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Articles 1 - 30 of 58
Full-Text Articles in Social Work
“Growing Up Guerreándola”: On Adolescent Formations Of Conscientização In Colombia, Amy E. Ritterbusch, Melissa Arena Lucía Simbaqueba Gómez, Jhon Restrepo, Nancy Montes, Claudia Rentería, Yirley Velazco, Sandra García Jaramillo, Darío Maldonado
“Growing Up Guerreándola”: On Adolescent Formations Of Conscientização In Colombia, Amy E. Ritterbusch, Melissa Arena Lucía Simbaqueba Gómez, Jhon Restrepo, Nancy Montes, Claudia Rentería, Yirley Velazco, Sandra García Jaramillo, Darío Maldonado
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
In this article, we argue that we have much to learn from the adolescent developmental experiences of social justice activists on the frontlines. Our team of authors includes the four youth social leaders at the center of the empirical work emerging from our qualitative research. We ground the Freirean concept of conscientização, roughly interpreted in English as critical consciousness building, in the lived experiences of these four youth social leaders in Colombia who have fought tirelessly for justice in their communities. The social justice stories of these young activists emerge from semi-structured interviews including visual methods designed by our …
Applying Transformative Organizing Theory To White Antiracist Organizing, Josal Diebold
Applying Transformative Organizing Theory To White Antiracist Organizing, Josal Diebold
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
White antiracist organizing is a type of community organizing that works to build a movement that challenges the political, social, economic, and cultural manifestations of white supremacy, especially in white communities. In striving to harness strategic white antiracist organizing, an applicable theoretical lens is needed to guide both scholarship and practice. Transformative organizing theory, predicated on the need to organize and work for change on multiple levels at once, is particularly salient. This paper highlights how transformative organizing theory can anchor and cultivate white antiracist organizing through the application of key theoretical concepts, such as suffering and oppression; self-awareness and …
Crime And Mental Health Problems In Norway - A Zero-Sum Game?, Dag Leonardsen
Crime And Mental Health Problems In Norway - A Zero-Sum Game?, Dag Leonardsen
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Through a historical overview, the author analyses the Norwegian welfare society and the limits of a social-engineering approach to social problems. While economic growth and welfare benefits expanded for many years, so did registered crime and mental problems. This paradox gives a justification for challenging established ways of thinking about social prevention policies. Since the turn of the century, crime figures have decreased while the state of mental health has worsened. The author argues that if the price of the suppression of crime is the depression of mind, then the gains are indeed pyrrhic.
Social Construction, Knowledge Utilization, And The Politics Of Poverty: A Case Study Of Washington State’S General Assistance Reform, Yu-Ling Chang
Social Construction, Knowledge Utilization, And The Politics Of Poverty: A Case Study Of Washington State’S General Assistance Reform, Yu-Ling Chang
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This paper addresses a gap in welfare reform literature by investigating the social constructions of poor people in state policymaking within the context of diminishing General Assistance (GA) after the Great Recession. Using Social Construction and Policy Design Theoryand thematic content analysis of Washington State’s legislative archives, I found that the negative constructions of GA recipients as deviants with undesired psychological and behavioral problems were associated with the reform direction toward a regulated, punitive model. These constructions, intersecting with the ideologies of personal responsibility and work ethic, contribute to the dismantling of the social safety net for the Washington’s poorest …
Habitus, Symbolic Violence, And Reflexivity: Applying Bourdieu’S Theories To Social Work, Wendy L. Wiegmann
Habitus, Symbolic Violence, And Reflexivity: Applying Bourdieu’S Theories To Social Work, Wendy L. Wiegmann
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
During the mid- to late-twentieth century, Pierre Bourdieu crated a conceptual framework that describes how underclass status becomes embodied in individuals, and the ways that personal, professional, and political fields perpetuate this oppression. Bourdieu’s theories also outline the role of the “critical intellectual” in undermining oppression and fighting for social justice. Using key terms from Bourdieu’s explanatory framework, this article examines the power relations and symbolic violence built into the interactions between social workers and clients, and offers suggestions as to how reflexive and relational social work can help workers reduce this impact. This paper also explores the role of …
Social Work And Civic Engagement: The Political Participation Of Professional Social Workers, Sunny Harris Rome, Susan Hoechstetter
Social Work And Civic Engagement: The Political Participation Of Professional Social Workers, Sunny Harris Rome, Susan Hoechstetter
