RUTGERS UNIVERSITY CAMDEN COLLEGE

Spring 2007 Prof. Jon Van Til TU TH 1:30-2:50

This course aims to provide an understanding of poverty and its relationship to patterns of wealth and inequality in the contemporary United States. Major theoretical perspectives on poverty are examined and attention is paid to the way in which people define poverty and inequality, and the policies society and its government develop to deal with these situations.

The course addresses three sets of problems: first, to understand poverty and inequality in contemporary America; second, to understand the major policies that attempt to deal with these conditions; and third, to seek to understand emerging patterns of distribution and inequality in American society.

The course aims to provide for a substantial amount of student participation, through student-led discussion groups and participatory class sessions. Students are expected to attend class regularly, and to remain current in reading assignments.

Each week's work is aimed at the clarification of a basic question in the study of poverty. It is the expectation of the course design that, once the student is able to deal productively with these sub-questions, he or she will be able to both understand the nature of contemporary poverty and of methods to resolve and reduce it.

COURSE DESIGN. The course meets twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:30 until 2:50. The Tuesday session will generally begin with a lecture, which will outline major arguments and perspectives bearing on the question of the week. Later weekly time will usually be occupied by student-led discussion or reading groups. During these discussions, ongoing survey and reflective material generated by student participation will be incorporated into the process. The Thursday session will often involve group discussion or a variety of experiential exercises.

The mid-term exam will be held on March 1; the final exam will be held at the time scheduled by the College Calendar. During the weeks following Spring Break, students will be able to choose between a reading and a community research option for Thursday sessions.

READINGS. The basic text for the course is by Jason De Parle, American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation's Drive to End Welfare (2004). Additional readings from contemporary and web sources will also be assigned in class throughout the term.

Each student will also read at least two additional books, one from Category A and one from Category B:

READ AT LEAST ONE BOOK FROM CATEGORY A AND BE PREPARED TO WRITE ABOUT IT ON THE MIDTERM EXAM:

Hays, Sharon, FLAT BROKE WITH KIDS (2004)

Kozol, Jonathan, AMAZING GRACE (1995)

READ AT LEAST ONE BOOK FROM CATEGORY B AND BE PREPARED TO WRITE ABOUT IT ON THE FINAL EXAM:

Rifkin, Jeremy, THE END OF WORK (2004)

Wilson, William Julius, WHEN WORK DISAPPEARS (1996)

Jeffrey Sachs, THE END OF POVERTY (2005)

One copy of each book is on general reserve (two hours) for the course in the Library.

Students are responsible for access to these volumes. Additional readings will be suggested pertaining to the preparation of a Clipping Thesis (see below).

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING. Students are expected to attend class regularly, and to provide explanation of regular or prolonged absence. A final grade will be assigned using the following weights: Mid-term examination 20%; Final examination 30%; Term Essay 40%; Class participation 10%. The Clipping Thesis will be assigned at an appropriate point during the semester, and will be required for completion by the last class meeting day, Thursday, April 26, unless extended by permission. It will be written on a topic to be chosen by the student from a list of topics provided by the instructor. Suggested readings will accompany these topics. Classroom evaluation will be evaluated both in terms of the regularity of attendance and the preparedness of the student, indicated by participation in group discussion reports and vocal participation at appropriate points in the class.

NOTE ON INSTRUCTOR. The course will be taught by Jon Van Til, Professor of Urban Studies and Community Development. Among his publications in the area of poverty is the book Privilege in America: An End to Inequality? (Prentice-Hall, 1973). His most recent book is Growing Civil Society (2000). Prof. Van Til was named "Creative Teacher of the Year" at Rutgers-Camden in 1991. Dr. Van Til posts office hours weekly at 321 Cooper St. (Office hours will usually be Tuesday and Thursday from 11:15-12:30 and 3:00-4:15 , with other hours by appointment.) His office phone is 856-225-6223. Students are invited to make full use of office hours and to schedule other appointments at their convenience.

