. Westport, CT: Auburn House, 2002. $28.00 paperback.

Essential Elements Of An Implementation Process For Grant-Funded Projects/Programs In Nonprofit Organizations, Margaret M. Bernhard

Dissertations

Grant seeking is a source of funding for many nonprofit organizations. If a proposal is funded, the organization must contend with the responsibility of project implementation and the expectations of successful project outcomes. A project implementation process with strategic and tactical steps that clearly define the path that leads to positive grant outcomes would assist the grant administrator. Using the Delphi Method as a methodological tool for facilitating dialog among anonymous experts, 12 foundation program officers identified, ranked, and rated the essential elements and barriers of grant implementation. The process revealed 13 essential elements of implementation and 11 barriers to …

Ownership And Stewardship: Attitudes Among Michigan’S Voters Impacting Opposition To Great Lakes Water Diversions, Bruce A. Nanzer

Dissertations

The problem addressed by this research can be demonstrated through the following scenario: If we were to ask randomly chosen voters in the state of Michigan if they possessed sufficient knowledge of Great Lakes water diversion policy, the answer would likely be no. Yet, if after a short description of the purpose for this type of policy, the voter was questioned about supporting such actions he or she would likely voice strong support for strategies that would prevent water diversions.

The objective of this research was to understand why Michigan's voters would readily voice opposition to Great Lakes water diversions …

Drug Courts: A Study Of Retention And Suspension In The Kalamazoo County Drug Court Program, James H. Houston

Dissertations

This is a study of the Kalamazoo County Drug Treatment Court Programs. Participants in the court programs are men and women who reside in the county and are charged with drug-related non-violent felonies. These participants, along with judges and administrators of the program, were interviewed for the study. The interviews were held in face-to-face meetings: participants on neutral ground and court functionaries in their offices.

The study sought to determine what factors contributed to the success or failure of drug court participants. It asked to what extent program requirements are perceived by the participants to be coercive, and how this …

An Analysis Of The Level Of Union Membership In The United States Since The Implementation Of Nafta, David D. Westcot

Dissertations

Union membership in the United States has been in a state of decline over the last two decades and international trade has been cited as one of the reasons. As such, U.S. labor unions perceived the 1994 implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as an assault on organized labor. This perspective is based on the belief U.S. capital and jobs would move jobs south in an effort to take advantage of Mexico's low-wage differentials. With this in mind, the objective of this research was to determine if the percentage of union membership in any of the 22 …

Transformation Of The Welfare State. Neil Gilbert.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Neil Gilbert, Transformation of the Welfare State. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. $29.95 hardcover.