Cnaan, Ram
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Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
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Associate Dean for Research, Professor, and Chair of the Doctoral Program in Social Welfare
Introduction
Dr. Ram Cnaan is a professor, associate dean for research, and chair of the Doctoral Program in Social Welfare at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy & Practice. He received his doctorate from the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh, and his B.S.W. and M.S.W. from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. Dr. Cnaan has published numerous articles in scientific journals on a variety of social issues. He is the author of
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Publication Nonprofit Watchdogs: Do They Serve the Average Donor?(2010-06-02) Cnaan, Ram A; Jones, Kathleen; Dickin, Allison; Salomon, MicheleNonprofit watchdog organizations—organizations devoted to rating the accountability and transparency of nonprofits—claim to serve donors who are selecting which nonprofits to support. However, using three waves of the Harris Interactive Donor Pulse, we found that the overwhelming majority of donors (77.6 percent) do not consult these online intermediaries when making donations. Those who do are likely to fall into one of two groups: donors who give large sums of money or donors who are engaged in advocacy. We conclude with conceptual and practical implications.Publication Towards a Practice-based Model for Community Practice: Linking Theory and Practice(2012-03-01) Cnaan, Ram A; Boehm, AmnonCareful examination of the literature of community practice shows that existing community practice models do not ad- equately respond to the unique and changing needs of vari- ous communities. This article provides an alternative model that challenges the existing models. Based on extensive content analysis of the literature and practice knowledge, this alterna- tive model offers sufficient flexibility to adapt to any particular community. The model is also participatory, process-oriented, and reflective. Herein we first review existing models, provide criteria for assessing their applicability, then introduce the new model, and subsequently discuss its applicability and merit.Publication Entrepreneurship in the Public Sector: The Horns of a Dilemma(1995) Perlmutter, Felice D; Cnaan, Ram AWhat are local public administrators expected to do in an era of tax-based decline, diminishing state and federal support, and intensified public demand for more and better services? Felice Perlmutter and Ram Cnaan argue that a policy of fundraising and development is one solution to this dilemma. The authors acknowledge that private support for public services is not a new idea or practice; however, an institutionalized policy of capital campaign and donation seeking from private sources on an ongoing basis to fund traditional public services is the essence of this new policy. Perlmutter and Cnaan provide us with a case study of the Department of Recreation in the city of Philadelphia which, through the proactive leadership of a new commissioner, took on the mission of establishing a development unit and annual fund campaign. The authors describe the background of the new policy, its formulation, and implementation. This policy, however, is not without its risks, and Perlmutter and Cnaan detail some of these risks as a precaution for those wishing to hastily adopt the new policy.Publication Financial Inclusion: Lessons From Rural South India(2012-01-01) Cnaan, Ram A; Handy, Femida; Moodithaya, M. SFinancial inclusion/exclusion has recently been emphasised as an important policy option aimed at alleviating poverty, minimising social exclusion and enhancing economic growth. In this article, we review the growing interest in financial exclusion and inclusion, define them and demonstrate their existence in developing and developed countries. Our empirical focus is on whether financial inclusion has been successfully implemented in four sites in rural South India where banks claimed that financial inclusion is complete. Although many rural people in South India are financially included, the concept of financial inclusion is more complex than usually portrayed. Our findings show that social and personal deprivation contributes to financial exclusion and should be viewed as key barriers to financial inclusion. We also suggest that financial inclusion is not a monolithic phenomenon and should be studied in a multi-layered fashion, ranging from having a bank account to making full use of modern financial instruments.Publication Does Social Work Education Have an Impact on Social Policy Preferences? A Three-Cohort Study(2005-01-01) Weiss, Idit; Gal, John; Cnaan, Ram AThis article examines the impact of social work education on the social policy preferences of social work students through a panel study of three cohorts of students at three universities in two countries - the United States and Israel. The findings of the study indicate that though the initial