Review of "Legacies of the War on Poverty," edited by Martha J. Bailey & Sheldon Danziger, 2013. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, paper, 309 pages.
JFK.
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Bailey and Danziger assemble here ten papers on the history of the war on poverty, covering its beginnings with JFK to the current great recession creating and disabling the poor in our country. They write the first chapter, explaining how Lyndon B. Johnson took up the torch and planned to eradicate poverty in the USA.
JFK did not get to fight this war, and that is a loss we will always wonder about. How much more effective might the battle have been? This and other questions have no easy answers.
The authors also show the origin of many charitable programs, from food stamps to unemployment benefits, and they make it clear the numbers of poor persons in this land have not been small.
The book has more than one use, as it provides in-depth explanations of the origin of programs and the political connections related to funding, legislation, and public perspectives on spending. From the point of view of historical developments, public policy, and political processes, the book could be not only good background reading for social workers and street counselors, and also for MSW students and caseworkers.
The book could be helpful background reading for K-12 teachers also. In addition, the book could be very helpful for teachers developing or enriching social science units in the classroom.
The readings in the rest of the edition are also helpful, though some include rather technical terminology and concepts from fields such as economics. The text would lend itself well to use in graduate courses or longer summer classes on developing either teacher understanding of what went on in 2008 or on creating more informative units on social science topics in the classroom.
The second part of the book includes four readings on increasing human capital, employment, and earnings. Here, four topics in education are discussed: the origins and impacts of Head Start; K-12 education battles; access to higher education; and workforce development.
The third part of the book includes: the safety net for families with children; the safety net for the elderly; and the origins and impact of housing programs for families. The last section covers improvements in access to medical care and health.
These last two chapters on medical care and health are very important as a contribution to units on Obamacare, current events, and political processes. Like the other chapters in the book, these two can provide teachers with one solid reference when designing materials and questions for students to ponder. Much of the data here can be used not only for teachers to come to a better understanding of what has been done to help disadvantaged persons in this nation but also for teachers to design and enrich units related to all of the Social Science Goals within the Illinois Learning Standards.
I would suggest that the themes and data in the book relate to specific strands within the Social Science Goals. Based on the information in this book, I would propose the book includes insights and data helpful specifically related to units addressing these strands in the Illinois Social Science Goals: 14.A, 14.B, 14.C; 14.D; 14.F; 15.A.c; 15.A.d.; 15.E; 16.C.b (US); 16.E.b; 17.C.a; 18.A; 18.B; and 18.C.
To summarize, I feel there is a great deal of helpful background reading on what went on in the past to establish programs to help those in need. Those involved in social justice and serving their communities can get a lot out of this book.
I would also recommend the book for use in various graduate courses and professional development sessions of some length for teachers.
I suggest the book is helpful for both developing teacher understanding what happened in 2008 and for creating more informed units on social science topics in the classroom. Teachers will clearly make their own connections to different strands, benchmarks and subject. The above is simply an attempt on my part to call attention to some possible interesting uses for this detailed text.
Although the text has some dense passages with technical terms and ideas, it is enlightening to read such great detail about poverty and ways it has been addressed in the USA in the last few decades.
Constant reading to keep counselors and educators up to speed is important. Questioning what we think we know is also essential as we endeavor to help others and teach students.