Group Problems
1. The causes of poverty and how we may get rid of them. Relative importance of the various causes in your own state and community. Analyze each of these causes and ascertain what measures have been taken to deal with each. Study the experience of foreign countries with old-age pensions and unemployment allowances. Note the effect, if any, of workmen’s insurance, mothers’ pensions, and minimum wage laws in various American states. Suggest further steps for removing the fundamental causes of poverty. References: E. T. Towne, Social Problems, pp. 290-301; H. R. Burch and S. H. Patterson, American Social Problems, pp. 205-216; E. T. Devine, Misery and its Causes, pp. 1-50; Robert Hunter, Poverty, pp. 1-65; W. H. Dawson, Social Insurance, passim.
2. The care of dependent children. References: A. G. Warner, American Charities, pp. 220-228; C. R. Henderson, Dependent, Defective, and Delinquent Classes, pp. 98-120; G. B. Mangold, Child Problems, pp. 293-345.
3. Prison reform: how far should it be carried? References: E. H. Wines, Punishment and Reformation, pp. 312-363; T. M. Osborne, Within Prison Walls, pp. 24-58; Ibid., Society and Prisons, pp. 185-235; C. R. Henderson, The Dependent, Defective, and Delinquent Classes, pp. 276-307.
4. The divorce problem in its social and economic aspects. Early history of the problem. The spread of divorce in the United States. Comparison with other countries. Causes of divorce. Relative importance of these causes. Effects on family organization. Effects upon the children concerned. Economic results of divorce. The possible remedies. Probable effectiveness of these remedies. Conclusions. References: C. A. Ellwood, Sociology and Modern Social Problems, pp. 147-166; W. F. Willcox, The Divorce Problem, passim; J. P. Lichtenberger, Divorce; A study in social causation (Columbia University Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law, Vol. XXXV, No. 3, pp. 52-96, 151-171); J. Q. Dealey, The Family in its Sociological Aspects, pp. 73-108; United States Bureau of the Census, Report for 1910 (See Abstract, Sections on Marital Conditions); H. Bosanquet, The Family, pp. 260-314; W. Goodsell, The Family as a Social and Educational Institution, pp. 456-496.
Short Studies
1. The treatment of the poor in earlier days. Thomas Mackay, Public Relief of the Poor, pp. 35-68.
2. Unemployment as a cause of poverty. E. T. Devine, Misery and its Causes, pp. 113-146.
3. Old-age pensions abroad. W. H. Dawson, Social Insurance in Germany, pp. 1-21.
4. The problem of the deaf and the blind. E. T. Towne, Social Problems, pp. 161-181.