WINONASTATEUNIVERSITY

PROPOSAL FOR NEW COURSES

Department ______Child Advocacy Studies______Date ______02/28/07______

Refer to Regulation 3-4, Policy for Changing the Curriculum, for complete information on submitting proposals for curricular changes.

_____404______Sociology of Child Poverty______3____

Course No.Course NameCredits

This proposal is for a(n)___X___ Undergraduate Course______Graduate Course

Applies to:______Major___X___ Minor______University Studies*

______Required_____ Required______Not for USP

_____ Elective__X___ Elective

Prerequisites ______None______

Grading method ___X_ Grade only______P/NC only______Grade and P/NC Option

Frequency of offering ______Once per year______

*For University Studies Program course approval, the form Proposal for University Studies Courses must also be completed and submitted according to the instructions on that form.

Provide the following information:

A.Course Description

  1. Catalog description.
  2. Course outline of the major topics and subtopics (minimum of two-level outline).
  3. Instructional methods utilized. Please indicate the contributions of lectures, laboratories, web-based materials, internships, and other instructional methods to this course.
  4. Course requirements (papers, lab work, projects, etc.) and means of evaluation.
  5. Course materials (textbook(s), articles, etc.).
  6. List of references.

B.Rationale

  1. Statement of the major focus and objectives of the course.
  2. Specify how this new course contributes to the departmental curriculum.
  3. Indicate any course(s) which may be dropped if this course is approved.

C.Impact of this Course on other Departments, Programs, Majors, or Minors

  1. Does this course increase or decrease the total credits required by a major or minor of any other department? If so, which department(s)?
  2. List the department(s), if any, which have been consulted about this proposal.

Attach a Financial and Staffing Data Sheet.

Attach an Approval Form with appropriate signatures.

Department Contact Person for this Proposal:

___Jacqueline Hatlevig Ph.D., ______

Name (please print)Phonee-mail address

Form Revised 4-13-05

A. Course Description

1. Description of the course as it will appear in the WSU catalog

CAST 404 Sociology of Child Poverty (3 S.H.)

Students will analyze poverty and child poverty in the U.S. while placing both in an international and historical context. They will understand the demographics of poverty and the effects of poverty on children. They will critically evaluate sociological research and theories of the causes of poverty and child poverty. Students will also evaluate societal responses to poverty and child poverty, particularly as poverty relates to child maltreatment. This course is useful for students in fields such as sociology, social work, business, nursing, criminal justice, education, psychology, political science, public administration, pre-medicine, and pre-law.

2. Course Outline

  1. Poverty in the U.S. as it has been viewed over time
  2. Before 1900
  3. Development of the official poverty measure
  4. Measuring Poverty
  5. Absolute measure
  6. Relative measure
  7. Quasi-relative measure
  8. Characterizing the Poverty Population
  9. U.S. poverty over time and across groups
  10. Depth of poverty
  11. Intergenerational transfer of poverty
  12. Geography of poverty
  13. U.S. in the international context
  14. Explanations of Poverty
  15. Individualist explanations of poverty
  16. Culture-of-poverty explanations of poverty
  17. Fatalist explanations of poverty
  18. Social-structural explanations of poverty
  19. Causes of welfare need
  20. Social-structural causes
  21. Fatalistic causes
  22. Stigma and discrimination among welfare recipients
  23. Societal attitudes toward welfare recipients
  24. Stigma among welfare recipients
  25. How welfare recipients manage stigma
  26. Policy directed toward poverty, particularly as it relates to child maltreatment
  27. History of such policies in the U.S.
  28. Cash payments
  29. Housing assistance
  30. Healthcare
  31. Food assistance
  32. Promoting employment
  33. Early childhood schooling
  34. Reducing teenage pregnancy
  35. Affirmative Action
  36. Promoting marriage
  37. Recent welfare reform
  38. Living in poverty: the Day-to-Day Experience
  39. Daily activities
  40. Use of welfare
  41. Coping with stress
  42. Children’s experience in poverty
  43. Supplementing welfare
  44. The importance of the informal social network
  45. The importance of formal support
  46. A critique of our current efforts to reduce poverty
  47. Strengths of the welfare system
  48. Weaknesses of the welfare system
  49. Insiders’ perspectives on the welfare system
  50. A critique of welfare reform
  51. Effectiveness of other efforts to reduce poverty
  52. Reducing poverty and child poverty
  53. Insights from other nations
  54. Changing welfare
  55. Reducing the causes of poverty

3. Statement of the basic instructional plan and methods used

This will be a seminar-style course that also comprises service learning and a research paper or project. The principle mode of learning in the classroom will be discussion, not lecture; the topic of discussion will be readings, guest speakers, at least one field trip, and service learning. Participation in discussion during each class meeting will be expected.

