Introduction to Social Welfare and
Social Work:
The US in Global Perspective
Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole
Katherine van Wormer
University of Northern Iowa
1
Introduction - Chapter 1
2
Uniqueness of social work
Social work core values:
service, social justice, dignity and worth of
person, importance of human relationships,
integrity, competence
Uniqueness of Social Work continued
3
Person-in-environment
Mission—social action to promote social
change--IFSW
Licensing
Social Context—generalist practice
Value based criteria
Global role
Reasons for International Focus
4
Ever shrinking world
Increasing international similarities
Leadership in NGOs
Perspective from other nations
Innovative approaches
Knowledge for International Work
5
Employment options
“International” domestic work--refugees
Influencing global policies through UN
Terms and Concepts
6
Social welfare—”well being”--nation’s system of
programs, benefits, etc.
Social welfare state
Social work and sociology, psychology, counseling
Third World/developing country/Global South/nonindustrialized country
Terms continued
Functionalism
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Regulating the Poor—Piven and Cloward
Power—Max Weber
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Manifest and latent functions
Examples—car, military haircut, imprisonment
Orwell—1984 ”who controls the past controls the
future; who controls the present controls the past”
Power elite
Terms continued
Globalization—social, educational, economic
Empowerment Perspective
Culture and cultural competence--ethnocentrism
Ecosystems Theory--Interactionism
Prejudice—unjustified negative attitudes
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Allport--outgroups
Adorno—F scale—obedience most important, displaced
aggression
Blaming the victim as defense mechanism
Terms continued
9
Empowerment
Our social work imagination—micro (family
work) and macro practice
Critical thinking—put social policies in
perspective, awareness of media bias
CHAPTER 2
American Social Values
and
International Social
Work
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US Value Orientations
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Work versus leisure
Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism
Creed of Calvinism
US--2,000 hours per year, Germany--1,500
impact of welfare reform
Korea and work ethic
France—leisure a top value
US Values—equal opportunity vs.
equality
“The American dream”—”rags to riches”
Immigrant success stories
Scandinavian value of equality, not opportunity
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Family allowances here and in other industrialized nations
Wilensky & Lebeaux—residually based (safety net)
society versus institutionally based
Means-tested—TANF and stigma
Globalization—impact of competition
Values: Mobility vs. Stability
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Thom Hartmann’s hypothesis of genetic traits
from hunter vs farmer societies and ADD
Americans as seen by foreigners
Competition Vs Cooperation
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Personal achievement as happiness--survey
Egalitarianism—”probably the best beer in
town” compared to American ads
Family socialization into values
Individualism Vs Collectivism
15
Conformists
Japanese homogeneity
American individualism
Collectivism in Norway and Japan
Progressive periods in US history compared
to conservative times
Independence
Vs
Interconnectedness
16
Independence & individualism in U.S.
Interconnectedness & indigenous culture—
First Nations People
Materialism Vs Spirituality
17
Materialism
Alternative values
Prevalence of religion in America—surveys
comparing US and European attitudes
Nuclear Vs Extended Family
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Kinship arrangements in industrialized
world—marriage as union between families
African- and Latino- American cultural
perspectives
Moralism Vs Compassion
19
Moralism and US society, the most unique
US value
Social values and social policy
International policy
Imprisonment in the US and Norway
Social Work Values
and
American Values
20
Social work mission to enhance human well-being,
Altruism
Core values of social work—service, social justice, dignity and worth of
the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and
competence
How these values compare or contrast to American values
International Descriptions
21
Guam—cultural clash, indigenous population, woman power
Chile—under socialist government and after CIA back military
coup, social workers “disappeared”, structural adjustments
required by world banks
Caribbean—structural adjustments—Jamaica and global
realities
South Korea—positive experience with globalization, over 100
social work departments, male dominance
Cuba—health care services, social workers work in needy
communities
Canada—impact of global market, NAFTA, cutbacks, universal
health care
CHAPTER 3
Emergence of Social
Work
22
Introduction – Chapt. 3
23
Drawing from Glasgow, Scotland museum—
Heatherbank Museum of Social Work,
“Houseless Poor Asylum”
Social work goes back to Middle Ages and
social welfare.
