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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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- Keyword
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- Poverty (13)
- Gender (3)
- Welfare reform (3)
- Affordable housing (2)
- Bourdieu (2)
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- Human capital (2)
- Income (2)
- Marriage (2)
- Neighborhoods (2)
- PRWORA (2)
- Race (2)
- Social capital (2)
- Social support (2)
- Social work (2)
- Welfare (2)
- AFDC (1)
- Adequate housing (1)
- African Americans (1)
- Aging-in-place (1)
- American poverty (1)
- And Azerbaijan (1)
- Antipoverty policy (1)
- Authority relations (1)
- Baltimore (1)
- Barrio advantage (1)
- Black (1)
- Black grandmothers (1)
- Blame avoidance (1)
- California (1)
- Canada (1)
Articles 31 - 60 of 85
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Theories Of Urban Poverty And Implications For Public Housing Policy, Alexandra M. Curley
Theories Of Urban Poverty And Implications For Public Housing Policy, Alexandra M. Curley
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Urban poverty has been the subject of sociological and political debate for more than a century. In this article I examine theories of urban poverty and their place in American housing policy. I first discuss theories that have arisen out of the sociological and policy discourse on urban poverty and the research that supports and challenges these theories. I then review current public housing initiatives and discuss the impact of these theories on current housing policy.
Review Of Inequality In America: What Role For Human Capital Policies. James J. Hechman And Alan B. Krueger. Reviewed By Sondra Beverly., Sondra Beverly
Review Of Inequality In America: What Role For Human Capital Policies. James J. Hechman And Alan B. Krueger. Reviewed By Sondra Beverly., Sondra Beverly
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Book review of James J. Heckman and Alan B. Krueger, Inequality in America: What Role for Human Capital Policies? Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004. $40.00 cloth.
The Poverty Of Unattached Senior Women And The Canadian Retirement Income System: A Matter Of Blame Or Contradiction?, Amber Gazso
The Poverty Of Unattached Senior Women And The Canadian Retirement Income System: A Matter Of Blame Or Contradiction?, Amber Gazso
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Structural and financial inadequacy of Canada's retirement income system, especially with respect to income support benefits (i.e. Old Age Security), are often identified as one major reason unattached senior women experience poverty. While it may be compelling to blame low benefit levels and changing eligibility requirements, particularly because 'crisis' policy discourses have influenced questionable restructuring over time (i.e. the clawback), this paper argues that this is too simplistic of an account of the relationship between these women's poverty and the retirement income system. Other broad social-structural factors are at play in women's lives that have the potential to disentitle their …
The Welfare Myth: Disentangling The Long-Term Effects Of Poverty And Welfare Receipt For Young Single Mothers, Thomas P. Vartanian, Justine M. Mcnamara
The Welfare Myth: Disentangling The Long-Term Effects Of Poverty And Welfare Receipt For Young Single Mothers, Thomas P. Vartanian, Justine M. Mcnamara
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This study investigates the effects of receiving welfare as a young woman on long-term economic and marital outcomes. Specifically, we examine if there are differences between young, single mothers who receive welfare and young, single mothers who are poor but do not receive welfare. Using the 1968-1997 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, our findings suggest those who receive welfare for an extended period as young adults have the same pre-transfer income over a 10 to 20 year period as those who are poor but do not receive welfare as young adults. While we found some differences between the two groups …
Digital Divide In Computer Access And Use Between Poor And Non-Poor Youth, Mary Keegan Eamon
Digital Divide In Computer Access And Use Between Poor And Non-Poor Youth, Mary Keegan Eamon
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
The main objectives of this study were to examine the "digital divide" in home computer ownership and to evaluate differences in academic and non-academic computer use between poor and non-poor youth. Data from a national sample of 1,029, 10- through 14-year-old young adolescents were analyzed. Results show that poor youth were .36 times as likely to own a home computer, but equally as likely to use their home computer for academic purposes as were non-poor youth. Poor youth did not differ from non-poor youth in how often they used any computer for academic purposes, but were less likely to use …
