Introduction to Social Welfare and

Social Work:
The US in Global Perspective
Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole
Katherine van Wormer
University of Northern Iowa

Introduction - Chapter 1
Uniqueness
Social

of social work

work core values:

service, social justice, dignity and worth of
person, importance of human relationships,
integrity, competence

Uniqueness of Social Work continued

Person-in-environment
Missionsocial

action to promote social

change--IFSW
Licensing
Social Contextgeneralist practice
Value based criteria
Global role
3

Reasons for International Focus

Ever

shrinking world
Increasing international similarities
Leadership in NGOs
Perspective from other nations
Innovative approaches

Knowledge for International Work

Employment

options
International domestic work--refugees
Influencing global policies through UN

Terms and Concepts

Social welfarewell being--nations 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

Manifest and latent functions

Examplescar, military haircut, imprisonment

Regulating

the PoorPiven and Cloward

PowerMax Weber

Orwell1984 who controls the past controls the

future; who controls the present controls the past
Power elite

Terms continued

Globalizationsocial, educational, economic

Empowerment Perspective
Culture and cultural competence--ethnocentrism
Ecosystems Theory--Interactionism
Prejudiceunjustified negative attitudes

Allport--outgroups
AdornoF scaleobedience most important, displaced
aggression

Blaming the victim as defense mechanism

Terms continued
Empowerment
Our

social work imaginationmicro (family

work) and macro practice
Critical thinkingput social policies in
perspective, awareness of media bias

CHAPTER 2
American Social Values
and
International Social
Work

10

US Value Orientations

11

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
Franceleisure a top value

US Valuesequal opportunity vs.

equality

The American dreamrags to riches

Immigrant success stories
Scandinavian value of equality, not opportunity

12

Family allowances here and in other industrialized nations

Wilensky & Lebeauxresidually based (safety net)

society versus institutionally based
Means-testedTANF and stigma
Globalizationimpact of competition

Values: Mobility vs. Stability

13

Thom Hartmanns hypothesis of genetic traits

from hunter vs farmer societies and ADD
Americans as seen by foreigners

Competition Vs Cooperation
Personal

achievement as happiness--survey
Egalitarianismprobably the best beer in
town compared to American ads
Family socialization into values

14

Individualism Vs Collectivism
Conformists
Japanese

homogeneity
American individualism
Collectivism in Norway and Japan
Progressive periods in US history compared
to conservative times

15

Independence
Vs
Interconnectedness
Independence

& individualism in U.S.

Interconnectedness & indigenous culture
First Nations People

16

Materialism Vs Spirituality
Materialism
Alternative

values
Prevalence of religion in Americasurveys
comparing US and European attitudes

17

Nuclear Vs Extended Family

Kinship

arrangements in industrialized world

marriage as union between families
African- and Latino- American cultural
perspectives

18

Moralism Vs Compassion
Moralism

and US society, the most unique

US value
Social values and social policy
International policy
Imprisonment in the US and Norway

19

Social Work Values

and
American Values

20

Social work mission to enhance human well-being,

Altruism

Core values of social workservice, 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

Guamcultural clash, indigenous population, woman power

Chileunder socialist government and after CIA back military
coup, social workers disappeared, structural adjustments
required by world banks
Caribbeanstructural adjustmentsJamaica and global
realities
South Koreapositive experience with globalization, over 100
social work departments, male dominance
Cubahealth care services, social workers work in needy
communities
Canadaimpact of global market, NAFTA, cutbacks, universal
health care

CHAPTER 3

Emergence of Social
Work

22

Introduction Chapt. 3
Drawing

from Glasgow, Scotland museum

Heatherbank Museum of Social Work,
Houseless Poor Asylum

Social

work goes back to Middle Ages and

social welfare.

23

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

24

First poor lawpoor relief for deserving, parents responsible,

workhouse

New Poor Law 1834moral view of poverty

Inflluence of Dickens, Karl Marx (1848)

Colonial America
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
25

Informal and Formal Helping

26

Poor Helping Poorslavery and mutual aid

Farmers
Church
Formal aid
Dorothea Dix
Civil War
Freedmens Bureau
Europe: A Contrastsocial 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 Depressiona paradigm shift, Piven and
Cloward
New DealHarry Hopkins and Francis Perkins
under Roosevelt

28

Public Works Administration, Social Security Act

Womens leadership in social work,1910-1955

European Influence

From 1950s to Today

McCarthy

era, 1950s
Bertha Reynoldsher 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
29

Has Social Work Lost Its Mission?

