December, 2011 SOCIOLOGY & SOCIAL WELFARE DIVISION NEWSLETTER Message from the Chair Dear Friends & Colleagues, I write to you in the midst of preparing for my final classes this semester, and awaiting final papers to grade. Then I have a month off until starting the 2012 spring semester. I know from the survey results that many of you, also in academia, share my schedule. Many of you, like me, also teach sociology and social welfare policy, and are deeply concerned about the ongoing threats to social justice in our welfare states. Our August 2012 conference, whose theme is “The Art of Activism,” is an opportunity to share our knowledge about the role of activism for promoting social justice. This newsletter lists the sessions our Division is sponsoring and co- sponsoring. You also will see the details of our Student Paper Competition. I urge you to participate in these programs and alert your colleagues about them. Joyce Bialik, MSW, Ph. D. bialik@yu.edu Please note the new SSSP rules that give us just one free Division membership, and ask that we pay $10 to join additional Divisions. We hope that you will continue as a Sociology & Social Welfare Division member. Division Survey Desire to know who we are, what we are doing. The Division questionnaire was completed by 31 Division members. With 234 members, this is a 13 percent response rate. What is described below thus is not representative of the membership; rather a report of the 31. Deadlines to Remember 12/30/11 Renew SSSP & Division Membership 1/31/12 Submit a paper for 2012 meeting 2/1/12 Racial/ Ethic Minority Scholarship 3/15/12 Lee Student Award 4/1/12 Division Student Paper Competition 2 Pictures of Social Welfare (direct from Google) Sociology & Social Welfare Division Newsletter Survey Findings All of the respondents said they worked in academia, and a few also reported working for a social welfare government or private not-for- profit organization. Chart 1 Industry in Which Work .” Note: Responses were not mutually exclusive. Teaching and research were the objectives of nearly all of the 31 respondents, while 11 were learning as students. Some members who responded also described their work as furthering service (15) and/ or social action (14). The social action was described mainly in relation to the research; that is, research and publications were seen as a means for furthering one’s social agenda. Chart 2 Objectives of Work Note: Responses were not mutually exclusive. Sociology & Social Welfare 3 Division Newsletter Survey Findings continued Although most of the respondents did not identify their academic discipline, 14 wrote sociology, four, social work, and one, nursing. The most frequently mentioned courses that are taught were policy analysis and research methods. Other teaching topics mentioned by three or more respondents were health and mental health, urban policy, gender, race, and poverty. As the courses taught cover aspects of poverty and oppression, so do the topics that our group of respondents are researching. They include substance abuse, homelessness, domestic violence, poverty, school violence, feminist sociology, low income home ownership, asset building, neighborhood effects on child health and wellbeing, action research, racial disparities in HIV risk, and creating social equity in public sector institutions. Corresponding to these members’ research and teaching is the interest they expressed in presenting at the 2012 Denver conference. Twenty-two (22) indicated they would like to present a paper. In addition 13 expressed an interest in being a discussant, and seven, a session organizer. The survey asked questions designed to promote our members’ professional development in other ways, and received responses as follows:  Twelve members would like to post their resumes.  Two members described job openings.  Four members listed books they authored that have been published, and one more member listed a book in the publication stage. In addition, seven members wrote that they definitely would participate in a Division Facebook or Twitter paper, while 11 wrote that they possibly would participate. At the 2011 conference, Division chairs discussed how they might work as a Division to lobby for issues of concern. To this end, our survey asked, “Would you like to propose a resolution on a social problem to the SSSP organization, that if approved we as a Division would organize as a social action project? We received two proposals quoted below. 1. “The continued inability for social justice to be served on those who wrecked our economy on the backs of families (i.e., the financialization of politics and the economy at the expense of the livelihood of families.)” 