Social Work Commons^™

A Right To Motherhood? Race, Class, And Reproductive Services In The Jim Crow South, Cynthia Edmonds-Cady

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This research examines birth control and sterilization practices aimed at low-income black women in the United States from 1939-1950, within the framework of specific race- and class-based constructions of motherhood in the Jim Crow South. How these social services aimed at reproductive health were grounded within differential ideals about family, childbirth, and motherhood for White versus African American women is explored. Evidence is presented from archival collections containing records for Planned Parenthood’s Negro Project, The Association for Voluntary Sterilization’s programs, and The American Social Health Association’s public health programs. Birth control services in the South were delivered within a framework …

The First Faith-Based Movement: The Religious Roots Of Social Progressivism In America (1880-1912) In Historical Perspective, Steven Stritt

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This re-evaluation of the published writings of Richard T. Ely, Josiah Strong, and Jane Addams during the Progressive era (1880- 1912) explores the themes of religious idealism and nationalism that figured prominently in the early formulation of modern liberal reform ideology in the United States. A specific focus will be placed on tracing themes of the America’s millennial destiny and how they gradually evolved into prophesies of social transformation through the applied use of social science knowledge. Beyond merely satisfying historical curiosity, this inquiry provides a new perspective from which to consider the fierce clashes over social welfare policy which …

Between Stonewall And Aids: Initial Efforts To Establish Gay And Lesbian Social Services, Michael G. Lee

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Little has been written about gay and lesbian communities' efforts to address health and human service concerns prior to the HIV/AIDS crisis. This article analyzes content from The Advocate along with organizational documents from the early 1970s to explore the health issues addressed by these fledgling providers. Major concerns identified include social adjustment to a gay or lesbian identity, chemical health, sexual health, and family supports. These findings depict a service context strained by funding instability, workplace turmoil, neighborhood hostility, and high levels of consumer needs that would later come to characterize the complex nature of AIDS service work.

Feminist Research Ethics, Informed Consent, And Potential Harms, Melinda Mccormick

The Hilltop Review

Feminist research is fraught with ethical dilemmas, some of which concern informed consent and the possibility of potential harms to respondents. I review several dilemmas addressed in the literature and how feminist researchers resolved the issues. I also look at the National Association of Social Workers‘ Code of Ethics and how the concepts of dual relationships and boundaries in social work practice may offer helpful guidelines to feminist re-searchers.

Black Women In The "Black Metropolis" Of The Early Twentieth Century: The Case Of Professional Occupations, Robert L. Boyd

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Little research has examined the employment of Black women as teachers, nurses, and librarians in the urban Black communities of the early twentieth century. The present study fills this void, analyzing Census data on the largest urban Black communities at the start of the Great Migration to cities. The results show that, in spite of the supposed advantages of the northern "Black Metropolis," Black communities in the urban North were relatively limited in their potential to offer opportunities for Black women to enter pursuits that were, at the time, mainstays of a nascent class of Black professional women.

The First And The Last: A Confluence Of Factors Leading To The Integration Of Carver School Of Missions And Social Work, 1955, Tanya Smith Brice, T. Laine Scales

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Carver School of Missions and Social Work, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, was an all-female social work program that eventually became the first seminary-affiliated social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. This article examines Carver's efforts towards racial integration during the late 1950s, which was a time of heightened racial tensions across the United States. This article is informed by a series of oral histories of the two African American women who integrated Carver in 1955.

Capacity Building Legacies: Boards Of The Richmond Male Orphan Asylum For Destitute Boys & The Protestant Episcopal Church Home For Infirm Ladies 1870-1900, F. Ellen Netting, Mary Katherine O'Connor, David P. Fauri

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

What strategies did early boards of managers of charitable human service agencies pursue to build capacity in a way that sustained their efforts for more than a hundred years? Using primary and secondary documents to focus on two organizations- The Male Orphan Asylum (1846) and the Protestant Episcopal Church Home (1875)-three norms emerged: run it like a business, keep it like a house, and base it in the community, along with a host of associated activities. Based on these norms and activities, three strategies were identified: diversification of resources, working boards, and leadership continuity, all of which have implications for …

