Affilia

Because of the increasing number of Hispanic women in the United States and their severe socioeconomic, health, and mental health needs, social workers must empower these women, so they can participate in the mainstream society. This article discusses the values that Hispanic women bring from their countries of origin, which are dictated by the belief in male superiority and dominance, popularized as machismo, and legitimated through patriarchal social systems. In addition, it presents suggestions for empowering Hispanic women at both the micro and macro levels, including work with individual women and changing policies and social systems to build a global response to violence against women.

Although nonmarital births are on the rise for all women, they are disproportionately high for adolescents, especially those who are poor and African American. Scholars agree that adolescent childbearing results in negative outcomes. This critique of the problem of adolescent pregnancy from various theoretical paradigms argues that the alternate-lifestyle paradigm is a rational explanatory model for the analysis of adolescent pregnancy. That is, some female adolescents, regardless of race, see childbearing as a rite of passage to adulthood.

In Israel, Bedouin widows who have settled in villages often have few resources to sustain their well-being. The author, a Bedouin clinical social worker, set up a culturally sensitive widows'support group in a medical clinic to help these women deal with material and personal hardships. Through sharing, mutual support, and mutual helping, the women were empowered to deal with their grief, isolation, economic difficulties, problems with children, and negative societal attitudes.

In the debate on welfare reform, stereotypes of women on welfare have resurfaced, and most proposals for reform are designed to modify and regulate women's behaviors. This article, based on information obtained in focus groups of recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children, examines how women manage the stigma of being welfare mothers and what they think about "cheating" the system. The most striking difference between recipients of the 1990s and of the 1960s is the belief of current recipients that they are entitled to governmental support as long as they are attempting to better their own lives.

This article explores the possibilities that letters hold for documenting women's experiences and the implications for feminist research and social work practice. The authors propose that letter writing is a promising practice and research tool for feminist social workers who are attempting to build egalitarian relationships.