SOWO 835
1
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
COURSE NO. & SECTION:
SOWO 835
COURSE TITLE & YEAR:
Poverty Policy
Spring Semester 2016
MEETING TIME & PLACE:
Mondays 9:00 – 10:20am, Room 101 TTK
INSTRUCTOR:
Rainier Masa
Tate Turner Kuralt Bldg, Room 402E
rmasa@email.unc.edu
OFFICE HOURS:
Mondays 10:30 – noon and by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course will provide students with a framework for advanced
policy analysis and strategies for policy change, with a focus on national and state poverty policy,
focusing on legal, socio-political, and economic factors influencing financing, access, and service
delivery. This course explores skills and strategies for policy analysis and change.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: The student who successfully completes this course should be able to
demonstrate understanding of the following issues in regard to poverty policy:
1. Identify the principles, foundation and provisions of the primary social welfare programs
that affect Poverty Policy.
2. Demonstrate the analytic, theoretical and value assessment skills that enable social workers
to evaluate policies and apply change strategies.
3. Apply concepts and principles of human rights, social justice, and social work ethics to
policy analysis, development and change strategies.
4. Understand different national definitions and trends in poverty and income and wealth
inequality.
5. Explain the intended and actual consequences of the major US poverty policies.
6. Discuss ethical issues in current poverty policy, including individual and family rights, issues
of distributive justice, and issues of power, discrimination, and oppression, particularly with
regard to racial and ethnic minorities.
7. Understand the specific features of US poverty policy in contrast with other nations.
8. Develop leadership strategies for planning, developing, and changing poverty policies in a
context of empowerment and partnership with individuals, families and communities.
EXPANDED DESCRIPTION: The ability to understand the complexities of poverty policy
development and implementation is crucial for successful professional social work practice settings.
This is the case because social workers shape policy, implement programs, respond to systemic
inequities, and assure that services are available for individuals and families who need them. This
course will critically examine a number of relevant poverty policies in the US and globally.
SOWO 835
2
In this vein, the course provides students with critical understanding of the fundamentals of poverty
in the US and globally. The course will use a comparative approach that highlights the
commonalities and differences of poverty and policy issues in the US and globally, as well as
understanding of how policies affect poor people around the world. The need to understand global
poverty issues is critical to effective social work practice because contemporary events (such as
globalization and migration) have transformed social work practice settings into a global arena that
requires cross-national and global efforts to promote social justice, human rights, and social
development.
This course is also designed to help students develop a set of professional skills. Specifically, at the
end of this course, students will be able to use a policy framework to develop a detailed analysis of
an existing policy in the United States or globally. Additionally, students will improve their public
speaking skills by planning and leading a course session on a topic that they choose. Learning to
synthesize and present complex information to others is an important skill that social workers use
when delivering trainings to colleagues, presenting at a national meeting, or advocating for clients
with lawmakers.
REQUIRED TEXTS/READINGS:
Banerjee, A.V., & Duflo, E. (2011). Poor economics: A radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty.
New York: Public Affairs.
Iceland, J. (2013). Poverty in America: A handbook (3rd ed.). Berkeley, CA: University of California
Press.
Additional readings will be available on the internet or posted on Sakai.
RECOMMENDED TEXTS:
Blau, J., & Abramovitz, M. (2014). The dynamics of social welfare policy (4th ed.). New York: Oxford
University Press.
RESOURCES:
All course lectures, syllabus, assignment information, and external links to useful web sites are or will
be available on Sakai.
TEACHING METHODS AND EXPECTATIONS:
Teaching methods will include lecture and class discussion, multimedia presentations, and small
group activities. We all bring valuable experience and knowledge to the course and sharing our
perspectives makes class a richer experience for each of us. During all sessions, you are expected to
attend all classes and to complete the required readings before class begins. You are expected to
participate in discussions by sharing information from the reading, field experiences, or current
events. Full participation is essential to your learning in the class, and will allow you to successfully
apply the course material in a way that is personally and professionally meaningful. Any student with
significant difficulty with these class participation expectations should speak with me at the
SOWO 835
3
beginning of the semester so that alternative forms of participation and contribution can be
identified.
POLICIES ON THE USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES IN THE CLASSROOM:
I expect that we will all be invested in creating a learning environment of respect and engagement. I
welcome the use of laptops in class for taking notes or completing small group tasks. However, I ask
that you use them only for relevant activities – not for checking email or surfing the Web. Your
attention is an important sign of respect to your colleagues, and an important part of your learning.
