Social Work Commons^™

The Benefits Of Marriage Reconsidered, Barbara Wells, Maxine Baca Zinn

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper suggests that analyses of marriage experience take into account both structures of inequality and context. Although marriage is widely viewed as producing economic well-being and family stability, this analysis of a sample of White rural families finds the likelihood of realizing these benefits to be closely related to social class position. Marriage failed to produce these benefits for many working class and poor families. Although gains in economic self-sufficiency are viewed as an explanation for White women's perceived retreat from marriage, the limited opportunity structure for women in this rural place provides a context in which women continue …

Adoption In The U.S.: The Emergence Of A Social Movement, Frances A. Dellacava, Norma Kolko Phillips, Madeline H. Engel

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Adoption Movement, which has been evolving in the U.S. since the late 1970s, is now fully formed. As a proactive, reformative social movement, adoption has reached the organizational, or institutional, stage. Evidence is seen in the roles assumed by government and voluntary agencies and organizations, as well as other systems in society, to support adoption, and in the extent to which adoption has been infused in the American culture, making it a part of our everyday landscape. Implications of the adoption movement for the helping professions are discussed, as is its impact on increasing cultural and racial diversity in …

Cleavage In American Attitudes Toward Social Welfare, William M. Epstein

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Opinion polls probing both the narrow and broad senses of social welfare among Americans indicate hardly any substantial differences over crucial social sentiments among a variety of groups with at least theoretically divergent interests: rich and poor, men and women, blacks and whites, a variety of ethnic groups, union and nonunion households. The items mainly concern the provision of welfare to the poor through AFDC, now TANF, and Food Stamps but also cover OASDHI. Consistently over more than sixty five years of systematic opinion polling, there is an astonishing consensus, so large in fact that it may undermine any effort …

Review Of Crime, Control And Social Justice: A Delicate Balance. Darnell F Hawkins, Samuel L. Meyers, Jr. And Randolph N. Stone (Eds.). Reviewed By Elizabeth Pomeroy., Elizabeth C. Pomeroy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Darnell E Hawkins, Samuel L. Myers, and Randolph N. Stone (Editors). Crime Control and Social Justice: The Delicate Balance. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2003. $79.95 hardcover.

Social Work And Aging In An Aging Society: Education, Policy, Practice And Research. Barbara Berkman And Linda Harootyan (Eds.)., Judie Svihula

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Barbara Berkman and Linda Harootyan (Eds.), Social Work and Health Care in an Aging Society: Education, Policy, Practice and Research. New York: Springer Publishing Co., 2003. $ 52.95 hardcover.

Regressive Taxation And The Welfare State: Path Dependence And Policy Diffusion. Junko Kato., Michael Courville

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Junko Kato, Regressive Taxation and the Welfare State: Path Dependence and Policy Diffusion. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. $55.00 hardcover.

Examining The Relationship Between Community Residents' Economic Status And The Outcomes Of Community Development Programs, Christopher R. Larrison, Eric Hadley-Ives

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In designing and implementing community development interventions the economic status of targeted participants is a demographic characteristic worth considering. The findings from this research indicate that even within the limited economies of rural Mexican villages there are variations in economic status that affect the ways in which the outcomes of community development programs are perceived. The poorest of the poor are likely to be less satisfied with development projects than those with average or better-off economic status. This is true whether a development project uses a bottomup approach or a top-down approach. The more participatory approach does not attenuate the …

Measuring And Indigenizing Social Capital In Relation To Children's Street Work In Mexico: The Role Of Culture In Shaping Social Capital Indicators, Kristin M. Ferguson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Drawing from social capital theory, this study assessed the relevance of existing conceptions of social capital-largely from the United States and Canada-in the Mexican context, in an effort to contribute novel variables to the street-children literature. Using a cross-sectional survey design, 204 mothers of street-working and non-working children were interviewed within one community in Monterrey, Nuevo Le6n, Mexico. Factor analysis was used to corroborate the internal construct validity of two dimensions of social capital: family social capital and community social capital. Findings reveal that culture can play an influential role in how social capital indicators are defined and measured.

