Race, Rat Bites and Unfit Mothers: How Media Disclosure Informs Welfare Legislation Debate

40 Pages Posted: 10 Jan 2012 Last revised: 11 Jan 2012

See all articles by Lucy A. Williams

Lucy A. Williams

Northeastern University - School of Law

Date Written: 1995

Abstract

This article exposes and critiques the media images of poor women and children that drive legislative debate in social assistance, or welfare public policy issues in the United States. It explores the impact of media images on law-making by focusing on three statutory time periods: 1935, when the Aid to Dependent Children program was initially enacted as part of the Social Security Act; 1967, when the first mandatory work requirements were added to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, and the mid-1990s, when states began implementing widely divergent categorical eligibility requirements that restrict benefits in an attempt to change behavior. The author argues that the uni-dimensional, non-normative and racially-defined lens of the images allows the public to devalue and distance themselves from poor women, and encourages politicians to develop policy based on gender, race and class stereotypes.

Suggested Citation

Williams, Lucy A., Race, Rat Bites and Unfit Mothers: How Media Disclosure Informs Welfare Legislation Debate (1995). Fordham Urban Law Journal, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 1159-1196, 1995, Northeastern University School of Law Research Paper , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1981295

Lucy A. Williams (Contact Author)

Northeastern University - School of Law ( email )

416 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
United States

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