Social Work And Conditional Cash Transfers In Latin America., Cindy Calvo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs are a recent anti-poverty strategy in Latin America. CCT programs provide cash benefits to finance basic needs and foster investment in human capital to extremely poor households. These benefits are conditioned on certain behaviors, usually related to investments in nutrition, health, and education. In the literature, there is a recognizable lack of analyses from social science disciplines related to CCT program implications. This paper contributes in this arena by analyzing the particular role of social work in CCT anti-poverty programs. The educational element of these programs and its theoretical foundation based on the human capital …

Peace And War In The Qur'an And Juridical Literature: A Comparative Perspective, Liyakat Takim

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Qur'anic period of Islamic history took place in a social context of significant diversity. A number of important verses in the Qur'an reflect this diversity and encourage Islamic believers to seek peaceful coexistence with those of other faiths, especially those designated as "people of the Book," specifically Christians, Jews and Sabeans. In the later classical period of Islamic history, the exegesis of Islamic jurists markedly de-emphasized peaceful coexistence in favor of interpretations encouraging conquest and religious uniformity. Although the classical jurists have exercised enormous interpretive authority in subsequent Islamic history, their authority was never understood to be absolute or …

Contesting Buddhisms On Conflicted Land: Sarvodaya Shramadana And Buddhist Peacemaking, Masumi Hayashi-Smith

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Buddhism in its various incarnations has both aided and hindered the peace processes in Sri Lanka. Sarvodaya Shramadana, a Buddhist development organization, stands out in the way it uses religion to promote peace through a more humanist interpretation of Buddhist teachings. While Sarvodaya's alternative approach toward the religion provides an optimistic space for promoting peace, its connections to and dependence on populism can also complicate its politics. This article argues that the most effective means of peace work can be found through the same channel of collective mobilization that hindered it, Buddhism.

Inabel Burns Lindsay: Social Work Pioneer Contributor To Practice And Education Through A Socio-Cultural Perspective, Annie Woodley Brown, Ruby Morton Gourdine, Sandra Edmonds Crewe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Dr. Inabel Burns Lindsay (1900-1983), founding dean of the Howard University School of Social Work, was an early proponent for the consideration of race and culture in social work education and practice with racial and ethnic minorities. Using primary and secondary data sources, the authors trace the evolution of Dr. Lindsay's thinking on the role of race, class, gender and ethnicity in the helping process and finally her development of a socio-cultural perspective. Particular attention is given to her persistent efforts to disseminate this information and incorporate it into the curriculum of the Howard University School of Social Work decades …

Dropped From The Rolls: Mexican Immigrants, Race, And Rights In The Era Of Welfare Reform, Alejandra Marchevsky, Jeanne Theoharis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Welfare reform transferred considerable discretion over eligibility standards and benefits to individual caseworkers, contributing to a highly diffuse, yet system-wide, practice of discrimination against nonwhite and foreign-born families within the new TANF program. Based on a two-year ethnographic study of welfare reform's impact on Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles County, this article documents a pattern of heightened anti-immigrant sentiment and disentitlement within L.A. County's welfare system following the passage of PRWORA. The vast majority of eligible immigrant families in our study lost some or all of their cash and food stamp benefits, and were systematically denied access to the work …

Documentary Photography In American Social Welfare History: 1897-1943, Peter Szto

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This is a study of documentary photography in American social welfare history. The study examines the emergence of photography as a tool of social policy, and in particular, key practitioners who shaped the perception of American social welfare. Within the social welfare literature, this topic is largely unexamined yet invaluable to an understanding of American social welfare. Photography performed a highly instrumental role by providing visual evidence as an innovative way of seeing and analyzing social problems. This image-based approach to social welfare analysis influenced how society viewed itself and the social environment. The goal of this study is to …

