Social Work Commons^™

Legislating The Family: Heterosexist Bias In Social Welfare Policy Frameworks, Amy Lind

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article addresses the effects of heterosexist bias in social welfare policy frameworks on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals and families in the United States. It discusses the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), federal definitions of family and household, and stereotypes about LGBT individuals. It argues that poor LGBT individuals and families lack full citizen rights and access to needed social services as a result of these explicit and implicit biases.

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 …

Review Of Western Welfare In Decline: Globalization And Women's Poverty. Catherine Kingfisher. Reviewed By Silvia Borzutsky., Silvia Borzutzky

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Catherine Kingfisher, Western Welfare in Decline: Globalization and Women's Poverty. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003. $49.95 hardcover, $21.95 papercover.

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 …

Review Of Assessing Outcomes In Child And Family Services: Comparative Design And Policy Issues. Anthony N. Malucchio, Cinzia Canali And Tiziano Vecchiato (Eds.) Reviewed By Sherill Clark., Sherrill Clark

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Anthony N. Maluccio, Cinzia Canali and Tiziano Vecchiato (Eds.) Assessing Outcomes in Child and Family Services: Comparative Design and Policy Issues. Hawthorne, NY: 2003. $49.95 hardcover, $24.95 papercover.

Review Of Newcomers To Old Towns: Suburbanization Of The Heartland. Sonya Salamon. Reviewed By Joseph Deering., Joseph A. Deering

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Sonja Salamon, Newcomers to Old Towns: Suburbanization of the Heartland. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. $35.00 hardcover.

Social Work And Aging In An Aging Society: Education, Policy, Practice And Research. Barbara Berkman And Linda Harootyan (Eds.)., Judie Svihula

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Barbara Berkman and Linda Harootyan (Eds.), Social Work and Health Care in an Aging Society: Education, Policy, Practice and Research. New York: Springer Publishing Co., 2003. $ 52.95 hardcover.

Public Pensions: Gender And Civic Service In The States, 1850-1937. Susan M. Sterett., James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Susan M. Sterett, Public Pensions: Gender and Civic Service in the States, 1850-1937. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2003. $ 39.95 papercover.

"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.

Examining The Relationship Between Community Residents' Economic Status And The Outcomes Of Community Development Programs, Christopher R. Larrison, Eric Hadley-Ives

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In designing and implementing community development interventions the economic status of targeted participants is a demographic characteristic worth considering. The findings from this research indicate that even within the limited economies of rural Mexican villages there are variations in economic status that affect the ways in which the outcomes of community development programs are perceived. The poorest of the poor are likely to be less satisfied with development projects than those with average or better-off economic status. This is true whether a development project uses a bottomup approach or a top-down approach. The more participatory approach does not attenuate the …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 31, No. 4 (December 2004)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• "CURIOUSLY UNINVOLVED": SOCIAL WORK AND PROTEST AGAINST THE WAR IN VIETNAM - Susan Kerr Chandler
• LEGISLATING THE FAMILY: HETEROSEXIST BIAS IN SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY FRAMEWORKS - Amy Lind
• EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMUNITY RESIDENTS' ECONOMIC STATUS AND THE OUTCOMES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS - Christopher R. Larrison, Eric Hadley-Ives
• THE BENEFITS OF MARRIAGE RECONSIDERED - Barbara Wells, Maxine Baca Zinn
• MEASURING AND INDIGENIZING SOCIAL CAPITAL IN RELATION TO CHILDREN'S STREET WORK IN MEXICO: THE ROLE OF CULTURE IN SHAPING SOCIAL CAPITAL
• INDICATORS - Kristin M. Ferguson
• THE WELFARE MYTH: DISENTANGLING THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF POVERTY AND WELFARE …

