Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Humanism And Social Work Paradoxes, Problems, And Promises, Norman Goroff

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Although social work is viewed as a human service profession, with the implicit assumption that it is humanistically oriented, an examination of some of the theoretical orientations, practice settings and practice methodology will reveal a number of paradoxes, problems, and potential promises. I do not claim to provide more than a sampling, to provide a more exhaustive analysis would require considerably more time than is available.

Child Health And Developmental Problems And Child Maltreatment Among Afdc Families, Isabel Wolock

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper explores the complex interrelationship among the physical health and developmental problems of a child, child abuse and neglect, and poverty. Gaps in agency attention to children's medical needs are identified and recommendations made for reducing these gaps. The analysis is based on interview and agency data for 45 families randomly selected from a group of 365 AFDC recipient families under supervision for child abuse and neglect.

Welfare Reform And The Possible Demise Of White Paternalism And Black Flight In Mississippi, Lewis Walker, Chester L. Hunt

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article makes an assessment of the possible impact of welfare reform on families currently receiving AFDC payments. An analysis of the data on variations in AFDC monthly payments, the per capital income and AFDC grants, and other selected factors for Mississippi, Nebraska, and New York suggests that the effects of federalization on welfare would indeed be far-reaching. For example, it would increase the economic level of Black mothers and children living in Mississippi (state with the lowest monthly payment), and possibly at the same time decrease the flow of Black emigration from that state.

The Price Of Unemployment And Inflation And Who Pays, Michael Borrero

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Since the early 1960's many economists and policy makers have contended that full employment and price stability are unattainable goals. Stimulated by the works of A. W. Phillips, a British economist, they have argued that there is an inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment; that is, as unemployment decreases, inflation increases. Phillips in his original article, "The Relationship between Unemployment and the Rate of Change in Money Wage Rates in the United Kingdom,"1 cautiously reasoned that when demand for commodities, services or labor was high relative to supply, prices increase. Increasing prices for labor draw out unemployed people into the …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 8, No. 1 (March 1981)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Table of Contents

• Humanism and Social Work Paradoxes, Problems, and Promise - NORMAN GOROFF
• Applied Sociology, Social Engineering, and Human Rationality - JOHN W. MURPHY
• Heritage and Politics of Poverty and Inequality for Rural Women - EDITH A. CHEITMAN
• Social Welfare: Context for Social Control - PHYLLIS J. DAY
• Social Values in Social Work: A Developmental Model - DAVID BARGAL
• Social Work Response to Problems of Occupational Health - JOANNE JANKOVIC & DAVID DOTSON
• Welfare Reform and the Possible Demise of White Paternalism and Black Flight in Mississippi - LEWIS WALKER & CHESTER L. HUNT
• Child Health and Developmental Problems …

Social Values In Social Work: A Developmental Model, David Bargal

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The article suggests a five stage model which describes the development of social values in the socialization to social work and other human service professions. The five stages of development include the following: antecedent factors, anticipatory socialization, professional training period, performance in a professional organization and the crystalization of a professional worldview. The main thrust of the paper is the idea that the professional person develops himelf for a very long time before reaching professional maturity. This development represents a constant dialogue between the persons background factors needs and motives and the institutional and organizational contexts he encounters in his …

Community Service Opportunities And Older Americans, Zev Harel, Ruth Ellen Lindenberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Contemporary society has brought about a situation where older Americans have limited opportunities for contributory roles. They have limited involvement in the development and provision of services aimed to promote their own well-being and the welfare and well-being of others. This article examines the importance of contributory roles and functions in light of theoretical perspectives, social work values, and research evidence which indicates that life satisfaction and psychological well being of older persons is related to continued productivity and the opportunity to carry substantive social roles. This article reviews and discusses contributory opportunities for older persons as part of community …

Boom Town Victims: Social Work's Latest Clients, Joseph Davenport Iii, Judith Ann Davenport

