Social Work Commons^™

The Human Capital Agenda: Asset Holding And Educational Attainment Among African-American Youth, William Elliott, Kevin Kim, Hyunzee Jung, Min Zhan

Center for Social Development Research

This study extends previous analyses in several ways. First, in addition to parental wealth, the relationship between children’s wealth and math and reading scores are examined. Second, we examine different mediating pathways that wealth may affect children’s math and reading scores in a single path analysis model. The advantage of path analysis over traditional regression analyses, which are typically used in this area, is that researchers can get a glimpse of relationships among variables. While the focus of regression analysis is on the associations of predictors with outcome variables, path analysis provides a larger picture of the overall structure of …

Child Development Accounts And Saving For Children's Future: Do Financial Incentives Matter?, Lisa Reyes Mason, Yunju Nam, Margaret Clancy, Youngmi Kim, Vernon Loke

Center for Social Development Research

This study examines savings outcomes in the first large-scale demonstration of Child Development Accounts (CDAs) in the United States—the Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship, and Downpayment (SEED) initiative. It is also the first empirical study, to our knowledge, to investigate associations between savings outcomes and incentives in an asset-building program for children. This study enhances knowledge about saving in CDAs, incentives in public policy in general, and incentives in savings policy in particular. Results can inform CDA policy design.

Young Children's Perceptions Of College And Saving: Potential Role Of Child Development Accounts, William Elliott Iii, Margaret Sherrard Sherraden, Lissa Johnson, Baorong Guo

Center for Social Development Research

This paper explores young children's perceptions and expectations about attending college, and the potential influence of a savings program on shaping children's perceptions about paying for college. As part of a four-year study of a school-based college savings program called “I Can Save”, this paper uses qualitative evidence from interviews conducted in second and fourth grades with a diverse group of 51 children. Findings suggest that most of the children in the study have a general understanding of college and have begun a process of considering higher education. Further, children in “I Can Save” are more likely than a comparison …

Institutions And Savings In Low-Income Households, Jami Curley, Fred Ssewamala, Michael Sherraden

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper examines the influence of structured savings program arrangements on the saving performance of low-income households in individual development accounts (IDAs). Data are drawn from the American Dream Demonstration (1997-2004), which looked at the saving performance of low-income households in matched savings accounts across the United States. Hierarchical multivariate regression is used to identify which specific structural program arrangements are important in influencing the saving performance of low-income families. Findings suggest that overall, structured program arrangements, including financial education, peer mentoring groups and saving targets are important in influencing people's saving performance-including low-income families.

A Mixed Methods Analysis Of Social Capital Of Liberian Refugee Women In Ghana, Alice Boateng

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article reports on a mixed methods study of Liberian refugee women at the Buduburam refugee camp in Ghana. The study examined the role and impact of social capital on the women's well-being. Three types of social capital - bonding, bridging, and linking - were examined. The study's findings revealed that although the women had some bonding social capital, they possessed very little bridging social capital, and linking social capital was non-existent. These findings suggest that the refugee women may benefit from national and internationalp olicies andp rograms that seek to both strengthen existing and create new sources of social …

Review Of Research For Action: Cross-National Perspectives On Connecting Knowledge, Policy, And Practice For Children. Robert Chaskin And Jona M. Rosenfeld, Editors. Reviewed By Ann Reyes Robbins., Ann Reyes Robbins

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Robert Chaskin and Jona M. Rosenfeld (Eds.), Research for Action: Cross-National Perspectives on Connecting Knowledge, Policy, and Practice for Children. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. $42.95 hardcover.

Review Of The Revival Of Labor Liberalism. Andrew Battista. Reviewed By Larry Nackerud., Larry Nackerud

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Andrew Battista, The Revival of Labor Liberalism. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2008. $45.00 hardcover.

Review Of Diversity, Oppression And Change. Flavio Francisco Marsiglia And Stephen Kulis. Reviewed By Qiaobing Wu., Qiaobing Wu

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Flavio Francisco Marsiglia and Stephen Kulis, Diversity, Oppression and Change: Culturally Grounded Social Work. Chicago, IL: Lyceum, 2008. $49.95 paper cover.

Review Of A Mother's Work: How Feminism, The Market And Policy Shape Family Life. Neil Gilbert. Reviewed By Cheryl Hyde., Cheryl A. Hyde

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Neil Gilbert, A Mother's Work: How Feminism, the Market and Policy Shape Family Life. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. $26.00 hardcover

Rescuing Children And Punishing Poor Families: Housing Related Decisions, Corey Shdaimah

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Child welfare policy is not self implementing; an understanding of child welfare policy must therefore include the decision making practices by those whom Michael Lipsky (1980) has called "streetlevel bureaucrats." This article reports data from a qualitative study exploring perceptions of child welfare professionals about housing-related child welfare decisions. Interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 18 child welfare lawyers, judges, and masters level social workers from a large city in the mid-Atlantic U.S. All agreed that there is insufficient affordable adequate housing. They held conflicting views, however, on: 1) the standard for adequate housing in the absence of …

Ethics With Character: Virtues And The Ethical Social Worker, Paul Adams

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article explores the relevance to social work of those aspects of applied ethics that are not primarily about identifying and resolving dilemmas. It examines the potential of the ethical tradition rooted in the virtues and character of the practitioner-from Aristotle and Hippocrates to contemporary virtue-based ethics in medicine-to guide and enrich our understanding of the social work profession and the dispositions or qualities of character its practice requires and develops.

