1. society
2. welfare

SUNY at Stony Brook
School of Social Welfare
HWC 509 Parameters of Health and Social Policy I
Professors: Blau, Farrington, Cabin, Gabrielli, Phillips
I.
Fall 2013
Course Description
This two-semester sequence introduces students to the political/economic model of social policy.
According to this model, social policies reflect the successes of social movements, while at the same time
serving to oppress and contain them. The conflict between social policy as an instrument of reform and
social policy as an instrument of oppression therefore lies at the core of this course.
This course begins with an introduction and explanation of a framework of oppression and its relation to
policy. The first semester then proceeds to trace the history of social welfare and the evolution of the social
work profession. Using this historical understanding, we analyze the different ideological perspectives on
social welfare. The first semester concludes by reviewing the issues of poverty, inequality, racism and
sexism from a political economy perspective. Concepts such as entitlements, safety nets and universal
versus means-tested programs are explored.
II.
Objectives
The objectives of the course are as follows:
Knowledge:
1.
To develop the conceptual framework for a political/economic approach to social welfare
policy, with particular regard to problems such as poverty, inequality, racism, and
sexism;
2.
To understand the historical development of social welfare and the social work
profession, including the effects of social and economic conditions, social movements,
and political processes in bringing about social change;
3.
To identify basic social policy concepts and develop knowledge about the structure,
operation, implementation, and outcomes of current service delivery systems including
income security, and health;
4.
To examine the various theoretical and ideological frameworks that define social
problems, shape social welfare policy and services, and govern contemporary social
policy debates;
5.
To familiarize students with some major issues in social welfare policy such as
universalism vs. targeting, privatization; and tax policy;
6.
To develop and understanding of the social, political, and economic factors promoting
and inhibiting social change.
1.
To sensitize students to the various forms of oppression and its effects;
2.
To promote in students a commitment to policies and programs that maximize social
justice, human dignity, cultural diversity, and self-determination as core professional
values;
Values:
1
3.
To encourage in students a commitment to the use of social welfare to fulfill basic human
needs such as a right to food, income, housing, and health care;
4.
To develop the values needed to promote and engage in advocacy and social change.
1.
To learn how to conceptualize and think critically about social welfare policy issues in
relation to both the student’s own practice and the larger social work profession.
2.
To learn the primary models of policy analysis and carry out a policy analysis from a
political/economic perspective.
3.
To learn methods of policy and legislative advocacy.
Skills:
III.
Course Requirements, Grades, Assignments, and Required Texts
A. Course Requirements *
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Attendance and participation in all sessions
Completion of assigned readings prior to the session in which they are to be discussed
Satisfactory completion of mid-term and final exams, papers and other written assignments.
Participation in class discussions, debates and presentations.
More than three events of lateness and/or early departure will be counted as a class absence.
B. Grades
Letter grades are used in this course, based on an evaluation of the extent to which the course objectives
and requirements have been met. In the first semester, forty percent of the grade is based on the final, thirty
percent of the grade is based on the midterm, and thirty percent of the grade is derived from class
participation. Attendance is mandatory; each absence deducts from the final grade. If more than three
unexcused class sessions are missed, the student cannot pass the course.
Assignments for HWC 509, two written assignments: Mid-term and Final take home exams that
emphasize material on perspectives toward the welfare state and the history of social welfare in the United
States. The specific assignments will be distributed in class. In class presentations, group projects and
debates are expected to be conducted as appropriate for graduate students.
C. Course Format
Lectures, class discussions and student presentations will constitute the format of this course.
* The course depends on students using critical thinking skills in studying public social policy
discussions at the national, state, and local government levels.
Required Texts for HWC 509 and HWC 510
J. Blau with M. Abramovitz, (2010) The Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy 3rd ed. NY: Oxford
University Press.
B, Ehrenreich, (2008) Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. NY: Metropolitan
Books/Henry Holt & Co.
