Social Work Commons^™

Punishment By Another Name? The Welfare State’S Disciplinary Role In The United States And Britain, Kavya Padmanabhan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Scholarship on the changing nature of the welfare state in both the United States and in Britain has revealed how the influence of neoliberal ideologies has heightened the experience of punishment for poor mothers. Through a comparative literature review on the welfare states in the United States and in Britain, this article builds upon prior research to consider how the welfare state’s contemporary focus on discipline may be the product of neo- liberalism and may encourage similarities across different contexts. Furthermore, this article considers how the welfare state’s different agencies may be united in their goals and treatment of poor …

Review Of Welfare States In The 21st Century: The New Five Giants Confronting Societal Progress By Ian Greener, James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Neighborhood Tenure, Donated Social Support, And Participation In Low- And Moderate-Income Communities, Megan E. Gilster

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Understanding what facilitates participation in neighborhood civic life is important for improving participatory interventions, and ultimately improving neighborhoods. The longer someone lives in a neighborhood, the more likely they are to participate in their neighborhood by organizing with neighbors, volunteering, or taking on a leadership role in a neighborhood organization. At the same time, the longer someone lives in a socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhood, the more social ties they develop, which may increase social obligations. The present study examines whether helping friends and family (i.e., donated social support) is a barrier to neighborhood participation. Data come from the Anne E. Casey …

Journal Of Sociology And Social Welfare Vol. 49, No. 1

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Applying Critical Race Theory And Risk And Resilience Theory To The School-To-Prison Pipeline: Theoretical Frameworks For Social Workers, Christopher Thyberg, Christina Newhill

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social workers are essential stakeholders in the mounting efforts to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. This article presents a theoretical framework integrating Critical Race Theory and Risk and Resilience Theory as a tool for social workers and other school-based social service providers seeking to create meaningful change to school discipline policies. In this article, we apply the theories to expand the understanding of the school-to-prison pipeline and why it has persisted, compare and contrast each theory’s relative strengths and limitations, and conclude with implications for social workers, counselors, and social service providers at the practice, policy, and research levels.

What Do We Know About Access To Public Benefits And Services Among Low-Income Minority Families?: A Scoping Review Of The Literature, Chi-Fang Wu, Steven G. Anderson, Anissa Sheena Chitwanga, Soohyun Yoon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In a time of economic crisis following decades of reduced commitments to low-income families, it is critically important to improve our understanding of the obstacles encountered by low-income families attempting to access public benefits and services. Following PRISMA guidelines, this paper offers a scoping review of research published since 2000 that addresses the distinctive barriers encountered by minorities in the United States when attempting to access public benefits. While our review included studies on access to all types of public social welfare benefits, most research during the study period focused specifically on access issues in obtaining various forms of health …

A Psychometric Evaluation Of The Mutual Efficacy Scale: Factor Structure, Convergent, And Divergent Validity, Michael C. Gearhart

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Mutual efficacy refers to group members’ beliefs that collective action will be successful at achieving group goals. The primary purpose of mutual efficacy is to increase the effectiveness of interventions aimed at facilitating collective actions in communities. The present study builds on previous mutual efficacy research by examining the psychometric properties of a mutual efficacy scale. Findings suggest that the mutual efficacy scale represents a single construct, though some of the items correlate with each other. Mutual efficacy is positively correlated with neighborhood activism and not correlated with neighborhood disorder. The implications for practice and research are discussed.

Review Of The Tyranny Of Merit: What’S Become Of The Common Good? By Michael J. Sandel, Edward Murphy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

A Qualitative Exploration Of Justice System Stakeholders’ Perceptions Of Disproportionate Minority Contact And Behavioral Health Access Among System-Involved Youth Of Color, Tiffany D. Baffour, Dawn X. Henderson, Denise Nation, Pedro M. Hernandez

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Previous research demonstrates that system-involved youth of color experience procedural and structural biases within the U.S. juvenile justice system. These biases and disparities are evident in behavioral health access and treatment. This study examined justice stakeholders’ (social workers, therapists, court counselors, judges, and school resource officers) perceptions of barriers and facilitators to behavioral health treatment among youth of color in the juvenile justice system. This qualitative exploratory study examined data from six focus groups comprising statewide stakeholders (n = 55) from a southeastern state. Results showed that the stigma associated with behavioral health treatment and the incapability of juvenile justice …

The Origin And Evolution Of The Term "Social Work", Wade Luquet, Stephen Monroe Tomczak

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The origin of the term “social work” has long been misattributed to the 1907 work of economist Simon Patten. While Patten’s contribution to social work is important, though mostly forgotten, the term had been used long before regarding the work of nuns and settlement workers. Quoting archival and historical findings, this article traces the origin, evolution, and widespread use of the term “social work.” The words of the early founders of social work are utilized to tell the story of how the work of persons doing “the social work” of the church or settlement evolved into the name of the …