The Benefits Of Marriage Reconsidered, Barbara Wells, Maxine Baca Zinn

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper suggests that analyses of marriage experience take into account both structures of inequality and context. Although marriage is widely viewed as producing economic well-being and family stability, this analysis of a sample of White rural families finds the likelihood of realizing these benefits to be closely related to social class position. Marriage failed to produce these benefits for many working class and poor families. Although gains in economic self-sufficiency are viewed as an explanation for White women's perceived retreat from marriage, the limited opportunity structure for women in this rural place provides a context in which women continue …

Measuring And Indigenizing Social Capital In Relation To Children's Street Work In Mexico: The Role Of Culture In Shaping Social Capital Indicators, Kristin M. Ferguson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Drawing from social capital theory, this study assessed the relevance of existing conceptions of social capital-largely from the United States and Canada-in the Mexican context, in an effort to contribute novel variables to the street-children literature. Using a cross-sectional survey design, 204 mothers of street-working and non-working children were interviewed within one community in Monterrey, Nuevo Le6n, Mexico. Factor analysis was used to corroborate the internal construct validity of two dimensions of social capital: family social capital and community social capital. Findings reveal that culture can play an influential role in how social capital indicators are defined and measured.

Intimate Partner Violence And Use Of Welfare Services Among California Women, Rachel Kimerling, Nikki Baumrind

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The current study is a population-based investigation of the association between past-year exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and current welfare use, while also accounting for the effects of other violence experienced in adulthood and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These data indicate that acute exposure to intimate partner violence is significantly over-represented among women currently on welfare. However, it appears to be a woman's cumulative exposure to interpersonal violence and associated symptoms of PTSD that are uniquely associated with welfare participation. These data highlight the prevalence of violence against women and its consequences for this population. Results suggest …

Cleavage In American Attitudes Toward Social Welfare, William M. Epstein

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Opinion polls probing both the narrow and broad senses of social welfare among Americans indicate hardly any substantial differences over crucial social sentiments among a variety of groups with at least theoretically divergent interests: rich and poor, men and women, blacks and whites, a variety of ethnic groups, union and nonunion households. The items mainly concern the provision of welfare to the poor through AFDC, now TANF, and Food Stamps but also cover OASDHI. Consistently over more than sixty five years of systematic opinion polling, there is an astonishing consensus, so large in fact that it may undermine any effort …

Review Of Why I Burned My Book And Other Essays On Disability. Paul K. Longmore. Reviewed By Juliet Rothman., Juliet C. Rothman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Paul K. Longmore, Why I Burned My Book and Other Essays on Disability. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2003. $69.50 papercover.

Review Of Crime, Control And Social Justice: A Delicate Balance. Darnell F Hawkins, Samuel L. Meyers, Jr. And Randolph N. Stone (Eds.). Reviewed By Elizabeth Pomeroy., Elizabeth C. Pomeroy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Darnell E Hawkins, Samuel L. Myers, and Randolph N. Stone (Editors). Crime Control and Social Justice: The Delicate Balance. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2003. $79.95 hardcover.

Review Of The Persistence Of Poverty In The United States. Garth L. Mangum, Stephen L. Mangum And Andrew M. Sum. The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle Class Mothers And Fathers Are Going Broke. Elizabeth Warren And Amelia Warren Tyagi. Reviewed By James Midgley., James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Garth L. Mangum, Stephen L. Mangum and Andrew M. Sum, The Persistence of Poverty in the United States. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. $19.95 papercover. Elizabeth Warren.and Amelia Warren Tyagi, The Two-income Trap: Why Middle Class Mothers and Fathers are Going Broke. New York: Basic Books, 2003. $26.00 hardcover.

Seasons Such As These: How Homelessness Took Shape In America. Cynthia J. Bogard., Robert Leighninger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Cynthia J. Bogard, Seasons Such as These: How Homelessness Took Shape in America. Hawthorne, NY: Aldyne de Gruyter, 2003, $41.95 hardcover, $21.95 papercover

Drugs, Alcohol And Social Problems. James D. Orcut And David R. Rudy (Eds.)., Sean R. Hogan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for James D. Orcutt and David R. Rudy (Eds.), Drugs, Alcohol, and Social Problems. Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield, 2003. $72.00 hardcover, $29.95 papercover.

