A study of the conflicting role of the church in the formulation and execution of social welfare policy in 20th century America, 1980
Steege, Mark W.
1980-1989
A careful review of the literature brings one face to face with the fact that while theologians have been considering the care of the poor and distressed for years, they have still not come up with consistent policies. They have been unwilling to involve other agencies in their programs and have not been supportive of the programs of other agencies. They have been consistently chosen to believe that secular agencies are the best answer for every problem. Meanwhile, in more recent years, the government has gotten more and more involved in the whole area of social welfare. In some instances they have set up separate and duplicate programs and in others they have contracted services out to secular agencies. All too often bureaucratic pride has kept them from involving churches in constructive ways. Social workers have had their difficulties with both churches and government. The secular agencies are often too restrictive to meet the needs of all while government agencies want workers to operate in moral neutralism. I therefore suggest that all three groups have their function but it will only be when individual jealousies are put aside that coordinated, cooperative, and integrated functioning will take place. I have suggested some possible directions that might be pursued in seeking these jointly effective solutions satisfactory to all concerned.
text
application/pdf
1980-02-01
thesis
Master of Science (MS)
Atlanta University
School of Social Work
Clark Atlanta University
Georgia--Atlanta
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:1980_steege_mark_w