Worthy Widows, Welfare Cheats

Single mothers spark what Nancy Fraser calls 'needs talk,' the language for translating daily life into professional practice and social policy. The author analyzes expert needs talk in 709 case vignettes, published in the United States between 1900 and 1988, in which experts turn single mothers into 'file persons,' the basic unit of bureaucratic welfare management. The author shows how expert needs talk in these sources determines single mothers' worthiness for philanthropic or government support according to their conformity with historically specific notions of proper womanhood. Demographic, political, institutional, and especially professional changes help explain the observed shifts in expert needs talk and the social construction of single motherhood

Bureaucracy · Conformity · Developmental psychology · Government (linguistics) · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Single mothers · Social Welfare · Sociology · Unit (ring theory) · Welfare · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Law · Psychology · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Work-Family Balance Challenges

• Social Construction in Communication Re-Constituting the Conversation

  Mariaelena Bartesaghi, Theresa Castor•Annals of the International…•2008

  Añadir item

• Pathologies of the Poor

  Kalynn Amundson, Anna Zajicek et al.•The Journal of Sociology & Social…•2014

  Añadir item

• The Psychology of Poverty

  Laura Curran•Social Service Review•2002

  Añadir item

• Breaking and Entering the Establishment

  Beth B He, Beth B Hess•Social Problems•1999

  Añadir item

• Personal Experience Narrative and Public Debate

  Lisa D Brush, Lorraine D Higgins•College Composition and…•2006

  Añadir item

• Not Just Maternalism

  Dorit Geva•Social Politics International…•2011

  Añadir item

• Between the exceptional and the ordinary

  Open Access•Ragnar Lundström•Crime Media Culture An…•2011

  Añadir item

• Introduction

  Valerie Heffernan, Gay Wilgus•Women a Cultural Review•2018

  Añadir item

• Is using work–life interface benefits a career‐limiting move? An examination of women, men, lone parents, and parents with partners

  Open Access•Alison M Konrad, Yang Yang•Journal of Organizational Behavior•2012

  Añadir item

• Between Women

  L S Abrams, Laura Curran•Social Service Review•2004

  Añadir item

• Ambivalent Acceptance of Single‐Parent Families

  Open Access•Margaret L Usdansky•Journal of Marriage and the Family•2009

  Añadir item

• Framing fraud

  Open Access•Ragnar Lundström•European Journal of Communication•2013

  Añadir item

• State Abortion and Nonmarital Birthrates in the Post-Welfare Reform Era

  Open Access•Kimberly Kelly, Linda Grant et al.•Gender & Society•2007

  Añadir item

• The New Welfare Trap

  Open Access•A Fiona Pearson, Anne Pearson•Gender & Society•2007

  Añadir item

• Gender in the Prozac Nation

  Open Access•Linda M Blum, Nena F Stracuzzi•Gender & Society•2004

  Añadir item

• A Case Study of State-Level Policymakers' Discursive Co-Constructions of Welfare Drug Testing Policy and Gender, Race, and Class

  Open Access•Kalynn Amundson, Anna Zajicek•Sociological Inquiry•2018

  Añadir item

• A Weak Embrace

  Open Access•Margaret L Usdansky•Journal of Marriage and the Family•2009

  Añadir item

• A Social Metamorphosis

  Kalynn Amundson, Anna Zajicek et al.•Sociological Spectrum•2015

  Añadir item

• The wages of motherhood

  Gwendolyn Mink•The wages of motherhood•1995

  Añadir item

• Representations of Motherhood

  Donna Bassin, Margaret Honey et al.•Representations of Motherhood•1996

  Añadir item

• Fallen women, problem girls

  Regina G Kunzel•Fallen women, problem girls•1993

  Añadir item

• From poor law to welfare state

  Walter I Trattner•From poor law to welfare state•1989

  Añadir item

• Pitied but not entitled

  Linda Gordon•Pitied but not entitled•1994

  Añadir item

• The undeserving poor

  Michael B Katz•The undeserving poor•2013

  Añadir item

• Heroes of their own lives

  Linda Gordon•Heroes of their own lives•1988

  Añadir item

• Poor People's Movements

  Frances Fox Piven, Richard Cloward•Poor People's Movements•1978

  Añadir item

• The new politics of poverty

  Lawrence M Mead•The new politics of poverty•1992

  Añadir item

• Family, Dependence, and the Origins of the Welfare State

  Susan Pedersen•Family, Dependence, and the…•1995

  Añadir item

• Love and Toil

  Ellen Ross•Love and toil•1993

  Añadir item

• The Professional Altruist

  Roy Lubove•Professional Altruist•1965

  Añadir item

• Of Woman Born

  Adrienne Rich, Eula Biss•Of Woman Born•2021

  Añadir item

• Before Our Time

  Open Access•Douglas Hubble•The Lancet•1953

  Añadir item

• Gender, Equality and Welfare States

  Open Access•Diane Sainsbury•Gender, Equality and Welfare States•1996

  Añadir item

• Unruly Practices, Power, Discourse and Gender in Contemporary Social Theory

  Douglas Kellner, Radical Philosophy Association•Radical Philosophy Review of Books•1992