POLICY ON INCOMPLETES, ABSENCES, AND LATE ASSIGNMENTS:
Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day noted. Extensions are granted on a caseby-case basis. If you would like to ask for an extension, you must notify me at least 3 days before a due date. If
this does not happen, you will lose 10% of the assignment’s points per day (including weekends, and
including the date on which the assignment was due, if you submit it after the beginning of class).
For example, a paper that would merit a grade of 100 on Friday will receive a grade of 70 if
submitted on Monday. Similarly, a paper due at 2pm on Monday handed in at 3pm will be
considered 1 day late.
Class attendance is highly valued in this course. Students are expected to attend all classes unless
prevented by illness, urgent crisis or mishap. If you anticipate missing a class session, please let the
instructor know in advance. If you are not able to let the instructor know in advance, please
follow up with communication after the fact. Also, it is important to be on time so as not to
disrupt class. It is your responsibility to obtain handouts, information about class content, and
information about announcements, etc., from your classmates if you are unable to attend a class.
Students with more than three absences will receive an “L” unless they have made prior
arrangements with the instructor.
A grade of Incomplete is given only in exceptional and rare circumstances. Incompletes may be
granted if (a) there are extreme and unforeseeable circumstances that affect your ability to complete
the semester’s work, and (b) you meet with me in advance to develop a plan and timeline for
completing your work. It is the student’s responsibility to request and explain the reasons for an
Incomplete. The instructor has no responsibility to give an Incomplete without such a request.
POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:
All students must follow the UNC Honor Code, which prohibits lying, cheating, or stealing in
actions involving the academic processes of this class. Please ensure that the Honor Code statement
“I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance in completing this assignment”, with your signature,
is on all assignments turned in. In keeping with the Honor Code, if reason exists to believe that
academic dishonesty has occurred, a referral will be made to the Office of the Student Attorney
General for investigation and further action as required.
Please refer to the APA Style Guide, the SSW Manual, and the SSW Writing Guide for information
on attribution of quotes, plagiarism, and the appropriate use of assistance in preparing assignments.
SOWO 835
4
POLICY ON ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:
If you have a disability that affects your participation in the course and you wish to receive
accommodations, you should contact the University’s Disabilities Services. They will then notify me
of the documented disability, and we can meet to design the appropriate accommodations to
support your learning.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS:
Seminar Leadership:
Students will be responsible for planning and leading a class session on a particular policy of interest
(Sessions 8 to 12). Seminar leadership should include: (a) selecting and presenting key points from
assigned and supplementary readings; (b) involving the class in a critical application or
demonstration of concepts; and (c) preparing questions to focus and facilitate discussion. The
format of the session is up to the seminar leaders. Seminar leaders may choose to: prepare an outline
of the required readings to summarize and present in class and then lead a discussion; come up with
an activity to cover the main points of the readings; find a short film related to the topic, tie the film
to the readings, and lead a discussion; or, any other format with which the students feel comfortable.
Students are required to meet with the instructor the week before their presentation to discuss their lesson plan. The day
of your presentation, please bring in a memo outlining the main points that you want to cover from the readings, your
key discussion questions, and the format of your presentation (including a copy of your PowerPoint, if relevant).
Class Participation:
Class participation is a central component of this course. All students are expected to complete the
readings and to participate actively in class discussions. Participation points will be awarded based on
instructor, peer, and self-assessment concerning the extent to which the student: a) was prepared for
class having completed the readings; b) made active and thoughtful contributions to class
discussions and learning activities; and c) contributed to a positive and constructive team learning
environment and experience.
Show and tell:
Show & tell provides students with an opportunity to share and reflect on stories of poverty that
have inspired and motivated them to address and work on issues related to poverty. Show & tell
stories can be based on personal, professional or field experiences, current events or news, different
forms of media (e.g., movies, music) and literature (e.g., poetry, monologues), etc. Students are
expected to tie their stories with class readings.
Final paper:
For your final assignment, you will team up with other students based on a shared interest in a policy
and write a paper describing the impact of a poverty policy on the well-being of an economically
disadvantaged group. You may choose to examine local, state, federal, or international policy. Focus
on one policy but you could choose to analyze one or more related programs. Examples of programs
that could be analyzed are: Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Insurance,
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicare, Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
SOWO 835
5
Program, the Housing Choice Voucher Program, Conditional Cash Transfer Program, Job Training
Program, Microcredit, Earned Income Tax Credit, etc. You may also choose to focus on a subgroup of people, including poor families, homeless persons, food-insecure households, chronically
unemployed adults, poor single-headed households, people living with chronic health conditions,
seasonal migrant workers, refugees, or any other sub-group of interest.
