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Toward The Democratization Of The Social Policy Process, L. K. Northwood

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the nature of social policies and the public policymaking process. It is demonstrated that public social policies tend to accrue an aura or ideology of benevolence that is only partially warranted, and that may be quite misleading to policy analysts and citizenry. The major thrust of the paper is to consider the social policy process as a strategy for public decision-making. As such, properly organized, it can provide an alternative and complementary strategy to electoral politics and protest movements. To be effective as a strategy, three major barriers must be overcome: …

Will Carter's Welfare Reform Plan Reform Welfare?: Evidence From Empirical Research, Mary Bryna Sanger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper introduces the central dimensions which have emerged in the current welfare reform debate. They include adaquacy, work incentives, family stability and cost. The last legislative session introduced a new group of "welfare reform" proposals, each attempting to address these critiques of the current welfare system. Considering four major bills including Carter's Comprehensive Program for Better Jobs and Income on the basis of recent research findings, results in a tentative preference for Carter's plan. It addresses the major reform dimensions better than the others and would result in modest improvements. Nevertheless, true reform is unlikely to be achieved by …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 7, No. 1 (January 1980)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Table of Contents

• Towards the Democratization of the Social Policy Process. - L. K. NORTHWOOD
• Will Carter's Welfare Reform Plan Reform Welfare?: Evidence from Empirical Research - MARY BRYNA SANGER
• The "Guestworker" as Metaphor: In Clarification of Social-Economic Contradictions and Systemic Crisis - STEPHEN I. WOODS
• Toward a Full Employment Policy: An Overview - ALVIN KOGUT, SYLVIA ARON
• Political De-moralization of the Poor: Organizing lower-class Families of the Mentally Retarded - LEONARD FONTANA
• Social Welfare Agencies and Social Reform movements: The Case of the Single Parent Family - MICHAEL J. SMITH, BETH MOSES
• Historic Trends in the Delivery of Services …

The "Guestworker" As Metaphor: In Clarification Of Social Economic Contradictions And Systemic Crisis., Stephen I. Woods

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In May 1979 the French National Assembly passed legislation giving the government sweeping powers to expel foreign workers. Yet neither the government nor the employers really want to send most of the immigrant workers home, and thereby lose them as a source of cheap labor for both public and private enterprise. It is likely that the employers hope to use the new legislation to keep foreign workers in a state of permanent insecurity, to discourage them from protesting against their low pay, poor working conditions and the racism they encounter daily. Indeed, employers would like to see foreign workers treated …

Political De-Moralization Of The Poor: Organizing Lower-Class Families Of The Mentally Retarded, Leonard Fontana

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper employs an analytic framework based on organizational incentives to explain the failure of recent welfare reform efforts. The data consists of observations, interviews, and routine inhouse reports collected on a federally funded program, Project STAR. The project was developed with the aim of mobilizing lower-class and minority families of the mentally retarded in support of reform of mental retardation services in five cities in the U.S. A service-inducement strategy was pursued by the reform organization to overcome the difficulties of enticing lower-class families of the retarded to participate in organizational activities. This strategy appears to have had several …

Social Welfare Agencies And Social Reform Movements: The Case Of The Single Parent Family, Michael J. Smith, Beth Moses

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

To a greater extent than before, social welfare agencies are emphasizing social change over direct services. A social reform movement is a mechanism by which societal and institutional change may be accomplished. The relationship between social welfare organizations and social movements has not been clearly defined. The sociological theories of Smelser, Turner, Killian and others on collective behavior and social movements provide a useful knowledge base for welfare organizations and professionals espousing social reform goals. The single parent family population is discussed as a group with the potential to generate into a social reform movement.

Specifying Sociological Options And Social Welfare Strategies, Thomas M. Meenaghan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As a profession, social work applies knowledge constructs from various social sciences. In this article attention is given to the relation between sociology and social work. The specific areas reviewed include conceptions of the social arrangement, the role of complex organizations, and social change theories. Each of these three broad areas have internal variations which have implications for sociology, social work, and attempts to integrate the two.

The Soco-Legal History Of Child Abuse And Neglect: An Analysis Of The Policy Of Children's Rights, Diana M. Richett, James R. Hudson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The focus of this paper is on the two major axes that have influenced the course of child welfare policy. One upholds corporal punishment as the predominant method of child rearing, that is, "Spare the rod, spoil the child." The other defines the status of the child as property of "loving" parents. Because of these two conceptions, the authors maintain that reliance on parental benevolence or the "benevolent intrusion" of the state will not suffice to protect the child's best interests. On the contrary, the examination of the socio-legal history of child abuse and neglect highlights the authors' warning that …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 6, No. 6 (November 1979)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• From The New Editor - pp. i
• Copy of Letter Re Richard Cloward - pp. ii
• The Influence of the Agency Environment On Clinical Practice - ANTHONY M. MALUCCIO - pp. 734
• Social Services In the Iron Cage - JAMES LATIMORE - pp. 756
• Planning for A National Social Policy For the Family - JOHN T. PARDECK - pp. 770
• The Transition To Medicalized Views: Alcholism and Social Workers - H. PAUL CHALFANT, DORINDA N. NOBLE - pp. 792
• A Model Program to Avoid the Institutionalization of Children - PAUL GITELSON - pp. 805
• Women and Leadership: …

A Model Program To Avoid The Institutionalization Of Children, Paul Gitelson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The concept of "deinstitutionalization" has led to a great deal of concern being focused on moving children out of large institutions into community based programs. This paper proposes a model program that would seek to avoid the initial placement of the child and focus attention on working with the family as a total unit. The program would recognize the acting out child as symptomatic of a family system in crisis.

