Social Work Commons^™

Real Welfare Reform Requires Jobs: Lessons From A Progressive Welfare Agency, Robert J. Sheak, Warren Haydon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article discusses evidence from a local progressive welfare agency that has, along with other achievements, created innovate work programs within the framework of Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS). We discuss the institutional and bureaucratic limits of what such agencies can accomplish and that there has been some room for innovation for agencies that are so inclined. We then focus on two work-related innovations within the local JOBS program that demonstrate that there are many welfare clients ready and able to work in useful jobs. We take the position that government job creation is necessary to fill the employment …

Reasonable Efforts, Unreasonable Effects: A Retrospective Analysis Of The 'Reasonable Efforts' Clause In The Adoption Assistance And Child Welfare Act Of 1980, Wendy Whiting Blome

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Hidden in the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 are two words that came to summarize the expectations of the law, typify its vagueness, and predict its controversy-"reasonable efforts." This article explores five factors to clarify the policy implications of the reasonable efforts phrase: " the disproportionately large effects of the requirement for "reasonable efforts;"

• the unanticipated consequences of the clause;
• the shift in the locus of control from social service agencies to court authorities;
• the reduction in discretion for direct and administrative social work personnel; and
• the social, political, and economic realities that framed the reasonable efforts …

Review Of The Civil Rights Of Homeless People: Law, Social Policy And Social Work Practice. Madeleine R. Stoner. Reviewed By Larry W. Kreuger, University Of Missouri-Columbia., Larry W. Kreuger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Madeline R. Stoner, The Civil Rights of Homeless People: Law, Social Policy, and Social Work Practice. New York: Aldine DrGruyter, 1995. $38.95 hardcover, $19.95 papercover.

Review Of Young Men In The Street: Help Seeking Behaviour Of Young Male Prostitutes. Cudore L. Snell. Reviewed By Ronald J. Mancoske, Southern University At New Orleans., Ronald J. Mancoske

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Cudore L. Snell, Young Men in the Street: Help Seeking Behavior of Young Male Prostitutes. Greenwood, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1995. $39.95 hardcover.

Review Of Supportive Interviewing In Human Service Organizations: Fundamental Skills For Gathering Information And Encouraging Productive Change. Kenneth France And Michelle Kish. Reviewed By Nazneen Mayadas, University Of Texas, Arlington., Nazneen Mayadas

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Kenneth France and Michelle Kish, Supportive Interviewing in Human Service Organizations: Fundamental Skills for Gathering Information and Encouraging Productive Change. Springfield, IL: Charles Thomas Publisher, 1995. $65.95 hardcover, $36.95 papercover.

Residualism And Rural America: A Decade Later, Steve Jacob, Fern K. Willits, Leif Jensen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Rural residents, more so than their urban counterparts are popularly believed to view the use of social welfare programs as appropriate only as last (residual) means of obtaining help. The extent to which this belief reflected reality was assessed by Camasso and Moore (1985) a decade ago using data from a 1980 survey of Pennsylvania residents. Congruent with the residualist hypotheses they found that rural residents were less supportive than urban people of social welfare programming, even when the effects of various personal sociodemographic characteristics were controlled. This paper replicates the workof Camasso and Moore by reporting findings from a …

Review Of Social Development: The Development Perspective In Social Welfare. James Midgley. Reviewed By Martin B. Tracy, Southern Illinois University At Carbondale, Martin B. Tracy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

James Midgley, Social Development: The Developmental Perspective in Social Welfare. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1995. $65.00 hardcover, $21.95 papercover.

Review Of The Handbook Of Children's Rights: Comparative Policy And Practice. Bob Franklin (Ed). Reviewed By Joseph Wronka, Springfield College., Joseph Wronka

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Bob Franklin (Ed.) The Handbook of Children's Rights: Comparative Policy and Practice. New York: Routledge, 1995. $59.95 hardcover; $17.95 papercover.

Incarnating Heaven: Making The Hospice Philosophy Mean Business, Mark A. Mesler, Pamela J. Miller

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Hospice providers in the U.S. are on the horns of a dilemma. Survival of individual programs may require accreditation for third party reimbursement, but this stronger alignment with the business world of medicine may jeopardize their unique philosophy of care for dying persons. Hospice's current business/philosophy dilemma was expressed succinctly by a study participant as attempting to incarnate heaven. Data gathered through an ongoing participant observation study reveals the effects of current third party reimbursement on hospice practice. Further, these effects have implications for current U.S. health care reform efforts which are discussed in conclusion.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 23, No. 3 (September 1996)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• DETERMINANTS OF THE TIMING OF SOCIAL POLICY ADOPTION - Chulsoo Kim
• INCARNATING HEAVEN: MAKING THE HOSPICE PHILOSOPHY MEAN BUSINESS - Mark A. Mesler and Pamela J. Miller
• THE EFFECTS OF RACE AND MARITAL STATUS ON CHILD SUPPORT AND WORK EFFORT - Richard K. Caputo
• SYMPOSIUM ON WELFARE RECONCEPTUALIZING WOMEN'S WORK: A FOCUS ON THE DOMESTIC AND ELIGIBILITY WORK OF WOMEN ON WELFARE - Alice Abel Kemp, Pam Jenkins, and Molly Biehl
• REAL WELFARE REFORM REQUIRES JOBS: LESSONS FROM A PROGRESSIVE WELFARE AGENCY - Robert J. Sheak and Warren Haydon
• WELFARE TO WORK: WHAT ARE THE OBSTACLES? - …