History Of Contemporary Social Policy: Introduction, Richard K. Caputo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As the contributions to this special issue of ]SSW attest, much can be said about the nature of social welfare policies and programs over the past quarter century. Some changes are allegedly beneficial, some not, in regard to the welfare of the nation in general and to economically needy people in particular. The welfare program in the form of cash assistance primarily to lowincome mothers and their children as we had understood and implemented it since 1935 ended. Work effort became the sine qua non of cash assistance for all low-income families. Further, the very notion of the welfare state …

Advice And Help-Seeking Intentions Among Youth In Israel: Ethnic And Gender Differences, Moshe Sherer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study addresses intentions to seek advice and help among Jewish and Arab youths in Israel. The sample included 805 Jewish, 159 Moslem, 42 Christian, and 43 Druze youths. Two instruments were used: a demographic questionnaire and a questionnaire on help-seeking intentions. Results indicated that members of the ethnic groups preferred using different sources for advice and help. Compared to Moslem and Druze youths, Jewish youths preferred to turn to fathers, siblings, school counselors, and social workers; Compared to Arab youths, Jewish youths expressed less intention to seek assistancef rom their mothers; and compared to Moslem youths, Jewish youths expressed …

From Financial Literacy To Financial Capability Among Youth, Elizabeth Johnson, Margaret S. Sherraden

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Youth in the United States are facing an increasingly complex and perilous financial world. Economically disadvantaged youth, in particular, lack financial knowledge and access to mainstream financial institutions. Despite growing interest in youth financial literacy, we have not seen comparable efforts to improve access to financial policies and services, especially among disadvantaged youth. Instead of aiming for financial literacy, an approach widely promoted in the United States, we suggest aiming for financial capability, a concept grounded in the writing of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. Building on research in the United Kingdom, the paper proposes that financial capability results when …

Undermining Progress In Early 20th Century North Carolina: General Attitudes Towards Delinquent African American Girls, Tanya Smith Brice

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article examines efforts made to challenge progress towards adequate service provision for delinquent African American girls in early 20th century North Carolina. This article seeks to explore the nuances of aid, from the African American community and by progressive whites, as it relates to legislative efforts, economic backing and public health issues. It also seeks to examine motivations for engaging in undermining activities.

Review Of Freud's Free Clinics: Psychoanalysis And Social Justice, 1918-1938. Elizabeth Ann Danto. Reviewed By Leslie Leighninger., Leslie Leighninger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Elizabeth Ann Danto, Freud's Free Clinics; Psychoanalysis and Social Justice, 1918-1938. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. $ 29.50 hardcover.

"Put Up" On Platforms: A History Of Twentieth Century Adoption Policy In The United States, Michelle Kahan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Adoption is closely intertwined with many issues that are central to public policy in this country-welfare and poverty, race and class, and gender. An analysis of the history of adoption shows how it has been shaped by the nation's mores and demographics. In order to better understand this phenomenon, and its significance to larger societal issues, this analysis reviews its historyfocusing on four key periods in which this country's adoption policy was shaped: the late Nineteenth Century's 'orphan trains'; the family preservation and Mothers' Pensions of the Progressive Era; World War II through the 1950s, with secrecy and the beginnings …

Review Of Queer Wars: The New Gay Right And Its Critics. Paul Robinson. Reviewed By Greg Mallon., Gerald P. Mallon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Paul Robinson, Queer Wars: The New Gay Right and Its Critics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. $25.00 hardcover.

Social Welfare Before The Elizabethan Poor Laws: The Early Christian Tradition, Ad 33 To 313, Vincent Faherty

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Current social welfare history texts in the United States tend to cover quickly the time periods before the passage of the Elizabethan Poor Laws in 1601. This is an unfortunate informationalgap since what is labeled social welfare today has been organized and delivered for centuries before 1601 through the rich religious traditions of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and thousands of other traditional religions throughout the world. This article provides a broad historical overview of the organization, the roles, and the services provided by the social welfare system in Christian communities, during their first three centuries, throughout what is now …

Honoring The Elders: Interviews With Two Lakota Men, Deborah E. Bowen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The beliefs that honoring the elders, commitment to family, and the connectedness to all creation are paramount are intrinsic to Lakota culture. Two Lakota elders, Albert White Hat, Sr. and Sylvan White Hat, Sr. are interviewed for this article. They express their concerns with major social justice issues, and offer hope for future generations of Lakota children. A strengths-based perspective of social work practice is compared to traditional Lakota customs and practices.

