The challenges of the current situation of a challenged economy have
             resurrected an enduring debate about the state of the poor. It seems that
             the ranks are growing despite the attempts near the end of the last century
             to reform the standards of social welfare. Two schools of thought have
             lead the debate and conflicted in both theory and implementation.
             Institutionalism and behaviorism conflict on a few points that challenge
             the application of social welfare policy, and especially the late 20th
             century incarnation of Aide for Families with Dependent Children, (AFDC)
             TANF Temporary Aid to Needy Families, the first of many attempts to
             redirect the focus of social welfare toward retraining the poor to reduce
             PRWORA states that the purposes of the TANF program are to assist
             needy families, to fight "welfare dependency" by promoting work and
             marriage, to reduce non-marital births, and to encourage the formation
             and maintenance of two-parent families (Committee on Ways and Means
             2000, 354; Haskins, Sawhill, and Weaver 2001b, 2). (Peterson, 2002)
             Thought eh large and demonstrative goals of the program were lofty and are
             essential issues in need of address within our increasingly fractured
             society the actual implementation of the program has left many questions.
             As the TANF program has been implemented, reducing "welfare
             dependency" has received the greatest emphasis, and success in meeting
             this goal has been measured largely in terms of declining caseloads
             and increasing employment among poor single mothers. There are many
             who continue to see this as the primary goal of welfare reform and
             argue that reducing caseloads and increasing employment among poor
             single mothers should remain the primary policy focus. (Peterson,
             The behaviorist would likely be in favor of the TANF program as it was
             ...