The paper should offer a thorough and thoughtful analysis of the policy, relying on evidence from
research studies or related sources and one or more interviews with a provider in an agency
implementing the policy/program, a policy expert, and/or a recipient of the program. Based on the
information gathered from these sources, you will analyze the policy and come up with clear
recommendations for improving the policy.
The paper will consist of four main sections: 1) brief statement and definition of the problem; 2)
concise description of current policies and programs to address the problem; 3) a critical evaluation
of the current policies and programs; and 4) a clear recommendation for improving the policy.
Students are encouraged to use Segal’s “Model for Critical Social Welfare Policy Analysis” to guide
their analysis. Maximum of 15 pages, excluding graphs, tables and references. Final paper is due
April 27, 2016, no later than 5pm ET.
GRADING SYSTEM:
The School of Social Work operates on an evaluation system of Honors (H), Pass (P), Low Pass (L),
and Fail (F). The numerical values of these grades are:
H: 94-100
P: 80-93
L: 70-79
F: 69 and lower
A grade of P is considered entirely satisfactory. The grade of Honors (“H”) — which only a limited
number of students attain -- signifies that the work is clearly excellent in all respects.
GRADING CRITERIA:
Grading guides for all written work can be found on Sakai. These guides identify grading criteria for
each assignment, including the relative weight of each criterion. Therefore, students are advised to
closely follow the rubrics, as they constitute the Instructor’s expectations and evaluation
methodology for these assignments.
Assignments will be scored as follows:
Seminar leadership:
Class participation:
Show & tell:
Final paper:
Total:
30 points
15 points (Peer & self- assessments due April 25, 2016)
10 points
45 points
100 points
SOWO 835
6
CLASS SCHEDULE & READINGS:
I reserve the right to alter the course reading schedule and content to fit evolving circumstances in the class.
Date
Session 1
1/11
1/18
Session 2
1/25
Topics Addressed
Course overview
 Introductions
 Syllabus
 Course expectations
Definitions of poverty
Readings
Wagle, U. (2002). Rethinking poverty: Definition and measurement.
International Social Science Journal, 54, 155-165.
Supplemental:
Narayan, D. (2000). Voices of the poor: Can anyone hear us? New York: Oxford
University Press.
Chapter 2: Definitions of poverty (pp. 30-64)
No class, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Policy analysis
Segal, E.A. (2013). Social welfare policy and social programs: A values perspective
(3rd ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning.
 How is policy created?
Chapter 4: Analyzing and researching social welfare policies (pp. 80 How do you analyze it?
116).
 Social insurance and social assistance
Iceland, Chapter 7 (pp. 139-144).
Session 3
2/1
Theories of poverty, poverty alleviation
perspectives, and policy debates in the
US and globally
 Social construction of poverty and the
poor
Supplemental:
O’Conner, M.K., & Netting, F.E. (2011). Analyzing social policy: Multiple
perspectives for critically understanding and evaluating policy. Hoboken, NJ: John
Wiley & Sons.
Chapter 4: Applications of rational policy analysis (pp. 104-136).
Chapter 6: Applications in nonrational policy analysis (pp. 171-205).
Eitzen, D.S., & Smith, K.E. (2009). Experiencing poverty: Voices from the
bottom. Boston: Pearson.
Chapter 2: Theories of poverty: Why are the poor poor? (pp. 11-17).
Rank, M.R. (2005). One nation, underprivileged. Why American poverty affects us all.
New York: Oxford University Press.
*Chapter 3: Poverty as structural failing (pp. 49-82).
SOWO 835
7
Banerjee & Duflo, Chapter 1 (pp. 1-16).
Iceland, Chapter 7 (pp. 144-151).
Supplemental:
Schneider A & Ingram, H. (1993). Social construction of target populations:
Implications for politics & policy. American Political Science Review
87(2), 334-347.
Session 4
2/8
Poverty measurement and global
poverty
 Different poverty measures
 How do you know who is poor?
 Global poverty
Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. New York: Anchor Books.
Chapter 4: Poverty as capability deprivation (87-110).
Iceland, Chapter 2 (pp. 22-38).
*can also skim Chapter 1 (pp. 11-21) to find out more about historical
attempts to measure poverty
Short, K.S. (2013). The research Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2012 (Current
Population Reports). Washington, DC: US Census Bureau.
Iceland, Chapter 4 (pp. 61 to 78).
Supplemental:
Chung, Y., Isaacs, J.B., & Smeeding, T.M. (2013). Advancing poverty
measurement and policy: Evidence from Wisconsin during the Great
Recession. Social Service Review, 87(3), 525-555.
