Kathleen Mullan Harris reveals the relationship between black teenage mothers and the welfare system. Does welfare encourage them to maintain a life of dependency? How does education, marriage, and employment impact this relationship? How do these women escape dependency? Harris's account is based on Frank Furstenberg's Baltimore study, which began in the 1960s and has continued for more than 20 years. This study traces the paths of these mothers and provides commentary on the changes in the welfare system and the way society perceives welfare recipients. Not only are job prospects worse today but so are welfare benefits, and the abortion rate has risen drastically.
Nine original essays explore the many factors affecting how Canadian society responds to, and creates, the phenomenon of teen parenting. A challenges to assumptions about the circumstances, consequences and experience of teen parenting.
The unifying theme of this broad-reaching volume is that responsible, ethical, and effective social work practice rests on the diagnostic skills of the practitioner. Social work diagnosis refers to the conscious formulation of an ongoing set of decisions about the client and his or her situation, which serve as the basis for intervention-decisions for which the practitioner must be prepared to take responsibility. Diagnostic skill development is an ongoing process principally enhanced by a continuous commitment to remain at the cutting edge of the profession's body of knowledge, but one of the challenges for today's practitioner is keeping abreast of the rapidly expanding body of knowledge contained in some 200 important social work periodicals in circulation. Francis J. Turner, a preeminent clinical scholar, brings together in one volume some of the best work published since 2000, each reflecting new insights into understanding psychosocial situations and innovative methods of applying knowledge and skills in an increasingly effective manner. Each of the 78 articles in this volume highlights some of the critical dimensions of contemporary social work practice, guiding clinicians to address four key aspects in order to craft an accurate diagnosis. The first section presents articles covering the developmental spectrum, each of which fully explains various ages and stages of development. The second section focuses on a range of specific situations, helping practitioners and students enrich their understanding of different types of problems they meet in contemporary practice, whether they are based in mental illness, psychosocial issues, or physical ailments. The third section addresses the crucial component of diversity, demonstrating the complexity and critical importance of truly understanding clients and their lives. The last section of the book discusses innovative approaches to practice, selected to offer practitioners easy access to the latest interventions for a host of contemporary challenges facing clients and their therapists. Broad in scope and tightly focused on the goal of providing the most up-to-date information necessary for accuracy in the diagnostic process, this volume represents some of the best research available to today's social workers.
Learn the “who,” “what,” and “why” of unbecoming a mother In a society where becoming a mother is naturalized, “unbecoming” a mother—the process of coming to live apart from biological children—is regarded as unnatural, improper, or even contemptible. Few mothers are more stigmatized than those who are perceived as having given up, surrendered, or abandoned their birth children. Unbecoming Mothers: The Social Production of Maternal Absence examines this phenomenon within the social and historical context of parenting in Canada, Australia, Britain, and the United States, with critical observations from social workers, policymakers, and historians. This unique book offers insights from the perspectives of children on the outside looking in and the lived experiences of women on the inside looking out. Unbecoming Mothers: The Social Production of Maternal Absence explores how gender, race, class, and other social agents affect the ways women negotiate their lives apart from their children and how they attempt to recreate their identities and family structures. An interdisciplinary, international collection of academics, community workers, and mothers draws upon sources as diverse as archival records, a therapist’s interview, a dance script, and the class presentation of a student to offer refreshing insights on maternal absence that are innovative, accessible, and inspiring. Unbecoming Mothers examines five assumptions about maternal absence and the families that emerge from that absence: the focus on parenting as highly gendered caring work done by women the idea that women share the same experience of unbecoming mothers and share the same circumstances and background the perception of maternal absence as a recent phenomenon the notion that women who want to manage their mother-work will make choices to overcome life’s obstacles the Western concept of womanhood being achieved through motherhood and the unrealistic ideal of the “good mother” Unbecoming Mothers: The Social Production of Maternal Absence is a rich, multidisciplinary resource for academics working in women’s studies, psychology, sociology, history, and any health-related fields, and for policymakers, social workers, and other community workers.
This book brings to the fore the difficult realities of racism and the sexual violation of women. Traci West argues for a liberative method of Christian social ethics in which the discussion begins not with generic philosophical concepts but in the concrete realities of the lives of the socially and economically marginalized.