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This article examines the involvement of practicing social workers in one type of civic engagement: the use of political processes to promote the public good. Based on a survey of 1,274 randomly selected members of NASW, this is the largest study to date examining the involvement of social workers in political action and policy advocacy. Findings suggest that approximately half of social workers demonstrate high levels of participation in the policy process. The authors analyze the frequency with which respondents engage in specific political and policy-related activities, and compare these results to those of other studies. They also examine respondents'attitudes …
Getting To The Grassroots: Feminist Standpoints Within The Welfare Rights Movement, Cynthia Edmonds-Cady
Getting To The Grassroots: Feminist Standpoints Within The Welfare Rights Movement, Cynthia Edmonds-Cady
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This article presents historical evidence of how standpoints were used in women's participation in the welfare rights movement from 1964-1972. Results of a qualitative study using archival sources and oral history interviews are presented. An intersectional analysis of race, class, and gender, informed by feminist standpoint theory, provides lessons for current social movement work. Findings reveal that class-based standpoints were strong motivators for the recipients of welfare in their movement participation. Genderbased standpoints were important in non-recipients' participation in the movement; however, race formed a strong standpoint for the African American non-recipients in this study. Participants in social movements may …
Social Theory & Its Relation To Social Problems: An Essay About Theory And Research With Social Justice In Mind, Richard K. Caputo
Social Theory & Its Relation To Social Problems: An Essay About Theory And Research With Social Justice In Mind, Richard K. Caputo
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This essay examines the relationship between social theory and social problems, the truth-value of theories, and the importance of theorizing about the role of the state, i.e., national government, in the resolution of social problems and the achievement of social justice. The author argues that much contemporary social theory has lost its moorings in regard to amelioration ofsocial problems, that Popper's criterion offalsification is a requisitefor more meaningfully applied social theory, and that the state should be part of any social theory meant to address social problems. Moral and political philosophy is used to provide criteria to justify a positive …
Controlling The Levers Of Power: How Advocacy Organizations Affect The Regulation Writing Process, Richard Hoefer, Kristin Ferguson
Controlling The Levers Of Power: How Advocacy Organizations Affect The Regulation Writing Process, Richard Hoefer, Kristin Ferguson
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
The Federal regulation-writing process is vital to understanding how laws are translated into policy. This paper re-examines data on human services interest groups active in lobbying the executive branch to determine what factors influence their effectiveness. Building on findings from Hoefer (2000), structural equation modeling is used to re-analyze the original regression model of interest group effectiveness (IGE) on a sample of 127 Washington D.C.-based interest groups. Results indicate that some of the previous findings are not supported and an alternative model is proposed. A group's position, context and access to information and policymakers emerge as significant determinants of IGE. …
The Sequential Costs Of Poverty: What Traditional Measures Overlook, Elizabeth A. Segal, Laura R. Peck
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
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 …
From "Poor" To "Not Poor": Improved Understandings And The Advantage Of The Qualitative Approach, Eleanor Wint, Christine Frank
From "Poor" To "Not Poor": Improved Understandings And The Advantage Of The Qualitative Approach, Eleanor Wint, Christine Frank
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Re-analysis of qualitative data generated in six Country Poverty Assessments in the Caribbean, suggests that traditional ways of seeing the poor might well lead to unfair categorisation of a people who are unwilling to be seen as living in poverty. Use of qualitative data software was able to bring out new understandings of the conceptual difference between being poor and living in poverty. Wint and Frank suggest that this is a distinction which those responsible for designing and implementing poverty intervention strategies would be wise to bear in mind as it would allow for creative and timely use of community-based …
Review Of The Politics Of Multiracialism: Challenging Racial Thinking. Heather M. Dalmage (Ed.). Reviewed By Wilma Peebles-Wilkins., Wilma Peebles-Wilkins
Review Of The Politics Of Multiracialism: Challenging Racial Thinking. Heather M. Dalmage (Ed.). Reviewed By Wilma Peebles-Wilkins., Wilma Peebles-Wilkins
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Book review of Heather M. Dalmage (Ed.), The Politics of Multiracialism: Challenging Racial Thinking. Albany, NY.: State University of New York Press, 2004. $65.50 hardcover, $21.95 papercover.
