Social Work Commons^™

Home Support Services And The Ecology Of Aging, Abraham Monk

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Home support services for the aged are emerging as a primary concern in the Title XX planning proposals put forth by states and localities. This is not surprising when one considers that Title XX guidelines require the setting of priorities among non-cash benefit programs that help insure the individual's self-sufficiency within his or her normal environment.

All services under Title XX must relate to one or more of five objectives for the individual client: economic independence; self care; prevention or remedy of neglect, abuse or other conditions which lead to dependence; intermediate community based care and, as a last resort …

Differential Aspects Of Assessment And Intervention In Social Work Practice With The Elderly And Their Families, Barbara Silverstone

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

So much in our society separates the rest of us from the old that a discussion of the differential aspects of practice with the elderly and their families (many of whom are aging) runs the risk of being redundant as well as a concealed endorsement of the professional biases which afflict us all. The truth of the matter is that important differences do exist between social work practice with the old and with younger generations, differentials which emanate from a sound gerontological knowledge base. Although the similarities far out-weigh the discrepancies, failure to recognize or delineate these differences has resulted …

Informal Support Systems For The Aged: Limitations And Issues, Marjorie Buckholz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The need for community social services to enable older persons to remain in their homes has been well documented (Gold, 1974; Lohman, 1978; Atchley, 1977; Blenkner, 1977). Inspite of a growing service industry and professional corps of helpers, it does not reach the growing numbers of elderly, especially the older-elderly who are most likely to be frail (Gold, 1974; Lohmann, 1978; Heyman and Polansky, 1977). The aged share of the population has grown relative to the younger age group. In 1900, 6.4% of the U. S. population was 60 years or older; in 1975, it had increased to 14.8% (U. …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 5, No. 6 (November 1978)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction - pp. 763
• Home Support Services and the Ecology of Aging - ABRAHAM MONK - pp. 765
• Informal Support Systems for the Aged: Limitations and Issues - MARJORIE BUCKHOLZ - pp. 773
• Age, Race, Life Conditions, Use of Social Welfare Services and the Morale of the Elderly - MARY L. WARING and JORDAN I. KOSBERG - pp. 701
• Organizational Analysis of Institutions for the Aged - ZEV HAREL - pp. 792
• Volunteer Support for the Institutionalized Elderly - HAROLD ZEPELIN and JANET STUTZMAN - pp. 802
• Policy Analysis and Older People: A Conceptual Framework - JOHN …

Age, Race, Life Conditions, Use Of Social Welfare Services And The Morale Of The Elderly, Mary L. Waring, Jordan I. Kosberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Although concerned professionals such as Kutner (1956), Cumming (1961), and Lawton (1972), have made strong beginnings in researching the psychological functioning of the elderly, only a few have explored the social and medical conditions of the aged, and especially their use of social welfare services, as these relate to a sense of well-being. Streib (1956) and Maddox (1968) were among the first to relate life-long patterning of social activity to later social activity and life satisfaction. Carp (1966), in a controlled study of housing, reported that housing did not affect the morale of low and middle income elderly. Lawton and …

Organizational Analysis Of Institutions For The Aged, Zev Harel

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Institutions for the aged represent an organized effort on the part of society and various individuals., groups, and organizations to provide for and capitalize on the service needs of elderly persons no longer able to live independently in the community. These settings have been brought into existence and are maintained by various commercial, civic, voluntary, government, and other interest groups. The motives and interests of such groups vary; nevertheless, these settings offer services to consumers, provide employment to members of various professional and occupational groups, provide an arena for the involvement of various scholastic disciplines and professional associations, and benefit …

Volunteer Support For The Institutionalized Elderly, Harold Zepelin, Janet Stutzman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A neglected topic in discussions of services for the institutionalized elderly seems to be the question of whether the residents of nursing homes are receiving adequate support from volunteers. Undoubtedly, voluntarism is playing an important part in the provision of services and emotional support for the aged population, among them the elderly that are institutionalized. But because of the child-centeredness and youth-orientation of American society, it is possible that work with the elderly may not be attracting volunteers in proportion to the needs of this population. This may be especially true of the elderly in institutions because work with this …

