Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Making A Difference: Human Service Interest Group Influence On Social Welfare Program Regulations, Richard Hoefer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social workers increasingly understand the importance of political action to affect legislative policy-making. This paper sheds light onto the unexplored subject of interest group influence on the executive branch, specifically on the writing of program regulations for social welfare programs. It describes groups active in the process and what they do in their quest for influence. It also presents a preliminary model of interest group influence on regulation writing. Results show that having greater access, articulating a liberal policy position, choosing a "better" strategy and devoting more resources to influence efforts are all significant predictors of a group's influence level …

The Discourse Of Denigration And The Creation Of "Other", Joshua Miller, Gerald Schamess

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper attempts to reduce the distance between intellectual frameworks that inform different fields of social work practice by exploring the relationships between intrapsychic mechanisms, family dynamics, small group processes and such society wide phenomena as public denigration, scapegoating, and the systematic oppression of politically targeted population subgroups. Clinical theories are used to explore disturbing social trends such as the redistribution of wealth while cutting services to the needy, the growth of prisons and disproportionaten umbers of incarcerated people of color, societal retreat from social obligation and commitment and divisive political rhetoric. Suggestions are made about how clinical social workers …

Pathways To Prison: Life Histories Of Former Clients Of The Child Welfare And Juvenile Justice Systems, Stephen A. Kapp

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study examines the relationship between child maltreatment and future offending from the viewpoint of former clients. Imprisoned adults describe their experiences in child welfare and juvenile justice system services. Specifically, those placed out of the home originally into the child welfare system have a different perspective on their path to prison than those placed into the juvenile justice system as delinquents. The study contributes to the literature by examining the relationship between the services children receive in the child welfare system as well as the juvenile justice system and their imprisonment as adults from a former service recipient's point …

Factors Encouraging The Growth Of Sustainable Communities: A Jamaican Case Study, Eleanor Wint

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The concept of sustainable communities assumes a process of social and/or economic development that has as a high priority, the needs of the future generation. However, models of social and economic development employed in developing countries, must rely heavily on political, social and psychological empowerment techniques being employed at the community level, in order to warrant any type of sustainability becoming apparent. A case study taken from Kingston, Jamaica recounts and examines the experience of a Social Work Unit/private company in partnership, becoming involved in a low-income community's drive for sustainable development. The paper will reflect on the intervention, the …

Review Of World's Apart: Why Poverty Persists In Rural America. Cynthia Duncan. Reviewed By William Rainford, University Of California, Berkely., William Rainford

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Cynthia Duncan, World's Apart: Why Poverty Persists in Rural America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999. $27.50 hardcover.

Review Of Managing To Make It: Urban Families And Adolescent Success. Frank Furstenberg Jr., Thomas D. Cook, Jacquelynne Eccles, Glen H. Elder Jr., And Arnold Sameroff. Reviewed By Deborah Page-Adams, University Of Kansas., Deborah Page-Adams

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Managing to Make it: Urban Famlies and Adolescent Success. Frank Furstenberg Jr., Thomas D. Cook, Jacquelynne Eccles, Glen H. Elder Jr., and Arnold Sameroff. Reviewed by Deborah Page-Adams, University of Kansas.

Review Of Disposable People: New Slavery In The Global Economy. Kevin Bales. Reviewed By Jo Beall,London School Of Economics., Jo Beall

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Kevin Bales, Disposable people: New Slavery in the Global Economy. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999. $24.95 hardcover.

Review Of Healing Communities In Conflict: International Assistance In Complex Emergencies. Kimberly A. Maynard. Reviewed By Nancy Farwell, University Of Washington., Nancy Farwell

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Kimberly A. Maynard, Healing Communities in Conflict: International Assistance in Complex Emergencies. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. $27.50 hardcover.

Social Policy In A Changing Society. Maurice Mullard And Paul Spicker.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Maurice Mullard and Paul Spicker, Social Policy in a Changing Society. New York: Routledge, 1999. $80.00 hardcover, $24.88 papercover.

Tanf Policy Implementation: The Invisible Barrier, Roberta Rehner Iversen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Barriers to participation in welfare-to-work programs are generally described in terms of human and social capital. Findings from case examination of four Philadelphia-areaw elfare-to-work programs under TANF suggest that theory about policy implementation is more applicable. Faulty policy logic, organizational and personnel incompetence, and inadequate coordination between and within funding, referral, program, and employer organizations regularly resulted in delayed program start-ups and strained program operations. Generally invisible and absent from research attention, these implementation delays and strains impeded program staff efforts and harmed TANF recipients. States' 24-month time limit policies are a critical target for advocacy efforts.

