Aligning with key neoliberal values of self‐sufficiency, privatization, free market capitalism, and limited state support, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), popularly referred to as “welfare reform,” ushered in new restrictions on the receipt of public assistance (e.g., work requirements and time limits). Despite considerable debate regarding PRWORA's success and limited evidence that work requirements are effective, the neoliberal emphasis on work that informed welfare reform is increasingly being extended to other U.S. safety net programs. This analysis critically interrogates the current neoliberal push to extend and/or expand work requirements to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid. Examining the neoliberal politics and ideology that undergirds U.S. welfare policy and legitimizes restrictive work requirements, we examine the cultural construction of work as redemptive, the covert and overt functions of work requirements, and the damaging consequences of shifting societal obligation from the state to individuals. In doing so, we draw attention to who is harmed by and who benefits from “welfare reform.” We also consider how psychological research can be leveraged to challenge restrictive welfare policies and the further spread of neoliberal work mandates.

中文翻译：

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强制性工作：美国公共援助计划中不断上升的新自由主义的社会心理分析

与自给自足，私有化，自由市场资本主义和有限的国家支持等主要的新自由主义价值观相一致的是，1996年的《个人责任和工作机会和解法》（PRWORA）被普遍称为“福利改革”。收到公共援助（例如工作要求和时间限制）。尽管对PRWORA的成功进行了很多辩论，而且工作要求有效的证据有限，但新自由主义者对知情福利改革的工作的重视正越来越多地扩展到其他美国安全网计划。该分析批判性地询问了当前新自由主义对扩展和/或扩展对补充营养援助计划和医疗补助的工作要求的努力。审视支撑美国的新自由主义政治和意识形态 福利政策并使限制性工作要求合法化，我们研究了可赎回工作的文化结构，工作要求的隐性和显性功能，以及将社会义务从国家转移到个人的破坏性后果。通过这样做，我们提请注意“福利改革”对谁造成的伤害以及谁从中受益。我们还考虑如何利用心理学研究来挑战限制性福利政策以及新自由主义工作授权的进一步传播。