Professor's Comments: This student has done an outstanding job of fulfilling the requirements of the assignment in his analysis of the Welfare to Work Program.
Abstract: This study defines poverty, explains its causes and consequences on various systems, and traces our governmental response to this problem from the New Deal efforts to the present system of welfare. Drawing from recent literature to examine specifically the efficacy of TANF’s welfare to work (WtW) initiative, this writer focuses on the following: (1) on the target population, single mothers and children, and (2) on how this initiative is affecting both this group and the overall problem of poverty. Also included are a discussion of the historical and contemporary issues regarding this initiative as well as implications for social work policy and practice.
Welfare to Work under TANF: A New Generation of Responses to Poverty
Existing in all cultures and affecting people from many walks of life, especially single mothers and children, poverty does not discriminate. What is poverty, then? Is it simply a condition, or does it create conditions that reach far beyond a simple social issue?
In order to understand these questions, one must begin with basic definitions. Poverty is technically broken into two categories – absolute poverty and relative poverty. Absolute poverty exists when a family cannot provide for its basic needs – which include nutrition, clothing, and shelter. A measurement for this category is the poverty line, a calculation that is based on three times the amount of a family’s normal food budget. On the other hand, relative poverty measures economic status and compares it between families within the same geographical locus (Ka...
... middle of paper ...
...y Longman, Inc.
Egendorf, L. K. (1999). Poverty: Opposing viewpoints. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press.
Evaluating Welfare Reform (1999, June 1). Retrieved from http://speakout.com.
Karger, H. J. & Stoesz, D. (1998). American social welfare policy: A pluralist approach (3rd ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
Reichert, D. (1998, July). TANF appropriations in state legislatures. National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/statefed/welfare/moememo.htm.
Segal, E. & Brzuzy, S. (1998). Social welfare policy, programs, and practice. Itasca, IL: F. E. Peackock Publishers, Inc.
Trattner, W. (1999). From poor law to welfare state: A history of social welfare in America (6th ed.). New York: The Free Press.
Vallianatos, C. (2001, October). Child support, cohabitating families studied. NASW News, 46(9), 12.
There are little to no direct accounts of how individuals’ lives were a couple thousand years ago in Ancient China. With a wealth of information on the rise, decline, and fall of empires, Michael Loewe, a sinologist who specializes in oriental studies and theology, writes an imaginary story about a hero named Bing set around 70 BCE. Bing: From Farmer’s Son to Magistrate in Han China is Loewe’s fictional portrait of life during the Han Empire. It is by no means a comprehensive historical account of Han times, in fact, it was written with those readers who are not familiar with Chinese in mind, however through the life of Bing we can gage how the lives of laborers, those involved in military service, merchants, and government officials might
Dolgoff, R. & Feldstein, D. (2003). Understanding social welfare (7th ed). New York, Allen & Bacon
Traditionally, the Confucian model of society was organized with the gentry at the very top, and the merchant as a class on the bottom (Brook, p. 134).
Edward L. Dreyer. Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405-1433.
Jeff Grogger, Lynn A. Karoly, Jeff Grogger. Welfare Reform: Effects of a Decade of Change. New York: Harvard University Press, 2005.
China has gone through many changes in its history. Changes include economic, political, and social. In the early 1500 and throughout history, mostly all social classes followed Confucianism. Confucianism is a type of religion based on an ideal society (Chang 2012, 22). China was molded though Confucianism but that slowly deteriorated as years went on. One main group that has been a main part in these changes is the Chinese literati. The Chinese literati include the higher-class people such as officials and scholars. The Chinese literati were the dominant social class during the 1500’s but their power slowly decreased throughout history. Throughout my paper, I will explain the Chinese literati involvement as centuries passed.
Chambers, D.E., & Wedel, K.R. (2009). Social policy and social programs. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Since the Welfare reform law was introduced in 1996 it has impacted American society greatly. The new welfare policy, named the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), replaced the Aid to Family and Dependent Children (AFDC) program; they have five known differences that only affect the ones who need the assistance. Critics argue that the TANF has negatively impacted the society while some argue that it has not. Linda Burnham, author of “Welfare Reform, Family Hardship & Woman of Color,” asserts that “welfare reform has increased the hardship faced by many women leaving welfare for work and their movement into low-wage jobs, exposes them to higher level of housing insecurities, homelessness, food insecurity, and hunger.” She also argues that women of color “are especially vulnerable to the negative impact of welfare reform” (38).
By making improvements to the Welfare System in America has become a way of life that has entrapped so many single and married households across the country. Statistics show that there were 108,592,000 people who are recipients of one or more means of the government benefit programs. The Census Bureau recorded by surveys over 101, 716,000 people who worked full time year around in 2011 which only allowed one member of the family to work year round. The system is meant to help low income families, however; they don’t want to be not allowed to grow by becoming more independent and have opportunities to rise above poverty. The quest to change the welfare system is to ensure the welfare and the rights of children, their parents and taxpayers are not ignored. Programs have been developed to ensure welfare recipients are employable and retained. These programs are in the forms of training, workshops, and education, as well as other services that will provide support as well as pride and self-sufficiency.
O?Beirne, Kate. ?The State of Welfare: An old and tricky question resurfaces.? National Review 54.2 (February 11, 2002): 1--2. Online. Information Access Expanded
Blau, J. (2004). The dynamics of social welfare policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.
The year 1984 has long passed, but the novel still illustrates a possibility for the future of society. It still remains a powerful influence in all sorts of literature, music, and social theory. George Orwell envisioned a nightmarish utopia that could have very easily become a possibility in 1949 ? the year the novel was written. He managed to create such a realistic view of humanity?s future, that this story has been deemed timeless. There will always be the threat of totalitarianism, and at some moments civilization is only a step away from it. Orwell hated the thought of it, and 1984 shows that. From his work, readers who live in prevailing democratic society have a chance to consider about these very different political systems, democracy and totalitarianism.
Body image dissatisfaction is increasingly identified as an essential target for public health action ( Paxton , 2002, P. 2) Body image refers to a person’s unique perception of his or her body. It is how we perceive our selves, how we think we appear to others and how we feel about our looks from “our own internal view”. ( Nio, 2003, P3). This internal view is associated with the person’s feelings thoughts and evaluations. It can either be positive or negative. Negative body image could be associated with low self esteem. This could include low willingness to be involved in activities due to poor body image. Self-esteem is an important psychological need of human beings. It is very essential for a person to have a positive body image in order to face and overcome challenges in life. It helps to boost motivation and mental attitude.
Schwarz, J. E. (1990). WELFARE LIBERALISM, SOCIAL POLICY, AND POVERTY IN AMERICA. Policy Studies Review, 10(1), 127-139.
The title of Ray Huang’s book 1587: A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty Decline suggests that this book is a work based on a single year in which little occurred. But in reality, Huang’s look at the events of 1587 demonstrate the complex workings of the leadership during the decline of the Ming dynasty, giving the reader an insight into the societal structure, the governmental process, and the mistakes that occurred systematically to enhance the progression towards the seemingly inevitable downfall. Though nothing of historical significance occurred during the year 1587, Huang is able to demonstrate the way in which the existing culture and the smaller, more systematic elements of political leadership can be understood within the context of a seemingly unimportant period of time.