The Labor Market Effects of Sex and Race Discrimination Laws

We study the effects of state sex and race discrimination laws that were passed prior to federal antidiscrimination legislation. State sex discrimination laws targeted discrimination in pay only. Because an equal pay constraint raises the relative price of female labor, we would expect the relative employment of females to decline. We find robust evidence that state equal pay laws for women reduced relative employment of both black women and white women. We also find some evidence of positive effects of race discrimination laws on earnings of blacks relative to whites, although no evidence of employment effects. (JEL J15 , J16 , J18 , J23 )     

The Equality Deficit: Protection against Discrimination on the Grounds of Sexual Orientation in Employment

The provisions of UK law offer no specific protection to gay men and lesbians suffering discrimination in the workplace on the grounds of sexual orientation. Such discrimination may take many forms and can result in ‘fair’ dismissal in certain circumstances. This article considers the degree of legal protection available under current provisions and investigates possible sources for the development of specific anti‐discrimination legislation. It is concluded that, despite the application of certain aspects of employment law, the level of protection afforded to this group of workers amounts to an equality deficit in comparison to the legal redress available to those discriminated against on other grounds. Although the development of human rights legislation may have some application in this context, the combination of institutionalized discrimination and wider public policy concerns suggest that the introduction of specific legislation aimed at eliminating such discrimination in the United Kingdom is still some way off.     

Adult Protection Service Laws: A Comparison of State Statutes from Definition to Case Closure

ABSTRACT

While legislative efforts at the federal and state levels have represented a dramatic change in the last three decades, there is a great range and variations in the laws addressing elder abuse, leading to difficulty in generating comparison data, and coordinating program creation and implementation across state lines. This article examines the legislative variations on the topics of definitional issues, reporting statutes, investigative methods, temporary and permanent court interventions, and protective services provided under the laws of all fifty of the United States and the District of Columbia. Further, it examines the current elder abuse literature and makes suggestions toward legislation compatible with it. The bulk of the statutory data include those available in 1998 but many statutes which became effective in 1999 are also included. All jurisdictions are referred to as “states,” including the District of Columbia which is technically a federal district.     

Mapping the terrain of disability legislation: the case of Israel

In this study we systematically map and analyze all disability-related laws and regulations in Israel from 1948 – the year the State of Israel was established – to the present. All 55 laws and 124 regulations (and their amendments) that addressed disability were analyzed via qualitative content analysis; we categorized the legislation into either bio-medical-based policy or rights-based policy. Findings show that most of the legislation reflects the bio-medical approach. Bio-medical-based legislation is being carried out in Israel alongside rights-based legislation even after the enactment of the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law of 1998. It seems that legislators tend to perceive disability as synonymous to impairment, as a personal tragedy and a medical problem, rather than as a civil rights issue.     

A Commentary on the Admission and Retention of Students with Disabilities in Social Work Programs

Abstract

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is the federal law upon which the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) is built. Both laws are designed to prevent discrimination against students with disabilities. This commentary offers a comparison of section 504 with the ADA. An analysis of the case law under Section 504 is also presented; this analysis provides guidelines that universities and colleges will have to follow under the ADA. The implications of the ADA are offered for social work programs in the areas of admission and retention of students with disabilities.     

Evaluation in the community mental health centers program: A bold new reproach?

The Federal Community Mental Health Centers Program (CMHC)-from 1963 to 1981-was heralded as a revolution in mental health care. Championed by many, and severely criticized by others, the actual impact of the program on the nation's mental health remains unclear. The authorization to evaluate the CMHC Program came originally from congressional legislation (PL 90-174), and later from the policies and regulations of NIMH under a series of Federal laws, notably PL 94-63. From 1976-1980, two dominant evaluation strategies were prevalent: funds expended by NIMH each year for studies of CMHC services or program-wide evaluations, and a much larger expenditure by CMHCs to conduct their own, independent evaluations following federal guidelines. As the Center's Program was turned over to the states in the form of block grants (PL 97-35), a group of professionals involved with setting and carrying out federal CMHC evaluation policy of both varieties met in public forum to debate the impact of these two evaluation approaches. While some participants cited gains in evaluation technology and impact upon local management of CMHCs, others found the lack of a coordinated and systematic approach to evaluating the CMHC Program to have been an opportunity missed. The impact of CMHC evaluation efforts are also discussed in terms of their major contribution to the field of evaluation research as a whole.     