Voices From The Middle: How Performance Funding Impacts Workforce Organizations, Professionals And Customers, Roberta Rehner Iversen
Voices From The Middle: How Performance Funding Impacts Workforce Organizations, Professionals And Customers, Roberta Rehner Iversen
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Under recent policy reforms, the landscape of authority relations in welfare and workforce development organizations has radically changed from one that privileged internal professional autonomy to one that privileges external authorities. Performance, rather than input funding is the medium for this change. Longitudinal ethnographic research reveals that performance requirements in workforce development both contribute to and challenge organizational structure and program design, professional practices, and job seeker outcomes. As such, when the "voices" of job-seeking customers, directly and through their affiliated workforce organizations, professionals, and employers, are added to the "voices" of funders under performance funding, polyvocality may result in …
American Poverty As A Structural Failing: Evidence And Arguments, Mark R. Rank, Hong-Sik Yoon, Thomas A. Hirschl
American Poverty As A Structural Failing: Evidence And Arguments, Mark R. Rank, Hong-Sik Yoon, Thomas A. Hirschl
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Empirical research on American poverty has largely focused on individual characteristicst o explain the occurrence and patternso f poverty. The argument in this article is that such an emphasis is misplaced. By focusing upon individual attributes as the cause of poverty, social scientists have largely missed the underlying dynamic of American impoverishment. Poverty researchers have in effect focused on who loses out at the economic game, rather than addressing the fact that the game produces losers in the first place. We provide three lines of evidence to suggest that U.S. poverty is ultimately the result of structural failings at the …
Generational Equity, Generational Interdependence, And The Framing Of The Debate Over Social Security Reform, John B. Williamson, Tay K. Mcnamara, Stephanie A. Howling
Generational Equity, Generational Interdependence, And The Framing Of The Debate Over Social Security Reform, John B. Williamson, Tay K. Mcnamara, Stephanie A. Howling
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This article analyzes the differences between the generational equity and generational interdependence conceptual packages used to frame arguments in the debate over policies such as Social Security reform. It begins with a history of the generational equity debate. This is followed by an analysis of the assumptions, values, and beliefs that inform each of these two ideological frames. It presents an analysis of why the generational equity frame has dominated the debate and highlights some of the limitations of this perspective.
The Culture Of Race, Class, And Poverty: The Emergence Of A Cultural Discourse In Early Cold War Social Work (1946-1963), Laura Curran
The Culture Of Race, Class, And Poverty: The Emergence Of A Cultural Discourse In Early Cold War Social Work (1946-1963), Laura Curran
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Through a primary source historical analysis, this article discusses the emergence of a cultural discourse in the early cold war (1946-1963) social work literature. It traces the evolution of social work's cultural narrative in relation to social scientific perspectives, changing race relations, and increasing welfare caseloads. Social work scholars originally employed their cultural discourse to account for racial and ethnic difference and eventually came to examine class and poverty from this viewpoint as well. This cultural framework wrestled with internal contradictions. It simultaneously celebrated and problematized cultural difference and foreshadowed both latter twentieth century multiculturalism as well as neo-conservative thought.
The New Poverty Studies: The Ethnography Of Power, Politics And Impoverished People In The United States. Judith Goode And Jeff Maskovsky (Eds.).
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Book note for Judith Goode and Jeff Maskovsky (Eds.), The New Poverty Studies: The Ethnography of Power, Politics and Impoverished People in the United States. New York: New York University Press, 2001. $55.00 hardcover, $19.50 papercover.
