Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The New Christian Right, Social Policy And The Welfare State, James Midgley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

While the campaigns of the New Christian Right on abortion, affirmative action, school prayer and other issues have been well documented, little is known about the movement's attitude towards state welfare programs. Identifying three distinctive sources of fundamentalist antipathy to the welfare state, this paper seeks to draw attention to interesting although unconventional ideas about social welfare that should be recognized and understood by scholars concerned with the study of social policy.

Discipline And Pacification In The Modern Administrative State: The Case Of Social Welfare Fraud, Alec Pemberton

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Foucault and Giddins emphasise the power of the modern "Administrative State", arguing that we now have at our disposal an enormous bureaucratic machinery for processing and controlling various problematical human behaviours. Australian data on fraud of the social welfare system are examined to throw light on Foucault's and Giddens' views. Figures relating to prosecution for fraud of both the Unemployment and Supporting Parents Benefits system in the last six years throw some doubt on the concept of a vastly powerful "Administrative State apparatus.'" Certainly a massive state bureaucracy has been established to apprehend cheats, yet the data show consistently that …

Norman N. Goroff - In Memoriam, Shimon S. Gottschalk

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Norman was a radical humanist - not a secular humanist, but a spiritual one. His definition of self was inextricably intertwined with his affirmation of life and of all humanity. He loved all of us, and in turn, he taught us all how to better love each other.

Advocacy/Empowerment: An Approach To Clinical Practice For Social Work, Stephen M. Rose

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social Work has been embedded in a structural and ideological contradiction throughout its history. The profession, its employing institutions, and the problems confronted by its clients are all produced by the same political economy that pays its workers and supports its schools. Ideologically, the profession has avoided the confrontation implied by its dependency upon individual defect explanatory or causal analysis frameworks that constitute a betrayal of its real constituencies. An advocacy! empowerment paradigm is offered as an alternative.

Empowerment Through Advocacy And Consciousness-Raising: Implications Of A Structural Approach To Social Work, Maurice J. Moreau

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Empowerment of oppressed clients requires of social workers to act as advocates and to assist clients in changing the dynamics which contribute to self-oppression or the oppression of others. The paper explores a five-stage process wherein oppressed individuals contribute to the social order that devalues them and, in the process, also participate in the oppression of others. The practice implications of a structural approach to social work committed to client empowerment in each of these stages are described.

Detecting And Reporting Child Abuse: A Function Of The Human Service Delivery System, George E. Fryer Jr.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper reports the results of a regression analysis performed on 48, 499 reports of known or suspected child abuse submitted from 1974 through 1983 to the Colorado Department of Social Services Central Child Abuse Registry. Enrollments in human service programs, combined with events which precipitate enrollee use of services, and the presence of human service professionals and institutions are strongly related to the number of abuse cases reported.

The Effectiveness Of Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy (Rest) On Reducing Chronic Low Back Pain, David D. Smith

Dissertations

A number of studies have demonstrated that both progressive relaxation training and biofeedback are effective in reducing chronic low back pain. Floatation-REST (restricted environmental stimulation therapy), a relatively new method developed for relaxation, has demonstrated promising results and appears to be particularly well suited for the low back pain patient. The primary hypothesis of this project was that REST would reduce pain as evidenced by changes in physiological, behavioral and self-report measures commonly associated with chronic pain reduction. A secondary hypothesis was generated after the first of three experiments: that employment would be an important variable in determining the effectiveness …

The Relationship Between Private And Commercial Vehicle Driver Records And Accidents In Michigan, Robert E. Maki

Dissertations

The primary objective of this study was to determine whether previous accidents and citations are reliable predictors of future tractor-trailer heavy truck accidents in Michigan. In addition, the background material on accident trends shows how heavy truck safety policy was formed at the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Historically, accident prediction models have been able to explain only small portions of the accident experience. More recent studies have tended to show that previous citation and accident experience were good predictors of commercial vehicle accidents. Most studies have suffered from an admitted lack of exposure data and incomplete accident statistics.