Prof. Van Til's webpage can be found at www.crab.rutgers.edu/~vantil and the course webpage is located at www.crab.rutgers.edu/~vantil/courses/204-POVERTY.html. His email address is vantil@camden.rutgers.edu

You will be asked to prepare a clipping thesis in this course. A clipping thesis provides one of the most effective ways to understand contemporary urban affairs. It allows you to observe critically how events develop over a period of time. During the course of semester, most major areas of urban policy show significant development. Analyzing the development of these issues is one of the best ways of learning how to appraise the political, social and economic environment in which we live, as well as to get some personal perspective on one's role as a citizen-participant in the process.

A. Select a problem or area within the course purview, with permission of the instructor. The problem should be within the field of urban studies, community planning, and public affairs, and should directly be related to issues of poverty and inequality. Make sure the problem:

1. Interests you particularly

2. Is one you'd like to know more about

3. Seems to be a significant issue.

B. Collect articles and information about this topic throughout the term using the daily issues of a newspaper, such as the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, or the Courier-Post, as well as scholarly journals, magazines, television programs, etc. Web-based access may be gained to these and many other periodicals. Electronic reference sources can also prove highly valuable. You may personally know public officials or other persons who might be helpful to you in gaining an insight into the problem.

C. It is probably best to begin following a more general topic, and then to narrow it down after you have seen what aspects of it you want to focus on after observing its development.

D. At the end of the term you will submit a report which analyzes the data you have collected:

1. The report will consist of an analysis of the question which utilizes the individual clippings and other sources. It will relate to issues that have been considered in the course, and will draw where appropriate on course lectures, discussions, and readings. The analysis of the report will take the form of an essay on the questions drawn from current sources and portrays the development of the problem you have chosen over time. Your essay should not only frame the questions in their general setting but end with an evaluation of events over the period covered.

2. Reference your clippings by means of an index you develop as you collect them. For instance, you might want to start with the date, and then list the source, author and title. Such a file could be numerically indexed: for instance this memo could be referenced as 1) 01/07--Van Til, Rutgers University, "Clipping Thesis". It could be listed like that in your References, and then simply referred to as "1" in your paper.

3. Keep the following kinds of questions in mind while you develop your clip thesis:

a. How did the problem arise?

2. What are the issues involved?
3. How does the problem develop during the period of the course?
4. How is the problem resolved during the period?

e. What is the present status of the problem?

f. What does the future look like in terms of the problem?

g. What are some of the side issues?

h. What seems to be diverting attention away from the problem and its resolution?

i. What forces of governmental and non-governmental origin interact with the problem?

4. You may work alone or in a group. If you work in a group, be sure that all members of the group are able to access the clip file.

E. Here are some problems you might want to focus on in your clip thesis for this course:

1. Develop a plan for an effective "War on Poverty" in Camden (group project).

2. How would a Democratic administration differ from Bush’s administration on the issues of poverty and inequality?

3. What is the present state of the New Jersey welfare reform plan (the Bryant bill), and what will its likely future be?

5. How do the problems of drug use and trafficking affect poverty?

6. Is the conflict perspective on poverty fairly covered in the press?

7. How can AIDS be seen as part of the poverty problem?

8. What are the major aspects of the homelessness problem? What might best be done to resolve this problem?

9. In what ways is poverty an even more serious world-wide issue than it is in the U.S.?

10. What approach to poverty might address the needs of the underclass?

11. Do men and women suffer equally the ravages of poverty?
12. What are our options for developing strong family life? Which will work well?

URBAN STUDIES 975:204 POVERTY Spring, 2007 PROF. JON VAN TIL

LECTURE OUTLINE: POVERTY AND INEQUALITY--AN HISTORICAL VIEW

I. From Equality to Inequality

A. Equality among the Hunter-Gatherers

B. The Beginnings of Inequality in Tribal Society

C. The Most Unequal Society: Peasant Society

D. Urban-Industrial Society and the J-curve

II. Theoretical Views of Inequality

A. The Consensus Theory: Inequality as necessary and functional

B. The Conflict Theory: Inequality as a result of privilege

III. A Theory of Inequality (Gerhard Lenski, Power and Privilege)

A. Need as an egalitarian force

B. Power and the surplus

IV. Inequality in the Contemporary U.S.

A. Patterns of the distribution of income

1. Historical stability

2. Changes since 1980

B. Patterns in the distribution of wealth

C. The Poverty Line

D. The Federal Budget: where it comes from and where it goes

V. The JIPS schema (Jobs, Income, Power, Services) and the PECTS typology (Politics, Economics, Core Culture, and the Third Sector

