Social Work Commons^™

Social Work And Conditional Cash Transfers In Latin America., Cindy Calvo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs are a recent anti-poverty strategy in Latin America. CCT programs provide cash benefits to finance basic needs and foster investment in human capital to extremely poor households. These benefits are conditioned on certain behaviors, usually related to investments in nutrition, health, and education. In the literature, there is a recognizable lack of analyses from social science disciplines related to CCT program implications. This paper contributes in this arena by analyzing the particular role of social work in CCT anti-poverty programs. The educational element of these programs and its theoretical foundation based on the human capital …

Sanctioning Policies-Australian, American And British Cross-National Reflections And Comparisons, Harry Savelsberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Over the last two decades welfare policies have undergone major reforms in Anglo-Western nations such as the U.S., U.K. and Australia. Central to these reforms have been the revision of welfare recipient entitlements and responsibilities and the emergence of a responsibility and obligations agenda. The essence of this agenda is conditionality and reciprocity, and it includes the threat of punitive sanctions for failing to comply with mandatory participation requirements. This paper highlights the potent influence of the ideas of American conservatives on policy reforms in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia and provides a thematic crossnational comparison of sanctioning policies …

Review Of American Uprising: The Untold Story Of America's Largest Slave Revolt. Daniel Rasmussen. Reviewed By Phillip Seitz., Phillip Seitz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Daniel Rasmussen, American Uprising: The Untold Story of America's Largest Slave Revolt. Harper Collins, 2011. $26.99, hardcover.

Review Of Living The Drama: Community, Conflict, And Culture Among Inner-City Boys. David J. Harding. Reviewed By Wilma Peebles-Wilkins., Wilma Peebles-Wilkins

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of David J. Harding. Living the Drama: Community, Conflict, and Culture among Inner-City Boys. The University of Chicago Press, 2010. $25.00, paperback.

Moving To Opportunity: The Story Of An American Experiment To Fight Ghetto Poverty. Xavier De Souza Briggs, Susan J. Popkin & John Goering. Reviewed By Margeurite Rosenthal., Marguerite Rosenthal

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Xavier de Souza Briggs, Susan J. Popkin & John Goering, Moving to Opportunity: The Story of an American Experiment to Fight Ghetto Poverty. Oxford University Press, 2010. $19.95, paperback.

Review Of From Madness To Mental Health: Psychiatric Disorder And Its Treatment In Western Civilization. Greg Eghigian (Ed.). Reviewed By Christopher Hudson., Christopher Hudson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Greg Eghigian (Ed.), From Madness to Mental Health: Psychiatric Disorder and its Treatment in Western Civilization. Rutgers University Press, 2010. $32.95, paperback.

Review Of Suicide: Foucault, History And Truth. Ian Marsh. Reviewed By Oona Morrow., Oona Morrow

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Ian Marsh, Suicide: Foucault, History and Truth. Cambridge University Press, 2010. $35.00, paperback.

Civil Resistance And The Corruption-Violence Nexus, Shaazka Beyerle

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

There are multiple ways in which corruption is linked to violent conflict, some direct and some indirect. For ordinary citizens, the experience of this nexus is the denial of basic freedoms and rights. In spite of such bleak circumstances, people can move from being victims and bystanders to becoming a force for transforming their societies. Citizens are engaging in civil resistance to curb corruption and win accountability and justice. This article: explores the linkages between corruption and violence; identifies the conceptual and practical limitations of top-down, technical approaches to combating corruption; articulates a bottom-up approach in which the civic realm …

"Just Say No": Organizing Against Militarism In Public Schools, Scott Harding, Seth Kershner

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In an effort to counteract the growing militarization of schools, military counter-recruitment (CR) has emerged as an effective grassroots movement across the United States. Led by a small number of local activists, CR utilizes community organizing methods to confront the structures supporting military enlistment as a viable career option. Despite operating with limited resources, counter-recruitment has secured key legal and policy victories that challenge the dominant social narrative about military service. Three examples of counterrecruitment are profiled to illustrate the different tactics and strategies used for successful organizing within a culture of militarism.