Regressive Taxation And The Welfare State: Path Dependence And Policy Diffusion. Junko Kato., Michael Courville

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Junko Kato, Regressive Taxation and the Welfare State: Path Dependence and Policy Diffusion. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. $55.00 hardcover.

Presidents, Profits, Productivity, & Poverty: A Great Divide Between The Pre- & Post-Reagan U.S. Economy?, Richard K. Caputo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper examined profits, productivity, and poverty in the United States from 1961 through 2002. Results indicated that the "great divide" thesis regarding the U.S. economy before and after the Reagan administration depends on which measure of the economy is the focus of attention. In addition, on some measures where before and after differences were detected, the nature of those differences was paradoxical. Corporate profits as a share of national income, for example, were highest in Democratic rather than Republican administrations and despite the increased income inequality of the post-Reagan years, individual and family poverty rates remained relatively constant after …

Review Of Evaluation In Child And Family Services: Comparative Client And Program Perspectives. Tiziano Vecchiato, Anthony N. Malucchio And Cinzia Canali (Eds.). Reviewed By Victor Groza., Victor Groza

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Tiziano Vecchiato, Anthony N. Malucchio and Cinzia Canali (Eds), Evaluation in Child and Family Services: Comparative Client and Program Perspectives. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter, 2003. $49.95 hardcover, $24.95 papercover.

Review Of Protecting Participants And Facilitating Social And Behavioral Sciences Research. Constance F Citro, Daniel R. Iglen And Cora B. Marrett (Eds.)., Ed Cohen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book book note for Constance F. Citro, Daniel R. Iglen and Cora B. Marrett (Eds.), Protecting Participants and Facilitating Social and Behavioral Sciences Research. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2003. $39.00 papercover.

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 …

Self-Help Group Participation And Empowerment In Hong Kong, Bong-Ho Mok

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper reports on the first comprehensive study of self-help groups in Hong Kong. Initial findings from the quantative and qualitative data suggest that self-help group participation has an impact on intrapersonal, interpersonal and community/political empowerment. Based on existing data, this study has resulted in the development of a hypothetical model encompassing the interrelationships among self-help group participation, social support, social learning, leadership and empowerment, for testing in future research.

Supportive Communities, An Optimum Arrangement For The Older Population?, Miriam Billig

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The preference of older people to stay in their own natural environment requires a reassessment of the approach in dealing with this population group. This exploratory study examines a program conducted in Israel called the "Supportive Community", that provides an emergency call service and other essential services at the homes of older people. A case study was performed in two such supportive communities. Interviews conducted with those who operate the programs and with its members seem to indicate that supportive communities provide a satisfactory solution to the needs of older people who continue to live in their natural environment. Many …

Review Of The Color Of Credit: Mortgage Discrimination, Research Methodology And Fair Lending Enforcement. Stephen L. Ross And John Yinger. Reviewed By Howard Jacob Karger., Howard Jacob Karger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Stephen L. Ross and John Yinger, The Color of Credit: Mortgage Discrimination, Research Methodology and Fair Lending Enforcement. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003. $39.95 hardcover.

Review Of Social Identities Across The Life Course. Jenny Hockey And Alison James. Reviewed By Marvin D. Feit., Marvin D. Feit

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Jenny Hockey and Alison James, Social Identities across the Life Course. New York: Pagrave Macmillan, 2003. $75 hardcover, $24.95 papercover.

Diversity Perspectives For Social Work Practice. Joseph Anderson And Robin Wiggins Carter (Ed.)., Rose Barreto

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Joseph Anderson and Robin Wiggins Carter (Ed.), Diversity Perspectives for Social Work Practice. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2003. $42.67 papercover.