Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Social Work's Diminished Commitment To The Paraprofessional, Edward A. Brawley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper reviews the rise during the 1960's and the apparent decline during the 1970's of social work's support of the paraprofessional and concludes that failure to follow through unequivocally on its early commitment to the paraprofessional is likely to create future difficulties for the profession.

The Denying Of Death: A Social Psychological Study, Henry H. B. Chang, Carla Kaye Chang

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Cultural studies indicate the existence of a ubiquitous death fear This fear is usually manifest through the defense mechanism of denial. In American society, the contradiction between life-oriented cultural themes and the death theme intensifies the denial of death.

Past studies indicate that a host of social and psychological variables are associated with death denial. The present study consisted of a survey of death attitudes. The results showed that death denial is associated with age, marital status, death of a parent, feeling of nervousness, and participation in dangerous activities. On the other hand. sex, health, and religious activity were not …

Social Work And Social Welfare: A Conceptual Matrix, Louis Levitt

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Through a structural-functional analysis, the relationship between the profession of social work and the institution of social welfare is examined. Social welfare Is defined as an institution concerned with those legitimated needs of people which relate to the quality of life which cannot be met in the marketplace. The central mission of the institution of social welfare is seen in three dimensions: social control, humanitarianism and feedback to society of patterns of social hurt which prevent the achievement of humanitarian aspirations and threaten the stability of the social order.

Institution provides one set of coordinates to the grid of social …

Sociological Precedents And Contributions To The Understanding And Facilitation Of Individual Behavioral Change: The Case For Counseling Sociology, Clifford M. Black, Richard Enos

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article clarifies the distinction between clinical and counseling sociology and provides some direction for the practice of counseling sociology. This is accomplished by a consideration first, of sociological contributions to the understanding and facilitation of individual behavior and its change, and second, of historical precedents in the field.

Factors Influencing The Decision Of Minority Students To Attend Graduate Schools Of Social Work, Jeannine Henry Sanchez, Charles H. Mindel, Dennis Saleebey

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study of 255 minority students enrolled in Graduate Schools of Social Work examined factors which influenced them to decide to attend these schools. The most frequently mentioned reasons were the curriculum and location of the school followed by prestige, financial incentives, emphasis on minority concerns and influence of significant others. Those schools which attracted greater numbers of minorities tended to attract them on the basis of curriculum, emphasis on minority concerns and not requiring entrance examinations. Formal recruitment activities were not seen as particularly effective.

Sowing The Seeds Of Trouble: An Historical Analysis Of Compliance Structures In Child Welfare, Terry Gibson, Mary R. Lewis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Anitai Etzioni's concept of compliance structures is used as a focus for historical analysis of the organizational structures through which chld welfare services have been offered in the U. S. This article shows how a dual compliance structure arose, both normative and coercive, but with more emphasis on the coercive. The expansion of public child welfare services since 1935, especially foster care and placement services rather than in-home services, has drawn public attention to widespread ineffectiveness. Stress and strain are particularly intense at the service delivery level. Yet the problems and social polices have not been analyzed in terms of …

Careers Of Women Civil Rights Activists, Rhoda Lois Blumberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Stages in the civil rights careers of a sample of women active in northern communities were studied. Committed to racial justice, most intensified their participation in the early 1960's. In the second half of the decade, the "Black Power" phase, roles for whites became fewer. Organizations experienced changes in membership and direction; factionalism ensued. Many, women welcomed black leadership and played roles in new black-lead community agencies. Arrests of blacks allegedly involved in riots elicited support in the formation of defense committees and prison reform organizations. Later, many women entered human service professions; they chose jobs with poor, minority or …

Loss Not Need: The Ethics Of Relief Giving In Natural Disasters, Thomas A. Leitko, David R. Rudy, Steven A. Peterson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The social ethics of relief giving (the bases on which relief ought to be given) in natural disaster situations are explored through a case study of public reactions to Red Cross activities. Red Cross policies and public reactions to them are reviewed, and survey data pertaining to attitudes toward the Red Cross and toward relief giving in natural disasters of residents of a western New York county are presented. Specifically, public satisfaction with present Red Cross dis:ribution policies is explored, and public perceptions of "loss vs need" as bases for relief giving are examined. Although there are some qualifications, findings …

