Towards a Radical Critique of Social Work and Welfare Ideology

A radical critique of social work and social welfare is proposed, and an outline is given of the process of mystification that occurs when the field of social problems is dominated by a welfare or consensual approach rather than by a conflictual model. With this analytical framework, the role of the social work profession as an agency of social control is examined in terms of its contribution to the persistence of the existing socio-political order. Finally, the response of the profession is considered in relation to various minority and client groups organizing themselves for social action with a view to securing their civil and political rights.     

Keeping the Faith: The Impact of Human Services Restructuring on Catholic Social Welfare Services

Church related agencies are major providers of community services in Australia (Lyons, 2001:34‐35). While the history of church related welfare service provision is not well known in Australia it is asserted that many have a long tradition of outreach and service provision to marginalised groups regardless of the government social policy of the day (ACSWC, 2000; Mendes, 2003). This paper examines the current environment of human services restructuring and the impact of the shift to contractualism on one church related provider: Catholic social welfare provision in Australia. It explores the significance of the church's social teachings and history on concerns that service innovation, diversity and advocacy are currently under threat. Finally it calls for greater appreciation of the distinctive contribution of church related agencies and what they have to offer in service delivery and as contributors to the social policy discourse.     

邓小平对毛泽东知识分子政策的继承和发展

邓小平根据马克思主义、毛泽东思想关于知识分子的基本观点,结合时代发展要求,科学地阐明了社会主义中国知识分子的阶级属性及社会地位和作用,实现了党的知识分子政策的创新和发展.     

基督教对中国社会转型的文化价值

在全球化背景下,中国社会的转型和现代化建设必然要面对强势的西方文化.无论我们被动接受还是主动抵御,都需要理智地了解和全面掌握西方文化.从历史侍承、文化基础、现代情境等方面看,基督教在西方文化中具有根基性的地位和作用,因此,对中国社会的转型就具有重要的文化价值.基督教与西方的政治、经济、文化具有不可分割的关系,作为文化基因它已经完全渗透在西方文化的肌体之中,我们必须以一种开放和宽容的心态面对基督教在文化对比中的相对特点和优势,在中西文化交流、碰撞中吸收和借鉴我们所缺乏的因素,深刻发掘基督教的文化价值为完善中国文化所用.     

The Changed Welfare Paradigm: The Individualization of The Social

The first part of this paper offers a cumulative review of the changes in global objectives and operating principles and their global consequences, characteristic of the shift from the ideal type of the modern welfare state to the neo-liberal or post-modern paradigm. The paper then spells out some of the implications of this shift for social security in the "transition countries" of Central and Eastern Europe. The tendencies (from marketization to the spread of means-testing) are similar to those in the West; but they are much more marked and there is much less political and popular resistance to these changes. One of the crucial ingredients of the shift is the undermining of the age-old solidarity between generations, a trend also strongly recommended by the supranational agencies. The "catch", or the "paradox of democracy" is that, for all the lack of resistance, people do not seem to approve of the rapid withdrawal of the state and the loss of their existential securities.     

社会保障权及其宪法保护的基本原则

社会保障权是一项独立的公民基本权利。我国目前的社会保障制度大部分是在过去计划经济体制下建立的,存在着一些不合理的因素使得我国对社会保障权的保护严重不足。社会保障各项具体制度都是依据法律而设定的,而各项法律的制定又是由宪法所引导的,可见,以根本大法的形式对社会保障制度作出规定,并将社会保障权规定为公民的基本权利,这样宪法在对社会保障权的保护中能起到关键作用。     

The Third Way and Social Welfare: The Myth of Post-emotionalism

The “passive” welfare state was accused of promoting a dependency culture. “Active” welfare and the “what works?” approach of Britain's New Labour government is allegedly implicated in an age of post‐emotionalism, in which people are largely indifferent to the needs of others and committed primarily to their personal well‐being. This article, first, seeks to extend recent debates about agency and motivation in social policy and relate them to the notion of post‐emotionalism. Second, it draws on a recent empirical study of popular and welfare provider discourses, which suggests that popular opinion can accommodate an appreciation of human interdependency, while welfare providers remain committed to a public service ethos. None the less, Third Way thinking is associated with a narrowing of solidaristic responsibilities. The problem for the future of health, social care and state welfare policies lies not with the imagined consequences of post‐emotionalism, so much as with an ideological context that perpetuates a distorted ethic of responsibility.     

社会福利社会化视角下的社会福利社区化

随着经济发展和社会结构的变迁,社会福利社会化成为我国社会福利体制改革的必然趋势。在这一发展趋势中,作为社会成员生活中心的社区就成为我国社会福利社会化的最佳载体。社会福利社区化的实现是我国社会福利社会化的重要体现。     

论社会转型期城市社区福利的模式变迁

计划经济时代中国城市建立了与单位制相适应的传统社区福利模式,该模式以单位福利制为主体、民政福利和社区福利服务为补充,满足了当时城市居民的基本生活需求。随着中国进入体制转轨和社会转型期,传统社区福利模式面临着严峻的挑战。中国将要建立的社区福利模式是一个社会化、开放型的福利体系,它以社会化福利机构和项目为主体、以经过改造的国家福利和职业福利为补充。     

论社会转型期城市社区福利的模式变迂

计划经济时代中国城市建立了与单位制相适应的传统社区福利模式,该模式以单位福利制为主体、民政福利和社区福利服务为补充,满足了当时城市居民的基本生活需求。随着中国进入体制转轨和社会转型期,传统社区福利模式面临着严峻的挑战。中国将要建立的社区福利模式是一个社会化、开放型的福利体系,它以社会化福利机构和项目为主体、以经过改造的国家福利和职业福利为补充。     