Through the …

The Effects Of Combining Behavioral Counselling With Nicotine Fading And Smoke Holding In Medically At-Risk Adult Smokers, Terry Steven Bradford

Dissertations

The present study examined the effects of nicotine fading and a taste aversion procedure during behavioral treatment for smoking cessation. Nine subjects were initially assigned to one of two groups. Informed consent and physician waivers were obtained. Behavioral counseling was provided with the objective of subjects becoming self-control agents. After baseline, patients were taught to apply nicotine fading techniques. Subjects also received instruction and practice in goal setting and in using alternative responses, relaxation, and so forth. Three consecutive daily sessions of smoke holding were then done, during which subjects were instructed to stop smoking, followed by maintenance sessions. Results …

Changing Family Environments Of Delinquent Adolescents Using Paradoxical Therapy Techniques, Steven G. Townsend

Dissertations

Resistance and opposition have long characterized the adolescent population in general and the population of delinquent offenders specifically. Family therapy has been used successfully to change delinquent families and paradoxical techniques have been used successfully to treat resistant clients suffering from a variety of symptoms. This two-factor randomized study examined the effects of three treatment conditions, e.g., 6 months probation (control group), probation plus family therapy without an ending paradoxical directive, and probation plus family therapy with an ending paradoxical directive. These treatments were applied to first offender and repeat offender groups of delinquents and their families on individual perceptions …

Waldo Library Expansion

Gatherings: Friends of the University Libraries Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Ethnography Of A Lesbian Community In Michigan, Carol W. Burton

Masters Theses

The purpose of this master's thesis is to describe the structure and workings of a community of women in a major western Michigan metropolitan area, who identify themselves as lesbians, and to describe how this subcommunity relates to the dominant American culture in the area. This study examines the ways in which these lesbians define themselves and their subculture.

To facilitate this research, the researcher participated in the group's meetings, both formal and informal, and spoke with individual members about the history of the group, organizational principles, problems and concerns, formal and Informal rules of conduct, values, and any other …

Analysis Of Guatemalan Textiles, Cristina Keiko Tomita

Masters Theses

This study applies John L. Fischer's (1961) hypothesis that design elements reflect certain social variables to 50 Guatemalan textiles from the collection of the Field Museum of Chicago, to test its applicability. The results of the analysis were consistent with expectations, but some modifications to the original hypothesis are suggested to minimize ambiguities. The modified analysis can be applied in areas such as archaeology, art history and museum work to expand the interpretative potential of material objects, including works of art.

Impact Of Group Process Techniques On Group Cohesiveness, Jeri Lee Meola

Masters Theses

Thirty-three students at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo participated in the study and were divided into seven groups. The results of the Gross Cohesiveness Scale (Gross, 1957) showed two of the seven groups scored within the accepted range of cohesiveness. No significant differences in cohesiveness were found between the groups. Data were also collected on a 3 Factor Cohesiveness Questionnaire. The factors of compatibility and leadership related to group cohesiveness for groups exposed to group process techniques, but no factors related to group cohesiveness for groups who were not exposed to group process techniques. It is suggested that component analysis research …

Witches Every Month? The Social Construction Of Premenstrual Syndrome, Suzanne Latham

Masters Theses

Premenstrual syndrome was first reported in 1931, but it was not until the early 1980s that it received widespread attention in the medical literature and the popular press. This thesis is a sociological analysis of how physicians and others were able to define premenstrual problems as an illness. The thesis uses a phenomenological approach, referred to as social constructionism, to explore how medical researchers, physicians, pharmaceutical companies, feminists, various entrepreneurs, and others have attempted to define premenstrual problems to promote their own interests. The analytic method is documentary analysis. The thesis argues that physicians were able to make powerful claims, …

The Effects Of Performance Feedback On The Implementation Of A Statistically-Based Quality Control Program, Gordon O. Henry

Masters Theses

Although various types of performance feedback have been shown to be effective in maintaining work-related behaviors in numerous settings, most of these behaviors have consisted of fairly simple tasks. More specifically, it has not been conclusively shown that such feedback procedures can be used to maintain the worker behaviors required in the implementation o f a statistically-based quality control program. The present study attempted to show that such complex behaviors could be maintained using effective feedback procedures.