Humanitarian Aid And The Struggle For Peace And Justice: Organizational Innovation After A Blind Date, Joseph G. Bock

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Humanitarian organizations working in developing countries have gone through a transformation since the thaw of the Cold War. Their increased programming to promote justice and peace has resulted in disparate partnership configurations. Illustrative examples of these configurations show how organizational deficiencies and challenges have spawned innovation. These innovations provide insight about how similar organizations might usefully be engaged in the struggle to promote greater justice and peace in areas of the world suffering from violent conflict.

World Peace: A First Step Commentary For The Special Issue On Peace, Conflict And War, Michael D. Knox

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The first step in achieving peace on earth must be the elimination of war and threats of war. Citizens of the United States are in a better position than others to make this happen. We spend significant portions of our tax dollars, and borrow money from foreign countries, to wage wars. We sell weapons and destabilize governments. We prioritize funding for war over spending on education, medical research, alternative energy sources, healthcare, housing and food for the needy, a balanced budget and almost everything else that can have a positive impact on this planet's quality of life.

Students For Peace: Contextual And Framing Motivations Of Antiwar Activism, Eric Swank, Breanne Fahs

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article traces the development of peace activism among undergraduate social work students. In doing so, it explores how social statuses, political contexts, and collective action frames affect the likelihood of joining the movement against the Afghanistan war (2001 to current). After analyzing data from a multicampus sample of Bachelors in Social Work (BSW) students (n = 159), results show that peace activism was predicted by level of education as well as perceptions of proper foreign policy, the relative efficacy of social movement tactics, and identification with specific activist ideals. Finally, being situated in activist networks fostered greater peace activism …

Peace And War In The Qur'an And Juridical Literature: A Comparative Perspective, Liyakat Takim

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Qur'anic period of Islamic history took place in a social context of significant diversity. A number of important verses in the Qur'an reflect this diversity and encourage Islamic believers to seek peaceful coexistence with those of other faiths, especially those designated as "people of the Book," specifically Christians, Jews and Sabeans. In the later classical period of Islamic history, the exegesis of Islamic jurists markedly de-emphasized peaceful coexistence in favor of interpretations encouraging conquest and religious uniformity. Although the classical jurists have exercised enormous interpretive authority in subsequent Islamic history, their authority was never understood to be absolute or …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 38, No. 2 (June 2011)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

SPECIAL ISSUE ON PEACE, CONFLICT AND WAR

• THINKING ABOUT PEACE, CONFLICT, AND WAR: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE - Sondra J. Fogel and Daniel Liechty, Special Editors
• THINKING ABOUT PEACE TODAY - Michael Allen Fox
• HUMANITARIAN AID AND THE STRUGGLE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE: ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION AFTER A BLIND DATE - Joseph G. Bock
• CIVIL RESISTANCE AND THE CORRUPTIONVIOLENCE NEXUS - Shaazka Beyerle
• "JUST SAY NO": ORGANIZING AGAINST MILITARISM IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS - Scott Harding and Seth Kershner
• STUDENTS FOR PEACE: CONTEXTUAL AND FRAMING MOTIVATIONS OF ANTIWAR ACTIVISM - Eric Swank and Breanne Fahs
• PEACE AND WAR IN THE …

Contesting Buddhisms On Conflicted Land: Sarvodaya Shramadana And Buddhist Peacemaking, Masumi Hayashi-Smith

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Buddhism in its various incarnations has both aided and hindered the peace processes in Sri Lanka. Sarvodaya Shramadana, a Buddhist development organization, stands out in the way it uses religion to promote peace through a more humanist interpretation of Buddhist teachings. While Sarvodaya's alternative approach toward the religion provides an optimistic space for promoting peace, its connections to and dependence on populism can also complicate its politics. This article argues that the most effective means of peace work can be found through the same channel of collective mobilization that hindered it, Buddhism.