4. Course requirements and means of evaluation

Participation15%

Quizzes on readings10%

Investigative Exercise(s)10%

Reading the news20%

Research Analysis20%

Service Learning25%

Total100%

Grading Scale

A+ 100

A90-9990-94 is A-; 95-99 is A

B80-8980-82 is B-; 83-86 is B; 87-89 is B+

C70-79""

D60-69""

F59

Participation--15%

Students will receive a grade for their participation in class, based on the following criteria: the quality of their contributions to our discussion; the extent to which their participation shows their having completed assigned work; the degree to which students seem engaged by our discussion; the frequency with which students volunteer to speak or otherwise contribute; the respect and attention students give other participants in the discussion; and the energy with which students participate in course activities.

Students are expected to offer comments, criticisms, and questions about the reading, assignment, video, or other topic we are discussing. In short, I truly value each student’s participation in our discussions as well as other contributions students make to the course. Each student must not be just an observer, but should instead actively take part as an informed, thoughtful person.

Note: Taking part in an ongoing discussion over assigned work is not the only way to contribute to the course. For example, students can submit a news piece or report (whether newspaper, magazine, television, video, or other) explaining how it is relevant to the course. Students can attend or observe an event, meeting, lecture, film, or video relevant to the course, or observe and/or interview a person or group, and report what students found. Students can volunteer to do a little additional investigation concerning some topic that has come up in class or that is relevant to the course. Students can report on their own experience that is relevant to the course. Students can give me feedback about some part of the course or make a suggestion. In sum, there are many ways students can contribute to the course.

Quizzes on Readings--10%

Five times during the semester there will be a brief, unannounced, in-class quiz of the reading assigned for that day. The intent is to determine whether and how thoroughly the student read; the quiz focus is on content. The lowest quiz score will be dropped.

Investigative Exercise—10%

Students will be asked to complete the application required for receiving welfare benefits such as Food Stamps, Temporary Aid to Needy Families, Section 8 Housing Vouchers, Medicaid, or other.

Reading the News—20%

Throughout the semester, students are asked to choose a news article each week from that week’s New York Times that is about child poverty or is related to child poverty. They are then asked to write a reflection of about one page (about 300 words) in which they discuss the article and how it relates to the course.

Research Analysis—20%

Students are asked to choose three research articles from scholarly journals in sociology, each written by a different author or authors. They are then asked to write a paper of at least five pages (1500 words) in which they compare and evaluate the three articles.

Service Learning--25%

Students will be asked to choose a non-WSU organization where they can carry out service related to child poverty, then carry out 20 hours of service this semester. Students may instead propose their own service activity or project. Students will also be asked to 1) keep a journal in which they reflect on their experience and observations, drawing on sociological ideas and information to do so; 2) provide a signed log of hours stating they have completed 20 hours of service; and 3) write a paper describing their service and what they learned by doing it, drawing on sociological ideas and information to do so. Their grade for this assignment will be based upon the following criteria: the quality of their description of the organization or project; the quality of their description of their experience and observations; the thoughtfulness of their description of what they learned from their service; the extent to which they draw thoughtfully on sociological information and ideas in describing what they learned; and the quality of their writing.

5. List of course materials

  • Iceland, John. 2006. Poverty in America. Berkeley, CA: U California Press.
  • Seccombe, Karen. 2007. So You Think I Drive a Cadillac?Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

