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Social Welfare Texts: A Study In The Sociology Of Knowledge, Leslie Leighninger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

Do existing social work texts contribute to a student's recognition of professional values and issues and of the implicit ideological bases for these? The following study contends that they do not, and that their failures are quite similar to those found by Mills in his examination social pathology texts.

The books examined here are all designed to be used in basic undergraduate and graduate courses on the structure and function of social welfare institutions. The survey includes both widely adopted books and recent texts in the field. The books chosen for this study appear, in …

Professional-Bureaucratic Conflict And Intraorganizational Powerlessness Among Social Workers, Edward J. Lawler, Jerald Hage

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Since Max Weber's classic writings on bureaucracy, the relationship between professionalization and bureaucracy has been a central focus of organization theory and research (e.g., Parsons, 1947; Goulduer, 1954; Blauner, 1964; Blau, 1968, Meyer, 1968b; Blau and Schoenherr, 1971). Some research suggests that professionalization and bureaucratization are alternative or conflicting modes of organization (Udy, 1959 ; Stinchecombe, 1959; Litwak, 1961; Burns and Stalker, 1961; Thompson, 1961; Hall, 1963; Rage, 1965). While other research suggests that professionalization and bureaucratization are actually congruent because structural accommdation minimizes dissension between professionals and bureaucrats (e.g., Blau, 1968; Meyer, 1968b; Kirsch and Lengermann, 1972). However, the …

Factors Leading To Client Degradation In Welfare And Public Housing, Elizabeth D. Huttman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

Degradation and humiliation are the consequences of using many social services In our society. Added to this is classification as a non-normal or a failure because one turns to a government source for help. The person is stigmatized for use and the agency is negatively labeled by both non-users and users.

While these public opinions stem partly from a long-held philosophy regarding the role of social services and the nature of the poor, these attitudes are reinforced and strengthened by specific policies and practices in the administration and structuring of the programs. Comparisons between services …

Ideology, Sociological Theories, And Public Policy, Norman Goroff

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

It is important that my basic assumptions about social theories be made explicit at the very outset.

1. Every social theory has implicit, if not explicit, assumptions about the nature of man/woman.

2. Every social theory has implicit, if not explicit, assumptions about the nature of society or the collectivity.

3. Every social theory has implicit, if not explicit, assumptions about the relationship of man/woman to society or to the collectivity.

These assumptions in the theories are not empirical but normative and hence social theory is ideologically based. The fact that the social theories are …

A Theory Of Decision-Making, A. K. Basu

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In a separate article, it has been stated:

The kinds of theories which social scientists have been able to construct have largely been dependent on the level or the degree of inference which the researchers have been able to draw from observations or experimental designs (which may or may not reflect the empirical world), and the assumptions upon which these inferences rest (Basu and Kenyon, 1972.425).

Notably, in the past three decades the eventual "success" of a theory has been tested on this basis. A major underlying premise in the ideographic science has been that cause and effect represent the …

Theoretical. Perspectives On The Analysis And Development Of Social Policies, David C. Gil

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the introduction:

The development of social policies, in American and in many other societies usually proceeds in fragmented fashion in relation to different substantive issues such as economic security, housing, education, physical and mental health, social deviance, child and family welfare, aging, intergroup relations, etc. The fragmentary-nature of processes of social policy formulation reflects their political nature and their roots in conflicts of real or perceived interests among diverse social groups. Were existing processes of policy development to result in social orders in which all members of a society could lead meaningful and satisfying lives, there would be …

Social Work, Social Welfare, And The American Family, Ronald A. Feldman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The following discussion proceeds from two basic premises: (1) that the family constitutes one of the most basic units of social structure in contemporary American society, and (2) that the social work profession represents a major, if not the primary, institutional mechanism for coping with the myriad of social problems encountered by American families. The former premise is readily substantiated in view of the observation that the vast majority (over 9O%) of American men and women are married at least once in their lifetimes. However, since family units oftentimes experience severe difficulty in performing key functions and, indeed, in maintaining …

Reported Ill-Health And Life Cycle Among Welfare Mothers, Robert Lejeune

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

A person's presentation of self, as Goffman uses that depends phrase, in part on the expectations of others, and also, no doubt, on the power which these others have over the person. Thus it happens very frequently that persons, particularly of low status or stigmatized positions, are called upon, as a conscious or unconscious technique of survival, to present to others negative featureS of the self; to resort to what Goffman has called "negative idealization." (Coffman 1959; 39-41; 1963). These considerations have direct bearing on the role of welfare recipients in American society. Welfare clients, …

