Public Welfare Services Research Articles

Citizenship, the market and democracy

The recent waves of privatisation and liberalisation have affected not only forms of economic regulation but also the very nature of citizenship and democracy. It is one thing to privatise a bank or airline; while it is quite another for government to withdraw from directly delivering public welfare services or from the major public utilities. This article analyses the way in which the latest phase of liberalisation and privatisation has transformed the very nature of that citizenship which, in the vision of T. H. Marshall, made it possible to construct a genuine industrial citizenship. To this end we develop the thinking and research which led some to speak of the advent of ‘post-democracy’. The argument that the opportunities granted by ‘exit’ (typical of market choice) are overestimated proves to be the crucial one, especially where the quality of social services are concerned. We therefore revisit Hirschman's well-known ‘exit/voice’ model before, in the concluding section, making a few proposals as to how a fresh approach could be taken to the problem of choosing between forms of regulation, in which a significant role could be played by ‘encompassing’ organisations such as major trade union confederations.

Re-framing ‘binge drinking’ as calculated hedonism: Empirical evidence from the UK

Background Recent debates on ‘binge drinking’ in the UK have represented the activities of young drinkers in urban areas as a particular source of concern, as constituting a threat to law and order, a drain on public health and welfare services and as a source of risk to their own future health and well being. The discourse of moral panic around young people's ‘binge drinking’ has pervaded popular media, public policy and academic research, often differentiating the excesses of ‘binge drinking’ from ‘normal’ patterns of alcohol consumption, although in practice definitions of ‘binge drinking’ vary considerably. However, recent research in this area has drawn on the notion of ‘calculated hedonism’ to refer to a way of ‘managing’ alcohol consumption that might be viewed as excessive. Methods The paper presents a critical analysis of contemporary discourses around ‘binge drinking’ in the British context, highlighting contradictory messages about responsibility and self control in relation to the recent liberalisation of licensing laws and the extensive marketing of alcohol to young people. The paper analyses marketing communications which present drinking as a crucial element in ‘having fun’, and as an important aspect of young people's social lives. The empirical study involves analysis of focus group discussions and individual interviews with young people aged 18–25 in three areas of Britain: a major city in the West Midlands, a seaside town in the South-West of England and a small market town also in the South-West. Results The initial findings present the varied forms and meanings that socialising and drinking took in these young people's social lives. In particular the results illustrate the ways in which drinking is constituted and managed as a potential source of pleasure. Conclusion The paper concludes that the term ‘calculated hedonism’ better describes the behaviour of the young people in this study and in particular the way they manage their pleasure around alcohol, than the emotive term ‘binge drinking’.

Christian Feminism in Action: Kate Cocks’s Social Welfare Work in South Australia, 1900–1950

Utilizing a biographical approach and network analysis, this article examines one South Australian woman’s life of public and Methodist social welfare service in the post‐suffrage era. It is argued that although Kate Cocks (1875–1954) viewed her welfare work as ‘a God‐given mission’, as ‘practical Christian service’, personal contact with the prominent nineteenth‐century social reformer, Catherine Helen Spence, and her links with various women’s organizations were central to Miss Cocks’s career and commitment to feminist causes. Operating across the gender divide yet within the bounds of conventional femininity, Kate’s achievements (being British Commonwealth firsts in several notable respects) were of considerable interest to early twentieth‐century reformists interstate and overseas. At home she was eulogized as ‘Everybody’s Friend’.

Training as a factor in policy implementation: Lessons from a National Evaluation of Child Welfare Training

Federal, state, and local governments spend substantial resources on training child welfare staff. Moreover, enhanced training is often proposed as a core solution to many problems facing public child welfare and other human service agencies. In this paper we conceptualize training as an element of the policy implementation process. We use data from a multiple case study evaluation of nine federally-funded training projects to examine training activity within a policy implementation framework. Findings indicate federal, state, county and organizational contexts were important in successful implementation; the projects were, for the most part, successfully implemented; training projects lacked explicit causal theory to link training activities to training outcomes; and elements of both top-down and bottom-up implementation frameworks were identified. Conclusions focus on the utility of training for enhancing policy implementation, as well as the need for greater theory development in this area.