J. Cypher, A. Reuss, C. Sturr, & The Dollars & Sense Collective, Eds., (2012) Current Economic Issues,
16th Ed.
Cambridge, MA: Dollars and Sense.
*** Assignments will be selected for each session by the instructor
H. Karger, J. Midgley, P. Kindle & C. Brown, (2007) Controversial Issues in Social Policy 3rd Ed. Boston:
Pearson.
Daly, L, (2006) God and the Welfare State Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
2
Note: If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability that may impact on your ability
to carry out assigned course work, I would urge that you contact the staff in the Disabled Student Services
Office, (DSS), Room 133, Humanities, 632-6748/TDD. The DSS will review your concerns and determine
with you what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation of
disability are confidential.
IV.
HWC 509: Parameters of Social Policy I: Fall Term (3 credits)
Course Outline/Readings
Sessions 1 Introduction to the Course
“If we think we have ours and don’t owe any time or money or effort to help those left behind, then we are
a part of the problem rather than the solution to the fraying social fabric that threatens all Americans.”
-Marian Wright Edelman
Definitions of
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Social Welfare
Social problems
Social policy
Social change
Social Welfare Policy
Required: Blau, Chap 1,”Social Problems, Social Policy, Social Change.” In J. Blau, with M.
Abramovitz, The Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy, 3rd ed. (NY: Oxford University Press, 2010).
Session 2
Social Work and Social Values and Ethics
“We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few,
but we can’t have both.”
-Louis D. Brandeis
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What is social work?
What is social justice?
How are they related?
What are social work values?
Justice and equality, liberty and security.
What constitutes ethical behavior?
Required:
H. Karger, J. Midgely , P. Kindle & C. B. Browne, Controversial Issues in Social Policy, 3rd ed.
“Debate #7 “Should Same-Sex Marriages Be Legalized” pp. 91-109 and Debate # 11 “Should
Abortion Rights Be An Accepted Social Work Value?” pp. 157-170.
The NASW Code of Ethics, revised 2008 (available on line)
Assignment: A 2-3 page ungraded diagnostic writing assignment: Describe your vision of a more just
America after the Zimmerman trial. The trial has ended but the repercussions of a Florida teen’s
death have not. Consider social justice, freedom, racism, classism, equality, liberty, and human
rights. In retrospect, what changes would you suggest to prevent future tragedies?
Due Session 3—next week,
** This assignment should relate to the concept of social justice as it is practiced currently in the
United States.
Recommended:
Smiley, T., West, C. (2012). The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto, New York, New York:
Smiley Books.
Metz, T. (2010) Untying the Knot: Marriage, the State, and the Case for Their Divorce Princeton, New
Jersey: Princeton University Press.)
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Pierce, C. (2010). Idiot America: how stupidity became a virtue in the land of the free. Random House Inc.
New York)
Ehrenreich, B. (2008). This Land is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation. (NY: Metropolitan Books/
Henry Holt & Co., 2008).
Session 3 Social Justice, Oppression and the Social Structures
“I am invisible; understand, simply because people refuse to see me…When they approach me they see only
my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination- indeed, everything and anything except
me.”
-Ralph Ellison
“Justice is the constant and perpetual will to render to others what is due to them”
-Emperor Justinian
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Human rights and democracy
An introduction to the concept of oppression: what are its distinguishing features?
The relationship of oppression and social welfare: how does social welfare interact with
oppression:
The concept of a “norm” –the demographic and behavioral standard to which we are all compared.
The concept of “difference”—in what ways do most of us fall short of this standard?
How does social welfare shape and respond to this concept of difference?
Required:
Ehrenreich, B. (2001) Nickel and Dimed: On (not) getting by in America. NY: Metropolitan Books/
Henry Holt & Co.