Serving The Homeless: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Homeless Shelter Services, George M. Glisson, Robert L. Fischer, Bruce A. Thyer
Serving The Homeless: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Homeless Shelter Services, George M. Glisson, Robert L. Fischer, Bruce A. Thyer
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
The effects of homeless assistance services at the local level are tremendously difficult to ascertain. In this study, a four-month sample of homeless persons served by a local homeless shelter and case management program were contacted nine to eleven months after receiving services. The findings suggest that the program had some initial success in assisting the homeless clients to locate housing within the first year after leaving the shelter. However, the housing costs paid by these formerly homeless were quite high, with nearly three-quarters of them spending forty percent or more of their income on housing.
Race, Class, And Support For Egalitarian Statism Among The African American Middle Class, George Wilson
Race, Class, And Support For Egalitarian Statism Among The African American Middle Class, George Wilson
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This study uses data from the 1990 and 1987 years of the General Social Survey to assess the effects of minority status and position in the class structure in explaining middle class African Americans' support for opportunity-enhancing and outcome-based egalitarian statist policies. Findings do not provide confirmation for prior research that has found that racial effects are predominant, but has considered a more narrow range of policies and not assessed interaction effects. First, neither additive nor interactive effects of race and social class explain support for government policies that are premised on providing people with skills to compete in the …
Affirmative Action At The Crossroads: A Social Justice Perspective, Margaret Gibelman
Affirmative Action At The Crossroads: A Social Justice Perspective, Margaret Gibelman
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This article reviews the basis for the policy of affirmative action within the context of changing social values. Both the aims and unanticipated consequences of affirmative action are explored, the latter of which have resulted in substantial backlash and the real possibility of policy overturn. Within this context, the position of the social welfare community toward and involvement in affirmative action is traced. An agenda for social work in current and future debates about affirmative action is offered which takes into account the original social problem-discrimination-within redefined societal values and political realities. Alternative remedies to affirmative action, it is argued, …
Review Of Overcoming Welfare: Expecting More From The Poor And From Ourselves. James L. Payne. Reviewed By James Midgley, University Of California At Berkeley., James Midgley
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Book review James L. Payne, Overcoming Welfare: Expecting More from the Poor and From Ourselves. New York: Basic Books, 1998. $26.50 hardcover.
Legislators' Perceptions About Poverty: Views From The Georgia General Assembly, Elizabeth L. Beck, Deborah M. Whitley, James L. Wolk
Legislators' Perceptions About Poverty: Views From The Georgia General Assembly, Elizabeth L. Beck, Deborah M. Whitley, James L. Wolk
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This study sought to explore legislators perspectives about causes of poverty. Members of the Georgia General Assembly rated the importance of 10 behavioral and structural explanations of poverty, and indicated whether they thought poor women and children would be better served under AFDC or TANF. Whereas all groups of legislators found behavioral explanations moderately important, there was significant variation by race, gender, and political party about the importance of structural explanations of poverty. Support for several structural explanations of poverty correlated with a preference for AFDC, but no correlations were found with behavioral explanations. This study holds implications for affecting …
Review Of Through My Own Eyes: Single Mothers And The Cultures Of Poverty. Susan D. Holloway, Bruce Fuller, Marylee F. Rambaud And Constanza Eggers-Pierola. Reviewed By Jill Duerr-Berrick, University Of California At Berkeley., Jill Duerr-Berrick
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Susan D. Holloway, Bruce Fuller, Marylee E Rambaud and Constanza Eggers-Pierola, Through my own Eyes: Single Mothers and the Cultures of Poverty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998. $35.00 hardcover.