Unfaithful Angels: How Social Work Has Abandoned Its MissionSpecht &
Courtney (1994)
Their Arguments

van Wormers arguments that social work has not lost its mission:

30

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 perspectivetheme 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
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
32

Nature of Oppression
Exploitation
Marginalizationlack

citizenship
Structural violence

33

of rights of full

Poverty Worldwide
Relative

poverty
Absolute poverty75% of worlds population
live in poor nations
Global hungersouthern hemisphere and
western--Haiti

34

Explanations for Existence of Poverty

Functions of povertyGans

35

Assure societys 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
Overpopulationliteracy for women tied to birth control
War as cause of povertyloss of young life, land destroyed
Inadequate welfare benefits as cause of poverty

Poverty and Globalization

36

IMF rulesstructural adjustment, loans for military

expenditures
Free trade agreementsWal-Mart in Mexico, privatization,
processed food
WTO regulations
80% of worlds income in the richest 20% of the worlds nations
Brazilpoor receive 7 % of GNP
Job losssee text photo of homeless man
Empire theoryUS media empire, pre-emptive strikes, loss of
national industries

Work In A Global Era

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

37

Work in the US

Downsizing, privatization, outsourcing, cost-efficiency, productivity

Wal-Marts strategies
The End of Work--Rifkin

UN Declaration and work as a right (Article 23,see Appendix)

Worker stresslack of loyalty
McDonaldization of Society --RitzerFast Food Nation

38

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
Tysondangerous work, lawsuits

Work, continued
Impact

39

on familytwo income trap

Korea55 hours work per week, US 46

Italy--40 vacation days, French--36, US12
Advice on business customs in SwedenFridays
deserted, summer close down in July, late
afternoons they think of going home

Work, continued
Agriculturecash

crops
High suicide rate among American farmers
Nickel and DimedEhrenreichs story
Forced overtime work, use of drugs like meth
Workers Rights Mobilization
Unemploymentnot outsourcing but
productivity the big problemnew
technologies, loss of health benefits
40

Strategies to End Poverty

Earned

income tax creditsacceptable

because rewards workers
Treatment for substance abuse and mental
disorders needed
Need for more, better paying jobs
Kensington Welfare Rights UnionNew
Freedom Bus Ride, UN Declaration
41

CHAPTER 5

Social Oppression

42

Introduction Chapter 5
Look

at forms of institutionally based

oppression
The isms
Dominant group and privilege and target
group

43

Classism

44

Definition
Institutional Classism
Class & Success
Poverty
Distribution of wealthgap rich
and poor within countries and
between countries
Box 5:1Where Your Income
Tax Money Really Goes
www.warresisters.org
Poverty line--$18,810 family of
4, 12.5% in poverty
War against the poorlack of
living wage

Food stamp reductions

Welfare reform
Welfare for the rich

Tax policy
Tax cutsstockholders
Top taxable rate33%, was
50%1981

Racism
Definitiona

form of racial oppression based

on the color of ones skin or distinctive or
imagined physical features
Global racismRoma, Dalits
Welfare racism, us and them
Welfare Reform
Racism & unemploymentloss of
manufacturing jobs
45

Sexism and the Feminization of Poverty

46

Families below poverty line, 37% female headed

Feminization of poverty, womens income76 cents
on the dollar compared to mens, elderly women in
poverty
Female unemployment, child care
Causes
Worldwidelack of education for girls
Education
Migration

Heterosexism
Definitionthe

belief that gays and lesbians

are inferior to heterosexuals
Homophobiaa fear factor
Suicide of gender non-conforming children
Lesbianshomophobia linked to sexism and
anti-feminism backlash
Hate crimes
Marital rights
47

Sectarianism
Definitionbigotry

in following doctrine od

ones own sect

FundamentalismU.S., Islamism, Northern
Ireland
Religious oppression
Displaced aggression
Box 5.2a tour of the U.S.Holocaust
Memorial Museum
48

Ethnocentrism

Definition
War, insecurity and foreigners
Economics & Migration
Latinos: Demographic facts

49

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 Arabsagainst mosques,
by government--detainees