Purposive Social Change And Interorganizational Networks: The Case Of Three Prepaid Health Programs, Gale Miller, Charles K. Warriner

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

An important perspective emerging in the areas of community and organizational analysis is the political economy approach to interorganizational relations. This approach treats organizations as seekers of basic political and economic resources which are found in their environments. This approach has special implications for persons interested in the study and/or .implementation of programs of change, because it sensitizes the observer to the problems of political and economic conflict in interorganizational relations. The perspective also offers useful insights into the development of. intervention strategies that minimize the conflicts often associated with social change. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of this …

Family Health Policy Formulation: A Problematic Definitional Process, H. Hugh Floyd Jr.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The family has become a focus of much concern over the past two decades as a variety of family related problems have become major social issues. These social-psychological problems are considered to have negative consequences at three analytical levels: individual, family and society. Therefore, considerable discussion has been raised about the establishment of family policy. Family policy is discussed in this paper as a definitional problematic process. Several problems of a conceptual and logistical nature are cited and some guidelines for family policy construction are made.

Ecological Systems Theory In Social Work, Max Siporin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Ecological systems theory is explicated as a current form of successive systems models used in social work. Behavior principles assumptive in this model are identified: of exchange balance, inner consistency, and dialectial change. Several misconceptions of ecological systems theory and a cultist aspect of its current popularity are addressed. Advantages, including the emergence of practice principles derived from this model, as well as its limitations are then discussed. The charge that systems theory helps maintain the status quo and the use of systems theory by radical proponents of system change are considered in terms of the dual function of social …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 7, No. 4 (July 1980)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Table of Contents

• Below The Belt: Situational Ethics for Unethical Situations. - GALE GOLDBERG, JOY ELLIOT - 478
• Non-Governmental Emergency Food Services: A Descriptive Study of the Tertiany Welfare Sector. - STANLEY WENOCUR etal - 487
• Ecological Systems Theory In Social Work. - MAX SIPORIN - 507
• Family Health Policy Formulation: A Problematic Definitional Process. - H. HUGH. FLOYD, Jr. - 533
• Rural Sociology and Rural Social Work: An Historical Essay. - WILIA E. MARTINEZ-BRAWLEY - 546
• Demographic and Attitudinal Factors Associated With Perceptions of Social Work. - PAT M. KEITH - 561
• Jungian Theory and Social Work Practice. - …

Protecting Battered Wives: The Availability Of Legal Remedies, Paul J. Munson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Abused wives have often times been victims of neglect by legal authorities due to the long-held belief that the criminal law system should not intrude into family problems. Unfortunately, this attitude ignores the seriousness and extent of spousal violence. This paper first examines traditional legal thought with regards to violence in the family. It is then argued that drafting new laws may help to protect the battered wife, but other considerations such as enforcement and community support must be addressed if law is to provide effective remedies. Remedies other than criminal ones, should be pursued exhaustively in the attempt to …

Below The Belt: Situational Ethics For Uniethical Situations, Gale Goldberg, Joy Elliott

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The word "politics" generally conjures up images of smokefilled, back rooms where unscrupulous men in shirt sleeves chew their cigars and make shady deals that serve partisan interests. But politics is neither inherently shady nor specific to back rooms. In fact, as long as society is differentiated along ethnic, sex and social class lines, politics pervades all of social life. You are involved in politics and so is your mother.

Non-Governmental Emergency Food Services: A Descriptive Study Of The Tertiary Welfare Sector, Stanley Wenocur

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study of voluntarily organized emergency food centers in Baltimore. These agencies comprise the heart of a tertiary welfare system that provides basic survival supplies without a means test to the needy who cannot obtain relief from traditional public or private sources. Forty-one emergency food services were identified in Baltimore and the heads of 37 of these agencies were interviewed in depth. The findings indicated that a large and heterogeneous population bad utilized emergency food agencies and that the agencies generally met the requisites for a true safety-net function - i.e., accessibility, non-bureaucratic …

Rural Sociology And Rural Social Work: An Historical Essay, Emilia E. Martinez-Brawley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The relationship between rural sociology and rural social work can be traced back to the days of the Country Life Commission (1908), and has experienced many fluctuations throughout the years. This paper examines the interconnections between the developments in the two fields, drawing from historical data which lead to che hypothesis that those fluctuations were caused by forces within each discipline as well as by developments affecting the interactions of each field with the other. It appears that academic and theoretical issues were not alone in causing contention in the relationship between rural sociology and the practice of rural social …

