Social Work Commons^™

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., …

Racial Segregation: The Impact Of Monthly Contract Rent And Family Income, George E. O'Connell

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The socioeconomic model of racial segregation is evaluated in terms of the impact of monthly contract rent and family income on the housing patterns of blacks and nonblacks. On the basis of 1970 census tract data for four metropolitan areas--Newark, Detroit, Dallas and San Francisco-Oakland--the analysis is carried out using Taeuber's index of dissimilarity and the method of indirect standardization. The results indicate that the socioeconomic model helps to explain racial segregation when rent differences between blacks and nonblacks are analyzed as the cause. Analysis by family income, however, indicates that for many black families the problem is not that …

Social Choice And Policy Formulation: Problems And Considerations In The Construction Of The Public Interest, Irv Berkowitz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The need for and adoption of certain social policies for the nation are frequently rationalized by their advocates as being in the public interest. Often, though, the interest of the many merely disguises the special interests and wants of the few. It is obvious that the social choices made in the policy process only rarely benefit the interests of all without being adversely consequential to some. This paper argues that the problem of social choice in the conflictual process of policy making is as much a conceptual dilemma as a practical political or economic one. A major source of this …

The Social Construction Of Professional Knowledge: Social Work Ideology, 1956-1973, Danny L. Jorgensen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper reports on patterns and trends of ideological advocacy in social work. Findings from a content analysis of Social Work indicate that conceptions of this service profession have changed over a recent eighteen year period. Changes in professional meanings are analyzed in terms of authors' educational status, employment setting, and the problematic topics they discussed. This analysis supports a process model of reality construction in professional arenas and provides implications for the self-conscious management of professional imagery.

A Study Of Strategies Used In The Pursuit Of Legal Regulation Of Social Work, John T. Gandy, Frank B. Raymond

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The debate regarding legal regulation in social work has continued for a number of years. The issues are varied, including the desirability of licensing, the lack of progress in the achievement of regulation, and the discrepancy as to the form of such regulation.

The authors examined a topic area which they believe might be basic to the profession's problems with legal regulation, that being the procedure and process utilized by states in achieving such regulation. The primary purpose of the empirical research concerned the identification and description of strategies used by state chapters of the National Association of Social Workers …

Exploring The Validity Of Multi Causal Models In Problem Analysis: The Case Of Child Abuse, Nolan Rindfleisch

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of the study reported here was to assess the validity of a multi-causal view of child abuse as it is manifested in children's institutions. The analytical model utilized underlines the powerful role that norms play in creating differential predispositions to violence, that pressures and structural position play in creating differential chances of violence among people with different predispositions and that a sense of injustice plays as a dynamic through which violence is generated.

This ex post facto study utilized role playing techniques to examine voluntary harm doing in a purposive sample of 100 direct caregivers in 42 living …

Do Agency Administrative Changes Affect The Effectiveness And Efficiency Of Dhr Employees?, Richard M. Grinnell Jr., Linda S. Hill

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study examined the perceived effectiveness and efficiency of DHR employees before and after agency administrative changes. Results indicated that the employees' perceptions of effectiveness and efficiency after agency administrative changes were not significantly affected. The employees also felt that "communication" was the major factor hindering them in becoming more effective and efficient.

Consciousness Raising, Values, And Practice Behavior, Joseph R. Steiner

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper advocates for more conscious awareness of values, and their logical link, along with knowledge, to practice. A logical network is developed which reveals the association between values, knowledge, and practice behaviors. Excnples from social work literature are used to illustrate the breakdown in the logical development of practice which occurs when values are suppressed or are only dealt with subjectively. Examples are also given based upon a planning group in which values were defined and used with community data to logically deduce 'what ought to be done." A plan for self study is also developed.

Status Enhancement And Social Problem Concerns: An Essay On The Course Of State Social Work Associations, Timothy Lause

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social work's ability to contribute to the development of a more just and humanistic society is currently Inhibited by a state-level preoccupation with status enhancement. Professional status consciousness, in Itself, does have potential for promoting developmental forms of professional accountability and the further humanization of service bureaucracies. Current circumstances, however, prevent the fulfillment of either of these potentials.