CHAPTER 6

Human Rights &

Restorative Justice

50

Introduction Chapter 6

Refer to the photo that opens this chaptersame

sex marriage in Portland
Concepts social justice and human rightsNASW,
IFSW endorsement
History of passage of Universal Declaration of
Human Rights

51

Nuremberg war crimes trial

Eleanor Roosevelt
1948
3 partscivil and legal rights (against cruel and unusual
punishment), economic rights, cultural rights

The UN Universal Declaration of Human

Rights

Social

work and international law

Box 6.1, On Human Rights
Amnesty Internationalrights a standard in
wartime as well as peacetime
US refusal to join International Criminal Court

52

Human Rights Violations Worldwide

National

security as diversion from rights

enforcement
Responding to terror with terror
Genocide throughout the worldICC to
address this
Rape in warBrownmiller, rape as an
instrument of war, in most wars and slavery
53

Violations of Women Domestically

U.N.

Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Discrimination Against Women
Conservative reluctance to ratify by Senate
International violence
Domestic violence
Honor killing300 in Pakistan in one year

54

Gays, Lesbians & Human Rights

Lack

of official human rights documents

International intolerance
Military duty
Marriage rights worldwidefull rights in the
Netherlands, Belgium, most of Canada
Partner benefits in many European countries

55

Criminal Justice in the U.S.

Individual

rights and punitive tradition

Absence of prevention such as strict gun control

Lack of strict media censorship against violence

Puritan

influence
Rehabilitationstrong in 1970s

56

Criminal Justice Data

Criminal Justice Statistics, see Box 6.2

57

Homicideguns use in 66%

Male victims killed by strangers, not female
Over 1,000 women and 440 men killed by an intimate
partner in 2000 (authors theory about womens shelters)

Crime rate vs incarceration rate

Handgun deaths (2003) 151 in Canada, 19 in
Japan, over 11,000 in the US
Corrections2 million in prison

War on Drugs
OriginsRonald

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 Approachharm reduction

58

Human Rights Violations of Prisoners

59

Prison labor as involuntary servitude

U.S. & International Standards
Privatization & The Incarceration Industry
Men in prisonabuses, horror stories, rape as power plays,
suicide attempts by rape victims
Women in prisonsexual abuse scandals, strip searches,
pregnancies, reports by NGOs
Death penaltymost 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 modelsvictim 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

62

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

AirChina,

Eastern Europe
Soilfarming practices
Waterlack of access to safe water
Environmental racism
Promising developmentsmass
transportation, wind energy

64

Biological Component in Human

Behavior
Physiological

dimension
Interaction mind and body
Exposure in the womb
Genetic factors
Biochemical abnormalities--neurotransmitters

65

Psychological Domain
Human behavior from point of individual

66

Trauma
Resilience

Developmental stages
Eriksontrust vs mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, etc.
Maslowmeeting physiological needs, safety, belongingness and
love, self-esteem, self-actualization
Bettleheims (1943)concentration camp studyfinal 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

In

wartimetell people they are being

attacked to mobilize troopsGoering, former
Nazi
Poem, Closure
The family and addiction

67

The Spiritual Realm

Deep-ecologypeople

a part of nature--and

social work
Sense of purpose and meaning
Spirituality and social work practice
Strengths perspective

68

CHAPTER 8

Child Welfare

69

Introduction Chapt. 8
Definitionchild

welfare used here as

general treatment of children by society
Images from around the worldRomanian
orphanages, missing girls in China, children
in war zones

70

History of Childhood
and Child Welfare
Treatment

of children reflects societys values

Cruelty England and France
Egalitarianismspecial laws for juveniles 13 th
Century Norway, later child welfare act, 1896
Baby raffle in France, 1912, Canada aboriginal
children sent away
USprimary responsibility rests with parents

71

U.N. Convention on the Rights of the

Child

Passed by UN, 1989

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
UNICEFUN Childrens Fund, State of the Worlds
Children

Child Poverty
One

in six US children in poverty

Poverty and working parents
Childcare
TANF
Homelessness
Mothers incarcerated for drugs
Effects of welfare reform
73

Exploitation of Children
Child

labor compared to child work which is

for childs development
250 million children in sweatshops worldwide
Child prostitution Southeast Asia
Child soldiersUganda, other African
countries where there is civil war

74

Child Abuse & Neglect

Genital

mutilation137 million women have

been so brutalizedSudan, Egypt, Ghana,
cause of AIDS
Other global forms of child violence116.9
males to 100 females in China

75

Child abuse and neglect in the U.S.

