Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article
Undoing Culture. Globalization, Postmodernism and Identity , Mike Featherstone
Art and Social Structure , Robert W. Witkin
Raymond Williams , Fred Inglis
Michel de Certeau: Interpretation and its Other , Jeremy Aheame
The Elements of Social Theory , Barry Bames
Fin de Siècle Social Theory: Relativism, Reduction and the Problem of Reason , J.C. Alexander
Recovering Ethical Life: Jurgen Habermas and the future of critical theory , J.M. Bernstein
The Cultures of Computing , Susan Leigh Star (ed.)
Time. The Modern and Postmodern Experience , Helga Nowotny
Capitalism: A Social Audit , Peter Saunders
Social Divisions: Economic Decline and Social Structural Change , Lydia Morris
Divide and School: Gender and Class Dynamics in Comprehensive Education , John Abraham
Limited Responsibilities. Social movements and criminal justice , Tamar Pitch, translated by John Lea     

The Dutch Client Databank in Public Social Work

ABSTRACT

The history of the Dutch National Databank for Public Social Work began in 1960 in the province of Limburg. Social workers in that province met at a seminar and decided to set up a registration system concerning client characteristics and the counselling process which all the institutes of public social work in Limburg could be required to register in a uniform way. Thirty-three years later Dutch Public Social Work agencies are registering data according to a national system which was wanted, designed and developed by the united local authorities and all the institutes of Public Social Work. As a result, the National Databank for Public Social Work administers the data of all of the 166 institutes in the Netherlands and consequently is privileged to deal with the client characteristics and other specific data of the 250,000 client units that are involved every year with Public Social Work.     

Public support for social security

This article reports the results of a nationally representative survey of 1,209 Americans that examines their support for Social Security and six other major social welfare programs. It probes the extent to which members of the public are willing to demonstrate their support, the differences in support among population subgroups, and the extent to which perceptions of Social Security and Social Security recipients predict overall support for Social Security. The authors find high levels of support among members of the public, including a willingness both to write letters to congress members and to pay higher taxes. Some groups of citizens—especially blacks and those who classify themselves as liberals—are more supportive than others, but the differences are not great and contribute little toward explaining the variance in support. The perceptions that the program makes a worthwhile contribution to society and that recipients have no alternative sources of income other than Social Security contribute the most toward predicting overall support for Social Security.     

Status of Sociology in High Schools

The role of literacy instruction—and more specifically the ability to read critically—in democratic and Social Studies education has not been fully or explicitly explored. This gap is also strikingly evident in the reluctance of many Social Studies teachers to incorporate reading instruction into their practice. In this paper we describe our efforts to engage preservice middle grades Social Studies teachers in critical literacy practices as a first step toward more effectively and meaningfully integrating reading instruction into Social Studies education.     

Teaching Cultural Competence:

The need for inclusion of cultural competence material in Social Work curriculums is well established. There is a dramatic increase in cultural and ethnic diversity in American society. Commensurate with that increase is an alarming rise of racism on college campuses. Social Work programs are required to include cultural competence material and Social Work educators need down-to-earth and practical ideas for doing so. This paper describes five strategies for teaching cultural competence which have been successfully employed in Social Work practice classes. Evaluation results are reported.     

Book Reviews

The Book reviews in this article. A Rationalist Methodology for the Social Sciences David Sylvan and Barry Glassner Positivism in Social Theory and Research Christopher G.A. Brynt, Macmillan Wittgenstein: A Social Theory of Knowledge D. Bloor, Macmillan Marxism and Historical Writing paul Q. Hirst, Routledge & Kegan Paul Bribes J.T. Noonan. Jr. Collier-Macmillan Ambition and Privilege. The Social Tropes of Elizabethan Courtesy Theory. Frank Whigham Big Structures, Large processes, Huge Comparisons Charles Tilly The idea of the Modern State Gregor McLennan. David Held and Stuart Hall (eds). Visions of Social Control Stanley Cohen Polity Press. Controlling the Constable: Police Accountability in England and Wales Tony Jefferson and Roger Grimhaw, Fredrick Muller. Criminal Women Pat Carlen Diana Christina. Jenny Hicks, Josie O'Dwyer and Chris Tehaikovsky. Capitalism, Consumption and Needs Edmond Preteceille and Jean-Peirre Terrail. Social Classes in Marxist Theory Allen Cottrell, Routledge & Kegan Paul Social Inequality and Class Radicalism in France and Britain Duncan Gallie Les Dirigeants paysans Sylvain Maresea. Poor Britain Joanna Mack and Stewart Lansley, Allen & Unwin Women in England 1870-1950: Sexual Divisions and Social Change Jane Lewis. Wheatsheaf Bools The incorporated Wife Hilary Callan and Shirley Ardener (eds.) Gender and Generation Angela McRobbie and Mica Nava (eds.) Cinema and Technology: Image, Sound, Colour Steve Neale     