Social Work Education: Radical Thought In Action, Peninah A. Chilton, Marsha R. Ellentuck, Eileen M. Gilkenson, Sharon A. Jachter, Tenley K. Stillwell

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Through the experiences of a group of social work students, this paper critiques social work education and deals with two levels of the educational experience: the oppressive atmosphere of the school and the conceptual content of the curriculum. An alternative model is presented, which attempts to combine radical social work theory with a radicalized educational process and methodology.

The Influence Of The Agency Environment On Clinical Practice, Anthony N. Maluccio

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In an in-depth, exploratory study of their perception of treatment in a family service agency, it was found that clients stressed the impact of the agency’s, social and physical environment on the helping process and its outcome. Workers, in contrast, took the environment for granted or had little to say about it. This paper discusses the findings and selected practice implications.

Social Services In The Iron Cage, James Latimore

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Interview and documentary data from a study of a voluntary job placement agency revealed that counselors were effectively weeding out the hard-to-place clients. These clients were the target population of the agency and its funded programs. The clients who were weeded out tended to be younger, with less education and less work experience. Weeding out was accomplished by discouraging unrealistic clients, and by not retrieving clients who were insufficiently motivated to keep in touch with the counselor. This marked a change in the counselors' practice compared with an earlier period, and appeared to be in conflict with the agency's mission, …

Planning For A National Social Policy For The Family, John T. Pardeck

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The American family performs two important functions for family members - providing physical care and socialization, and meeting psychological needs. Current family trends suggest that the American family may be having difficulty in carrying out these basic functions. Since the United States lacks a comprehensive family policy, it is argued that a national social policy should be created to better support the American family. A social policy is presented which would assist the American family in performing its basic functions. A suggested strategy for implementation of this family social policy has also been developed.

The Transition To Medicalized Views: Alcoholism And Social Workers, H. Paul Chalfant, Dorinda N. Noble

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

More deviant behaviors in our society are coming to be defined as medical rather than criminal, so that more control of such behavior is coming under medical and helping professions. Some conditions, e.g., alcoholism, seem to be caught "in between," with serious consequences. This paper looks at social worker perception of the alcoholic as "sick," in terms of a sociological conception of sickness as a social role. A bi-mdal distribution is found for acceptance and nonacceptance. Also, a significant number are ambivalent. The implications of this lack of consensus are discussed.

Women And Leadership: Strategies For Social Workers And Clients, Abigail C. Nichols

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

An examination of recent research on women and leadership yields several strategies that women, both clients and social workers, can use to facilitate success in administration and other traditionally male work domains.

Toward A Theory Of Accountability, Michael Borrero, Pricilla Martens, Gretchen Gubelman Borrero

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Since the mid 1960's the demand for accountability has been a major theme in the social work profession. The literature, however, has failed to provide a theoretical and practical guide on developing systems of accountability. This article traces the recent emergence of accountability; synthesizes the professional literature into four explanations as to why social work has not been accountable; and proposes a theoretical and practical paradigm to develop systems of accountability.

Work Place Collectives: A Strategy Toward Decentralized Democratic Socialism, David G. Gil

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

I explore in this essay a possible strategy for the transformation of democratic, capitalist states into decentralized, democratic, socialist societies. The strategy suggested here can be pursued now within the United States and similar nation-states whose formal legal frameworks provide for certain civil and political rights including freedom of speech, press, assembly, association and life-style, due process, etc. More specifically, I will examine the notion of voluntary, social, economic, and political collectives, and networks of such collectives, organized in and around existing urban and non-urban places of work -- fresh cells of participatory democracy and socialism within the aging, crises-ridden …

Behavior Modification In The Classroom: Education Or Social Control?, Irwin Epstein, Christine Hench

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study presents an analysis of the empirical literature on behavior modification in the classroom. Data were drawn from all relevant articles published in four behavior modification journals from 1963 through 1976. An assessment of the intervention techniques employed and the behavioral objectives sought in this literature suggests that traditional intervention techniques are still primarily directed towards control rather than educational goals. Newer, more innovative techniques, however, are more likely to be directed towards academic achievement.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 6, No. 5 (September 1979)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Work Place Collectives: A Strategy Towards Decentralized Democratic Socialism - DAVID G. GIL
• Behavior Modification in the Classroom: Education or Social Control? - IRWIN EPSTEIN, CHRISTINE HENCH
• Applied Sociology and Social Work Manpower and Theoretical Issues - CARLTON E. MUNSON
• The Causes of Turnover Among Social Workers - F.M. LOEWENBERG
• The Social Construction of Ages and the Ideology of Stages - VICTORIA FRIES RADER
• Baseline Evaluation: Evaluating Consistency Between Federal Standards and Local Provisions - JAMES R. SEABERG, DAVID F. GILLESPIE
• The Economic Status of the Elderly: Is the Problem Low Income? - JOHN B. WILLIAMSON
• Lessons …

