Legislative Guide

Inclusion of Socioeconomic Status in Psychology Curricula
Legislative guide

This guide is intended to provide psychology instructors with resources and ideas on integrating public policy related to socioeconomic status (SES) into the psychology curriculum. Included is a brief guide to understanding the legislative process, legislative codes and how to search for policies. In addition, we have compiled a brief list of legislation related to socioeconomic status and/or economic assistance within the past 10 years.

Ways to integrate public policy related to socioeconomic status into the psychology curriculum

In the classroom

  • Have individual students or groups track policies related to a specific topic throughout the semester.
  • Discuss how specific policies related to a topic in psychology may impact people from all socioeconomic status levels.
  • Assign research articles related to policies that have an impact on both psychology and SES.
  • Require students to find legislation on a specific psychology topic.
  • Have students interview others from different SES levels about how a specific bill or law has impacted their life.
  • Have students survey members of different socioeconomic levels on knowledge of the legislative process or bills passed regarding psychology issues.

The legislative process

Share these websites for learning about the legislative process and government.

Terminology of legislation

HR = House of Representatives = A bill that was introduced in the House

S = Senate = A bill that was introduced in the Senate

PL = Public Law = A bill that was passed through both houses and signed by the President becomes public law

STAT = Statutes = Every law enacted by Congress is published in the Statutes at Large in order of the date of passage

USC = U.S. Code = Laws from the Statutes at Large are codified in the U.S. Code, arranged by topic

How do I find policies related to my topic?

Reference books

Reference books are the best places to search for government policies related to your topic. These sources often provide the bill code in the text or the reference section. Library catalogs offer options to limit your search to materials in the reference section. The following are examples of reference books related to socioeconomic status.

  • Brady, D. & Burton, L.M. (Eds.). (2016). The Oxford handbook of the social science of poverty. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 
  • Castles, F., Liebfried, S., Lewis, J. Obinger, H., & Pierson, C. (Eds.). (2012). The Oxford handbook of the welfare state. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
  • Crane, D.R. & Heaton, T.B. (Eds.). (2007). Handbook of families and poverty. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE. 
  • Glasmeier, A.K. (2006). An atlas of poverty in America: One nation, pulling apart, 1960-2003. New York: Routledge.
  • Iceland, J. (2016). Poverty in America: A handbook (3rd ed.). Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.
  • Lawson, R.M. & Lawson, B.A. (2008). Poverty in America: An encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood. 
  • Mink, G. & O'Conner, A., Eds. (2004). Poverty in the United States: An encyclopedia of history, politics, and policy. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO.
  • Odekon, M. (2015). The SAGE encyclopedia of world poverty. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
  • Rycroft, R.S. (Ed.). (2017). The American middle class: An economic encyclopedia of progress and poverty. Westport, CT: Greenwood. 
  • Stephen, H., Vidal de Haymes, M., & Miller, R. (2014) The Routledge handbook on poverty in the United States. New York, Routledge. 
  • Weir, R.E. (Ed.). (2007). Class in America: An encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood. 

Internet    

Government web pages can offer lots of useful information about bills. These pages usually end with .gov, .us or .mil.

  • APA Public Interest Government Relations Office   
    Activities include congressional briefings and testimony, educating psychologists in how to advocate for psychology both locally and nationally, and educating politicians on the contributions of psychology to matters of public policy.

Academic database

Some databases such as Educational Research Information Center (ERIC) offer options to limit your search to government documents and legislation. 

  • ERICopens in new window 
    Provides access to journal articles, books, research syntheses, conference papers and policy papers from 1966-present. ERIC has two options to narrow query results for (1) peer-reviewed only or (2) full text available on ERIC. To search within the ERIC database for public policy document, click on Advanced Search Tipsopens in new window.

How do I find information about a specific policy?

Bills may be difficult to understand for those who are not familiar with government documents. Summaries, which provide descriptions of the bill, are most helpful in telling you what the bill is about.

Library databases

  • ProQuest Congressional (formerly LexisNexis Congressional)opens in new window  
    A comprehensive online resource of Congressional hearings, legislation and history. It can be used to access current topics of Congress, find sources of government statistics, trace a law's legislative history, gauge Congressional attitudes toward current topics, and find out how members of Congress voted on legislation.
  • PAIS Internationalopens in new window  
    Database contains references to more than 553,300 journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, research reports, conference reports and publications of international agencies. PAIS International includes publications from over 120 countries throughout the world. In addition to English, some of the indexed materials are published in French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
more
Recent legislation

Current public policy related to SES

Examples of enacted federal laws related to socioeconomic status

114th Congress (2015-16)

P.L. 114-195 Global Food Security Act of 2016

Enacted bill: 114 S. 1252

The Global Food Security Act of 2016 was signed into law by President Barack Obama. The law authorizes a comprehensive approach for the United States to develop and implement a global food security strategy to promote global food security, resilience and nutrition. The law also authorizes the United States to assist developing countries to: reduce global poverty and hunger; achieve food security and improved nutrition; promote inclusive, sustainable agricultural-led economic growth; improve nutritional outcomes, especially for women and children; and to build resilience among vulnerable populations. 
113th Congress (2013-14)

P.L. 113-186 Child Care and Development Block Grant

Enacted bill: 113 S. 1086

The Child Care and Development Block Grant of 2014 was signed into law by President Barack Obama reauthorizing the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, the primary source of federal funding for child care subsidies for low-income working families and funds to improve child care quality. The act provides block grants to the states to help low-income parents find child care for their children and makes amendments.
112th Congress (2011-12)

P.L. 112-96 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012

Enacted bill: 112 H.R. 3630

The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama. Among other things, the act extends payroll tax reductions, unemployment benefits, health provisions (e.g., Medicare payments), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and changes employee retirement changes (i.e., increases employee pension of federal employees who meet certain criteria by 2.3 percent) 

111th Congress (2009-10)

P.L. 111-296 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010

Enacted bill: 111 S. 3307

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 was signed into law by President Barack Obama reauthorizing numerous child nutrition programs with the goal of improving child nutrition. Included in this legislation are the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, the Summer Food Service Program, the Afterschool Meal Program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education. This legislation provided $4.5 billion in new resources for those programs.

110th Congress (2007-08)

P.L. 110-134 Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007

Enacted bill: 110 H.R. 1429

The Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 was signed into law by President George W. Bush reauthorizing the Head Start Act. The goal of the act is to: (1) improve program quality; (2) expand access to the program; (3) increase coordination between Head Start and state and local early childhood services; (4) and strengthen the accountability of the program.

In This Guide
Additional Resources
Date created: 2018