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The current energy crisis appears to be presenting social work with a new breed of client as the profession moves into the decade of the 1980's. This new clientele - the boom town victim - may be an individual, a group, an entire community or even a geographical region. Accordingly, an effective response to these victims may well require the entire repetoire of social work's helping functions (e.g., clinical, research, community organization, social planning, social action, policy formulation). Since the energy crisis gives every indication of not only continuing, but intensifying, it behooves the social work profession to devote more …

Factors Distinguishing Urban And Rural State Mental Hospital Patients In Florida, Elane M. Nuehring, Robert A. Ladner

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study compares the patients of two state mental hospitals, one serving an urban region, the other a rural district. The purpose is to explore urban and rural patient differences on background, hospital history and experience, post-release living situation, use of community mental health services, and postrelease functioning. A summary attempt to distinguish urban from rural patients using discriminant function analysis established that rural-urban differences exist in symptom manifestation, the patient's personal and social environment, and institutional processing patterns. These patient differences have implications for the development of aftercare services.

The Changing Family And Family Policy, Ronald J. Mancoske

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The concern for the loss of family functions ii, the process of social change has led some to call for a family policy to support the family to cope with stress in meeting its basic functions. Change in functioning of the family is inclusive of various spheres: economic, status giving, educational, religious, recreational, protective and affectional. These changes are seen as indicative of the decline in the family. This view is moderated by the spectrum of change in the family interactions. Support for family policy is essential though it can not be developed on the idea of the perilous decline …

Applied Sociology, Social Engineering, And Human Rationality, John W. Murphy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

At this time social planning has come to be synonymous with technical forecasting. Because of this trend, the methods used by social planners are those of positive science. These methods, however, are not self-reflective, and are therefore naive about the epistemological assumptions which they inadvertantly advance. As a result of this epistemological naivete, many times the social planner is guided by methodological assumptions that are totally incongruent with the social world to which they are to be applied. This type of social forecasting is referred to as irresponsible social planning, in that it is not sensitive to the needs and …

Heritage And Politics Of Poverty And Inequality For Rural Women, Edith A. Cheitman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In the course of researching the subject of this paper I requested a computer literature search. Using sociological, economic and psychological data bases and a comprehensive list of descriptors, I was able to retrieve only five references. Of those, only one was of significant value to me in dealing with the specific issues involved in the oppression of rural American women.

The paucity of material available through so-called "legitimate" channels was, for me, a telling point. The worst kind of oppression and inequality occurs to groups that are, in effect, "invisible". If no one has identified rural women as an …

Social Work Response To Problems Of Occupational Health, Joanne Jankovic, David Dotson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

An emerging area of concern for social work professionals is occupational safety and health. This article explores problems of the workplace with a specific focus on Brown Lung disease, or byssinosis. The authors present a model for field practice whereby students develop skills in organization, self-help group development and systems change strategies, thereby moving from a traditional methods model of practice to one that is focused on social problems.

Making It Legal: A Comparison Of Previously Cohabiting And Engaged Newlyweds, Ingrid Moeller, Basil J. Sherlock

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In view of the recent emergence of cohabitation as an alternative form of courtship, it is important to determine its possible effects on the subsequent marital union. Are the premarital experiences, marital goals, patterns of marital power and levels of conflict discernably different for those who have lived together before marriage? Comparing cohabitors with noncohabitors , we attempted to pursue this question in a sample of 139 recently married, nonparental, college matriculating, young adults using a lengthy focused interview.

