Fragile Families, Fragile Solutions: A History of Supportive Services for Families in Poverty / Edition 1

by Robert Halpern

Overview

How has America's social welfare network benefited families living in poverty? In what ways has it failed to provide for their needs? The system of social welfare in the United States has been in place for most of this century-and although it has had lasting impact on the lives of many people in need, it is far from perfect in its handling of the nation's poor. Fragile Families, Fragile Solutions presents a historical perspective on one of the central components of the U.S. social welfare network-family services-and provides a unique look at the advances this service network has achieved, problems it has confronted, and where it is likely to go in the future.

Beginning with an exploration of the nineteenth-century roots of family services and the emergence of family casework at the beginning of this century, Halpern ranges through the 1920s and 1930• charting the influence of psychoanalytic theory in social service work and government responses to the Depression. He surveys the following two decades, when policymakers attempted to respond to changing inner-city populations. An extended section focuses on the 1960• a critical reform period. Covering a wide spectrum of contemporary issues in policy and organization, as well as escalating crises in such areas as child welfare, Halpern brings readers up to date on this complex subject.

Offering policy recommendations for the future, Halpern inspires social workers and policymakers alike with a symbolic goal of constructing a more positive vision of the potential of social services, and a pragmatic objective of designing an efficient, effective family services network to care for Americans in greatest need of support.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231106672
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	09/25/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert Halpern is professor at the Erikson Institute for Advanced Study in Child Development at Loyola University, Chicago.

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Emergence of Supportive Social Services
Formative Strands: Settlements, Casework, and Mothers' Aid
Trial by Fire
The Quiet Before the Next Storm
Service Reform as a War on Poverty
Developments in Aid to Families with Dependent Children
The 1970s: Struggle for Renewal in a Shifting Environment
Retrenchment Without Renewal
New Paradigms, Old Problems
Where to From Here? AcknowledgmentsSolutions

What People are Saying About This

James K. Whittaker

Richly detailed, strong in its historical and contemporary analysis and a joy to read, Fragile Families, Fragile Solutions is an essential volume for all whose interest is in family and children's services policy, research, and practice.

— James K. Whittaker, coauthor of Person--Environment Practice

Editorial Reviews

In the context of a reform du jour and a quick-fix mentality, this book is insightful and wise. It seamlessly interweaves a historical perspective with sensitivity to the contemporary challenges of helping 'fragile families´ in a confusing and shifting policy and practice landscape. The book´s message, as we enter the twenty-first century, is a blend of tempered realism and hope, and the analysis is one that should be taken very seriously.

Jane Knitzer

Richly detailed, strong in its historical and contemporary analysis and a joy to read, Fragile Families, Fragile Solutions is an essential volume for all whose interest is in family and children´s services policy, research, and practice.

James K. Whittaker