Analysis Of An American Social Welfare Policy Social Work Essay

Analysis Of An American Social Welfare Policy Social Work Essay Social welfare policies are an integral part of any political system. Many countries across the world have formulated social welfare policies to cope with the numerous social issues affecting society. There are many underprivileged people in society who include the unemployed, poor and disabled, and these require assistance from the state in order to achieve their potential. Social welfare in the US includes healthcare, empowerment, housing and other programs geared towards assisting the poor, unemployed and marginalized in society. Such programs include Medicaid, AFDC (Aid for families with dependent children), WIC (women, infants and children) programs, veteran programs and others. The US social welfare policy has been in existence for over two centuries and it traces its roots to British Poor Laws which were used by British colonies (Brown et. al. 12-17). These laws differentiated between people who were unable to work due to unemployment and those unable to do so due to physical health or age. The previous group was assisted with employment in workhouses while the latter was granted cash or other forms of assistance by the government. It is important to understand the US social welfare system in order to assess whether the objectives it was formed to attain are in fact being accomplished. This will enable us to make recommendations on whether the policy should be improved, remain the same or scrapped altogether. This paper will evaluate the US welfare policy in detail. It will assess its history and reasons why it was developed. The policy description and analysis will assist in evaluating the welfare policy. Afterwards an assessment will be made on whether the policy is effective in meeting the needs of the American society. The discussed issues will be summarized at the end of the paper. Historical background It has been stated that the US social welfare policy has been in existence for over two centuries and it traces its roots to British Poor Laws which were used by British colonies. The government realized that there were the poor and marginalized in society and that some of them were unable to meet their basic needs due to lack of employment. The huge number of unemployed people was a burden to society and contributed highly to acts of deviance which were experienced then. There was also the need to take care of war veterans who had contributed to the stability of the US through sacrificing themselves to defend their country. Congress approved programs aimed at supporting war veterans as early as 1862. Before government intervention, there was also some form of welfare which was practiced by villages. For instance, when families required assistance and friends and neighbors were unable to provide sufficient help, villages provided such help through workhouses or almshouses and poor re lief systems. There was also Mothersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ pension law which helped single mothers bring up children comfortably as well as cash allowance for the poor. In some states, aid for the blind was provided as early as the 1920s. However, these were mainly laws formulated to cater for specific objectives and were not necessarily a government policy as is in the modern world. The welfare policy was developed to cater for needs of families which suffered the Great Depression. The Great depression which occurred in 1929 and lasted for almost two decades before global economies recovered. It caused collapse of many economies and stock markets, massive unemployment, deflation of products and a general decrease in disposable incomes of most households. After the Great Depression, the government decided to develop a welfare policy which targeted families and households among other deserving groups. In 1935 the Social Security Act which defined policy programs was passed under President Roosevelt. Various social welfare policy programs including Aid to Dependent Children and unemployment compensation were developed as a result. In addition, government agencies such as Department of Labor, Department of Housing, Depar tment of Education and department of Agriculture were also formed to oversee the implementation of the welfare policy (Taylor 68-73). In subsequent years, various other policy programs were developed to meet modern needs. For instance, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act passed in 1996 under President Clinton aimed at assisting the poor and empowering them to obtain employment as opposed to dependence on aid. The problems which necessitated development of the welfare policy will be discussed in the following section of the paper. Problem description necessitating policy There were several problems which necessitated the development of the social welfare policy. It is important to understand that different generations faced various problems throughout history although most were similar. This section of the paper will analyze the reasons necessitating development of the social welfare policy at different points in time depending on problems prevailing at the time. Initially, it has been discussed that social welfare was developed due to four major reasons. The first was to address the problem of poverty and unemployment. It was realized that friends and neighbors were sometimes unable to assist the poor in society who were beginning to be a burden to society. Many