Young, I. M. (2011) “Five Faces of Oppression.” In Justice and the Politics of Difference (Princeton
University Press, 1990) Chapter 2, pp. 41-65 (to be distributed)
Recommended
J. Baldwin, “The Psychology of Oppression.” In M.K. Asante et al., eds., Contemporary Black Thought:
Alternative Analysis in Social and Behavioral Science (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1980)
J. DeParle, American Dream: Three Women, Ten Children and a Nation’s Drive to End Welfare (NY:
Viking/Penguin, 2004)
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York: Continuum, 1984)
David Gil, Confronting Injustice and Oppression: Concepts and Strategies for Social Workers (NY:
Columbia University Press, 1998).
Jean Baker Miller, “Domination-Subordination,” (Chapter 1, “Conflict-The Old Way” (Chapter 2) and
“The Importance of Unimportant People,” (Chapter 3), in Jean Baker Miller, Toward a New Psychology of
Women (Boston: Beacon Press, 1976) (Reader)
Paula Rothenberg (ed.) Race, Class and Gender in the US (NY: Worth, 2009)
Katherine vanWormer, Confronting Oppression, Restoring Justice: From Policy Analysis to Social Action
(Alexandria, VA: Council of Social Work Education, 2004)
David Wagner, “Social Work and the Hidden Victims of Deindustrialization,” Journal of Progressive
Human Services 2(1): 15-37, 1991
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Session 4 Social Welfare Policy: Setting the Stage for Social Change
“The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and
their fellow man alike. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason, and courage in a
personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American society.”
-Robert F. Kennedy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Boundaries of social welfare policy
Roles and functions of social welfare policy
An overview of social welfare programs
Universal or selective provision
Social change and unrest in the current political climate
Required: M. Abramovitz, “Definitions and Functions of Social Welfare Policy.” Chap. 2 in Blau,
Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy
Recommended:
NASW, “Role of Government, Social Policy and Social Work,” Social Work Speaks 2003-2006,
Washington, DC: NASW Press
Sessions 5-9 The Evolution of the Welfare State and The Social Work Profession
“Don’t blame Wall Street, don’t blame the big banks. If you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame
yourself.”
-Herman Cain
“Power has only one duty – to secure the social welfare of the people.”
-Benjamin Disraeli, 1845
“Welfare’s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.”
-Ronald Reagan, 1970
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The ambiguity of social welfare history in the United States
A history of the growth and development of the US welfare state
The history of the social work profession
Identification of the major themes in US social welfare policy, including current challenges
Religion and social welfare policy
Required
J. Blau, Chapter 7, “Social Welfare History in the US.” in Dynamics Of Social Welfare Policy
Daly, L, (2006) God and the Welfare State, Forward, Preface, Chapters 1,3,4,9
H. Karger, J. Midgely , P. Kindle & C. B. Browne, Controversial Issues in Social Policy,3rd ed.
Debate #1 “Is the American Welfare State Compatible with the Market Economy” pp. 3-18
Recommended:
Mimi Abramovitz, Regulating the Lives of Women (Boston: South End Press, 2nd ed. 1996)
Howard Jacob Karger & David Stoesz, American Social Welfare Policy: A Puralist Approach (Boston:
Seventh Edition, Pearson, 2014)
June Axinn & Mark Stern, Social Welfare: A History of the American Response to Need, 5th ed. (Boston:
Allyn & Bacon, 2001)
Ruth Brandwein, “Pioneers in Social Work: Our Founding Mothers” (unpublished, available from author)
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M.L.M. Bryan, et. al. The Selected Papers of Jane Addams, Vol. 1: Preparing to Lead, 1860-81 (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2003)
King Davis & Tricia Bent-Goodley (eds.) The Color of Social Policy (Alexandria, VA: council of Social
Work Education, 2004).
