Suchergebnisse

A review essay on books by: Linda Gordon, Pitied but Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890-1935 (New York: Free Press, 1994); & Jill Quadagno, The Color of Welfare: How Racism Undermined the War on Poverty (New York: Oxford U Press, 1994 [see listings in IRPS No. 87]). These books reflect an interesting new approach to welfare history that emphasizes state structures, social control, gender, & race rather than industrialization, working-class organization, or national values. Gordon focuses on the different groups of actors who helped shape welfare policy in the early twentieth century. Quadagno emphasizes the expansion of social citizenship for white wage earners -- at the expense of African Americans -- from the 1930s to the 1960s. While Gordon & Quadagno demonstrate the strengths of the new approach to welfare history, their books also illustrate the limitations: Gordon's emphasis on gender leads her to understate the importance of other elements in the discourse about welfare, & Quadagno's attempt to trace the impact of racial exclusion across policy areas leads her to overlook factors other than race that may have contributed to the exhaustion of the welfare state. M. Maguire

Responds to Jill Quadagno's & Linda Gordon's replies to Polsky's review of Quadagno's The Color of Welfare: How Racism Undermined the War on Poverty (1994) & Gordon's Pitied but Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890-1935 (see abstracts of all in SA 44:5 & listings in IRPS No. 87). Quadagno & Gordon each charge Polsky with mischaracterizing some of their positions. Quadagno contends that she does not assign as much explanatory importance to race as Polsky claims. Similarly, Gordon contends that she does not assign as much explanatory importance to gender as Polsky asserts. Gordon further argues that: Polsky judges her book too harshly for not making contributions to current policy discussions; he does not appreciate the full significance of gender; & he does not comprehend the complexity of the welfare system she describes. Polsky responds to these charges by restating parts of his initial review & highlighting the remaining points of disagreement. M. Maguire

The human services have come to occupy a vital position in the modern welfare state, penetrating nearly all its activities and institutions. Beyond providing a minimum level of support, these services seek to restructure the behavior of their clients so they can better cope with the demands and challenges of modern life. To realize this goal social personnel employ an approach that can most accurately be defined as therapeutic: the situation of the client is viewed as a condition that must be diagnosed; the caseworker establishes a helping relationship; a suitable treatment plan is designed and implemented. Although the middle class voluntarily avails itself of therapeutic services, public intervention by social personnel has a distinctly lower-class bias and an authoritarian character. The middle class purchases therapeutic services from private providers. The state focuses on marginal populations and its subjects usually have no choice about assuming a client status.

In einer Reihe westeuropäischer Länder wurden Gesetze erlassen als "postive action" zur Abschaffung diskriminierender Praktiken gegenüber Frauen auf dem Arbeitsmarkt. In dem Artikel werden diese Programme theoretisch analysiert. Die Diskriminierungen beziehen sich auf ungleiche Bezahlung, unterschiedliche Arbeitslosenrate und auf Unterschiede in der Berufsausübung. (IAB)

Over the last 25 years the sensitivity training movement has steadily expanded. Growing out of the behavioral sciences, selected interrelated concepts underlie its development and distinguish it sharply from group therapy. The central role of feedback is carefully defined and described and its impact upon individual members as well as upon the evolving group culture are explicated in detail.