Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Book Reviews, Paul Terrell, Robert E. Wood, Jim Baumohl, Sara Rosenberry

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book Reviews

• Poverty in America by RALPH SELIGMAN and ASOKE BASU
• Social Development: Conceptual, Methodological and Policy Issues by JOHN F. JONES and RAMA S. PANDEY
• Single Rooms: Stories of an Urban Subculture by ELLIE WINBERG and TOM WILSON
• The States of Welfare: A Comparative Analysis of Social Policy by JOAN HIGGINS

Conservative Policies And Women's Power, Kristine Nelson, Arnold S. Kahn

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The recent setbacks imposed on the feminist movement by the forces of the New Right have led women to an increased understanding of the importance of power in maintaining male dominance. Although men exercise power over women in a variety of ways, a review of the findings of social psychology indicates that almosL all types of power derive from men's activities in the public sphere. The exercise of power has become a part of the male gender role and a primary source of men's identity and self esteem. The feminist movement's challenge to men's exclusive hold on the public sphere …

Working Women's Marginalization In Denmark: Traditional Assumptions And Economic Consequences Of Social And Labor Market Policies, Jennifer G. Schirmer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Although it cannot be said that women's marginality in the labor market in Denmark from the 1960s to the present was 'planned' in any formal sense, the premise behind social and labor market policy measures, such as daycare and maternity leave, that women primarily serve as part-time service workers to increase economic growth, indicates a form of assumed and prescribed secondariness for women. By engaging the market and the family on strictly traditional terms, the social policy and labor market measures enacted to encourage women's entrance into the labor force in the late 1960s serve to institutionalize women's marginality within …

Our Own Worst Enemies: Women Opposed To Woman Suffrage, Jeanne Howard

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Opposition by women to a movement which identifies itself as for women is not new. In the late 19th and early 20th century female anti-suffragists organized to oppose "the burden of the ballot." The writings of the "antis" (as the female anti suffragists became known) demonstrate an allegiance to class over gender, a sense of powerlessness beyond traditional roles and a fear of change. Exploring this early anti movement may give us a better understanding of the women opposed to the contemporary woman's movement.

Social-Emotional Keys To The Division Of Power, Philip Lichtenberg, Carol Roman Reimert, Susan S. Levine

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social organizers concerned with facilitating the reallocation of power must not overlook psychological issues. Within groups, power hierarchies are a function of individual methods of coping with social-emotional interactions. Clinical insights suggest that both empowered and disempowered people participate in the process of establishing and maintaining this hierarchial structure.

Eroding Filial Piety And Its Implications For Social Work Practice, Pei N. Chen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A pilot study was conducted in the Asian American communities on practitioners' assessment of the effects of compliance/non-compliance with the value of filial piety and its impact on Asian American adult children, aged parents and practitioners themselves.

Eighty-two practitioners in six cities returned mailed questionnaires. Since filial piety was an emotionladen topic, projective technique was used in questionnaire design. Practitioners were asked questions regarding a hypothetical case.

The findings demonstrated a gradual shift of filial responsibilities to health/social service providers with concomitant affective conflicts on the part of Asian American adult children, aged parents and practitioners themselves. With greater understanding …

Three Models Ofsocial Planning For Human Services In Energy-Impacted Communities, Bernie Jones, Janet Benson Jones

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Human service workers encounter many challenges as they face energy boom town situations in the Western United States. Currently, they respond following one of two models, corresponding to the role reserved for human services in the conservative laissez-faire and liberal enlightened capitalism models of American corporate behavior.

In The Case Of Manipulation, James L. Wolk

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article reports on the findings of research into the manipulative tendencies of 289 professional social workers in Michigan. Utilizing the Machiavellian scale and comparing the results with other studies, the author concludes that social workers, contrary to the conventional wisdom, have strong manipulative tendencies. Additionally, the more manipulative social workers are not isolated in any specific field or area of practice, but are scattered throughout the profession. Rather than be alarmed by this recognition, the author feels the profession must accept this reality and acknowledge that these manipulative tendencies are mitigated by a compassionate, humanistic value system.

