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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 6 of 6
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Zones Of Exclusion: Urban Spatial Policies, Social Justice, And Social Services, Karen H. Bancroft
Zones Of Exclusion: Urban Spatial Policies, Social Justice, And Social Services, Karen H. Bancroft
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Across the United States homeless persons, prostitutes, and drug and alcohol users are subject to policies that severely limit their freedom of movement. These new policies create spatial exclusion zones that deny these groups the right to inhabit or traverse large areas of their cities, particularly in the downtown cores, where treatment centers, shelters, food banks, soup kitchens, government services, and other social services are typically concentrated. In this paper, I examine these new spatial exclusionary policies (with a focus on Washington State's policies), present a brief historical account of socio-spatial practices, contextualize the current spatial laws, and end with …
Social Justice Implications Of The Organism Metaphor, Gerald V. O'Brien
Social Justice Implications Of The Organism Metaphor, Gerald V. O'Brien
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
The denigration of marginalized groups is frequently supported through the widespread employment of metaphors that present a pejorative image of the group in question. The organism metaphor, wherein the target group is portrayed as a threat to the integrity of the social body, is a particularly important metaphoric theme in the advancement of social injustice. Drawing largely from primary source documents, this paper provides an overview of the organism metaphor as it has been employed historically to denigrate various social subgroups. Implications for the social work profession are discussed.
Social Theory & Its Relation To Social Problems: An Essay About Theory And Research With Social Justice In Mind, Richard K. Caputo
Social Theory & Its Relation To Social Problems: An Essay About Theory And Research With Social Justice In Mind, Richard K. Caputo
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This essay examines the relationship between social theory and social problems, the truth-value of theories, and the importance of theorizing about the role of the state, i.e., national government, in the resolution of social problems and the achievement of social justice. The author argues that much contemporary social theory has lost its moorings in regard to amelioration ofsocial problems, that Popper's criterion offalsification is a requisitefor more meaningfully applied social theory, and that the state should be part of any social theory meant to address social problems. Moral and political philosophy is used to provide criteria to justify a positive …
Applying Rawlsian Social Justice To Welfare Reform: An Unexpected Finding For Social Work, Mahasweta M. Banerjee
Applying Rawlsian Social Justice To Welfare Reform: An Unexpected Finding For Social Work, Mahasweta M. Banerjee
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This paper sketches social workers' understanding of social justice and reliance on Rawls (1971), highlights findings about "hard to employ" welfare recipients facing welfare reform, and articulates the parameters of Rawlsian justice (Rawls, 1999a; 2001) with particular emphasis on people who have been on welfare for long. The paper shows that social workers do not have any space to maneuver in Rawlsian justice to uphold justice for long-term welfare recipients, and welfare reform's "work first" stipulation does not violate Rawlsian justice. The paper raises some questions about social workers' continued reliance on Rawls. It suggests social workers update the literature …
Honoring The Elders: Interviews With Two Lakota Men, Deborah E. Bowen
Honoring The Elders: Interviews With Two Lakota Men, Deborah E. Bowen
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
The beliefs that honoring the elders, commitment to family, and the connectedness to all creation are paramount are intrinsic to Lakota culture. Two Lakota elders, Albert White Hat, Sr. and Sylvan White Hat, Sr. are interviewed for this article. They express their concerns with major social justice issues, and offer hope for future generations of Lakota children. A strengths-based perspective of social work practice is compared to traditional Lakota customs and practices.
Families And The Republic, John Braithwaite
Families And The Republic, John Braithwaite
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Restorative and responsive justice can be a strategy of social work practice that builds democracy bottom-up by seeing families as building blocks of democracy and fonts of democratic sentiment. At the same time, because families are sites of the worst kinds of tyranny and the worst kinds of neglect, a rule of law is needed that imposes public human rights obligations on families. The republican ideal is that this rule of law that constrains people in families should come from the people. Restorative and responsive justice has a strategy for the justice of the people to bubble up into the …