The Welfare Myth: Disentangling The Long-Term Effects Of Poverty And Welfare Receipt For Young Single Mothers, Thomas P. Vartanian, Justine M. Mcnamara

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study investigates the effects of receiving welfare as a young woman on long-term economic and marital outcomes. Specifically, we examine if there are differences between young, single mothers who receive welfare and young, single mothers who are poor but do not receive welfare. Using the 1968-1997 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, our findings suggest those who receive welfare for an extended period as young adults have the same pre-transfer income over a 10 to 20 year period as those who are poor but do not receive welfare as young adults. While we found some differences between the two groups …

Review Of Western Welfare In Decline: Globalization And Women's Poverty. Catherine Kingfisher. Reviewed By Silvia Borzutsky., Silvia Borzutzky

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Catherine Kingfisher, Western Welfare in Decline: Globalization and Women's Poverty. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003. $49.95 hardcover, $21.95 papercover.

Review Of Newcomers To Old Towns: Suburbanization Of The Heartland. Sonya Salamon. Reviewed By Joseph Deering., Joseph A. Deering

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Sonja Salamon, Newcomers to Old Towns: Suburbanization of the Heartland. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. $35.00 hardcover.

Review Of The Persistence Of Poverty In The United States. Garth L. Mangum, Stephen L. Mangum And Andrew M. Sum. The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle Class Mothers And Fathers Are Going Broke. Elizabeth Warren And Amelia Warren Tyagi. Reviewed By James Midgley., James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Garth L. Mangum, Stephen L. Mangum and Andrew M. Sum, The Persistence of Poverty in the United States. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. $19.95 papercover. Elizabeth Warren.and Amelia Warren Tyagi, The Two-income Trap: Why Middle Class Mothers and Fathers are Going Broke. New York: Basic Books, 2003. $26.00 hardcover.

Seasons Such As These: How Homelessness Took Shape In America. Cynthia J. Bogard., Robert Leighninger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Cynthia J. Bogard, Seasons Such as These: How Homelessness Took Shape in America. Hawthorne, NY: Aldyne de Gruyter, 2003, $41.95 hardcover, $21.95 papercover

Drugs, Alcohol And Social Problems. James D. Orcut And David R. Rudy (Eds.)., Sean R. Hogan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for James D. Orcutt and David R. Rudy (Eds.), Drugs, Alcohol, and Social Problems. Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield, 2003. $72.00 hardcover, $29.95 papercover.

Public Pensions: Gender And Civic Service In The States, 1850-1937. Susan M. Sterett., James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Susan M. Sterett, Public Pensions: Gender and Civic Service in the States, 1850-1937. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2003. $ 39.95 papercover.

The Decline Of The Public Intellectual In Social Work, Howard Jacob Karger, Marie Theresa Herndndez

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article examines reasons for social work's abandonment of public discourse, activism and intellectual life. It also explores strategies to encourage the profession to reenter public life and develop a modern cadre of social work identified public intellectuals. Specifically, this process entails professional and academic reform and a renewed vision around the social justice mission of social work.

What Mothers Want: Welfare Reform And Maternal Desire, Patricia K. Jennings

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In this study I use participant observations,face-to-face interviews, and focus group interviews to examine how women on welfare read and negotiate culture-of-poverty discourse and the imagery that this discourse spawns. I spoke with two groups of young single mothers receiving welfare. The first group included young mothers between the ages of 18 and 23 who were attending high school in a community-based program that served women on welfare. The second group included mothers in their early to mid 20's who were attending either a local two-year college or research university. Education was a path of resistance for the women in …

Informal Care-Two-Tiered Care? The Work Of Family Members And Friends In Hospitals And Cancer Centres, Christina Sinding

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In a qualitative study conducted in Ontario, Canada, family members and friends of ill people defined a normal territory in which care from health professionals could not be counted on to be timely, effective or empathic. Under these conditions relatives and friends took on considerable responsibility, both for providing care and for securing care from health professionals. Yet considerable variation was apparent in this study in the sense respondents had of their own capacities to provide and secure care. Findings from this study suggest that service tiers exist in the institutional care system, linked to the time, knowledge and resources …

Self-Help Group Participation And Empowerment In Hong Kong, Bong-Ho Mok

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper reports on the first comprehensive study of self-help groups in Hong Kong. Initial findings from the quantative and qualitative data suggest that self-help group participation has an impact on intrapersonal, interpersonal and community/political empowerment. Based on existing data, this study has resulted in the development of a hypothetical model encompassing the interrelationships among self-help group participation, social support, social learning, leadership and empowerment, for testing in future research.

Review Of Global Decisions, Local Collisions: Urban Life In The New World Order. David Ranney. Reviewed By Robert L. Boyd., Robert L. Boyd

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of David Ranney, Global Decisions, Local Collisions: Urban Life in the New World Order. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2003. $69.50 paperback.