The Limits Of Paternalism: A Case Study Of Welfare Reform In Wisconsin, Thomas S. Moore, Swarnjit S. Arora

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper uses a pooled sample constructed from the Food Stamp Quality Control data for the fiscal years 1993 to 2006 to assess the effects of welfare reform upon the employment, earnings, income, and poverty trends among poor, single-mother families, both in Wisconsin and nationwide. It finds that the employment and earnings gains of the Wisconsin families exceed those of comparable families nationwide. However, there has been no significant change in the average income of the Wisconsin families, and the number of extremely poor families has increased more rapidly in Wisconsin than in the country as a whole. These findings …

Pregnant And Poor In The Suburb: The Experiences Of Economically Disadvantaged Women Of Color With Prenatal Services In A Wealthy Suburban County, Linda E. Francis, Candyce S. Berger, Marianne Giardini, Carolyn Steinman, Karina Kim

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study explores the perinatal care experiences of disadvantaged women of color in a wealthy U.S. suburb. The women were asked to discuss the availability of health and social services during pregnancy, continuity of provider and/or treatment, communication issues with their providers, and the amount and type ofsupport and resources available. Many of the questions covered in literature on urban poverty emerged as well in this suburban sample, including economic and psychosocial barriers, and continuity and communication issues between low-income/minority women and providers of health and social services. Additional barriers in the suburbs were also discussed, including problems of access …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 36, No. 3 (September 2009)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• INSTITUTIONS AND SAVINGS IN LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS - Jami Curley, Fred Ssewamala and Michael Sherraden
• RESCUING CHILDREN AND PUNISHING POOR FAMILIES: HOUSING-RELATED DECISIONS - Corey Shdaimah
• A MIXED METHODS ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL CAPITAL OF LIBERIAN REFUGEE WOMEN IN GHANA - Alice Boateng
• ETHICS WITH CHARACTER: VIRTUES AND THE ETHICAL SOCIAL WORKER - Paul Adams
• THE LIMITS OF PATERNALISM: A CASE STUDY OF WELFARE REFORM IN WISCONSIN - Thomas S. Moore and Swarnjit S. Arora
• PREGNANT AND POOR IN THE SUBURB: THE EXPERIENCES OF ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED WOMEN OF COLOR WITH PRENATAL SERVICES IN A WEALTHY SUBURBAN COUNTY - …

Factors Predicting Residential Mobility Among The Recipients Of The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program, Barbra Teater

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program is the largest low-income federal housing program in the Unites States and has a policy goal of promoting mobility or "choice." This study explored the factors that predict residential mobility among the recipients of the HCV program in Columbus, Ohio by including variables found to predict mobility among the general population and two new variables that are specific to the HCV program: total tenant payment (TTP); and fair market rent (FMR). Although the findings revealed that race, gender, age and number in family were significant in predicting residential mobility, the variables affected …

The Development Of An Unequal Social Safety Net: A Case Study Of The Employer-Based Health Insurance (Non) System, H. Luke Shaefer, Elizabeth D. Sammons

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The U.S. social safety net exacerbates labor market inequalities rather than ameliorating them. This paper traces this theme within an important historical case study: the emergence of the employer-based health insurance system. Employers became the dominant and tax-preferred provider of health insurance in the United States without any federal legislative action. Understanding how this happened may inform current reform efforts. This case study highlights two important factors. The first is path dependency, discussed by Skocpol (1992) and Pierson (2000). They argue that the ambiguous divisions of power and a pluralistic governance framework favor incremental processes of social policy formation in …

Review Of People At Work: Life, Power, And Social Inclusion In The New Economy. Marjorie L. Devault, Editor. Reviewed By James Midgley., James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Marjorie L. DeVault (Ed.), People at Work: Life, Power, and Social Inclusion in the New Economy. New York: New York University Press, 2008. $25.00 papercover.

Review Of The Activation Dilemma: Reconciling The Fairness And Effectiveness Of Minimum Income Schemes In Europe. Amilcar Moreira. Reviewed By James Midgley., James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Amilcar Moreira, The Activation Dilemma: Reconciling the Fairness and Effectiveness of Minimum Income Schemes in Europe. Bristol: Policy Press, 2008. $110.00 hardcover.

Review Of On The Frontier Of Adulthood: Theory, Research, And Public Policy. Richard A. Settersten, Frank Furstenberg Jr. And Ruben G. Rumbaut. Reviewed By Sarah Taylor., Sarah Taylor

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Richard A Settersten, Frank F Furstenberg Jr. and Ruben G. Rumbaut, On the Frontier of Adulthood: Theory, Research, and Public Policy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2008. $29.00 papercover.

