Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Predicting Agency Survival As A Function Of Constituency Support In The Michigan Mental Health System, R. Dee L. Woell

Dissertations

Two public facilities for the mentally ill, Michigan Institute for Mental Health and Lafayette Clinic were examined, using a framework provided by Douglas R. Boulter (1983). The basic research question was, why did Lafayette Clinic survive while Michigan Institute did not?

The following research propositions were explored: (1) Organizations that receive strong constituency and media support are more likely to survive than those which do not; (2) Program success or failure is dependent on the decision-maker's perception of the sum of public support; (3) The media serves both as a carrier of opinion and as an influential actor in its …

Feminist Theory And Social Policy Or Why Is Welfare So Hard To Reform?, Dorothy C. Miller

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

More than 10 years ago Henry Aaron wrote a classic paper entitled "Why Is Welfare So Hard to Reform?" (1973). This paper answers that question from the perspective of the new discipline of Women's Studies. The author suggests that the use of feminist theories; notably those of Hartsock and Chodorow; can further one's recognition and understanding of male bias in social policy development. Tracing the history of U.S. welfare policies for women and children the analysis provides explanations for the differential treatment of women in the welfare system and the failure of work strategies to increase poor women's economic independence. …

The Effect Of Changes In The Federal Disability Programs On State And Local General Assistance Programs, Courtney Scherer Petersen, Eric R. Kingson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Since early 1981, there has been a large-scale removal of persons from the SSI and Social Security disability programs as a result of the Social Security Disability Amendments of 1980. This article reports on the findings of a national survey designed to determine whether the removal of persons from the federal disability programs had an impact on state and local General Assistance programs and the extent to which older recipients of General Assistance are in need of long-term income assistance for health and other reasons.

Some states and jurisdictions have noticed an increase in applications as a result of federal …

The Implementation Of Deterrence: A Multi-Approach Assessment Of The Impact Of Recent Changes In Anti-Drunk Driving Legislation On Reducing Alcohol-Involved Fatalities, Josef R. Soper

Dissertations

The objective of this study is to determine if anti-drunk driving legislation, enacted between January 1979 and December 1983, has significantly reduced the number of alcohol-involved traffic fatalities.

At the macro-level, 60 consecutive months of alcohol-involved fatality data were requested from the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Sixteen states supplied the requested data. The Box-Jenkins technique for interrupted time-series analysis was used to determine if a change in the state's drunk driving law impacted the frequency of alcohol-involved fatalities in that state. Results are discussed in relation to the statewide impact of anti-drunk driver legislation.

At the micro-level, …

Beyond Contingency Theory: Environment, Structure, And Administrator's Coping Ability In The Public Sector, Shyu-Tu Lee

Dissertations

In the last two decades, organizational-environment contingency theory has attracted much attention. A great deal of research has been done on investigating the impact of environment on organizations, suggesting the appropriate design of organizational structure. In recent years, organizational theorists have moved to investigate proactive approaches to organizational environments.

Most empirical studies, however, have been conducted in the private sector. In order to transfer the knowledge to the public sector, it is necessary to investigate whether public organizations are also subjected to environmental influence and how public administrators interact with the environment.

This study investigated the following three questions: (1) …

Ideology And Opportunity In Social Work During The New Deal Years, Norma Kolko Phillips

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As the country moved from a dominant ideology of voluntarism towards the welfare state during the New Deal years, conflicts and compromises occurred within the social work profession that required a definition of the role the profession would assume with relation to the public sector of social welfare. The nature of the relationship that evolved between social work and government, and the accommodations made by each during the New Deal years, and particularly around the passage of the Social Security Act of 1935, are examined.

Long-Term Trends In Public Concerns In Two Societies, Rachel Kats

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Trends in public concerns from the early 1960's to the mid-1970's are compared for Israel and the United States, relating changes in concerns to historical and social change which occurred during the decade in both societies. The analysis is based on open-ended questions regarding views of either personal or nation's future -- hopes and fears for that future -- and a Self-Anchoring Rating Scale, by which the respondent evaluated personal and nation's situation in various time perspectives. The Israeli's future perspective became centered around peace and war, removing other issues to a secondary plane of concern. In contrast, the American …

Public Preferences Concerning Future Directions In Social Security, David L. Klemmack, Lucinda L. Roff

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Using data collected from a probability sample of 1030 adult Alabamians, this study segmented respondents among those favoring limited expansion, maintenance, and limited contraction of the social security retirement program. Those favoring some expansion in the system tended to be less well educated and affluent, and more likely to be retired, nonwhite, and to identify themselves as Democrats than did those favoring maintenance or some limited contraction of the system. The findings suggest the potential for cleavages among the population, based primarily on socioeconomic status, in ongoing discussions about the system's future.

Health And Social Welfare Needs Of The Elderly: A Preliminary Study, Baxter Wright, Bruce A. Thyer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In a period of shrinking fiscal resources it is especially important that budgetary decision-making processes be based upon empirical data relating to the actual health and social service needs of the elderly. The present study consisted of a comprehensive survey of the social service needs of a random sample of 75 normative elderly citizens drawn from a multi-ethnic population. The results provide a preliminary data-base for administrative and policy-making bodies to allocate scarce social service resources.

In an era of shrinking fiscal resources and drastic cuts in the provision of human services, funding decisions and budgetary allotments are often made …

Determinant Factors In The Utilization Process Of Social Services In Saudi Arabia, Fahd Abdullah Ali Dileym

Dissertations

The Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare and the Deputy Ministry of Social Security provide a spectrum of social service programs and activities. However, utilization of the designated services is incapacitated by the existing gap between the potential clients and the social service providers. Certain barriers have contributed significantly to the clients' underutilization behavior of the assigned services.

Accordingly, this study had two purposes: (a) to determine whether social services provided by the Deputy Ministries of Social Welfare and Social Security are perceived by administrators, social workers, and college students to be underutilized; and (b) to compare the perceptions of the …

The Origins Of English Aging Policy: A Re-Examination Of The Cyclical Theory Of Social Relief, John B. Williamson, Kenneth J. Branco

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper examines the explanatory power of Piven and Cloward's cyclical theory of social relief through an exploration of policies in England from the twelfth through the nineteenth century. While there is evidence of a cyclical trend between restrictive and liberal policies in this period, we find that those shifts cannot consistently be explained by social turmoil. There is also evidence of a long-term trend toward a more restrictive aging policy which is unaccounted for by cyclical theory. This trend can be better explained by a more basic set of ideas uncerlying cyclical theory, i.e., the needs of a capitalist …