Horowitz examines one of the most critical questions of welfare policy: how can a government program help one of society's most needful groups move from welfare dependency to employment, independence, and responsible citizenship? This book brings to life the dramas of women on welfare--women that daily face drams unknown to most Americans.
By all indicators, the reproductive health of Americans has been deteriorating since 1980. Our nation is troubled by rates of teen pregnancies and newborn deaths that are worse than almost all others in the Western world. Science and Babies is a straightforward presentation of the major reproductive issues we face that suggests answers for the public. The book discusses how the clash of opinions on sex and family planning prevents us from making a national commitment to reproductive health; why people in the United States have fewer contraceptive choices than those in many other countries; what we need to do to improve social and medical services for teens and people living in poverty; how couples should "shop" for a fertility service and make consumer-wise decisions; and what we can expect in the futureâ€"featuring interesting accounts of potential scientific advances.
"In 2013, the New York City Public Health Department placed public service announcements on trains and buses and at transportation stops that showed photos of frowning or crying children saying such things as 'I'm twice as likely not to graduate high school because you had me as a teen' and 'Honestly, Mom ... Chances are he won't stay with you. What happens to me?' Campaigns like this support a public narrative that portrays teen mothers as threatening the moral order, bankrupting state coffers, and causing high rates of poverty, incarceration, and school dropout. These campaigns demonize teen mothers but tell us nothing about their lives before they became pregnant. In this myth-shattering and often deeply disturbing book, sociologists Mary Patrice Erdmans and Timothy Black tell the life stories of 108 brown, white, and black teen mothers. They expose the problems that cause distress in these young women's lives and that are often overlooked in pregnancy prevention campaigns. Some stories are tragic and painful, marked by child sexual abuse, partner violence, and school failure. Others are less devastating, depicting 'girl next door' characters whose unintended pregnancies expose their lack of contraception and unwillingness to abort. Offering a fresh critical perspective on the links between early childbirth and social inequalities, On Becoming a Teen Mom demonstrates how the intersecting hierarchies of gender, race, and social class shape the personal stories of young mothers"--Provided by publisher.
The authors in this book use the metaphors of invisibility and visibility to explore the social and school lives of many children and young people in North America whose complexity, strengths, and vulnerabilities are largely unseen in the society and its schools. These “invisible children” are socially devalued in the sense that alleviating the difficult conditions of their lives is not a priority—children who are subjected to derogatory stereotypes, who are educationally neglected in schools that respond inadequately if at all to their needs, and who receive relatively little attention from scholars in the field of education or writers in the popular press. The chapter authors, some of the most passionate and insightful scholars in the field of education today, detail oversights and assaults, visible and invisible, but also affirm the capacity of many of these young people to survive, flourish, and often educate others, despite the painful and even desperate circumstances of their lives. By sharing their voices, providing basic information about them, and offering thoughtful analysis of their social situation, this volume combines education and advocacy in an accessible volume responsive to some of the most pressing issues of our time. Although their research methodologies differ, all of the contributors aim to get the facts straight and to set them in a meaningful context. New in the Third Edition: Chapters retained from the previous edition have been thoroughly revised and updated, and five totally new chapters have been added on the topics of: *young people pushed into the “school-to-prison” pipeline; *the “environmental landscape” of two out-of-school Mexican migrant teens in the rural Midwest; *the perceptions and practices, in and outside schools, that construct African American boys as school failures; *negative portrayals of blackness in the context of understanding the “collateral damage of continued white privilege”; and *working-class pregnant and parenting teens’ efforts to create positive identities for themselves. Of interest to a broad range of researchers, students, and practitioners across the field of education, this compelling book is accessible to all readers. It is particularly appropriate as a text for courses that address the social context of education, cultural and political change, and public policy, including social foundations of education, sociology of education, multicultural education, curriculum studies, and educational policy.
Making Sense of Women's Lives presents a wide range of writings about women's lives in the United States. Michele Plott and Lauri Umansky have drawn on their experiences as both students and professors to assemble the collection. Seeking to provide as full a sampling from a diverse and intellectually vibrant field as one volume permits, the editors have also chosen writing that makes an enjoyable read. A few of the selections here represent the undisputed 'classics' of the field. More of them constitute simply the works, drawn from academic and nonacademic sources alike, that could make a difference in understanding what it means to be female in America. Making Sense of Women's Lives is intended as the primary text in Women's Studies courses. With that usage in mind, Plott and Umansky have provided brief introductions to each article to help students understand the author's perspectives. Thought and discussion questions follow each selection. The book contains, as well, numerous "Flash Exercises" suggestions for class exercises and activities. The editors have used these activities in their courses over the past decade, in conjunction with readings in this volume, and have found that the full complement of materials coalesces into an intellectually powerful introduction to Women's Studies. A Collegiate Press book
This book is a critical analysis of the technologies of identity-formation in governmental family planning policy. Panu argues that in order for contemporary liberalism to govern legitimately, governmental discourses have to create and subsequently alienate certain identities as "other" that is, as the polar opposite of the good, normal citizen. These identities usually center on the poor, the racialised, and the gendered. These arguably discriminatory practices are illustrated through the investigation of the U.S. bio- and anatomo-politics of reproduction in the national family planning strategy, in an analytical framework that relates them to the welfare benefit policies in the same country. Panu argues that as long as neo-liberal governmental apparatuses map and rule society using this combination of "othering" and foundational assumptions, each governmental intervention reinforces the systems that make domination, inequality, and exclusion possible.
A hearing was held on education, training, and service programs that serve disadvantaged teens. Testimony was presented on recent research findings concerning these programs and on their implementation. The major lessons learned from the Summer Training and Employment (STEP) program were presented, including those of implementation and impact. A second topic was a discussion of the effectiveness of three programs serving teenage mothers on welfare: New Chance (for mothers who have dropped out of school); Learning, Earning, and Parenting (LEAP), an Ohio program for teen parents; and Demonstrations of Innovative Approaches to Reduce Welfare Dependency among Teen Parents. A third topic was the discussion of the work provisions of the Family Support Act of 1988. The following witnesses addressed the hearing: (1) Milton J. Little, Manpower Demonstration Research Corp.; (2) Deanna Phelps, Maryland Department of Human Resources; (3) Alan M. Hershey, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.; (4) Kevin W. Concannon, Oregon Department of Human Resources; and (5) Michael A. Bailin and Frances Vilella-Velez, Public/Private Ventures. Three submissions for the record are included. (SLD)
