Digital Commons Network^™

Social Policy And Social Work. David Denny.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for David Denny, Social Policy and Social Work. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. $75.00 hardcover.

The Social Process Of "Passing" To Manage Stigma: Acts Of Internalized Oppression Or Acts Of Resistance?, Valli Kalei Kanuha

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In order to manage social stigma, some individuals construct and enact a social interaction strategy known as passing, which is "a performance in which one presents himself as what one is not" (Rohy, 1996). Based on interviews with lesbians and gay men of color, this article suggests that the process of passing is not based upon a rejection of stigmatized identity, but situationally employed to resist social oppression.

Perceiving Oppression: Relationships With Resilience, Self-Esteem, Depressive Symptoms, And Reliance On God In African-American Homeless Men, Jill Littrell, Elizabeth Beck

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Empowerment has been proffered as a desirable goal for many disadvantaged populations. The process of empowerment can include encouraging disadvantaged individuals to recognize the structural factors in society (e.g., discrimination, oppression, injustice) which contribute to disadvantaged status. Two studies sought to determine the impact that recognition of oppression has on a disadvantaged individual's (1) self-esteem; (2) level of depressive symptoms; (3) resilience which includes a sense of master y and optimism; (4) anger; and (5) reliance on God. These issues were investiga ted in a sample of African-American men seeking services at a soup-kitchen ministry. Perceptions of racial discrimination were …

Rethinking Orphanages For The 21st Century. Richard B. Mckenzie (Ed.).

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Richard B. McKenzie (Ed.), Rethinking Orphanages for the 21st Century, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1999. $72.00 hardcover, $34.95 papercover.

Reflections On Community Organizing: Enduring Themes And Critical Issues. Jack Rothman (Ed.).

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Jack Rothman, (Ed.), Reflections on Community Organizing: Enduring Themes and Critical Issues. Itasca, IL: F. E. Peacock Publishers, 1999. $35.00 papercover.

"He's Not Mr. Right, He's More Like Mr. Now"* Patrifocal And Matrifocal Discourses Among Homeless Mothers In Kentucky, Joanna M. Badagliacco

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

What strategies do homeless mothers use to cope with their situations? In-depth interviews in Kentucky of 68 homeless mothers with children revealed similarities and differences among the women, as well as a con tinuum of approaches to gender relations. Although differing in race/ethnicity and place of origin (rural vs. urban) among other factors, the overwhelming majority of the women experienced unstable and abusive households and social relationships while growing up. Most did not complete high school and had their first births while still teenagers. Moreover, two primary approaches to gender relations were observed. These approaches delimit a continuum along which …

Implementation Problems In The Development Of Urban Community Services In The People's Republic Of China: The Case Of Beijing, Agnas K.C. Yeung, Kwok Kin Fung, Kim Ming Lee

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

To review the ten year implementation of the community service policy of the People's Republic of China, community service implementers and academics located in Beijing were interviewed. By employing implementation theories as a framework of analysis, a number of implementation problems are identified. In terms of policy characteristics and the structuring of implementation, this case shows that the objectives are not specific enough. The decentralized implementation strategy allows the implementers too much discretionary power. The shortage of qualified and motivated personnel further complicate the issue. Lastly, the policy environment of Beijing does not lend adequate support to the policy.

Woman Battering And Welfare Reform: The View From A Welfare-To-Work Program, Lisa D. Brush

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This research compares employment training program staff estimates (N = 118) and enrollee reports (N = 122) of woman battering, that is, the physical violence and other abuse men deploy against their wives and girlfriends. The vast majority of staff estimate that woman battering obstructs the transition from welfare to work for at least some of their clients. Overall, staff respondents' relative sense of the frequency of battering quite accurately reflects enrollee reports. However, staff are especially reluctant to give estimates of physical violence and injury. Moreover, many give very low estimates for those items that are obvious markers of …

Review Of Overcoming Welfare: Expecting More From The Poor And From Ourselves. James L. Payne. Reviewed By James Midgley, University Of California At Berkeley., James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review James L. Payne, Overcoming Welfare: Expecting More from the Poor and From Ourselves. New York: Basic Books, 1998. $26.50 hardcover.