unemployed people were poor and had begun participating in social vices since they were unable to afford money for basic needs. There were no clear statistics on poverty levels but it was believed that over 10% of the total population lived in poverty. The second reason which necessitated de velopment of the welfare policy was the old and especially the war veterans who had sacrificed themselves for the country. Such categories of people were unable to work effectively due to age or injury and they began receiving support from the state. However, the modern welfare policy system began due to the effects of the Great Depression. It has been discussed that the Great depression which occurred in 1929 and lasted for almost two decades caused collapse of many economies and stock markets, massive unemployment, deflation of products and a general decrease in disposable incomes of most households. The Great depression was a massive problem which caused a fall of crop prices by over 50%, collapse in construction industry, over 50% decline in tax revenues and personal incomes, collapse in logging and mining industries and an over 25% increase in overall US unemployment rate amongst other problems (Modigliani 41-43). These were huge financial problems which threatened the survival of many families and businesses and the government developed the welfare policy aimed at supporting the affected families and households among other deserving groups. This facilitated the 1935 passage of the Social Security Act which defined policy pr ograms under President Roosevelt. Other welfare policies have been passed under President Clinton and these aimed at assisting the poor meet modern challenges and empowering them to obtain employment as opposed to dependence on aid. Policy Description There are two major policies which will be discussed as far as policy description of the US social welfare system is involved. The first is the 1935 the Social Security Act passed to mitigate the effects of the Great Depression and the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act passed to cater for the poor and marginalized in society. The 1935 the Social Security Act This Act was passed under President Roosevelt and it formed the basis of developing the welfare system as is used today. The Act advocated for development of programs which limited the threats to American society including poverty, old age, burdens of widows and orphans as well as unemployment. These problems were made worse by the Great Depression which occurred during this period in history. The Act provided various benefits to unemployed people and retirees, with lump-sum payments being made after their death. The payments which were made to retirees were funded by taxes on the payrolls of current workers, with half the payments being funded by employers. The old, families with depended children and unemployed were financed by funds in various states which were advanced by the central government. Many minorities and women were locked out from these programs. This was due to the fact that the Act did not cover employees in domestic service, agricultural labor, government employees, nurses, teachers and social workers. This locked out minorities and women who dominated these sectors. The Act also discriminated against women who received insurance programs based on children or husbands. Minorities such as blacks received lower funds for assistance in some states due to the perception that blacks needed less money for maintenance. During this period, approximately $35 million was paid out in welfare programs by the central government. It is important to note that these welfare programs were long term in nature and did not have strict time limits where people could rely on welfare. 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act It has been discussed that this Act was passed under President Clinton. It had a significant impact on the goals and methods of assistance on the poor in society. The bill was passed with the belief that welfare programs were encouraging immigrants to relocate to the US where they became social burdens to society (Frum 325-327). It aimed at providing short term assistance to families as opposed to long term assistance as was being previously practiced. It also led to the change of long term welfare programs to short term ones. For instance, the 1935 Aid to Families and Dependent Children program was replaced by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. In addition to shortening the length of welfare programs, this Act also increased eligibility standards required by those claiming benefits. These included reduction in immigrant welfare assistance, stricter conditions for eligibility for food stamps and recipient work requirements (David 33-37). The objectives of the program were requi ring welfare recipients to obtain employment after 2 years, ending welfare as an entitlement form, encouraging two parent families, limiting welfare support from federal funds to 5 years and enhancing child support enforcement. Welfare support came from both the federal and state government, with $650 billion being payable in welfare programs in 2009. Policy Analysis It is important to analyze the welfare policy which has been discussed in the paper in order to evaluate its legal and ethical implications. The major goals of the modern welfare system are to prevent dependence on welfare while at the same time assisting the old, unemployed, poor and single families amongst other