Demographic And Attitudinal Factors Associated With Perceptions Of Social Work, Pat M. Keith

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Demographic and attitudinal correlates of perceptions of social work practice were examined among rural and urban residents. Data obtained from 301 persons indicated that attitudes toward public assistance and knowledge about social work had independent effects on perceptions of social work practice. Sex and education also explained a significant amount of the variance in attitudes toward social work with women and persons with more education having more positive attitudes. One-third of the respondents had personal experience with social work however, when other variables were considered, previous association a social worker had no impact on attitudes. Dimensions of religiosity previously found …

Jungian Theory And Social Work Practice, Herman Borenzweig

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Carl Jung's contributions to psychology, psychotherapy, and social science have had little impact upon social wonk practice. Social Work Abstracts to lists only one article where Jungian theory is utilized by social workers. McBroom has recently written an article "The Collective Unconscious as a Unifying Concept in Teaching Human Behavior Cross Culturally:" If only two articles about Jungian psychology have appeared in the social work literature in the last twelve years it seems safe to assume either that the ,Jungian oriented social workers practice their Jung underground and fail to publish on that Jung remains anathema to the profession.

In …

Nonviolent Agencies In The Northern Ireland Struggle: 1968-1979, Alfred Mcclung Lee

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Northern Ireland struggle has enlisted or given birth to a great many social welfare organizations allegedly dedicated to the nonviolent solution of the area’s problems. These consist principally of three types: (1) agencies of religious denominations or groups of denominations, (2) voluntary social work, demonstration, and protest societies, and (3) political actionist bodies. Those of the first two types face the pitfalls of the ready middleclass recourse to conscience-soothing rituals and to compromise at the expense of lowerclass and ethnic outgroup interests. Those of the third type include ones that are effective, but some tend to fall into lowerclass …

The Perceived Effectiveness Of Medical Social Work Faculty, Richard M. Grinnell Jr., Nancy S. Kyte, Richard L. Gorsuch

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Within the health care field, medical social work has expanded rapidly over the past few years (Bracht, 1974). Medical social workers comprise approximately 1.5 percent of the total medical schools' faculty in the United States (Grinnell, Kyte & Hunter, 1976). There is additional evidence that medical social work faculty will increase over the years to come (Grinnell, Kyte, Hunter & Larson, 1976; Crinnell, Kyte & Hunter, 1976; Grinnell & Kyte, 1978b; & Grinnell & Kyte, 1979). Additionally, empirical studies have been conducted that analyzed the functions of social work faculty in medical schools (Grinnell & Kyte, 1978c; Grinnell & Kyte, …

The Triumph Of Chiropractic - And Then What?, Walter I. Wardwell

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The evolution of chiropractic from a marginal health profession to the strongest and most popular alternative to orthodox medicine in the United States is examined and compared with osteopathy and naturopathy. Evidence is offered that 1974 was the landmark year for recognition of chiropractors (e.g., accreditation of colleges, reimbursement for services under Medicare) and relaxation of the American Medical Association's policy of active and overt opposition (e.g., elimination from its code of ethics of the tabu on professional association. The public policy question of the future status of chiropractors is raised and alternatives considered. It is concluded that the most …

The Good Life: Who's Practicing Healthy Life-Styles?, Ann S. Ford, W. Scott Ford

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

With the birth of scientific medicine in the late 1800s, the responsibility for 'health' was increasingly removed from the individual and replaced by a dependence upon medical intervention and required public health measures. Individual responsibility was viewed largely in terms of assuring accessibility for the individual (and his/her family) to the professional health delivery system. The need for health care, therefore, was seen as episodic necessity -- not as a continuing individual responsibility.

The Public And Care By Non-Physicians: Health Policy Consideration, Bebe F. Lavin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In an effort to resolve what some define as a crisis in health care, medical paraprofessionals have become an increasing part of the primary care scene. As the training and use of paraprofessionals expands there has been growing insistence that much of what office-based physicians do could be handled as well or better by these non-physicians. If it is health policy to encourage the use of paraprofessionals to alleviate the shortages and maldistribution of primary care doctors, acceptance of these personnel by the public is a critical issue.

