Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Paths To Success: Beating The Odds In American Society. Charles C. Harrington And Susan K. Boardman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Charles C. Harrington and Susan K. Boardman, Paths to Success: Beating the Odds in American Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000. $19.95 papercover.

Visions Of Charity: Volunteer Workers And Moral Community. Rebecca Anne Allahyari

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Rebecca Anne Allahyari, Visions of Charity: Volunteer Workers and Moral Community. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000. $45.00 hardcover, $17.95 papercover.

Declarations Of Dependency: The Civic Republican Tradition In U.S. Poverty Policy. Alan F. Zundel

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Alan E Zundel, Declarations of Dependency: The Civic Republican Tradition in U. S. Poverty Policy. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2000. $16.95 papercover.

Qualitative Study Of Prenatal Care And Low Income Women, Amy B. Hoppe

Theses and Graduate Projects

This qualitative study explored the experience of low-income pregnant women in obtaining prenatal care. The literature review focused on the issues of accessibility and barriers in obtaining healthcare for low-income pregnant women. The review also included the concept of motivation for seeking and obtaining healthcare. Five pregnant women who sought prenatal care at an inner-city clinic were interviewed using semi-structured questions. The interviews focused on barriers to accessing health care and the women' s motivations for seeking and continuing care throughout their pregnancies. The study found that barriers such as long wait times did exist, but the main problem for …

A Needs Assessment To Determine If There Is A Need For Information/Support Groups For Informal Caregivers Of Terminal Cancer Patients, Keri Bolduan

Theses and Graduate Projects

This needs assessment was undertaken to determine if Aberdeen, South Dakota is in need of an informational/support group for informal caregivers of terminal cancer patients. A 112 professionals (doctors, nurses, social workers and pastoral care workers) from The Cancer Care Center, Avera St. Lukes Hospital, and it's affiliate, North Plains Hospice were surveyed using both quantitative and qualitative questions. Only 19 of the 112 responded to the survey. The survey focused on the professionals' experience and knowledge of working with terminal cancer patients and informal caregivers as well as resources available to their clients. The findings of this study indicated …

Getting Over The Magical Hump: Placement Decisions And Emotional Survival For Child Welfare Workers, Nancy Colleen Freymond

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

This paper explores the crown wardship process from the perspective of the child welfare worker. It is based on a qualitative analysis of interviews with child welfare workers who have been involved in the process of identifying children for crown wardship, in giving chances to mothers to demonstrate parenting ability, and finally, in negotiating and formalizing crown wardship agreements. The paper also explores how workers construct identities which allow them to cope with the emotional strains of this work.

At "Ground Zero": September 11, 2001, Michael P. Dentato

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

The author relates his personal experience, and the response of the Body Positive staff members, during the attack on the World Trade Center, a handful of blocks away from the office on September 11, 2001.

Innovative Therapeutic Care For Homeless, Mentally Ill Clients: Intrapsychic Humanism In A Residential Setting, Katherine Tyson Mccrea, Emily Carroll

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Residential care is increasingly recognized as an invaluable therapeutic resource for homeless, severely mentally ill, and substance-abusing clients. However, those managers and staff seeking to provide residential care can be perplexed by thecommunications of these clients and would benefit from a conceptual framework for planning psychosocial interventions to address these clients’ diverse problems. This paper describes how a comprehensive psychology-intrapsychic humanism-can be used as a flexible, consistent guide for serving this population in residential care. Based on a central principle that staff-client relationships can be a path to healing, intrapsychic humanism’s other precepts include treatment planning that recognizesclients’ conflicting motives …

Using Intermediary Structures To Support Families: An International Comparison Of Practice In Child Protection, Nancy Colleen Freymond

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

Responses to child maltreatment can be conceptualized as a continuum, ranging from a welfare-oriented approach on one end, to a legalistic emphasis at the other end. By shifting attention to structures existing at the welfare end of the continuum, this paper endeavours to look beyond the approaches of investigation and legal processing, currently emphasized in Ontario’s approach to child welfare. This paper examines how intermediary structures and roles in various international settings are constructed to offer support to families and children. Intermediary judicial and professional roles found in European child welfare systems will be discussed. In addition, the paper will …

Service Participant Voices In Child Welfare, Children's Mental Health, And Psychotherapy, Marshall Fine, Sally Palmer, Nick Coady

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

Service providers are becoming increasingly interested in hearing the views of service participants regarding issues of service delivery. This trend is viewed as progressive and sensitive to the many complex issues facing a diverse service participant population. In order to understand what is known related to this trend, the paper reviews the literature in child welfare, children’s mental health, and psychotherapy where service participant feedback regarding aspects of service delivery has been studied. The findings from the three areas of service delivery are organized into a number of tangible themes. Suggestions for future research in the area of participant voice …

Focal Point, Volume 15 Number 02, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