European Milestones
Norman Conquest, 1066 and feudalism, unity of England under
law
Black Death, 1348 and scapegoating of minority groups
(“witches”)and labor shortage
Role of technologies a theme, people moved to cities for work,
affected family life
Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther and Henry VIII
Elizabethan Poor Law 1601, religious dissenters left for New
World
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24
First poor law—poor relief for deserving, parents responsible,
workhouse
New Poor Law 1834—moral view of poverty
Inflluence of Dickens, Karl Marx (1848)
Colonial America
25
Puritans and theology
Individualism, limited government and
separation of church and state
No large class of landless people
Weak central government
Indentured servants, slavery of persons of
color
US Constitution and human rights
Informal and Formal Helping
26
Poor Helping Poor—slavery and mutual aid
Farmers
Church
Formal aid
Dorothea Dix
Civil War
Freedmen’s Bureau
Europe: A Contrast—social insurance in Germany
Industrial Growth in the U.S.
27
Agriculture to Industry
Depression of 1870s
Paradigm shifts in times of national hardship
Origins of social work
Charity Organization Societies
Settlement houses
Hull House and Jane Addams
Mary Richmond
Social Work as a Profession
Flexner and Freudian Influence
Casework
The Great Depression—a paradigm shift, Piven and
Cloward
New Deal—Harry Hopkins and Francis Perkins
under Roosevelt
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28
Public Works Administration, Social Security Act
Women’s leadership in social work,1910-1955
European Influence
From 1950s to Today
29
McCarthy era, 1950s
Bertha Reynolds—her education in
psychoanalytical theory and her union work,
fired from Smith College but honored today
1960s, Civil Rights Movement, a paradigm
shift, war on poverty and war in Vietnam
New Conservatism
Self Assessment
Has Social Work Lost Its Mission?
Unfaithful Angels: How Social Work Has Abandoned Its Mission—Specht &
Courtney (1994)
Their Arguments
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van Wormer’s arguments that social work has not lost its mission:
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Professionalism
Private practice,
Loss of idealism
Writings and policies of social work
Idealism of students shown in surveys
CSWE requirements and social work ethics has radicalized
Multicultural education
Feminist influence
Empowerment perspective—theme of textbooks in the field
Global awareness
The fact that Specht and Courtney have raised the issue
Chapter 4
Economic Oppression
31
Introduction – Chapter 4
32
Eisenhower quote about money spent on the
military
Economic oppression inextricably linked with
social and racial oppression.
Socially oppressed are often poor.
Impoverished people worldwide not
necessarily oppressed.
