Social Welfare Policy and Midterm Review

Comprehensive review flashcards covering economic theories, historical social welfare legislation, prominent figures, policy frameworks, social justice concepts, poverty metrics, and labor dynamics.

Keynesian Economics

The view that government is needed and an activist government is good; government must do what the private sector will not—namely, spend, especially when the economy gets out of full employment mode.

Modern Conservative Economics

Associated with Milton Friedman; argues against active efforts to stabilize the economy, holding that instead of pumping money into the economy, government should circulate enough (welfare spending for altruistic reasons).

Social Darwinism

The belief that the poor would eventually overrun society and bring down the general level of civilization. Based on 'Survival of the Fittest,' it asserts the poor must pay the price demanded by nature and die out, and that subsidizing them circumvents natural selection.

Democratic Socialism

The concept that radical economic change can occur within a democratic context; proponents of more strident forms argue that the fundamental nature of capitalism is anathema to advancing the public good.

The Principle of Less Eligibility

The rule where making a dollar more than the cutoff renders an individual ineligible for programs.

Settlement House Movement

A movement primarily set up in immigrant neighborhoods by wealthy people, college students, unattached women, etc., who moved into the slums as residents.

Equality vs Equity

Equity recognizes that all individuals have different circumstances, whereas equality evenly distributes resources between all groups.

Capitalism

An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.

Neoliberalism

A perspective cautious of government, less antagonistic towards big businesses, and more skeptical about the value of universal entitlements.

Exploitation

The action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work.

Institutional Racism

The systematic and pervasive patterns of discrimination, bias, and disadvantage embedded within the structures, policies, and practices of social institutions.

Causes of Discrimination

Psychological, normative-cultural, and economic causes.

Feminism

The belief that all genders have equal rights and opportunities (respecting women's experiences).

Gerrymandering

The political manipulation of electoral district boundaries to favor one party or class.

Adam Smith

The theorist who believed in the 'invisible hand,' viewing the marketplace as self-regulating.

Robert Barth

The theorist who argued that groups are not discontinuous cultural isolates or logical a prioris to which people naturally belong.

Reagan / Bush / Trump Economic Perspective

'Trickle down economics'; argues large social welfare programs harm society in two ways: eroding the work ethic by supporting non-workers, and diverting tax money from private sector investment into welfare programs.

Alan Greenspan

Former chairman of the Federal Reserve who admitted he 'made a mistake' in trusting free markets to regulate themselves without government oversight.

Dorothy Dix

A philanthropist and social reformer who increased awareness of conditions for the mentally ill and those who had visual or hearing impairments.

Jane Addams

A social worker instrumental in creating the settlement house movement as a progressive response to harsh urban conditions.

Mary Richmond

Considered by many to be the founder of the professional clinical social work movement; formulated the concept of social casework.

Abraham Flexner

Asserted that social work lacked a scientifically derived and transmittable knowledge base.

President Hoover

Supported social workers due to humanitarian efforts and his prohibitionist stance.

FDR (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

President whose objectives were relief, recovery, and reform; established the National Recovery Act and the Federal Emergency Relief Act.

JFK (John F. Kennedy)

President who sought to implement his New Frontier program.

Biden

President who moved quickly to overturn many of Trump's policies, including rejoining the Paris Climate Accords.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

Supreme Court case ruling that the First Amendment prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by corporations and unions.

Social Security Act of 1935

Legislation supported by liberals as the best way to help the disadvantaged; included public assistance for dependent children and medical care for handicapped children.

The Green Party

A political party that values ecology, social justice, grassroots democracy, and non-violence.

The Black Death of 1349

Historical event leading to laws that fixed minimum wages, placed travel restrictions on the unemployed, mandated taking a job, and outlawed alms for able-bodied people.

The Act for the Punishment of Sturdy Vagabonds and Beggars 1536

Ordered officials to obtain resources via church donations for the poor, sick, handicapped, and aged; required assistance to find work for the able-bodied and apprenticeships for children aged $5-14$.

PRWORA

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996; centered on work, federalism, accountability, and government responsibility.

Milford Conference

A conference whose report provided an outline of the organizational structure by which professional caseworkers would deliver service.

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first major initiative to combat the Great Depression; intended to provide direct cash assistance to the impoverished.

National Recovery Act

Legislation aimed at providing public works projects; enacted the Public Works Administration.

Civilian Conservation Corps

A government work relief program that employed young men to improve public lands during the Great Depression.

Farm Security Act

Legislation created to combat rural poverty.

Federal Housing Administration (FHA)

An agency created to improve housing standards, increase employment in construction, and facilitate home financing.

Fair Labor Standards Act

Establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting employees in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments.

National Labor Relations Act

Protects the rights of private sector employees to organize, bargain collectively, and strike.

Ideology

A system of ideals.

PAC

Political Action Committee.

Values

Assumptions, convictions, or beliefs about what is good and desirable or the way things ought to be.

Laissez-faire

The doctrine that less government participation is needed.

English Poor Laws

Laws designating specific individuals as worthy or deserving of relief (the aged, ill, disabled, etc.).

Judeo-Christian Philosophy

A philosophy whose central idea is non-self-interested love, defined as the awareness of others' individuality.

