The Volunteer Citizen After Welfare Reform in the United States: An Ethnographic Study of Volunteerism in Action

In the United States, neoliberal strategies for social, economic, and state organization have been accompanied by frequent calls for volunteers to solve serious social problems. A case study of a community mobilization of middle-class volunteers to provide one-on-one support to families in poverty shows both possibilities and limitations. Volunteers provide social support to families in poverty, thus alleviating social isolation. Volunteers learn about systemic forces that cause poverty, its effects on families and communities, and about themselves and their capacities to engage in poverty work. However, social isolation is but one of many problems associated with poverty, and even a more knowledgeable amateur volunteer corps cannot take the place of substantial social, economic, and political change.     

Welfare and Welfare to Work in the United States

Summary

Despite social work's historic ambivalence toward income support programs, the policy changes introduced by the TANF welfare to work program demand the profession's attention. Although social workers are not directly responsible for the administration or implementation of the program, many serve TANF clients whose lives have been affected by these changes. Tracing social work's historic but reluctant involvement with income support, this paper urges the profession to respond to the challenges posed by the TANF program in a more systematic way and to contribute more effectively to the wider task of poverty eradication.     

The Beginnings of Child Welfare Research in the United States

The author reviews the beginnings of child welfare research in the United States with an emphasis on the contributions of several outstanding individuals as well as the conflict between hereditarian and reformist values and attitudes. Both hereditarian and reformist values and attitudes had tremendous influence on the development of child welfare research as well as the helping professions.     

The North American Naturalization Gap: An Institutional Approach to Citizenship Acquisition in the United States and Canada1

Using 1990 U.S. Census 5% PUMS and 1991 Canadian Census 3% public and 20% restricted microfiles, this article demonstrates the existence of a North American naturalization gap: immigrants living in Canada are on average much more likely to be citizens than their counterparts in the United States, and they acquire citizenship much faster than those living south of the border. Current theories explaining naturalization differences – focusing on citizenship laws, group traits or the characteristics of individual migrants – fail to explain the naturalization gap. Instead, I propose an institutional approach to citizenship acquisition. States' normative stances regarding immigrant integration (interventionist or autonomous) generate integrated or disconnected institutional configurations between government, ethnic organizations and individuals. Evidence from a case study of Portuguese immigrants living in Massachusetts and Ontario suggests that in Toronto government bureaucrats and federal policy encourage citizenship through symbolic support and instrumental aid to ethnic organizations and community leaders. In contrast, Boston area grassroots groups are expected to mobilize and aid their constituents without direct state support, resulting in lower citizenship levels.     

Ethnographic Study of Gay and Bisexual Working-Class Men in the United States

SUMMARY

Thirty-nine working-class gay and bisexual men were interviewed using ethnographic techniques to better understand their resilience in light of homophobia, heterosexism, classism, AIDS, violence and discrimination. Several themes emerged: heterosexual assumption, sense of difference, socialized to hide, gay identity confusion, coming-out as an ongoing process, managing stigma, conflict with religion, family support, relationships, self-concept, working-class attitudes, and drug and alcohol abuse.     

The Paradox of Protestantism and Women in Elected Office in the United States

ABSTRACT

In cross-national studies, scholars have found that wealthy countries and those with a Protestant tradition are more likely to have higher levels of women in elected office. Even though the United States should then be high in this domain, it lags behind many similarly situated countries. We posit that one reason for this paradox is that Protestantism in the United States is far more socially conservative than is typical in other Protestant countries. To test our argument, we use state-level data on the proportion of women in elected office from 2002 to 2004 and survey data on church membership. We find a negative relationship between the percentage of Protestants belonging to churches associated with the National Association of Evangelicals, a lobbying group representing socially conservative Protestant denominations, and the proportion of women in elected office.     

Unintended Consequences: The Impact of Welfare Reform in the United States on NGOs

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 dramatically transformed the structure and goals of the public welfare system in the United States. The vast body of research and evaluation generated by the 1996 welfare reforms largely overlooked nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) despite their substantial historical and contemporary involvement in the delivery of social services to low-income populations. Therefore, this paper presents a unique assessment of PRWORA's implications based on the perspective of 90 social service NGOs operating in the Detroit metropolitan area. Examination of their services, staffing, budgets, and clients reveals many changes experienced by NGOs between 1996 and 2000 related to the welfare reforms. Overall, the findings suggest an increased role for social service NGOs in the public welfare system as well as concerns regarding their capacity to adequately fulfill this growing responsibility in the future.     

The international transfer of foster parent selection and preparation technology: the example of the Netherlands and the United States

The biannual education conferences of the International Foster Care Organization "provide an opportunity for foster parents and agency staff to learn new ideas and share technical expertise.' Contacts between Dutch and American participants at the 1983 Education Conference led to the transfer and adaptation of an American foster parent selection-preparation program to the Netherlands. This article, based on a workshop presented at the 1989 Education Conference, describes the process and initial impact of this international experience.     

Appalachia and the Construction of Whiteness in the United States

The field of critical whiteness studies has made significant progress in the deconstruction of ideologies of white supremacy. In part, this has been accomplished by analyzing whiteness as a racial identity. Another step in this deconstruction has been a focus on groups of marginalized whites, 'white trash' or 'hillbillies'. Since the mid-19th Century, Appalachia has been considered the paradigmatic place for these marginalized whites in the United States. Hillbillies are simultaneously stigmatized and idealized in the national culture. Accounting for both the negative and positive representations makes visible how marginalized white identity is a space where white hegemony is both challenged and reaffirmed.     

Cafe Culture in France and the United States: A Comparative Ethnographic Study of the Use of Mobile Information and Communication Technologies

Mobile (or personal) information and communication technologies are changing our communication opportunities and expectations and altering the nature of communication in public places. This study explored the uses and implications of these technologies through participant observation and interviews in cafes, public places at the heart of communities where people gather for beverages, food, and company, as well as for other activities. Cafes were ideal research contexts because (a) they provide convenient and acceptable entree into communities of place; (b) they serve important social, psychological, and economic functions; and (c) many are sites of a nexus of face-to-face and mediated interactions. Findings indicated that many people in American cafes routinely background their face-to-face experiences as they focus on electronic space rather than on physical space. In contrast, mobile information and communication technologies are generally not impacting people's experiences of physical space in cafes in Paris. Cross-cultural differences in the usage of mobile information and communication technologies in "third places" are explored.