6. Bibliography

Books, Articles, Reports

  • Aughinbaugh, Alison and Maury Gittleman. 2003. "Does Money Matter? A Comparison of the Effect of Income on Child Development in the United States and Great Britain." Journal of Human Resources 38:416-440.
  • Blank, Rebecca M. 1997. It Takes a Nation: A New Agenda for Fighting Poverty. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
  • Blank, Rebecca and Ron Haskins. 2001. The New World of Welfare. Brookings Institution.
  • Brown, Susan. 2004 “Family Structure and Child Well-Being: The Significance of Parental Cohabitation.” Journal of Marriage and Family 66:351-68.
  • Chase-Lansdale, P. Lindsay et al. 2003. “Mothers transitions from welfare to work and the well-being of preschoolers and adolescents.” Science 299:1548-1552.
  • Corwin, Miles. 2001. And Still We Rise: The Trials and Triumphs of Twelve Gifted Inner-City Students. New York: Perennial.
  • Danziger, Sheldon H. and Robert Haveman (eds). 2001. Understanding Poverty. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
  • DeParle, Jason. 2004. American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation’s Drive to End Welfare. New York: Penguin.
  • Duncan, Cynthia M. 1999. Worlds Apart: Why Poverty Persists in Rural America. New Haven, CT: YaleUniversity Press.
  • Duncan, Greg et al. 1998. “How Much Does Childhood Poverty Affect the Life Chances of Children?” American Sociological Review 63:406-423.
  • Duncan, Greg J. and P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale (eds). For Better and For Worse: Welfare Reform and the Well-Being of Children and Families. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
  • Duncan, Greg J. and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn (eds). 1997. Consequences of Growing Up Poor. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
  • Edin, Kathryn and Maria Kefalas. 2005. Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
  • Edin, Kathryn and Laura Lein. 1996. Making Ends Meet: How Single Mothers Survive Welfare and Low Wage Work. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
  • Ehrenreich, Barbara. 2001. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. New York: Metropolitan Books.
  • Elman, Cheryl and Angelo M. O’Rand. 2004. “The Race to the Swift: Socioeconomic Origins, Adult Education, and Wage Attainment.” American Journal of Sociology 110:123-160.
  • Evans, Gary W. 2004. “The Environment of Childhood Poverty.” American Psychologist 59:77-92.
  • Grogger, Jeffrey and Lynn Karoly. 2005. Welfare Reform: Effects of a Decade of Change. Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Press.
  • Harris, Kathleen Mullan. 1997. Teen Mothers and the Revolving Welfare Door. Philadelphia, PA: TempleUniversity Press.
  • Iceland, John. 2003. Poverty in America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
  • Lichter, Daniel T. 1997. "Poverty and Inequality among Children." Annual Review of Sociology 23:121-145.
  • Lichter, Daniel T. and Martha L. Crowley. 2002. Poverty in America: Beyond Welfare Reform. Population Bulletin 57 (June). WashingtonDC: Population Reference Bureau.
  • Manning, Wendy and Kathleen Lamb. 2003. “Adolescent well-being in cohabiting, married, and single-parent families.” Journal of Marriage and Family 65:876-893.
  • Mayer, Susan E. 1997. What Money Can't Buy: Family Income and Children's Life Changes. Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Press.
  • McLanahan, Sara and Gary Sandefur. 1994. Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps?Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Press.
  • Moffitt, Robert A. and Michele Ver Ploeg (eds). 2001. Evaluating Welfare Reform in an Era of Transition. Washington, DC: NationalAcademy Press.
  • Newman, Katherine. 1999. No Shame in My Game. New York: Alfred Knopf.
  • Page, Marriane E. and Ann Huff Stevens. 2004. “Understanding Racial Differences in the Economic Costs of Growing Up in a Single-Parent Family.” Demography 42:75-90.
  • Paxson, Christina and Jane Waldfogel 2002. “Work, welfare, and child maltreatment.” Journal of Labor Economics 20:435-474.
  • Payne, Ruby. 2005. A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Highlands, TX: Aha Press.
  • Rainwater, Lee and Timothy M. Smeeding. 2003. Poor Kids in a Rich Country: America’s Children in Comparative Perspective. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
  • Rank, Mark. 2004. One Nation, Underpriviledged: Why Poverty Affects Us All. New York: OxfordUniversity Press.
  • Schiller, Bradley. 2003. The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination (9th ed). New York: Prentice Hall.
  • Sobolewski, Juliana and Paul Amato. 2005. “Economic Hardship in the Family of Origin and Children’s Psychological Well-Being in Adulthood.” Journal of Marriage and Family 67:141-56.
  • Taylor, Beck, Eric Dearing, and Kathleen McCartney. 2004. "Incomes and Outcomes in Early Childhood." Journal of Human Resources 39:980-1007.

