Social Capital and Welfare Reform

In this groundbreaking study, Jo Anne Schneider considers the reasons behind the limited success of most welfare reform initiatives and offers evidence-based recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of welfare policy.

Schneider draws on her rich and nuanced ethnographic studies of Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Kenosha, Wisconsin to clarify the role of social capital for both individuals and institutions. She shows that the social relationships and patterns of trust that enable people to gain access to resources like government services, organization funding, and jobs are crucial in helping families achieve their goals. Schneider examines the complex ways in which social capital functions in conjunction with economic, human, and cultural capital, and explores social capital dynamics among government, nonprofits, and congregations that together provide the welfare support system.

Social Capital and Welfare Reform is compulsory reading for researchers and students in social work, sociology, anthropology, public policy, education, community psychology, social psychiatry, and non-profit and public administration as well as policy makers interested in welfare reform, poverty, and nonprofits.

Auteur

Jo Anne Schneider

Contenu

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction
   Part I. Factors Influencing Implementation of Welfare Reform
2. The Federal and State Policy Context for Welfare Reform
3. Local Government Systems
4. Social Service Organizations
5. Social Service Systems
6. Labor Markets and Individual Career Paths
7. Family Survival Strategies and Social Capital
8. Comparisons Among Worker Types
   Part II. Social Capital and Community Context
9. Social Service Agency Use and Social Capital
10. Agencies and Social Capital
11. Faith Communities and Social Capital
12. Faith, Works, and Community: Connections Among Nonprofits, Government, and Congregations
13. Advocacy and Social Capital
14. Conclusion: Public Policy and Social Capital
    Appendix A. Methods and Project Descriptions
    Appendix B. Organizations
    Appendix C. Family Types and People Profiled in the Book
    Notes
    References
    Index