Hate Crime Laws And Sexual Orientation, Elizabeth P. Cramer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article provides definitions for hate crimes, a summary of national data on hate crime incidents, and descriptions of federal and state hate crime laws. The author presents various arguments in support of and against hate crime laws, and the inclusion of sexual orientation in such laws. The author contends that it is illogical and a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to exclude sexual orientationf rom hate crime laws. The perpetratorso f hate crime incidents, regardess of the target group, have similar motives and perpetrate similar types of assaults; the victims experience similar physical and psychological harm. Excluding a class …

Americanization And Cultural Preservation In Seattle's Settlement House: A Jewish Adaptation Of The Anglo-American Model Of Settlement Work, Alissa Schwartz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article examines the dual agendas of Americanization and preservation of Ashkenazic Jewish culture through an historical analysis of the work of Seattle's Settlement House, a social service center founded in 1906 by elite, Americanized Jews to serve poorer, immigrant Jews of Ashkenazic and Sephardic origin. Such analysis is set against the ideological backdrop of Anglo-Americanism which pervaded the field of social work in its early efforts at self-definition and professionalization.P articulara ttentioni s paid to the role of the arts at Settlement House, with comparisons to Chicago's Hull-House, the prototypical American settlement operating at the turn of the century. …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 26, No. 3 (September 1999)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• HATE CRIME LAWS AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION - Elizabeth P. Cramer
• AMERICANIZATION AND CULTURAL PRESERVATION IN SEATTLE'S SETTLEMENT HOUSE: A JEWISH ADAPTATION OF THE ANGLO-AMERICAN MODEL OF SETTLEMENT WORK - Alissa Schwartz
• WOMAN BATTERING AND WELFARE REFORM: THE VIEW FROM A WELFARE-TO-WORK PROGRAM - Lisa D. Brush
• A COMMENTARY: WHY CIVIL COMMITMENT LAWS DON'T WORK THE WAY THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO - Philip D. Arben
• "HE'S NOT MR. RIGHT, HE'S MORE LIKE MR. NOW": PATRIFOCAL AND MATRIFOCAL DISCOURSES AMONG HOMELESS MOTHERS IN KENTUCKY - Joanna M. Badagliacco
• THE PLACE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH IN SOCIAL WORK - Robert Fisher & …

A Commentary: Why Civil Commitment Laws Don't Work The Way They're Supposed To, Philip D. Arben

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

It is often presumed that the legal rights of those who are mentally ill or alleged to be mentally ill are adequately protected by the changes in civil commitment statutes that most states instituted during the 1970s. The author who participated in the writing of these reform statutes recently observed 63 civil commitment hearings. The gap between the stated requirements of the statute and the actual conduct of the commitment hearings was substantial. This paper attempts to explain why the reality has failed to meet the promise.

The Place Of Historical Research In Social Work, Robert Fisher, Phillip Dybicz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study addresses the incidence, persistence, decline, and marginalization of historical research in social work by examining one indicator of that research, social work dissertations. This study reveals that despite the dominance of other research methods, historical research was a legitimate method for doctoral research in social work, but its use has declined over time. Before World War II historical dissertations were common. Through the 1950s almost 13% of all social work dissertations were historical. In the 1960s and 1970s interest in history as a research method declined, but social welfare history was still a legitimate option for doctoral research. …

A Path Analysis Of The Effect Of Welfare On Infant Mortality, Michael A. Lewis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social epidemiologists have found a relationship between poverty and infant mortality. Welfare policy experts have found that welfare benefits affect work effort, family structure, migration, and the rate of intergenerational transmission of welfare receipt. Social epidemiologists have paid little attention to the effects of poverty policies on infant mortality. Welfare policy experts have paid little attention to the effect of welfare on infant mortality. This paper merges the concerns of social epidemiologists and welfare policy experts by examining the relationship between welfare and infant mortality. The key finding is that welfare directly and indirectly affects infant mortality rates. States with …

In The Service Of Market Socialism: The Quest For A Welfare Model In China, Bong-Ho Mok, Jitong Liu

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The socialist market economy in China has brought about impressive economic growth. It has also resulted in serious social problems such as unemployment, deteriorating family relations, prostitution, and poverty among the disadvantaged groups. This paper discusses a welfare model proposed by the Chinese Government to contain the destabilizing effects of the social problems and to serve the newly adopted market socialism. The authors argue that although this welfare model is still very much residual by western standards, it is a big step forward in building a modern Chinese welfare system.

Review Of Paradigms Of Clinical Social Work, Volume 2. Rachel Dorfman (Ed). Reviewed By Cynthia Franklin, University Of Texas, Austin., Cynthia Franklin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Dorfman, R.A. (Ed.) Paradigms of Clinical Social Work, volume 2. Philadelphia PA: Brunner/Mazel, 1998. $49.95 hardcover.

