"They Think You Ain't Much of Nothing": The Social Construction of the Welfare Mother

Seccombe, Karen; James, Delores C.S.; Walters, Kimberly

doi:10.2307/353629

Cited by 150 publications

(134 citation statements)

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“…This combined with a powerful belief in agency was responsible for the weak expectation of the intergenerational transmission of poverty. This is in marked contrast to research in developed contexts where women in welfare assume their descendents would be similarly trapped in poverty (Seccombe et al 1998 Therefore, grants are a tool in the women's survival strategies; they contribute to a sense of power and control, and are a step towards independence. On their own, however, grants cannot change women's social conditions.…”

Section: Get the Money You Do Something With It Don't Sit And Complmentioning

confidence: 80%

Dignity and Stigma among South African Female Cash Transfer Recipients

Hochfeld

Plagerson

2011

IDS Bulletin

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This study analyses impacts of social discourses on the outcomes of social policy, through the narratives of female cash transfer recipients in Soweto, South Africa. Their understandings of poverty and welfare are related in complex and dynamic ways. Cash transfers are revealed as a tool of survival which helps to alleviate stigma associated with poverty. While recipients acknowledge that negative mainstream discourses on grant receipt are unjust, at the same time, they apply them to other recipients. We conclude that it is critical to support not only the material livelihoods of cash transfer recipients but also their human dignity, by investing in building rights-based policy environments.

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Section: Get the Money You Do Something With It Don't Sit And Complmentioning

confidence: 80%

Dignity and Stigma among South African Female Cash Transfer Recipients

Hochfeld

Plagerson

2011

IDS Bulletin

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“…However, stigma may not lead to shame where people identify strongly with the identity in question and contest others' devaluation (Major and O'Brien, 2005), or if people consider themselves a deserving claimant, and that the stigma only applies to undeserving others. This has been documented in both the US (Seccombe et al, 1998) and Britain, where claimants often regard themselves as deserving claimants while complaining about the 'scrounging' of others (Garthwaite, 2014:12;Shildrick and MacDonald, 2013:301;Dean and TaylorGooby, 1992;Chase and Walker, 2013). As we shall see, this has important implications for understanding the extent and consequences of stigma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Quantification undoubtedly requires simplifying and reshaping any object of study, putting dissimilar phenomena in the same conceptual box in order to count them; hence qualitative evidence is crucial (in the US, e.g. Seccombe et al, 1998; in the UK, e.g. Garthwaite, 2014;Shildrick and MacDonald, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The stigma of claiming benefits: a quantitative study

2015

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Stigma has long been viewed by some as essential to discourage excessive claims, yet seen by others as a cause of non-take-up by people in need and as a form of symbolic violence. More recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in the links between shame and poverty (including the role of benefits), and particular concerns about media/political rhetoric in the UK. Yet while our knowledge of benefits stigma has been enhanced by theoretical/qualitative contributions, few quantitative studies examine its extent or patterning. This paper therefore reports the results of a 2012 nationally-representative survey in the UK. It finds sub-types of stigma are reported by 10-19% per benefit, but 34% report either personal stigma (their own view) or stigmatisation (perceived stigma by others) for at least one benefit, and over one-quarter say a stigma-related reason would make them less likely to claim. One-third of claimants themselves report some degree of stigma around their claim. Against the predictions of 'dependency culture' claims, however, respondents in high-claim areas were more likely to stigmatise benefits, both before and after accounting for other factors. The paper concludes by considering lessons for future benefits stigma studies, and policy options to reduce benefits stigma.

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“…A qualitative, phenomenological approach was best for this study because its purpose was to "describe the meaning of the lived experiences for several individuals about a concept or the phenomenon" (Creswell, 1998, p.51; see also Seccombe et al, 1998).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%