Suchergebnisse

ABSTRACTFor all the recent attention to the problems of child abuse and neglect, this specific policy area has rarely been examined as belonging to the more general area of social service policy. This article begins to remedy this omission. First, the article examines child abuse policy in terms of the conflicts of value faced in the formation of social service policy. Next, the relationship between child abuse and other recent social service issues responding to familial violence or childhood dependency is discussed. Here the article shows that governmental response to child abuse has been used to encourage governmental interest in adoption reform, sexual exploitation of children, domestic violence, and day care.

Child abuse policy is examined in terms of the value conflicts faced in the formation of social service policy. The relationship between child abuse & other recent social service issues relating to familial violence or childhood dependency is discussed. Governmental response to child abuse is shown to have encouraged governmental interest in adoption reform, sexual exploitation of children, domestic violence, & day care. Modified HA.

For ordinary citizens, political life is increasingly characterized by a request for a check, not a trip to the polls. Yet for all their frequency, very little is known about help-seeking encounters. The question is asked "Who gets to the agency door?" or, more formally, "How do individuals decide to apply for public social benefits or services, & what does that decision signify?" Three topics are explored: (1) the definition of help-seeking as a type of political participation, (2) the process by which individuals decide to seek help from public social agencies, & (3) an agenda for research & action on the politics of help-seeking. 1 Figure. HA.