Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Theoretical. Perspectives On The Analysis And Development Of Social Policies, David C. Gil

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the introduction:

The development of social policies, in American and in many other societies usually proceeds in fragmented fashion in relation to different substantive issues such as economic security, housing, education, physical and mental health, social deviance, child and family welfare, aging, intergroup relations, etc. The fragmentary-nature of processes of social policy formulation reflects their political nature and their roots in conflicts of real or perceived interests among diverse social groups. Were existing processes of policy development to result in social orders in which all members of a society could lead meaningful and satisfying lives, there would be …

Social Work, Social Welfare, And The American Family, Ronald A. Feldman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The following discussion proceeds from two basic premises: (1) that the family constitutes one of the most basic units of social structure in contemporary American society, and (2) that the social work profession represents a major, if not the primary, institutional mechanism for coping with the myriad of social problems encountered by American families. The former premise is readily substantiated in view of the observation that the vast majority (over 9O%) of American men and women are married at least once in their lifetimes. However, since family units oftentimes experience severe difficulty in performing key functions and, indeed, in maintaining …

Reported Ill-Health And Life Cycle Among Welfare Mothers, Robert Lejeune

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

A person's presentation of self, as Goffman uses that depends phrase, in part on the expectations of others, and also, no doubt, on the power which these others have over the person. Thus it happens very frequently that persons, particularly of low status or stigmatized positions, are called upon, as a conscious or unconscious technique of survival, to present to others negative featureS of the self; to resort to what Goffman has called "negative idealization." (Coffman 1959; 39-41; 1963). These considerations have direct bearing on the role of welfare recipients in American society. Welfare clients, …

Maternity Homes: The Case Of A Dying Institution., Samuel O. Miller

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

The checkered career of a major social welfare institution appears to be near its end. Maternity homes as the major service to unmarried mothers face an uncertain future, with few indicators of a reversal in this current trend. The provision of social services as an expression of society's conern for the problems of unwed mothers has invariably been accompanied by a dynamic combination of deep feelings of prejudice and ambivalence. However, the current uncertainty of their status; the confusion in attitudes and conflicting opinions about the value and purpose of homes for unmarried mothers are …

Marginal And Non-Marginal Persons In The Professions: A Comparative Study Of Recruitment In Law, Medicine, And Social Work*, Pranab Chatterjee

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A sample of students from the Schools of Law, Medicine, and Social Work of a Midwestern University (N=1,319), which consisted of all students enrolled in these schools for over a given number of years, suggests that there are at least three discernible types of marginality which are related to the status of the given professions. Such marginality may depend on one or more of the following: class origin, academic performance, and sex roles. The students of social work are high in both class- and role- marginality, but are favorably comparable to law students in performance-marginality. The study suggests that prestige …

Communalities And Strains Between Sociology And Social Work, Ralph Segalman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

Despite the seeming Intolerance between the discipline and the profession, and the seeming communications gaps between each of the four models in each of the fields, It is clear that each of the models serves a purpose In the discipline, In the profession and in society. If the social distance between these models can be bridged and If increased tolerance for the seeming mutual incongruity of concepts and behavior is achieved, we may yet be successful in making Sociology and Social Work as useful, relevant and necessary as was manifested In their original purposes posed …

Delinquency Theories, Group Composition, Treatment Locus, And A Service-Research Model For 'Traditional' Social Work Agencies, Ronald A. Feldman, John S. Wodarski, Norman Flax, Mortimer Goodman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Summary

Rehabilitative endeavors within correctional institutions have failed because of overpopulation, high costs, labelling and stigmatization of inmates, low transferability of treatment changes to the outside community, and deviant peer group composition. Community treatment programs have fared little better because they also entail client stigmatization and typically are conducted within the context of deviant peer groups. Consequently, in order to enhance the rehabilitative potential of community treatment, subsequent efforts should be conducted within "traditional" agencies and within pro-social peer groups. The emphasis upon "pro-social" rehabilitation environments does not posit any particular assets and/or liabilities of a given socio-economic stratum, thus …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 1, No. 1 (Fall 1973)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