Adoption In The U.S.: The Emergence Of A Social Movement, Frances A. Dellacava, Norma Kolko Phillips, Madeline H. Engel
Adoption In The U.S.: The Emergence Of A Social Movement, Frances A. Dellacava, Norma Kolko Phillips, Madeline H. Engel
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
The Adoption Movement, which has been evolving in the U.S. since the late 1970s, is now fully formed. As a proactive, reformative social movement, adoption has reached the organizational, or institutional, stage. Evidence is seen in the roles assumed by government and voluntary agencies and organizations, as well as other systems in society, to support adoption, and in the extent to which adoption has been infused in the American culture, making it a part of our everyday landscape. Implications of the adoption movement for the helping professions are discussed, as is its impact on increasing cultural and racial diversity in …
"Curiously Uninvolved": Social Work And Protest Against The War In Vietnam, Susan Kerr Chandler
"Curiously Uninvolved": Social Work And Protest Against The War In Vietnam, Susan Kerr Chandler
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This article reviews four leading social work journals from 1965-1975 for content on the War in Vietnam and the social issues arising from it. It finds that social work's major journals carried nearly no articles, letters, editorials, or short subjects related to the war and concludes that the dominant discourse constructed in the journals excluded meaningful engagement with the war or protest against it.
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 …
Review Of Preserving Privilege: California Politics, Propositions, And People Of Color. Jewelle Taylor Gibbs And Teiahsha Bankhead. Reviewed By Devon Brooks., Devon Brooks
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Book review of Jewelle Taylor Gibbs and Teiahsha Bankhead, Preserving Privilege: California Politics, Propositions, and People of Color. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001.
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.
Discrimination And Human Capital: A Challenge To Economic Theory & Social Justice, Richard K. Caputo
Discrimination And Human Capital: A Challenge To Economic Theory & Social Justice, Richard K. Caputo
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This article reports findings of a study using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) to test the rational choice theory that discrimination discourages investments in human capital. Nearly 60% of the study sample (N=5585) reported job-hiring discrimination (race, nationality, sex, or age) between 1979 and 1982 and they were found to invest more in job training programs and additional schooling between 1983 and 1998 than those reporting no such discrimination. White males were found to have the greatest advantage over black males and females in regard to job training and over black females in regard to additional schooling. Findings …
Residential Mobility And Youth Well-Being: Research, Policy, And Practice Issues, Edward Scanlon, Kevin Devine
Residential Mobility And Youth Well-Being: Research, Policy, And Practice Issues, Edward Scanlon, Kevin Devine
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Despite an extensive body of sociological work suggesting that residential mobility reduces child well-being, the subject of relocation has been largely overlooked in social work and social welfare literature. Recent social policies threaten to increase the incidence of moving among low-income families in the United States. This paper reviews theoretical and empirical literature in this area and finds evidence that residential mobility reduces children's academic functioning, and may negatively affect other aspects of child well-being. These effects are especially strong for poor children from single parent families, making this issue of particular relevance for social work. The authors suggest implications …
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.
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.
