Social Welfare Commons^™

Aging And The Milieu Of Social Policy, Roger A. Lohmann, Nancy Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

One facet of the new conservatism, which is drawing so much interest but not much information currently is the proposal for converting a large number of social service programs (including the Administration on Aging) into a single community block grant program. Even without the Reagan Administration and its new conservatism, however, the case for substantial--if less dramatic--changes in the network of services and programs which benefit the aged has been growing for some time. In this chapter, wel review some of the broader implications of current social policies for the aged, and some of the criticisms raised among gerontologists, concentrating …

Reindustrialization And The Future Of Social Welfare, Steve Burghardt, Michael Fabricant

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

"Reindustrialization" is a term of economic complexity and great, if confused, social implications to most human service workers. Human services workers can only challenge the plans envisioned by most reindustrialists if certain arguments and assumptions are understood. This article will lay out the reindustrialists plans and assumptions. It will also develop some of the reasons why such ideas, as they are now formulated, cannot work -- in terms based on common experiences highly familiar to every human service worker.

Welfare Legislation And American Poverty Traps: Ironies And Characteristics, Theresa Villanueva, Richard J. Caston

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

We argue that legislative attempts to establish bureaucratic programs to eradicate American poverty will invariably result in ironic inconsistencies that will doom such programs to only limited or partial success. As an illustration, we examine the ironic history of the AFDC program as it has been legislated to deal with American poverty. Three sociological accounts for the ironies of welfare programming are then drawn together. One account suggests that undue concern over the work ethic has overridden more direct concern for the deprecating living conditions of the Door. A second account suggests that poverty is so functionally beneficial to a …

Analysis Of An Exploration For Training Materials In Child Welfare, John T. Pardeck, Rebecca L. Hegar

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Currently there is a serious gap in the child welfare system in the area of in-service training. As the child welfare system begins to fill this gap, information on what materials are available for training becomes critical. This article reports on an extensive exploration of what is currently available for training in the child welfare field. Several important findings emerged concerning the sources of materials and the lack of training materials for specialized groups.

The Future Of Welfare Programs In The United States: Four Approaches, Wim Weiwel

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

There are many theories which attempt to explain why the United States has become a welfare state. Four main approaches can be distinguished which focus on 1) the maintenance of social order; 2) welfare as empowerment; 3) welfare as an expression of egalitarianism; and 4) welfare as contributing to economic growth.

Similarly, there are many predictions about the likely future of the welfare state. They can be related to the four approaches which analyze the welfare state's historical origins and current function. The aim of this article is to clarify the debate about the future by relating the different predictions …

Social Welfare: Context For Social Control, Phyllis J. Day

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Because human service professionals are uncritical concerning the latent functions of their organizations they may be unaware of their power as agents for social control. The paper discusses values, attitudes, and education supportive of such control, the permeation of social programs into heretofore private areas of human life, the power inherent in new techniques of social persuasion, and the centralization of that power because of expanded government funding and accountability requirements. As public assistance programs contain civil disorder among the poor, so other social welfare programs insure conformity and control the alienated of all levels of society.

Child Health And Developmental Problems And Child Maltreatment Among Afdc Families, Isabel Wolock

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper explores the complex interrelationship among the physical health and developmental problems of a child, child abuse and neglect, and poverty. Gaps in agency attention to children's medical needs are identified and recommendations made for reducing these gaps. The analysis is based on interview and agency data for 45 families randomly selected from a group of 365 AFDC recipient families under supervision for child abuse and neglect.

Multiple Constituencies, Differential Power, And The Question Of Effectiveness In Human Service Organizations, Patricia Yancey Martin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A multiple constituencies model of human service organizations identifies twelve interest groups which must be considered when effectiveness questions are raised. The differential power of the interest groups suggests that some groups' preferences are likely to be emphasized over others. The relationship between power inside the organization and that on the outside is analyzed. Recent trends in the growth andmiiitancy of professional associations and employee groups suggest that internal control by senior administrators is increasingly challenged and variable. Future studies of effectiveness in the human services are encouraged to remain sensitive to the effects of constituency interests and power on …

The Influence Of Bureaucratic Factors On Welfare Policy Implementation, Gerard S. Gryski, Charles L. Usher

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The authors argue that previous welfare policy research has suffered from its neglect of bureaucratic factors, as well as a tendency to exclude policy-making arenas above and below the state level. Using several measures of organizational structure, administrative professionalism, and within-state need, they attempt to relate these variables to within-state variations in welfare policy implementation. While certain socio-economic conditions were found to be significant determinants of this variation, of greater importance are characteristics of state welfare bureaucracies such as the degree of administrative centralization and the level of professionalism of administrative staff. Their research suggests the need for further refinement …

Social Work And Social Welfare: A Conceptual Matrix, Louis Levitt

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Through a structural-functional analysis, the relationship between the profession of social work and the institution of social welfare is examined. Social welfare Is defined as an institution concerned with those legitimated needs of people which relate to the quality of life which cannot be met in the marketplace. The central mission of the institution of social welfare is seen in three dimensions: social control, humanitarianism and feedback to society of patterns of social hurt which prevent the achievement of humanitarian aspirations and threaten the stability of the social order.