Promote Smart Decarceration And Eliminate Racism Grand Challenges For Social Work: Reimagining Marijuana Policy, Charles H. Lea Iii, Gaby Mohr, Susan A. Mccarter, Sarah B. Coughlin, Aaron Gottlieb, Briana S. Partlow, Keshawn S. Matthews, Branden A. Mcleod

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Marijuana decriminalization and legalization policies are being passed in many state and local jurisdictions throughout the United States (U.S.). In this process, many lawmakers have used the argument that these policies and associated practices will redress racial disparities in the criminal punishment system. Yet, the evidence suggests this is not the case. We, therefore, use Critical Race Theory (CRT) to interrogate how marijuana-related policies and practices perpetuate collateral consequences and racial disparities in mass incarceration and recidivism to uncover the ways in which they challenge efforts to promote smart decarceration and eliminate racism. We argue that in order to effectively …

Journal Of Sociology And Social Welfare Vol. 49, No. 2

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Non-Contractual Relations Between Private Mutual Aid And Government During A Crisis, Roland Zullo, Heather Kiningham

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

We examine United Ways 211 call data to test for a non-contractual relationship between a mutual aid nonprofit network and the distribution of federal stimulus checks during the COVID-19 economic recession. Data trends reveal an increase in requests for cash-equivalent relief at the early stage of the 2020 recession, and that the spike in requests from government sources was more than double, proportionately, than for requests from private mutual aid sources. Regression results indicate that the probability of a request for cash-equivalent relief from a government source, as well as United Ways referrals to government agencies, were elevated by the …

Perceptions Of Goal Attainment Scaling Among Future Behavioral And Mental Health Providers: A Qualitative Analysis, Hannah Kenny, Joshua N. Carver, Jennifer E. Harrison, Ann M. Chapleau, Bridget E. Weller

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Goal Attainment Scaling is a method for measuring an individual’s progress toward a given goal. It was used as part of an interprofessional workforce development program that trained social work and occupational therapy graduate students and peer support workers on meeting the mental and behavioral health needs of underserved communities. The purpose of this research note is to describe participants’ experience with Goal Attainment Scaling using data gathered from eight focus groups. Qualitative data were coded, and thematic content analysis was used. Four themes emerged that described participants’ experience with Goal Attainment Scaling: accountability, motivation, insight into developing own goals, …

Using Complex Adaptive Systems Theory To Identify Best Adaptive Practices For Inclusion Within Systems Of Care: The Impact! System Of Care And Its Model Theory Of Change, Marya R. Sosulski

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Systems of Care (SOCs) are distinctive among health care organizations because they focus on process as much as outcomes and consider families as equal partners in improving clients’ outcomes. Because SOCs attend to interactions among all aspects of the clients’ world, we may think of them as ecosystems with continually changing environments. “Theories of Change” (TOCs) are logic models that structure and coordinate SOCs’ conceptualization, implementation, evaluation, and adaptation. Of these elements, current SOC literature is least focused on adaptation, though adaptive practices are vital to addressing clients’ interests. A Complex Adaptive Systems model is used to analyze an exemplary …

Financial Stress And Hardship Among Young Adults: The Role Of Student Loan Debt, Min Zhan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Analyzing data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study, this study investigated the associations between student loan debt and financial stress and hardship among young adults. The results show that student loan debt was positively related to all indicators of financial stress and hardship, after controlling for a range of socioeconomic factors as well as measures of financial knowledge and behaviors. In addition, minority young adults were more likely to experience health-care related hardship and higher levels of financial stress. This study further reports that financial literacy and emergency savings were important buffers against financial stress and hardship among young …

Volume 49, Issue 3 (2022)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Digital News Literacy And Social Work: Core Competencies, Cynthia H. Nover

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Digital news refers to online news, television news, and other electronic sources where individuals can gather information about the world around them. As college students increasingly get their news from online sources and comedy television, it is important for students to have appropriate media literacy skills to evaluate content. The relationship between news literacy skills and core competencies of social work education is discussed in this paper, with recommendations for incorporating news literacy in the classroom.

Technologies And Social Intervention: Ethical Considerations, Sandra Barros

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article addresses the use of Information and Communication Technologies within the Social Work discipline. It highlights the necessity to reanalyze and reconceptualize our intervention strategies, due to the widespread use of digital technologies, and the importance of having academic study plans that include the necessary digital rights and abilities. The challenges associated with the use of Information and Communication Technologies within the current historical-social context demand that we adopt and maintain a critical ethical attitude. Therefore, we emphasize the importance of reassessing available methods and tools to improve social work practice and education.