Adelaide Conversations: echoes that resound

Family therapy and Social Justice are vast words that condense (and obscure) many ideas, theories and practices. Family therapy in this country has been shaped by larger Australian conversations and movements around Social Justice, but the relations between Family Therapy and Social Justice are not simple. Looking back over ten years since our last Conference in Adelaide, I recall some personal and political experiences connecting Family Therapy and Social Justice, and go on to argue how newer post-modernist and feminist currents might enrich the links, and “keep the conversation going”.     

Social Psychology in Mexico: A Fifteen-Year Review

This article reviews the development of social psychology in Mexico by summarizing major trends in the field and their representation in La Psicología Social en México [Social Psychology in Mexico] and in the Revista de Psicología Social y Personalidad [Journal of Social Psychology and Personality], both published by the Asociacion Mexicana de Psicologia Social [Mexican Association of Social Psychology, AMEPSO] between 1986 and 1998. Over the years, the Mexican Association of Social Psychology has facilitated the professional advancement of many psychologists, whose diverse research areas include applied psychology, environmental psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology, Mexican ethnopsychology, developmental psychology, ecological psychology, personality, and gender relations. Special emphasis is placed on the discussion of the current state of psychological methodology in Mexico and the importance of designing culturally relevant instruments.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed in this article: Benton, T. and Craib, I., Philosophy of Social Science. The Philosophical Foundations of Social Thought Briggs, Asa, Michael Young: Social Entrepreneur Domanski, Henryk On the Verge of Convergence Gershuny, J., Changing Times: Work and Leisure in Postindustrial Society Giddens, Anthony (ed.), The Global Third Way Debate Polity 2001 Hodson, Randy, Dignity at Work Lin, Nan, Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action Pahl, Ray, On Friendship Savage, Mike, Class Analysis and Social Transformation Slater, D. and Tonkiss, F., Market Society: Markets and Modern Social Theory Svallfors, Stefan and Taylor‐Gooby, Peter (eds), The End of the Welfare State? Responses to State Retrenchment Routledge Willis, Paul, The Ethnographic Imagination     

Social Security and SSI as safety nets for the elderly poor

Partial privatization of Social Security is being considered as an integral part of the future Social Security program for American retirees. Because privatization creates uncertainty about the amount of retirement income that future retirees may expect to receive, the issue of a safety net is critical. This article presents the findings from an empirical study that investigated the degree to which the current Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs provide a safety net, separately and in combination, to the elderly poor. The major findings were that the Social Security program not only increases the income statuses of both posttransfer and pretransfer poor elderly people considerably, but that the program also significantly equalizes the distribution of income among them. In addition, the SSI program supplements the Social Security program in establishing an even greater safety net, especially for posttransfer poor elderly people. On the other hand, Social Security benefits make the income disparity among races greater between both posttransfer and pretransfer poor elderly people. Implications for policy are discussed.     

Social insurance and children: The relationship between Social Security,economic well-being,and family context among child recipients

The relationship between social insurance, which provides families protection against certain risks, and child economic security is understudied. Using the 2004 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) matched to Social Security Administration benefit records, this article investigates the economic welfare effects of the child component of the US Social Security program. We examine how the poverty rate of child beneficiaries would change, absent Social Security income, and how heavily the family incomes of these children rely on it, by family characteristics. Our findings reveal that Social Security plays an important role in mitigating economic insecurity among children deprived of a wage-earning parent through disability, death, or retirement. Family structure, earnings, and employment status are identified as key factors moderating the effect of Social Security on child recipients’ financial circumstance.     