target groups. The aim of the previous welfare system was to assist families, the old and unemployed mitigate the effects of the Great Depression. The intention of the 1935 the Social Security Act was to provide assistance to these marginalized groups. This was a noble intention since the great depression threatened the survival of many families and businesses. However, there were defects in the programs since they discriminated against minority groups and women. They were also long term support programs which indirectly encouraged reliance on aid by the needy. Since the needy were assured of financial support, some became comfortable and did not see the need to look for em ployment since the government was supporting them. However, these weaknesses were later discovered and the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act was passed. This Act corrected the weaknesses in the earlier legislation since it supported the previously discriminated groups including women and minorities. It also limited the timeline for welfare support and made welfare eligibility more difficult to discourage reliance on welfare both immigrants and native US citizens. This is an important step since it encourages people to empower themselves as opposed to relying on government support. The welfare policy enables the unemployed and poor to seek employment. This improves their relations with the rest of society since they are not seen as burdens that rely on support from public taxes as was previously the case. It also enables the recipients to improve the quality of life since it empowers them to seek financial stability and empowerment. Governments across the world should embrace welfare policies which help the needy b ut at the same time discourage them from relying on aid in the long run. Summary and conclusion The US welfare system has been discussed in detail. The system traces its roots to the 18th Century when villages assisted the needy and old in society. However, the modern form of welfare which is practiced today was developed from the 1935 the Social Security Act which was passed to mitigate the effects of the Great Depression. The Great depression caused the collapse of many businesses and loss of jobs by households due to massive unemployment. The Act aimed at providing long term support for the poor, needy, unemployed and the old in society. However, it faced two main weaknesses which were discrimination against minority groups and women, and encouraging reliance eon aid by beneficiaries. In order to solve these weaknesses, the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act was passed. The Act supported the previously discriminated groups including women and minorities and limited the timeline for welfare support and made welfare eligibility more difficult to discourage r eliance on welfare both immigrants and native US citizens. This encouraged recipients of welfare to look for employment opportunities and empowered them in the long run. It also improved their relations with the rest of society since they are not seen as burdens that rely on support from public taxes as was previously the case. It is important for governments to develop social welfare policies which are similar to those applied in the US. These will assist the marginalized and empower them to seek financial empowerment through obtaining meaningful employment. Such programs should not encourage recipients of welfare to depend on it in the long run. They should have feasible timelines when recipients of welfare should cease dependence on such programs. Only recipients who are unable to gain employment due to unique circumstances such as age or disability should receive long term welfare assistance. The programs should also have strict eligibility requirements to prevent abuse by able-bodied people capable of gaining employment. This will improve the social welfare of society in general.

Are Fast Food Restaurants to Blame for Obesity?

â€Å"If ever there were a newspaper headline custom-made for Jay Leno’s monologue, this was it. Kids’ taking on McDonald’s this week, suing the company for making them fat. Isn’t that like middle-aged men suing Porsche for making them get speeding tickets? Whatever happened to personal responsibility? † David makes an excellent point as he opens his article, but then contradicts himself by telling us that he believes McDonalds is to blame for obesity in America. It is my belief that his entire article can be invalidated in just two words: personal responsibility.Each individual is responsible for the decisions that they make regarding their health or any aspect of their life for that matter. If we blame fast food restaurants for making us obese, where does the blame stop? It is even more critical for parents to recognize the need for personal responsibility, because they are not only responsible for their health, but they are responsible for teachi ng their children how to eat right and take care of themselves as they grow up. Some might argue that if fast food chains changed their portion size or labeled their products with nutritional information, that consumers would make better choices.If society is allowed to blame obesity on a fast food restaurant, then it will start a downward spiral with no end in sight. Are casinos to blame for gambling addictions? Are tobacco companies to blame for cancer? With this mindset, one can do anything they want and never accept responsibility for any of it. Personal responsibility must be reinforced if