Recipes For Reform: Americanization And Foodways In Chicago Settlement Houses, 1890-1920, Stephanie J. Jass

Dissertations

During the late nineteenth century as tens of thousands of immigrants flooded American cities, public debate among reformers--who tended to be middle-class, white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants--began to center on the best ways to assimilate these foreigners into American society. Although some Americanization groups stressed language and citizenship training, two major reform movements focused on foodways as an important tool of assimilation.

This dissertation examines how both the home economics and settlement house movements attempted to Americanize ethnic food practices. It describes why reformers saw foodways as a viable and meaningful avenue for reform, as well as the varied responses that reformers …

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.

Review Of Sociology Of Religion: Contemporary Developments. Kevin J. Christiano, William H. Swatos Jr. And Peter Kivisto. Reviewed By Ram A. Cnaan., Ram A. Cnaan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Kevin J. Christiano, William H. Swatos Jr. and Peter Kivisto, Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2002. $44.95 papercover.

The Road Not Taken: A History Of Radical Social Work In The United States. Michael Reisch And Janice Andrews

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Michael Reisch and Janice Andrews, The Road not Taken: A History of Radical Social Work in the United States. New York: Brunner- Routledge, 2001. $59.95 hardcover.

Will Churches Respond To The Call? Religion, Civic Responsibility, And Social Service, Emily A. Leventhal, Daniel P. Mears

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Despite national calls for churches to become more involved in social service, many churches may not be willing or able to respond. Drawing on sociological theory, previous research, and interviews with pastors and parish social ministers from Catholic congregations in a large, urban city in Texas, we examine key factors linked to church-based social service efforts. Particulara ttention is given to church leadership,r ace/ethnicity,o rganizational characteristics, social and political networks, and the intersection of these factors in affecting service provision and advocacy. We then discuss the likely impacts of policies calling for religious organizations to increase their social service activities.

School Social Work In Hartford, Connecticut: Correcting The Historical Record, James G. Mccullagh

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper corrects the historical record on why and how school social work began in Hartford and who was instrumental in establishing the new service. The findings, based on a study of primary sources, revealed that a school principal, and not a psychologist as previously claimed, initiated the process that led the Hartford Charity Organization Society to appoint its Visitor, Winifred Singleton Bivin, a social caseworker, to also become the first social worker in the schools in January 1907. The social work profession, which owes its origin to the Charity Organization Movement, is also obligated to the Hartford Charity Organization …

Using Reasons For Living To Connect To American Indian Healing Traditions, Thomas L. Crofoot Graham

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Responding to high rates of suicide for American Indian youth, helping professionals often struggle to connect healing traditions from American Indian cultures to tools from European psychology. The differences between American Indian healing and European therapy can be vast. Finding connections or building bridges between these two perspectives may be more difficult than it appears (Duran & Duran, 1995). One method to bring together these worldviews is to use the Reasons for Living Questionnaire (RFL, Linehan, Goldstein, Nielsen, & Chiles, 1983); the Reasons for Living Inventory for Adolescents (RFL-A, Osman, Downs, Kopper, Barios, Besett, Linehan, Baker, & Osman, 1998), or …

Envisioning A Healthy Future: A Re-Becoming Of Native American Men, Paul Rock Krech

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Native American men have historically been important to their communities, each having a specific function in the perpetuation of cultural norms and practices. Oral tradition and communal experiential activity were pathways of maintaining a connection with others and in regenerating culture. In contrast, the modern dominant culture values and emphasizes individuation as an indicator of psychosocial growth. This influence seems to have hindered Indigenous people/men in maintaining a sense of connection with the community. Survival for Indigenous men during the establishment of encroaching nations has often occurred through relinquishment of a part of 'self' psychically. Aboriginal men report experiencing hopelessness …