When Clients Complain: Bureaucratic Responsiveness In Large Federal Agencies, Harvey A. Abrams, Peter Bidney

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

High error rates in entitlements and slow responses to client complaints by Federal agencies are analyzed from a r.arket-power frame of reference focusing on the relative powerlessness of agency clients in relation to agencies which hold monopolies of life sustaining benefits. Data from a survey of Members of Congress are presented to provide an estimate of error rates. Three alternative structural solutions to the problem of unresponsiveness are assessed, including increased congressional casework service, ombudsmen services, and use of Federal Information Centers to aid clients. Necessary quality control procedures to facilitate each solution are described.

Requisites For The Establishment, Implementation, And Evaluation Of Social Work Treatment Programs For Anti-Social Children, John S. Wodarski

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Requisites for the establishment, implementation and evaluation of social work treatment programs for anti-social children are reviewed. Specific items discussed are: how does one ascertain the level at which change efforts should be directed, i.e., individual, group, organizational, or societal; what is the appropriate context for behavioral change; who should act as the change agent; what characteristics should the worker possess; what are the rationale for service provided; how long should the treatment continue; how does one prepare for the termination of treatment and maintenance of behavior; what organizational factors of treatment contexts are pertinent to the constructive delivery of …

Professionalism And The Control Of Knowledge, John M. Booker, Allen W. Imershein

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Madness becomes mental illness through the joint project of psychiatry and the community of consensus lent to it. The psychiatrist, like the shaman (to paraphrase Leve'-Strauss), acts through the cultural plasma of his times. And the psychiatrist provides a definition for events, making mental illness of madness, while occupying a unique position within the scheme of society.

Psychiatry has been attacked from many directions in recent years. Despite these varied challenges, however, its power appears to have abated little if at all. How can we account for this fact? On the surface one might assume that the scientific basis or …

The Research Component Of Doctoral Programs In Social Work: A Survey, Richard M. Grinnell, Jr., Nancy S. Kyte, Mary Hunter

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The doctoral program in social work has traditionally been viewed as encompassing a predominantly research-oriented, knowledge-building emphasis. It is acknowledged that if social workers are to be prepared to competently understand, utilize, participate in, and produce practice-relevant empirical studies, research must constitute an integral component of the educational process at the doctoral level. The rapid increase in doctoral programs, heightened confusion over the function of the Ph.D. and DSW, current trends to reconceptualize the structure of social work education, and the obvious consequences posed by the progressive erosion of master's-level research curricula, this is an area strongly in need of …

Integrating Child Care Services: Overcoming Structural Obstacles To Collaboration Of Institutional And Community Agency Staffs, Arthur K. Berliner

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social Work practice settings are so diversified that different perspectives inevitably develop among practitioners. These may undermine collaborative efforts between agencies. Child care services afford an example of a field requiring diversified agency settings and therefore vulnerable to development of contrasting perspectives. Some of the sources of an "institutional perspective" and of a "community perspective" are identified, as well as problems originating in lack of a shared perspective. Proposals for overcoming these problems and promoting integration of services comprises the final section of the paper.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 6, No. 3 (May 1979)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Table of Contents

• Three Mile Island - A Personal Report - JAMES R. HUDSON - pp. 288
• Implications of Racism for Social Work Practice - SEYMOUR MIRELOWITZ - pp. 297
• Psychiatry and Society: Professionalism and the Control of Knowledge - JOHN M. BOOKER, ALLEN W. IMERSHEIN - pp. 313
• The Social Policy of Denial: Unemployment in Israel - HARRIS CHAIKLIN - pp. 326
• Requisites for the Establishment, Implementation and Evaluation of Social Work Treatment Programs for Anti-Social Children - JOHN S. WODARSKI - pp. 339
• Public Monitoring of Contracts with Nonprofit Organizations: Organizational Mission in Two Sectors - BRUCE S. …

Implications Of Racism For Social Work Practice, Seymour Mirelowitz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper examines school and practice issues in social work in relationship to the concepts of ethnicity, minority groups, racism, and institutional racism. Operational definitions to establish conceptual clarity are also developed. The statistical aspects of progression vis-a-vis cultural diversity in social work institutions, enrollment in schools of social work, and representation on the faculty of schools of social work are studied. Social policy and the implementation of change in social work practice and education are then dealt with in relation to the current reality of the profession and the society in which it functions.