VI. The Origins of Anglo-American Poverty Policy: The British Experience

A. The Statute of Laborers (1349)

1. Wage restrictions

2. Travel restrictions

3. Forced work

B. The Punishment of Able-bodied Beggars (1531)

C. Elizabethan Poor Laws (1601)

1. Responsibility of the LRR

2. Punishment and institutionalization of vagrants

3. Support of children, the helpless

D. Speenhamland (1795)

1. Cash grant pegged to cost of food, family size

2. The debate over its effects

E. Poor Law of 1834

1. "Indoor relief"

2. "Less eligibility"

3. Poverty as "unnatural"

VII. The Coming of the Welfare State in Great Britain

A. Reform Act (1867)

B. Depression (1875-1900)

C. Formation of the Labor Party (1906)

D. Development of Categorical Programs

1. For children

a. Special poor law status (1875)

b. Meals, health care (1906,7)

2. For aged poor

3. For ill (aid need not bring disenfranchisement, 1885)

4. For unemployed, public work (1886, 1905)

VIII. Social Insurance

A. Workmen's compensation (1897)

B. Industrial disease protection (1906)

C. Pensions (1906)

D. Medical care (1911)

E. Unemployment insurance (1911)

IX. Post-War Programs (1948)

A. Family assistance

B. Nationalized medical care

C. Education

X. Major Themes in the U.S. Experience (Cf. Katz,Introduction)

A. Division between public assistance and social insurance

B. Local variation

C. Use of private agents to meet public purposes

D. Incompletion of the welfare state

E. Other themes

1. Stigma of extreme poverty

2. Welfare reform as reduction of benefits

XI. The U.S. Experience

A. Colonial Poor Laws and its English roots

1. Public responsibility

2. Profoundly local

3. Kin responsibility

4. Apprenticeship of children

5. Exclusion of strangers

B. 18th Century--the Poor House, Work House, and House of Correction in the context of continuing outdoor relief: The Protestant Ethic and the problem of poverty

C. Early 19th Century--the domination of indoor relief

1. The rise of the poorhouse movement (Katz, 16)

a. Rise of pauperism

b. Growth of relief rolls

c. Theories of poverty

1) Growth of cities and immigration

2) Problem of intemperance

3) Generosity of charity

d. The distinction between the worthy and the unworthy poor (19)

2. Expectations from the poorhouse (23)

a. Cheaper

b. Change behavior

c. Better for children

3. The Failure of the Poorhouse.

D. Later 19th Century--outdoor relief and moral reformation

1. The resilience of outdoor relief: the need to prevent starvation and to intervene when dependency threatens (53-4)

2. The role of philanthropy and voluntary organizations

3. The theory and practice of "scientific charity"

a. Roots in friendly visiting, distinction between worthy and unworthy, centrality of Protestant women

b. Catholic and Protestant approaches

c. Lowell's approach and her disillusionment (68- 80)

1) Criteria (70)

--Provide necessities

--Do little moral harm

--Short term intervention

--Cheap as possible

--Limited public role

2) Characteristics of Charity (71)

--Voluntary

--Donee has no personal claim

--Action must be kind

--Donee must be inferior to donor

4. The Impact of the Depression of 1893

a. From Poorhouse to Flophouse

b. Mental Institutions

c. Child-saving

XII. Twentieth Century America: From the Gospel of Individualism to the Great Depression to the Semiwelfare State

A. Direct relief after the Depression of 1893

B. Job provision and the reorganization of the labor market

C. the Social Security Act of 1935

XIII. Current Anti-Poverty Policies

XIV. Welfare and Wealthfare