Possibilities For Peace: Germany's Transformation Of A Culture Of War, S. Elizabeth Snyder

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In reaction to its militarist past, Germany has created a strong culture of peace, including solid educational and institutional supports for maintaining popular attitudes critical of war and military operations. Germany has been recognized for these efforts by a number of international organizations, including the United Nations. At the same time, Germany has sought to maintain a policy of active membership in NATO and active cooperation and participation in NATO operations. As the United States applies increased pressure on its NATO allies in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan, many of the inherent social and political tensions in German policy …

Thinking About Peace, Conflict, And War: An Introduction To The Special Issue, Sondra J. Fogel, Daniel Liechty

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This special issue had humble beginnings. As a matter of fact, odds were stacked against it, especially given that the original plan for this topic was for a panel discussion based on submitted work to the 2009 Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) Conference. However, not one abstract was received for this topic. I found this quite curious and alarming since at that time this country was engaged in two wars, there was continuous media coverage around "terrorist" activities, and we were experiencing frequent changes to our daily routines based on new security measures. Anti-war protestors were growing …

Thinking About Peace Today, Michael Allen Fox

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Discussing peace-and how to get to and maintain situations, practices, and socio-political structures that build peace-is of the greatest urgency. But the first step, both psychologically and epistemologically, is overcoming preoccupation with war and resistance to thinking about peace. This article takes on these problems and lays essential groundwork for substantive discussion of peace. Attractions of war and myths of war are deconstructed, and negative views of humans' capacity for peaceful behavior are examined and rejected. Wide-ranging costs of war and war-preparedness are also exposed. The value of peace is then discussed. A concluding section offers a list of "home …

Susan Weinger, Nate Coe

International Faculty Researchers

Advancing the knowledge of rural Bangladeshi women about gardening and nutrition and increasing access to basic health care services and information for Cambodian school children was the foci of Dr. Susan Weinger’s research and volunteerism on a three-month overseas trip in summer 2010.

Susan Weinger's website

Review Of A Dream Deferred: How Social Work Lost Its Way And What Can Be Done. David Stoesz, Howard Jacob Karger, And Terry Carrilio. Reviewed By Michael Reisch., Michael Reisch

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of David Stoesz, Howard Jacob Karger, and Terry Carrilio, A Dream Deferred: How Social Work Lost its Way and What Can Be Done (2010), New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. $39.95 (hardcover).

Review Of Economic Sociology: A Systematic Inquiry. Alejandro Portes. Reviewed By Eric Cheney., Eric Cheney

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Alejandro Portes, Economic Sociology: A Systematic Inquiry, Princeton University Press, (2010). $27.95 (paperback).

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 38, No. 1 (March 2011)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• PROTECTING OLDER WORKERS: THE FAILURE OF THE AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ACT OF 1967 - Jessica Z. Rothenberg and Daniel S. Gardner
• ATTITUDES, BEHAVIOR, AND SOCIAL PRACTICE - Harris Chaiklin
• SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO? WHY APPLICANTS LEAVE THE EXTENDED WELFARE APPLICATION PROCESS - Marci Ybarra
• U.S. IMMIGRATION POLICY AND IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING: THE IMPACT OF POLICY SHIFTS - David K. Androff, Cecilia Ayón, David Becerra, Maria Gurrola, Lorraine Salas, Judy Krysik, Karen Gerdes, and Elizabeth Segal
• ANALYZING THE POVERTY REDUCTION EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CANADIAN PROVINCES: DO POLITICAL PARTIES MATTER? - Robert D. Weaver, Nazim …

The Differentiated Impact Of Bridging And Bonding Social Capital On Economic Well-Being: An Individual Level Perspective, Saijun Zhang, Steven. G. Anderson, Min Zhan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social capital refers to trust, norms, and social networks. One of the most important features of social capital is its claimed capacity of promoting economic well-being. Theorists have assumed that any such effects vary according to the nature of different types of social capital. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative dataset, this study investigates the differentiated effects of individual bonding and bridging social capital on subsequent personal income and income-to-needs ratios. The analyses demonstrate that bridging capital, indicated by involvement in various voluntary organizations, has small but significant effects on future economic wellbeing. However, bonding capital, indicated by connections …