Maternity Homes: The Case Of A Dying Institution., Samuel O. Miller

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

The checkered career of a major social welfare institution appears to be near its end. Maternity homes as the major service to unmarried mothers face an uncertain future, with few indicators of a reversal in this current trend. The provision of social services as an expression of society's conern for the problems of unwed mothers has invariably been accompanied by a dynamic combination of deep feelings of prejudice and ambivalence. However, the current uncertainty of their status; the confusion in attitudes and conflicting opinions about the value and purpose of homes for unmarried mothers are …

The Sociology Of Client Alienation In Relation To Societal Structure, William D. Poe, Jerry H. Borup

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

STUDY DESIGN

The purpose of the present study is to explore the relationship between client alienation and efforts by the social work profession to intervene in behalf of the welfare poor. Specifically, this investigation focuses on the ideas, proposals, and studies that have appeared in the social work literature that would indicate efforts by social workers to increase or decrease client alienation. Social work is practiced primarily in agency and organizational settings. Attention will be given to the nature of these structures to determine how they affect client alienation and prevent social workers from relieving alienation. The dimensions of client …

Communalities And Strains Between Sociology And Social Work, Ralph Segalman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

Despite the seeming Intolerance between the discipline and the profession, and the seeming communications gaps between each of the four models in each of the fields, It is clear that each of the models serves a purpose In the discipline, In the profession and in society. If the social distance between these models can be bridged and If increased tolerance for the seeming mutual incongruity of concepts and behavior is achieved, we may yet be successful in making Sociology and Social Work as useful, relevant and necessary as was manifested In their original purposes posed …

Delinquency Theories, Group Composition, Treatment Locus, And A Service-Research Model For 'Traditional' Social Work Agencies, Ronald A. Feldman, John S. Wodarski, Norman Flax, Mortimer Goodman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Summary

Rehabilitative endeavors within correctional institutions have failed because of overpopulation, high costs, labelling and stigmatization of inmates, low transferability of treatment changes to the outside community, and deviant peer group composition. Community treatment programs have fared little better because they also entail client stigmatization and typically are conducted within the context of deviant peer groups. Consequently, in order to enhance the rehabilitative potential of community treatment, subsequent efforts should be conducted within "traditional" agencies and within pro-social peer groups. The emphasis upon "pro-social" rehabilitation environments does not posit any particular assets and/or liabilities of a given socio-economic stratum, thus …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 1, No. 1 (Fall 1973)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

• From the Chairman – Norman Goroff
• From the Editor - Ralph Segalman
• Social Welfare Texts: A Study in the Sociology of Knowledge – Leslie Leighninger
• Communalities and Strains between Sociology and Social Work – Ralph Segalman
• The Sociology of Client Alienation in Relation to Societal Structure - William D. Poe, Jerry H. Borup
• Marginal and Non-Marginal Persons in the Professions: A Comparative Study of Recruitment in Law, Medicine, and Social Work – Pranab Chatterjee
• Implications of Family Development Trends for Social Welfare and Social Work – Ronald A. Feldman
• Delinquency Theories, Group Composition, Treatment Locus, and a Service-Research Model for …

Change And Social Organization, Alan M. Cohen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Organizations continually adapt to external organizational imperatives such as technology, population, knowledge and values. The increasing rate and intensity of these imperatives necessitates fhanges in services irrespective of the organization's formal intentions to change. It is suggested that organizational characteristics amenable to handling change do not occur randomly. Six organizational characteristics are discussed. It is emphasized however, that these six organizational characteristics are not in themselves, sufficient to insure the successful implementation of change. A changing relationship between individuals, as well as a process of routinization must also be dealt with if the imperative for organizational change is to be …

Creating Accountable Public Bureaucracies, James R. Hudson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

During the past several decades there has been a persistent and constant trend in our society that has not gained the prominence it deserves. This trend has been the continuous growth in the autonomy and power of public bureaucracies. The community power literature, for example, has systematically ignored public bureaucracies in its search for the power structure of cities (Aiken and Mott, 1970). The reasons why public bureaucracies have been overlooked by these researchers stem from a number of theoretical and methodological shortcomings that need not concern us here. The point, however, is that we …

Adolescent Pregnancy And Poverty: Implications For Social Policy, Clara L. Johnson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text document:

Adolescent pregnancy, per se, has been devoted little consideration by clinical observers and empirical researchers. For the most part, such pregnancies have received attention only insofar as they have occurred without the moral and legal sanctions of matrimony. This concern with illegitimacy has had the effect of blinding theorists and researchers to a whole segment of the adolescent pregnant population--the married teenager. Further, the adverse effects of adolescent pregnancy have been shrouded by moral precepts.