Women, Conservatism, And Social Welfare, Kristine Nelson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The timing of this special issue is particularly fortunate, coming as it does during a period of reassessment and retrenchment in the women's movement. The attacks of the New Right, the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment, and the growing maturity and sophistication of the women's movement, have spurred an intense reexamination and reanalysis of basic tenets and strategies. The articles in this special issue, although broadly diverse, reflect this effort to come to a deeper analysis of women's oppression and of effective ways to overcome it.

Some Thoughts On The Patriarchal State And The Defeat Of The Era, Zillah Eisenstein

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

What does it signify politically--that is what does it tell us about the relations of power of the 'state' in 1982--that the Equal Rights Amendment has not been ratified? It tells us that the patriarchal foundations of the state, even when narrowly defined in terms of the law, remain necessary to those in power. Or (at least) that those in power, particularly in this case state legislators as well as President Reagan, think that the political system of capitalist patriarchy cannot abide women's (legal) equality.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 9, No. 3 (September 1982)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Women, Conservatism and Social Welfare Introduction - KRISTINE NELSON
• Some Thoughts on the Patriarchal State and the Defeat of the Era - ZILLAH EISENSTEIN
• Defeating the ERA: A Right-Wing Mobilization of Women - BARBARA EHRENREICH
• The Conservative Program Is A Women's Issue - MIMI ABRAMOVITZ
• Defeminizing Social Policy - DAVID STOESZ
• Conservative Policies and Women's Power - KRISTINE NELSON, ARNOLD S. KAHN
• Working Women's Marginalization in Denmark: Traditional Assumptions and Economic Consequences of Social and Labor Market Policies - JENNIFER G. SCHIPER
• Our Own Worst Enemies: Women Opposed to Woman Suffrage - JEANNE HOWARD
• The Hyde Amendment: …

The Conservative Program Is A Women's Issue, Mimi Abramovitz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Conservative program strikes deeply at the institutions that support the economic independence and security of women. This paper reviews social welfare budget cuts, the relaxation of affirmative action and workplace health and safety rules, and the social issues agenda of the New Right for their impact on women's economic, social and political status. It describes how the Reagan Administration's economic recovery program victimizes women, especially minority women. Not only is the "feminization" of poverty intensified, but women are sent from the paid labor market back to unpaid labor in the home, aided and abetted by the social issues agenda …

Defeminizing Social Policy, David Stoesz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social policy initiatives by the evangelical right and neoconservative movements are reversing liberal programs that have benefited women. This represents an attempt to defeminize social policy. Essential to this transformation are theoretical interpretations of economics and sociology which, combined with religious conservatism, portend the restoration of patriarchal culture. The ideology guiding the defeminizing of social policy is so pervasive as to suggest that regaining ground lost will be exceedingly difficult for those promoting social services for women.

The Hyde Amendment: Its Impact On Low Income Women With Unwanted Pregnancies, Marjorie R. Sable

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Hyde amendment, which has been in effect since 1977, restricts federal funding of abortions for Medicaid-eligible women "except where the life of the mother would be endangered if a fetus were carried to term." It has virtually eliminated federally financed abortions and the undue hardships it places on poor women foreshadow contemporary developments in abortion politics today for all women.

In Defense Of Institutionalization: A Rape Crisis Center As A Case Study, Barbara Levy Simon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The prevailing wisdom of both the social science literature and of social movement activists postulates that the institutionalization of social movements is a conservatizing tendency. "The iron law of oligarchy," Robert Michels' concept, is invoked as the rule of thumb for social movement transformation.

From my participant observation study of STOP, an urban rape crisis center, I have drawn different conclusions. In that case study, it appears that institutionalization undermines oligarchy and conservatism, rather than contributing to them.