Welfare To Work: What Are The Obstacles?, Maureen O. Marcenko, Jay Fagan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

U.S. welfare reform initiatives are based on the assumption that the primary barriers to economic independence are individual deficits. However, the policy does not adequately account for situational and personal factors necessary for a successful transition from welfare to work. Without greater attention to these barriers, the policy is likely to fail or be implemented at high personal cost to recipients and their families. This paper uses a personin- environment social systems framework to examine the personal and family resources available to a group of women who were receiving AFDC and participating in an urban Head Start program. Structured interviews …

Review Of The Youth Gang Problem: A Community Approach. Irving A. Spergel. Reviewed By James Callicut, University Of Texas, Arlington., James W. Callicutt

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Irving A. Spergel, The Youth Gang Problem: A Community Approach. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. $24.00 papercover.

Review Of Native American Postcolonial Psychology. Eduardo Duran And Bonnie Duran. Reviewed By Dana Wilson Klar, Washington University., Dana Wilson Klar

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Eduardo Duran and Bonnie Duran, Native American Postcolonial Psychology. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1995. $16.95 hardcover.

Review Of Aids In Post-Communist Russia And Its Successor States. Christopher Williams. Reviewed By Ronald J. Mancoske, Southern University At New Orleans., Ronald J. Mancoske

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Christopher Williams, AIDS in Post-Communist Russia and its Successor States. Brookfield, VT: Ashgate Publishing Co., 1995, hardcover.

Tactics And Techniques Of Community Intervention. (Third Edition). John E. Tropman, John L. Erlich And Jack Rothman (Eds.).

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

John E. Tropman, John L. Erlich and Jack Rothman (Eds.), Tactics and Techniques of Community Intervention. (Third Edition). Itasca, IL: F. E. Peacock, 1995. $36.50 papercover.

The Legal Environment Of Social Work. Leila O. Schroeder.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Leila O. Schroeder, The Legal Environment of Social Work, Washington, DC: NASW Press, 1995. $34.95.

British Social Welfare: Past Present And Future. David Gladstone (Ed.).

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

David Gladstone (Ed.), British Social Welfare: Past Present and Future. Bristol, PA: Taylor and Francis, 1995. $24.95 papercover.

Understanding Disability: From Theory To Practice. Michael Oliver.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Michael Oliver, Understanding Disability: From Theory to Practice. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996. $39.95 hardcover, $18.95 papercover.

Nurse's Perceptions: Responsibility Attribution Of Rape Victims, Barbara J. Kiffe

Theses and Graduate Projects

Rape is a social problem high impacting the individuals who have experienced sexual assault and its effects. Many clients report not only being victimized by the assault, but also in the aftermath by insensitive professionals who attribute blame to the victim. This blame is created by rape myths, beliefs that under certain circumstances, the victim was responsible for the assault. This thesis replicates a previous study done by Best, Dansky, and Kilpatrick (1992) in South Carolina among medical students and compares the results. This research study examines the attitudes of nurses from three different departments of a midwestern hospital who …

Subsidy: More Or Less, Michelle Lefebvre

Theses and Graduate Projects

This thesis explores whether a subsidized client in a federally funded program for older adults receives as much service as a client in the same program that does not receive subsidy for service. This was accomplished by examining records that spanned a year of service from two programs that deliver service to older adults that assist them to remain living in their own homes.

Finding of the study indicated that there were no relationships between subsidized services and clients receiving service. Based on the study findings, recommendations were made for a larger study sample and a control of other variables.

Access To Educational Services For Homeless Youth Ages 12 To 15 In Minneapolis, Alice L. Brown

Theses and Graduate Projects

The subject of this study is access to educational services for homeless 12 to 15 year old youth. The study used interviews with key informants to answer three questions, What are the educational and support services, what are the eligibility requirements for using the services and what are barriers to accessing services. Using the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act as an indicator of the legally mandated services youth are entitled to four areas were identified that have the potential to act as a barrier to service, residency requirements, guardianship issues, placement/enrollment and services to support success. Seven interviews were conducted with …

Justice, Citizenship, Social Cohesion And The Commons, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

There is great ferment in political and social theory today due to a number of major changes are taking place in the larger social world and our understandings of it including the crisis of the welfare state; the emergence of more open societies in Russia, Central Europe, Latin America and many of the countries of the Pacific Rim; general movement away from class/stratification and toward group membership as central themes for national politics in many countries; a major crisis of the modernization paradigm; the emergence of a truly-global economy; and the emergence of the internet as a global communications medium. …

A Historical Research Study Of The Evolution Of Attention Deficit Disorder, Eleonora R. Posner

Theses and Graduate Projects

Across the United States of America, schools and social service agencies have become increasingly aware of a disability called Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D.). Families and employers are learning the name for this confusing, frustration, seemingly uncontrolled problem. The focus of this thesis will be to trace the origin and historical development of this disorder. It examines the work of those who were involved in identifying, defining and treating the disorder. The author has attempted to draw connections between history, discovery, research and implications for treatment, practice and public policy.