The results showed that the subjects (machine operators) performed at a high level in completing required tasks associated with a statistically-based quality control …

Blessed Be The Ties That Bind: A Critical Analysis Of The Changing Language In The Organizational Mission Statement As A Form Of Downward Communication, Jacqueline A. De Haan

Masters Theses

In this study, the differences in language between an historical and new organizational mission statement were examined. The critical interpretive perspective was utilized; grounded theory was the method used to analyze changes in values and organizational identity.

The findings from this study indicated that the changed mission statement was different from the historical mission statement in three ways: in values and identity, in structure, and in use of voice. The findings were discussed and implications for organizational members considered.

The Changing Roles Of Women In The People's Republic Of China, Priya Helweg

Honors Theses

The present Chinese government has persistently claimed that women have been completely emancipated through the enforcement of Communist ideology. In spite of the claim that women in modern China 'hold up half the sky' traditional beliefs continue to influence the position of women in contemporary China. As a consequence, women in the People's Republic of China — especially students — find themselves in a situation of confusing contradictions and frustrating obstacles. Traditional ideologies, as seen in the patriarchal kinship structure and the economic and political systems, aid rather than hinder the present government as it maintains a similar relation to …

Sex-Role Attitudes, Sex, And Logos Of Control: A Study Of Their Interrelationships In Reference To Social Change, Virginia De Oliveira-Alves

Dissertations

The present research was a partial replication of an earlier research concerning the discrimination of sex-role egalitarianism from attitude toward feminism. This study examined the relationships between these sex-role attitudes and sex, and between the former and locus of control, in reference to the social changes of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The subjects were female and male college students.

The results indicated that the sample was average in sex-role egalitarianism. It was more liberal on attitude toward feminism than a previous research sample. The sex-role attitudes were found to be directly related: when subjects were egalitarian, they also …

Gatherings (No. 1) Spring/Summer 1990, Friends Of The University Libraries

Gatherings: Friends of the University Libraries Newsletter

In 1990 University libraries organized a Friends of the University Libraries group and began publishing "Gatherings." This is the first issue, edited by Gordon Eriksen and Bettina Meyer.

A Comparison Of Sociological And Demographic Factors Of Custodial And Noncustodial Single Fathers, Daniel D. Petterson

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine what differences, if any, exist in the sociological and demographic factors that are observed to be characteristics of fathers who have custody of their children, as opposed to fathers who do not have custody of their children. A review of the literature revealed that a large amount of information has been collected dealing with the situation of single mothers, but that nothing comparable exists regarding single fathers. The evidence from the literature also indicated that the increase in single fathering is at least paralleling the increase in single parenting in general. It …

An Analysis Of Four Performance Techniques For Paraprofessional Direct-Care Staff Working With Developmentally Disabled Adults In Group Homes, L. Martin Grabijas

Dissertations

The habilitation and training of the developmentally disabled has improved markedly in the last two decades. The creation of small, community-based living facilities has allowed these individuals to move from restrictive settings into the community where training in daily living skills can occur in a more natural fashion. While this movement has been positive for the consumer, the preparedness of the staff working in those facilities has not been adequately addressed. Many human service agencies use a generic training package to prepare their staff, yet current research indicates that such training is less than adequate, both in terms of preparing …

Clients' Self-Reports Of Counselor Style And Personal Change: A Comparison Of Inexperienced And Experienced Counselors, Ronald M. Crafton

Dissertations

Research suggests clients' perceptions of counselor style are important factors in successful counseling outcome (Strong, 1968). With the widespread acceptance and emphasis on practica courses in counselor education, it follows that counselor educators and clinical supervisors need empirical indicators of the level of service provided by inexperienced student counselors. Information provided by clients pertaining to specific dimensions of counselor style and personal change is rare, and until now, has been limited to experienced counselors.

