Working at the Margins : Moving off Welfare in America

by Riemer, Frances J.

• ISBN13: 9780791449257
• ISBN10: 0791449254
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Author Biography

Frances Julia Riemer is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at Northern Arizona University.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Preface	xix
Introduction: Myths and Realities	1	(20)
PART I: THE STORIES
Development and the Hardest to Serve	21	(48)
Naming the Hardest to Serve	21	(1)
An Institutional History	22	(3)
The Reality of the Hardest to Serve	25	(2)
Conceptualizing the Hardest to Serve	27	(1)
Socialization for Work	28	(1)
Computers in the Learning Lab	29	(2)
Life Skills	31	(5)
Supported Work	36	(2)
The Social Organization of Work	38	(3)
Justification	41	(3)
Exceptions to the Rule	44	(4)
Perceiving Inequities	48	(3)
Negotiating the Naming	51	(1)
An Imperfect Fit	52	(5)
Resistance	57	(4)
Against Each Other	61	(1)
Cooling Out	62	(1)
Staying	63	(4)
Full Circle	67	(2)
Church Hall and Single Mothers on Welfare	69	(43)
Getting There	69	(3)
Single Mothers and Welfare	72	(3)
Training to Compensate	75	(4)
Blending In	79	(2)
Certification Training	81	(5)
The Work	86	(6)
Local Knowledge	92	(2)
A Professional Hierarchy	94	(3)
Different, Strange, and Even Dangerous	97	(1)
A Lack of Respect	98	(2)
Carving Spaces	100	(1)
Few Options	101	(4)
Protests of Denial	105	(4)
Viewing Practices in Piecemeal	109	(3)
Concordance Steps and Southeast Asian Refugees	112	(31)
Refugee as Identity	112	(2)
A Political History	114	(2)
Adult Learners	116	(2)
The Labor Market	118	(2)
Skills Training and Hands-On Learning	120	(1)
Job Placement	121	(3)
The Social Organization of Work	124	(4)
Cambodians Are a Little Better	128	(2)
The Language Barrier	130	(1)
Errors on the Floor	131	(2)
You Have to Know People	133	(2)
Appreciating Kindness	135	(2)
Accommodation in the Workplace	137	(4)
Learning to Juggle	141	(2)
Jackson Hospital's Pharmacies and the Cream of the Unemployed	143	(38)
Getting There	143	(4)
The Collaboration	147	(1)
The Best Five	148	(5)
Broad-Based Funding	153	(2)
Learning Specific Knowledge	155	(2)
Getting Hired	157	(2)
An Occupation in Transition	159	(5)
A Good Salary	164	(2)
Active Members	166	(2)
Becoming Supervisors	168	(2)
Embracing the Role	170	(5)
Something's Keeping Us Here	175	(6)
PART II: WHAT THE STORIES MEAN
Analyzing the Circle	181	(31)
The Pieces of Choosing	182	(3)
Training Programs	185	(3)
Sorting the Poor	188	(2)
The Underclass	190	(3)
Refugees	193	(3)
Assessment and the Cream of the Unemployed	196	(2)
Ranking Individuals	198	(2)
JTPA and Job Training	200	(2)
Downscaling Training	202	(2)
Defining Work	204	(2)
Making Sense	206	(1)
Distancing from an Imperfect Fit	207	(3)
A Better Fit	210	(2)
Other Possibilities	212	(25)
Prioritizing Work	213	(3)
Cooling Out at Work	216	(2)
A Foot in the Door	218	(4)
Imaginings	222	(1)
Flexible Training Models	223	(3)
Educational Networks and Supports	226	(5)
Good Jobs, Good Pay, Good Benefits	231	(4)
Bucking the Natural Trend	235	(2)
Appendix A: Ethnographic Methodology and Methods	237	(20)
Appendix B: The People	257	(5)
Appendix C: State Mandated Content of Nurse Aide Training	262	(3)
Appendix D: Church Hall's Clinical Performance Summary	265	(1)
Appendix E: Pharmacy Committees at Jackson's Hospital	266	(1)
Notes	267	(6)
Glossary	273	(4)
References	277	(10)
Index	287