“Trickle down theory”
Nature of Oppression
33
Exploitation
Marginalization—lack of rights of full
citizenship
Structural violence
Poverty Worldwide
34
Relative poverty
Absolute poverty—75% of world’s population
live in poor nations
Global hunger—southern hemisphere and
western--Haiti
Explanations for Existence of Poverty
Functions of poverty—Gans
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35
Assure society’s dirty work is done
Low wages
Jobs for those who serve the poor
Buyers for old goods
Scapegoating
Control their votes
Dysfunctions
Global economy and trade imbalances
Overpopulation—literacy for women tied to birth control
War as cause of poverty—loss of young life, land destroyed
Inadequate welfare benefits as cause of poverty
Poverty and Globalization
36
IMF rules—structural adjustment, loans for military
expenditures
Free trade agreements—Wal-Mart in Mexico, privatization,
processed food
WTO regulations
80% of world’s income in the richest 20% of the world’s nations
Brazil—poor receive 7 % of GNP
Job loss—see text photo of homeless man
Empire theory—US media empire, pre-emptive strikes, loss of
national industries
Work In A Global Era
37
Computer jobs in Bangalore, India
China and cheap exports
EU and leveling of standards, soon to be 25
nations
Productivity up, employment and wages
down
Work in the US
Downsizing, privatization, outsourcing, cost-efficiency, productivity
Wal-Mart’s strategies
The End of Work--Rifkin
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UN Declaration and work as a right (Article 23,see Appendix)
Worker stress—lack of loyalty
McDonaldization of Society --Ritzer–Fast Food Nation
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New technologies
More work and fewer workers
Brain work out of fast food work
Standardization of product
Pseudo-friendliness and processed food
Speed and efficiency
Tyson—dangerous work, lawsuits
Work, continued
Impact on family—”two income trap”
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39
Korea—55 hours work per week, US 46
Italy--40 vacation days, French--36, US—12
Advice on business customs in Sweden—Fridays
deserted, summer close down in July, late
afternoons they think of going home
Work, continued
40
Agriculture—cash crops
High suicide rate among American farmers
Nickel and Dimed—Ehrenreich’s story
Forced overtime work, use of drugs like meth
Worker’s Rights Mobilization
Unemployment—not outsourcing but
“productivity” the big problem—new
technologies, loss of health benefits
Strategies to End Poverty
41
Earned income tax credits—acceptable
because rewards workers
Treatment for substance abuse and mental
disorders needed
Need for more, better paying jobs
Kensington Welfare Rights Union—New
Freedom Bus Ride, UN Declaration
CHAPTER 5
Social Oppression
42
Introduction – Chapter 5
43
Look at forms of institutionally based
oppression
The “isms”
Dominant group and privilege and target
group
Classism
44
Definition
Institutional Classism
Class & Success
Poverty
Distribution of wealth—gap rich
and poor within countries and
between countries
Box 5:1—Where Your Income
Tax Money Really Goes—
www.warresisters.org
Poverty line--$18,810 family of
4, 12.5% in poverty
War against the poor—lack of
living wage
Food stamp reductions
Welfare reform
Welfare for the rich
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Tax policy
Tax cuts—stockholders
Top taxable rate—33%, was
50%1981
Racism
45
Definition—a form of racial oppression based
on the color of one’s skin or distinctive or
imagined physical features
Global racism—Roma, Dalits
Welfare racism, “us and them”
Welfare Reform
Racism & unemployment—loss of
manufacturing jobs
Sexism and the Feminization of
Poverty
46
Families below poverty line, 37% female headed
Feminization of poverty, women’s income—76 cents
on the dollar compared to men’s, elderly women in
poverty
Female unemployment, child care
Causes
Worldwide—lack of education for girls
Education
Migration
Heterosexism
47
Definition—the belief that gays and lesbians
are inferior to heterosexuals
Homophobia—a fear factor
Suicide of gender non-conforming children
Lesbians—homophobia linked to sexism and
anti-feminism backlash
Hate crimes
Marital rights
Sectarianism
48
Definition—bigotry in following doctrine od
one’s own sect
Fundamentalism—U.S., Islamism, Northern
Ireland
Religious oppression
Displaced aggression
Box 5.2—a tour of the U.S.Holocaust
Memorial Museum
Ethnocentrism
Definition
War, insecurity and foreigners
Economics & Migration
Latinos: Demographic facts
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11% have a BA
25.6% poverty rate
Prospects improve for children
Low infant mortality
Poor working conditions
Cultural factors--kinship
Anti-immigrant harassment against Arabs—against mosques,
by government--detainees
CHAPTER 6
Human Rights &
Restorative Justice
50
Introduction – Chapter 6
Refer to the photo that opens this chapter—same
sex marriage in Portland
Concepts social justice and human rights—NASW,
IFSW endorsement
History of passage of Universal Declaration of
Human Rights
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Nuremberg war crimes trial
Eleanor Roosevelt
1948
3 parts—civil and legal rights (against cruel and unusual
punishment), economic rights, cultural rights
The UN Universal Declaration of
Human Rights
52
Social work and international law
Box 6.1, On Human Rights
Amnesty International—rights a standard in
wartime as well as peacetime
US refusal to join International Criminal Court
Human Rights Violations Worldwide
53
National security as diversion from rights
enforcement
Responding to terror with terror
Genocide throughout the world—ICC to
address this
Rape in war—Brownmiller, rape as an
instrument of war, in most wars and slavery
Violations of Women Domestically
54
U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women
Conservative reluctance to ratify by Senate
International violence
Domestic violence
Honor killing—300 in Pakistan in one year
Gays, Lesbians & Human Rights
55
Lack of official human rights documents
International intolerance
Military duty
Marriage rights worldwide—full rights in the
Netherlands, Belgium, most of Canada
Partner benefits in many European countries
Criminal Justice in the U.S.
