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Families Of People With A Severe Mental Illness: Role Conflict, Ambiguity And Family Burden, James G. Hanson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The perspective of families of people with a severe mental illness has become a focus of interest for mental health professionals. This paper reports the results of an ethnographic study of families' perceptions of dealing with a severe mental illness in their midst. The findings suggest that the families face continual role conflict and ambiguity as the illness moves through characteristic stages. Attention is given to the families' experience and needs and to social workers' responsibilities for involving and communicating with such families in order to reduce a portion of their burden.

Home Care Allowances For The Frail Elderly: For And Against, Jorma Sipila

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Arguments that have been presented for and against HCAs are considered below. The focus is on debates around traditionalist and feminist standpoints. Another central concern is to draw attention to the contextual boundaries of these debates; therefore we shall consider arguments both from the U.S. and Europe. Finland is presented as a special case, because this Scandinavian welfare state has an exceptionally extensive HCA programme.

The Fifty Percent Divorce Rate: Deconstructing A Myth, Dennis L. Peck

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

An overview of competing perceptions about divorce in the United States establishes the basis for a discussion of the incidence of divorce, divorce rates, and the public myth of a 50 percent divorce rate. A partial explanation for the acceptance of this myth is offered through a discussion of the salience of attitude as well as other public issues.

Doubling Up: Low Income Households Sheltering The Hidden Homeless, Edward F. Vacha, Marguerite V. Marin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The costs and benefits of sheltering the homeless experienced by "informal shelter providers "-people who shelter their homeless friends and relatives-are investigated. The benefits of informal sheltering to the community are also examined. Informal shelter providers are among the most destitute in the community, and they are at great risk of becoming homeless themselves. The community receives considerable benefit from informal sheltering. The dependency of the community on the fragile system of informal shelter providers for prevention of homelessness indicates the inadequacy of present housing programs and the failure of our housing policies. Recommendations for preserving and nurturing the invisible …

Homelessness: The Service Providers' Perspective On Blaming The Victim, Elizabeth Tracy, Randy Stoecker

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Service providers who work with the homeless are frequently characterized as victim blamers. Eighteen service providers who work with homeless people were interviewed. The victim-blaming typification oversimplifies service providers' views on homelessness and of the individuals their programs serve. Service providers have a wholistic analysis of homelessness which encompasses both individual and systemic components.

Women Offenders Incarcerated At The Ohio Penitentiary For Men And The Ohio Reformatory For Women From 1913-1923, Rudolph Alexander, Jr., Lola Butler, Patricia Sias

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Unquestionably, women offenders have been subjected to discrimination by the criminal justice system. However, the quality and extent of the discrimination have been the subject of debate. Early male scholars wrote that women offenders were treated chivalrously and leniently. Later female scholars have disagreed and contended that under so-called chivalry women offenders were punished more severely, especially for sex crimes. World War I had a national influence on women imprisoned in reformatories for prostitution, as federal legislation was passed to suppress prostitution and related behaviors. This paper examines qualitative and quantitative data from 1913 to 1923, especially data on the …

Upper Middle Class Support For The Idea Of Family Allowances, Beth Spenciner Rosenthal

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

There is a newly arisen opportunity for reassessment and redirection of children's policy using non-ideological, pragmatic solutions. Middle class attitudes toward family allowances are crucial to the implementation of the proposed solutions. This paper presents preliminary data indicating that current middle class attitudes are favorable toward the idea of family allowances. Potential explanations of this phenomenon are presented along with policy implications.

Public Policy And The Energy Needs Of Low Income Families, W.M. Theisen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Iowa legislature debated whether to change its utility disconnection policy. The debate centered around three questions: 1) whether family size or income influences energy consumption; 2) whether elderly people consume more energy than families; and 3) whether energy subsidies foster increased energy use and energy waste. This paper reports energy consumption patterns for a sample of low income people. Economic demand theory predicts that energy consumption will increase as income increases. This hypothesis was statistically rejected. Second, legislators assumptions about energy consumption were formulated into hypotheses. These hypotheses were statistically rejected.