Review Of The Internet And Technology For The Human Services. Howard Karger And Joanne Levine. Reviewed By Sharon Pittman, Andrews University, Sharon Pittman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Howard Karger and Joanne Levine, The Internet and Technology for the Human Services, NewYork: Longman, 1999. $27.19 paperback.

Illusions Of Prosperity: America's Working Families In An Age Of Economic Insecurity. Joel Blau.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Joel Blau, Illusions of Prosperity: America's Working Families in an Age of Economic Insecurity. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. # 30.00 hardcover.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 27, No. 2 (June 2000)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• DO INNER-CITY, AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALES EXHIBIT "BAD ATTITUDES" TOWARD WORK? - Jill Littrell & Elizabeth Beck
• EXPLOITATION-THE INVISIBLE HAND GUIDED BY A BLIND EYE: CONFRONTING A FLAW IN ECONOMIC THEORY - Phillip Dybicz
• WORK AND ECONOMIC OUTCOMES AFTER WELFARE - Thomas P. Vartanian & Justine M. McNamara
• THE SPATIAL SHIFT IN THE GROWTH OF POVERTY AMONG FAMILIES HEADED BY EMPLOYED FEMALES, 1979-89 - W. Richard Goe & Anisa Rhea
• CONFLICTING BUREAUCRACIES, CONFLICTED WORK: DILEMMAS IN CASE MANAGEMENT FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS - Linda E. Francis
• RACIAL AND GENDER VARIATIONS IN THE PROCESS SHAPING EARNINGS' POTENTIAL: THE …

The Spatial Shift In The Growth Of Poverty Among Families Headed By Employed Females, 1979-89, W. Richard Goe, Anisa Rhea

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The number of working poor families in the United States increased substantially during the 1979-89 period. This increase was found to disproportionately consist of families headed by employed females. The growth in poverty among families headed by employed females during this period was found to be nonstructural in nature and inequitably distributed across labor markets in the U.S. It was found that at the onset of the 1980s, high rates of poverty among families headed by employed females were predominantly concentrated in labor market areas in the South. Over the 1980s, the highest increases in poverty rates among such families …

Review Of Social Security In Global Perspective. John Dixon. Reviewed By Paul Terrell, University Of California, Berkeley., Paul Terrell

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of John Dixon, Social Security in Global Perspective. Westport, Ct: Praeger Publishers, 1999. $69.50 hardcover, $27.95 papercover.

Why Americans Hate Welfare. Martin Gilens.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Martin Gilens, Why Americans Hate Welfare. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1999. $ 25 hardcover, $19.95 papercover.

Exploitation-The Invisible Hand Guided By A Blind Eye: Confronting A Flaw In Economic Theory, Phillip Dybicz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Economics is alone among the social science disciplines in failing to have a sound theory to explain behaviors when people do not act according to their self-interest, that is, with compassion. This has resulted in a fundamental flaw in economic thought. As economies have grown in scale and complexity, there has been a corresponding distancing between consumers and producers. This flaw has revealed itself through a lack of economic structures which bridge this distance, restore a level of intimacy within the economic interaction, and hence facilitate the expression of compassion.

Review Of Group Work With Overwhelmed Clients. June Gary Hopps And Elaine Pinderhughes. Reviewed By Charles Garvin, University Of Michigan., Charles Garvin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of June Gary Hopps and Elaine Pinderhughes. Group Work with Overwhelmed Clients. New York: The Free Press, 1999. $29.95

Work And Economic Outcomes After Welfare, Thomas P. Vartanian, Justine M. Mcnamara

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Using data from the 1969 to 1993 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this article examines a number of models to determine the characteristics of AFDC recipients who fare well economically after they initially leave the welfare system. The study includes analyses of income levels, time spent employed and not employed, and time spent below the poverty line. Hypotheses regarding state welfare payments, area economic conditions, human capital and time spent receiving welfare are examined. The findings indicate that area employment conditions and the ability to quickly find work greatly affect the likelihood of faring well economically after welfare. We found …

The Generational Equity Debate. John B. Williamson, Diane M. Watts-Roy And Eric R. Kingson (Eds.).

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for John B. Williamson, Diane M. Watts-Roy and Eric R. Kingson (Eds.), The Generational Equity Debate. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. $ 49.50 hardcover, $ 25.00 papercover.