THE EFFECT OF STATE SECURITIES STATUTES ON TENDER OFFER ACTIVITY

The Williams Act passed in 1968, established Federal regulation of cash tender offers. Despite the additional constraints on tender offers provided by this federal legislation, thirty-six states have enacted more stringent securities laws since then. This paper briefly investigates the motivation for the state statutes, and then empirically tests the deterrent effects of these laws on tender offer activity for firms headquartered in the states affected. The evidence indicates that the presence of state statutes does deter tender offers, and that the recently enacted SEC tender offer rules will, ceteris paribus, decrease the total number of offers made by 8%.     

A Youth Perspective on Life with a Disability

Abstract

A momentous piece of legislation, the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 provided for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities and more significantly is aimed toward improving their employment opportunities. There is, however, evidence that the ADA implementation has not moved fast enough in increasing employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. This article reviews the literature on disability and employment barriers, federal statutes, societal attitudes and biases, and human relations misconceptions associated with disabilities. It discusses social work roles, advocacy for social justice, implications for rehabilitation counselors, and issues related to disabilities and employment.     

"REVERSE DISCRIMINATION" CASES IN THE FEDERAL COURTS: Legal Mobilization by a Countermovement

This article argues that those opposing affirmative action and reverse discrimination constitute a countermovement, working against the social movement for equal employment opportunity (EEO). Like women and minorities promoting EEO, opponents of reverse discrimination utilize litigation as a social movement tactic, mobilizing federal EEO laws. This study analyzes judicial decisions in EEO reverse discrimination cases between 1965 and 1985 to test four hypotheses about countermovement legal mobilization: that (1) many cases reach court, (2) plaintiffs are highly organized, (3) organization relates to success in court, (4) and plaintiffs win. Contrary to expectations, few reverse discrimination cases occur, and plaintiffs are not well-organized and usually lose; better-organized plaintiffs meet more success but there are few of them. The cases provide little evidence that reverse discrimination is widespread.     

A Reaction to Mark Pope's (2000) “A Brief History of Career Counseling in the United States”

The author acknowledges the significance of the 6 steps presented by M. Pope (2000) in his article “A Brief History of Career Counseling in the United States.” It is proposed that the historical stages for each kind of career counselor are most appropriately organized around federal legislation that affects it. Alternative “stages,” which the author believes are appropriate in tracing the history of the school counselor movement, are presented as an example of this approach.     

Welfare Reform on American Indian Reservations

Abstract

In this article we document trends in welfare caseloads and some initial experiences of service providers and welfare recipients on reservations within Arizona under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). We document the issues and concerns of state and tribal service providers as they implement the legislation on reservations that are often geographically isolated and which lack infrastructure, jobs, childcare and transportation. We also record experiences of women with children on reservations with the 1996 federal welfare legislation. These families experience similar barriers when trying to move from welfare to work as do their counterparts across the country; however, these barriers are magnified on reservations. The welfare recipients' barriers include: a shortage of employment opportunities on reservations; a lack of transportation and childcare facilities; low levels of education and job experience; and, individual and family problems. Poor families in Indian communities face additional barriers to employment because of their geographic isolation, lack of access to basic necessities (like telephones), as well as stereotypes and discrimination by employers due to ethnicity or personal/family histories.     

Intergroup conflict,law, and the concept of labor market discrimination

This article begins by reviewing problems that arise in attempts to operationalize standard social scientific definitions of labor market discrimination. It then argues that some of these problems occur because conventional studies of discrimination pay insufficient attention to the role of cultural contests and social and political conflict in disputes over what constitutes fair treatment in the labor market. It proposes a way to reconceptualize labor market discrimination that takes conflict into account and suggests that much could be learned about labor market discrimination by examining how such conflict is expressed in legal disputes occurring under the equal employment opportunity laws. The examination of such conflict also provides a way to link political struggle with labor market outcomes.This is a revised version of a paper presented at the 1988 annual meeting of the Law and Society Association.     

Denied Citizens of Turkey: Experiences of Discrimination Among LGBT Individuals in Employment,Housing and Health Care

The purpose of this article is to explore experiences of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) individuals in three domains of social policies: employment, housing and health care — domains in which LGBT individuals are not openly recognized as equal citizens and anti‐discrimination legislation is absent in Turkey. Drawing on qualitative content analysis of the data collected from 14 focus group interviews with 139 LGBT individuals conducted in ten provinces of Turkey in the first half of 2014, this article sheds light on diverse forms of discrimination facing LGBT individuals in employment, housing and health care in a largely under‐researched country. The article concludes that the contemporary understanding of Turkish citizenship and its practice are rooted in heterosexist universalism that does not recognize LGBTs as equal citizens, which, in turn, leads to systematic breaches of LGBTs' social rights in employment, housing and health care. The article shows that even strong and universalistic social policies fail to serve LGBTs on an equal footing with other citizens unless equal citizenship rights of LGBTs and anti‐discrimination principles are recognized and realized.     