Individual rights and punitive tradition
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Absence of prevention such as strict gun control
Lack of strict media censorship against violence
Puritan influence
Rehabilitation—strong in 1970s
Criminal Justice Data
Criminal Justice Statistics, see Box 6.2
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Homicide—guns use in 66%
Male victims killed by strangers, not female
Over 1,000 women and 440 men killed by an intimate
partner in 2000 (author’s theory about women’s shelters)
Crime rate vs incarceration rate
Handgun deaths— (2003) 151 in Canada, 19 in
Japan, over 11,000 in the US
Corrections—2 million in prison
War on Drugs
58
Origins—Ronald Reagan
Zero tolerance of drugs associated with poor
people, a form of prohibition
6% of prisoners are women, big increase in
women and minorities, conspiracy drug laws
European Approach—harm reduction
Human Rights Violations of Prisoners
59
Prison labor as involuntary servitude
U.S. & International Standards
Privatization & The Incarceration Industry
Men in prison—abuses, horror stories, rape as power plays,
suicide attempts by rape victims
Women in prison—sexual abuse scandals, strip searches,
pregnancies, reports by NGOs
Death penalty—most in China, about 70 a year in the US,
abolished in all democracies except for India, Japan, US
$2 million per execution, 90% involved white victims in study,
flaws in deterrence theory, execution as an attraction to some
suicidal persons
Restorative Justice
60
Influence of First Nations People and Mennonites in
Canada
Starts with victim
Contrasts with conventional criminal justice but may
follow criminal justice process, supported by UN
Reconciliation3 key models—victim offender
mediation, family group counseling, reparations
CHAPTER 7
Human Behavior & The
Social & Physical
Environment
61
Introduction – Chapter 7
Uniting policy and practice
Importance of understanding both behavior
and context
Concepts of HBSE
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Ecosystems theory
Bio-psycho-social-spiritual model
Sustainability
Person-in-environment
The Physical Environment
63
Silent Spring-- Rachel Carson
Human growth and development
Environmental crisis
“War against nature” and Mother Earth concepts
Eco-feminism
War and the environment
The Physical Environment continued
64
Air—China, Eastern Europe
Soil—farming practices
Water—lack of access to safe water
Environmental racism
Promising developments—mass
transportation, wind energy
Biological Component in Human
Behavior
65
Physiological dimension
Interaction mind and body
Exposure in the womb
Genetic factors
Biochemical abnormalities--neurotransmitters
Psychological Domain
Human behavior from point of individual
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Trauma
Resilience
Developmental stages
Erikson—trust vs mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, etc.
