Social Work Commons^™

Under-Utilized Contributions By International Students: Case Study For Education And Research, Gina Chowa, Kofi Danso, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

International social work education in the United States focuses on globalization and international practicum for American students. a readily available resource, international social work graduate students, is rarely utilized. This article discusses a case study of five African students who engage in a process of realigning their academic knowledge to respond to local social development challenges in their home countries. These processes result in profound innovations that are based on theory, indigenous experience, and culturally competent practice.

Five-Country Study On Service And Volunteering In Southern Africa, Leila Patel, Helene Perold, Salah Elzein Mohamed, René Carapinha

Center for Social Development Research

Five-Country Study on Service and Volunteering in Southern Africa

Assessing Asset Data On Low-Income Households, Caroline Ratcliffe, Henry Chen, Trina R. Williams Shanks, Yunju Nam, Mark Schreiner, Min Zhan, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Assessing Asset Data on Low-Income Households

Do Institutions Really Matter For Saving Among Low-Income Households? A Comparative Approach, Chang-Keun Han, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

This study aims to examine the extent to which competing theories explain saving of low-income households in Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). Competing theories include individual-oriented perspective, social stratification perspective, and institutional saving theory. This study uses American Dream Demonstration (ADD) data collected at the Tulsa IDA program. Compared with the individual perspective and the social stratification perspective, institutional features explain a significant part of the variance in saving outcomes measured by average monthly net deposit (AMND) and deposit frequency ratio (DFR). Findings suggest that an inclusive asset-based policy should be designed with institutional structures encouraging low-income households to save.

Fostering Low-Income Homeownership: A Longitudinal Randomized Experiment On Individual Development Accounts, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Jung-Sook Lee, Kate Irish, Chang-Keun Han

Center for Social Development Research

For low-income families, homeownership represents an important strategy to move out of poverty and offers long-term social and economic development opportunities. Individual Development Account (IDA) programs facilitate savings towards assets such as home purchase through matched savings, financial education and case management. Using longitudinal experiment data from the American Dream Demonstration, this study examines the influence of IDA participation on homeownership rates among low-income participants after 18 months (Wave 2) of program participation and after 48 months (Wave 3) at program completion. Involvement in specific home-search activities at Waves 2 and 3 was measured to determine whether these activities mediated …

The Balance Sheets Of Low-Income Households: What We Know About Their Assets And Liabilities., Adam Carasso, Signe-Mary Mckernan

Center for Social Development Research

The Balance Sheets of Low-Income Households: What We Know About Their Assets and Liabilities.

The Achievement Gap From A Capabilities And Asset Perspective, William Elliott Iii, Margaret Sherrard Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Current explanations for the achievement gap do not fully explain why high-achieving poor and minority children perceive of college as being out of reach. This paper reviews perspectives on the achievement gap and proposes a model that incorporates a capabilities and assets approach. The uneven playing field created by unequal distribution of assets sustains educational advantage and high expectations for college among children from families with assets, while dampening expectations for college among poor and minority children. As a possible avenue to closing the gap, we suggest that increasing poor and minority children’s capability for financing college may increase educational …

The Health Implications Of Violence Against Women: Untangling The Complexities Of Actual And Chronic Effects: Part Two, Carol E. Jordan

Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women Publications

No abstract provided.

Family-Friendly Workplace Culture, Flexibility, And Workplace Support For Dependent Care : The Perspectives Of Human Resource Professionals, Katherine June Huffstutter

Dissertations and Theses

Integration of family responsibilities and employment demands is challenging for all families, but particularly for those families with extraordinary care requirements of children with mental health disabilities. Utilization of workplace supports, such as flexible work arrangements, has been identified in the work-family literature as an important indicator of organizational responsiveness to employee's family needs (Allen, 2001; Eaton, 2003; Hammer, Neal, Newsom, Brockwood, & Colton, 2005; Secret, 2000). A better understanding of which organizational conditions may improve utilization of available family-friendly supports by employees caring for children with mental health disorders can improve work-life integration for these families. This study examines …

The Impact Of Bullying And Sexual Harassment On Health Outcomes Of Middle School And High School Girls, James Gruber, Susan Fineran

School of Social Work

The impact of bullying and sexual harassment on six health outcomes among middle school girls were compared to these outcomes among high school girls. High school girls experienced more bullying and sexual harassment and poorer health outcomes than their middle school counterparts, but the impact of these experiences was less among high school students. Differences in outcomes may be the result of better support systems and coping mechanisms among high school girls and/or challenging developmental changes during middle school. Sexual orientation, race, and disability had some notable relationships to bullying and sexual harassment experiences as well as health outcomes.