When 181 clients of inexperienced counselors were compared with 363 clients of experienced counselors it was found that the inexperienced counselors were percieved similarly on 12 …

The Effects Of Concurrent And Non-Current Cue-Controlled Relaxation Training On Cardiovascular Reactivity To Two Types Of Stress, Patricia Anne Cole

Dissertations

Physiological reactivity to stress has been linked to cardiovascular disease. Previous studies examining the effects of various forms of relaxation training on reactivity have conducted training under standard, quiet conditions (non-concurrent training). This study compared the effects of concurrent relaxation training (i.e., during stressful conditions) and non-concurrent cue-controlled relaxation training (quiet conditions) on physiological reactivity to two stressors. Reactivity to two stressors was probed before and after non-concurrent (quiet) training and concurrent (stressful) training. The subjects, eight patients in a cardiovascular rehabilitation program, performed a stressful arithmetic task and role plays of both standard and individually stressful situations. Cue-controlled relaxation …

Home Safety-The Challenge To Public Health, Ray Ranson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Home accidents are now a leading cause of death and injury particularly in young children and the elderly. For example, 3.1 million accidents occur in the home every year in the United Kingdom with no signs of diminishment. More effective systems of accident recording, monitoring, investigation, intercollaboration and education are urgently needed to redress this epidemic. More attention needs to be given to preventive safety design in architect training and adoption of home safety design standards and legislation. The major threat to public health which home accidents represent must not go unchallenged.

Health Implications Of Homelessness: Reports From Three Countries, Gerald Daly

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper discusses the health implications of homelessness in the context of problems discovered and remedies proposed in three countries: Britain, Canada, and the United States. The findings, particularly with respect to programmatic responses, are selective. Based upon personal observation over the past four years, they are intended, however, to offer a glimpse at the range of projects which have evolved in the three countries during the eighties.

An Ecological Perspective On Housing, Health And Well-Being, Claude Raffestin, Roderick Lawrence

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Human ecology is a term that has been used frequently since the beginning of this century to examine some of the relationships between people and their surroundings. This article presents a different interpretation to that commonly used by academics and professionals in the medical and social sciences. The ecological perspective developed and illustrated here stems from an appraisal of many contemporary contributions, and an examination of Hippocrates's treatise "On Airs, Waters, And Places". The perspective presented herein accounts for the impacts of human products and processes on the biotic and abiotic constituents of the environment, as well as the human …

Housing And Health In Beijing: Implications Of High-Rise Housing On Children And The Aged, Solvig Ekblad, Finn Werne

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The authors are at present engaged in a Swedish-Chinese interdisciplinary and crossectional project on housing and health in Beijing. This article is concerned with a literature review on the topic and general observations during two recent visits to China.

After some basic assumptions concerning high-rise dwellings, private space and life style, this paper contains explicit comparisons of the design, use and experience of traditional courtyard houses, flats in midrise and high-rise buildings as well as a comparisons of two vulnerable groups , i.e., children and elderly residents.

The article ends with a discussion, and the authors conclude that city planning …

Relocation And Health Effects On The Elderly A Commented Research Review, Berth Danermark, Mats Ekstrom

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper summarizes and comments on the research on the relationship between relocation and morbidity/mortality among the elderly. In the present state of research there are not sufficient grounds for the drawing of general conclusions. On the other hand there is good reason for assuming that relocation under certain circumstances and for certain groups does lead to ill-health and to an increase in mortality. There is a lack of studies devoted to systematic investigation of the influence of such conditions. Various designs and methods have been used, and this reduces comparability. There is also a lack of theoretically guided empirical …

Health Aspects Of Housing And Town Planning, Eric Giroult

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper presents an overview of those parameters that define health aspects of rural and urban housing. It begins with a brief historical account of the major preoccupations faced by those concerned with environmental health. It then examines how dwelling hygiene and safety can be ensured by accounting for biological, chemical, engineering and physical parameters that are relevant to human health and well-being in residential quarters. The author draws on his broad knowledge of studies funded and/or published by the World Health Organization to establish a range of principles that ought to be the goal for promoting health and well-being …