Policy Analysis And Older People: A Conceptual Framework, John E. Tropman, Jane Mcclure

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The policy sciences, says Harold Lasswell, require "clarification of goals, analysis of conditions, project of future developments, and invention, evaluation, and selection of alternatives."1 This rocess is imbued with values and often these values lie unrecognized.3 Both personal values of the individual analyst and social values of the Society can be and often are involved. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate four policy problems involved in analyses concerning the elderly, and to suggest some additional considerations which would bring these problems into the open and aid in specification and focusing of policy research in this area. While only …

Preparing Social Work Practitioners To Work With And In Behalf Of Older Adults, Margaret E. Hartford

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Practice in the field of social gerontology is one of the developing frontiers in social work. Now and in the foreseeable future, services with a population that is growing older will be a rapidly expanding field of practice. Many of the programs for older adults are multidisciplinary and demand collaboration among several professions and services. In some instances social work is and will be the central organizing force assuming administrative responsibility. In other instances social workers are collateral with several professions, and in still others social work services are an adjunct to another service profession, such as medicine nursing, urban …

On Being Socialized Out Of The Human Sexual Response In The Later Years, Dan Rubenstein

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

We now know, with the conclusive findings of the Masters and Johnson study of sex with elderly, that maintaining the "regularity of sexual expression coupled with adequate physical well being and healthy mental orientation to the aging process will combine to provide a sexually stimulative marriage [and/or relationships]. This climate will, in turn, improve sexual tension and provide a capacity for sexual performance that frequently may extend to and beyond the 80-year age level" (Masters and Johnson, 1968, p. 279).

This acknowledgement has ended the long silence and may well herald the beginning of the throwing off of the shackles …

The Fear Of Crime By The Elderly: Issues And Consequences, Mark Pogrebin, G. Nicholas Pijoan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Most of the recent literature concerning the elderly and crime has been concentrated in the area of victimization. Such subjects as the elderly's vulnerability to crime, types of crimes committed against older members of the community, income level of the victims, and residential indicators, are some of the important variables that have been studied in order to better understand the patterns of crime as it affects older citizens.

Although it is believed that the foregoing factors are essential in order to gain knowledge which will inform us as to the nature of criminal victimization against the elderly, it also seems …

Racial Differences In The Confident Relationship, Ruth E. Dunkle

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Numerous researchers have studied the black family in American society. Unfortunately, too few have focused on the role of the family in the life of the elderly. In this paper it is my intention to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the black family and, in particular, on the black family member as confidant.

Frazier, in a book, The Black Family, edited by Robert Staples, discusses the character of the black family during the various stages of its development. He purports that the black family has been affected by the social isolation of blacks in American society. Frazier believes …

The Transition: An Historical-Materialist Perspective On Social Welfare And Social Work Practice, Thomas Keefe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

From an historical-materialist perspective American society is in a transition to a new structural form--a new order. The future of social welfare and social work practice is intimately bound to the nature and outcome of this transition. Moreover, the transition has economic and ideological characteristics that hold important implications for changes in the ways social workers view their clients and conduct their practice. Employing an historicalmaterialist analysis, this article will discuss the nature of the societal transition and its implications for social welfare and social work practice.

The analysis will be prefaced with a synopsis of basic concepts and assumptions …

New Left Organizers And The Poor, Myles H. Whitney, Paul J. Champagne

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The decade of the sixties witnessed a resurgence of radical or leftist movements in the United States as manifested in the political activism of college students, civil rights organizations, community groups and others. Today, in the post-Vietnam era of the seventies, the fires of the New Left appear to have been dampened. But even though these groups may be less visible and vocal today, it would be a mistake to think that their ideas are no longer of interest to certain segments of our society. Some contemporary New Left groups, while outwardly rejecting dramatic Marxist revolutionary tactics have instead engaged …

A Comparison Of Factors Associated With Past Use, Projected Use, And Perceived Community Need For Health And Social Services, Pat M. Keith

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Life change, political, and demographic factors associated with past use, projected use, and perceived community needs for services by the aged were examined. Data were derived from interviews conducted with men and women 65 or over in a midwestern community. Life changes were more useful in explaining relationships with health and social services among men than were demographic and political variables. But among women, there was less difference in the amount of variance explained by the three groups of variables. Although men and women differed little in the extent to which they had experienced life changes, discontinuity was differentially associated …