• From the Chairman – Norman Goroff
• From the Editor - Ralph Segalman
• Social Welfare Texts: A Study in the Sociology of Knowledge – Leslie Leighninger
• Communalities and Strains between Sociology and Social Work – Ralph Segalman
• The Sociology of Client Alienation in Relation to Societal Structure - William D. Poe, Jerry H. Borup
• Marginal and Non-Marginal Persons in the Professions: A Comparative Study of Recruitment in Law, Medicine, and Social Work – Pranab Chatterjee
• Implications of Family Development Trends for Social Welfare and Social Work – Ronald A. Feldman
• Delinquency Theories, Group Composition, Treatment Locus, and a Service-Research Model for …

Change And Social Organization, Alan M. Cohen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Organizations continually adapt to external organizational imperatives such as technology, population, knowledge and values. The increasing rate and intensity of these imperatives necessitates fhanges in services irrespective of the organization's formal intentions to change. It is suggested that organizational characteristics amenable to handling change do not occur randomly. Six organizational characteristics are discussed. It is emphasized however, that these six organizational characteristics are not in themselves, sufficient to insure the successful implementation of change. A changing relationship between individuals, as well as a process of routinization must also be dealt with if the imperative for organizational change is to be …

Creating Accountable Public Bureaucracies, James R. Hudson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

During the past several decades there has been a persistent and constant trend in our society that has not gained the prominence it deserves. This trend has been the continuous growth in the autonomy and power of public bureaucracies. The community power literature, for example, has systematically ignored public bureaucracies in its search for the power structure of cities (Aiken and Mott, 1970). The reasons why public bureaucracies have been overlooked by these researchers stem from a number of theoretical and methodological shortcomings that need not concern us here. The point, however, is that we …

Adolescent Pregnancy And Poverty: Implications For Social Policy, Clara L. Johnson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text document:

Adolescent pregnancy, per se, has been devoted little consideration by clinical observers and empirical researchers. For the most part, such pregnancies have received attention only insofar as they have occurred without the moral and legal sanctions of matrimony. This concern with illegitimacy has had the effect of blinding theorists and researchers to a whole segment of the adolescent pregnant population--the married teenager. Further, the adverse effects of adolescent pregnancy have been shrouded by moral precepts.

From existing evidence there appears to be no doubt that the married teenage girl is an integral part of the …

Party Politics And The Poor: A Research Note, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Following the “rediscovery” of poverty in the Kennedy years (1960-1963) and the initiation of the Johnson-era (1968-1968) War on Poverty, there has been much interest in the social sciences on the question of the relationship between poverty and politics in American society. One of the most interesting hypothesis in recent research is the suggestion of a correlation between welfare payment levels in various states and the level of inter-party competition in those states. If this is the case, there is a strong case that citizens are being treated differently by their government in violation of the equal protection clause of …

A Study Of The Effect Of Drug Use On The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Mary Ellen Hammons

Dissertations and Theses

The Drug Treatment and Training Project of the State of Oregon Mental Health Division, Alcohol and Drug section in Portland, Oregon is engaged in the treatment of young people between the ages of 15 and 27 who have indicated that they have a problem with drugs, and have asked help in overcoming this problem. As part of the treatment program, the clients are given the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and a questionnaire developed by the drug project. The thesis analyses the Drug Treatment’s MMPI results and compares them to other studies.

Group Experience With Parents Of Preschool Children With Seizure Disorders, George R. Jacobsen, Grant R. Kane, Joan Sacia

Dissertations and Theses

A project using parent seminars in aiding parents of children with seizure disorders was designed at the request of Dr. James R. Schimschock, pediatric neurologist and director of the Clinic for Neurologically Impaired Children, Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center. The clinic provides a diagnostic and educational therapy for neurologically impaired children. In addition to providing multidiscipline diagnostic evaluation, clinic services include operating classrooms for preschool and school-age children. The classrooms function for children with any type of neurologic impairment who are either excluded from school due to their delayed academic performance, their physical or developmental delay, emotional or behavior …

A Descriptive Analysis Of A Metropolitan Foster Parent Population As An Indicator For Recruitment, Elizabeth Connet

Dissertations and Theses

Recruiting and retaining a sufficient number of foster homes to offer quality care of children is of prime importance in the delivery of Child Welfare services. There are an insufficient number of foster homes available for the appropriate placement of foster children in Multnomah County, Oregon according to the largest placement agency in Oregon, Children's Services Division. The Tri-County Foster Parent's Association signed a Purchase of Service Agreement with t he Oregon Children's Services Division to develop a recruitment program to obtain additional foster homes. In an effort to do this effectively, the Foster Parent Association asked Portland State University …

Communication Barriers Between White Social Work Students And Black And Chicano Clients, Robert Hight, Joyce B. Smith, Evelyn F. Maxwell, Carol G. White

Dissertations and Theses

This study deals with the issue of communication barriers between white social work students and black and chicano clients, which represent the largest minority group in the United States.

