Digital Commons Network^™

Consensus As A Form Of Decision Making, Martha E. Gentry

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper critically analyzes the consensus process as used in decision making. Drawing from the Quaker experience and from social psychological research, statements of conditions for its effective use are enunciated. Descriptions of the use of consensus are provided and areas for further exploration are identified.

A Tactic For Intervention In Meetings That Are Being Controlled, Robert Carew, Tony Kelly

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

"This article describes an approach which can be used to generate tactics to free meetings that are being controlled. More assertively it can also be used to increase the probability of achieving prescribed goals in meetings."

The purpose of this paper is to present a framework that can be used by community workers to open up meetings that are being controlled. more assertive use can also be made of the framework to increase the probability of achieving prescribed goals in meetings. As a matter of convenience the focus in this paper will be on the use of the framework in …

The Self And The Conduct Of The People-Working Professions, William S. Bennett Jr., Merl C. Hokenstad Jr.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article discusses the evolution of people-working professions through four synchronic eras: 1) the traditional era, 2) the voluntaristic era, 3) the professional era, and 4) the cybernetic era. People-working professions are conceptually distinguished from traditional (craft) professions which serve as the model for most sociological analyses of the professions. In addition to differences in the nature of the knowledge used and the context of the service rendered, a distinction is drawn regarding the focus of the work done. People-workers give service to other selves (egos) while craft professions work with objects or parts of the person. The historical evolution …

A Model For Forecasting Environmental Reaction To Policy Initiation, Ram A. Cna'an

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This research proposes and empirically tests a model for forecasting the possible reactions of other organizations to a policy initiation. This model is measuring the amount of reaction to change (A.R.C.) on three levels: relevant organizations, relevant functions, and overall environment. The model is presented in a general mode followed by a quasi-experimental case study. The results of this study are reported and implications, possible improvements and different uses are discussed.

An Australian Test Of Economic And Political Models Of Welfare State Expenditures: 1945 - 1979, Gordon W. Ternowetsky, Maurreen P. Clissold

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper tests 'political' and 'economic' models of welfare expenditure with post-World War II Australian data. The major antecedents of welfare spending for the overall time period (1945-1979) appeared to be economic growth as mediated by the age of the population and program incrementalism. It was shown, however, that this view misleads rather than clarifies the influence of different factors during specific periods within the overall time series. A periodization of welfare spending was found to be more useful. The periodization analysis showed that the influence of politics on welfare spending is important. Right political strength was found to have …

Voodoo Believers: Some Sociological Insight, Michele Wilson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Sociology has attempted to affect the therapeutic community in two ways. The first of these consists of our criticisma of both theory and practice because of the degree to which these do not fit the known epidemiology of phenomena known variously as mental illness and personal problems. The second attempt to influence has come from the philosophical stance of sociology: recognition of the relativity of realities. Although this paper addresses the second of these sources of influence, a few comments about the former first need to be made because of its effect on the latter.

An Analysis Of The Psycho-Social Adjustment Patterns Of The Haitian "Boat People" In New Orleans, In 1981, Elisabeth Babette Wainwright

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study was designed to analyze the psycho-social adjustment of the recent Haitian refugees in the United States. Emphasis was placed on their social, political and economic attitudes, and on relevant cultural and socio demographic characteristics. For comparative purposes the study included a sample of Haitian refugees living in the Unites States and a matched sample of Haitians living in Haiti. In-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted in New Orleans, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and various provinces in Haiti. In addition, a creole translation of the Middletown Alienation Scale was administered to subjects in New Orleans and in Haiti. Findings indicate …

Children Facing Death: Recurring Patterns Of Adaptation (Revised), Roger A. Lohmann, Deborah Greenham

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This article examines a number of studies on adjustment problems faced by dying children. Particular attention is given to the relationship between growth and development and the child’s awareness of their impending death. Two principal topics connecting research with clinical practice will be examined in this article: the research on awareness contexts translates into the clinical issue of whether or not to tell children of their impending death. Likewise, the question of how immature children who are dying cope with their impending death and their understanding of the effect it will have on others.

Inside And Outside The For-Profit Nursing Home: Some External Determinants Of Inside Power Relations, Cedric Herring

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper offers a conceptual model for understanding how and in what ways externally determined factors affect power arrangements within a for-profit nursing home setting. Specifically, this paper links the activities of nursing homes as profit seekers to federal legislation and the activities of strategically structured interests which seek to socialize their costs. Additionally, it shows how social distinctions and other factors which have their origins external to the nursing home setting have consequences for what takes place inside. The model posits that it is those people who are members of society's more privileged groups (professional white males) who will …

Solving The Effectiveness Dilemma: How Can An Informal Network Create Change?, Robert W. Colman, Mark Barton

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Interagency networks seem to be good vehicles for informal communication and coordination. However, if they are to be effective in bringing about innovation, networks must develop some of the boundaries and structure of a group and thereby lose their informality. Examination of a case history of a network in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, suggests one alternative: A network can remain informal and operate by consensus but give rise to subgroups which take potentially controversial action in their own names. This possibility is explored and related to the emerging theory of social networks.