Maslow—meeting physiological needs, safety, belongingness and
love, self-esteem, self-actualization
Bettleheim’s (1943)concentration camp study—final adjustment to
life in the camp
Kidnap victims and hostage situations
Battered women and psychological impact of powerlessness
PTSD and war
Social Components in Human
Behavior
67
In wartime—tell people they are being
attacked to mobilize troops—Goering, former
Nazi
Poem, “Closure”
The family and addiction
The Spiritual Realm
68
Deep-ecology—people a part of nature--and
social work
Sense of purpose and meaning
Spirituality and social work practice
Strengths perspective
CHAPTER 8
Child Welfare
69
Introduction – Chapt. 8
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Definition—child welfare used here as
general treatment of children by society
Images from around the world—Romanian
orphanages, missing girls in China, children
in war zones
History of Childhood
and Child Welfare
71
Treatment of children reflects society’s
values
Cruelty England and France
Egalitarianism—special laws for juveniles
13th Century Norway, later child welfare act,
1896
Baby raffle in France, 1912, Canada
aboriginal children sent away
US—primary responsibility rests with parents
U.N. Convention on the Rights of the
Child
Passed by UN, 1989
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72
Right to due process
Right to protection from violence
Right to health and nutrition
Norway revised policies to give child legal rights in
hearings, Sweden and Canada
United States and non-ratification. Only Somalia
refused to sign also
UNICEF—UN Children’s Fund, State of the World’s
Children
Child Poverty
73
One in six US children in poverty
Poverty and working parents
Childcare
TANF
Homelessness
Mothers incarcerated for drugs
Effects of welfare reform
Exploitation of Children
74
Child labor compared to child work which is
for child’s development
250 million children in sweatshops worldwide
Child prostitution Southeast Asia
Child soldiers—Uganda, other African
countries where there is civil war
Child Abuse & Neglect
75
Genital mutilation—137 million women have
been so brutalized—Sudan, Egypt, Ghana,
cause of AIDS
Other global forms of child violence—116.9
males to 100 females in China
Child abuse and neglect in the U.S.
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NASW opposes all physical punishment of children
1,400 children died from abuse and neglect in 2002; 168
had had contact with authorities
Need for smaller caseloads
Sexual abuse—priest abuse of boys and girls, thousands of
cases
Over 90% of child molesters are males
A factor in early teenage pregnancy
Incest—difficult social work options
Reasons the CW System Fails Children
77
Lack of necessary provisions for welfare
workers; need for substance abuse treatment
options
Sweden—state interventions, adequate
housing, child care, health care
Connections between poverty, abuse and
neglect
Promising Developments
78
Kinship care
Shared family care
Other empowering approaches—villages
with family care, family partnerships
School programming
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79
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Gay and lesbian school youth
Box 8.1:Protecting GLBT Youth
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What schools can do:
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Hate crimes, bullying at school
Suicide
Religious upbringing may be a problem
Participation in unsafe sex, drug use
Jock culture of school
Lack of role models
Roles for social workers
Anti-bullying programs
Protect rights
Hire out of the closet gay and lesbian teachers
Work with PFLAG
CHAPTER 9
Health/Mental Health
Care
81
Introduction – Chapt. 9
82
Global Context
WHO
Overview of World Health
83
Headlines—HIV/AIDS--40 million orphans, TB
Plague in Russia, Malaria kills 3,000 per day
Top 3 Deadly Diseases—malaria, AIDS,TB
Rarity of universal health care
AIDS—one in 4 adults infected in some countries
Global Gag Rule by US on health—family planning-aid
Maternal mortality
Health Care in the U.S.
