Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Is Empathy Gendered And If So, Why? An Approach From Feminist Psychological Anthropology, Claudia Strauss

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Difference feminists have argued that women have special virtues. One such virtue would seem to be empathy, which has three main components: imaginative projection, awareness of the other's emotions, and concern. Empathy is closely related to identification. Psychological research and the author's own study of women's and men's talk about poverty and welfare use in the United States demonstrate women's greater empathic concern. However, some cross-cultural research shows greater sex differences in empathy in the United States than elsewhere. This combination of findings (women tend to demonstrate greater empathic concern, but this typical difference varies cross-culturally) requires a complex biocultural …

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 …

Good Governance In Microcredit Strategy For Poverty Reduction: Focus On Western Mindanao, Philippines, Frede G. Moreno

Frede G Moreno

The study argues for the integration of good governance principles in developing financially viable, effective and social equity-laden microcredit strategy for the impoverished agrarian reform beneficiaries in Western Mindanao. It particularly examines the program design and implementation strategies of the Enterprise Development Credit (EDC) sub-component of the Western Mindanao Community Initiatives Project (WMCIP). The study aims to provide lessons and insights for the planning and implementation of comprehensive and integrated Official Development Assistance (ODA)-funded government programs for poverty reduction and rural development. The data and information were generated from combined descriptive and field studies covering a sample survey, group discussions, …

Results And Recommendations Of Water And Wastewater Affordability Study, Ryan A. Breisach, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts

Reports

No abstract provided.

Good Governance In Microcredit Strategy For Poverty Reduction: Focus On Western Mindanao, Philippines, Frede G. Moreno

Frede G Moreno

The study argues for the integration of good governance principles in developing financially viable, effective and social equity-laden microcredit strategy for the impoverished agrarian reform beneficiaries in Western Mindanao. It particularly examines the program design and implementation strategies of the Enterprise Development Credit (EDC) sub-component of the Western Mindanao Community Initiatives Project (WMCIP). The study aims to provide lessons and insights for the planning and implementation of comprehensive and integrated Official Development Assistance (ODA)-funded government programs for poverty reduction and rural development. The data and information were generated from combined descriptive and field studies covering a sample survey, group discussions, …

Moving Target: The Dilemma Of Serving Massachusetts Poor Families, Randy Albelda

New England Journal of Public Policy

While Community Action Agencies’ original mission of serving the poor has changed little over the last three decades, government commitments to the poor, the population of poor individuals and families, and women’s economic expectations have changed considerably. This article documents the trends in family structure, women’s employment patterns, and poverty policies in Massachusetts between 1970 and 2000. The increase in poor, single-mother families and poverty policies that emphasize employment present dynamic challenges for Community Action Agencies (and others who serve the poor), but also create some new organizing opportunities.

The Nonprofit Sector And The Will To Change, Pablo Eisenberg

New England Journal of Public Policy

A greater portion of our nonprofit activities in the future will have to be devoted to policies and actions that can produce constructive change. The extraordinary problems of our society as we enter the twenty-first century — poverty, racism, environmental degradation, lack of health protection, declining trust in governments — can only be tackled by strong policy work, advocacy, and citizen mobilization. The author outlines seven challenges that nonprofits need to address including promoting democracy, strengthening government, asuring public accountability, redefining the nonprofit sector, reforming philanthropy, developing new leadership, and engaging institutions of higher learning in promoting democracies and communities. …

Masscap And The Caa Role In Advocating For Change, Joseph Diamond

New England Journal of Public Policy

Cites the efforts of the Massachusetts Association for Community Action Inc. and community action agencies (CCA) to alleviate poverty in the state. Programs offered by CCAs that aim to improve the quality of life of low income people; Efforts of the organization to call for changes in federal and state policies directed to the poor; Details of several initiatives assisted by the organization; Support for the adoption of the Massachusetts Self-Sufficiency Standard.

