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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 …

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 …

The State Correction Officer As Keeper And Counselor: An Empirical Investigation Of The Role, Robert B. Blair, Clifford M. Black, Henry J. Long

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper addresses two essential research needs in criminal justice literature: (1) the need for an assessment of the content of the role of block officer; and (2) the need for an empirical test of the presumed irreconcilable goals of custody and treatment as these are embedded in the role of state correction officer. A Task Inventory approach was adapted and a random sample of 100 correction officers in four heterogeneous state institutions were interviewed. Results of the study reveal that custodial staff spend at least sixty-percent of their on-job time performing duties not classified as security in nature. Results …

Abusers Of Clients Of Women's Shelter: Their Socialization And Resources, M. M. Brown, B. E. Aguirre, Carol Jorgensen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This is a study of men who abuse women. The respondents were residents of a shelter for battered wives during 1977-1978. The study assesses the effect of the abusers' social resources and socialization experiences on their use of violence against the respondents. Abusers with military experience and criminal records used a greater number of different types of violence against their victims than their counterparts without these socialization experiences, and the relationships are specified by the abusers' socioeconomic resources.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 8, No. 3 (September 1981)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Table of Contents

• Abusers of Clients of Women's Shelter: Their Socialization and Resources - M. M. Brown, B. E. Aguirre, Carol Jorgensen
• An Examination of Public Housing in the United States after Forty Years - Mary Jo Huth
• Services Aren't Goods: Post-Industrial Principles for Policy Design - Howell S. Baum
• Native American Elderly Formal and Informal Support Systems - Gregory R. Versen
• Factors Affecting the Economic Status of Elderly Chicanos - Alejandro Garcia
• The Future of Welfare Programs in the United States: Four Approaches - Wim Weiwel
• The Reagan Election and Mandate: Their Fiscal Policy Implications for the Welfare State …

Social Network Analysis: A New Tool For Understanding Individual And Family Functioning, Jane H. Pfouts, Ellen J. Safier

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

During the last decade, social work, along with the other helping professions, has moved toward conceptualizing practice within a social systems framework. Intrapsychic variables are still important but, increasingly, the emphasis is on the clients' intimate social network as both cause and solution of a wide range of social problems. It is now widely believed that clients' well-being is enhanced when system functioning is enhanced (Gitterman and Germain, 1976).

Most of what social workers know about social systems theory comes from the sociological literature, particularly the social action system of Talcott Parsons. Although this orientation has great heuristic value for …

Native American Elderly Formal And Informal Support Systems, Gregory R. Versen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As a minority group, American Indians have the distinction of being the smallest and the poorest. Their cultural diversity and unique relationship with the United States government set them even further apart from other minority groups. A subgroup of Native Americans about which little is known and even less has been written is the Native American elderly. This group is the focal point of this paper.

This paper reviews selected works by anthropologists, psychologists, social workers, health care professionals, and Native Americans. The intent is to identify and assess the formal and informal support systems to which the Native American …

Factors Affecting The Economic Status Of Elderly Chicanos, Alejandro Garcia

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper identifies and discusses factors affecting the economic status of elderly chicanos. These factors include historical factors, labor force participation, familial support systems, and human services utilization. Implications for policy are addressed.

Criminal Justice Student Views Of The Criminal Justice System: The Impact Of Education And Self-Selection And Their Implications For The Human Services, Belinda Rodgers Mccarthy, Bernard Jerome Mccarthy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The present study examines criminal justice student views of the criminal justice system. The purpose of the research is to investigate issues surrounding the influence of self-selection and criminal justice education on the opinions of criminal justice students toward the criminal justice system.

The research suggests that students choose criminal justice careers in part because their personal philosophies mirror the conflicting objectives of the criminal justice system. Criminal justice education seems to influence criminal justice student views of the criminal justice system, but in a direction that may make the transition to employment in criminal justice agencies a more difficult …

The Reagan Election And Mandate: Their Fiscal Policy Implications For The Welfare State, James Fendrich, Douglas St. Angelo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper has three main thrusts. The first searches the Reagan campaign, the 1980 Republican Platform, the election and survey results to determine whether or not Reagan can creditably lay claim to a mandate for his social policies. The second thrust investigates the 1982 Reagan spending and taxing programs. Our purpose here is to ascertain if those policies denote major new directions in U.S. social policy. Our third purpose involves an assessment of the Reagan fiscal policies upon the U.S. economy.

This study concludes: (1) Reagan can claim a mandate for much of his social policies, (2) the Reagan fiscal …

Strategies For Crime Reduction In Public Housing, Mary Jo Huth

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Many recent studies have revealed that not only are residents of public housing the most vulnerable segment of the American population in terms of criminal victimization, but that even in projects where the actual incidence of crime is not high, a great fear of crime prevails, especially among the elderly tenants. There is general consensus among crime prevention experts that crime reduction programs in public housing must utilize an integrated set of measures, including: (1) physical design, security hardware, and maintenance improvements by management; (2) increased organization of tenants around crime prevention issues; (3) employment of unemployed tenants--both youths and …

Determinants Of Primary Group Assistance During Unemployment, Martin D. Hanlon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In recent years much research attention has been given to the role of primary groups in ameliorating stressful life events. However, little is known about what factors determine the amount of assistance people receive from relatives and friends during a situation of crisis. This is the focus of the present study. The data base is a sample of public sector workers who were involuntarily laid off from their jobs.

The data revealed that respondents received considerable assistance from parents and friends--the two primary group types included in the analysis--during the period of unemployment. Objective economic deprivation, indexed by the difference …

Disabled Women: Sexism Without The Pedestal, Michelle Fine, Adrienne Asch

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The position of the disabled woman in current U.S. society deserves political, theoretical and empirical attention. In this paper we have delineated the economic, social and psychological constraints which place her at a distinct disadvantage, relative to disabled men and nondisabled women. We evaluate the ways in which having a disability is viewed as an impediment to traditional or nontraditional sex role development. The construct rolelessness is introduced, defined and examined. We conclude with reconmiendations for needed research and policy.

Multiple Minority Groups: A Case Study Of Physically Disabled Women, Mary Jo Deegan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In general, disfranchised Americans are becoming increasingly aware of their social restrictions and limitations on opportunities. As a result there are now minority groups who have identified their shared problems only within the last twenty years,and these groups are rapidly changing the nature of minority relations. In particular, people with newly defined multiple minority statuses are beginning to articulate their specialized interests and establish new relations with both the dominant majority and the minority groups to which they belong.

Physically disabled women are one such group. As women and as disabled people, they are members of two separate minority groups. …