  Añadir item

• The Family and Its Functions

  Open Access•Ezra F Vogel, Derrick J Stenning et al.•Understanding Society•1970

  Añadir item

• Mothers of a New World

  Seth Koven, Sonya Michel•Mothers of a New World•2013

  Añadir item

• Gender and the Politics of History

  Pilar Zazueta, Etienne Stockland•Gender and the Politics of History•2017

  Añadir item

• Protecting Soldiers and Mothers

  Open Access•T Skocpol•Protecting Soldiers and Mothers•1995

  Añadir item

• Gender and the Politics of History

  Joan Wallach Scott•Gender and the Politics of History•1988

  Añadir item

• Regulating the Lives of Women

  Mimi Abramovitz•Regulating the Lives of Women•2017

  Añadir item

• The Unmarried Mother and Her Child

  E E Lemasters, Virginia Wimperis•Marriage and Family Living•1961

  Añadir item

• Race, Citizenship, and the Bio-politics of the Maternalist Welfare State

  Bruce Bellingham, MARY PUGH MATHIS•Social Politics International…•1994

  Añadir item

• Saving Babies and Sterilizing Mothers

  M LADD-TAYLOR•Social Politics International…•1997

  Añadir item

• Single Mothers and Their Children

  Open Access•Evelyn Z Brodkin, Irwin Garfinkel et al.•Journal of Policy Analysis and…•1988

  Añadir item

• Four Milestones of Progress

  Open Access•Homer Folks•The Annals of the American…•1940

  Añadir item

• Recent Social Trends in the United States

  Redvers Opie•The Economic Journal•1934

  Añadir item

• Employable Mothers' and 'Suitable Work

  J L Goodwin•Journal of Social History•1995

  Añadir item

• Psychodynamic factors in illegitimacy

  J Kasanin, Sieglinde Handschin•American Journal of Orthopsychiatry•1941

  Añadir item

• Unruly practices

  Nancy Fraser•Unruly practices•1989

  Añadir item

• The Color of Welfare

  Jill Quadagno, Jill S Quadagno•The color of welfare•1994

  Añadir item

• On Record

  Abraham S Blumberg, Stanton Wheeler•American Sociological Review•1971

  Añadir item

• Making Claims as Workers or Wives

  Madonna Harrington Meyer•American Sociological Review•1996

  Añadir item

• Gender and the Social Rights of Citizenship

  Ann Shola Orloff•American Sociological Review•1993

  Añadir item

• Not for Widows Only

  Nancy K Cauthen, E Amenta•American Sociological Review•1996

  Añadir item

• Working from the Margins

  Charles Craypo, Virginia Schein et al.•Industrial and Labor Relations…•1996

  Añadir item

• The Population of the United States, Historical Trends and Future Projections

  Open Access•A M, Andrés Mideros et al.•Population•1988

  Añadir item

• From Max Weber

  Max Weber, H H Gerth et al.•From Max Weber•2014

  Añadir item

• For Richer, for Poorer

  Leslie A Morgan, Demie Kurz•Journal of Marriage and the Family•1996

  Añadir item

• On Record

  Arline F Sakuna, Stanton Wheeler•Social Forces•1971

  Añadir item

• For Richer, For Poorer

  Martha Mcmahon, Demie Kurz•Social Forces•1996

  Añadir item

• Gender, Social Reproduction, and Women's Self-Organization

  Open Access•Johanna Brenner, Barbara Laslett•Gender & Society•1991

  Añadir item

• Work Commitment and Constraint Among Mothers on Workfare

  Open Access•Stacey J Oliker•Journal of Contemporary Ethnography•1995

  Añadir item

• Gender in the Welfare State

  Ann Shola Orloff, Ann Orloff•Annual Review of Sociology•1996

  Añadir item

• Neglected Widowhood in the Juvenile Court

  Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge•American Journal of Sociology•1910

  Añadir item