Deborah A. Harris

Everybody Eats Using Hunger Banquets to Teach about Issues of Global Hunger and Inequality

Experiential and active learning exercises can benefit students in sociology courses, particularly, courses in which issues of inequality are central. In this paper, we describe using hunger banquets—an active learning exercise where participants are randomly stratified into three global classes and receive food based upon their class position—to enhance students’ knowledge of global hunger and inequality. The nonprofit Oxfam America has made hunger banquets popular, but they are usually large public events. We provide ways of simplifying these exercises so that they can be conducted in sociology classrooms and incorporate sociological concepts. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of students’ learning and engagement in three hunger banquets found that students had increases in perceived knowledge of the amount, severity, and causes of global hunger.

“Not one of the guys”: women chefs redefining gender in the culinary industry

Sociologists have documented how women in male-dominated occupations experience subtle and overt forms of discrimination based on gender stereotypes. This study examines women professional chefs to understand how they perceive and respond to stereotypes claiming women are not good leaders, are too emotional, and are not “cut out” for male-dominated work. Many of our participants resist these stereotypes and believe that their gender has benefited them in their jobs. Using in-depth interviews with women chefs, we show that they utilize essentialist gendered rhetoric to describe how women chefs are better than their male counterparts. While such rhetoric appears to support stereotypes emphasizing “natural” differences between men and women in the workplace, we suggest that women are reframing these discourses into a rhetoric of “feminine strength” wherein women draw from gender differences in ways that benefit them in their workplaces and their careers. Our conclusion discusses the implications of our findings for gender inequality at work.

Forward-Looking Behavior and Time Limits: How Do Rural TANF Clients Manage Their Welfare Eligibility?

ABSTRACT Placing time limits on benefits was seen by the proponents of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act as a means to encourage welfare recipients to engage in forward-looking behavior so that they can plan for a life without welfare. Current studies provide mixed findings regarding the effects of time limits on welfare participation and focus primarily on the urban poor. In this study, we examine how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants interpret and respond to time limits under different personal and local conditions. Data come from interviews conducted with 60 low-income women from two rural Mississippi counties. The results suggest that not all welfare clients are aware of time limits and that time limits rarely impact their behavior. Their views of time limits were influenced by three major factors: (1) a belief that their welfare status is temporary, (2) a misunderstanding of welfare policy, and (3) an inability to acknowledge personal and structural barriers to leaving welfare.

“You Just Have to Look at It as a Gift”: Low-Income Single Mothers’ Experiences of the Child Support System

The current child support system emphasizes making parents pay first before the state provides economic assistance. Despite research suggesting that child support can financially benefit low-income households, many custodial mothers do not pursue child support orders. In this study, the author uses in-depth interviews with 25 low-income single mothers to better understand (1) why some women do not file for child support and (2) for those who do enter into this system, what are their experiences in navigating the child support process, including interacting with the fathers of their children as well as with the state.

LOOKING FOR “MR. RIGHT”: THE VIABILITY OF MARRIAGE INITIATIVES FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN IN RURAL SETTINGS

Newly-funded initiatives aim to promote marriage among low-income African American women to reduce poverty and welfare dependency. Research indicates that these women have a strong desire to marry, but lack economically secure marriage partners. This research predominantly focuses on urban populations, and little is known about marriage as a strategy to end poverty and welfare dependency among the rural poor. Two case study counties in rural Mississippi were selected to examine if marriage promotion initiatives are a viable strategy for poor rural African American single mothers. Data were collected through semistructured interviews using a life history calendar procedure. The results show that, like their urban counterparts, poor rural single mothers are rarely able to find their “Mr. Right” because of their personal and contextual characteristics.