Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 2, No. 2 Supplemental (Winter 1974)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME II - NO. 2 SUPPLEMENT WINTER 1974

Issue Editor: Alan M. Cohen, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

• Editorial - pp 208
• Change and Program Evaluation in Social Organizations - ALAN M. COHEN - pp 210
• Behavioral Science Influence on Legislation: The Case of Delinquency Prevention - ALBERT S. ALISSI - pp 227
• The Demonstration Project as a Research and Change Strategy - LEONARD RUTMAN - pp 259
• The Three Evaluations of Social Welfare Programs - DEAN HARPER, HAROUTUM M. BABIGIAN - pp 271
• Evaluation Research and Evaluation: Scientific Social Reform Movement and Ideology - …

Behavioral Science Influences On Legislation: The Case Of Delinquency Prevention, Albert S. Alissi

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

This paper will discuss some of the issues and problems which arise in the field of delinquency prevention where there is over-riding public interest and concern and calls for action to prevent delinquency, but where the problem is elusive and where the variables are not easily isolated and controlled through experimental procedures. What, in fact, constitutes the body of knowledge in the field? What uses can be made of behavioral science materials where there has been little or no experimental successes, or data upon which to build action programs? What credence should be given to …

The Three Evaluations Of Social Welfare Programs, Dean Harper, Haroutun M. Babigian

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As new and innovative social welfare programs are being attempted, there has been an increased concern with evaluating the effectiveness of such programs. To what degree is a new program effective? For which kinds of clients is each type of program effective? What elements are crucial in a program which has been judged to be effective? These are just a few of the questions that evaluators would like to answer.

There is a large literature on evaluation research--some of it reporting or reviewing the results of specific evaluations (6, 8, 9, 10, 11) and some of it presenting general discussions, …

Evaluation Research And Evaluation: Scientific Social Reform Movement And Ideology, Michael Baizerman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The idea that human services programs should be evaluated is accepted by most practitioners and researchers. Discussion is about the technical aspects of this research and about how practitioners can be encouraged to utilize evaluative findings in their everyday practice. Emphasis is placed also on the organizational barriers to this utilization. These ideas and issues are found in a growing literature in the social sciences and, increasingly, in the even faster growing literatures in the professions and in the human services, including the social services, medical and health services, criminal justice and the like.

Here, evaluation research is discussed from …

Transforming The Orientation Of A Health Organization Through Community Involvement, Sharon Pastor Simson, Laura J. Bleiweiss

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Health organizations have been oriented to meeting needs and fulfilling demands which are perceived and defined by physician providers (Freidson, 1970 Stevens, 1971). Organizational goals, services, structures, and processes of operation were formulated in accordance with the interests, values, and concerns of provider-members. Latent to this provider orientation was the assumption that professional members were the ones most qualified to determine what was best for the organization and for its consumers (Freidson 1971). In recent times, however, numerous social changes have occurred on a societal level and within the institution of medicine (Hepner, 1972; Somers, 1971; Rosengren and Lefton, 1969). …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 2, No. 2 (Winter 1974)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Letter to the Editor - pp 109
• A Holistic Perspective on Child Abuse and Its Prevention - David G. Gill - pp 110
• Towards a Radical Reassessment of Social Work Values - Shimon S. Gottschalk - pp 126
• Ethics Shock: Technology, Life Styles and Future Practice - Sonia Leib Abels, Paul Abels, Samuel A. Richmond - pp 140
• The Social-Psychology of Small Groups: Relevancy of Social Work Practice with Groups - Martha E. Gentry - pp 155
• The Myth of a Population Explosion in America: Implications for the Social Welfare Profession - Lillian T. Cochran, James M. …

A Holistic Perspective On Child Abuse And Its Prevention, David G. Gil

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In recent decades, child abuse has come to be considered a social problem of significant scope and has, therefore, attracted intense public and scholarly interest. Yet, in spite of efforts by scholars, professionals, government agencies, concerned individuals and organizations, and the media of public communications, misconceptions prevail concerning the nature, sources, and dynamics of this destructive phenomenon and concerning effective approaches to its primary prevention. Such conceptual shortcomings, and a related persistent failure to design effective policies and programs for the primary prevention of child abuse, seem to be due to a number of obstacles.