Child Welfare and the Courts

ABSTRACT This exploratory study focuses on the relationships between professionals working in the juvenile dependency system, including judicial officers, attorneys, social workers, and court-appointed special advocates. It includes an examination of the quality of professional relationships, factors contributing to tensions, the consequences of difficult relationships, and strategies for improving relationships. It utilizes interviews and focus groups with professionals and focus groups with clients involved in the juvenile dependency system. The major findings address: (a) the nature and quality of professional relationships, (b) the structural and operational factors contributing to tension in those relationships, (c) client perceptions of professional relationships, and (d) respondent recommendations for improving professional relationships. This study is a contribution to the small but growing literature on the complexity of the interface between public child welfare services and the court system.

Overcoming City Limits: Vertical and Horizontal Models of Local Redistributive Policy Making*

Objectives. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Census data show a substantial local role in providing health, housing, and public welfare services. I evaluate two models to explain local social welfare: an intergovernmental model, based on federal and state funds, and an interjurisdictional model, based on measures of local monopoly power.Methods. I estimate a panel data model of local redistributive expenditures from 1992–2002 to test between these alternative explanations for local redistribution.Results. I find that vertical arrangements tend to drive local redistributive spending.Conclusions. Intergovernmental factors drive local social welfare policy and suppress the local welfare race to the bottom.

The effect of state education finance reform on total local resources

Both the federal government and the states use intergovernmental grants to try to change the composition of local spending across different programs, as well as the distribution of resources across localities. Many states are now under court order to use state education grants to reduce local disparities in education spending. While a substantial body of literature suggests that these court orders increase the level and progressivity of state education spending, there is little evidence on their broader effects on the total resources available not just for schools in low-income districts, but for other programs across all localities. We find that states finance the required increase in education spending in part by reducing their aid to localities for other programs, particularly for wealthier areas. Thus, while court-ordered school finance equalizations do increase total state aid to localities for education, they do so at the expense of drawing state intergovernmental aid away from programs like public welfare, health, hospitals, and general services. These findings provide insight into the effectiveness of using earmarked funds to achieve redistribution.

Integration and collaboration in public health—a conceptual framework

With the increasing differentiation of organisations involved in the pursuit of public health, there is also a growing need for inter-organisational integration. Starting from the concepts of differentiation and integration, this article is attempting a theoretical reconstruction based on published research on inter-organisational integration in public health and related welfare services. Different forms of integration are defined and related to each other in a conceptual framework, which is in itself an integration of different theoretical perspectives. According to this framework, integration in the field of public health requires inter-organisational collaboration across different sectors of the society. Such intersectoral collaboration can be organised mainly in the form of multidisciplinary teams across the boundaries of different organisations and sectors. Such an organisation is fragile and volatile, however, which means that it needs a lot of management support in order to survive.

Information and Communication Technologies and Non‐Governmental Organisations: Lessons Learnt from Networking in Mexico

AbstractRecent years have witnessed increasing demands on Non‐Governmental Organisations’ (NGOs) to achieve development goals. These greater demands, particularly with respect to the provision of public welfare services, as well as the changing context in which NGOs operate, challenge these organisations to strengthen their capacities to fulfil their missions. At the same time, the policy discourse at the international level fosters the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for development. The introduction of an electronic‐based learning network in the Gulf of California in Mexico is taking place as a way to address the organisational learning needs of key organisations dedicated to conserving that region's biological and natural resources. An in‐depth analysis, based on interviews with members of that electronic network, allows for an examination of practical experience involving ICTs for NGO strengthening. The study found that, beyond the commonly understood obstacles presented by the lack of infrastructure and skills, there are various other pitfalls to the successful implementation of e‐networks for the strengthening of NGOs in developing countries. Lessons learnt and recommendations are made based on the results of the analysis.

Governing Charities: Church and State in Toronto's Catholic Archdiocese, 1850-1950 (review)