Review Of Feminism And Social Change: Bridging Theory And Practice. Heidi Gottfried (Ed.). Reviewed By Rebecca S. Carter, Louisiana State University., Rebecca S. Carter
Review Of Feminism And Social Change: Bridging Theory And Practice. Heidi Gottfried (Ed.). Reviewed By Rebecca S. Carter, Louisiana State University., Rebecca S. Carter
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Heidi Gottfried (Ed.), Feminism and Social Change: Bridging Theory and Practice. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1996 $ 39.95 hardcover, $14.95 papercover.
Feminism And The Politics Of Difference. Sneja Gunew And Anna Yeatman. Reviewed By Martin Bombyle, Fordham University., Marti Bombyk
Feminism And The Politics Of Difference. Sneja Gunew And Anna Yeatman. Reviewed By Martin Bombyle, Fordham University., Marti Bombyk
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Sneja Gunew and Anna Yeatman, Feminism and the Politics of Difference, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994. $48.95 hardcover; $17.95 papercover.
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.
The Dual Face Of Empowerment: A Model For Cooperative Resource Building, Eric C. Albers, Nancy Paolini
The Dual Face Of Empowerment: A Model For Cooperative Resource Building, Eric C. Albers, Nancy Paolini
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Homelessness among families with children has become a nationwide problem. Although homelessness is difficult to document, it is estimated that approximately 250,000 to 3,000,000 people in the United States are homeless. Families, which comprise approximately one third of the homeless population, is its fastest growing segment (Mihaly, 1991; National Coalition for the Homeless, 1989; Van Vliet, 1989). This may be a conservative figure. Some of these families often go uncounted because they are part of the "invisible" homeless. They avoid agency contact for fear of losing their children or live in motels, cars, or campgrounds and thereby are not counted …
The Political Activity Of Social Workers: A Post-Reagan Update, Mark Ezell
The Political Activity Of Social Workers: A Post-Reagan Update, Mark Ezell
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This article reports the findings of a survey that examined the political activism of social workers and what changes may have occurred in their political participation during the Reagan years. Social workers are politically active largely by writing letters to public officials but also by discussing political issues with friends, by belonging to politically active organizations and by attending political meetings. In addition, a substantial proportion of social workers make campaign contributions and get involved in candidate elections. Among social workers, those with the highest educational degrees, those who are NASW members, those who are in macro type jobs, and …
Beyond An Underclass: An Essay On Up-Front Politics, Paula L. Dressel, Jeff Porterfield
Beyond An Underclass: An Essay On Up-Front Politics, Paula L. Dressel, Jeff Porterfield
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Debate about underclass conceptualization has once again forced sociologists to acknowledge the political context and implications of our work. This article extends the critical examination of underclass conceptualization to relatively undeveloped but politically important areas of concern. Initially we discuss the political economic context of conceptual controversies surrounding poverty. With a preference for structural analysis, we call for the return of class to economically marginalized people and suggest how that goal might be enhanced by a focus on relations of distribution as well as production. Valuing subjects' vantage points, we recommend how sociologists' work can return agency and diversity to …
Acting On Their Own Behalf: Affiliation And Political Mobilization Among Homeless People, Marcia B. Cohen, David Wagner
Acting On Their Own Behalf: Affiliation And Political Mobilization Among Homeless People, Marcia B. Cohen, David Wagner
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Homeless people have been portrayed in the literature as passive, isolated, and unable to act on their own behalf. The authors discuss the findings of an ethnographic study of homeless activists which challenge the stereotypical view of homeless people as disaffiliated and disempowered. Collective social action was found to have a long term impact on access to material resources, development of social networks, and construction of positive homeless identity.
Alive On The Street, Dead In The Classroom: The Return Of Radical Social Work And The Manufacture Of Activism, William De Maria
Alive On The Street, Dead In The Classroom: The Return Of Radical Social Work And The Manufacture Of Activism, William De Maria
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
International evidence is presented for a renewal of radical social work. After a decade of monopolization by neoconservatism in all aspects of public policy and private consciousness, a new commitment to radical analysis and transformation is detected. Radical social work, the second time around, will need to avoid the earlier mistake of abandoning action for critique. In the context of social work education the manufacture of radicalism in the classroom is explored.