Largely due to parental pressures "to make it legal", both cohabitors and noncohabitors moved towards matrimony with equal speed, marrying at …

Poor Urban Blacks And Community Participation, Charles Stevens

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This research elaborates the concept of community participation utilizing activities that reflect the experiences of poor urban Blacks. The residents of a low income housing development are studied with emphasis on how these people involved themselves in community affairs and how they interact with other tenants in their day to day activities. It is largely a descriptive study, in that it attempts to uncover and explain styles of participation that are not generally counted as meaningful participation. Therefore criteria for participation is defined in a manner to include some informal activities and other activities which seem to correspond to the …

Benefits For The Disabled: How Beneficial For Women?, Elizabeth Ann Kutza

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The social and economic consequence of disability is of increasing interest in American society today. The numbers of persons reporting disabling conditions is rising, as is the number of persons qualifying for public disability benefits. This article examines the impact of current United States disability policy on disabled women, and concludes that the major programs -- disability insurance, supplemental security income, workers' compensation, vocational rehabilitation -- because of their relationship to labor market participation, disadvantage women. Women not only receive fewer, but less generous benefits. Explanations of this outcome, and implications for future policy are addressed.

Tommy - The Story Of An Oppressed Family, Karen N. Bianco

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Tommy was unhappy. He loved his Mommy and Daddy, but he thought that they didn't love him. Everytime he walked into a room where his Mommy and Daddy were, they would yell at him. Tommy didn't pick up his dirty clothes. Tommy didn't feed his dog. Tommy tore his dungarees. Tommy wasn't nice to his baby sister.

The Influence Of Bureaucratic Factors On Welfare Policy Implementation, Gerard S. Gryski, Charles L. Usher

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The authors argue that previous welfare policy research has suffered from its neglect of bureaucratic factors, as well as a tendency to exclude policy-making arenas above and below the state level. Using several measures of organizational structure, administrative professionalism, and within-state need, they attempt to relate these variables to within-state variations in welfare policy implementation. While certain socio-economic conditions were found to be significant determinants of this variation, of greater importance are characteristics of state welfare bureaucracies such as the degree of administrative centralization and the level of professionalism of administrative staff. Their research suggests the need for further refinement …

The Political Economy Of Unemployment, Howard J. Stanback

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Unemployment, as defined by the U.S. Government. is the number of people seeking work who cannot find it during the period of study, usually a month. This definition reflects a neoclassical economic theory which links total employment with aggregate demand. In other words the higher the Gross National Product (ONP) the higher the employment. According to the theory the actual number of people working is the result interaction of this aggregate demand and the number of people willing to work at the going wage rates, i.e., the supply of labor. "Willing to work" is translated in the government definition as …

Helping The Unemployment Client, Katherine Hooper Briar

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper analyzes ways in which the social work profession can reaffirm its professional service responsibilities to unemployed clients. It is suggested that social work practice should address not just the effects of unemployment but also the jobless condition itself. The human costs of unemployment and their implications for changes in social work assessment and intervention are cited.

Values Classification Through Science Fiction, Phyllis J. Day

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The paper discusses the use of science fiction in social work education as a mechanism for values clarification for the student social worker. Both personal opinions and values, and those stereotypes to which we have all been socialized, can be brought to awareness as reality separate from fact or knowledge by discussion of the alternate futures and societies oriented in the analogical reality of science fiction. A partial bibliography along with suggestions for use are given, and an informal study of student levels of values, clarified by LeGuin's story "Those Who Walk Away from Omelas," is reported.

A Comparison Of Social Psychological Views Among Youthful And Aged Persons: An Empirical Assessment Or Marginally Differentiated Attitude Measures, Dennis L. Peck, David L. Klemmack

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Four related but marginally differentiated sociological and psychological attitude measures are evaluated through analysis of survey data. Generated from a statewide random sample (N=322), four measures of maladjustment/well-being -- the anomie, alienation, fatalism, and powerlessness scales -- are evaluated as being similar in nature. The moderately high correlations between the scale items comprising the four distinctive conceptual world-views suggest that the scales overlap considerably. The results of an oblique solution factor analysis, however, suggest that the scales being considered may be at least marginally differentiated. Comparisons between distinctive age groups of the sample of adults age 18 to 84 using …