Employing Oberschall's resource mobilization theory of social movement development, I suggest that institutionalization fosters social change efforts at STOP by ensuring organizational …

Shared Ethnicity As A Correlate Of Acceptance Of The Formerly Hospitalized Mentally Ill, Jonathan Rabinowitz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study looked at shared ethnicity of former mental patient and community member as a possible correlate of acceptance of the formerly hospitalized mental patient as a potential tenant. This study is an exploratory study with a comparative perspective using a design in which the willingness to accept a former mental patient as a renter in one of four groups is explored. Current research in this field has ignored the variable of shared ethnicity. The findings of this study did not reach the .05 level of significance, however the results seem to indicate that in some cases shared ethnicity is …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 9, No. 2 (June 1982)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• The Dreaming and the Doing: Utopian Foundation
• of Social Action - WILLIAM DEMARIA
• A Contest of Values: A Cultural History of Approaches Toward Alcohol - JOHN E. TROPMAN
• Sociologists in Schools of Social Work: Marginality or Integration? - LEE H. BOWKER, FRED M. COX
• Consensus as a Form of Decision Making - MARTHA E. GENTRY
• Life Events, Resistance Resources, and Health Status in Social Caseworkers - PRUDIE L. ORR, RICHARD H. DANA
• A Tactic for Intervention in Meetings That Are Being Controlled - ROBERT CAREW, TONY KELLY
• The Self and the Conduct of the People-Working Professions - …

A Tactic For Intervention In Meetings That Are Being Controlled, Robert Carew, Tony Kelly

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

"This article describes an approach which can be used to generate tactics to free meetings that are being controlled. More assertively it can also be used to increase the probability of achieving prescribed goals in meetings."

The purpose of this paper is to present a framework that can be used by community workers to open up meetings that are being controlled. more assertive use can also be made of the framework to increase the probability of achieving prescribed goals in meetings. As a matter of convenience the focus in this paper will be on the use of the framework in …

A Contest Of Values: A Cultural History Of Approaches Toward Alcohol, John E. Tropman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This is a smaller version of a manuscript prepared for the special seminar on Alcohol and Social Policy, School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Winter 1978. The assistance of Kim Hoa Granville and Craig King is gratefully acknowledged. The support and encouragement of Dr. Edith Gomberg also needs to be recognized; without it, this paper never would have materialized.

A Model For Forecasting Environmental Reaction To Policy Initiation, Ram A. Cna'an

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This research proposes and empirically tests a model for forecasting the possible reactions of other organizations to a policy initiation. This model is measuring the amount of reaction to change (A.R.C.) on three levels: relevant organizations, relevant functions, and overall environment. The model is presented in a general mode followed by a quasi-experimental case study. The results of this study are reported and implications, possible improvements and different uses are discussed.

The Dreaming And The Doing: Utopian Foundations Of Social Action, William Demaria

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The article is interested in a conceptual clarification of social action. A tripartite model of social action is presented which attempts to focus on the complex relationship between utopianism and action (the dreaming and the doing). The article then poses the question: What social action options are available to the critical consciousness? Two are considered, one active and one passive. Activism and passivism are seen on a continuum, rather than as a polarity. Passivism is seen as a latent form of activism. The role of activist is seen as either maintaining activism or realising its passive form. Sociological perspectives are …

Theory, Practice And 'Public Knowledge' In The Helping Professions, Alec Pemberton

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

ABSTRACT, This paper takes seriously Mao's epigram to tackle two important and interrelated themes. First, it looks at the extent to which practice in one helping profession (social work) may be said to be informed by theory. Indeed, Mao's statement that 'knowledge begins with practice' turns out to be a useful way of grasping the relationship between ideas and action. Second, knowledge gained from practice is returned to practice. Habermas's process of reconstruction used in the analysis to tie theory to practice is employed in the development of a conception of 'public knowledge' to increase professional accountability.