Family Variables Which Are Associated With Achievement Of Community Tenure By Persons Released From Psychiatric Hospitalization, Thomas Mack Chambers

Dissertations and Theses

The pattern of frequent discharges and readmissions which characterizes most psychiatric hospitalization in this country today was described, and it was argued that the costs of this "revolving door" outweigh such benefits as might be derived from it. An alternative stepwise progression model of aftercare was proposed. This model identified community tenure as the most appropriate goal for initial aftercare efforts.

Attempts to identify correlates of the establishment of community tenure by mental hospital releasees were reviewed. It was found that the ex-patient's ability to remain in the community is not highly correlated with the extent to which he manifests …

A Descriptive Study Of Potential Drug Problems In Montgomery County And Mount Sterling, Kentucky, Richard Cobb

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the School of Education at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Richard Cobb on May 8, 1973.

Counseling Problems That Accompany The Diagnosis Of Mental Retardation, Betty Daggett, Shirley H. Durkheimer, Abigail M. Lawton

Dissertations and Theses

This is a report of a descriptive study in which a random sample of fifty out of four hundred returned questionnaires from parents with a mentally retarded child were analyzed. The foci of analysis were: (1) parental attitudes toward the child; (2) the changes experienced by the family as affected by birth order and sex of the mentally retarded child; (3) how the diagnosis was accomplished; and (4) how in their opinion services during this diagnostic period could be improved.

The data revealed that: (1) protectiveness toward the child is the predominant parental response; (2) negative changes are probably twice …

Conflict Theory: Concepts, Techniques, And Stages, Thomas Kramer

Honors Theses

The social worker of today is being placed in situations which call for him to devise new tools and strategies of intervention which are relevant to present day problems. It is recognized that many of our current social problems are inherent in some of our institutions and that only by changing these institutions can real results be achieved. Problems arise due to the fact that these institutions often stringently resist change and conventional methods employed by professional practitioners have often only been able to solve or ease individual difficulties or maladustments. There have been a growing number of social workers …

Changes In Personality Traits And Identification In Adolescent Female State School Residents, As A Function Of Length Of Residence, Mary L. Thompson

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a significant exposure (six months) to a State School environment on selected personality traits and identity factors of adolescent girls. A second objective was to ascertain whether greater change takes place early in the period of residency (three months) or in a later stage. A third aim was to determine whether there is a significant difference in the degree of change between girls showing fewer pathological signs and healthier identity than those who show a greater number of such signs and a stronger delinquent identification.

Selected Attitudes And Values Of Young Adults In Northern Sierra Leone, Fatu Y. Kamara

Dissertations and Theses

The Republic of Sierra Leone is situated on the Northwest African coast and occupies an area of 28,000 square miles. It is bounded on t he north and the east by the Republic of Guinea, on the south by Liberia, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of 2.5 million people, comprised of thirteen tribes. The main tribal grouping are the Limbas, Mendes, Temnes, and Creoles. With the exception of the descendants of former slaves residing in t he Colony area, most of t he occupants of the interior are believed to have emigrated into …

A Follow-Up Attitudinal Study Of Selected Groups In The City Of The Dalles Toward The Community Attention Home, Landon Gilstrap, Joyce Larson, Janice Page

Dissertations and Theses

Prior to the opening of the Attention Home in August of 1971, a survey was conducted by David Clitheroe and Garrett Long to determine what specific attitudes local groups in the community had about the Attention Home. Their study represented the first part of a two part study. It established the baseline data on the community attitudes toward the Attention Home prior to the opening of the home. These attitudes will be compared with the attitudes after one year's operation of the home in order to assess what attitudinal changes, if any, have taken place between the first and second …