This issue of Focal Point begins from the idea that enrichments, far from being frivolous, are instead essential. The joy and meaningfulness which enrichments provide make a direct, positive contribution to quality of life. What is more, enriching experiences add to our reserves of strength and purpose, and these reserves in turn enable us to adapt, cope, recover and even thrive in the face of challenges and stresses. Specifically, this issue of Focal Point looks at research related to sources of enrichment, and at innovative programs that promote enrichment and achieve positive outcomes for children with emotional and behavioral challenges, …

Beyond Trust: Other Dimensions Of Social Capital, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Many people in the mountain state are unaware that it was a West Virginian, Lyda Judson Hanifan, Superintendent of Rural Schools in the state department of education who introduced the concept of social capital to the world in 1916. Many of those discussing the concept of social capital today focus exclusively on the role of trust. A second important second dimension is networking, and an important third dimension can be called social skill repertories. This latter dimension can be illustrated with reference to the distinctive West Virginia activity of rafting and river craft. It is also evident that many people …

Review Of What Government Can Do: Dealing With Poverty And Inequality, By Benjamin I. Page And James R. Simmons, Sanford F. Schram

Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research Faculty Research and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of The Economy And Welfare Policy On Welfare Accessions: Implications For Future Reforms, Vicky N. Albert, William C. King

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This longitudinal study analyzes the impact of labor market conditions and welfare policies accompanying the 1990s waivers granted by the federal government to California and the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWOA) on families entering welfare (accessions). A time series model was specified for analyzing the number of families entering welfare from January 1983 to December 1998. The findings suggest that in 1998 under PRWOA, all else constant, there were fewer case openings. Prior to the PRWOA, policy shifts of the 1990s did not have an impact on case openings. The findings also show that under economic recovery …

A New Perspective On Families That Receive Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (Tanf), Christopher R. Larrison, Larry Nackerud, Ed Risler

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A review of the scholarly literature shows that a number of analyses of welfare are mistakenly based upon the premise that the overwhelming majority of welfare recipients receive benefits because they are young single women who are undereducated and caring for a child either born out of wedlock or abandoned by divorce/separation. The term welfare can encompasses a number of social programs (e.g. Food Stamps, state general assistance programs, Medicaid), but in this paper it refers specifically to Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) or its contemporary Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). In an attempt to calibrate the …

The Historical Uniqueness Of The Clinton Welfare Reforms: A New Level Of Social Misery?, Larry Patriquin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This essay argues that the 1996 reforms to the American welfare state have no historical precedent. They are not a return to "the poorhouse era" and are radically distinct from Great Britain's new poor law of 1834, to which they are often compared. America is the first advanced capitalist country to jettison a significant element of its welfare state and, as such, is moving into waters that are uncharted and dangerous.

The Ins And Outs Of Welfare-To-Work: Women As They Enter And Exit A Nursing Assistant Employment And Training Program, Brenda Solomon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

By participant observation and follow up interviews (at three intervals post-graduation), this study explores the multiple work accountabilities arranging women's everyday lives as they enter and exit a welfare-to-work nursing assistant employment and training program. Work and family demands, and male partners' and children's reactions to the women's participation in labor arrangements outside the home are complicated by children's chronic illnesses and partners' disabilities and unemployment situations. From this consideration, the author argues that there is an incomplete gender shift in welfare policy. While it creates clear obligations to family and work for women trainees, the policy produces uncertain consequences …

Review Of Children As Partners In Health: A Critical Review Of The Child-To-Child Approach. Pat Pridmore And David Stephens. Review By Terri Combs-Orme, Terri Combs-Orme

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Pat Pridmore and David Stephens, Children as Partners in Health: A Critical Review of the Child-to-Child Approach. New York: Zed Books, 2000. $ 59.95 hardcover, $22.50 papercover.

Ordering Lives: Family Work And Welfare. Gordon Hughes And Ross Ferguson (Eds.)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Gordon Hughes and Ross Ferguson (Eds.), Ordering Lives: Family Work and Welfare. New York: Routledge, 2000. $18.95 papercover.

The Juvenile Court And The Progressives. Victoria Getis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Victoria Getis, The Juvenile Court and the Progressives. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2000. $34.95 hardcover.

Using Tanf Sanctions To Increase High School Graduation, Ronald Harris, Loring Jones, Daniel Finnegan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The School Attendance Demonstration Project (SADP) was aimed at encouraging AFDC teens to attend school and finish high school. The project used a combined approach of the financial incentive in the form of a penalty for non-attendance, and the provision of social services. SADP tracked the school attendance and graduation status of eligible teens (n=997) in the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD). The study utilized a control group with random assignment. Data indicated that SADP did not effect graduations. The findings seem to indicate that atrisk teens from families receiving public assistance have on-going problems with securing an education …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 28, No. 3 (September 2001)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS - SPECIAL ISSUE: EVALUATION OF TANF