DISPARATE IMPACT AND THE QUOTA DEBATES: Law, Labor Market Sociology, and Equal Employment Policies

Bringing sociological theory and research to bear on the "quota debates' dogging discussion of federal civil rights legislation in the early 1990s, this article highlights sociology's role in shaping employment law and shows how apparently technical legal arguments about allocating burdens of proof affect labor market resource allocation among the classes, races, and genders. Contrasting institutional-sociological with liberal-legal concepts of discrimination, the article shows why disparate impact theory has been the most sociological approach to Title VII enforcement. It also shows how disparate impact—a theory and method for establishing legally cognizable employment discrimination injurious to women and minorities—is, and is not, related to affirmative action—a policy encompassing a broad range of procedures intended to provide positive consideration to members of groups discriminated against in the past. Finally, a competing incentive framework is used to show that, although disparate impact creates some incentives for employers to adopt quota hiring, such incentives are counter-balanced by major incentives working against race- and gender-based quotas. Major counterincentives stem from disparate impact itself, from other aspects of equal employment law, and from organizational goals shaping business response to the legal environment.     

Division of Assets in Kansas

Kansas is one of several states that implemented spousal impoverishment legislation prior to the new federal law. The three-year history of advocacy in Kansas shows that Kansas advocates succeeded because they were in the right place at the right time with a public issue and a bill that legislators could approve. Court decisions in other states eventually resolved the uncertainty of federal disapproval for this innovative legislation.     

Getting a Piece of the Pie

Abstract

This article outlines challenges facing gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered employees at the workplace because of a lack of federal legislation prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. A conceptual framework, PIE, is offered which addresses the protection, inclusion and equity issues which must be considered in order to create a safe and productive working environment for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered employees. Additionally, attitudes, knowledge and skills are described which a practitioner would need to acquire, so as to become culturally competent in working with sexual minority employees.     

Exposing the protected: Ghana’s disability laws and the rights of disabled people

Disabled people in Ghana continue to experience various forms of discrimination and social exclusion. These occur despite the fact that there are several anti-discriminatory laws that are meant to protect the rights of disabled people and facilitate their participation in mainstream social, political and economic activities. As it is, the laws have not completely eroded the discrimination and in some instances appear to even institutionalise the discrimination that disabled people experience. It is important that the state pays more attention to amending aspects of these laws and putting them into practice.     

WHY LABOR WINS, WHY LABOR LOSES:

Legal regulation of the labor contract is central to American policy formation. This study analyzes the reasons for the passage of federal labor laws that governed workplace activity in the United States from 1897 to 1980. The dependent variable includes all major federal statutes that are favorable or detrimental to labor. Two theories are considered: a mass disruption approach and a party control perspective. Qualitative comparative analysis is used to assess the utility of both theories. For the pro-labor laws, the findings show partial support for both models. The theories are better at explaining reform prior to rather than after World War II. An explanation is presented for this temporal break. For the antilabor laws, the results are inconclusive due to the small sample size. An alternative account is offered that focuses on policy making under divided government. This research suggests analyzing the interaction of economic, class, and political variables and using larger sample research designs as guidelines for future investigation.     

THE POLITICS OF PROTECTION:

This article examines the factors influencing the enactment of protective legislation for women, specifically maximum hours and minimum wage laws, by state lawmakers in the United States between 1870 and 1930. Traditional class theories of the state argue that employers are generally able to shape state policies to suit their interests. Yet, although employers staunchly opposed protective laws, most states enacted such laws. This article seeks to understand the conditions under which social groups, such as the women's reform groups who supported protective laws, are able to win legislative reforms in the face of employer resistance. Four conditions are found that allowed a gendered movement to counter the economic interests of employers: the women's groups' ability to form organizations and coalitions with powerful political actors, their use of a legitimating ideology, historically specific circumstances that reduced employer opposition, and the nature of the particular form of legislation being demanded.     

A CHANGE POINT ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF "ENVIRONMENTAL FEDERALISM" ON AGGREGATE AIR QUALITY IN THE UNITED STATES: 1940–98

During President Reagan's administration, environmental policy making was substantially shifted from the federal level to the state and local levels. We use techniques in Bai (1997a, 1997b) to determine change points in the trends of three important air pollution series. We find that the beneficial trends in the emission series began with federal legislation and were not due to the Reagan devolution. However, second-round change point tests indicate that the beneficial trends in the emissions series that began with federal legislation continued unabated following the Reagan devolution. (JEL Q20 , C50 )