Book Reviews

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

BOOK REVIEWS

• Profiles in International Social Work. Merl C. Hokenstad, S. K. Khinduka and James Midgley (Eds.) Reviewed by Fredrick L. Ahearn, Jr. Catholic University of America.
• Internationalizing Social Work Education. Richard Estes. Reviewed by Charles Guzzetta, Hunter College.
• The Welfare State in Israel. Abraham Doron and Ralph Kramer, Reviewed by Howard Jacob Karger, Louisianna State University.
• The Radical Right and the Welfare State: An International Assessment. Howard Glennerster and James Midgley (Eds.). Reviewed by Michael Sherraden, Washington University.
• The New Eastern Europe: Social Policy Past, Present and Future. Bob Deacon. Social Policy, Social Justice and Citizenship in Eastern Europe. …

Book Notes

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

BOOK NOTES

• The Study of Welfare State Regimes. Jon Eivind Kolberg (Ed).
• Between Work and Social Citizenship. Jon Eivind Kolberg (Ed).
• The Welfare State as Employer. Jon Eivind Kolberg (Ed).
• Social Policy and Social Security in Australia, Britain and the USA. Helen Bolderson and Deborah Mabbet.
• Political Economy of Development: Development Theory and the Prospect for Change in the Third World. Burch Berberoglu.
• Social Policy in a Changing Europe. Z. Ferge and J. Kolberg (Eds).
• Arguing about the Welfare State: The Australian Experience. Peter Beilharz, Mark Considine and Rob Watts.

Violence In The Media: A Study Of Adolescent Behaviors Towards Others In The School Setting, Kathleen Krystofiak

Theses and Graduate Projects

Violence in the schools appears to be increasing. The purpose of this exploratory study is to determine if the numbers of hours middle schools students watch violence on television could be a factor in how students handle potentially violent situations with other students in the school setting. Students in a middle school setting, grades 6, 7 and 8, were surveyed. The results showed that an increase number of violent reactions to different conflict situations that happen in a school setting, correlated with students watching more hours of violent television on school days and non-school days. Based on the findings of …

The Impact Of Gender Language Socialization On Women In Leadership, Evelyn G. Nelson

Theses and Graduate Projects

Gender language socialization is pervasive. Men and women are affected by gender language socialization. Women are being kept from leadership positions through gender language barriers. Both would benefit from having leadership roles more equally shared, honoring diverse styles of leadership, and acknowledging differences. My research design is evaluative. My study is qualitative. My criteria for determining causation is whether the dependent variables (women in leadership) are affected by the independent variable (gender role socialization). For this study, the results of the dependent variable are skewed by each culture studied. Thus, future studies need to know each cross-culture's perspective, but in …

The Coordination Status Of The Children's Mental Health Services In Minnesota, Carrie S. Johnson

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of the present study is to describe what services children with severe emotional disturbance (SED) have received before acute care hospitalization. According to the Minnesota children's Mental Health Act of 1989, children should be receiving a comprehensive set of services. This means that the children's mental health system is to be integrated and coordinated with all child-serving systems at the state, local and individual levels . This study examines the following three research questions: a) Is coordination of services being provided across disciplines?, b) Are children receiving case-management services?, and c) Are children receiving services in the least …

Modification And Implementation Of A Chemical Awareness Program For Parents Of Elementary School Children, Suzanne C. Tuttle

Theses and Graduate Projects

A literature review is presented that confirms the author's position that parents can play an important and active role in preventing chemical abuse in their children. The author reviews and discusses three currently available chemical awareness programs for parents' "FAST," "Roots and Wings," and "Charlie for Grown-ups." A survey was conducted with parents of children from Northstar Elementary School in North Minneapolis to find out their views on chemical awareness and what they would like in a program. The results of the survey are consistent with the literature in that good parenting, good communication between parents and children, and children's …

Single Parent Fathers With Custody Of Their Children, Gerald W. Dungan

Theses and Graduate Projects

This is a study of a selected group of single parent fathers living in Central Minnesota and having sole custody of their children. This family form is on the increase accounting for 13% to 21 % of the single parent headed households in the United States. More men are seeking custody and more women are losing custody or agreeing to paternal custody due in part to changes in gender role expectations an emerging view of fatherhood and economic constraints. This parental role shift has also been influenced by the women's movements generating more live style options, the rising number of …

Optional Motherhood: A Description Of Psycho-Social Issues Within The Lesbian Parenting Process, Julie A. Nohner