Toward A Radical Reassessment Of Social Work Values, Shimon S. Gottschalk

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social Work's inherited statements of core values are excessively individualistic and politically conservative, posing a false dichotomy of individual versus society. "Maximizing individual opportunities for self expression", is criticized as an outdated, if not dangerous value stance. An alternative position Is suggested which sets as the valued aim of all social work practice the enhancement within and among individuals and society of the capacity for sharing and reciprocity. The promotion of a just society and of individual well being are viewed as being inextricably intertwined.

Ethics Shock: Technology, Life Styles And Future Practice, Sonia Leib Abels, Paul Abels, Samuel A. Richmond

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

During the past ten years a new movement has developed in the United States which has taken as its major emphasis the study of the future. The futureologists led by Kahn, Weiner, and Theobald, have projected a number of alternatives for the United States. The value of this movement has been: 1) to alert the country to the fact that change is occurring at an extremely rapid pace; 2) to provide a transdisciplinary view, not only utilizing projections from various disciplines, but illustrating the multiplier effect that the combination of developments from many disciplines may have on our society; and …

The Social Psychology Of Small Groups: Relevancy Of Social Work Practice With Groups, Martha E. Gentry

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Inclusion from the social sciences to broaden the knowledge base of social work is an accepted fact. In the professions' experience with group practice such reliance is not new, and extends at least to the efforts of Coyle who saw the usefulness of the small group field in social psychology as early as 1930. More recently, Hartford's book provides a text which bridges small group theory and social work practice with groups. An examination of diverse conceptualizations of group practice reveals differential reliance upon small group findings.

As the small group is increasingly chosen as the context and means for …

The Myth Of A Population Explosion In America: Implications For The Social Welfare Profession, Lillian T. Cochran, James M. O'Kane

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In the past decade, the concern over a hypothetical "population explosion" has become an increasing preoccupation in growing segments of the American public. Terms such as "standing-room-only-world," "demographic catastrophe,' "future doomsday," etc. have become common, and the work of organizations such as Planned Parenthood, Zero Population Growth, and countless other agencies has centered around this supposed threat to continued human existence. Paul and Anne Ehrlich have set forth the general position on "overpopulation" stating: "The explosive growth of the human population is the most significant event in the past million millenia. . . . Mankind itself may stand on the …

The Nonprofessional And The Professional Culture: A Dilemma For Social Work, Edward Allan Brawley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A critical shortage of trained social workers, a restructuring of the social services, and a national policy of employing the poor in human service organizations have all led to the introduction of large numbers of minority-group and low-income nonprofessionals into social service employment during the last decade. The social work profession has affirmed the necessity and desirability of this trend, not only as a means of solving the manpower problem but also because these new entrants to the field of social work are indigenous to the client groups which social work seeks to serve and they have attributes and skills …

Change And Program Evaluation In Social Organization, Alan M. Cohen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

There is an assumption of an inherent rationality in linking information on program effectiveness to program change. This article briefly discusses three typical evaluation studies and demonstration projects that fail to link information generated on the effectiveness of what people do, to program changes. Perceived inaccuracy of the information and the perceived threat of the information are emphasized as two reasons for this failure of program information to affect change in social organizations. A pre-planning functional information base is proposed as an important prerequisite in the sequence of creating a more receptive environment for organizational change.