Canadian Governing Charities: Church and State in Toronto's Catholic Archdiocese, 1850-1950. By Paula Maurutto. [McGill-Queen's Studies in History of Religion, Series Two.] (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press. 2003. Pp. xiv, 194. $65.00 Cdn.) In past twenty years, Canadian scholars have undertaken considerable research on Canada's largest non-francophone Catholic jurisdiction-the Archdiocese of Toronto. Created out of Upper Canadian wilderness in 1841, diocese has grown from its original 40,000 settlers and first peoples, stretched from Lake Ontario to head of Lake Superior, to a modern metropolis of over 1.3 million Catholics, who worship in dozens of languages each Sunday. Religious and social historians have traced evolution of Toronto's Irish Catholic community, examined rise of national churches, and have assessed various levels of Protestant-Catholic interplay, in what was once dubbed the Belfast of North America. Paula Maurutto's slender volume is a much-welcomed addition to growing body of literature on Toronto, and her approach to questions of state involvement in Catholic charities is certain to engender considerable debate, particularly among detractors and proponents of new right in Canada. Maurutto, a sociologist at University of Toronto, challenges simplistic social-policy theories of Ontario's late Conservative government (1995-2003). During heyday of their administrations, Premiers Mike Harris and Ernie Eves argued that Province needed to trim state's social service commitments, dismantle welfare state, and revert to a time when private institutions, charitable organizations, and churches were able to deliver high-quality social assistance without substantial government initiatives or intervention. By using Catholic charities of Archdiocese as her model, Maurutto destroys this political rhetoric by ably demonstrating that throughout their Catholic hospitals, orphanages, visiting nurses, houses of refuge, etc., always had a close relationship to municipal and provincial governments, who framed administrative expectations for these private agencies, while supplying them with sufficient funds to keep their bottom line in solvency. In end, Maurutto concludes that Roman Catholic charities were well entrenched in public welfare system (p. 125) and state had put in place numerous techniques (bureaucratic structures, auditing techniques, inspection, casework, social scientific theory, professional social work) that effectively brought these charitable institutions under its governance. Relying on a considerable body of secondary sources relating to public welfare and social services, Foucault's theories of governance, and treasures of Archdiocesan archives, Maurutto's case is well argued, sufficiently documented, and most convincing. In terms of historiography, Maurutto's book is as important for how it is written as for what is actually argued. From outset author states that her work is not comprehensive of all Catholic charities in region, nor does she probe Catholic intellectual history (p. 12) upon which many of charities were conceived. Instead her approach is that of historical sociology, wherein she carefully analyzes those charitable organizations, religious orders, and charity bureaucracies that worked closely with governments, gladly accepted public monies, and ultimately became subject to a variety of conditions and techniques that placed their distinctive Catholic social services under governance of state. …

The Choice Revolution: Privatization of Swedish Welfare Services in the 1990s

Abstract During the 1990s, the Swedish welfare state was declared by some to be in a “crisis”, due to both financial strain and loss of political support. Others have argued that the spending cuts and reforms undertaken during this period did slow down the previous increase in social spending, but left the system basically intact. The main argument put forward in this article is that the Swedish welfare state has been and is still undergoing a transforming process whereby it risks losing one of its main characteristics, namely the belief in and institutional support for social egalitarianism. During the 1990s, the public welfare service sector opened up to competing private actors. As a result, the share of private provision grew, both within the health‐care and primary education systems as well as within social service provision. This resulted in a socially segregating dynamic, prompted by the introduction of “consumer choice”. As will be shown in the article, the gradual privatization and market‐orientation of the welfare services undermine previous Swedish notions of a “people's home”, where uniform, high‐quality services are provided by the state to all citizens, regardless of income, social background or cultural orientation.

A Study of Structuring of New Management Systemfor Local Governments in Japan

“Bubble Economy” created many sort of problems in Japan Recently, many local governments in Japan are facing to financial crisis. They are trying to cut down expenses on public works and services, not only infrastructure but also public welfare and education service. However, it is still difficult to improve financial circumstances. For finding real situation of problems exiting in local governments, a study on public works implementation system is carried out. As a result, it could be found that the local government management system was strictly followed the central government way. It is necessary to establish ‘New Public Management System’ for improve financial circumstances.

Career paths and contributions of four cohorts of IV-E funded MSW child welfare graduates.

For the last decade the federal government has provided financial support through Title IV-E of the Social Security Act to schools of social work to provide professional education in child welfare. This study looks at the first four cohorts of graduates who received IV-E funding from one school of social work. Data on MSW graduates from 1993-1996 (N = 73), as well as survey responses (N = 32), were analyzed to ascertain dimensions of their career development in, and contributions to, child welfare social work. Results indicate that the vast majority of graduates funded by IV-E dollars became employed in and stayed in child welfare focused social work, with a strong percentage in public child welfare services, and that these social work-educated social workers are actively involved in shaping the practice, policies and administration of child welfare services.

A regional analysis of openness and government size

The effects of international trade have been studied primarily from the perspective of a nation, often overlooking the more direct effects that occur on a regional or state level. Studies have illustrated the relationship between international trade and openness to the size of a nation's government as well as to specific categories of government spending. Because the United States retains strong state governments it is important to correlate openness with government size at the state level. The purpose of this paper is to ascertain whether increased state openness has resulted in state governments responding to the increased international trade activity by offering greater social protection. It is found that both public welfare and health services expenditures are positively correlated with the level of a state's openness. This suggests that US states have had to respond to the adverse effects of increased international trade activity.

