SOCW 106 - Social Welfare History

3 Credits: (3 lecture)

Course Description
This course introduces social policy making in the United States. The course examines the history of events and ideas that have shaped American social welfare policy from the colonial period to the present. An examination of social values, economic trends, and criminal justice decisions helps students develop an understanding of the role of the social work profession in social policy development.

Text
Axinn, June, and Mark J. Stern. Social Welfare: a History of the American Response to Need. 9th ed. Pearson, 2018.  

Objectives
The students will be able to 

A. Describe the history of the American social welfare system. 

B. Apply historical knowledge of policy development to current social welfare policies. 

C. Explain the social, political, and economic forces inherent in social welfare policy development. 

D. Assess the limits and strengths of individual policies and the ramifications for society. 

Content
A. History of the American social welfare system 

B. Historical impact on current social welfare policy 

C. Forces inherent in social welfare policy development 

D. Policy impact on society

Student Evaluation
A. Essay and objective exams, class presentation 

B. Essay and objective exams, class presentation, current events journal 

C. Essay and objective exams, class presentation, current events journal 

D. Essay and objective exams, class presentation, current events journal 

Bibliography
Abramovitz, Mimi. Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy from Colonial times to the Present. Boston: South End, 1996. Print.  

Bryner, Gary. Politics and Public Morality the Great American Welfare Reform Debate. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998. Print.  

Goldberg, Gertrude S., and Marguerite G. Rosenthal. Diminishing Welfare: a Cross-national Study of Social Provision. Westport, CT: Auburn House, 2002. Print.  

Kozol, Jonathan. Amazing Grace: the Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation. New York: Crown, 1995. Print.  

Seccombe, Karen. “So You Think I Drive a Cadillac?”: Welfare Recipients’ Perspectives on the System and Its Reform. 4th ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2016. Print.  

Suppes, Mary A., and Carolyn C. Wells. The Social Work Experience: an Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare. 5th ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2009. Print.  

Trattner, Walter J. From Poor Law to Welfare State: a History of Social Welfare in America. 6th ed. New York: Simon and Shuster, 1998. Print.