我国外贸增长方式转型的关键

我国外贸增长方式转型的标准应确立为:科技高含量化、生态化、信息化。产业结构调整—科技自主创新—经营方式改进三者的联动构成转型的总体框架,关键在于科技引领。科技引领外贸发展的核心是实施专利—标准战略,重点领域是产业结构与技术的生态化,新应用是推行增强信息含量战略。     

The Impact of a Mandatory Employment Program on Welfare Terminations

ABSTRACT

This longitudinal study analyzes the impact of one of the most ambitious employment and training programs in the nation, California's Greater Avenue for Independence (GAIN), on welfare terminations. The study isolates the effects of GAIN from other effects by controlling for AFDC program characteristics and labor market conditions. The findings suggest that, all else constant, GAIN increased terminations in a modest fashion. The paper discusses the difficulties future welfare-to-work programs are likely to have in substantially increasing terminations even with stringent mandatory work requirements.     

The Impact of Social Capital on Labor Force Participation: Evidence from the 2000 Social Capital Benchmark Survey

Objectives . Few studies apply the concept of social capital to labor force participation. In this research, I study the relationship between friendship networks and labor force participation as represented by employment and hours worked. Methods . I test five hypotheses representing social capital with network structure, network quality, and network diversity using nationally representative data from the 2000 Social Capital Benchmark Survey. Since this survey enables comparisons across racial/ethnic and gender groups, I am also able to specify how social capital interacts with race/ethnicity and gender to influence labor force participation, while controlling for other prominent theoretical concerns such as human capital theory. Results . I find that friendship networks are generally positively related with increased labor force participation. Further, I find significant social capital differences based on race/ethnicity and gender. Conclusions . I illustrate that social capital can be applied across a broader racial/ethnic/gender spectrum. The findings suggest that programs that attempt to bring valuable labor market information to individuals and communities lacking employment–related information are likely to be effective in reducing inequality, especially if combined with programs for developing human capital.     

The Impact of Welfare Reform Policies on Child Protective Services: A National Study

The 1996 welfare reform bill set forth major changes in social welfare policies. In addition to federal work requirements and time limits, new state policies impose behavioral mandates that may be accompanied by financial sanctions for noncompliance. Analysis of a survey of state Child Protection Services (CPS) directors focuses on four major areas: effect of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) on CPS; interaction between the two agencies; role of TANF sanctions in referrals to CPS; and select special areas of concern. This research provides empirical insight into the interaction between these two agencies, specific TANF sanctions, and the potential conflicts between TANF policies and CPS concerns for the welfare of children and families under its charge.     

The Impact of a Restructured Canadian Welfare State on Atlantic Canada

The Canadian welfare state, like welfare states elsewhere, has undergone significant reform and restructuring. This paper examines what has occurred and the impact it has had on Canada's poorest and most underdeveloped region, the Atlantic provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. Although the central and western regions have also experienced a reduction in federal expenditures, no other region has been more negatively affected by federal fiscal and social policy reform and downsizing. Health care and education have experienced the worst cuts. The significant loss of federal government transfers to this region has ruptured a historic social contract. This in turn has triggered a radical restructuring and downsizing of provincial and municipal public administrations, commensurate with job losses in important sectors of the labour market, such as universities, hospitals and schools. In the last five years the rate of unemployment and poverty has risen sharply, personal and household incomes have declined, and entire communities are on the brink of extinction owing to out-migration. The irony, however, is that for Atlantic Canadians the retrenchment of the federal state has led to greater public willingness to consider social democratic political parties and policy alternatives that are not only different from prior fare, but which do not represent a flight to a rather unsatisfactory past.     

The Impact of 9/11 on the Noncitizen Welfare Caseload: A Time-Series Analysis

ABSTRACT

The tragedy of 9/11 had more far-reaching social and economic consequences for the nation than those found for many individuals on that day. Between October 2001 and May 2002, Nevada witnessed a 25% increase in the total number of households on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, commonly referred to as welfare. During the same time, households headed by a noncitizen increased their participation in the TANF program by 40%. This study examines the differential impact of 9/11, as well as of the economy and other external developments, on noncitizen and citizen welfare caseloads in a single state. Two monthly time series models are specified that explain and compare trends in the noncitizen and citizen welfare caseloads from April 1998 to June 2002. The findings suggest that, all else constant, 9/11 had a differential impact on the noncitizen and the citizen caseloads. All else constant, 9/11 events increased the noncitizen welfare caseload whereas a similar impact for the citizen caseload was not found. The findings also strongly suggest that the business cycle shapes noncitizens' participation in public assistance programs more closely than citizens' participation. Future research should investigate the extent to which 9/11 affected the behaviors of families on welfare over the long run.     

Intention to Leave the Profession: Welfare Social Workers Compared to Health Care and Community Social Workers in Israel

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to compare specific work related-factors (personal factor: length of work experience; structural factors: personal subjection to violence and fear of being subjected to violence; and psychological factors: professional quality of life—compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue) between welfare social workers (SWs) (n = 200) and health care and community SWs (n = 173). Furthermore, since the issue of turnover among SWs has important implications for the provision and programming of social services, the study also aimed to assess the relationship between these factors and SW intention to leave the profession. For the purpose of this study, online questionnaires were distributed to SWs working at social agencies and services. The findings suggest that the two categories of SWs showed a similarity with regard to the association between the personal and structural factors and intention to leave the profession. However, with regard to the psychological factors, the components of professional quality of life were found to operate differently in each category of SWs. It is suggested that future research examine other work-related factors and explore the intention to leave the profession among other social work specializations and employment sectors.