Poor Children "Know Their Place": Perceptions Of Poverty, Class, And Public Messages, Susan Weinger
Poor Children "Know Their Place": Perceptions Of Poverty, Class, And Public Messages, Susan Weinger
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This qualitative study hears and clarifies some of the voices of children concerning how they feel their lives are circumscribed by living in poverty, by public messages about the poor, and by their views of their socioeconomic status. Twenty-four children between the ages of 5-12 years were interviewed using snapshots of different economic level homes in order to capture their uncensored responses. Findings reveal that the children view poverty as a deprivation, perceive societal messages as disparaging of the poor, and have some difficulty holding on to positive views of themselves. These children's thoughts about the realities of their lives …
Escaping Poverty & Becoming Self-Sufficient, Richard K. Caputo
Escaping Poverty & Becoming Self-Sufficient, Richard K. Caputo
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Using logistic regression analysis on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this study found that sociodemographic factors were far more influential in determining escape from poverty and becoming self sufficient than social psychological factors. The number of years respondents lived in poverty was the best predictor of escaping poverty, while the number of years respondents made use of public assistance programs was the best predictor of becoming self-sufficient. Marital status and change in the number of hours worked influenced the prospect for escaping poverty, though not becoming self-sufficient. Implications regarding the changing philosophy of social welfare from income …
Poverty Among Asian Americans: Theories And Approaches, Surjit Singh Dhooper
Poverty Among Asian Americans: Theories And Approaches, Surjit Singh Dhooper
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Asian Americans are not immune to poverty and its consequences. This paper has reviewed several poverty-related concepts and theories and examined their relevance for understanding and dealing with poverty among Asian Americans. Social work interventions are proposed at both macro and micro levels together with the professional skills necessary for those interventions.
Is The "Underclass" Really A Class?, E. Walton Zelly Jr
Is The "Underclass" Really A Class?, E. Walton Zelly Jr
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
The concept of an "underclass" departs from previous determinations of social class based on criteria of education, occupation, and income in favor of the more subjective and less quantifiable criteria of the degree of social dislocation and the departure of a population from middle class norms and values. A study reviews current definitions of "the underclass"; contrasts this class description with "the poor" in the 60's and before; and suggests that "the underclass" is a pejorative label which has the effect of "blaming the victim", and has negative implications for the formulation of public policy directed toward the population thus …
Lives On The Edge: Single Mothers And Their Children In The Other America. Valerie Polakow.
Lives On The Edge: Single Mothers And Their Children In The Other America. Valerie Polakow.
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Valerie Polakow: Lives on the Edge: Single Mothers and their Children in the Other America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. $22.50 hardcover.
How To Help The Working Poor Develop Assets, John R. Belcher
How To Help The Working Poor Develop Assets, John R. Belcher
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This article explores the inability of the working poor to withstand income shocks. Because they often lack assets, the working poor are increasingly vulnerable to increasing deprivation. Interestingly, the welfare state enables the middle-class to develop and maintain assets through institutional arrangements. It is argued that solutions to the problem of poverty must include ways for the working poor also to develop and maintain assets.
Assets And Financial Management Among Poor Households In Extreme Poverty Neighborhoods, Cathleen M. Finn, Paz M-B. Zorita, Claudia Coulton
Assets And Financial Management Among Poor Households In Extreme Poverty Neighborhoods, Cathleen M. Finn, Paz M-B. Zorita, Claudia Coulton
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Proposals supporting the accumulation of assets in poor households are hopeful of creating upward mobility. The experiences of poor families in managing assets and other elements of daily economic life were explored through interviews with low-income Hispanic and Anglo families. All families exhibited planning and management skills needed for assets accumulation, but were unable to escape the effects of unrewarding neighborhood environments. Assets did not provide clear avenues out of poverty. If assets-based programs are to raise the economic status of poor families in extreme poverty neighborhoods they must include mechanisms to protect value and reduce uncertainty.