Review Of Clinical And Practice Issues In Adoption: Bridging The Gap Between Adoptees Placed As Infants And As Older Children. Victor Groza And Karen F Rosenberg (Eds.). Reviewed By Richard P. Barth, University Of North Carolina, Chapel Hill., Richard P. Barth

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Victor Groza and Karen E Rosenberg (Eds.), Clinical and Practice Issues in Adoption: Bridging the Gap Between Adoptees Placed as Infants and as Older Children. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1998. $55.00 (hardcover).

Review Of Social Work In Rural Communities. Leon H. Ginsberg (Ed.). Reviewed By Marie D. Hoff, Boise State University., Marie D. Hoff

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Leon H. Ginsberg (Ed.). Social Work in Rural Communities. Council on Social Work Education: Alexandria, VA. 1998. $17.00 papercover.

Review Of Social Work With Children And Their Families: Pragmatic Foundations. Christopher G. Petr. Reviewed By Dorinda N. Noble, Louisiana State University., Dorinda N. Noble

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Petr, Christopher G. (1998). Social Work with Children and their Families: Pragmatic Foundations. New York: Oxford University Press.

Social Work After The Americans With Disabilities Act: New Challenges And Opportunities For Social Service Professionals. John T. Pardeck.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for John T. Pardeck, Social Work After the Americans with Disabilities Act: New Challenges and Opportunities for Social Service Professionals. Westport, CT: Auburn House, 1998. $17.95 papercover.

Theorizing Welfare: Enlightenment And Modern Society. Martin O'Brein And Sue Penna.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Martin O'Brein and Sue Penna, Theorizing Welfare: Enlightenment and Modern Society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998. $74.50 hardcover, $24.95 papercover.

Social Work Practice In Nontraditional Urban Settings. Melvin Delgado.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Melvin Delgado, Social Work Practice in Nontraditional Urban Settings. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. $45.00, hardcover, $21.95 papercover.

Contemporary Issues In Social Work: Western Europe. Steven Shardlow And Malcolm Payne (Eds.).

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Steven Shardlow and Malcolm Payne (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Social Work: Western Europe. Ashgate Publishing Co., Brookfield, VT: 1998. $63.95 hardcover.

Review Of Big Cities In The Welfare Transition. Alfred J. Hahn And Sheila B. Kamerman. Reviewed By John R. Graham, University Of Calgary., John R. Graham

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Alfred J. Kahn and Sheila B. Kamerman, Big Cities in the Welfare Transition. New York: Columbia University School of Social Work, 1998, $25.00 papercover

Privatizing Social Security. Martin Feldstein (Ed.).

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Martin Feldstein (Ed.), Privatizing Social Security. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1998. $ 60.00 hardback.

Does America Hate The Poor? The Other American Dilemma. John Tropman.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for John Tropman, Does America Hate the Poor? The Other American Dilemma. Westport, CT: Praegar Published, 1998. $ 59.95 hardcover.

Review Of Confronting Racism: The Problem And The Response. Jennifer L. Eberhardt And Susan T. Fiske (Eds.). Reviewed By Eric Swank, Morehead State University., Eric Swank

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Jennifer L. Eberhardt and Susan T. Fiske (Eds.), Confronting Racism: The Problem and the Response. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998. $29.50 papercover.

Promoting Social Justice In Partnership With The Mass Media, Edward A. Brawley, Emilia E. Martinez-Brawley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Research on mass communications suggests that public understanding of social justice issues can be significantly enhanced by the appropriate use of the media. Indeed, without the access to the public that only the mass media can provide, social workers are unlikely to have much impact in the public's understanding of critical social justice issues and appropriate responses to these issues. Based on emerging research and practice, we identify opportunities for individuals, groups and organizations interested in addressing issues of social justice to engage in productive public communication activities through newspapers, radio and television.

Already Hit Bottom: General Assistance, Welfare Retrenchment, And Single Male Migration, Thomas Vartanian, Joe Soss, Sanford Schram, Jim Baumohl

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The claim is often made that welfare recipients move to states where benefits are more readily available in more generous amounts. To test that claim, this study uses data on state General Assistance (GA) programs, as well as data on single men from the Public Use Microdata Set of the 1990 U.S. Census. We find only slight evidence that men who lack access to GA seek it elsewhere, and overall we find that the availability of GA has no more than a marginal effect on the location decisions of the men we studied. It seems that poor people, like other …