Websites

  • Federal Poverty Guidelines and Thresholds (2006):
  • Fragile Families Study, PrincetonUniversity.
  • Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison:
  • Luxembourg International Income Study:
  • NationalCenter for Children in Poverty, ColumbiaUniversity:
  • NationalPovertyCenter, University of Michigan:
  • Three-Cities Welfare Reform Project, JohnsHopkinsUniversity.
  • U.S. Census Bureau Website on Poverty:

B. Rationale for the new course.

  1. The major focus and objectives of the course.

Focus

The focus of the course is to bring about a sociological understanding of poverty and child poverty in the U.S., placing both in an international and historical context.

Objectives

  1. Students will describe the international and historical context for poverty in the U.S.
  2. Students will be able to define poverty and describe the difficulties in doing so.
  3. Students will describe a demographic understanding of who is poor.
  4. Students will describe what it is like to live in poverty.
  5. Students will explain the effects of poverty on children, particularly child maltreatment.
  6. Students will be able to provide a critical description of theories of poverty.
  7. Students will be able to describe and evaluate how child poverty is addressed, particularly as poverty relates to child maltreatment.
  8. Students will propose superior and/or additional measures for addressing child poverty, particularly as it relates to child maltreatment.
  9. Students will take part in civic engagement related to child poverty, while drawing on sociological skills and knowledge. They will document this through their service-learning project.
  10. Students will apply the skills and knowledge they learn to areas beyond child poverty, and vice versa.
  1. Statement specifying how this course will contribute to the departmental curriculum.

This course is an elective for the Child Advocacy Studies minor. A population of children living in poverty is a significant concern to individuals who advocate for children in any setting. In regards to the maltreatment of children, a larger percentage of single mothers live in poverty and also have a higher percentage of reports made regarding their parenting. This course provides a sociological view of children in poverty.

  1. Courses that may be dropped, if any, if this course is implemented.

None

C. Statement of the impact of this course on other departments, programs, majors, and minors.

  1. Clearly state the impact of this course on courses taught in other departments. Does this course duplicate the content of any other course? Is there an effect on prerequisites?

There are no courses that are similar to this course.

  1. Would approval of this course change the total number of credits required by any major or minor of any department? If so, the department must indicate which departments are affected and explain carefully the effects of the course.

This course may also be approved later by other departments as an elective.

  1. If this course has an impact on the major or minor of any other department or any program, it is the responsibility of the department submitting the course proposal to send written notification to the department(s) or program(s) affected. State clearly which other programs are affected by this proposal and whether the other departments have been notified and/or consulted.

We do not perceive this course having an effect on any other program.

WINONASTATEUNIVERSITY

FINANCIAL AND STAFFING DATA SHEET

Course or Program____404 Sociology of Child Poverty___

Include a Financial and Staffing Data Sheet with any proposal for a new course, new program, or revised program.

Please answer the following questions completely. Provide supporting data.

1.Would this course or program be taught with existing staff or with new or additional staff? If this course would be taught by adjunct faculty, include a rationale.

This new course will be taught by faculty from Sociology. This is an interdisciplinary minor for professionals in child protection. The NationalChildProtectionTrainingCenter on campus will contribute $15,000 per semester to replace faculty salary for the departments.

2.What impact would approval of this course/program have on current course offerings? Please discuss number of sections of current offerings, dropping of courses, etc.

This new course provides a unique education opportunity for professionals who will work in the area of child abuse and neglect to understand socioeconomic issues related to children. There are no courses currently being offered that duplicate this course.

3.What effect would approval of this course/program have on the department supplies? Include data to support expenditures for staffing, equipment, supplies, instructional resources, etc.

Currently, money from the National Child Protection Training Center (NCPTC) have been used for course development, copying and instructional resources. Two offices in the new MaxwellCenter will be for CAST faculty and the secretary for the NCPTC will provide 10-15% services to the CAST department. The new equipment, e.g. copy machine, office equipments, etc. will be supplied through the $11.4 million appropriations for the NCPTC building. If the minor is approved, nursing will request Dr. Jacqueline Hatlevig to have a joint appointment in liberal arts and nursing. Dr. Hatlevig will cover the core coursework for next year, as Dr. Carole Madland will be on sabbatical in 2007-2008.