Inabel Burns Lindsay: Social Work Pioneer Contributor To Practice And Education Through A Socio-Cultural Perspective, Annie Woodley Brown, Ruby Morton Gourdine, Sandra Edmonds Crewe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Dr. Inabel Burns Lindsay (1900-1983), founding dean of the Howard University School of Social Work, was an early proponent for the consideration of race and culture in social work education and practice with racial and ethnic minorities. Using primary and secondary data sources, the authors trace the evolution of Dr. Lindsay's thinking on the role of race, class, gender and ethnicity in the helping process and finally her development of a socio-cultural perspective. Particular attention is given to her persistent efforts to disseminate this information and incorporate it into the curriculum of the Howard University School of Social Work decades …

Protecting Older Workers: The Failure Of The Age Discrimination In Employment Act Of 1967, Jessica Z. Rothenberg, Daniel S. Gardner

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A growing number of older adults are finding that retirement is no longer affordable and they must work well into their later years. Unfortunately, over 42 years after passage of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967, age discrimination in the workplace continues to present serious impediments to employment in later life. Using a critical gerontology perspective, this paper reviews the history of work-related age discrimination and analyzes the ADEA and its limited effectiveness at protecting the civil and economic rights of older workers. The authors discuss implications and suggest policy alternatives that would support the employment and …

Attitudes, Behavior, And Social Practice, Harris Chaiklin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The relationship between attitudes and behavior is not symmetrical. A literature review is used to organize a summary of methodological and practical problems in this area. In turn, these findings are used to comment on how sociology and social work practice can take this into account.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go? Why Applicants Leave The Extended Welfare Application Process, Marci Ybarra

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Since welfare reform of 1996, the use of extended application periods as a condition of welfare participation has become increasingly popular. Extended application periods include mandatory work activities and caseworker meetings for a period of time as a condition of and prerequisite to eligibility for welfare services. While much scholarly work has focused on welfare participants, we know comparatively less about those who apply for services but ultimately do not participate or receive benefits. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a random sample of twenty recent welfare applicants in the state of Wisconsin who did not complete the extended welfare application …

U.S. Immigration Policy And Immigrant Children's Well-Being: The Impact Of Policy Shifts, David K. Androff, Cecilia Ayon, David Becerra, Maria Gurrola, Lorraine Salas, Judy Krysik, Karen Gerdes, Elizabeth Segal

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

America is built upon a history of immigration; yet current immigration policy and anti-immigrant sentiment negatively affect the vulnerable population of immigrant families and children. Immigrant children face many problems, including economic insecurity, barriers to education, poor health outcomes, the arrest and deportation of family members, discrimination, and trauma and harm to their communities. These areas of immigrant children's economic and material well-being are examined in light of restrictive and punitive immigration policies at the federal and local level. Implications for social policy reform, such as decriminalization, are discussed.

Analyzing The Poverty Reduction Effectiveness Of The Canadian Provinces: Do Political Parties Matter?, Robert D. Weaver, Nazim Habivov, Lida Fan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The implementation of the Canada Health and Social Transfer in 1996 marked a new era for the Canadian welfare state, as greater discretion in the area of social welfare policy and programming was granted to the provinces. In this study, the authors analyzed nationally representative data to determine if the governing provincial parties, characterized by distinct ideological and party platform positions, differed in regards to their poverty reduction effectiveness during 1996-2005. The authors' analysis yielded no differences between the governing provincial parties in terms of their poverty reduction effectiveness. The study's implications for future research, including research on subnational variation …

Surviving The Early Years Of The Personal Responsibility And Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, Joyce Bialik

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A system that increasingly stigmatized its recipients only became more stigmatizing with the enactment in 1996 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) program. This program has been so successful in deterring cashneedy people from applying for assistance that the decline in participation from the start of the program continues-even in times of economic downturn. The study reported here follows 150 impoverished families during the first three years of PRWORA, when the economy was booming. The data were derived from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project of 1996-2001. Through this secondary analysis a construct was …