Book reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Time and Social Theory Barbara Adam
Psychoanalysis and Social Theory: The Limits of Sociology Ian Craib
Civilization: Contents, Discontents, Malcontents and Other Essays in Social Theory Stanford M. Lyman
Ideology and Modern Culture John B. Thompson
The Methodology of Herbert Blumer: Critical Interpretation and Repair Kenneth Baugh Jr
The Fashioned Self Joanne Finkelstein
The Political and Social Theory of Max Weber Wolfgang J. Mommsen
Reading Weber Keith Tribe (ed.), Routledge
The Sexuality of Organisation Jeff Hearn, Deborah L. Sheppard
The Social Mobility of Women: Beyond Male Mobility Models Geoff Payne and Pamela Abbott, (eds)
Battered Women as Survivors Lee Ann Hoff
Family, Economy and Community C.C. Harris, (ed.)
Enterprise Culture Russell Keat and Nicholas Abercrombie, (eds)
Making Their Way: Education, Training and the Labour Market in Canada and Britain David Ashton and Graham Lowe, (eds).
Images of Youth: Age, Class, and the Male Youth Problem 1880–1920 Harry Hendrick
Football on Trial: Spectator Violence and Development in the Football World Patrick Murphy, John Williams and Eric Dunning
The Cambridge Social History of Britain 1750–1950, Volume 1, Regions and Communities F.M.L. Thompson, (ed.)
The Cambridge Social History of Britain 1750–1950, Volume 3, Social Agencies and Institutions F.M.L. Thompson, (ed.)
The Dark Side of Europe: The Extreme Right Today Geoffrey Harris
Resistance and Control in Pakistan A.D. Ahmed
The Soviet Union: A Biographical Dictionary Archie Brown, (ed.)     

Social Security reform: implications for women

Despite recent economic gains for women, a substantial gender gap in financial security during old age remains, making women more dependent than men upon Social Security. Social Security plays an important role in providing for women's economic security. The implications for women of several proposed changes in Social Security policy, including the call for the partial privatization of Social Security via the introduction of individual accounts, are analyzed. Many of the proposals would have the effect of asking women, particularly low-income women, to shoulder a disproportionate share of the risks and burdens associated with the changes.     

Professional morale and social work training: A study

This article presents the results of an empirical study that was designed to ascertain the state of professional morale of the membership of the Connecticut Society for Clinical Social Work. The data suggest a dissatisfaction with career choice. Reassessment of the character and quality of social work supervision emerges as one of the study's implications.This article is adapted from the author's Masters thesis,Social Workers, Social Work, and Professional Self-Perceptions (1978), for the Smith College School for Social Work. The author wishes to thank Professor Roger Miller of Smith for his helpful comments.     

New Opportunities and Responsibilities in Our Changing Society

The Assessment of Social Research: Guidelines for the Use of Research in Social Work and Social Science, Tony Tripodi, Philip Fellin, and Henry J. Meyer. Itasca, Ill.; F. E. Peacock Publishers, Inc., 1969. 297 pages. $7.00, Hardbound. Reviewed by Samuel Finestone

Exemplars of Social Research, edited by PHILIP FELLIN, TONY TRIPODI, and HENRY J. MEYER. Itasca, Ill.; F. E. Peacock Publishers, Inc., 1969. 377 pages. $4.75, paperback. Reviewed by Samuel Finestone     

To Whom It May Concern

Book reviewed in this article:
Bent Flyvbjerg, Making Social Science Matter: Why Social Inquiry Fails and How It Can Succeed Again     

Sociologists examine an historian's account of the development of social research at McGill

Marlene Shore: The Science of Social Redemption: McGill, the Chicago School, and the Origins of Social Research in Canada     

Social Security Reform

Abstract

Despite recent economic gains for women, a substantial gender gap in financial security during old age remains, making women more dependent than men upon Social Security. Social Security plays an important role in providing for women's economic security. The implications for women of several proposed changes in Social Security policy, including the call for the partial privatization of Social Security via the introduction of individual accounts, are analyzed. Many of the proposals would have the effect of asking women, particularly low-income women, to shoulder a disproportionate share of the risks and burdens associated with the changes.     

Book Reviews

Book reviews in this article. Social Policy, Social Welfare and Scandal: How British Public Policy is Made by Ian Butler and Mark Drakeford (eds)     

Loneliness and Social Isolation in a Sample of Youth Hospitalized for Psychiatric Illness

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal - Social connections can act as a protective factor against long term consequences impacting the physical and emotional well-being of youth. This purpose...