1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910780199603321

Autore

Polsky Andrew Joseph

Titolo

The rise of the therapeutic state / / Andrew J. Polsky

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, N.J., : Princeton University Press, c1991

ISBN

1-4008-0626-7

1-282-75152-2

9786612751523

1-4008-2062-6

1-4008-1301-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (298 pages)

Collana

The City in the twenty-first century book series

Disciplina

361.973

Soggetti

Public welfare - United States - History

Human services - United States - History

Social work with people with social disabilities - United States - History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [225]-281) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: The Problems of the Therapeutic State -- PART ONE: THE SOCIAL QUESTION -- PART TWO: CREATING THE THERAPEUTIC STATE -- PART THREE: THE POLITICAL LIMITS OF EXPANSION -- Conclusion: Captive to the Past -- Notes -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Assuming that "marginal" citizens cannot govern their own lives, proponents of the therapeutic state urge casework intervention to reshape the attitudes and behaviors of those who live outside the social mainstream. Thus the victims of poverty, delinquency, family violence, and other problems are to be "normalized." But "normalize," to Andrew Polsky, is a term that "jars the ear, as well it should when we consider what this effort is all about." Here he investigates the broad network of public agencies that adopt the casework approach.