Bruce Jansson, The Reluctant Welfare State: A History of American Social Welfare Policies (Belmont,
California: Wadsworth, 4th ed., 2001)
Michael Katz, In the Shadow of the Poorhouse: A Social History of Welfare in America (New York:
Basic Books, 1986)
Michael Katz, The Price of Citizenship, (NY: Owl Books, 2000)
Gwendolyn Mink & Rickie Solinger, Welfare: A Documentary History of U.S. Policy and Politics (NY:
New York University Press, 2003))
Charles Noble, Welfare As We Knew It (NY: Oxford University Press 1997)
Frances Piven & Richard Cloward, Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Social Welfare (NY: Pantheon
Books, 1971)
Janet Poppendiek, Sweet Charity New York: Penguin, 1999
R. H. Tawney, Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (New York: Mentor Books, 1963)
David Wagner, What’s Love Got to Do With It (NY: New Press, 2000)
Walkowitz, Daniel, Working with Class: Social Workers and the Politics of Middle Class Identity (Chapel
Hill: University North Carolina Press 1999)
Stanley Wenocour and Michael Reisch, From Charity to Enterprise: The Development of American Social
Work in a Market Economy (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1989)
Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, revised ed. (NY: Harper Perennial, 1995)
Sessions 10-11 The Economy, Poverty and Social Welfare
“In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will
of the majority is supreme.”
-Aristotle
“There always has been and, hopefully, …there always will be income inequality.”
-Senator Rick Santorum, U.S. Presidential candidate 2012
“Poverty exists because vital resources – the things that make life good and, sometimes, the things that
make life possible – are not evenly distributed.”
-Ben Dupre, 2011
“Poverty is an anomaly to rich people; it is very difficult to make out why people who want dinner do not
ring the dinner bell.”
-Walter Bagehot, 1858
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Economic terminology
Measurement of economic performance
Poverty and Unemployment
Income Distribution and redistribution in the U.S.
The terms and tools of economic policy
Respective roles of the marketplace and social welfare; production for profit vs. production for
need
The contemporary economy
1. Taxes: who benefits, who pays?
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2. Capital Gains Tax
3. Estate (“Death”) Taxes
Required
J. Blau, Chap 3, “The Economy and Social Welfare,” In Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy
Smiley, T., West, C. (2012). The rich and the rest of us: A poverty manifesto, New York, New York:
Smiley Books– Hand out to be distributed.
Recommended
Mimi Abramovitz, “Poor Women in a Bind: Social Reproduction without Supports,” Affilia, A Journal of
Women and Social Work 7(2): 23-43, 1992
Amanda Barusch, Foundations of Social Policy (Itaska, IL: Peacock Publ. 2002) Chapter 1
Joel Blau, Illusions of Prosperity (NY Oxford University Press, 1999) Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2
Thomas L, Friedman, Hot, Flat and Crowded, (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giromx, 2008)
Gosta Esping-Andersen, The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1990)
Sharon Hays, Flat Broke With Children: Women in the Age of Welfare Reform (NY: Oxford University
Press, 2003)
Ramesh Mishra, The Welfare State in Capitalist Society (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990)
Charles Murray, Losing Ground (New York: Basic Books, 1985)
Sessions 12 The Politics of Social Welfare Policy
“Life is a flame that is always burning itself out; but it catches fire again every time a child is born. Life is
greater than death, and hope than despair. I will do the work that comes to me only if I know that it is good
work; and to know that, I must know the past and the future.”
-George Bernard Shaw
“Democracy substitutes elections by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.”
-George Bernard Shaw
Democracy is “a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.”
-H. L. Menchen
1.
2.
3.
4.
Decision-making, definitions of democracy and majority rule
The U.S. government system: Federalism, checks and balances and the three branches of
government
American Exceptionalism: What makes our political system different
Implications of those difference for social reform
Required
J. Blau, Chap 4, “The Politics of Social Welfare Policy, in Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy
Jonathan Kozol, “Savage Inequalities of Public Education in New York”
Savage Inequalities www.enotes.com or other internet sources
Recommended:
Dean Baker, The Conservative Nanny State (Washington, DC: Center for Economic and Policy Research,
2006) May be downloaded free.