we are going to accomplish anything. The only one to blame for the decision to eat a cheeseburger, gamble away your income, or light up a cigarette is the person that makes the decision.We are seeing more and more frivolous lawsuits making their way through the courts and judges are awarding plaintiffs on even the most ridiculous suits. Yes, fast food restaurants are bad for our health, but s o are cigarettes and alcohol. Gambling is bad for our finances. Infidelity is bad for our marriages. Do we blame the tobacco companies? Do we blame the alcohol companies? How about the casinos that lure us in and take our hard earned money, or the television and movie producers that glorify cheating?Not only does this attitude have an incredibly negative affect on our health and well-being, but it takes a horrible toll on our children’s. They are learning that there is no accountability for their actions. We can already see this in the way some children behave in public. Parents are also responsible for ensuring their kids are getting a healthy diet and some form of daily exercise regimen. It is all too easy to simply say â€Å"I do not have time to cook my kids a healthy meal because I work too many hours to pay the bills. Maybe we should be asking ourselves, â€Å"Could I save enough money by cooking healthy meals instead of eating out at fast food restaurants, which woul d allow me to work fewer hours? † I was very overweight as a child and yet my parents never allowed me to have fast food. They weren’t strict enough at the dinner table and they allowed me to have too many snacks. Because I was always required to clean my plate, I often ate past being full. This lack of judgment on my parent’s part had nothing to do with any fast food restaurant. It had to do with my parent’s methods for raising and disciplining me.In all honesty, my parents were to blame for my childhood obesity. David seems to think that by forcing fast food restaurants to cut their portion sizes and label their meals with nutrition information, people will stop eating fast food. However, most grocery store junk food products are labeled and it does not stop people from purchasing them. Furthermore, reducing portion sizes would only cause consumers to spend more to satisfy their appetites. This does not solve the problem of obesity, and also adds to the continuing downfall of our economy and financial instability.If I want a large fry and they only have small, I am more apt to buy two or three smalls to get the same amount of fries. While David’s article was only about the role fast food restaurants are playing in the obesity crisis, it is indicative of a much bigger problem. Americans are blaming everyone but themselves for their actions and it needs to stop. If we do not learn to take personal responsibility over our everyday decisions, and we do not begin to educate our children to do the same, then many other problems besides obesity lie in our future.

The New Fuss About Apa How to Discuss Five Topics in an Essay

The New Fuss About Apa How to Discuss Five Topics in an Essay In this area of study, you may decide on a topic connected to early childhood like language learning, social learning, etc.. The well-being of young people as a new growing generation may be the most discussed topic in various areas like psychology or medicine. You might also examine several kinds of tech motivation methods to compare and contrast the most efficient strategies. Needless to say, the central intention of your upcoming essay is going to be about the anorexia, but your task is going to be to discuss it from a specific angle. You may continue to keep your argumentative essays for your upcoming job portfolio in case they're highly graded. Before you can begin writing, you will need to get an idea to write about. Whether you're taking an introductory or a graduate-level psychology class, odds are strong that you'll have to write a minumum of one paper during the class of the semester. As it was mentione d, it is dependent upon the objective of your writing. Apa How to Discuss Five Topics in an Essay Ideas A superb discussion essay must incorporate an exhaustive discussion of each side of the topic. Deciding on your topic isn't that easy. Ensure the topic is one which you're interested in personally because it will be simpler that you write. In the very first paragraph, you'll want to broadly introduce your topic. Ruthless Apa How to Discuss Five Topics in an Essay Strategies Exploited There are various styles a student can select to compose their psychology essay. Regardless of the ample number of substantial research materials and intelligent ideas, the essay may wind up flawed in the event the student doesn't have effective writing skills. Before you sit to compose a psychology essay, you should be sure you read the question thoroughly and understood what's required of you. Irrespective of the quantity or kind of research involved, argumentative essays must set a very clear thesis and follow sound reasoning. The Apa How to Discuss Five Topics in an Essay Stories The reader ought to be impressed by the manner in which you defend your ideas. You might also want to incorporate a brief discussion of more research that needs to be completed in light of your work. One of the most usual reasons people start looking for assistance with essay writing is they realize they're running out of time. Have a look at our home page for more info. Keep in mind, any source employed in your essay has to be included in