Contemporary welfare programs tend to focus on changing individual behavior-teaching clients to be more responsible,productive workers-rather than on addressing systemic inequality.In what tradition do such programs follow?

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Daniel Patrick Moynihan's report, The Negro Family, laid the foundation for contemporary welfare programs that focus on changing individual behavior. Moynihan argued that the breakdown of the black family was a major barrier to social and economic progress, and that the government should intervene to encourage stable families and discourage dependence on welfare. This approach has been criticized for blaming the poor for their own poverty and failing to address the underlying systemic inequalities that create poverty in the first place.

Contemporary Welfare Programs Tend to Focus on Changing Individual Behavior-Teaching