Three Mile Island - A Personal Report, James R. Hudson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

March 29, 1979 was the first day of the spring term at The Pennsylvania State University--Capitol Campus. I had joined a car pool and as we drove from Lancaster to Middletown the conversation centered on the news from Three Mile Island. We were clearly unaware of the severity of the problem, but two of the riders were active in anti-nuclear energy organizations. They were grim and intense. Their central concern at the moment was how to mobilize the campus in some way to respond to the potential hazard. There was a certain deja vu in the themes of the conversation. …

The Social Policy Of Denial: Unemployment In Israel, Harris Chaiklin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

When reality does not match the dream nations tend to suffer. In Israel unemployment compromises social democratic ideals. The country oscillates between bombast and despair. Official data is not trusted. Those who leave Russia on Israeli visas and do not come are "dropouts." Those who leave Israel for other countries are "yordim." Those who go to work every day when there is nothing to do are draining the nation with "hidden unemployment." These are terms of derision. Some of the difficulty with unemployment data and understanding Israeli response to the problem may be for security reasons. Israelis have lived in …

Public Monitoring Of Contracts With Nonprofit Organizations: Organizational Mission In Two Sectors, Bruce S. Jansson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Public officials in the human service delivery system must wrestle with complex decisions regarding utilization of agencies in the nonpublic sector to deliver publicly funded services. Data from a survey of 167 agencies in a major metropolitan area suggest that there are still substantial differences in priorities and service approaches of public and nonpublic agencies. These differences suggest that public officials may need to devote more resources to ascertaining whether and when public agencies should themselves deliver publicly funded services and to strengthening public monitoring of contracts in the private sector.

The Stable Poor And Criticism Of Poverty Area Agencies, Peter L. Heller, Maria Del Carmen Rivera-Worley, H. Paul Chalfant

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

International and cross-cultural research concerning populations living in poverty have uncovered similarities in attitudes and behaviors associated with participation in society's institutional systems. One of these similarities is that feelings of alienation are an inevitable "reaction of the poor to their marginal position in a class-stratified, highly individuated, capitalistic society" (Lewis, 1966:21). These feelings, in turn, have led poor people in general to withdraw from participation in community life, including the community's institutions charged with the task of delivering services associated with physical welfare. The central task of this paper is to report findings that suggest that the degree of …

Loneliness And Deprivation: The Case Of Roman Catholic Priests, John F. Schnabel, John P. Koval

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Using Roman Catholic Priests as a test in order to control for deprivation in relationships of intimacy while maximizing the need for social network relationships, an examination was made of their differential experience of loneliness.

The evidence suggested repeatedly that priests were more likely to experience loneliness as a serious problem when they perceived that the social network which they regarded as most significant in their lives (the Church) placed some kind of structural limitation on the extent of their involvement in it. Factors, for example, which help determine the individual priest's place in the structure of the Church are: …

Social Work And Criminal Justice Student Support Of Civil Liberties, David A. Fabianic

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Varying levels of support for civil liberties have been imputed to social work and criminal justice personnel. Assuming students planning to pursue these professional roles reflect attitudes in accordance with anticipated demands of the positions and the effects of preparatory educational experiences, this paper examines the levels of support for selected provisions of the Bill of Rights among social work and criminal justice undergraduate students.

The Principles Of General Systems Theory Applied To The Medical Model: Who Benefits?, James T. Decker, John R. Redhorse

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The term "Medical Model", though frequently used by professionals, theoreticians and laymen in referring to certain aspects of the medical profession, or of the entire medical system, is rarely used with any degree of precision. The term, indeed, has been used as a shorthand expression, leaving it unnecessary to explicate descriptively the interrelated components of the medical arena. The theories, conceptual constructs, practice, and operating ideologies of the Medical Model, and their association with bi-cultural, economic, political and other concepts are left unspoken. These elements are simply assumed to be implicit in the use of the term. It is our …

Blacks And Capital Punishment: An Assessment Of Latent Discriminatory Justice In The United States, Laurence French

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A major consideration in interethnic relations is the control factor and how this is maintained in minority/ majority situations especially those occurring within heterogeneous societies. Granted numerous subtle control processes operate at both the primary and secondary levels of interethnic interaction but a critical measure of the effectiveness of minority subjugation is reflected in judicial discrimination. This formal legal control apparatus has a legal mandate to deny social members their freedom, to punish and even to execute them. In the United States the criminal justice system's avowed mandate is to provide 'equal justice' for all citizens without discrimination due to …

Professional Social Work Associations And Legislative Action 1974 To 1977, Timothy Lause

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

NASW state chapters have increasingly become involved in the pursuit of state legislative priorities. However, direct focus upon social problem concerns accounted for a minor and declining share of the chapters' foremost legislative priorities. Preoccupation with the institutionalization of professional status does not appear to be a transitional chapter concern associated only with the attainment of licensed status.