It is often assumed …

The Demonstration Project As A Research & Change Strategy, Leonard Rutman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The demonstration project is becoming a major instrument for social planning. In sponsoring demonstration projects the overall goal is for small scale "pilot" programs which include some form of research to contribute to program change and policy-making (14, 16, 19, 21). It is generally expected that the lessons learned from demonstrations, through the rigours of scientific research, will somehow result in large scale adoption and major shifts in aims, styles and resources, and effectiveness of social service programs. Models or prototypes for future operational programs are tested to determine their effectiveness in meeting states objectives. For this reason, they are …

Anti-Poverty Policies And Evaluation: A Critique Of The Pluralist Conception Of Politics And Evaluation, Robert D. Herman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

The beginnings of U.S. federal evaluation research can, in descriptive historical terms, be located in McNamara's Department of Defense and the later requirement that all federal government agencies adopt a Planning, Programming, Budgeting System. While the formal PPB system was discontinued in 1971, the analytical or policy evaluation activities it required, still live on, especially in agencies dealing with human resource development and/or social welfare programs (Schick, 1973, Wholey, et al, 1970). Given the recent advocacy of increasing and improving federal evaluation efforts, I think it important to examine some of the assumptions and consequences …

Conflict And Compromise In Evaluation Research: A Case Study, Joe Hudson, Peter Chommie

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As has been pointed out by a host of writers, a crucial issue in conducting evaluative or action type research is the problem of gearing an appropriate research design into the cogs of organizations, ensuring that once initiated the evaluation is in fact conducted according to the original design, and that the results of the study are utilized in policy formulations and ultimately in program development. The focus of this case study is on the major political and administrative problems and processes involved in planning, conducting, and utilizing the findings from a field experiment dealing with the relative effects of …

An Evaluation Of The Case Against National Income Insurance, John B. Williamson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In an earlier paper I outlined a proposal for a national income insurance plan and discussed the strengths of the approach (Williamson,1974c). Income insurance is a special case of the negative income tax or more generally of the guaranteed income. Negative income tax proposals of any kind are open to a variety of criticisms from both the left and the right. The national income insurance plan is no exception. In the present paper an attempt is made to anticipate and deal with the major arguments against the plan. Many of these arguments are equally applicable to other guaranteed income proposals. …

Social Work, Sociology, And Social Diagnosis, Harris Chaiklin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

A new type of scholar-practitioner is needed; one who can contribute to both sociology and social work. To this point sociology has had the advantage because it has more of the needed people than social work; it just won't let them out of the closet. Social work has always been better than its own self-image. Lack of scholarship has hindered organizing and presenting the hard won knowledge which the field has acquired. The way to bring this scattered information together is by developing typologies which are refined in practice and common to both fields. Only …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 2, No. 1 (Fall 1974)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Social Welfare As Coercive Social Control, Norman N. Goroff

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The key concepts which require some basic definitions in the title are "social welfare, social control and coercion". For the purposes of this paper, social welfare is defined as those public programs designed to provide an individual who is in financial need with the resources (financial and/or in kind) to exist in our society. Social control refers to the entire range of actions and pressures which are designed to lead the individual to function within society without threatening to disrupt the social order. These actions and pressures are embodied in sanctions for enforcing group norms as well as in formal …

Horatio Alger: The Persistence Of A Ghetto Social Welfare Institution, Carol Poll, John M. Goering

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Despite the riots, radical movements and demands for community controls of the 1960's, social scientists and social workers have noted the perserverance of many non-radical, traditional institutions in ghetto neighborhoods. Some of these institutions, like settlement houses, still advance the ideas of hard work, hoensty, competition, and individual achievement which are at the heart of the American dream. These institutions were often around long before the War on Poverty and appear likely to last long after its end. They, therefore, seem to be a reliable potential source of aid for many ghetto residents. The question at the heart of this …

Opinions And Expectations Of Nursing Home Administrators, Jordan I. Kosberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

From a comparative analysis of 214 nursing homes in the Chicago area, it was found that the nursing home field is composed of institutions with great variations in treatment resources available to the residents (Kosberg and Tobin, 1972). While the determination of organizational correlates to the extent of treatment resources was the major objective of the study, an exploration of the attitudes of a sample of nursing home administrators was undertaken in an effort to learn of possible relationships between attitudes and the characteristics of facilities.

There is a commonly-held assumption that not only the academic background of an administrator …

Self-Interest, Social Welfare Policy And Social Problems, John P. Flynn

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This writer assumes that there is a reciprocal interdependence between the providers and the receivers of social welfare programs and explores one particular aspect of that exchange. A proposition explored here is that self-interest is a dynamic in social welfare policy formulation and that such a dynamic is founded on the basic assumption of reciprocal interdependence. The perception of newlyfound self-interests obtainable in alternative social welfare policy options is examined here as a factor in inducing purposive policy change.