• THE IMPACT OF THE ECONOMY AND WELFARE POLICY ON WELFARE ACCESSIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE REFORMS - Vicky N. Albert and William C. King
• THE TRANSITION FROM AFDC TO PRWORA IN FLORIDA: PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE OF CASE MANAGER IN WELFARE REFORM - Adela Beckerman and Leonard Fontana
• A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON FAMILIES THAT RECEIVE TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF) - Christopher R. Larrison, Larry Nackerud and Ed Risler
• THE HISTORICAL UNIQUENESS OF THE CLINTON WELFARE REFORMS: A NEW LEVEL OF SOCIAL MISERY? - Larry Patriquin
• AN EXPLORATION INTO INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT …

An Exploration Into Individual Development Accounts As An Anti-Poverty Strategy, Timothy G. Reutebuch

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A non-random, cross-sectional sampling procedure was utilized in this study to determine what factors are related to households choosing to utilize Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) as a means to escape poverty. Surveys from 111 households were collected from September 1997, to April 1999, in seven Ohio counties to elucidate the relationship between the level of assets in working poor households and selected household demographic variables, and the decision on whether or not to actually participate in an IDA program. Findings revealed that households 1) with more than one wage earner and 2) with higher levels of education are more likely …

Review Of "They Still Pick Me Up When I Fall: The Role Of Caring In Youth Development And Community Life." By Diana Mendley Rauner, Thomas E. Keller

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

A review of the book "They Still Pick Me Up When I Fall: The Role of Caring in Youth Development and Community," by Diana Mendley Rauner is presented.

The Transition From Afdc To Prwora In Florida; Perceptions Of The Role Of Case Manager In Welfare Reform, Adela Beckerman, Leonard Fontana

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Welfare reform was implemented in Florida with the passage of WAGES. WAGES' emphasis on support services in preparation for employment portends to be a radical transformation of the "eligibility compliance" organizational culture that had developed under AFDC. Interviews with welfare staff focused on whether WAGES' offices were able to develop the organizational culture and methods of frontline practice needed to implement the goals of welfare reform legislation. The interviews indicate an emerging organizational culture in which case managers readily identify with the mantra of welfare reform. The interviews also indicate a discrepancy between the importance of the case manager role …

Assets, Future Orientation, And Well-Being: Exploring And Extending Sherraden's Framework, Marcia Shobe, Deborah Page-Adams

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Reducing the incidence and impact of poverty has been central to social work practice since the birth of the profession (Addams, 1910; Franklin, 1986). The prevailing anti-poverty paradigm holds that well-being is almost exclusively dependent upon income. Social work scholar and educator, Michael Sherraden (1988; 1991) suggests a new anti-poverty paradigm whereby combined income and asset building initiatives may improve the well-being of poor households. Sherraden (1991) suggests that assets have positive effects on well-being, including future orientation. The extended conceptual framework suggested here further specifies that future orientation has a direct role in its relationship with assets and well-being.

Mental Health Needs Of Tanf Recipients, Layne K. Stromwall

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper reports findings of a study of female Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) and non-recipients ages 18-40, receiving behavioral health services in the rural Southwest in 1998-9. TANF recipients (N = 119) were more likely to be seriously mentally ill than non-recipients (N = 370), suggesting that a subgroup of TANF recipients may face significant barriers to employment given the new TANF regulations. The author argues that responsibility for recognizing the needs of TANF recipients for behavioral health services is shared by both the public welfare and behavioral health systems. Suggestions for meeting this challenge in both systems …

The Other Side Of The Desk: Former Welfare Recipients Who Now Work For "The System.", Cheryl Cheek, Kathleen W. Piercy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Within the framework of identity theory, twenty female former welfare recipients who are currently human service workers discussed how their past experiences affected current service provision and their views of the welfare system. Semi-structured interviews were used, and data were coded and analyzed using the multistage process designed by McCracken (1988) for long interviews. Respondents discussed how their experiences made them more empathetic towards their clients and gave them insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the past and present welfare systems. Results show support for identity theory by showing how past identities affect present ones.

Private Food Assistance In A Small Metropolitan Area: Urban Resources And Rural Needs, Joseph J. Molnar, Patricia A. Duffy, Latoya Claxton, Conner Bailey

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Food banks and other private feeding programs have become an institutionalized component of the social welfare system in over 190 urban areas in the U.S. More recently, private food assistance has gained importance in rural areas as well. The density and capacity of agencies to serve the poor is higher in urban areas than in sparsely populated rural locales where distance and dispersal tend to be barriers to supplying and accessing donated food. Rural food distribution strategies thus must be qualitatively different than those in larger communities, because of the smaller-scale, more informal distributional system. Little is known about how …

Review Of Black Working Wives: Pioneers Of The American Family Revolution. Bart Landry. Review By Tracey Mabrey, Tracey Mabrey

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Bart Landry, Black Working Wives: Pioneers of the American Family Revolution. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000.