Review Of The Dismal Science: How Thinking Like An Economist Undermines Community. Stephen A. Margin. Reviewed By Christopher R. Larrison., Christopher R. Larrison

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Stephen A. Marglin, The Dismal Science: How Thinking Like an Economist Undermines Community. Cambridge, MA and London, England: Harvard University Press, 2008. $35.00, hardcover.

Review Of Seven Rules For Social Research. Glenn Firebaugh. Reviewed By Yasuki Motoyoma., Yasuyuki Motoyama

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Glenn Firebaugh, Seven Rules for Social Research. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008. $24.95 papercover.

Review Of A People's History Of Poverty In America. Stephen Pimpare. Reviewed By James Midgley., James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Stephen Pimpare, A People's History of Poverty in America. New York: The New Press, 2008. $27.95 hardcover.

Review Of For The People: American Popular Movements From The Revolution To The 1850s. Ronald P. Formisano. Reviewed By James Midgley., James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Ronald P. Formisano, For the People: American Popular Movements from the Revolution to the 1850s. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2007. $35.00 hardcover.

Assets As A Resource Variable In The Stress Management Of Low-Income Families, David Rothwell, Chang-Keun Han

Center for Social Development Research

The hard times resulting from the 2008 recession represent an opportunity to re-examine the theoretical framework for how families use economic resources to adjust and adapt to stress. Sherraden’s (1991) theory of assets and McCubbin and Patterson’s (1983) Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response (FAAR) model are used to demonstrate how assets relate to family stressors and demands among a sample of 839 low-income families. The negative relationship between assets and financial stressors and financial strain suggest that the expansion of social welfare policies promoting assets among low-income families may positively influence family relations. Future research on family relations would benefit …

Productive Aging Conference Report, Nancy Morrow-Howell, Gao Jianguo, Li Zou, Xie Yuxi

Center for Social Development Research

Productive Aging Conference Report

The Effectiveness Of Sexual Assault Services In Multi-Service Agencies, Debra Patterson

Social Work Faculty Publications

Sexual assault is a pervasive social problem with 18% of women and 3% of men experiencing a completed or attempted assault during their lifetime. More than half of victimizations occur before the survivor reaches the age of eighteen (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). Research also shows that twothirds of sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the survivor, such as an acquaintance, friend or intimate partner. In fact, approximately 15% of sexual assaults are committed by an intimate partner. Many sexual assault survivors experience multiple negative outcomes such as psychological distress, physical health problems, and difficulties in life functioning (Gutner, …

Transforming Front Line Child Welfare Practice: The Impacts Of Institutional Settings On Services, Employment Environments, Children, And Families, Non-Retrospective Technical Report: Accessible Program And Agency Based Program Parent Survey Results From Case Opening And Follow Up, Karen Frensch, Gary Cameron, Lirondel Hazineh

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

Outcomes of accessible and central service models are assessed in this non-retrospective technical report using three criteria: (1) impacts on parent, child and family functioning; (2) impacts on system functioning (e.g. child placements, court involvements); and (3) impacts on parent and community attitudes towards child protection organizations.

Retrospective Technical Report: Accessible Program Parent Survey Results From Case Opening And Follow Up (Using Retrospective Data), Karen Frensch

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

This retrospective technical report supports the summary of outcomes of accessible and central child protection service delivery as found in the Synthesis Report (Cameron, Hazineh & Frensch, 2010): Transforming Front-Line Child Welfare Practice: The Impacts of Institutional Settings on Services, Employment Environments, Children, and Families. The focus of this and other working reports is on the inclusion of all information relevant to the specific topic of investigation. The intent of working reports is to inform the synthesis report and include more information than what appears in the synthesis report. Less emphasis, however, is placed in the working reports on style …

Colorado Training Needs Assessment, Helen Ward Jd, Michelle Lamm Msw, Kimberly Pukstas-Bernard Phd

Children, Youth, & Families

The Colorado Department of Human Services (CO DHS) has contracted with the Cutler Institute for Health and Social Policy to assess the professional development needs of child welfare caseworkers, case aides, and supervisors. This needs assessment will help guide the development of the new Child Welfare Training Academy established by Governor Bill Ritter in May 2009. The Academy will provide child welfare professionals across the state with the training, skills and knowledge to better protect the state's most vulnerable children from abuse and neglect.

Creating And Sustaining Successful Mixed-Income Communities: Conceptualizing The Role Of Schools, Mark L. Joseph, Jessica Feldman

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines the theory and evidence behind the increased policy and scholarly interest in the role that schools might play in promoting neighborhood revitalization, focuses on the extent to which schools might be a key component in the growing efforts across the country to address urban poverty by creating and sustaining mixed-income neighborhoods, identifies five channels through which investment in high-quality public schools might help facilitate the types of neighborhood- and individual-level outcomes sought through mixed-income development, explores the theoretical arguments behind these pathways, and draws on research to assess the potential value of each. The article concludes that …