2. “I am deeply disturbed by the lack of public knowledge regarding obscene statistics on the number of African American young men imprisoned and the money spent on their incarceration, compared to the reduction in monies for public education, and the high correlation between high school drop-out rates and criminal activity. I am frustrated that there is not a coherent academic perspective (or response) on or to these incongruities made available to the media and or politicians directly through lobbying, etc”. 4 Sociology & Social Welfare Division Newsletter Implications of Survey Findings for Sociology and Social Welfare Division “I am deeply disturbed by the lack of public knowledge regarding obscene statistics…. Although the survey response rate is low the information provided is useful for informing us a bit about our membership and pointing to an agenda for our Division. In cases where a response is requested below, please send your response to Joyce Bialik at bialik@yu.edu. The finding that members are primarily sociologists in academia who teach and conduct research is not surprising. Also not surprising is that our social action is described as happening primarily through our academic pursuits, and not as participants in social action groups. People in academia have very little time for social action group participation. Two members suggested a social problem to pursue as a Division. We can vote on these possibilities, but first we need a volunteer to lead the action. You are encouraged to volunteer for this activity. The survey captured interest in professional development opportunities through SSSP. Those who would like to present at the 2012 conference in Denver, Colorado will find the complete list of sessions on the SSSP website at: http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/478/fuseaction/ssspsession2.publicView Applications for presentations are due no later than midnight (EST) on January 31, 2012, and should be submitted online to: http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/478/, Of course, you are encouraged to first consider those sessions sponsored or co-sponsored by the Sociology and Social Welfare Division. A Division session that is not advertised is entitled: Grassroots Women Activists (By Invitation Only) Co-Sponsor: Conflict, Social Action & Change Organizer: Joyce Bialik, Columbia University School of Social Work & Hunter College School of Social Work. If you are interested in this session please email Joyce Bialik at bialik@yu.edu In addition, several of you wrote that you would like to be a discussant at the 2012 conference. Two of the Division’s sessions are roundtables, where a discussant would be helpful. They are: The Art of Surviving Cuts in the Non-Profit and Government Social Welfare Sectors” (Roundtable), and co-sponsored with Labor and Public Social Welfare: Activism on both sides of the ideological divide (Roundtable). Again, please email bialik@yu.edu if you are interested in either of these opportunities. Job openings mentioned by members are listed in the newsletter as well as books by Division members. The Division now has a Facebook page. If you are not already a Facebook member please consider joining. Just go to Facebook.com, and follow the instructions for becoming a member. You can enter our Facebook page with this link: http://www.facebook.com/groups/SSSP.SSWD/ Sociology & Social Welfare 5 Division Newsletter In addition, given the interest of 12 members to be able to post their resumes, the Division is in need of its own website. Here we are seeking a volunteer to develop the Division website. Funds are very limited, so the objective is to find a free sponsor for the website. Division Sessions 2012 Annual Meeting Division Sessions (1) Title: “The Art of Surviving Cuts in the Non-Profit and Government Social Welfare Sectors” (Roundtable) Organizer: Joyce Bialik, Columbia University School of Social Work & Hunter School of Social Work Email: bialik@yu.edu (2) Title: “Taxation Reform and the Deconstruction of the Welfare State” Organizer – Joyce Bialik, Columbia University School of Social Work & Hunter School of Social Work Email: bialik@yu.edu (3) Title: “Homelessness and the Art of Advocacy” Organizer: Tracy Peressini, Renison University College Email: tracy.peressini@uwaterloo.ca C.o-Sponsored Sessions (1) Title: “Grassroots Women Activists” (By Invitation Only) Co-Sponsor: Conflict, Social Action & Change Organizer: Joyce Bialik, Columbia University School of Social Work & Hunter School of Social Work Email: bialik@yu.edu (2) Title: “Radicalism in the 21st Century: Networking and Social Activism” Co-Sponsors: Conflict, Social Action, & Change; Poverty, Class, Inequality Organizer: Tracy Peressini, Renison University College Email: tracy.peressini@uwaterloo.ca (3) Title: “Engaging Youth in Social Action” (Papers in the Round) Co-Sponsor: Conflict, Social Action, & Change Organizer & Presider: Abbilyn Harmon, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Email: amilie22@illinois.edu Discussant: Maralee Mayberry, University of South Florida Email: mayberry@usf.edu More Co-Sponsored Sessions (4) Title: “Global Families and the Art of Research and Activism” (thematic) Co-Sponsors: Racial and Ethnic Minorities; Family Organizer: Nancy Mezey, Monmouth College Email: nmezey@monmouth.edu (5) Title: “Use of Art for Advocacy and Social Welfare” (thematic) Co-Sponsor: Law and Society Organizer: Lisa Frohman, University of Illinois Email: lfrohman@uic.edu (6) Title: “Labor and Public Social Welfare: Activism on both sides of the ideological divide (Roundtable) Co-Sponsor: Labor studies Organizer : Ted Brimeyer, Georgia Southern University Email: tbrimeyer@georgiasouthern.edu (7) Title: “Jobs, Family, and Community” Co-Sponsors: Labor Studies; Family Organizer : Ted Brimeyer, Georgia Southern University Email: tbrimeyer@georgiasouthern.edu IN HONOR OF WOMEN PROMOTING PEACE AND SOCIAL WELFARE The Nobel Peace Prize 2011 Hono 2012 Student Paper Competition Deadline: April 1, 2012 The Sociology and Social Welfare Division (SSWD) announces its 2012 Student Paper Competition. The goal is to encourage scholastic endeavors that enhance our understanding of issues related to sociology and social welfare. Papers may explore and analyze any social welfare policy or institution along any dimension of interest. They can be related to the conference theme, and perhaps analyze social activism in the face of oppressive institutions and policies. Qualitative and quantitative empirical analyses and theoretical papers are welcome. To be eligible for submission, papers must be: 1) written between January 2011 and April 1, 2012 and not published or submitted for scholarly review; 2) authored by one or more students and not co-authored by faculty or a colleague who is not a student; 3) 25 pages or less, including references and tables; 4) accompanied by a letter from a faculty member at the student’s university nominating the paper for the competition. To be considered for the award, the author must make a commitment to present the paper at an SSW session during the 2012 SSSP meeting. You are encouraged to seek acceptance of your paper at a relevant SSW session; in your application to a session just summarize the contents of your student paper. Such acceptance will qualify you for a Lee Student Award, which will help pay for a portion of your transportation to the conference. http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/pageid/171. Send a copy of your paper and the faculty nomination letter as email attachments to Richard K. Caputo (caputo@yu.edu), Chair, SSWD Student Paper Competition, Wurzweller School of Social Work, Yeshiva University, Wilf Campus, 2495 Amsterdam Ave., Belfer Hall, Rm 907, New York, NY 10033. The SSWD competition winner receives a cash prize of $200 plus 2012 SSSP membership, annual conference registration, and a banquet ticket .Books by Members Richard K. Caputo US Social Welfare Policy Reform: Policy Transition from 1981 to the Present (New York: Springer, 2011). (Ed.) Challenges of Aging of US Families: Policy and Practice Implications (NewYork: Haworth Press/ Milton Park, UK: Routledge, 2005). Advantages White and Male, Disadvantages Black and Female: Income Inequality , Economic Wellbeing, and Economic Mobility among Families in a Youth Cohort, 1979-1993 (Danbury, CT: Rutledge Books, Inc., 1999). Welfare and Freedom American Style II: The Role of the Federal Government, 1941-1980 (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1994). Welfare and Freedom American Style: The Role of the Federal Government, 1900-1940 (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1991). Management and Information Systems in Human Services (New York: Haworth Press/ Milton Park, UK: Routledge, 1988). From Public Housing to the Social Market (Routledge, 1995). Paul J. Kemeny From Public Housing to the Social Market (Routledge, 1995). Co-Editors Keith Jacobs and Tony Manzi, Social Constructionism in Housing Research (Ashgate, 1994). The Myth of Home Ownership (Routledge, 1971). Robert Leighninger Long Range Public Investment: The Forgotten Legacy of the New Deal (University of South Carolina Press, 2007). Building Louisiana: The Legacy of the Public Works Administration (University Press of Mississippi, 2007). Naomi Sugie with Ralph DaCosta Nunez Beyond the Shelter Wall: Homeless Families Speak Out (White Tiger Press, 2004). Job Listings from Members From Kent State University, Sociology Department Director of the Survey Research Lab: https://jobs.kent.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1323456430678 Non Tenure Track Criminology Assistant Professor: https://jobs.kent.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1323456430678 Tenure Track Criminology Assistance Professor: https://jobs.kent.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1323456430678 From Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences Two faculty openings in direct practice for 2012. Please submit your application as soon as possible for these positions.