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The punitive turn of penal policy in the United States after the acme of the Civil Rights movement responds not to rising criminal insecurity but to the social insecurity spawned by the fragmentation of wage labor and the shakeup of the ethnoracial hierarchy. It partakes of a broader reconstruction of the state wedding restrictive “workfare” and expansive “prisonfare” under a philosophy of moral behaviorism. This paternalist program of penalization of poverty aims to curb the urban disorders wrought by economic deregulation and to impose precarious employment on the postindustrial proletariat. It also erects a garish theater of civic morality on whose stage political elites can orche...
A compelling look at the crisis of disadvantaged women This powerful document takes a sobering look at the phenomenon of marginalized women pushed to the edges of society, holding on with the barest of hope and extraordinary bravery. Handicapped by the increasing societal inequality they face as an everyday fact of life, these women (and in many cases, their children) have been disconnected from the mainstream for reasons of age, race, gender, health, incarceration, domestic abuse, unwanted pregnancy, unemployment, and economic circumstance. They are poor in an affluent society, powerless in a powerful nation, and the suffering caused by their exclusion is poignant and troubling. Eloquently ...
A dozen essays interpret case study research on the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. Weil and Finegold (Assessing the New Federalism project, Urban Institute, Washington, DC) overview the history of welfare reform and policy implications of the latest act. While the value of supporting low-income working families has been demonstrated, Act II requires meeting diverse recipients' needs through all economic phases. Appends notes on case studies. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.
"The complexity of government programs sometimes makes it difficult for children with disabilities to get the benefits they need. This can impede their health and development. This book suggests ways to improve the system. Its main focus on the three largest programs: special education, Supplemental Security Income, and Medicaid"--Provided by publisher.
Images of poverty shape the debate surrounding it. In 1996, then President Bill Clinton signed welfare reform legislation repealing the principal federal program providing monetary assistance to poor families, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). With the president's signature this originally non-controversial program became the only title of the 1935 Social Security Act to be repealed. The legislation culminated a retrenchment era in welfare policy beginning in the early 1980s. To understand completely the welfare policy debates of the last half of the 20th Century, the various images of poor people that were present must be considered. Visions of Poverty explores these images an...
Since their historic high in 1994, welfare caseloads in the United States have dropped an astounding 59 percent--more than 5 million fewer families receive welfare. Family and Child Well-Being after Welfare Reform, now in paperback, explores how low-income children and their families are faring in the wake of welfare reform. Contributors to the volume include leading social researchers. Can existing surveys and other data be used to measure trends in the area? What key indicators should be tracked? What are the initial trends after welfare reform? What other information or approaches would be helpful? The book covers a broad range of topics: an update on welfare reform (Douglas J. Besharov a...
This volume presents the first comprehensive look at how welfare reforms enacted in 1996 are affecting caseloads, employment, earnings, and family well-being in rural areas.
This book describes the challenges facing the country's working poor, drawing lessons from practice and policy to recommend approaches for helping low-wage workers advance to better-paying jobs. Part I overviews the low-wage workforce and the employers who hire them, and Part II summarizes the evidence on strategies to improve workers' skills, supplement their wages, and provide greater support. Part III focuses on challenges encountered by groups such as women and immigrants, and Part IV assesses the potential contributions of community colleges, employers, and unions. Much of this material originated at a May 2000 conference held in Washington, DC. The editors are affiliated with Jobs for the Future. c. Book News Inc.
An essential resource for students of social policy and social welfare as well as for social welfare practitioners and other human services professionals, this text examines the policymaking activity of the different branches of the American government and of the public-at-large as well as the interactions between the branches of government and the general public in the formation and implementation of social policy. In addition to examining the role of the legislative and executive branches of government, Theodore J. Stein covers the often-overlooked role of the judiciary in policymaking. He addresses the ways social welfare practitioners should interpret (1) conflicting judicial rulings in cases where courts of equal jurisdiction rule differently on the same matter and (2) judicial rulings that signal significant changes in the law. The book looks at politics, practice, and implementation and provides a historical background of social policy and social work practice plus a wealth of descriptive and analytic information concerning policymaking processes, specific social policies, and the effect of social policy on social programs.
This text explores the impact of recent welfare reform on motherhood, marriage, and work in women's lives. It also focuses on what welfare reform reveals about work and family life, and its impact on us all.