Voodoo Believers: Some Sociological Insight, Michele Wilson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Sociology has attempted to affect the therapeutic community in two ways. The first of these consists of our criticisma of both theory and practice because of the degree to which these do not fit the known epidemiology of phenomena known variously as mental illness and personal problems. The second attempt to influence has come from the philosophical stance of sociology: recognition of the relativity of realities. Although this paper addresses the second of these sources of influence, a few comments about the former first need to be made because of its effect on the latter.

Sociologists In Schools Of Social Work: Marginality Or Integration?, Lee H. Bowker, Fred M. Cox

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In this paper, we examine the responses of 180 faculty members in graduate and undergraduate social work programs. These faculty members all achieved their highest degrees in fields other than social work, but approximately half of them also acquired the M.S.W. degree at some point in their careers. It was originally hypothesized that sociologists working in social work programs woulkd exhibit some of the characteristics of marginality, and the questionnaire contained a number of items on collegiality, conflict, discrimination, recognition and satisfaction. It was found that sociologists teaching in social work program suffered no negative effects on any of these …

Consensus As A Form Of Decision Making, Martha E. Gentry

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper critically analyzes the consensus process as used in decision making. Drawing from the Quaker experience and from social psychological research, statements of conditions for its effective use are enunciated. Descriptions of the use of consensus are provided and areas for further exploration are identified.

Life Events, Resistance Resources, And Health Status In Social Caseworkers, Prudie L. Orr, Richard H. Dana

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social case workers (N=318) participated in a longitudinal study designed to explore the relationships among life stress, possible "resistance" resources, and subsequent physical illness. Life stress was measured by the Recent Life Changes Questionnaire (RLCQ) while intra- and interpersonal traits and perceived community resources were measured using the Eysenck Personality Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Interpersonal Checklist, and portions of the Community Adaptation Schedule. Ten months later frequency of subsequent physical illness was measured by the Physical Health Status Questionnaire. Increased frequency of physical illness was associated with life changes in the work sphere and with greater hostility and …

The Self And The Conduct Of The People-Working Professions, William S. Bennett Jr., Merl C. Hokenstad Jr.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article discusses the evolution of people-working professions through four synchronic eras: 1) the traditional era, 2) the voluntaristic era, 3) the professional era, and 4) the cybernetic era. People-working professions are conceptually distinguished from traditional (craft) professions which serve as the model for most sociological analyses of the professions. In addition to differences in the nature of the knowledge used and the context of the service rendered, a distinction is drawn regarding the focus of the work done. People-workers give service to other selves (egos) while craft professions work with objects or parts of the person. The historical evolution …

Eleven Infallible Laws Governing The Negotiating Process Among Funding, Contractor And Client Agencies: By A Sadly Experienced Negotiator, Jeremy Miransky

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In these days of Reaganomics and cutbacks in social programs, grant allocations are becoming limited and competition for existing funds fierce. However, some things remain constant. Among them are the negotiating processes involved when a university applies for a training grant to be implemented in a social agency.

The Practice Of Social Work In Legal Services Programs, Heather B. Craige, William G. Saur, Janice B. Arcuri

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Because the legal difficulties of the poor are frequently symptomatic of longstanding economic, social and personal problems, a small number of legal services programs have hired social workers to collaborate with attorneys. A questionnaire was sent to all social workers employed by legal services programs encountered, job satisfaction and need for continuing education. Data on 48 social workers were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results indicate that social workers can increase the scope and depth of services delivered by legal services programs and also find considerable satisfaction in their work.

An Australian Test Of Economic And Political Models Of Welfare State Expenditures: 1945 - 1979, Gordon W. Ternowetsky, Maurreen P. Clissold

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper tests 'political' and 'economic' models of welfare expenditure with post-World War II Australian data. The major antecedents of welfare spending for the overall time period (1945-1979) appeared to be economic growth as mediated by the age of the population and program incrementalism. It was shown, however, that this view misleads rather than clarifies the influence of different factors during specific periods within the overall time series. A periodization of welfare spending was found to be more useful. The periodization analysis showed that the influence of politics on welfare spending is important. Right political strength was found to have …