Session 5
2/15
Poverty dynamics
 Poverty duration
 Multiple spells of poverty
 Transitory and chronic poverty
Hulme, D. (2010). Global poverty: How global governance is failing the poor. New
York: Routledge.
Chapter 2: Understanding and explaining global poverty
Iceland, Chapter 3 (pp. 39-60).
Bane, M.J., & Ellwood, T. (1986). Slipping into and out of poverty: The
dynamics of spells. Journal of Human Resources, 21, 1-23.
SOWO 835
8
Barrett, C. (2005). Rural poverty dynamics: Development policy
implications. Agricultural Economics, 32(1), 45-60.
Supplemental:
Rank, M.R. (2005). One nation, underprivileged. Why American poverty affects us all.
New York: Oxford University Press.
*Chapter 4: In our self-interest (pp. 88-101).
Session 6
2/22
Pathways into and out of poverty
 Targeting causes not characteristics
Hulme, D., & Shepherd, A. (2003). Conceptualizing chronic poverty. World
Development, 31(3), 403-423.
Iceland, Chapter 5 (pp. 79-113).
Krishna, A. (2007). For reducing poverty faster: Target reasons before
people. World Development, 35(11), 1947-1960.
Rank, M., Hirschl, T., & Foster, K. (2014). Chasing the American dream:
Understanding what shapes our fortunes. New York: Oxford University Press.
*Chapter 5: The landscape of opportunity (pp.67-83).
Supplemental:
Iceland, Chapter 6 (pp. 114-129).
Banerjee, A., Duflo, E., Goldberg, N., Karlan, D., Osei, R., Parienté, W.,
Shapiro, J., Thuysbaert, B., & Udry, C. (2015). A multi-faceted program
causes lasting progress for the very poor: Evidence from six countries.
Science, 348(6236). Doi: 10.1126/science.1260799
Session 7
2/29
Participatory approaches to poverty
reduction
 Can the poor influence policy?
Krishna, A. (2010). Who became poor, who escaped poverty, and why?
Developing and using a retrospective methodology in five countries.
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 29(2), 351-372.
Krishna, A., Gibson-Davis, C., Clasen. L., Markiewicz, M., & Perez, N.
(2006). Escaping poverty and becoming poor in thirteen communities in rural North
Carolina. Retrieved from
SOWO 835
9
http://www2.sanford.duke.edu/krishna/documents/NCPov_March2006.pd
f
Supplemental:
Chambers, R. (1994). The origins and practice of participatory rural
appraisal. World Development, 22(7), 953-969.
Eldridge, D. et al. (2015). Understanding food insecurity in Navajo Nation
through the community lens. In L.C. Ivers (Ed.), Food insecurity and public
health (pp. 155-173). New York: CRC Press.
Session 8
3/7
Policy response 1: Income support
Krishna, A. (2005). Stages of progress: A community-based methodology for defining
and understanding poverty. Retrieved from
http://www2.sanford.duke.edu/krishna/SoP.pdf
*Read pages 11-32.
Blau, J., & Abramovitz, M. (2014). The dynamics of social welfare policy (4th ed.).
New York: Oxford University Press.
*Chapter 8: Income support: programs and policies (pp. 301-332).
Scholz, J.K., Moffitt, R., & Cowan, B. (2009). Trends in income support. In
M. Cancian & S. Danziger (Eds.), Changing poverty, changing policies (pp.
203-231). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Supplemental:
Halpern-Meekin, S., Edin, K., Tach, L., & Sykes, J. (2015). It’s not like I’m
poor: How working families make ends meet in a post-welfare world. Oakland:
University of California Press.
*Chapter 6: Capitalizing on the promise of EITC (pp. 182-215)
Shaefer, H.L., & Edin, K. (2013). Rising extreme poverty in the United
States and the response of federal means-tested transfer programs. Social
Service Review, 87(2), 250-268.
Sherman, A., Trisi, D., & Parrott, S. (2013). Various supports for low-
SOWO 835
10
income families reduce poverty and have long-term positive effects on
families and children. Retrieved from http://www.cbpp.org/files/7-3013pov.pdf
3/14
Session 9
3/21
Policy response 2: Food and hunger
No class, Spring Break
Blau, J., & Abramovitz, M. (2014). The dynamics of social welfare policy (4th ed.).
New York: Oxford University Press.
*Chapter 12: Food and hunger: programs and policies (pp. 425-452).
Castleman, T., & Bergeron, G. (2015). Food security and program
integration: An overview. In L.C. Ivers (Ed.), Food insecurity and public
health (pp. 1-22). New York: CRC Press.
Supplemental:
Banerjee & Duflo, Chapter 2 (pp.19-40).