Theses and Graduate Projects

The study explored the psych+social issues of five lesbian-identified couples as they decided to parent. 'What are the emotional needs, from their perspectives, of lesbian couples as they experience the process of choosing motherhood? The central research question provided descriptive data of the women's experiences from their support networks: their partners, families-of-origin or self-defined families, the lesbian community, their friendship group, professional clinicians, and religious institutions. A common theme emerging within these areas was the need for validation of the women's choice to parent and acknowledgement of this family creation. This demands confronting myths that lesbians should not have children. …

Evaluation Of School Social Worker Tasks And Activities, Patti A. Hartwig

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study was to ascertain school social workers’ perception of how frequent they provide the activities of the school social workers job description. It was hypothesized that if school social worker is in one school building 100% of the time, they are able to provide all of the services required in the job description. Thirteen schools social workers indicated how frequent they provide services by percentage of time spent on each task. Overall, school social workers provided indirect social work services such as consultation with school personnel and crisis intervention. Those assigned to one building more individual …

Open Adoption: Its Impact On Grief And Loss Issues For Birthmothers, Theresa A. Skretvedt

Theses and Graduate Projects

The qualitative study explores the impact of openness in the adoption experience has on grief and loss issues for four birthmothers who voluntarily relinquished their infants. Stage and paradoxical phenomena of grief and loss comparable to parental loss of child through death are addressed through three stages of the adoption experience: during pregnancy, during delivery and relinquishment and post-relinquishment. Theoretical framework around attachment, the learned helplessness model of depression and self-determination as a client-centered outcome in social work practice enhance the understanding of some of the special grief issues related to loss through adoption. Discussion focuses on how openness in …

Child Abuse Reporting In A Local Hospital, Lisa A. Lovlien

Theses and Graduate Projects

This thesis explores what effect educational efforts and other interventions had on the detection and reporting of child abuse by emergency room personnel at a local hospital. This was accomplished by examining a random sample of children's medical records prior to and after hospital educational efforts. It was hypothesized that all children seen in the emergency room after the in-service whose condition or circumstance were reportable as child maltreatment, were reported to the appropriate child protection agency. In the sample records, it appeared that the most obvious cases of child abuse were identified and reported. However, lack of documentation on …

Adolescent Family Survivors Of Sexual Trauma: Program Development, Cara Lynn Carlson

Theses and Graduate Projects

This thesis will explore theory and propose a program specific to the needs of a particular population of adolescent female survivors of child sexual trauma. This population of adolescent and young adult females are the runaway, throwaway, and homeless survivors of child sexual trauma that i have had the opportunity to work with for the past three years as an outreach worker. These survivors have had a history of sexual violence and too little support to enable them to heal from these experiences. This thesis focuses on expanding current outreach services to this population of young women grounded in the …

Purchase Of Service Contracting In The 1990s: Have Expectations Been Met?, Peter M. Kettner, Lawrence L. Martin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Privatization and purchase of service contracting (POSC) are generally considered to be two of the most important factors that have helped shape the human service system during the 1970s and 1980s (Gilbert, 1983, 1986; Kammerman, 1983; Demone and Gibelman, 1984, 1989; Weddell, 1986; Kettner and Martin, 1985; Termell, 1987; Rein, 1989). Therefore, as we enter the decade of the 1990s, it would seem both appropriate and worthwhile to reflect on the original expectations for privatization and POSC and to assess the extent to which these expectations have been realized.

The Impact Of Work History On Economic Security At Old Age Among Africans In South Africa, Martha Tshitshi S. Mbatha

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Work histories of most Africans in South Africa determine whether or not they will be poor at old age. To illustrate this point, the author uses the literature and data collected from elderly Africans. Findings show racial discrimination in education and in the labor market as resulting in the concentration of the majority of Africans in low paying jobs. Low wages and the absence of a national pension scheme prevent most Africans from saving for their retirement. African workers constitute the largest percentage of the working poor in South Africa. Their circumstances are unlikely to change even after retirement. At …

The Commitment Of Social Workers To Affirmative Action, Karen D. Stout, William E. Buffum

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study examines the relationship of commitment to affirmative action principles, knowledge about affirmative action, and positive or negative experiences with affirmative action in a sample of 193 members of the Texas Chapter of NASW. The results were that knowledge was not significantly associated with commitment to affirmative action, although both positive and negative experience with affirmative action was strongly associated with commitment. Ways to build support for affirmative action through positive experience are discussed. Differences among sub-groups of the sample are examined.