Meaning In Work: Toward A Clinical Approach To Work Dissatisfaction, Shimshon M. Neikrug

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper deals with issues relating to the meaning of work for the worker and clinical implications for the social worker intervening in the field of industrial and occupational social work. The problems of work dissatisfaction and alienation in work are analyzed. The author presents two concepts, work as play and logotherapy, as being useful in the clinical intervention in work related problems. It is concluded that the absence of work dissatisfaction need not be the goal of intervention, rather the clinical encounter can strive for meaningfulness, growth, and self-discovery.

A Composite Model For Interorganizational Strategies, Donald E. Maypole

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article integrates general systems, exchange and contingency theories into a process model for determining appropriate interorganizational strategies to achieve goals. The author suggests that the interorganizational power-dependence ratio is one of the frequently overlooked but major determining factors in interorganizational relations and goal attainment.

Comparing Employed And Unemployed Welfare Recipients: A Discriminant Analysis, Becky L. Glass

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Based on data from the 1973 Minnesota AFDC Characteristic Study, 348 female AFDC recipients were classified according to whether they were employed or unemployed. T-tests and a discriminant analysis were performed to determine which of several demographic and economic variables distinguished the employed group from the unemployed group. The best discriminators were found to be those related to economic condition, such as value of personal and real property, liquid assets, and monthly income. Little difference was found between employed and unemployed women on the demographic variables. The implications of these findings for the argument that personal motivation or individual differences …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 9, No. 1 (March 1982)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Table of Contents

• Editorial - BOB LEIGHIINGER
• Call For Papers
• A Composite Model for Interorganizational Strategies - DONALD E. MAYPOLE
• Comparing Employed and Unemployed Welfare Recipients: A Discriminant Analysis - BECKY L. GLASS
• The Utilization of a Performance Based Curriculum Design in Graduate Social Work
• Education - GUST WILLIAM MITCHELL
• Inside and Outside the For-Profit Nursing home: Some External Determinants of Inside
• Power Relations - CEDRIC HERRISG
• Solving the Effectiveness Dilemma: How Can An Informal Network Create Change? - ROBERT W. COLEMAN, MARK BARTON
• Regional Reference Groups in the Spreading of Occupational Licensing Policies Among the
• States: An Exploratory Study …

Regional Reference Groups In The Spreading Of Occupational Licensing Policies Among The States: An Exploratory Study, Timothy W. Lause

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study explores the diffusion of state licensing policies, particularly the role of regional cuetaking in the adoption of new policies. Five such networks are suggested, along with the states most likely to serve as models for those reference groups. Findings have several implications for social work lobbying efforts.

Rejected Families: Established And Innovative Structures Of Service, Joseph R. Steiner

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of this paper is to encourage social workers in family settings to consider alternative structures of services to families, especially those families who are rejected from meaningful extra-familial relationships. Rejected families, the established structure of family service and some innovative modifications to this structure are described. Special attention is given to one type of innovative family-service structure, an experimental family residential center, which was successful in reducing rates of child abuse in Holland. Innovative family-service structures, including residential centers, could help many families which do not benefit from the existing structure of family services.

Program In Social Work With Groups: A Jungian Perspective, Herman Borenzweig

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In their text Social Group Work Practice, published in 1949 and affectionately called, "The Green Bible," by many social workers trained within its tradition, Wilson and RylandI portray program as, "the use of activities for attaining and maintaining mental health." By deemphasizing recreational modalities, social group workers have sacrificed their holistic practice, allowing other professionals to fill this vacuum. Recently, for example, "Sing your way back to health," is a "new" therapy in Los Angeles. Also, many Gestalt therapy exercises owe a debt to J.L. Moreno's psychodrama. Singing, drama, are but two of the many program tools taught as practice …

Community Representation And Empowerment In Long Term Care Settings: The Case Of The Nursing Home Patient Ombudsman, Abraham Monk, Lenard W. Kaye

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

It is widely recognized that regulatory efforts outside of the nursing home have had relatively limited success in monitoring patient care complaints (New York State Moreland Act Commission, 1975; Weatherby, 1975). As a result, the public at large and an increasing number of policy analysts have aggressively called for the initiation of alternative long term care monitoring strategies (Regan, 1977; Linnane, 1977; Vladeck, 1980). One such recently developed administrative ameliorative, with direct ties to the local community, is the nursing home patient ombudsman. The ombudsman program, when serving as a complaint redress mechanism for the institutionalized aged, is believed to …

In Judgment Of Victims: The Social Context Of Rape, Joyce E. Williams, Karen A. Holmes

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study examines some of the linkages between the rape victims' experience and community attitudes about rape, focusing on differences among three racial-ethnic groups. Public attitude data were collected from a stratified sample of 1,011 respondents; personal interviews were conducted with 335 Anglos, 336 Blacks and 340 Mexican Americans. Victim data were collected from in depth interviews with 61 female rape victims: 32 Anglos, 11 Blacks and 18 Mexican Americans. While the victim data suggest some degree of negative impact resulting from the rape experience for all victims, significant differences were found among the three racial-ethnic groups. Public attitude data …

Computer Use In Social Services Network Newsletter, Dick Schoech

Computer Use in Social Services Network

No abstract provided.