From existing evidence there appears to be no doubt that the married teenage girl is an integral part of the …

Latent Conflict In The Classroom, Joel H. Henderson

Masters Theses

The Problem

The Study of Conflict

The purpose of this study is to examine social conflict. More specifically, latent conflict in the classroom will be the focus of this study. Three classes of variables will be discussed: 1. teacher characteristics, 2. student characteristics, and 3. contextual variables. These variables will be examined as to their ability to explain variation in latent conflict in the classroom.

The following discussion will focus on conflict in education as a "social problem." Previous literature will be examined as to the theoretical and empirical importance of the concept of conflict in social research and a …

Seating Patterns In The College Classroom: The Relationship Between Spatial Location And Selected Role, Personality, And Status Variables, Dolores Burchell Jones

Masters Theses

Purpose and Theory

The Problem

Studies dealing with the use of space have been concerned primarily with territoriality, the way man perceives space through his senses, and with the manner by which culture affects the location of persons in space. This study, like others, falls under the rubric of spatial ecology in that it deals with the occupation of space. This study focuses on the college classroom in an attempt to determine if the occupation of space is systematically patterned, that is, whether particular areas of the classroom are occupied by students with specifiable characteristics. In this context, the particular …

Some Implications Of Occupational Socialization: The Case Of The State Police, Paul G. Aldo

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Family Structure, Child Mental Patients And Length Of Hospitalization, Martha Bullock Lamberts

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Skin Color And /Or Situational Phenomena Upon Race Relations, Wyatt Douglass Kirk

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Assimilation Of Chinese Families In Kalamazoo, Michigan, Lily Shu-Hong Sun

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Blinding The Medusa's Eye: Prolegomena To A Social Hermeneutics, David Boyer

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Dimensionality And Internal Composition Of The Twenty-Two Item Mental Health Inventory, John William Fox

Masters Theses

Chapter I

Introduction

Social scientists have long been concerned with the relationships between mental disorder and various sociocultural factors, such as, social economic status, ethnic background, sex, age, and marital status. Until quite recently, the majority of studies that have investigated these relationships have defined cases of mental disorder solely in terms of whether or not an individual was in psychiatric treatment (see Faris and Dunham, 1939; Rose and Stub, 1955; Hollingshead and Redlich, 1958).

The utilization of psychiatric treatment as the only criterion of mental disorder, however, has been criticized by a number of researchers. Felix and Bowers (1948), …

The Socializer, May 9, 1973, Department Of Sociology

The Socializer

Volume 1, Number 9 of the Socializer, published May 9, 1973.

An Empirical Investigation Of Variation In Students' Premarital Sex Standards And Behavior, Robert L. Horton

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Mental Patient As Machiavellian: An Exploratory Study, Louise B. Leader

Masters Theses

A basic question in the study of mental illness has been whether mental patients were victims of society or manipulators of their own careers. Four hypotheses were developed to investigate the manipulative aspect of this question. Patients were selected from three different mental institutions: a state hospital, a Veteran's Administration Hospital, and a private church-related hospital. The patients' records and a group-administered battery of test instruments provided the data used to test the hypotheses. Only one of the hypotheses was supported and the basic question remained unanswered. Lack of support for the remaining three hypotheses was not seen as conclusive …

Toward The Development Of A Substantive, Sociological Theory Of Teacher, Teacher-Aide Relationships, John H. Natzke

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Using The Construct Of Instructor Credibility To Forecast Student Decision- Making Behaviors, Robert David Mendelsohn

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Conflict Theory: Concepts, Techniques, And Stages, Thomas Kramer

Honors Theses

The social worker of today is being placed in situations which call for him to devise new tools and strategies of intervention which are relevant to present day problems. It is recognized that many of our current social problems are inherent in some of our institutions and that only by changing these institutions can real results be achieved. Problems arise due to the fact that these institutions often stringently resist change and conventional methods employed by professional practitioners have often only been able to solve or ease individual difficulties or maladustments. There have been a growing number of social workers …