Neighborhood-Based Initiative To Address Poverty: Lessons From Experience, Robert Halpern
Neighborhood-Based Initiative To Address Poverty: Lessons From Experience, Robert Halpern
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
The neighborhood has long been an important locus for efforts to address the causes and consequences of poverty in American society. Over the course of the past century neighborhood- based initiatives have been called on to reduce class conflict, counter feelings of alienation, localize control of social institutions, create jobs and reverse neighborhood economic decline, improve human services, and address a variety of specific poverty-related problems, ranging from infant mortality to juvenile delinquency. In this essay I draw on the historical experience with neighborhood initiative to illuminate its strengths and limitations as a strategy for addressing poverty and its correlates. …
Doubling Up: Low Income Households Sheltering The Hidden Homeless, Edward F. Vacha, Marguerite V. Marin
Doubling Up: Low Income Households Sheltering The Hidden Homeless, Edward F. Vacha, Marguerite V. Marin
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
The costs and benefits of sheltering the homeless experienced by "informal shelter providers "-people who shelter their homeless friends and relatives-are investigated. The benefits of informal sheltering to the community are also examined. Informal shelter providers are among the most destitute in the community, and they are at great risk of becoming homeless themselves. The community receives considerable benefit from informal sheltering. The dependency of the community on the fragile system of informal shelter providers for prevention of homelessness indicates the inadequacy of present housing programs and the failure of our housing policies. Recommendations for preserving and nurturing the invisible …
Poverty, Homelessness, And Racial Exclusion, John R. Belcher
Poverty, Homelessness, And Racial Exclusion, John R. Belcher
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This article reviews the societal forces that have made homelessness the end result of racial exclusion and inner city isolation. It is argued that significant societal change is necessary to reduce racial exclusion and prevent homelessness.
Changes In Poverty, Income Inequality And The Standard Of Living During The Reagan Years, Robert D. Plotnick
Changes In Poverty, Income Inequality And The Standard Of Living During The Reagan Years, Robert D. Plotnick
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
The record of economic well-being in the 1980s belied Reagan's claim that Americans would be better off if they scaled back the welfare state and cut tax rates. Though the standard of living rose, its growth was no faster than during 1950-1980. Income inequality increased. The rate of poverty at the end qf Reagan's term was the same as in 1980. Cutbacks in income transfers during the Reagan years helped increase both poverty and inequality. Changes in tax policy helped increase inequality but reduced poverty. These policy shifts are not the only reasons for the lack of progress against poverty …
Testing The Underclass Concept By Surveying Attitudes And Behavior, Kathleen J. Pottick
Testing The Underclass Concept By Surveying Attitudes And Behavior, Kathleen J. Pottick
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Recent interest in the problems of an underclass has highlighted deficiencies in the conceptual understanding of the term and empirical investigation into its dynamics. This research note describes the current definition of the concept and presents recent empirical tests of it. By presenting available survey data sets that can identify underclass attitudes, values and behavior, the note refines the deliberations on measurement. Two underclass groups, welfare recipients and criminals, are used to illustrate the methodology
The Truly Disadvantaged: Structuring An Agenda For Change, James A. Geschwender
The Truly Disadvantaged: Structuring An Agenda For Change, James A. Geschwender
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This manuscript addresses the question as to how we may best structure an agenda for change aimed at improving the economic situation for the "truly disadvantaged." I have chosen to address this question within the limits set by existing political circumstances. Policy proposals are presented because they are believed to be achievable and would be effective if implemented. It is impossible to think about this question without considering the proposals presented by William J. Wilson in his pathbreaking book, The Truly Disadvantaged (1987). Consequently, I briefly describe the intellectual context within which Wilson wrote his book and analyze the basic …
Comments On William Wilson's The Truly Disadvantaged: A Limited Proposal For Social Reform, Bonnie Thornton Dill
Comments On William Wilson's The Truly Disadvantaged: A Limited Proposal For Social Reform, Bonnie Thornton Dill
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This is an important book which has already had a major impact on discussions of poverty, race and public policy in the United States. Wilson is to be commended for his willingness to step boldly into the arena of public discourse in an effort to blaze a new trail between the "rock" of conservative thinking on the underclass and the "hard place" of contemporary liberal perspectives. His project-the refocusing of the liberal perspective and the definition of a bold new public policy agenda is inherently controversial. Wilson is quite correct in his assertion that the conservative perspective captured public attention …