Aging And The Milieu Of Social Policy, Roger A. Lohmann, Nancy Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

One facet of the new conservatism, which is drawing so much interest but not much information currently is the proposal for converting a large number of social service programs (including the Administration on Aging) into a single community block grant program. Even without the Reagan Administration and its new conservatism, however, the case for substantial--if less dramatic--changes in the network of services and programs which benefit the aged has been growing for some time. In this chapter, wel review some of the broader implications of current social policies for the aged, and some of the criticisms raised among gerontologists, concentrating …

Computer Use In Social Services Network Newsletter, Dick Schoech

Computer Use in Social Services Network

No abstract provided.

Sociological Perspectives On The Ecological Model, Ronald Mancoske

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Germain and Siporin have written social work practice texts which seek to integrate diverse material into practice through an ecological model. Part of the integration deals with the issue of micro-macro practice which has been a dichotomous issue throughout social work traditions. Four perspectives which Kemeny used to analyze a similar dichotomy in sociology offer insights and caveats for social work to consider as it uses general systems theory as a framework for practice. The four perspectives are called the competitive, the inclusive, the exclusive, and the cumulative. This paper traces similar developmental notions in the sociological literature and notes …

Welfare Legislation And American Poverty Traps: Ironies And Characteristics, Theresa Villanueva, Richard J. Caston

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

We argue that legislative attempts to establish bureaucratic programs to eradicate American poverty will invariably result in ironic inconsistencies that will doom such programs to only limited or partial success. As an illustration, we examine the ironic history of the AFDC program as it has been legislated to deal with American poverty. Three sociological accounts for the ironies of welfare programming are then drawn together. One account suggests that undue concern over the work ethic has overridden more direct concern for the deprecating living conditions of the Door. A second account suggests that poverty is so functionally beneficial to a …

The Political Influence Of Older Americans, John B. Williamson, Linda Evans, Lawrence A. Powell, Sharlene Hesse-Biber

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This essay explores the future prospects for the political influence of older Americans. Some analysts contend that the next fifty years will bring a marked increase in the political influence of the elderly. Others argue that the aged are unlikely to become a significant political influence at any time in the forseeable future. We review the relevant evidence and conclude that it is not entirely consistent with either of these positions. Our analysis suggests a third alternative, that there will be a marked increase in the political resources of the elderly, which will not necessarily translate into an increase in …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 8, No. 4 (December 1981)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

• Reindustrialization and the Future of Social Welfare - STEVE BURGHARDT, MICHAEL FABRICANT • The Domain of Social Work: What is it? - MARY L. WARING, GERALD O'CONNOR • Sociological Perspectives on the Ecological Model - RONALD MANCOSKE • Welfare Legislation and American Poverty Traps: Ironies and Characteristics - RICHARD J. CASTON, THERESA A. VILLANUEVA • Professional Burnout: Sociocultural and Sociopolitical Perspectives - PAULA L. DRESSEL • The Political Influence of Older Americans - JOHN B. WILLIAMSON, LINDA EVANS, LAWRENCE A. POWELL, SHARLENE HESSE-BIBER • Local Government Policy on Aging: New Challenges for Old Problems - CHARLES P. SHANNON • …

The Domain Of Social Work: What Is It, Mary L. Waring, Gerald O'Connor

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Cast within a framework derived from general systems theory, the authors examine the domain of the social work profession. Domain is first defined as having several components. These are specified and fully expanded as Claimed Domain, Domain Competition, Emerging Domain and Unclaimed Domain. This elaboration is followed by a discussion of some of the constraints that impinge upon the profession's ability to define and to choose its domain.

Professional Burnout: Sociocultural And Sociopolitical Perspectives, Paula L. Dressel

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social psychological, organizational, and administrative orientations dominate the literature on the phenarenon of professional burnout. This paper argues that sociocultural and sociopolitical perspectives offer additional insights into the issue. By the application of such perspectives we are compelled to examine how certain characteristics of social policies impact dysfunctionally on service providers as well as service recipients. Furthermore, the broader approach outlined here offers alternative intervention strategies for the alleviation or prevention of burnout than those ccomonly posed in previous literature.

Early Social Security Retirement For Minorities Demographic And Philosophical Fallacies, Nathan Zirl, John Hedderson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article examines some of the problems and proposed solutions associated with the retirement of minority members, particularly early retirement within the Social Security System. We also discuss the failure of the Reagan administration's 1981 attempts to change social security benefits.

Social Work Practice In Health Care: An Ethnic Sensitive Approach, Elfriede G. Schlesinger, Wynetta Devore

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The relationship between ethnicity and modes of response to illness has been well documented. One example is stoicism as contrasted with volatile behavior in response to pain of different groups. Another is increasing awareness of the fact that non-traditional healers (eog., espiritistas, cuaranderos) are used extensively by members of various ethnic groups.

Insufficient attention has been paid to how such knowledge can be incorporated in social work practice.

This paper reviews prevailing social work interventive procedures and skills and suggests needed adaptations if social work practice is to be more sensitive and responsive to different health behaviors and beliefs of …