It Is proposed here that the common characterization of the welfare relationship as a unilateral transfer has obscured the connection between …

National Income Insurance: Some Implications For Political And Economic Inequality, John B. Williamson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Several co-workers and I have recently completed an evaluation of sixty-three anti-poverty programs and proposals (Williamson, et. al., 1973, 1974). This paper briefly describes the study and some of our findings by way of introduction to the presentation and defense of a national income insurance proposal, This proposal is a synthesis of three highly rated anti-poverty strategies. It would within a few years have a substantial impact on the extent of the economic inequality in the United States.

The Sociology Of The Inner City--*Functionality For Practice, Ivor J. Echols

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Many aspects of the future seem imponderable, in the sense that they are impossible of reckoning, and into this category falls the plight of cities. That portion of the cities which is marked by physical blight, continuing property and human deterioration, and myriads of problems of survival-the so-called "inner city" is even more elusive of future prediction and remedy. Theoretician and practitioner alike appear to be enmeshed in an endless web of conceptual gossamer, and palliative ministrations to a relative few targets within their purview.

The intent of this paper, however, is not to castigate but rather to challenge the …

Responses To Social Services Among The Urban Unemployed, William W. Philliber

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In an urban environment the individual is unable to function independent of other people. To fill even basic needs for food, shelter, and clothing, he must successfully become a part of the social system. To assist people in obtaining these, programs have developed in the areas of employment, housing, health, and welfare as well as other areas related to man's life in Ln urbah environment. The provision of these programs does not automatically insure that needs will be met. The individual still must make a positive response before a service can be delivered. A review of the literature shows that …

New Premises For Planning In Appalachia, Richard A. Ball

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Appalachian Region, particularly Southern Appalachia, has lived through several hundred years of frustration related to its history and geography. The history of the area has become better known during recent years, and it is a history of documented exploitation and socioeconomic disillusionment, a "biography of a depressed area" (Caudill, 1962). Geographically, the region has been regarded essentially as a barrier between the settled East and the fertile lands of the West, a place of rugged terrain and harsh conditions of life. This history and geography have played a large part in the problems which now afflict region and which …

The Social Welfare Workers Movement: A Case Study Of New Left Thought In Practice, Stanley Wenocur

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

During the upheavals of the 1960's many human service professions and academic disciplines (e.g. psychology, sociology, law, medicine, etc.) underwent severe criticisms of their goals and methodologies, generated both from within and without. In social work one such critique came from the Social Welfare Workers Movement (SWWM), born out of protest-oriented activities at the National Conference on Social Welfare in new York City, 1969. Although SWWM dissipated after about two years, interest in radical social work is still very much alive today. The intent of this paper, then, is to record and analyze the career of the Social Welfare Workers …

Protective Services: Coercive Social Control Or Mutual Liberation, Alfred J. Fortin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

The area of protective services for children has always been a difficult one for social work. Protective casework has, and is now, both praised and condemned simultaneously from different elements of the community. The stakes in the protective field are usually high and players are subject to various episodes of the "emotional plague" as Wilhelm Reich would have called it. People in protective work exercise their role as worker in a variety of ways and these 'styles' range from being police-like and oppressive to radical and promoting social change. It is characteristic of this work …

The Convergence Of The Interactionist And Behavioral Approaches To Deviance, Stuart A. Kirk, Eileen D. Gambrill

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper compares two theoretical perspectives on deviance, the behavioral and interactionist. Although these two perspectives arise from separate disciplines and intellectual traditions, we will argue that their approaches to the study of deviance in general and to mental illness in particular share many basic similarities, as well as some important differences, and that an analysis of each helps us understand the limitations and strengths of the other.

The behavioral and interactionist perspectives are chosen for examination for three reasons. First, it is our opinion that these two theoretical approaches represent the most creative recent work by sociologists and psychologists …