policy preferences of the students at the beginning of their studies at the three universities differed, by the end of their studies, the students' preferences were similar and supportive of the welfare state model.Publication Philadelphia Census of Congregations and Their Involvement in Social Service Delivery(2001-12-01) Cnaan, Ram A.; Boddie, Stephanie C.This census of congregational social services is the first attempt to identify all of the congregations in Philadelphia and their services. This article reports results from 1,376 of an estimated 2,095 congregations. It finds that 1,211 congregations (88 percent) have at least one social program. On average, each congregation provides 2.41 programs and serves 102 people per month. The primary beneficiaries are children (served by 49.2 percent of all programs). According to the census, 571 congregations (41.5 percent) collaborate with secular organizations, and 857 congregations (62.3 percent) are open to collaborating with government welfare programs. Conservatively, the financial replacement value of all congregational social services in Philadelphia is $246,901,440 annually.Publication The Role of Social Anxiety in Volunteering(2007-09-01) Handy, Femida; Cnaan, Ram AThe volunteer management literature suggests that the most effective means of recruitment is personal asking. However, agencies that apply this method do not report the expected success in volunteer recruitment. Often they face the volunteer recruitment fallacy: those people assumed to be interested in volunteering do not necessarily volunteer. Based on the literature of shyness or social anxiety and on empirical observations, this article suggests that social anxiety often deters volunteering by new recruits. We hypothesize that people with greater levels of social anxiety will be less likely to volunteer. Furthermore, we hypothesize that people with high social anxiety will prefer to give monetary support to worthy causes rather than volunteer their time, and if they do choose to volunteer, they will do so alongside friends. Our hypotheses are supported based on the findings from a large-scale nonrandom sample in North America. We suggest how to avoid the volunteer recruitment fallacy by creating a personal environment in which high-social-anxiety recruits feel safe and accepted. By removing the fear of being negatively judged by strangers as they enter the agency and creating a more personal approach, new recruits may have a higher probability of becoming long-term and consistent volunteers.Publication Assessing the Impact of Two Residential Programs for Dually-Diagnosed Homeless Individuals(1994-12-01) Blankertz, Laura E; Cnaan, Ram ATwo residential programs for dually diagnosed (severely mentally ill and substance abusing) homeless individuals in Philadelphia were compared in a quasi-experimental field study. Findings indicate that the experimental model, a hybrid psychosocial and drug rehabilitation program, did significantly better in maintaining clients in care and in successful rehabilitation than the comparison model, a modified therapeutic community program. However, the overall rate of success in both programs was quite modest. We found Emile Durkheim's concepts of organic and mechanical solidarity to be useful in comparing the structure of the two programs. Because of the small number of clients treated by these programs and the unique characteristics (predominantly young, black and male) of this urban population, findings are not conclusive but clarify direction for further practice and study.Publication Community Development as a Public Sector Agenda(1999) Perlmutter, Felice D; Cnaan, Ram AThis paper documents how one Department of Recreation in a large city underwent a planned change effort which transformed some 200 site managers into active community organizers. Based on the philosophy of a very dynamic new commissioner (a former community organizer), city employees enhanced local civic participation and forged a partnership between the public and private sectors as well as with local residents. The paper presents the guiding philosophy, implementation steps, an assessment of the impact of the change, and a discussion of the potential of such a process which can be adopted nationwide.Publication Review of Artisans of Democracy: How Ordinary People, Families in Extreme Poverty, and Social Institutions Become Allies to Overcome Social Exclusion(2002-01-01) Cnaan, Ram AAs a longtime reader and contributor to NVSQ, I have been occupied for quite a while with trying to select what book is worthy of a review in NVSQ. So many new books cover aspects of the nonprofit sector or voluntary action, or both, that the list of books alone would take the entire space allocated for book reviews. Rarely do I encounter a book that is unknown by most scholars in the field yet that is pivotal to what we collectively stand for. Rosenfeld and Tardieu’s book epitomizes the entire nonprofit sector—from one determined volunteer to an impressive international movement that refuses to co-opt and maintains a spirit of care and respect.