The Invisible Caring Hand: American Congregations and the Provision of Welfare

Cnaan, Ram

ISBN 10: 0814716180 / ISBN 13: 9780814716182

Editore: New York University Press, 2002

Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Codice articolo G0814716180I2N00

Riassunto:

Popular calls to transform our current welfare system and supplant it with effective and inexpensive faith-based providers are gaining political support and engendering heated debate about the separation of church and state. Yet we lack concrete information from which to anticipate how such initiatives might actually work if adopted.
Despite the assumption that congregations can help many needy people in our society, it remains to be seen how extensive they wish their involvement to be, or if they have the necessary tools to become significant providers in the social service arena. Moreover, how will such practices, which will move faith-based organizations towards professionalization, ultimately affect the spirit of volunteerism now prevalent in America's religious institutions?
We lack sufficient knowledge about congregational life and its ability to play a key role in social service provision. The Invisible Caring Hand attempts to fill that void. Based on in-depth interviews with clergy and lay leaders in 251 congregations nationwide, it reveals the many ways in which congregations are already working, beneath the radar, to care for people in need. This ground-breaking volume will provide much-sought empirical data to social scientists, religious studies scholars, and those involved in the debates over the role of faith-based organizations in faith-based services, as well as to clergy and congregation members themselves.

L'autore:

Ram Cnaan is Professor in the School of Social Work and former Associate Director of the Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is also the founder and director of the Program for the Study of Organized Religion and Social Work. He is the coauthor of The Newer Deal: Social Work and Religion in Partnership.

Dati bibliografici

Titolo: The Invisible Caring Hand: American ...
Casa editrice: New York University Press
Data di pubblicazione: 2002
Legatura: Paperback
Condizione: As New
Condizione sovraccoperta: No Jacket