Introduction: Globalization, Social Justice, And Social Welfare, Frederick Fritz Macdonald, James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Although the literature on globalization has increased exponentially over the last decade, the term is still poorly defined and its many facets and complexities are under-appreciated. A major problem is the way the effects of globalization on social welfare have been reduced to simplistic, rhetorical statements that either condemn all aspects of globalization or uncritically extol its benefits. In reality, however, globalization has complex and paradoxical consequences for human well-being. For example, international trade is widely viewed by many progressive observers as being exploitative and unequal and many are appropriately critical of the way neo-liberal writers wax lyrical about its …

Integrating Globalization Into The Social Work Curriculum, Karen Smith Rotabi, Denise Gammonley, Dorothy N. Gamble, Marie O. Weil

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The reality that social work is a global profession is explored. Authors encourage a broadening of social work education, moving beyond the traditional conception of"internationalized"to a "globalized" social work curriculum. Practical teaching strategies for a globalized perspective are presented with selected key concepts specifically applied to social policy, community practice, human behavior in the social environment, and sustainable development. Discussion includes macro-scale ethical considerations in a neoliberal economic system.

Review Of Changing Lives: Delinquency Prevention As Crime Control Policy. Peter W. Greenwood. Reviewed By Matthew T. Theriot., Matthew T. Theriot

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Peter W. Greenwood, Changing Lives: Delinquency Prevention as Crime Control Policy. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2006, $37.00 hardcover.

Review Of Children And Youth In Adoption, Orphanages And Foster Care: A Historical Handbook And Guide. Lori Askeland (Ed.). Reviewed By Albert J. Ellett., Alberta J. Ellett

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Lori Askeland (Ed.). Children and Youth in Adoption, Orphanages and Foster Care: A Historical Handbook and Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006. $59.95 hardcover.

Global Energy Shifts: Fostering Stability In A Turbulent Age. Bruce Podobnik., Terry V. Shaw

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Bruce Podobnik, Global Energy Shifts: Fostering Stability in a Turbulent Age. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006, $22.95 papercover.

Devolution, Discretion, And The Effect Of Local Political Values On Tanf Sanctioning, Richard C. Fording, Joe Soss, Sanford F. Schram

Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research Faculty Research and Scholarship

One of welfare reform's most significant consequences is the devolution of policy-making authority from the federal government and states to local governments and frontline workers. What is perhaps less often appreciated is that devolution of authority to state governments has been accompanied by a significant decentralization of policy-making authority within states. As a result, prior research has not given sufficient attention to local political context as a factor shaping program implementation. This article examines the effect of local political values on the use of sanctions to penalize welfare recipients. Analyzing administrative data from the Florida Department of Children and Families …

Color-Blind Individualism, Intercountry Adoption And Public Policy, Pamela Anne Quiroz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A prevailing ideology of color-blindness has resulted in privatizing the discourse on adoption. Color-blind individualism, the adoption arena's version of color-blind discourse, argues that race should not matter in adoption; racism can be eradicated through transracial adoption; and individual rights should be exercised without interference of the state. As privatization has increasingly dominated our world and disparities between countries have grown, so too has intercountry adoption. This paper examines the colonial aspects of intercountry adoption and implications for conceptualizing global human rights from our current emphasis on individual rights, as the real issue continues to be which children are desired …

The Challenge Of Community Work In A Global Economy, Howard Karger, Christian Iyiani, Pat Shannon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article examines how and why five major stakeholders-international financial organizations; NGOs; governmental entities; multinational corporations; and community development projects- have failed to significantly and uniformly reduce aggregate global poverty. The article uses the results of a case study of HIV/ AIDS prevention in a low-income Nigerian city to argue that effective action must involve local and global stakeholders in collaborative partnerships. It concludes by discussing the critical role of facilitators in such partnerships.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 34, No. 2 (June 2007)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• SPECIAL ISSUE ON GLOBALIZATION, SOCIAL JUSTICE & SOCIAL WELFARE
• INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE - Frederick (Fritz) MacDonald and James Midgley, Special Editors
• PERSPECTIVES ON GLOBALIZATION, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND WELFARE - James Midgley
• GLOBALIZATION AND DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY - Charles Fiki
• COLOR-BLIND INDIVIDUALISM, INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION AND PUBLIC POLICY - Pamela Anne Quiroz
• THE CHALLENGE OF COMMUNITY WORK IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY - Howard Karger, Christian Iyiani and Pat Shannon
• GLOBALIZATION, IMMIGRATION AND THE WELFARE STATE: A CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISON - Qingwen Xu
• GLOBALIZATION AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING - Loring Jones, …

Toward Global Welfare State Convergence?: Family Policy And Health Care In Sweden, Canada And The United States, Gregg M. Olsen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Accounts of the welfare state and the dynamics governing its development have been pivotal and highly contentious in the social policy literature over the past few decades. Since the 1980s, research has suggested that, as a result of domestic pressures and strains and/or the impact of globalization, welfare states were declining in tandem. However, most of these studies were quantitativefocusing upon 18 or more advanced capitalist nations and, in their search to uncover broad cross-national trends, utilized narrow welfare state indicators. This study investigates the extent to which the social democratic welfare state in Sweden, the social liberal welfare state …

