Social Programs of Two Administrations
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The divergent social policies and programs of the Kennedy/Johnson era and the Reagan/Bush era demonstrate the different attitudes in which these administrations viewed the poor. Kennedy/Johnson policymakers regarded the poor as flawed and inexperienced, in need of government assistance to enter the mainstream and assimilate society's work ethic. Reagan/Bush policymakers regarded the poor as victims of government overindulgence, whose only hope for self-sufficiency was by weaning them from the government dole. Social policies and programs continue to come under severe attack as legislators seek means to control the country's spiraling federal deficit. An examination of the goals and social theories underlying the policies and programs of the Kennedy/Johnson and Reagan/Bush administrations demonstrates why the thorny issue of poverty persists in contemporary political debate. Poverty was an important issue in John F. Kennedy's campaign for the presidency. When the Kennedy administration took office in 1961, the president set to work almost immediately to implement his social policies and programs. Not since the New Deal era of Franklin Roosevelt had such a major effort been expended to fight poverty. Kennedy's strategy shifted emphasis from merely providing cash assistance to needy families to providing services that would prevent dependency in the first place. This was a significant new concept in the philosophy of public welfare: "During his address to Congress o
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public welfare, thus easing the financial burden on society: "[Public assistance] was meant to be a 'hand-up' rather than a 'hand-out' and recognized a distinction between welfare and state welfare" (Barry, 1990, p. 108).
Kennedy and Johnson also reasoned that alleviating the symptoms of poverty would improve the participation rate of low-income persons in their communities. To facilitate this involvement many of the social policies and programs of the New/Great Society advocated empowerment of the poor in policy and program decisions that affected their lives. This "participation" philosophy involved a diverse range of efforts: "Community development approaches focused on rebuilding housing stock, encouraging the establishment of new businesses, and similar endeavors to transform inner cities into economically productive neighborhoods" (Rank, 1994, p. 17). This philosophy resulted in concomitant change in the practice of social work:
" . . . the social work profession itself turned its attention away from individual, family, and group treatment to community organization, social program and policy design, and social action" (Goldstein, 1996, p. 90).
The social engineering philosophy of the Kennedy/Johnson era was displace
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1860
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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