Kinship care: Issues in permanency planning

Kinship care represents one of the newest paradigms in program options in public child welfare services and is one of the fastest growing segments in the child welfare system. This paper assesses the implementation of the goal of permanency planning articulated in the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), with a group of children placed with relatives by the child welfare system at one year of age or less. The paper compares the outcomes of permanency between infants placed with relatives and children placed in foster care in a middle sized urban/rural county in Upstate NY between April 1993 and April 1994, and followed until April 1996. The aim is to assess the viability of the outcome goal of permanency planning for these children, and identify barriers to the achievement of the permanency goal. The strategies used to address the permanency goal will also be discussed in light of the conditions of case closures and in view of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), that emphasizes the outcome of permanency and shortens the time span to achieve this for all children under care. The implications for service delivery are also discussed.

Making welfare subordinate to market activities: Reconstructing social security in Hong Kong and Mainland China

Both the Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region governments have recently been reforming their social security policies with the emphasis on welfare residualism. This paper is intended to discuss the background to the reforms and to demonstrate how the reforms are designed to reduce the governments' commitment to meeting social needs. It argues that the two governments, by developing the entry, exit, double entry, and double exit systems of social security services, have attempted to strengthen the role of the private market in regulating people's entrance to both the labour and consumption market, and public welfare services.

Partisan Governance, Women's Employment, and the Social Democratic Service State

The causes of the expansion and cross-national variation in the provision of welfare state goods and services are examined. Social democratic governance is by far the most important determinant of the public delivery of services and is one of the most important determinants of the public funding of the provision of welfare state goods and services. Christian democratic governance is an important determinant of public funding of services, but is not related to public delivery. State structure is also an important determinant. Women's labor force participation is an important determinant of the expansion of public social welfare services net of other social, political, and historical factors. The analysis also shows an interactive effect of women's labor force participation and social democratic governance on public delivery of welfare state services. We conclude that public delivery of a wide range of welfare state services is the most distinctive feature of the social democratic welfare state and that this feature is a product of the direct and interactive effects of social democracy and women's mobilization.

Partisan Governance, Women's Employment, and the Social Democratic Service State

The causes of the expansion and cross-national variation in the provision of welfare state goods and services are examined. Social democratic governance is by far the most important determinant of the public delivery of services and is one of the most important determinants of the public funding of the provision of welfare state goods and services. Christian democratic governance is an important determinant of public funding services, but is not related to public delivery. State structure is also an important determinant. Women's labor force participation is an important determinant of the expansion of public social welfare services net of other social, political, and historical factors. The analysis also shows an interactive effect of women's labor force participation and social democratic governance on public delivery of welfare state services. We conclude that public delivery of a wide range of welfare state services is the most distinctive feature of the social democratic welfare state and that this feature is a product of the direct and interactive effects of social democracy and women's mobilization.

Do Structural Contexts Matter? Macro-sociological Factors and Popular Attitudes towards Public Welfare Services

Do Structural Contexts Matter? Macro-sociological Factors and Popular Attitudes towards Public Welfare Services

Do Structural Contexts Matter? Macro-sociological Factors and Popular Attitudes towards Public Welfare Services

In various earlier studies focusing on support for the welfare state, attitudinal differences have been explained by factors linked to individual social characteristics of respondents. This study focuses mainly on how macro-sociological variables influence attitudes towards the public service system in Finland. An attempt is made to investigate whether differences between municipalities in public-policy measures, political climate and the economic situation have effects on ordinary citizens' support for the service system or whether such support is only related to the individual-level factors, such as socio-economic position and gender, that are traditionally used in studies of attitudes. A focus on attitudes towards economy measures makes it possible simultaneously to investigate the kinds of municipal-level circumstances that affect the acceptance of a retrenchment of the 'service state'. The analyses are based on individual-level data (n = 1,024) and municipal-level Finnish data. The results show that different indicators of macro-sociological factors do have an impact on people's attitudes towards public services. Individuals in municipalities where economic conditions are relatively poor, where the level of social and health expenditure is low and, on some issues, where bourgeois parties are the dominating political bloc, show a lower level of support for the welfare services. However, the impact of tax policies is not that significant on any of the questions studied. The interpretation of the results includes a discussion of specific problems associated with this type of analysis.