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Abstract:
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Over the last decade, policy-makers have pushed faith-based
organizations (FBOs) to increase their role in providing services to
welfare-reliant and low-income families. Using data from qualitative research,
I detail how poor women and nonprofit directors serving poor individuals
in Philadelphia have conflicting understandings of FBOs. A
substantial proportion of secular nonprofit directors question whether
FBOs have the capacity to provide the range of services poor women
need. Furthermore, nonprofit directors largely focused on how FBOs
differ from other types of social service providers in four main areas:
(1) individualized, caring treatment of clients, (2) religiosity in service delivery,
(3) connections to the community, and (4) professionalization. Interviews
with the poor women, however, counter many of the nonprofit
directors' assumptions and reveal that these women experience FBOs and
secular nonprofits in similar ways. These findings not only suggest discontinuity among nonprofit directors and their potential clientele but also
raise important questions for the current policy thrust to increase FBOs' role
in service provision to the poor. |