Digital Social Work: Towards Digital Disruption In Social Work, Joaquín Castillo De Mesa

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The digital transformation is posing a challenge to organizations, professionals, and the scientific community within Social Work. Until now, digital solutions have been incorporated spontaneously and arbitrarily, without models to contemplate and guide their incorporation. This has generated great uncertainty amongst social workers, who do not know what media should be adopted, in what form, and under what circumstances. In this article, we will review three digital solution models which Social Work has been adopting in an evolutionary manner: adaptation, transition, and digital disruption. Digital adaptation has meant spontaneously incorporating digital media which were not specifically intended for professional practice. …

Using Big Data To Manage Social Inclusion Programs, Esther Raya Diez, Manuel Trujillo Carmona, Domingo Carbonero Muñoz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Technological developments based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and empirical science in all areas of society are opening new opportunities for social work and social inclusion programs. AI relies on Big Data management systems, which in turn provide opportunities for descriptive inference and preventative measures, as well as data-informed decision making.

This article outlines the characteristics of Big Data and describes the process of designing a tool for diagnosing social exclusion, the SiSo scale. The tool consists of a scale that uses 25 variables to assess situations of social difficulty on the inclusion-exclusion spectrum. It is currently being used in the …

Home Visit Training In Social Work With Virtual Reality, Mª Ángeles Minguela Recover, Pedro Hernández Lafuente, José Miguel Mota Macias

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The incorporation of virtual reality and mobile learning methodology in university teaching facilitates the teaching-learning process of concepts and complex visualization processes for students, as is the case in social work. The goal of this article is to present the iSWAPP© application aimed at social work students training in complex skills such as observation, active listening, and interviewing through home visits. Among the results, we find how the student recreates the process of assessing situations of dependence. The main finding is how virtual reality becomes an additional learning tool by allowing students to assume the social worker’s role and design …

Could Whatsapp Be An Intervention Tool For Digital Social Work? A Case Study, Antonio Eito Mateo, María José Gómez Poyato, Antonio Matías Solanilla

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Ensuring that individuals who exhibit difficulties or problems are able to stay in their family and community environments has been an issue of concern for governments and welfare states for several decades. Authorities now seek to reverse the impact of periods or years of institutionalization and concealment of a variety of personal and social realities.

It should be highlighted that two phenomena, in particular, have increased interest in helping to keep individuals in their homes and community. First, aging populations and increased life expectancy, and second, the possibilities afforded by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The aging population is a …

Digital Intervention, Covid-19, And Critical Realism: Toward A Science Of Digital Social Work, Antonio López Peláez, Chaime Marcuello Servós

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the pace of the digital transition process in which we have been immersed. In a context of generalized lockdown, our organizations have been forced to go digital and many of the activities social workers perform must now be done remotely. As a result, e-social work, or digital social work, has gone from being an emerging specialization to a critical specialty across organizations and activities. In this article, we examine some basic scientific and methodological foundations to develop a science of social work from the perspective of critical realism, with special attention to digitalization. Establishing …

An Introduction To The Special Issue, Antonio López Peláez, Héctor Luis Díaz, Chaime Marcuello Servós, Joaquín Castillo De Mesa

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Political Efficacy In Social Workers Before And After 2016, Shannon R. Lane, Katharine M. Hill, Kathryn S. Krase, Tanya Rhodes Smith

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Since 2016, members of communities traditionally prevented or discouraged from electoral politics have challenged barriers to political power. Social work’s current research base about political action reflects the pre- 2016 political landscape. Survey data collected between 2015 and 2019 examines ways social workers’ political engagement and efficacy reacted to this political environment. We examined political efficacy of social workers and students before and after 2016 to compare their internal efficacy (sense of one’s own power in the political system) and external efficacy (sense of the system’s responsiveness). Political engagement and individual measures of political efficacy increased among certain demographic groups; …

Preparation And Response To Covid-19: An Exploratory Analysis Of Policy Response Spending And Health Expenditures In 20 Oecd Countries, Anis Ben Brik, Neil Gilbert

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article examines the comparative impact of COVID-19 in terms of the number of cases per capita and the per capita mortality rate and analyzes the relationships between these impact estimates and three policy measures in 20 OECD countries, controlling for the population over age 65. The policy measures involve public and private health expenditures prior to the pandemic onset and per capita fiscal expenditures devoted to policies designed to address the pandemic, which are identified in the International Monetary Fund’s policy tracker. The findings show no relationship between the policy measures and COVID-19 when controlling for the population over …

Review Of South Bronx Battles: Stories Of Resistance, Resilience, And Renewal. By Carolyn Mclaughlin, Sarah Taylor

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

No abstract provided.

Impact Of 9/11-Induced Adverse Experiences On The Mental Health Of Latino Americans And The Role Of Religious Service Attendance, Soyoung Kwon, Yongsok Kim, Jiyoung Moon Dr.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Much research has documented the mental health consequences of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001; however, little is known about how the 9/11 attacks affect the mental health of Latino Americans. This study uses a nationally representative sample of Latino Americans (N = 2,346) from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) to examine the relationships between 9/11-induced negative life experiences and mental disorders. The former includes losing a job, reducing family income, feeling less safe and secure, discrimination, loss of optimism, and inability to cope with things. For the latter, mental disorders may exhibit as psychological distress, …

Journal Of Sociology And Social Welfare Vol. 48, No. 1

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Complete issue of Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare Volume 48, Number 1