Women's Groups As Altenative Human Service Agencies, Claudette Mcshane, John Oliver

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The radical movements of the 60's were punctuated by the revival of feminism. As the movements demanded that disenfranchised citizens be allowed to actively participate in societal decisionmaking, women became cognizant of the fact that even within the movements they continued to be relegated to second class status. This realization served as a catalyst for the reemergence of the women's movement within American society. Feminist ideas spread rapidly among the social movements. Women neld political meetings to discuss social inequities and their impact upon womannood. From these meetings consciousness-raising groups evolved as a forum to raise non-movement women's consciousness of …

Maximizing The Potential Of The Social Work Team: Some Organizational And Professional Considerations, Edward Allan Brawley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The effective use of different kinds and levels of personnel is a major concern of the social work profession at the present time. A 1974 policy statement of the National Association of Social Workers recognizes several levels of practitioner engaged in the provision of social services: (1) the social service aide who has no formal training; (2) the social service technician who has an associate degree in a social service field or a bachelor's degree in a field other than social work; (3) the social worker with a BSW degree; (4) the graduate social worker with an MSW degree; (5) …

Organizing The Poor, Charles S. Stevens

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

One area of interest in poverty in Urban America has focused attention on the urban poor and their participation. A major consideration about the problem has been the view that poverty is a pervasive condition and that it can be a determinint of behavior. The notion of a "culture of poverty" and a "welfare syndrome" was an expression of this viewpoint indicating poverty is a way of life. A second viewpoint suggests the urban poor are victims of urban society and are therefore restricted from meaningful participation.2 This viewpoint is in contrast to a "culture of poverty", but it does …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 5, No. 5 (September 1978)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Women's Groups As Alternative Human Service Agencies - CLAUDETTE McSHANE, M.S.W - pp. 615
• The Transition: An Historical-Materialist Perspective on Social Welfare and Social Work Practice - THOMAS KEEFE, DSW - pp. 627
• Problems Inherent In Multi-Service Delivery Units - ARNOLD J. KATZ - pp. 644
• Administrative Thinking on Youth and Youth Programs - JOHN F. LONGRES, PH.D. & NORMAN WYERS, DSW - pp. 662
• New Left Organizers and the Poor - MILES H. WHITNEY & PAUL J. CHAMPAGNE - pp. 678
• A Comparison of Factors Associated with Past Use, Projected Use, and Perceived Community Need for …

Problems Inherent In Multi-Service Delivery Units, Arnold J. Katz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Like Alice, the field of social work in general, and the social service delivery system in particular, seems to be going through a confusing state, lacking direction. Just as the Cat suggests to Alice that any direction would get her somewhere over time, so the diverse social service delivery systems(1) have, in recent years, moved off in a particular direction (methodologically) only to return to step one and then set off again. Various fads have seemed to provide the needed answers. In time, however, they served only to create a series of new questions with corresponding dilemmas.

In the last …

Administrative Thinking On Youth And Youth Programs, John F. Longres, Norman Wyers

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Administrators have a lot of influence over the nature of youth programs. Because of this, their thinking on the causes of delinquency, the nature of ideal youth programs, and the role of youth workers were tapped. In the past, people in the field of delinquency have been accused of assuming an individual, personal problem or deficiency point of view. This study of administrators in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area suggests that, while some evidence for a more social structural understanding exists, in general the individual problem perspective prevails. An explanation for the persistence of a personal problem perspective is advanced …

The Homemaker-Home Health Aide, Gary A. Fashimpar, Richard M. Grinnell Jr.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

For the past several years, many social workers have utilized the services of various disciplines as members of interdisciplinary teams as one approach to practice. There is ample evidence that social workers are increasingly beginning to utilize the newly constructed service of the Homemaker-Home Health Aide (H/HHA) when working with various client populations.1 In the United States, there are approximately 74,000 H/HHAs who provide social welfare and health services to the aged, disabled, and chronically ill. 2 By 1985, there is a projected need for three times this number.3

Social Continuity And Social Discontinuity: Social Work And, In, Against And Separate From Society, Hans S. Falck