A Descriptive Follow-Up Study Of 21 Children From Parry Center, Paul Duke

Dissertations and Theses

The age-old question persists: Does an agency operated treatment program contribute significantly to a child’s personal development and adjustment following release from the institution? Since it is the agency's responsibility to weigh the needs of the disturbed child and provide appropriate services according to those needs, their basic question--whether residential treatment or another mode of treatment is more effective--remains unanswered and, in many instances, uncontested. If residential child care benefits the disturbed child, which characteristics of that agency are conducive to the improvement of the child's behavior and re-adaption? The following study will attempt to isolate such characteristics. We will …

An Evaluation Of A Graduate Social Work Training Program At John Adams High School, George E. Hall, Guy H. Lutz

Dissertations and Theses

This research study is an evaluation of a graduate social work training program funded by NIMH of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare entitled "Teaching-Trainingship Grant in School Social Work." This grant provides training opportunities in a field placement at John Adams High School in Portland, Oregon, for Portland State University School of Social Work Masters degree candidates. Originally approved in June 1969, the grant became operational for the school year 1970-71.

The primary focus of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program at Adams High School. Secondarily, this study will attempt to answer three …

Student Perceptions Of The Teacher-Counselor Role At The Albina Youth Opportunity School, Florence M. Morton, Billie L. Smith

Dissertations and Theses

This project is a descriptive study of the Albina Youth Opportunity School of Portland, Oregon. The school is described as one whose primary function is to help disadvantaged students who have extreme social and academic problems. The study focused on the students' perception of their teachers, who are defined by the school as teacher-counselors. Of the seventy full-time students, sixty-five participated in the study, and five refused to do so.

The major questions of the study were concerned with the students' assessment of the teacher-counselors characteristics. Main areas for exploration dealt with the students' perception of the role of a …

Student Perceptions Of The Chemawa Alcohol Education Center, Carol Colley

Dissertations and Theses

This paper was a study of the student perceptions of the Chemawa Alcohol Education Center at Chemawa Indian School including a review of the literature on adolescent drinking, Indian youth in particular. Students who entered the CAEC building during the week of November 14-21, 1972, were individually interviewed to determine the demographic data on the student population, patterns of participation, and student ideas about the CAEC program. It was discovered that students interviewed prefer this year's program over last year's, that students brought in for drinking violations were more involved in the counseling aspects of the program, and that the …

Predicting And Detecting First Grade School Adjustment, Julie D. Holmes, Janice L. Bartlett

Dissertations and Theses

School maladjustment incidence studies estimate that thirty percent of American school children experience school adaptation problems and that about ten percent need immediate clinical attention. (Glidewell, 1969) Various labels, including school maladjustment, school maladaptation, school dysfunction, soclo-emotional disorders and emotional disturbance have been used more or less interchangeably in current research to refer to this thirty percent of the school population. A leading researcher in the field, Emory L. Cowen, considers children to be "maladapted when they are unable, because of prior history and personal qualities or skill deficiencies, to cope with the educational or behavioral demands that the school …

Self-Awareness Testing For School Of Social Work Students At Portland State University, Beverly Paull, Bette Schuman, Dorothy Davis

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this project was to evaluate from the student point of view the feasibility and desirability of self-awareness testing for first year School of Social Work students. Originally, the authors had hoped to arrange and evaluate mental well-being interviews for a significant sampling of students, using as a model the voluntary, private, completely confidential interviews that were conducted at McGill University's School of Social Work during 1961-1963. However, the task of funding offcampus professional interviews proved insurmountable. Therefore, the authors turned to objective personality testing with individual interpretive interviews conducted by counselors at Portland State University's Counseling Center.

A Study Describing Pastoral Counseling Among The Christian Church Ministers In Oregon, With Special Emphasis On The Counseling Training That They Received At Northwest Christian College, Thomas O. Woodruff

Dissertations and Theses

Pastoral Counseling is recognized by many people with the Church as one of the expected duties of the Minister. It is built into his role as Spiritual and moral leader of the people within the Congregation. Although this concept of the Minister varies among denominations and churches, it appears to be fairly consistent within the Christian Church. It was out of an interest and concern for both the Christian and mental health, that a study about Pastoral Counseling was conceived. It was hoped that such a study would clarify what was involved in Pastoral Counseling and how it was related …