Conflicting Bureaucracies, Conflicted Work: Dilemmas In Case Management For Homeless People With Mental Illness, Linda E. Francis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This ethnographic study finds a case management agency torn between the rules of two conflicting bureaucracies. Funded by a federal grant, the agency is administered by the county, and the regulations of the two systems turn out to be incompatible. This conflict creates dilemmas in providing services to clients: meeting eligibility criteria for services from the federal grant meant the clients did not meet the eligibility criteria for many County services. Agency staff reacted to this dilemma by bending rules, finding loopholes, and investing extra time and emotional labor in each client. The role-conflict engendered by bureaucratic disjunction creates frustration, …

Do Inner-City, African-American Males Exhibit "Bad Attitudes" Toward Work?, Jill Littrell, Elizabeth Beck

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Many potential employers of inner-city African-American men believe that African-American men have poor work attitudes. The investigations reported here attempted to evaluate the veridicality of this assumption. The responses of African-American men who utilize a soup-kitchen were compared with college men on a variety of attitude measures, as well as on their reactions to a scenario about a man who worked for an unfair boss and quit in response. Generally, little support for the view that innercity, African-Americans men have a predilection to presume prejudice or unfairness, or to render a favorable evaluation of quitting under unfair conditions, was found.

Racial And Gender Variations In The Process Shaping Earnings' Potential: The Consequences Of Poverty In Early Adulthood, C. Andri Mizell

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This research investigates the effects of poverty in early adulthood on future earnings. While social scientists are beginning to amass a considerable literature on the effects of poverty on outcomes for children, few have investigated the damage that impoverishment may do in early adulthood when individuals are in the midst of completing education and planning careers. The findings in this study indicate that poverty does dampen earnings' potential. However, individual characteristics (e.g., aspirations, esteem and ability) and structural location (e.g., educational attainment, occupational status and job tenure) may assuage the otherwise negative effects of poverty. Other findings reveal that the …

The Impact Of Education And Family Attributes On Attitudes And Responses To Unemployment Among Men And Women, Liat Kulik

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The study deals with differences between jobless Israeli women (n = 361) and men (n = 253) in relation to the following aspects of unemployment: Reasons for rejecting potential jobs, job search intensity, and responses to unemployment. The women mentioned more reasons for rejecting potential jobs, and their health-related responses to unemployment were more extreme than those of the men. However, the men tended to seekemployment more intensively than did the women.

Married respondents of both sexes showed the greatest tendency to reject potential employment due to conflict with family responsibilities. Married women were also more likely than their male …

Review Of Kids Raised By The Government. Ira M. Schwartz And Gideon Fishman. Reviewed By Sherrill Clark, University Of California, Berkeley., Sherrill Clark

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Ira M. Schwartz and Gideon Fishman, Kids Raised by the Government. Westport, CT:Praeger Publishers, 1999. $49.95 hardcover.

Review Of Repackaging The Welfare State. Pranab Chatterjee. Reviewed By Larry Nackerud, University Of Georgia., Larry Nackerud

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Pranab Chatterjee, Repackaging the Welfare State. Washington, DC: NASW Press, 1999. $32.95 paperback.

So You Think I Drive A Cadillac? Karen Seccombe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Karen Seccombe, So You Think I Drive a Cadillac? Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1999. $27.93 papercover.

Elderly Immigrants: Their Composition And Living Arrangements, Mary M. Kritz, Douglas T. Gurak, Likwang Chen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper describes how the composition of elderly immigrants is changing and how elderly immigrants differ from natives in terms of living arrangement and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. The determinants of living alone are investigated for 11 ethnic origin categories and natives. The analysis utilizes data from two samples of the 1990 U.S. Census: the PUMS-A 5% sample and an independent 3% sample of households containing at least one member 60 or more years of age. Between 1970 and 1990 immigrants from Asia and Latin America moved from forming a minor component of the elderly to being a significant and …

Review Of The Global Emergence Of Gay And Lesbian Politics: National Imprints Of A Worldwide Movement. Barry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak And Andre Krouwel (Eds.). Reviewed By Carol T. Tully, Tulane University., Carol T. Tully

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Barry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak and Andre Krouwel (Eds.), The Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics: National Imprints of a Worldwide Movement. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1999. $59.95 hardcover, $22.95 papercover.

The Missing Safety Net And Families: A Progressive Critique Of The New Welfare Legislation, D. Stanley Eitzen, Maxine Baca Zinn

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This is an overview essay on the 1996 welfare legislation and its consequences. The paper is divided into five parts: (1) The basic elements of the legislation; (2) The conservative assumptions undergirding this legislation and the progressive responses to them; (3) The consequences of the legislation for individuals and families; (4) The missing elements in the new welfare legislation; and (5) The progressive solution to welfare.