A study of the public in a Midwest area suggests considerable variability …

Veterans' Medical Care: The Politics Of An American Government Health Service, Judith Lasker

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The history of veterans' benefits and services in the United States is reviewed; it demonstrates their responsiveness to dominant political, economic, military and medical interests. The ideological position that social services must be "deserved" is also seen to be an important influence on the V.A. system. The consequent inaccessibility of V.A. medical care to most veterans and almost all non-veterans raises questions about the appropriateness of the V.A. system as a model for national health care.

American Health Care: Paradigm Structures And The Parameters Of Change, Allen W. Imershein

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Recent commentary on the health care scene in the U.S. has moved increasingly toward explanations of why little or no change has occurred despite many declarations of "crisis." From Alford's (1975) elitist analysis in Health Care Politics to Navarro's (1976) marxist analysis in Medicine Under Capitalism, critics in and out of the social sciences have tried to make sense of the array of current problems and the apparent lack of response to or change in them. These analyses are in striking contrast to earlier commentaries (e.g., Schwartz, 1971; Garfield, 1970; Anderson, 1972; Citizens Board, 1972) which, while highly critical of …

The Paradoxes Of Health Planning, Bonnie Morel Edington

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The National Health Planning Act of 1974 designated 200 Health Systems Agencies (HSAs) nationally and a State Health Planning and Development Agency in each state. Components of the law are analyzed to illustrate its ambiguities and contradictions. The components analyzed are: the findings which led to the passage of the law; the law's purpose; the ten national health priorities; the National Guidelines for Health Planning; the purposes of the HSAs and the data they are to assemble and analyze. The major contradiction is that agencies designated to focus on cost containment in health care are expected to make health care …

Mission Neighborhood Health Center: A Case Study Of The Department Of Health Education And Welfare As A Counterinsurgency Agency, Thomas S. Bodenheimer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In the 1960's, working class communities all over the country, particularly minority inner city neighborhoods, exploded in violent anger. The federal government responded with a pacification or cooling-out program: the War on Poverty. The War on Poverty provided federal funds to bring a few programs into the community, to create a few jobs, and to buy off working class leaders who were a threat to those in power. In the course of this program of counterinsurgency, the War on Poverty took over a slogan of the 1960's, "community control," and turned it into its opposite; rather than control by the …

The Impact Of Consumerism On Health Care Change: Alternatives For The Future?, Allen W. Imershein, Eugenia T. Miller

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The quest for consumer participation in the management of health care delivery may have experienced its first signs of success, but the implications of that success are as yet unclear. The establishment of consumer majorities on the newly developed health systems agency (HSA) boards was seen as an important milestone in the development of the consumer movement in America over the last ten years. The initial wave of optimism over the Great Society programs that in part gave birth to the consumer movement has long since vanished, but some of the organizational results of those attempts at innovation have become …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 7, No. 3 (May 1980)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

SPECIAL ISSUE - CHALLENGE AND INNOVATION IN AMERICAN HEALTH CARE POLICY

• Editor' s Introduction
• American Health Care: Paradigm Structures and the Parameters of Change - ALLEN W. IMERSHEIN
• The Public and Care by Non-Physicians: Health Policy Considerations - BEBE F. LAVIN
• Organizational Structure and Professional Norms in an Alternative Health Care Setting: Physicians in Health Maintenance Organizations - JUDITH K. BARR and MARCIA K. STEINBERG - The Paradoxes of Health Planning - BONNIE MOREL EDINGTON
• Veteran's Medical Care: The Politics of an American Government Health Service - JUDITH N. LASKER
• Mission Neighborhood Health Center: A Case Study of the Department …

Changing Physician Ideologies On The Care Of The Dying: Themes And Possible Explanations, John Macdougall

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

An analysis of changing physician ideologies regarding the care of elderly dying patients, as expressed in technical journals read by American physicians. Markedly more titles concerning terminal care are found in Index Medicus in 1968- 78 than in 1960-67. In one journal, physicians are only after 1964 urged to tell patients openly about their condition and after 1969, to improve cooperation within professional teams. Two explanations of these data are tentatively explored: 1) a Parsonian explanation, whereby medical ideologies reflect professional autonomy and the influence of internalized moral norms; 2) a Marxist explanation, whereby medical ideologies reflect physicians' transformation from …