your reference section. Frequently you will examine what other folks have already said on the identical subject and include this information utilizing paraphrasing and summarising skills, along with correct citations. In the event the source is written by multiple authors, then you need to state last names of them all, at least in the very first reference within the essay. If you apply the exact same source in the exact same paragraph, don't re fer to the calendar year again. Introducing Apa How to Discuss Five Topics in an Essay It is not very easy to compose a how-to essay. Nevertheless, your essay needs to be well-grounded, and all of your ideas, together with statements about anorexia that you would like to argue, needs to be reasonable and relevant. The three-paragraph essay isn't an exception. In many ways, it is similar to the five-paragraph essay. Do not waste too much time on figuring out how to compose a three paragraph essay because this type of academic paper isn't popular. Such an essay may be beneficial for beginning writers as it features the organizational structure of a lengthier essay without requiring the length. Whatever the sort of essay might be, there's a standard or core structure which is to be utilised in their writing. Please find the info below to be aware of the grading rubric for absolutely any academic five-paragraph paper. The Number One Question You Must Ask for Apa How to Discuss Five Topics in an Essay Today, the scope of topics that could be highlighted in a written assignment can be referred to as a limitless one. It's possible for you to come across an extremely in depth summary of the APA format. Change them in accordance with your requirements. See if other kinds of essayssuch for a process analysis or an evaluationwill fit within the three-paragraph essay format. You're able to explore an extremely wide array of topics like language acquisition, attachment theories, or critical amounts of development. You will need to discuss each side of the issues surrounding the discussion essay topic, so guarantee that you've got access to good research that supplies pertinent info. You'll be provided a certain number of resources to be used. Ideally, you would like to decide on a subject that's specific enough to let you fully research and learn more about the topic, but not so specific that you have a difficult time finding sources of information. These tips offer you some helpful guidelines which will help you prepare your paper and make sure that it's formatted properly. Besides ensuring that you cite your sources properly and present information in line with the rules of APA style, there are a lot of things you can do in order to make the writing process just a little bit simpler. Among the more unique disadvantages talked about in this report is the notion that technology can make employees lazy. You'll also see that there are quite a few methods by which material can be cited. Other absolutely free extras that are included are an absolutely free outline, completely free plagiarism report and completely free title page. Only the portions of the major body should have headings! A running head with the total title of the essay must show up on the title page. One other important factor to think about is the format of the essay.

The Kite Runner Afghan-American Heritage - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1259 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/06/14 Category Linguistics Essay Level High school Tags: The Kite Runner Essay Did you like this example? The Kite Runner is an in-depth narrative novel written by Khaled Hosseini – an author representing Afghan-American heritage. The story revolves around the life of Amir, a Pashtun in Afghanistan, and is set throughout such events as the fall of the monarchy in Afghanistan, the military intervention of the Soviet Union, and the influence of the Taliban. This narrative is known for its family related settings and expresses between Baba and Amirs father-son relationships, as well as for raising the themes of guilt, and redemption. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Kite Runner: Afghan-American Heritage" essay for you Create order The story itself enables the reader to get a thorough insight into the daily life of Afghani people and their culture. Even though it is not the main theme of the novel, social class ranking is a reoccurring, and its influence on the lives of the characters is vivid. The author approached the topic of social class in Afghanistan by setting the two friends, Hassan and Amir, at two different sides of the social class. Both Hassan and Amir get into issues amongst themselves as well. The author does this to express the problems each can get for disregarding the social class division. To continue, the author shows different examples of discrimination between the Russian’s with Afghanis throughout the novel as well as the discrimination between the Pashtuns and Hazaras. Throughout the beginning of the novel characters Amir and Hassan, although portrayed as brothers, have contrasting behavioral traits that ultimately affect how Amir treats Hassan. The author, Housseini, illustrates Amir as, at some points, evilly taking advantage of Hassan’s lack of intelligence and finding humor in it. This i s displayed when Amir lies to Hassan, stating, â€Å"‘Imbecile’. It means smart, intelligent. I’ll use it in a sentence for you. ‘When it comes to words, Hassan is an imbecile.