Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Social Work (MSW)

Department

Social Work

Faculty/School

Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work

First Advisor

Not applicable

Advisor Role

Not applicable

Abstract

The central questions in the Study were: a) how public assistance children compare with those of unassisted families in the same social stratum, both as to their school performance and their potential for it; and b) whether public assistance families differ from unassisted families in the same stratum with respect to goals and values that have a bearing on educational attainment.

The three main hypotheses of the study are that:

  1. recipients of public assistance are characterized by goals and values that differ from those of non recipients of some social stratum
  2. these goals and values are transmitted to the children of the recipients
  3. these goals and values are associated with lower than average school performance by children of recipients

Data were gathered in the study on an experimental group of 399 families from a universe of families receiving non-categorical public assistance, who had been on assistance for at least six months and had at least one child in grade 7 or higher, and a control group of 181 unassisted families in the same socio-economic stratum. The control group was drawn from a list made up of three “best friends” named by children in the experimental group. The sources of data were public assistance records, school records, interviews with parents in their home and questionnaires administered to the children.

To give wide national representation, four cities, viz. Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver were selected. Co-operation was extended by the local public welfare departments and school boards of these cities.

Convocation Year

1970

Convocation Season

Spring

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