Katherine S. van Wormer - Social Welfare Policy for a Sustainable Future

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Social Welfare Policy for a Sustainable Future

Social Welfare Policy for a Sustainable Future

The U.S. in Global Context

• Katherine S. van Wormer
• University of Northern Iowa
• Rosemary J. Link
• Simpson College

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

All trademarks depicted within this book, including trademarks appearing as part of a screenshot, figure, or other image, are included solely for the purpose of illustration and are the property of their respective holders. The use of the trademarks in no way indicates any relationship with, or endorsement by, the holders of said trademarks.

Printed in the United States of America

A catalog record of this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN: 978-1-4522-4031-2

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

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Brief Contents

Preface

Vision of the Text

Sustainability is an inspiring concept. It conjures up all sorts of images and even a color, which would have to be greenthe color of nature, fresh and bountiful. As a season, it would be spring. When applied to social work, we have green social work, a new term introduced in the title of a recent environmentally based book by Lena Dominelli (2012).

Appropriately, therefore, the publishers of this book have chosen for its cover a globe tinged in various shadesfrom chartreuse and emerald to a deep forest green.

Young people everywhere have a burgeoning interest in sustainability. Today, colleges and universities across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom are at the forefront of the green movement. An environmental sustainability focus is seen in university building design, the sponsorship of interdisciplinary ecological research, the introduction of energy-saving initiatives, expanded curricular offerings to promote ecological awareness, and the training of a new generation of environmental leaders.

Sustainability is a highly versatile concept. Not only does it relate to the preservation of natural resources for future generations, but it also refers to policies necessary to meet the needs of the people at the present time. When applied to the social welfare system, the notion of sustainability links the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of human existence and leads us toward social justice considerations. As the profession that aims to enhance peoples well-being and work toward social equality, social work has a vital role to play in the promotion of environmental rights and economic justice.

In common with other social work textbooks on social policy, our aim is to describe contemporary U.S. social welfare policies that impact social work practice and to analyze the success of such policies in meeting the needs of all the people. Following the basic values and ethics of social work, we consider areas in need of substantive change and strategies for effecting such change. A second, but not secondary, purpose in writing this text is to do something that no other book does at presentto examine U.S. social policy within the context of sustainability. Toward this end, we will show how caring for people is inextricably linked to caring for our natural habitat, and we will explore ways in which social welfare provisions maintain human life and livelihood. As we examine the delivery of health and mental health care services, we will remind ourselves to ask To what extent are current policies sustainable or unsustainable?

To get at the answers, a global perspective is essential. In this way, solutions that seem impractical or even impossible can be shown to be doable and cost-effective. An experiment in one part of the world can thus be emulated elsewhere if it works or rejected if turns out to be a failure. Never before has information concerning social and scientific discoveries traveled so fast, and never before have so many nations relied on communication of their findings through a common languageEnglishwith instant translation possible across multiple languages through universally available computer programs.

Nations are interlinked today not only by means of instant communication but also by an ever-increasing flow of goods and investments. Virtually no part of the world today is immune from transnational economic forces, and international corporations along with the world banks often determine not only monetary policies in a given country but the shape of social welfare policies as well. Investment in capitalist enterprises is generally favored over investment in the people. International forces, in short, need to be understood as a part of our critical analysis of social welfare policies and in our shaping of proposals for change.

Consistent with a global perspective, our analysis of social policy is informed by an awareness that such policy is not shaped in a vacuum but reflects a nations cultural ethos. A comparative approach helps explain why an approach that is feasible and productive in one country may not even be considered elsewhere. Still, cultural beliefs change over time, so a historical view can provide us with hope that intransigent attitudes may not be so intransigent after all.

A basic assumption of this book is that the first step toward impacting social policy is to learn the forces that sustain them and the barriers that have to be overcome to successfully advocate for change. Three key factorscultural ideologies, economics, and political constraintsare viewed as integral to shaping and maintaining particular social welfare provisions. To provide some basic understanding of how the system works is an underlying goal of writing this text.

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