US Sanitary Commission

The first important national public health group, organized by citizens, mostly women.

Freedmen’s Bureau

An agency that set an important precedent for federal involvement in a variety of human resources.

The Association for Improving the Poor

An early organization where social workers emphasized spiritual guidance, declaring people ineligible for relief due to immoral behavior.

Charity Organization Societies

Organizations that promoted a 'scientific philosophy,' stressing individual assessment and a coordinated plan of service.

Black American Associations

Associations founded on the belief that if conditions faced by immigrants were difficult, those faced by Black Americans were even more so.

Office of Economic Opportunity

Agency overseeing programs including Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), Upward Bound, and Neighborhood Youth Corps.

US Commission on Civil Rights

An agency responsible for proposing measures to strengthen and safeguard civil rights in the United States.

Indian Self-Determination Act of 1975

Legislation aimed at promoting tribal self-sufficiency.

Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978

Legislation that restored child-placement decisions to individual Native American tribes.

Indian Gaming Regulatory Act

Federal act addressing gambling within tribal borders.

Immigration Reform and Control Act

Legislation that granted legal status to undocumented immigrants who arrived prior to 1982 or worked in agriculture.

Roe v. Wade

Supreme Court case addressing legal abortion.

Brown v. Board of Ed

Supreme Court ruling declaring that separate but equal is inherently unequal.

Full Employment in a Free Society

An economic condition that gives the employee the power to bargain.

Policy Framework

A systematic model for examining a specific social welfare policy or series of policies, used to evaluate congruence with the mission and goals of the social welfare state.

ACE Method

A policy framework process consisting of Assess, Compare, and Evaluate.

Rational Approach

A policy approach involving: identify, define, known and weighed, identified, considered, consequences, ratio of benefits, and net values.

Political Approach

A policy model composed of identifying, formulating, legitimizing, implementing, and evaluating.

Policy Analysis

A process examining historical background, problems, policy description, and policy analysis.

Ethical Considerations

In policy and practice: research, informed consent, confidentiality, plagiarism, and publishing.

Political Feasibility

A policy analysis consideration asking: 'Where is the power?'

Economic Feasibility

A policy analysis consideration asking: 'Where is the revenue coming from?'

Administrative Feasibility

A policy analysis consideration asking: 'Who will oversee the implementation of the policy?'

Social Justice

Viewed politically and philosophically; the goal is full participation of all groups in a society mutually shaped to meet their needs, ensuring all members are psychologically safe and secure.

Economic Justice

Fair allocation of resources; challenged by the reality that few want to surrender economic freedom if it means having less so others can have more.

Prejudice

A value learned through socialization that becomes part of an individual's value system once internalized.

Stereotypes

Beliefs that members of certain groups behave in specific ways.

Discrimination

The action that maintains and supports prejudice.

Institutional Discrimination

Discrimination resulting from accepted beliefs and behaviors that is codified in societal roles and policies.

Assimilation

The concept of cultural absorption, commonly described through the idea of the 'melting pot.'

Cultural Pluralism

The coexistence of various ethnic groups whose cultural differences are respected as equally valid.

Ethnocentrism

The belief in the inherent superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture, tending to view alien groups from the perspective of one's own.

Homophobia

The irrational fear of same-sex marriage / relationships.

Sexual Orientation

A dimension of physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

AIDS

A medical condition that was historically used to justify homophobic attitudes.

APA Stance on Sexual Orientation

The American Psychological Association's position that trying to change sexual orientation is ineffective and potentially harmful.

Ageism

Age-based discrimination directed against elderly persons.

De jure vs De facto

A comparison distinguishing between what is established by law versus what exists in reality.

Poverty

A state that can be defined as deprivation.

Absolute Poverty

An unequivocal standard of deprivation necessary for survival.

Relative Poverty

Deprivation that is relative to the standard of living enjoyed by other members of society.

Extreme Poverty

Income that is $50\%$ below the poverty line.

Culture of Poverty

A concept where poverty is transmitted intergenerationally in a self-perpetuating cycle.

Eugenics of Poverty

The view attributing poverty to genetic inferiority, historically used to justify involuntary sterilization.

Birth Lottery

The premise that the economic status of a child's parents affects the economic status of the child.

Poverty Threshold

Also known as the poverty line; the official federal poverty measure used to calculate the number of poor.

Poverty Guideline

A slightly lower poverty level standard used to determine administrative eligibility for federal programs such as Food Stamps.

Supplemental Poverty Measure

A measure that considers a wider range of factors when determining the poverty threshold.

The Depth of Poverty

The income-to-poverty ratio comparing family or individual income with the applicable poverty threshold, illustrating how many dollars are needed to reach that threshold.

Gig Economy

A labor market where independent contractors and freelance workers accept temporary flexible jobs and short-term contracts instead of permanent jobs with benefits.

Flexicurity

An approach combining labor market flexibility with economic security, providing confidence that workers will not experience long periods of unemployment.

Unemployment

The condition of not working.

Underemployment

Being unable to work $40$ hours per week or working in jobs that do not utilize the skills one possesses.

Frictional Unemployment

Unemployment that is unavoidable in a constantly changing economy.