Shaefer, H.L., & Guitierrez, I.A. (2013). The Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program and material hardships among low-income
households with children. Social Service Review, 87(4), 753-779.
Session 10
3/28
Policy response 3: Housing
Stang, J., & Bayerl, C.T. (2010). Position of the American Dietetic
Association: Child and adolescent nutrition assistance programs. Journal
of the American Dietetic Association, 110, 791-799.
Blau, J., & Abramovitz, M. (2014). The dynamics of social welfare policy (4th ed.).
New York: Oxford University Press.
*Chapter 10: Housing: programs and policies (pp. 358-394).
Chaskin, R., & Joseph, M. (2010). Building “community” in mixed-income
developments: Assumptions, approaches, and early experiences. Urban
Affairs Review, 45(3), 299-335.
Supplemental:
Chaskin, R. (2013). Integration and exclusion: Urban poverty, public
housing reform, and the dynamics of neighborhood restructuring. The
SOWO 835
11
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 647(1), 237267.
Edin, K., & Shaefer, H.L. (2015). $2.00 a day, living on almost nothing in America.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
*Chapter 3: A room of one’s own (pp.65-91).
Session 11
4/4
Policy response 4: Jobs and job training
Sard, B., & Rice, D. (2015). Realizing the housing voucher program’s potential to
enable families to move to better neighborhoods (Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities Policy Futures). Retrieved from
http://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/11-9-15hous.pdf
Blau, J., & Abramovitz, M. (2014). The dynamics of social welfare policy (3rd ed.).
New York: Oxford University Press.
*Chapter 9: Jobs and job training: programs and policies (pp. 333-357).
Holzer, H.J. (2009). Workforce development as an antipoverty strategy:
What do we know? What should we do? In M. Cancian & S. Danziger
(Eds.), Changing poverty, changing policies (pp. 301-329). New York: Russell
Sage Foundation.
Supplemental:
Edin, K., & Shaefer, H.L. (2015). $2.00 a day, living on almost nothing in America.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
*Chapter 2: Perilous work (pp.35-63).
NC Poverty Research Fund. The state of low-wage work in North Carolina:
An inside look at the low-wage people, industries, places, and policies
shaping North Carolina. http://www.lowwagenc.org/
Session 12
4/11
Policy response 5: Social Protection in
resource-limited countries
Schochet, P.Z., Burghardt, J., & McConnell, S. (2008). Does Job Corps
work? Impact findings from the National Job Corps study. American
Economic Review, 98(5), 1864-1886.
Fiszbein, A., & Schady, N. (2009). Conditional cash transfers: Reducing present
and future poverty (World Bank Policy Research Report). Washington, DC:
SOWO 835
12

Cash transfers
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The
World Bank.
*Overview (pp. 1-28).
Banerjee & Duflo, Chapter 4 (pp.78-81).
Hanlon, J., Barrientos, A., & Hulme, D. (2010). Just give money to the poor: The
development revolution from the Global South. Sterling, VA: Kumarian Press.
*Chapters 8-9 (pp. 125-164).
Supplemental:
Handa, S., & Davis, B. (2006). The experience of conditional cash transfers
in Latin America and the Caribbean. Development Policy Review, 24(5), 513536.
Session 13
4/18
Policy response 6: Asset Development
and Financial Inclusion
 Access to financial products and
services
 Asset accumulation
 Entrepreneurship
Lagarde, M., Haines, A., & Palmer, N. (2007). Conditional cash transfers for
improving uptake of health interventions in low- and middle-income
countries: A systematic review. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical
Association, 298(16), 1900-1910. doi:10.1001/jama.298.16.1900.
Banerjee & Duflo, Chapters 7 (pp. 157-181), 8 (183-204), and 9 (205-234).
Sherraden, M. (1991). Assets and the poor: A new American welfare policy.
Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe Inc.
*Chapter 9: The design of asset-based welfare policy (pp. 189-219).
Supplemental:
Biggers, A., West, M., DeMarco, A., Dorrance, J., & Manturuk, K. (2014).
The Community Empowerment Fund: A matched saving model as an
innovative approach to housing the homeless. Journal of Poverty, 18(3),
275-298.
Morduch, J. (1999). The microfinance promise. Journal of Economic Literature,
37(4), 1569-1614.
*Read pages 1569-1592, 1609-1610.
SOWO 835
13
Session 14
4/25
Course review and evaluation
van Rooyen, C., Stewart, R., & de Wet, T. (2012). The impact of
microfinance in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review of the evidence.
World Development, 40(11), 2249-2262.
We will review key ideas and concepts from the course and discuss practice
applications.