Baseline Evaluation: Evaluating Consistency Between Federal Standards And Local Provisions, James R. Seaberg, David F. Gillespie

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Baseline evaluation is a form of evaluation procedure in which objectives related to several dimensions of response to a social problem are set externally in the form of federal standards. The standards form the baseline against which local provisions can be compared. The case example giving rise to the development and field testing of the baseline evaluation procedure was new Federal Standards on the Prevention, Identification and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. The baseline evaluation methodology is described and problems encountered are discussed.

Lessons From Private Health Insurance, Martha N. Ozawa

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

All across the country there is a sense of urgency, and even of crisis over what is happening in the health industry. Of special concern are the rapid rate of increase in the cost of health care services and the increasing national expenditures for health care. For fiscal year 1976, the total U.S. spending for health care reached $149.8 billion, or a per capita expenditure of $638. Expressed as a percentage of the gross national product (GNP), the national spending for health care reached a record-breaking 8.6 percent.1 From the early 1960s--except during the period from August 1971 through April …

On The Creation Of Truth, David Howe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Applied Sociology And Social Work: Manpower And Theoretical Issues, Carlton E. Munson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Applied sociology and social work are compared and contrasted historically. Significant literature is reviewed that illustrates chronologically past cooperative efforts. Academic and practice integration of the two disciplines are identified in their modern context as well as trends are identified. Manpower issues that parallel and separate the two disciplines are explored. It is argued that current changes in funding of educational programs could have much impact on both disciplines and determine future differentiation.

The Causes Of Turnover Among Social Workers, F.M. Loewenberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

There is general agreement that social worker turnover is not desirable. Yet social work administrators who want to institute changes which might reduce the rate of turnover have little accurate information about the causes of worker mobility -- and without such information, any change activity must be based on a trial-and-error approach. In this study general propositions and hypotheses about social work turnover have been deduced from what is known about worker mobility generally and have been assessed in the light of the available literature on social worker mobility.

The Social Construction Of Ages And The Ideology Of Stages, Victoria Fries Rader

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

It is the thesis of this paper that the images and beliefs about any age group in a society indicate the kind of social order prevailing in a particular time and place. This paper critically analyses the developmental life cycle model from a sociology of knowledge perspective. It is argued that life's major activities and individuals' basic needs have increasingly become compartmentalized according to chronological age in modern Western society. This separation of basic activities and needs into specialized age roles is explained and legitimated by a popular belief in a model of inherent progressive life "stages", a model largely …

The Economic Status Of The Elderly: Is The Problem Low Income?, John B. Williamson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The thesis of this paper is that poverty among the elderly is increasingly becoming a problem of relative as opposed to absolute economic deprivation. Many of the elderly (persons age 65 and over) are oppressed by the absolute poverty they must endure, but for most of those for whom inadequate income is a source of concern, the real problem seems to be relative economic deprivation. If present trends continue this will be increasingly the case in future years.

Heroin--Myths And Knowledge: Impact On Public Policy, Robert Salmon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Public Policy in the United States towards the heroin user and addict has been punitive as well as unsuccessful in deterring drug use or in treatment of the addict. Bias, myths, and prejudices have influenced our policy stance and have made heroin addiction a more serious problem than it otherwise would have been. This is explicated in the article, and contrasted with the British system which in attitude and practice tends to view the addict as ill rather than evil.

Lay Counseling: The Basis Of Prevention In Mental Health, James R. Seaberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of this paper is to increase the recognition of lay counseling as a basis of mental health prevention and to present a summary of the state of knowledge about it. Lay counseling is cast as one of several components of mental health prevention and treatment, a definition is offered which distinguishes it from paraprofessional and selp-help services, knowledge about it both direct and tangential is summarized, and future research and policy implications are discussed.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 6, No. 4 (June 1979)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Table of Contents

• The Social Construction of Professional Knowledge: Social Work Ideology, 1956-1973 - DANNY L. JORGENSEN - pp 434
• A Study of Strategies Used In The Pursuit of Legal Regulation of Social Work - JOHN T. GANDY, FRANK B. RAYMOND - pp 464
• Exploring The Validity of Multi Causal Models In
• Problem Analysis: The Case of Child Abuse - NOLAN RINDFIEISCH - pp 477
• Racial Segregation: The Impact of Monthly Contract Rent and Family Income - GEORGE E. 0’C0NNELL - pp 494
• Do Agency Admínistrative Changes Affect The Effectíveness and Efficiency of DHR Employees? - RICHARD M. GRINNELL, JR., …