Institution provides one set of coordinates to the grid of social …

Mission Neighborhood Health Center: A Case Study Of The Department Of Health Education And Welfare As A Counterinsurgency Agency, Thomas S. Bodenheimer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In the 1960's, working class communities all over the country, particularly minority inner city neighborhoods, exploded in violent anger. The federal government responded with a pacification or cooling-out program: the War on Poverty. The War on Poverty provided federal funds to bring a few programs into the community, to create a few jobs, and to buy off working class leaders who were a threat to those in power. In the course of this program of counterinsurgency, the War on Poverty took over a slogan of the 1960's, "community control," and turned it into its opposite; rather than control by the …

Work Ethic And Work Incentives: Values And Income Maintenance Reform, Beverly G. Toomey

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Although the American belief system surrounding the concept of work has been analyzed and challenged by social scientists seeking solutions to the problem of poverty, the strength of the work ethic philosophy is still evident in public resistance to welfare reform which would support adequate income maintenance and government efforts at job creation. This paper discusses the relationship between the work ethic philosophy, job creation programming and welfare reform. It reviews relevant theoretical and empirical literature and identifies some misconceptions which continue to hamper policy formulation and program development in welfare reform.

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 …

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.

Social Polics And Social Welfare Administration, Bernard Neugeboren

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Effective administration of social welfare programs requires the integration of knowledge of social policy with the understanding of the theory and practice of management and administrative decision making. This integration of substantive knowledge of social policy with administrative practice is needed to avoid overemphasis on means to the detriment of the goals of social programs. This paper discusses a policy analysis framework in relationship to a model of decisionmaking which includes rational and non-rational elements. Principles of policy formulation (major system change) is applied to specific issues in social welfare, i.e. should social services be directed at changing the individual …

Organizational Considerations In The Application Of Budgeting And Cost Effectiveness Systems To Social Welfare Organizations, Charles Cowger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social welfare organizations have distinctive organizational characteristics which hinder their adaptability to budget and cost effectiveness systems. This paper identifies those characteristics and discusses their significance.

Natural Language Processing And Computer Use In Social Work, Roger A. Lohmann, Jay Wolvovsky

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Can computers do social work? Can social workers do computers? This article seeks to outline a text-oriented approach to answering these questions through an approach labeled Natural Language Processing.

Stressful Life Events : A Comparative Study Of Native American And Urban Samples, Sandra Ketcher

Dissertations and Theses

The subject of this paper is an extension of the work done Holmes and Rahe on the development of the Social Readjustment Rating Scale or SRRS and of the study, “Individual Perception of Stressful Life Events: A Comparison of Native Americans, Rural, and Urban Samples,” conducted by Dr. Liberman and Joel Frank. This study will compare those two samples with a sample of a selected Pacific Northwest Indian tribe served by an Indian Health Service facility.

“The Stressful Life Events: A Comparative Study of Native American and Urban Samples” study is a singular component of a total effort on the …

The Transition: An Historical-Materialist Perspective On Social Welfare And Social Work Practice, Thomas Keefe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

From an historical-materialist perspective American society is in a transition to a new structural form--a new order. The future of social welfare and social work practice is intimately bound to the nature and outcome of this transition. Moreover, the transition has economic and ideological characteristics that hold important implications for changes in the ways social workers view their clients and conduct their practice. Employing an historicalmaterialist analysis, this article will discuss the nature of the societal transition and its implications for social welfare and social work practice.

The analysis will be prefaced with a synopsis of basic concepts and assumptions …

Some Critical Questions In The Political Economy Of Social Welfare - The Carter "Welfare Reform" Proposals, L. K. Northwood

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of this paper is to discuss President Carter's welfare reform proposals, appropriately titled, "The Program for Better Jobs and Income." If these proposals are adopted by Congress, they will guide the Administration in its stance toward and its work with the lowest income sectors of the nation: the welfare poor--those who cannot work and must be supported by the government, and the working poor--those who are able to support themselves, but whose yearly income is less than the poverty level.

