CRITICAL ELEMENTS IN THE "HEALTH" OF COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCIES IN THE AGE OF "REAGONOMICS." (VOLUMES I AND II) (NEW YORK).
Item
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Title
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CRITICAL ELEMENTS IN THE "HEALTH" OF COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCIES IN THE AGE OF "REAGONOMICS." (VOLUMES I AND II) (NEW YORK).
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Identifier
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AAI8611380
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identifier
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8611380
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Creator
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SELIGER, MICHAEL.
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Contributor
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Stanley Aronowitz
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Date
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1986
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Sociology, Public and Social Welfare
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Abstract
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This study explores critical elements in the "health" of Community Action Agencies during a stressful period in their history--the first term of Ronald Reagan's presidency, with its emphasis on cuts in the federal funding of social programs. CAA's are a unique "class" of organizations, which came into existence during the early years of the "War on Poverty" in the mid sixties. They are clearly "Open Systems", in which their scope, focus, and even philosophy are closely effected by the external environment in which they operate, and which they in turn seek to effect on behalf of their constituency (or constituencies).;By observing ten moderate-sized New York State CAA's at the beginning and end of Reagan's first term, the study considers a group of operations in a social ecological context, applying ethnographic techniques to the consideration of practical aspects of organizational dynamics and especially Open Systems theory, in a "real world," non-laboratory setting.;In the process of studying these agencies, a general schema with specific prescribed diagnostic features--has been developed that relates different aspects of agency strategy, operating style, and other factors, to aspects of organizational health. These overall findings have relevance for organizations that seek to improve or sustain "agency health", by demonstrating that "agency health" is a multi-faceted concept, in which different approaches may contribute to different facets of the whole. As organizations prioritize the aspects of agency health they wish to enhance, the schema would suggest strategic and managerial strategies that appear to be linked to those aspects.;Findings indicate that director's Mode of Management, Approach to Communication with Staff, Commitment to Staff Development, and Allocation of Time were related to CAA Health as defined with regard to Staff Morale, at both points of analysis, with Democratic, open style being positively correlated with better staff morale. CAA Health, as measured in Fiscal terms, was closely correlated to CAA's relationship to local government and how the CAA is perceived by public officials. Other indicators were not consistently related to CAA Health at both rounds, and their presence and absence are subjected to speculative discussion which addressed the direct impact of Reagan's budget cuts on the strategies and organizational activity of the ten agencies.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Sociology