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The burden of this paper is to clarify social continuity and social discontinuity. Social continuity is related to individuality-groupness (the I-G effect) and its related logic is demonstrated further by a rejection of social discontinuity, i.e. individualism.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 5, No. 4 (July 1978)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction - ii
• Systems Theory - ROBERT D. LEIGHNINGER, JR - 446
• Interactionist Theory, Human Behavior, Social Work Social Work Education - RALPH SEGALMAN - 467
• Structural Functional Theory, Social Work Practice and Education - JOE HUDSON - 481
• Conflict Theories and Social Work Education - NORMAN N. GOROFF - 498
• Two Perspectives on Organizationally-Inspired Barriers to Innovation in Schools of Social Work: Short and Long Term Strategies to Promote National Minority Group Representation - ROGER MC NEELY, JOHN OLIVER - 508
• The Perpetuation of Institutional Racism Through Ethnic and Racial Minority Content in the Curriculum of …

Systems Theory, Robert D. Leighninger Jr.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Systems Theory has generated a lot of excitement in the last decade. It has also spawned more than its share of pitchmen, enough so that it is in danger of being discredited before its genuine potential in many fields of practice has been fairly tested. Wearing the double halo of Science and Corporate Efficiency conferred by its association with the aerospace industry and the Pentagon, it has been enthusiastically offered to Federal and State governments (Chartrand, 1971; Hoos, 1969 & 1972) as well as private individuals and organizations as a way of solving complex social problems like mass transit, crime, …

Interactionist Theory, Human Behavior Social Work And Social Work Education, Ralph Segalman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Much explanation of human behavior is based on assumptions about animal behavior. Two major contemporary theories, Behaviorism and Freudianism place major emphasis upon the human being as animal. Many middle-level theories have no reference to man's distinctive social characteristics. However, social explanations of behavior do have a heuristic advantage in the study of human functioning and "social pathology."

Structural Functional Theory, Social Work Practice And Education, Joe Hudson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The theoretical framework of structural functionalism in sociological theory does not consist of a single, unified, and consistent exposition. Different writers make different emphases, use somewhat different terminolog, and include different phenomena under a variety of similar terms. Rather than attempt to deal superficially with a wide variety of theorists writing out of this perspective, we will focus primarily on the central concepts in the work of perhaps the most eminent proponent of this approach in current sociological work - Talcott Parsons - and, in turn, discuss the relevance of this framework for social work education and practice.

Conflict Theories And Social Work Education, Norman N. Goroff

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

How one defines the world has consequences for one's actions in the world. Sociology has attempted to utilize the scientific method to help human beings understand their social world. However, in the process of its development, sociology has reflected the ideological bias of its practitioners. (Mills, 1943). Irving Zeitlin (1968, pp. vii) claims "Much of classical sociology arose within the context of a debate - first with eighteenth-century thought of the Enlightenment, and later with its true heir of the nineteenth century, Karl Marx."

The central theme of this paper is that social work education makes extensive use of conflict …

Two Perspectives On Organizationally-Inspired Barriers To Innovation In Schools Of Social Work: Short And Long Term Strategies To Promote National Minority Group Representation, R. Louis Mcneely, John Oliver

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper focuses on conditions conceived to militate against innovation and change in organizations adhering to administrative principles found often in many workplaces. While these principles are not peculiar to schools of social work, these schools are singled out along with two related problems identified often by persons employed in these schools as ones for which few effective innovations have been implemented. These problems center upon how these schools may best achieve an adequate representation among faculty members, of minority group staff, and an adequate representation of substantive course offerings focusing upon the experiences of national minority group members. The …

The Perpetuation Of Institutional Racism Through Ethnic And Racial Minority Content In The Curriculum Of Schools Of Social Work, James E. Herrick

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The author asserts that the effect of assimilation of ethnic and racial minority content into the curriculum of schools of social work may perpetuate institutional racism.

Social work education as well as the purpose of the profession itself are viewed as basically one of helping people adjust and accommodate to the dominant and racist institutions of our society. Consequently, the author argues, incorporation of ethnic and racial minority, content into curriculum that serves such a function is likely to serve ends to which it was not intended.

Five suggested areas of change in the mission of social work education are …