This study examined graduate social work students' perceptions of vulnerable populations. The results suggest that although the students were able to identify oppression as a factor in the lives of women and other at-risk populations, for the most part, their perceptions of single parents underscored the belief that the life conditions of femaleheaded families are the consequence of individual choice, rather than of societal arrangements that have a disproportionately negative impact on women.
References
1.
Anderson, M. L.
,& Collins, P. H. (Eds.) (1992). Race, class, and gender. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
2.
Armey, D.
(1994). Public welfare in America. Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies, 19, 245-250.
3.
Atlas, S.
(1981). Single parenting. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
4.
Barry, A.
(1979). Aresearch project on successful single parent families. American Journal of Family Therapy, 7(3), 65-73.
5.
Black, B.
(1994). Students' attitudes towards women: Do social work programs make a difference?Affilia, 9, 417-436.
6.
Boisvert, B.
(1994, December 26). Deserving poor. In These Times, 19, 10-11.
7.
Brueggemann, W. G.
(1996). The practice of macro social work. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
8.
Children's Defense Fund
. (1998). Every child deserves a fair start[Online]. Available: http://www.childrensdefense.org/fairstart
9.
Collins, P. H.
(1990). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Cambridge: Unwin & Hyman.
10.
Council on SocialWork Education
. (1994). Handbook of accreditation standards and procedures(4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.
11.
Green, R. G.
, & Crooks, P. D. (1988). Family member adjustment and family dynamics in established single-parent and two-parent families. Social Service Review, 62, 600-613.
12.
Hartman, A.
(1993). Challenges for family policy. In F. Walsh (Ed.), Normal family processes(2nd ed., pp. 474-502). New York: Guilford.
13.
Johnson, M. M.
, & Rhodes, R. (in press). “Give me strengths!” Evaluating the effectiveness of a graduate-level HBSE course. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment.
14.
Miller, D. C.
(1987). Helping the strong: An exploration of the needs of families headed by women. Silver Spring, MD: NASW Press.
15.
Mirkin, M.
(Ed). (1990). The social and political contexts of family therapy. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
16.
Morris, J. K.
(1993). Interacting oppressions: Teaching social work content on women of color. Journal of Social Work Education, 29, 99-110.
17.
Morrison, N. C.
(1995). Successful single-parent families. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 22, 205-219.
18.
Moynihan, D. P.
(1965). The Negro family. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Labor.
19.
Olson, M. R.
,& Haynes, J. A. (1993). Successful single parents. Families in Society, 74, 259-267.
20.
Rosenthal, B. S.
(1993). Graduate social work students' beliefs about poverty and attitudes towardthe poor. Journal ofTeaching in SocialWork, 7, 107-121.
21.
Saleebey, D.
(1992). The strengths perspective in social work practice. White Plains, NY: Longman.
22.
Sands, R. G.
, & Nuccio, K. E. (1989). Mother-headed single parent families: A feminist perspective. Affilia, 4, 25-41.
23.
Schmitz, C. L.
(1995). Reframing the dialogue on female-headed single-parent families. Affilia, 10, 426-441.
24.
Schriver, J. M.
(1995). Human behavior and the social environment: Shifting paradigms in essential knowledge for social work practice. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
25.
U.S. Bureau of the Census
. (1993). Statistical abstract of the United States: 1993(113th ed.). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
26.
U.S. Bureau of the Census
. (1998, December 11). Families and households[Online]. Available: http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/98pp1b.txt
27.
Van Den Bergh, N.
, & Cooper, L. B. (1986). Introduction. In N. Van Den Bergh & L. B. Cooper (Eds.), Feminist visions for social work(pp. 1-28). Silver Spring, MD: National Association of Social Workers.
28.
Varley, B. K.
(1968). Social work values: Changes in value commitments of students fromadmission toMSWgraduation. Journal of Education for Social Work, 4, 67-76.
29.
Walsh, F.
(1993). Aconceptualization of normal family processes. In F. Walsh (Ed.), Normal family processes(2nd ed., pp. 3-69). New York: Guilford.
30.
Wambach, K. G.
, & Van Soest, D. (1997). Oppression. In R. L Edwards (Ed.), Encyclopedia of social work(19th ed., Suppl., pp. 243-252). Washington, DC: NASW Press.
31.
Wodarski, J.
, Pippin, J., & Daniels, M. (1988). The effects of graduate social work education on personality, values and interpersonal skills. Journal of Education for Social Work, 24, 266-277.