Book Notes

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

BOOK NOTES

• The Strengths Perspective in Social Work Practice. Dennis Saleeby
• Research on Social Work Practice. Mark A. Mattiani
• The Child Welfare Challenge. Peter J. Pecora, James K. Whittaker, Anthony N. Maluccio with Richard Bath & Robert D. Plotnick
• Community Organizing in a Diverse Society. F. Rivera & J. Erlich
• Brief Counseling: A Practical Guide for Beginning Practitioners. Windy Dryden & Colin Feltham
• Who Benefits from the Non-Profit Sector? Charles T. Glotfelter
• Contemporary Perspectives on Crisis Intervention and Prevention. Albert Roberts
• Alternative Models of Family Preservation: Family Based Services in Context. Kristine E. Nelson & Mariam J. Landsman

Child Care Needs Of Welfare Recipients In Maryland's Welfare Reform Program, Barbara H. Vann, Todd W. Rofuth

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Legislation mandating participation of welfare recipient parents in education and employment and training programs has created increased demand for provision of child care. Providing the most appropriate care for this unique population depends, ideally, on its needs and preferences. This study examines child care needs and preferences of a sample of participants in Maryland's welfare reform employment and training programs. Although care by a relative is most widely used by these respondents, it is not clear that this is the type of care preferred by the majority of respondents. This has important implications for policy decisions regarding child care funding.

Social Work Practice And Technological Disasters: The Navajo Uranium Experience, Susan E. Dawson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Findings of a community case study of Navajo uranium workers and their families are presented in light of the effects of technological disasters. The workers and their families were exposed to occupational and environmental hazards associated with the mining and milling of uranium. Implications for social work practice and education are presented using the concepts of a therapeutic community and victim typology.

Victims Of Terrorism: Is It A 'Non-Issue'?, Uri Yanay

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Despite the growing 'detente' or because of it, the world faces the danger of an increased number of ethnic, religious and separatist movements that actively seek visibility, fearing that otherwise their case might be overlooked. This may be one of the reasons terrorism is a growing phenomena, causing injuries and death to people and significant damage to property.

Most governments ignore victims of terrorism. Denying the problem or providing scant help to victims does not solve the problem fairly. The political nature of the problem and the multitude of damages caused by terrorism requires legal entitlements and State resources to …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 20, No. 2 (June 1993)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISASTERS: THE NAVAJO URANIUM EXPERIENCE - Susan E. Dawson
• VICTIMS OF TERRORISM: IS IT A "NON-ISSUE" - Uri Yanay
• THE IMPACT OF WORK HISTORY ON ECONOMIC SECURITY AT OLD AGE AMONG AFRICANS IN SOUTH AFRICA - Martha Tshitsi S. Mbatha
• REFORMULATION OF THE CONTEXT OF COMMUNITY BASED CARE - Phillip Fellin
• CHILD CARE NEEDS OF WELFARE RECIPIENTS IN MARYLAND'S WELFARE REFORM PROGRAM - Barbara H. Vann & Todd W. Rofuth
• PURCHASE OF SERVICE CONTRACTING IN THE 1990'S: HAVE EXPECTATIONS BEEN MET? - Peter M. Kettner & Lawrence L. Martin
• CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL …

Reformulation Of The Context Of Community Based Care, Phillip Fellin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Community based care has traditionally been defined as residential location. An alternative is presented of including the patient's membership in multiple communities, both geographical and identificational. The literature on social supports is cited as a basis for social integration as a goal.

Characteristics Of Social Welfare Stasis And Change: A Comparison Of The Characteristics Of Two Child Welfare Agencies In The 1920s, Eve P. Smith

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article describes and compares two child welfare agencies of the 1920's with regard to qualities that influenced or inhibited their ability to change. While one agency gave up its institution in favor of foster home care and mother's pensions; the other continued to provide only institutional care. Four characteristics may account for the difference. They are the organizations' networks; amount of "sunk costs" associated with change; ideologies and interests of organization leadership and the agencies' "boundary spanning" activities. If further studies confirm these, then we may encourage organizational changes so that contemporary agencies may meet emerging client needs.