† (Hosseini 29). Here, Amir is purposely lying to Hassan for malicious fun and because of Hassan’s illiterate status and gullible self he knows no better than to believe Amir. To go on, the author foreshadows that Amir’s actions now will only continue to grow in the future to not only Hassan but also others. When Rahim Khan, Baba’s friend, proposes that Amir’s â€Å"pessimistic self† is only because he never inherited a violent characteristic, Amir responds with, â€Å"Rahim Khan had been wrong about the mean streak thing† (Hosseini 23). This, therefore, discloses that Amir does, indeed, have a bit of selfishness and cruelty deep inside him that will be unleashed later in the book. During these first few chapters, Housseini is simply laying the groundwork for the reasons to why Amir will commit certain actions which lead up to the future in the novel. Next, in the novel, the author displays the discrimination between the Pashtuns and Hazaras several different times. First, the character Assef is known to be the neighborhood bully. Hassan who is a Hazara, a trait that Hassan has no control over is then bullied by Assef. In the Afghan culture, Hazaras are seen as dirty and part of the lower class. Assef later goes on to boast about â€Å"Afghanistan is the land of Pashtuns. It always has been, always will be. We are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this Flat-Nose here. His people pollute our homeland, our watan. They dirty our blood.† (Hosseini 40). Assef sees Hassan as an animal and treats him like one, which is an example of â€Å"mans inhumanity to man†. Also, in the novel, Amir was seen talking to an old merchant in hopes of finding Hassan. Then the old merchant tells Amir â€Å"What is a boy like you doing here at this time of the day looking for a Hazara?† â€Å"Lucky Hazara, having such a concerned master. His father should get on his knees, sweep the dust at your feet with his eyelashes.† (70). At the time people looked at Hazaras in the worst way possible and if you were seen being friends with one of them then people would begin to judge you. Throughout the story, Amir treats Hassan as a servant because he is in continues fear of being judged by others since Hassan is a Hazara. On the other hand in The Kite Runner, the issues between the Russian’s and Afghans are very obvious and lead to many injustices. The Russians claimed that they will restore the government in Afghanistan, but instead, they end up causing a large amount of oppression for the Afghani people. But, there are many Russians that are doing what they claimed they would do. Still, a large chunk of the Russian people are exerting force against the Afghanis, to the point where they perhaps cause more turmoil than improvement. As the Russian officer says â€Å"spoke to us in broken Farsi. He apologized for his comrade’s behavior. â€Å"Russia sends them here to fight,† he said. â€Å"But they are just boys, and when they come here, they find the pleasure of drug.† He gave the younger officer the rueful look of a father exasperated w ith his misbehaving son. â€Å"This one is attached to drug now. I try to stop him† He waved us off.† The Russian officer knows how bad the Afghans are being discriminated. The soldiers from the Soviet Union at the time were so addicted to drugs like heroin that they began to notice an increase in trends with women and children being abused in particular. These actions from the Russian soldiers led to changes amongst the culture in Afghanistan and it wasn’t good. Continually, the social class between Amir, Hassan and others were very different. They all had different lifestyles and struggled to get along with each other. The one thing that stood out is the fact that Hassan didn’t take all the discrimination that he was receiving to heart. In the book, he says You know I like where I live. (58). This shows that Hassan was indeed happy with his life even with all the prejudices people have against him. Hassan dealt with so many issues just because of where he was from and the background of the Hazaras. The social class difference between Amir and Hassan is well noticed because Amir treats Hassan with respect sometimes, but then other times isn’t a true friend to him. Amir who was born with the privilege of being one of the Pashtuns. The Pashtuns are the ruling class of Afghanistan which gives Amir an advantage and Hassan will never have the same opportunities as Amir does. On a different note, Assef’s philosophy towards Hazaras reflects the tendency for those of the majority ethnicity within Afghanistan to view Hazaras in a negative light. Assef explains, â€Å"Afghanistan is like a beautiful mansion littered with garbage, and someone has to take out the garbage. (243). Essentially, Assef explains that, in his mind and the minds of many within Afghanistan, Hara zas have no place in the country. By believing in this philosophy, Assef also makes it clear that he supports discrimination and mistreatment of Hazaras by Pashtuns. As we can see, in the novel there were a lot of examples of discrimination. Throughout the novel, we see all forms of discrimination from the Pashtuns treating the Hazaras with disrespect to the Russian soldiers behaving the way that they did towards the Afghans. The power of discrimination is well seen between Hassan and Amir because in the book Amir was seen scared to act a certain way towards Hassan since he feared of being judged by the Pashtuns. Overall, in The Kite Runner, discrimination was a very common theme that was persistent throughout the entire novel.