Globalization, Welfare Reform And The Social Economy: Developing An Alternative Approach To Analyzing Social Welfare Systems In The Post-Industrial Era, Vanna Gonzales

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Our understanding of the relationship between globalization and contemporary social welfare systems is heavily influenced by three conventional approaches to studying welfare reform: the political economy, moral economy, and mixed economy approaches. In addition to analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each of these approaches, a central aim of this article is to introduce the social economy approach as an emergent alternative. Drawing from a growing body of work on institutional innovation within the European third sector, I argue that the social economy approach makes a valuable contribution to understanding the role of welfare networks in reconfiguring globalizations' impact on …

Among Empires: American Ascendancy And Its Predecessors. Charles S. Maier.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Charles S. Maier, Among Empires: American Ascendancy and its Predecessors. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006. $ 27.95 hardcover.

Pharmaceutical Reason: Knowledge And Value In Global Psychiatry. Andrew Lakoff., Peter Manoleas

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Andrew Lakoff, Pharmaceutical Reason: Knowledge and Value in Global Psychiatry. Cambridge University Press, 2006. $75.00 hardcover, $29.99 papercover.

Measuring Effectiveness Of Civic Participation At The University Level In Turkey: A Case Study Of The Civic Involvement Project At Sabanci University, Tara Hopkins

Center for Social Development Research

Sabanci University, located in Istanbul, Turkey, launched the Civic Involvement Project (CIP) in 1999 for students at the university level. This study examines the effectiveness of CIP, with the principle goals of measuring participants’ perceptions and identifying the program’s strengths and weaknesses. In addition, this research seeks to better understand how CIP compares to other youth involvement/participation programs. The impact of service-learning on several civic education variables (i.e. social awareness, social networking, political awareness, critical thinking, and personal development) and the effects of characteristics of service-learning experiences on the development of students are also explored.

Perspectives On Globalization, Social Justice And Welfare, James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Although the social science literature on globalization has proliferated, social policy and social work scholars have not adequately debated the consequences of globalization for social welfare and social justice. Drawing on different social science interpretations of globalization, four major perspectives that offer different analytical and normative insights into globalization are identified and their implications for social welfare and social justice are briefly examined. The implications of these perspectives for social policy and social work scholarship are also considered.

Globalization And Drug And Alcohol Use In Rural Communities In Nigeria: A Case Study, Charles Fiki

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper presents an exploratory study of alcohol and drug use in two rural communities in Plateau State, Nigeria. The aim is to raise awareness of the rural alcohol and drug problem. The paper examines the patterns of alcohol consumption and drug use, and their perceived functions for substance use among rural farmers in Nigeria. The study shows the common use of marijuana and alcohol in addition to prescription drugs. There is also evidence of multiple or combinational drug use. Pleasure and relaxation emerged as the major reasons for drug and alcohol use. Factors influencing alcohol and drug use are …

Globalization, Immigration And The Welfare State: A Cross-National Comparison, Qingwen Xu

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Over the past decades, the forces of globalization have helped created a huge wave of immigration. The relationship between globalization and immigration has been intensely examined in the last decade with a focus not only on whether and how much globalization has caused international immigration but also how to promote and sustain a just global system for the growing number of immigrants. This study selects three developed countries with different welfare state philosophies and traditions-Australia, Sweden and the United States-and compares how they cope with the growing number of immigrants and their various needs. This paper reflects thinking about states' …

Globalization And Human Trafficking, Loring Jones, David W. Engstrom, Tricia Hilliard, Mariel Diaz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Globalization demands that social workers embrace more than just local and national perspectives; they must adopt an international viewpoint as well. A negative aspect of globalization that deserves more attention is the international movement of labor. This paper presents a description and analysis of trafficking, the more deleterious part of this movement of people, in a global context. Decision makers seeking to make global migration more humane need to know about the dynamics and process of trafficking, as well as ways to combat it. Definitional controversies, contextual issues (including the dynamics and processes of trafficking), and consequences of this movement …

Globalization And Social Work Education And Practice: Exploring Australian Practitioners' Views, Marina Findlay, John Mccormack

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The process of globalization is a controversial movement supported by some due to the potential cross-national benefits, but criticized by others because of the fragmented or uneven distribution of those benefits. As many social workers interact with clients who may be affected by globalization processes, we were interested to investigate their educational preparedness and practice views on this topic. Sixty-six social workers completed a questionnaire which explored the relationship between local and international issues. Practitioner responses indicated a strong interest in the topic and widespread agreement that there is a link between local and global issues on clients in their …

Letters To The Editor, Stephen Marson, Marguerite G. Rosenthal

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Letters to the Editor

• Stephen Marson - Senior Editor, The Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics
• Marguerite G. Rosenthal, Ph.D - Professor, School of Social Work Salem State College, MA