Social Work Commons^™

Using Big Data To Manage Social Inclusion Programs, Esther Raya Diez, Manuel Trujillo Carmona, Domingo Carbonero Muñoz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Technological developments based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and empirical science in all areas of society are opening new opportunities for social work and social inclusion programs. AI relies on Big Data management systems, which in turn provide opportunities for descriptive inference and preventative measures, as well as data-informed decision making.

This article outlines the characteristics of Big Data and describes the process of designing a tool for diagnosing social exclusion, the SiSo scale. The tool consists of a scale that uses 25 variables to assess situations of social difficulty on the inclusion-exclusion spectrum. It is currently being used in the …

Are U.S. Congregations Patching The Social Safety Net? Trends From 1998 To 2012, Emily Warren, Melody Waring, Dan Meyer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As social services become increasingly privatized amid a federal policy environment that provides a means-tested, temporary social safety net, there is potential for a larger contribution by congregations as social service providers. Using data from a nationally representative sample of religious congregations collected in 1998, 2006, and 2012, we examine whether congregations have increased service activity over time, and whether provision varies by the congregation’s community-level context. We find that post-Great Recession, congregations are more likely to engage in broad social services and in “core” services that address basic economic needs. Congregations in high-poverty neighborhoods were less likely to provide …

Common Law, Charity, And Human Rights As Responses To The Socio-Economic Crisis In Galicia, Spain, Francisco Xabier Aguiar Fernández, Santiago Prado Conde Universidad Internacional De La Rioja, Carmen Verde Diego

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article presents the findings of a research project analyzing the effects of the Spanish socio-economic crisis on rural areas. It describes the perceptions of social workers in the public sector engaged in community practice and the perceptions of social leaders working for public and private human service organizations within the province of Ourense, Spain. It explores how the current economic crisis has affected people, health care units and the social workers’ scope of action. The study relied on secondary data, surveys and qualitative interviews. Study findings suggest that the adopted measures for responding to the effects of the crisis …

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.

Welcome To The Neighborhood: Does Where You Live Affect The Use Of Nutrition, Health, And Welfare Programs?, Molly De Marco, Allison C. De Marco

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Despite the recent upsurge in neighborhood effects research, few studies have examined the impact of neighborhood characteristics on the use of nutrition, health, and welfare programs. To explore these issues, this study used data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study, a longitudinal dataset comprised of low-income neighborhoods in Boston, San Antonio, and Chicago (n=1,712). Using hierarchical linear models, the results indicated that both individual (education, employment, and marriage) and perceived neighborhood disorder factors were related to social service use.

Toward Global Welfare State Convergence?: Family Policy And Health Care In Sweden, Canada And The United States, Gregg M. Olsen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Accounts of the welfare state and the dynamics governing its development have been pivotal and highly contentious in the social policy literature over the past few decades. Since the 1980s, research has suggested that, as a result of domestic pressures and strains and/or the impact of globalization, welfare states were declining in tandem. However, most of these studies were quantitativefocusing upon 18 or more advanced capitalist nations and, in their search to uncover broad cross-national trends, utilized narrow welfare state indicators. This study investigates the extent to which the social democratic welfare state in Sweden, the social liberal welfare state …

Losing The "Eyes In The Back Of Our Heads": Social Service Skills, Lean Caring, And Violence, Donna Baines

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Violence in the social services work place in general, and the developmental services in particular,h as increased in the last several years. Findingsf rom an ethnographic study suggests that new, lean forms of work organization remove opportunities to use or learn many of the tacit or practice skills workers previously used to keep themselves and their clients safer in the work place. This article describes many of these skills and the new management schemes that remove the possibility to develop or transmit these praxis skills. The article concludes by analyzing the convergence between the new labour processes and the competency …