Premium
The “Three Worlds” of Human Services
Author(s) -
Sugarman Barry
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
social policy and administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1467-9515
pISSN - 0144-5596
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9515.1987.tb00278.x
Subject(s) - profit (economics) , human services , field (mathematics) , business , sociology , economics , economic growth , neoclassical economics , mathematics , pure mathematics
The “three worlds” referred to in this article are the three environments in which human services are delivered: the public, private non‐profit, and private for‐profit sectors. This article analyses the situation of human services in the USA, while suggesting that the arrival of privatization in other western industrial societies makes it relevant there too. After defining each of the three environments, an attempt is made to generalize about broad differences in management behaviour that tend to result from the different kinds of pressures inherent in each of the three worlds. Relationships between the three worlds are discussed, with special reference to the field of alcoholism treatment services.