Consequently, the paper starts with an analysis of what the government documents have to tell us about the …

The "Science" Of Social Policy: Max Weber Revisited, Asoke Basu

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Science documents two sources of knowledge--sense and reason. Further, according to Kant, "The nature of the outer empirical world is not known, what becomes known is that which is perceived." Human constructs represent outer reality. They do not express reality directly as it is in original nature. The aim of the social scientist can never be to eliminate the relative perspective of social reality. It is to understand and explain it within a larger cultural framework. The nature of this task brings the social scientist "close" to defining the social reality within a broader cultural praxis. Any policy--essentially, a set …

Symbolic Interaction And Social Planning: Perspectives From The Early Years, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The principal thesis of this paper is that the inadequacies of recent efforts at social planning are essential failures of theory, rather than failures of practice. Economic, land use and social welfare planners it is suggested have all shared a common unwillingness or inability to abandon commitments to an essentially utilitarian rhetoric of reasoned behavior, wherein means are matched with ends, persons are viewed as essentially self-interested and goal-directed rational problem solvers operating on schedules of goal attainment known or predictable by the planners. Symbolic interaction theory has resources to revitalize planning theory. Selected publications by John Dewey, G.H. Mead, …

Social Control Or Social Wage: On The Political Economy Of The "Welfare State", Paul Adams

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Discussion between liberal apologists for the "welfare state" and their radical critics has tended in recent years to focus on the question of "social control." In this area the corporate liberals and social democrats (the "welfare statists") are weak. They talk of the "welfare state" as if, at least in principle, it represented the collective assumption by society of responsibility for the basic needs and dependencies of its members. Insofar as "social control" is relevant for them, it has to do with society's exercise of restraint over the selfish pursuit of private profit.1 Radical critics of the "welfare state," on …

A Political Economy Critique Of The American Welfare State, Gerben Dejong

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Despite its rapid expansion over the last decade, the American welfare state appears unable to remedy many of the social problems it has been designated to solve. In many instances, the welfare state has become as much a part of the problem as the solution. Unfortunately, most proposals to reform the welfare state do not go beyond the liberalconservative conception of the welfare state as a backup to the capitalist market system. This conception of the welfare state is part of a larger comitment to a free market-pluralist ideology that singles out certain social phenomena as problematic and limits the …

Dying And The Social Responsibility Of Institutions, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Contemporary American society has established a comfortable reliance upon a large network of total and quasi-total institutions for dealing with certain life threatening events and socially disruptive conditions As a consequence these institutions have become primary locales for dying. It is the principal argument of this paper that although a large proportion of all deaths now occur in institutions, they are generally harsh and unsympathetic in their handling of dying, and particularly insensitive to the social and psychological needs of surviving significant others in the period immediately following a death. It is suggested that along with accepting the responsibility to …

A Moment Of Truth In The Warfare-Welfare Debate: The Transfer Amendment, Elizabeth Holtzman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The controversy over the budget is much more than a debate about how much should be spent in 1977 on the military, or social programs. It is more than a struggle between two branches of the federal government--the legislative and the executive-- over which body should determine the national priorities. Ultimately questions are raised about the viability of the democratic planning process in the warfare/welfare state, and how the people--the governed--can be adequately represented in the process. All of these issues are touched on explicitly or implicitly by Congresswoman Holtzman in the debate (although, to be sure, she was most …

Eighteen Leading Social Critics Comment: What Is The Real Threat To World Peace And Social Security?, Kenneth A. Kirkpatrick, Lawrence K. Northwood

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

What is the real threat to world peace and social security? Is it the prevalent ideology of violence, aggressive nationalism, and militarism? Or is it the maldistribution of resources, technology, and social welfare benefits? How much of itsnational budget must the U.S. allocate to military expenditures? How can the national budget priorities be changed so there is a more realistic funding of social programs? Do we face as great a threat of nuclear annihilation in the '70's and the '80's as we did in the early '60's?

These are some of the questions the editors asked of 96 "experts" on …

The Military Establishment And Social Welfare: Past, Present (And Future?), George W. Ayers

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As we move toward the decade of the eighties we are becoming increasingly aware of the difficulties and realities of economics on a national level. More and more we, as a people, are faced with difficult choices concerning the services that we either demand of our government or which government deems it necessary to provide.

Although it is an oversimplication, our Constitution mandates that government always follow to some degree a "guns and (not or) butter" philosophy in its preamble provisions dealing with "common defense" and "general welfare." We have though paid dearly, in economic terms, for attempting to follow …