Killing the Black Body remains a rallying cry for education, awareness, and action on extending reproductive justice to all women. It is as crucial as ever, even two decades after its original publication. "A must-read for all those who claim to care about racial and gender justice in America." —Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow In 1997, this groundbreaking book made a powerful entrance into the national conversation on race. In a media landscape dominated by racially biased images of welfare queens and crack babies, Killing the Black Body exposed America’s systemic abuse of Black women’s bodies. From slave masters’ economic stake in bonded women’s fertility to government programs that coerced thousands of poor Black women into being sterilized as late as the 1970s, these abuses pointed to the degradation of Black motherhood—and the exclusion of Black women’s reproductive needs in mainstream feminist and civil rights agendas. “Compelling. . . . Deftly shows how distorted and racist constructions of black motherhood have affected politics, law, and policy in the United States.” —Ms.
The rates are on the decline worldwide. But adolescent pregnancies still occur, placing millions of girls each year at risk for medical complications and social isolation and their babies for severe health problems-especially when prenatal care is inadequate or nonexistent. But as the opportunity for young women and girls increases around the world, adolescent pregnancy will continue to decline. Featuring reports from countries across the developed and developing worlds, the International Handbook of Adolescent Pregnancy analyzes the scope of the problem and the diversity of social and professional responses. Its biological/ecological perspective identifies factors influencing childhood pregnancy, as well as outcomes, challenges and needs of very young mothers as they differ across nations and regions. Salient comparisons are made as cultural contexts and community support vary widely and attention is paid to issues such as child marriage, LGBT concerns and the impact of religion and politics on health care, particularly access to contraception, abortion and other services. This global coverage heightens the understanding of readers involved in care, education and prevention programs and otherwise concerned with the psychosocial development, reproductive health and general well-being of girls. Included in the Handbook: Biological influences of adolescent pregnancy. Adolescent maternal health and childbearing. Adolescent pregnancy and mental health. International perspectives on adolescent fathers. Adolescent pregnancy as a feminist issue. Adolescent pregnancy as a social problem. Plus viewpoints from more than thirty countries. As a unique source of up-to-date findings and clear-headed analysis, the International Handbook of Adolescent Pregnancy is a go-to reference for practitioners and researchers in maternal and child health, pediatrics, adolescent medicine and global health.
Explore the ways that work, welfare, and material hardship affect the mental health of low-income women! Welfare, Work, and Well-Being reflects a growing interest among the research, policy and media communities in the connections between the psychological and economic well-being of poor women and their families. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWORA) of 1996, and the sharp declines in welfare caseloads that began even prior to the legislation, have changed the lives of poor women and children in critical ways. The social scientists in this volume investigate the associations among welfare, work, social roles, child well-being, material hardship, and women's mental health. Through careful and pointed analysis, the authors illustrate the important implications and challenges for future programs and policies. Demonstrating some of the most significant and up-to-date research, Welfare, Work, and Well-Being is a must for anyone who is interested in the impact of welfare reform on the lives of low-income women and children. Welfare, Work, and Well-Being addresses: symptoms of depression among women on welfare the ways that receiving welfare during her child rearing years can later affect a mother's physical and psychological health the well-being of 425 “able-bodied” women and men who lost cash assistance benefits when Michigan's General Assistance program ended the symptoms of depression and hopelessness in single mothers on and off welfare the importance of considering the issues of health and domestic violence for women transitioning from welfare to work financial strain, maternal depressive affect, and parenting stress among current welfare recipients and former recipients who are employed the relationship between work and depressive symptoms for poor single mothers who have experienced homelessness the relationship between food insufficiency and health in single female welfare recipients With helpful charts, figures, and tables, Welfare, Work, and Well-Being puts up-to-date research (and thoughtful examinations of its implications) where it belongs--in your hands!
News as a cultural product has earned a place in scholarly research over the past several decades, and media scholars and sociologists have successfully looked at news for ideological content and how news may shape an audience's ideas on politics, gender, and race. But how does news influence an audience's ideas about social structure? Class and News is a multidisciplinary collection of essays examining how the news media treats or neglects this structure in everyday reporting. Are certain stories chosen for their appeal to the upper or middle classes? Are stories of interest to lower class readers/viewers avoided? How are issues of social order reported or reflected in stories that aren't about class? This in-depth work will be a valuable resource for students, scholars, and general readers interested in the dynamics of class and news in the United States.