Multiple Constituencies, Differential Power, And The Question Of Effectiveness In Human Service Organizations, Patricia Yancey Martin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A multiple constituencies model of human service organizations identifies twelve interest groups which must be considered when effectiveness questions are raised. The differential power of the interest groups suggests that some groups' preferences are likely to be emphasized over others. The relationship between power inside the organization and that on the outside is analyzed. Recent trends in the growth andmiiitancy of professional associations and employee groups suggest that internal control by senior administrators is increasingly challenged and variable. Future studies of effectiveness in the human services are encouraged to remain sensitive to the effects of constituency interests and power on …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 7, No. 6 (November 1980)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Table of Contents

• Values Classification through Science Fiction - Phyllis J. Day
• Multiple Constituencies, Differential Power, and the Question of Effectiveness in Human Service Organizations - Patricia Yancey Martin
• The Influence of Bureaucratic Factors on Welfare Policy Implementation - Gerard S. Gryski, Charles L. Usher
• Human Service Needs in Rapidly Growing Western Communities: The Wyoming House Services Project - One Response - Julie M. Uhlmann, John W. Hanks,
• A Comparison of Social Psychological Views among Youthful and Aged Persons: An Empirical Assessment or Marginally Differentiated Attitude Measures - Dennis L. Peck, David L. Klemmack
• Factors Influencing Senate Voting Patterns on …

Human Service Needs In Rapidly Growing Western Communities: The Wyoming House Services Project-One Response, Julie M. Uhlmann, John W. Hanks

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Human service needs in rural, western communities currently experiencing energy related growth are abundant. This paper describes and critiques a service delivery project designed to address these needs.

Factors Influencing Senate Voting Patterns On Social Work Related Legislation, Joyce Littell Smith, Gail Marie Sullivan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study analyzes several influences on Senate voting patterns on key legislation selected by NASW. Party affiliation, region, ratio of NASW registered social workers to state population, liberal and conservative ideology, and judgment of social work were found to be significantly associated with voting patterns. Results of a questionnaire distributed to each Senator indicate a favorable perception of the field of social work.

Toward A Meaning Of Work, Michael I. Borrero, Hector A. Rivera

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Contemporary observers of the occupation and social fabric contend that individuals as members of families need to assert their rights over their lives and their destinies. That the family and the workplace can be analyzed independently of each other's existence or the dichotomy between the intrinsic value of work and the importance of non-work time for individuals and firms are both notions that are being considered contemporarily and complementary. This paper reviews the history and societal factors that affect the notion of-work and its utility as a focus for social policy students.

The Impact Of Unemployment On Young, Middle-Aged And Aged Workers, Katharine Hooper Briar, Decky Fiedler, Carol Sheean, Patricia Kamps

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper presents findings from research on the effects of unemployment on young, middle-aged and aged workers. The therapeutic benefits of work indicated by the elimination and reduction of problems attributed to joblessness by young and aged workers is examined as well. The implications of such findings for human service professions are explored.

Psychological And Emotional Impact Of Unemployment, Michael Borrero

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Having seen the discussion of the meaning of work and the important role it plays in our lives, as developed by Borrero and Rivera, we now need to address what happens to people when they want to work but are unable to because of economic recessions, depressions and economic policies. The focus of the following paper is to review the literature concerning the psychological and emotional stresses that are brought about as a result of unemployment.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 7, No. 5 (September 1980)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Table of Contents

• The Self Disclosure Of Clinical Social Workers Social Work and Social Welfare: A Conceptual Matrix - LOUIS LEVITT - 636
• Sociological Precedents and Contributions To The Understanding and Facilitation of Individual Behavioral Change: The Case for Counseling Sociology - CLIFFORD M. BLACK & RICHARD ENOS - 648
• Factors Influencing The Decision of Minority Students To Attend Graduate Schools of Social Work - JEANNINE HENRY SANCHEZ, CHARLES H. MINDEL & DENNIS SALEEBEY - 665
• Sowing The Seeds of Trouble: An Historical _Analysis of Compliance Structures In Child Welfare - TERRY GIBSON & MARY R. LEWIS - 679
• Careers …