Single mothers getting by: cultural and structural violence in public policy

<p>From the birth of government funded welfare in 1935 through current discussions of welfare reforms, the media and politicians have used rhetoric to make poor single mothers the "other." This paper will apply Galtung's model of the rhetorical and enacted route from cultural violence to structural violence ending in direct violence to this case. To explore the in the creation and "reform" of the welfare system, I will use discourse from various sources such as addresses to congress, public policy, media sources and women's personal accounts as well as analyze directly the policies that were created in response to this discourse. This will demonstrate how demonizing welfare and its recipient's shifts focus from the real problems that create poverty and inequality. A comparison of two states, Idaho and Washington State, with opposing public policy and political practice relating to the use and access of healthcare, the experiences of single mothers headed households can be analyzed further.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS) in Interdisciplinary Studies

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Interdisciplinary Studies

Year

2015

Author dc:creator

• Bates, Amara E.

• Low-income single mothers--Idaho--Case studies
• Low-income single mothers--Washington (State)--Case studies
• Welfare recipients--Government policy--Idaho
• Welfare recipients--Government policy--Washington (State)
• Public welfare--United States--History
• Social Policy
• Social Welfare

Statement dc:rights

• Access is available to all users

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/327

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dc.ewu.edu:theses-1328