76

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 abusepriest abuse of boys and girls, thousands of
cases
Over 90% of child molesters are males
A factor in early teenage pregnancy
Incestdifficult social work options

Reasons the CW System Fails Children

Lack

of necessary provisions for welfare

workers; need for substance abuse treatment
options
Swedenstate interventions, adequate
housing, child care, health care
Connections between poverty, abuse and
neglect
77

Promising Developments
Kinship

care
Shared family care
Other empowering approachesvillages with
family care, family partnerships
School programming

78

.
.

79

Gay and lesbian school youth

Box 8.1:Protecting GLBT Youth

What schools can do:

80

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
Global
WHO

82

Context

Overview of World Health

83

HeadlinesHIV/AIDS--40 million orphans, TB

Plague in Russia, Malaria kills 3,000 per day
Top 3 Deadly Diseasesmalaria, AIDS,TB
Rarity of universal health care
AIDSone in 4 adults infected in some countries
Global Gag Rule by US on healthfamily planning-aid
Maternal mortality

Health Care in the U.S.

Service

and profit prevention vs treatment

Medicare and Medicaiddecimated to cut
costs, limit doctors payments
Managing health care costs15% of GDP
Treatment disparities by class and race, 15%
of Americans uninsured, lobbying by
pharmaceuticalsover $21 million. Drug
prices rise by 17% per year
84

US Health Care continued

85

US spends 3 times Canadas 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 treatmentcosmetic surgery,
big business
AMA doctors called for nationalized health care

Physical Disability

Definitionany 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, 1990accessibility
Challenges for persons with disabilities

86

Health care system

Chronic pain
Illness
Intimate relationships
Meaningful work

Europe
Box 9.2The 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
cant afford
Psychotropic medicine
Homeless mentally illneed for affordable, supportive housing
Box 9.3A Day in the Life of a Mental Health Case Manager
Harm reduction policies
Box 9.4AIDS in the Life of a Social Workerhistoric
description

What We Can Learn from Other

Countries
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
88

CHAPTER 10

Care At The End Of The

Life Cycle

89

Introduction Chapt. 10
French

heat wave and neglect of the elderly

led to 14,000 dead while relatives vacationed
Eriksongenerativity vs. stagnation and ego
integrity vs. despair
Rising age of U.S. populationone in eight
over age 65, twice as many women as men
over age 85
Graying of the world
90

Concepts of Aging Worldwide

U.S.around 2 children per family, young immigrant workers

brings more children
Nations coping with population imbalance

91

Spain1.15 children per family

Low fertility rates in Italy, Romania, Japan
Northern Europe better because of benefits

Negative pressinterests 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
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

92

Biological Factors in Aging

Physical declinecirculatory system, arthritis,

hearing, cancer,dementia
Image from TV ads
Lack of adequate transportation
Mental health issues. Needs (UN):

93

Independence
Participation
Care
Self-fulfillment
Dignity

Psychology of Aging

Eriksonego integrity vs. despair, purpose and

meaning in life
Old-old agememories, flashbacks to past trauma
such as in concentration camp survivors
Facing deathcheerful poem, But Someone Surely
Will

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 suicideNetherlands and Oregon
Extended family tiesBox 10.2Latino Family Ties
Elderization of poverty22% of African American
elderly in poverty, one in four of all older women,
incomes 58% of elderly mens, young-old far less in
poverty than old-old

Conditions of Aging continued

96

U.S. Government ProgramsSocial security, paid

for in payroll taxes only up to $87,000
Community care optionsadult foster care, home
care services in Denmark
Elder abusein institutions and at home,
psychological abuse related to money
Ageismuse of term old in negative way, denial in
everyday speech, old as a burden, see old lady
stuffed doll in textbook

Avenues to Empowerment
Importance

of holistic approach
Relevant questions: Who is important to you?
What makes life worth living?
Spirituality and resilience
Advocacy and political empowerment

97

Epilogue to BookPutting It All

Together

98

World growing smaller

US in Global Perspectiveconflicting 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 challengesenvironmental ecology, peace, end of
terrorism, and becoming world citizens