What We Know About Effects Of Asset Holding: Implications For Research On Asset-Based Anti-Poverty Initiatives, Deborah Page-Adams, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Asset accumulation programs have emerged at local and state levels to help poor people save for purposes such as education, homeowership, and microenterprise development. These anti-poverty programs are built in part on the suggestion that assets have a wide range of positive effects on well-being, and they frequently use a system of Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) to structure asset accumulation. In addition, federal legislation for an IDA demonstration has increasing support. The emergence of asset accumulation programs at local and state levels, along with growing bipartisan support for a national IDA demonstration, makes applied research both possible and necessary. Studies …

Education, Assets, And Intergenerational Well-Being: The Case Of Female Headed Families, Li-Chen Cheng, Deborah Page-Adams

Center for Social Development Research

This paper reports findings from an analysis of economic well-being among female headed households. Previous theoretical and empirical work in this area suggests that poverty among female headed families is to some extent an intergenerational process, a vicious cycle. One common explanation for this pattern is that low socioeconomic status in a woman’s family of origin results in low educational attainment and, ultimately, in low earning capacity. However, an exclusive focus on education may overlook the long term dynamics of the household as an institution that can accumulate assets to enhance economic well-being across generations. Using data from the National …

Caregivers Information Seminar: Development Of A Program For Caregivers In The Work Place, Kathi L. Durkee

Theses and Graduate Projects

The fastest growing population in the United States today are people aged 85 and older. Consequently, more American families than ever before are involved in providing some type of care or support to an elderly family member. The resulting need for assistance with daily living comes at a time when increasing numbers of women, the traditional caregivers, are entering the work force. This paper examines the research about caregiving employees and presents remedies that have been presented in the literature. A work-site model is proposed for the use of time-limited psycho-educational support groups that recognize and address the special needs …

Contributing Factors For Battered Women Returning To Abusive Relationships In The Twin Cities Area In 1995, Kimberly R. Holleschau

Theses and Graduate Projects

The economic status of women impacts their ability to leave abusive relationships. A qualitative and quantitative methods survey was used to gather data from residential program directors of battered womens shelters in the metro area detrning their experiences in the field of domestic violence. Using measures of central tendency and interpretation of themes to evaluate the data. 50% stated that economic dependence and a lack of resources, including financial. were the main reasons women stayed. In shelters providing housing alternatives. 58Vo of battered women utilized that resource. It is necessary to improve state and federal policies and shelter programming to …

Culturally Sensitive Mental Health Practices From The Perspectives Of Agency Therapists And African American Clients, Thomas Adams

Theses and Graduate Projects

This portrayal of the African American client and family appeared to be unjustified, Working with some of the "more difficult" African American clients and families and inquiring about their difficulty in following through with treatment programs and continued therapy sessions, a central theme began to emerge as an explanation for their behavior. Many of these African American clients and families believed they were not respected by the agencies or by the therapist. Many said they did not like being the only African American in treatment an#or they wanted an African American therapist. When the writer began to compare this informal …

State Guardianship: A Look At Youth In Hennepin County, Kimberly Shannon Doran

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study is an explorative evaluation of the placement status and identifying characteristics of youth under state guardianship in Hennepin County, Minnesota. A survey design was used to ascertain information about youth ages 0-17, eligible for adoption in Hennepin County from January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1995. The information was provided by the Hennepin County Adoptions Unit. Data resulting from this study did not answer the primary research question regarding the placement status of youth awaiting adoption in the age category of interest results revealed that twelve percent were adopted. Study results revealed that twelve percent were adopted. The …

Factors Associated With Veteran Patients Decisions About Advance Directives At The Minnesota Vamc, Amy L. Marciniak

Theses and Graduate Projects

An estimated 30 million Americans are potentially eligible for care within the Veteran's Administration system. To better understand how veterans choose whether or not to complete an advance directive this study obtained self-reports from eleven men on an extended care ward, at a local VA. An exploratory study was conducted using a questionnaire that gathered quantitative and qualitative data regarding demographics, reasons for having or not having an advance directive, and preferred learning methods. Consistent with other research, the findings indicated varied reasons for not having an advance directive including: never received information, never thought about it, procrastination, family already …