84
Service and profit – prevention vs treatment
Medicare and Medicaid—decimated to cut
costs, limit doctors’ payments
Managing health care costs—15% of GDP
Treatment disparities by class and race, 15%
of Americans uninsured, lobbying by
pharmaceuticals—over $21 million. Drug
prices rise by 17% per year
US Health Care continued
85
US spends 3 times Canada’s amount on
administration costs
US 13th in infant mortality rates and 17th in life
expectancy
Best states: Vermont, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota
Box 9.1:Social Work in the ER
Marketing disease and treatment—cosmetic surgery,
big business
AMA doctors called for nationalized health care
Physical Disability
Definition—any restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity
in the manner or within the normal range
Anti-discrimination legislation in U.S.—Americans with
Disabilities Act, 1990—accessibility
Challenges for persons with disabilities
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Health care system
Chronic pain
Illness
Intimate relationships
Meaningful work
Europe
Box 9.2—The Making of a Disability Rights Activist
Mental Health Care
87
Stigma and poor treatment, affects one in five over lifetime
Jails and prisons as mental health institutions
Parents relinquishing custody for treatment in foster care they
can’t afford
Psychotropic medicine
Homeless mentally ill—need for affordable, supportive housing
Box 9.3—A Day in the Life of a Mental Health Case Manager
Harm reduction policies
Box 9.4—AIDS in the Life of a Social Worker—historic
description
What We Can Learn from Other
Countries
88
Health care in the U.K.—NHS, 6% of GDP,
tax financed, doctors employed by
government
Canadian model, 10% of GDP, doctors not
employed by government
Cuba: rural health care, huge supply of
doctors, give free medical care in other Latin
American countries
CHAPTER 10
Care At The End Of
The Life Cycle
89
Introduction – Chapt. 10
90
French heat wave and neglect of the elderly
led to 14,000 dead while relatives vacationed
Erikson—generativity vs. stagnation and ego
integrity vs. despair
Rising age of U.S. population—one in eight
over age 65, twice as many women as men
over age 85
Graying of the world
Concepts of Aging Worldwide
U.S.—around 2 children per family, young immigrant workers
brings more children
Nations coping with population imbalance
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91
Spain—1.15 children per family
Low “fertility” rates in Italy, Romania, Japan
Northern Europe better because of benefits
Negative press—interests of elderly pitted against those of
children, blame for fiscal crisis
Medicare a windfall for pharmaceutical companies
5% in nursing homes, 71/2% in Canada
Elderly men high suicide rate
Different attitudes in Japan and US toward care for the elderly
Overlooked Positives of Population
Imbalance
92
Low crime rate
Reduced rate of substance abuse
More jobs available for the young
Pool of retired persons for caregiving
Role models and love for children
Biological Factors in Aging
Physical decline—circulatory system, arthritis,
hearing, cancer,dementia
Image from TV ads
Lack of adequate transportation
Mental health issues. Needs (UN):
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93
Independence
Participation
Care
Self-fulfillment
Dignity
Psychology of Aging
Erikson—ego integrity vs. despair, purpose and
meaning in life
Old-old age—memories, flashbacks to past trauma
such as in concentration camp survivors
Facing death—cheerful poem, “But Someone Surely
Will”
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94
Defense through blaming the victim
Denial of death through American creed
Escape through medical jargon
Social death redefinition of death
Social Side of Aging
95
Cultural expectations
Assisted suicide—Netherlands and Oregon
Extended family ties—Box 10.2—Latino Family Ties
Elderization of poverty—22% of African American
elderly in poverty, one in four of all older women,
incomes 58% of elderly men’s, young-old far less in
poverty than old-old
Conditions of Aging continued
96
U.S. Government Programs—Social security, paid
for in payroll taxes only up to $87,000
Community care options—adult foster care, home
care services in Denmark
Elder abuse—in institutions and at home,
psychological abuse related to money
Ageism—use of term old in negative way, denial in
everyday speech, old as a burden, see old lady
stuffed doll in textbook
Avenues to Empowerment
97
Importance of holistic approach
Relevant questions: Who is important to you?
What makes life worth living?
Spirituality and resilience
Advocacy and political empowerment
Epilogue to Book—Putting It All
Together
98
World growing smaller
“US in Global Perspective”—conflicting demands of global
market and need for care for all the people
Each nation same dilemma
Economic and social oppression
The “isms”
Human rights, UN Declaration
Social work across the life span
War in Iraq influenced focus of book on war and war trauma
Future challenges—environmental ecology, peace, end of
terrorism, and becoming world citizens