No (Wo)man is an Island Protecting Children, a Cause for Concern

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Marks, Susan

Keywords

Civic Engagement, Women, Faith-Based Social Service, Social Capital, Childrens Welfare

Area of Concentration

Humanities

Abstract

This thesis explores the history of women's faith-inspired reform efforts that focus on children's welfare. It offers these historical insights in an effort to understand the current place of faith-based and community partnerships and faith-based funding by the U.S. Government. Through the lens of three case studies, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), the U.S. Children's Bureau, and the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), I argue that faith-based and community partnerships potentially offer a valuable resource for public agencies to reconnect to local communities―they can provide a community-trusted backdrop to deliver nonsectarian social services. The religious-inspired social reform message of the WCTU was replaced with a new trend of nonsectarian, professional advocacy groups with the establishment of the Children's Bureau. Today, professional advocacy organizations like the CDF are searching for new ways to reconnect to local communities. A growing body of research on faith-based initiatives yields mixed empirical evidence, therefore, this thesis contributes to the discourse by providing a historical trajectory of faith-based reform efforts. Elucidating the history of these efforts can enrich a discourse that for the most part has been limited by its political focus on church-state separation.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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