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

In this issue, special guest editors, Elaine Werby and Donna Haig Friedman, assemble an array of distinguished scholars, policymakers, community activists and political advocates to examine the interaction of the economic, political, and social “flows,” the undercurrents of history that stymied the war on poverty. Their articles and essays chart the beachheads that must be secured before the war can be successfully resumed; No war, they collectively remind us, is won without some battles being lost. You do not secure the future of the country if you abandon the principles of equity and equality for all, the bedrock of the …

The Economic Context: Growing Disparities Of Income And Wealth, Chuck Collins

New England Journal of Public Policy

In the last few years, poverty rates have remained constant in the New England states. The effort to reduce poverty in New England and the United States has been thwarted by trends of growing income and wealth inequality. Since the late 1970s, the real incomes for the majority of U.S. households have remained stagnant or fallen. During the same time, asset ownership has become dramatically more unequal, and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few has increased. The causes of this accelerated inequality are complex, but underlying the picture are a series of rule changes, both public …

Interrupted Progress: Forty Years Of Child Poverty, Deborah Weinstein

New England Journal of Public Policy

In the last forty years since the beginning of the war on poverty, the condition of poor children has improved and the percentage of children living in poverty has declined. Children and their families made the greatest gain when there was a good economy and an increase in government supports. But when such investments shrink, as they have in recent years, progress is impeded. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) must be reauthorized by Congress. The legislation now under discussion does not encourage states to replicate programs that have increased work and family income and helped children.

Community Action In Massachusetts, Jim Canavan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Evaluates the contribution of community action agencies (CCA) in alleviating poverty in Massachusetts from its creation during the term of former U.S. President Lyndon Johnson until 2004. Description of the programs to the poor offered by CCAs; Operation of CCAs across the state; Affordable housing offered by the CCAs.

Does Regional Variation In Multiple Measures Of Health Status Differ Across Income Levels?, Janet M. Bronstein, Shailender Swaminathan, Joshua Klapow

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

This study examines whether regional variations in health status measures are consistent across the income gradient, or whether they are more pronounced at the lowest income levels. We use data from the Community Tracking Survey, a large randomized telephone survey of residents in 60 U.S. communities. Controlling for individual risk factors and county level income inequality, lowest income individuals have poorer scores on counts of chronic diseases, global health ratings, and the physical and mental components of the SF-12. Residents of the South have poorer scores on chronic disease counts, global health and physical health than residents of the Northeast, …

Presidents, Profits, Productivity, & Poverty: A Great Divide Between The Pre- & Post-Reagan U.S. Economy?, Richard K. Caputo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper examined profits, productivity, and poverty in the United States from 1961 through 2002. Results indicated that the "great divide" thesis regarding the U.S. economy before and after the Reagan administration depends on which measure of the economy is the focus of attention. In addition, on some measures where before and after differences were detected, the nature of those differences was paradoxical. Corporate profits as a share of national income, for example, were highest in Democratic rather than Republican administrations and despite the increased income inequality of the post-Reagan years, individual and family poverty rates remained relatively constant after …

Update - September 2004, Loma Linda University Center For Christian Bioethics

Update

In this issue:

-- A Statement on Racism
-- Editorial
-- Review and Critique of "A Statement on Racism"
-- Homelessness and Poverty
-- Review and Critique of the Seventh-day Adventist Policy Statement Titled "Homelessness and Poverty"
-- News from the Center for Christian Biothics
-- Operating Principles for Health-Care Institutions

Is The Good Life The Easy Life?, Christie N. Scollon, Laura A. King

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Three studies examined folk concepts of the good life. Participants rated the desirability and moral goodness of a life as a function of the happiness, meaning, and effort experienced. Happiness and meaning were solid predictors of the good life, replicating King and Napa (1998). Study 1 (N = 381) included wealth as an additional factor. Results showed little desire for exorbitant (over moderate) wealth, but also a desire to avoid poverty. When effort was operationalized as number of hours worked, respondents desired the easy life, particularly at moderate levels of income. When effort was operationalized as effortful engagement (Study 2), …

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 …

Constructing A Social Welfare Function Under Poverty And Inequality With Application To Developing Countries, Nyiwul Linus Mabughi