Review Of Protecting Participants And Facilitating Social And Behavioral Sciences Research. Constance F Citro, Daniel R. Iglen And Cora B. Marrett (Eds.)., Ed Cohen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book book note for Constance F. Citro, Daniel R. Iglen and Cora B. Marrett (Eds.), Protecting Participants and Facilitating Social and Behavioral Sciences Research. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2003. $39.00 papercover.

Rationalizing Capitalist Democracy: The Cold War Origins Of Rational Choice Liberalism. S. M. Amadae., James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for S. M. Amadae, Rationalizing Capitalist Democracy: The Cold War Origins of Rational Choice Liberalism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. $19.00 papercover.

Losing The "Eyes In The Back Of Our Heads": Social Service Skills, Lean Caring, And Violence, Donna Baines

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Violence in the social services work place in general, and the developmental services in particular,h as increased in the last several years. Findingsf rom an ethnographic study suggests that new, lean forms of work organization remove opportunities to use or learn many of the tacit or practice skills workers previously used to keep themselves and their clients safer in the work place. This article describes many of these skills and the new management schemes that remove the possibility to develop or transmit these praxis skills. The article concludes by analyzing the convergence between the new labour processes and the competency …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 31, No. 3 (September 2004)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• PRESIDENTS, PROFITS, PRODUCTIVITY, & POVERTY: A GREAT DIVIDE BETWEEN THE PRE- AND POST-REAGAN U.S. ECONOMY? - Richard K. Caputo
• LOSING THE "EYES IN THE BACK OF OUR HEADS": SOCIAL SERVICE SKILLS, LEAN CARING, AND VIOLENCE - Donna Baines
• THE DECLINE OF THE PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL IN SOCIAL WORK - Howard Jacob Karger, Marie Theresa Herndndez
• INFORMAL CARE-TWO-TIERED CARE? THE WORK OF FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS IN HOSPITALS AND CANCER CENTRES - Christina Sinding
• ECONOMIC WELL-BEING OF SINGLE MOTHERS: WORK FIRST OR POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION? - Min Zhan, Shanta Pandey
• WHAT MOTHERS WANT: WELFARE REFORM AND MATERNAL DESIRE - Patricia …

Economic Well-Being Of Single Mothers: Work First Or Postsecondary Education?, Min Zhan, Shanta Pandey

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article investigates the relationship between single mothers' education and their economic well-being. Through the analysis of the 1993 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data, we examine the effect of education on a sample of White and African American single mothers. The results indicate that past work experience is a weak predictor of current economic well-being. Having education, particularly postsecondary education, on the other hand, significantly improves their economic status. The results challenge the "work-first" approach to alleviating poverty and provide more support for designing policies to develop human capital.

Supportive Communities, An Optimum Arrangement For The Older Population?, Miriam Billig

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The preference of older people to stay in their own natural environment requires a reassessment of the approach in dealing with this population group. This exploratory study examines a program conducted in Israel called the "Supportive Community", that provides an emergency call service and other essential services at the homes of older people. A case study was performed in two such supportive communities. Interviews conducted with those who operate the programs and with its members seem to indicate that supportive communities provide a satisfactory solution to the needs of older people who continue to live in their natural environment. Many …

Review Of The Color Of Credit: Mortgage Discrimination, Research Methodology And Fair Lending Enforcement. Stephen L. Ross And John Yinger. Reviewed By Howard Jacob Karger., Howard Jacob Karger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Stephen L. Ross and John Yinger, The Color of Credit: Mortgage Discrimination, Research Methodology and Fair Lending Enforcement. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003. $39.95 hardcover.

Review Of Evaluation In Child And Family Services: Comparative Client And Program Perspectives. Tiziano Vecchiato, Anthony N. Malucchio And Cinzia Canali (Eds.). Reviewed By Victor Groza., Victor Groza

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Tiziano Vecchiato, Anthony N. Malucchio and Cinzia Canali (Eds), Evaluation in Child and Family Services: Comparative Client and Program Perspectives. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter, 2003. $49.95 hardcover, $24.95 papercover.

Review Of Men Who Believe In Feminism. Amanda Goldrick Jones. Reviewed By Cheryl A. Hyde., Cheryl A. Hyde

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Amanda Goldrick Jones, Men Who Believe in Feminism. Westport, CT: Praegar, 2003. $64.95 hardcover.

Social Work And Human Rights: A Foundation For Policy And Practice. Elizabeth Reichert. Reviewed By Mel Gray., Mel Gray

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Elisabeth Reichert, Social Work and Human Rights: A Foundation for Policy and Practice. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. $49.50 hardcover, $24.50 papercover.