AN ANALYSIS OF FRANCIS FOX PIVEN'S AND RICHARD CLOWARD'S THEORY USES OF PUBLIC WELFARE AS A MECHANISM OF SOCIAL CONTROL: CASE STUDY FULTON COUNTY'S WELFARE PRACTICES, 1950-1969
AN ANALYSIS OF FRANCIS FOX PIVEN'S AND RICHARD CLOWARD'S THEORY USES OF PUBLIC WELFARE AS A MECHANISM OF SOCIAL CONTROL: CASE STUDY FULTON COUNTY'S WELFARE PRACTICES, 1950-1969
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Date
1980-05
Authors
MULLEN, DOLLY JENKINS
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Abstract
MULLEN, DOLLY JENKINS B.A., Morgan State University, 1977
An Analysis of Francis Fox Piven and Richard Clo-ward's Theory on
the Uses of Public Welfare as a Mechanism of Social Control:
Case Study Fulton County's Welfare Practices, 1950-1969
Adviser: William Boone
Thesis dated: May 1980
This study looks at one theory on relief in America and attempts
to ascertain the validity of this theory as applied to
Fulton County, Georgia. Richard Clo-ward and Francis Fox Piven
in Regulating the Poor suggest that public welfare serves two
functions depending on certain social and economic conditions.
They maintain that welfare functions during restrictive periods
as an enforcer of the work ethic. The poor, during this span,
usually receive little in the way of benefits; instead they are
forced into a labor market which in all likelihood is beneficial
to the local economy. The second function of the public welfare
system is, according to Clo-ward and Piven, that of a social control.
That is public welfare systems increase aid in times of
civil disorder to act as a tool of appeasement for the poor.
Clo-ward and Piven, for the most part, examined national relief
policies to substantiate their findings. This study however,
limits its focus to a local setting. Fulton County which houses
the city of Atlanta seemed an appropriate area to test the Clo-ward
and Piven hypothesis. While much knowledge was gained concerning
the functions of public welfare in Fulton County, a number of
questions were confronted. It was discovered that Fulton County's
welfare policies during the 1950's were indeed restrictive as
was suggested by Clo-ward. The 1960's however, saw the increase in
local as well as national welfare expenditures as again was
suggested by Cloward and Piven.
Questions were raised though when one looked at the years
and types of disturbances in Atlanta and the years, motives and
sources of increased welfare budgets in the city. Atlanta's
civil rights activity was hardly as threatening as those rebellions
which took place in the late sixties in other cities throughout
the country. The civil rights movement in Atlanta was, for the
most part, conducted in the early sixties. Welfare increases
occurred in the mid-late sixties. Finally, the federal government
emerged as the source doing the bulk of the giving where relief
was concerned. All of these questions suggested that the Clo-ward
and Piven conclusion on welfare's function as a social control
may be inaccurate.
Description
A THESIS
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF ATLANTA UNIVERSITY
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS
BY
DOLLY JENKINS MULLEN
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
MAY 1980
Keywords
ANALYSIS,, FRANCIS,, FOX PIVEN'S,, RICHARD,, CLOWARD'S,, THEORY,, USES,, PUBLIC WELFARE,, MECHANISM,, SOCIAL CONTROL,, CASE STUDY,, FULTON,, COUNTY'S,, WELFARE, PRACTICES, 1950-1969