Archived Theses and Dissertations

In this study entitled "Constructing a Social Welfare Function under Poverty and Inequality with Application to Developing Countries"; prepared by Nyiwul Linus Mabughi under the supervision of Dr. Tarek Selim (The American University in Cairo), we provide a post-Sen theoretical conceptualization of a social welfare function and application to developing countries. In the methodology, we undertake a decomposition of efficiency and distribution aspects of welfare and examine the sensitivity of the various elements of the social welfare formulation. We develop a new social welfare .. function based on different ec9nomic development elements. These elements include per capita income (PPP), total …

Hop On The Bus: Driving Stratification Concepts Home, Laura Nichols, Joshua Berry, Demetra Kalogrides

Sociology

The purpose of experiential education is to combine experience and learning in ways that transform both (Carver 1996; Giles and Eyler 1994; Kolb 1984). Students have experiences outside the classroom, and these experiences are integrated into the course curriculum, enriching both the experience and the class material. Successful experiential education assignments must first provide students with the background they need to fully take advantage of the experience as well as the time and knowledge to help them reflect on what they see (Hironimus Wendt and Lovell-Troy 1999; Hollis 2002; Mooney and Edwards 2001).

Livestock Production And The Rural Poor In Andhra Pradesh And Orissa States, India, Robin L. Turner

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This paper analyzes the political economy of the livestock sector in two Indian states, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The aim is to identify politically feasible interventions that could have broad positive effects on poor rural livestock producers in these states. To that end, the paper assesses the relationship between land, livestock, and poverty, describes the organization of the sector, and analyzes the political and bureaucratic interests shaping livestock policy.

Politically Feasible Pro-Poor Livestock Policies In Andhra Pradesh And Orissa States, India, Robin L. Turner

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The livestock sector has significant potential for improving the livelihoods of landless people and small and marginal farmers, who comprise the majority of India’s rural poor. However, resource and institutional constraints prevent poor producers from realizing the full potential of the animals they possess. Developing effective pro-poor livestock policies requires consideration of the political context and attention to the specific characteristics of poor livestock producers.

Welfare As A Social Control In The United States, Jimmi Sue Brown

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The question is whether the Clinton Administration “reforms” were a revolutionary concept or an extension of history’s pattern of forgetting the “deserving poor” and ignoring the “undeserving poor”. A literature search was conducted focusing on the deserving and undeserving poor in the United States over the past century. Historically, the deserving poor were defined as people who were impoverished as a consequence of old age, mental illness, physical illness and blindness or widowed and orphaned. The undeserving poor were people who were able to work, but did not and people of color. There have been occasions when the unemployed were …

A Perspective On Food Policies Evolution And Poverty In The Indian Republic (1950-2001), E. J. Wilson, D. P. Chaudhri

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper analyses the rural food sector of the Indian Republic in an intertemporal growth context. A model is developed which includes the government's conflict between its poverty reducing attempts through public distribution of food, subsidized issue and support food prices and long term developmental goals. The ARDL cointegration procedure for mixed order dynamic processes identifies the major determinants of rural head count poverty for the period, 1953-2000.

The long run elasticity estimates clearly show the real consumer subsidised issue price and the real producer support price dominate the quantity effects of the per capita public distribution on rural head …

Building A Better World, Pierre Landell-Mills

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Global New Deal: Economic and Social Rights in World Politics by William Felice. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002. 204pp.

Explaining Churn: Mass Society, Social Capital, & Community Churn, Delores Edelen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Population churn--the population turnover experienced by a community--can have differential effects on a community. Mass society theory suggests that because the churn rate experienced by communities can contribute to their uprooting, fragmentation, and isolation, churn is a potent threat to the stability of our modern day communities. Social capital theory, to the contrary, suggests otherwise. Social capital theory suggests that churn can have positive effects on communities by bringing new migrants with valuable human capital skills and experiences to communities. These migrants bring to their new communities the potential for creating new jobs, spurring economic development, and for initiating housing …