Social Work Commons^™

The Sequential Costs Of Poverty: What Traditional Measures Overlook, Elizabeth A. Segal, Laura R. Peck

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This research note proposes an addition to the poverty measurement debate. Motivated by dissatisfaction with the official poverty measure, which many scholars and practitioners share, we propose the use of sequential costs of poverty to enrich the poverty measure so that it might capture more closely the life-experiences of low-income families. After presenting some background on poverty measurement, this research note explores the conceptual framework that surrounds the notion of sequential costs. Drawing on our past research, we propose ways in which these sequential costs surface, with illustrative examples from health, employment, housing, and income maintenance.

Social Assistance And The Challenges Of Poverty And Inequality In Azerbaijan, A Low-Income Country In Transition, Nazim N. Habibov, Lida Fan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Although low-income countries in transition are facing the challenges of poverty and inequality, evidence on the performance of safety nets in these countries is scarce. This article uses micro-file data from a nationally representative household budget survey to analyze the existing social assistance programs in Azerbaijan, a low income country in transition, from the perspectives of poverty and inequality reduction. The empirical evidence presented in this paper indicates that the poverty and inequality reduction effectiveness of social assistance programs is inadequate. First, the benefits are very modest and the poor receive only a small proportion of them. Second, some programs …

Financial Knowledge Of The Low-Income Population: Effects Of A Financial Education Program, Min Zhan, Steven G. Anderson, Jeff Scott

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study examines the effects of one large financial management training program for low-income people. The data are from tests of pre- and posttraining financial knowledge of 163 participants. The test was designed to measure basic knowledge of participants in five content areas: predatory lending practices, public and work-related benefits, banking practices, savings and investing strategies, and credit use and interest rates.

The findings demonstrate that substantial pre-training knowledge deficiencies existed on basic financial management issues, especially on public and work-related benefits and savings and investing. Results also indicate that the program was effective in improving the financial knowledge of …

The Severely-Distressed African American Family In The Crack Era: Empowerment Is Not Enough, Eloise Dunlap, Andrew Golub, Bruce D. Johnson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Numerous African American families have struggled for generations with persistent poverty, especially in the inner city. These conditions were further strained during the 1980s and 1990s by the widespread use of crack cocaine. For many, crack use became an obsession, dominated their lives, and superseded family responsibilities. This behavior placed additional pressure on already stressed kin support networks. This paper explores the processes prevailing in two households during this period. In the 2000s, children born to members of the Crack Generation are avoiding use of crack but face major deficits from their difficult childhoods. This presents both challenges and opportunities. …

Review Of One Nation, Underprivileged: Why American Poverty Affects Us All. Mark Robert Rank. Reviewed By Joel Blau., Joel Blau

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Mark Robert Rank, One Nation Underprivileged: Why American Poverty Affects Us All. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. $29.95 hardcover.

Hate Crimes Against The Homeless: Warning-Out New England Style, Sandra Wachholz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article reports on the hate crime victimization experienced by thirty individuals over the course of their homelessness in a New England city. Indepth interviews were conducted with the participants in order to provide a detailed, contextual account of the nature and forms of their hate crime victimization in public and semi-public spaces. Central to the article is the argument that hate crimes against homeless people function as informal social control mechanisms that impose spatial constraints, not unlike the character and objectives of the warning-out laws that were used to exclude homeless people from the public and private space of …

Levels Of Consciousness, Archetypal Energies, And Earth Lessons: An Emerging Worldview, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

Worldviews emerge from our individual and collective Levels of Consciousness at given points in time and space and from what we come to “believe” is possible or not. In my own experience, my research on Consciousness, and my study of various cultures, societies, and Consciousness literature, I have identified at least seven Levels of Consciousness, twenty-five Archetypal Energies, and various Earth Lessons, which we seem to commonly experience as human beings, in our own unique personal, societal, and global life spaces.

Rhode Island Take Back The Night, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

English Non-Fluency And Income Penalty For Hispanic Workers, Song Yang

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Using the 2001-2002 California Workforce Survey, this paper examines the income gap between Hispanic and Caucasian workers. I attribute the income gap between Hispanic and Caucasian workers to differentials in their human capital. However, data analyses indicate that classical human capital indicators such as education,job training, and work experiences are not sufficient to account for the observed income gap between Hispanics and Caucasians. Instead, English fluency is a highly valuable aspect of human capital for Hispanic workers. English non-fluency, along with less education, job training, and work experiences explain why Hispanic workers earn less than Caucasian workers. However, variations in …

Gender Poverty Disparity In Us Cities: Evidence Exonerating Female-Headed Families, Sara Lichtenwalter

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Utilizing data from the 2000 Census, this study examines the impact of family composition, education, and labor force factors on the difference between female and male poverty rates in the 70 largest U.S. cities. A stepwise regression analysis indicates that 41 % of the difference between female and male poverty rates can be explained by the percent of women in the three US Bureau of Labor Statistic's lowest wage occupations. There was no evidence of a unique impact from the percentage of female headed families in each city, or the study's other independent variables, on the gender poverty gap, with …

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

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 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 …

Childhood And Adolescent Neighborhood Effects On Adult Income: Using Siblings To Examine Differences In Ordinary Least Squares And Fixed-Effect Models, Thomas P. Vartanian, Page Walker Buck

Social Work (Graduate) Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Community Dimension Of State Child Protection, Dorothy E. Roberts

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

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

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

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

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

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 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.

Hiding In Plain Sight: A Practical Guide To Identifying Victims Of Trafficking In The United States, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

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

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.

Serving The Homeless: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Homeless Shelter Services, Robert L. Fischer

Faculty Scholarship

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

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

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, …

Relationships And Universal Energy Laws, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

Relationships are our most intense forms of "mirrors" in the world. They show us in direct and indirect ways how we are using our personal energy systems in what I call our three life spaces. They show us how we consciously and unconsciously employ what some authors have called Universal Energy Laws (see attached descriptions of these laws) to co-create the quality of our relationships. Whether or not we "attract" and/or deal with relationships in conscious or subconscious ways, what I call the "mirror effect" is reflected in our three life spaces—personal life space, societal life space, and global life …

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

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 …