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Sessions 13-15 Ideological Perspectives on Social Welfare: Social Problems—Poverty, Racism,
Sexism
“The poor did not create the deindustrialization of America, unmatched corporate profiteering and greed,
more than a decade of foreign wars and unregulated tax benefits for the wealthy. Nearly one-third of the
American middle class- mostly families with children-have fallen into poverty.”
-Tavis Smiley and Cornel West
“In the minds of educated people, few concepts have been so thoroughly discredited as racism. Science has
shown that it has no intellectual substance; history that it has no place in civilized society. Yet racism’s
biological unreality has not prevented it having a thriving political life.”
-Ben Dupre
“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war
that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never be a reality.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What is ideology?
Social welfare ideology and social change
Discrimination in American Society
Theories of poverty: the culture of poverty, the underclass, feminization of poverty
The causes and persistence of racism
The interaction of racism and sexism with social policy
Required:
M. Abramovitz, “Ideological Perspectives and Conflicts,” Chap 5 in Blau, Dynamics of
Social Welfare Policy
Karger & Stoesz –Discrimination in American Society –Handout to be distributed
Recommended:
Allen, T. (2006). Class struggle and the origin of racial slavery: The invention of the white race. Stony
Brook, NY: Center for Study of Working Class Life, Dept. of Economics, Stony Brook University
Brandwein, R. & Filiano, D. “Toward Real Welfare Reform: Voices of Battered Women,” Affilia: Journal
of Women and Social Work, v.15:2, pp. 224-243.
DiNitto, D. (2011). Social welfare: Politics and public policy (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Ehrenreich, B. (2005). Bait and switch. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books.
Ehrenreich, B. (2008). This land is their land. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books.
Goldberg, G. & Kremen, E. (1991). The feminization of poverty: Only in America. New York: Praeger
Jacoby, S. (2008). The age of American unreason. New York, NY: Random House.
Jimenez, J. (2010). Social policy and social change: Toward the creation of social and economic justice.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Katznelson, I. (2005) When affirmative action was white. NewYork: W.W. Norton
Lewis, O. (1961). Children of Sanchez. New York: Random House
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Orleck, Annelise. (2005) Storming Caesar’s palace: How black mothers fought their own war on poverty.
Boston: Beacon Press
Painter, Nell Irvin (2010) The history of white people (New York: W.W. Norton
Shapiro, T. (2004). The hidden cost of being African American: How wealth perpetuates inequality, NY:
Oxford
Sidel, R. (1998) Keeping women and children last, NY: Penguin Books
Smiley, T, West, C, (2012). The rich and the rest of us: A poverty manifesto, New York, New York: Smiley
Books– Hand out to be distributed.
West, Cornel. (1993) Race matters, Boston: Beacon Press
Wise, Tim (2010) Color blind: The rise of post-racial politics and the retreat from racial equity
Wise, Tim (2009) Between Barack and a hard place: Racism and white denial in the age of Obama, City
Lights Books, San Francisco
Zakaria, F. (2008). The post American world. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.
Required reading assignments from “Current Economic Issues in Social Policy”, 16th edition.
Session 3
Chapter 1, section 1.1
Inequality, Power, and Ideology
Session 4
Chapter 2, section 2.1
Government “Living Within its Means”
Session 10-11
Chapter 3, section 3.3
Taxing the Rich from Right to Left
Session 10-11
Chapter 5, section 5.1
Universal Health Care: Can We Afford Anything
Less?
Session 10-11
Chapter 5, section 5.2
Different Anti-Poverty Regime, Same SingleMother Poverty
Session 10-11
Chapter 5, section 5.5
Hard Work at an Advanced Age
Session 12
Chapter 5, section 5.1
Universal Health Care: Can We Afford Anything
Less?
Session 13-15
Chapter 8, section 8.4
Teachers, Secretaries, and Social Workers: The
New Welfare Moms?
Session 13-15
Chapter 9, section 9.1
The 99%, the 1%, and Class Struggle
It is strongly recommended that students select a legitimate news source, print or electronic, that
keeps them informed of public social policy issues. These sources should be used daily.
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