SPAEF

Shutdown at Youngstown; Public Policy for Mass Unemployment by Terry F. Buss; F. StevensRedburnReview by: Verne H. McClurgPublic Administration Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 2 (SUMMER, 1983), pp. 256-257Published by: SPAEFStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40861002 .

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BOOK REVIEWS

Terry F. Buss and F. Stevens Redburn (1983). Shutdown at Youngstown; Public Policy for Maes Unemployment. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. 219pp.

The focus of this book is twofold: the shutdown of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company plant with the impact felt by steelworkers, their families, and their community and an exploration of public policies which deal with the immediate and long-run human aspects of such closings.

The former concerns a two-year, longitudinal study of steelworkers, their wives, and a control group of autoworkers from a nearby auto plant. This study is not about a normal closing of a large steel plant but concerns jthe lives and futures of over 4,000 workers who were summarily dismissed without prior notification. What happens to workers who find their lifelong careers over? How do workers respond with different levels of skill or education? Do they accept jobs for less pay or less satisfactory working conditions?

Interviews with steelworkers and their spouses were conducted to measure the psychological impact, changes in mental health, and mental stress associated with the plant closing. The results showed relatively mild stressful experi- ences; however, the authors feel that more research is needed to understand thoroughly the psychological impact of job losses.

The impact upon the community and the efforts made by the community were also studied. Economic factors involving the loss of jobs for over 4,000 workers can and do affect the business in the community. Unemployed workers are less willing to seek medical treatment, purchase large items or contribute to community projects.

How did the community respond to the needs of the unemployed? The authors point out that, because of the need to be retrained or upgrade their educational and skill levels, the community programs would be a viable part of this process. However, it was found that many of the workers were able to search for, locate, and obtain jobs without a great deal of

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PAQ SUMMER 1983 (257)

assistance from local unemployment programs. Buss and Redburn point out that this did not result from any peculiar phenomenon but was a result of the inadequacies of the public employment facilities.

Effective human services policies can be developed to aid in finding employment and retraining individuals unemployed due to plant closings. The last several chapters of the book address these issues. Buss and Redburn discuss the need for development of employment and human policies to assist workers who have lost their jobs due to plant closings. The needs of the workers and the community differ in this situation from the normal cyclical job losses or structural unemployment problems.

The authors conclude that, lacking federal and state assistance, the communities must depend primarily upon themselves to construct effective human services responses to the economic crisis of plant closings. This study can be helpful in planning these efforts to meet this challenge.

This reviewer recommends that instructors utilize Shutdown at Youngstown as a case study to illustrate the ramifications of large-scale unemployment problems. The authors have included numerous graphs and statistical tables which are beneficial in studying research results of this study. This book would provide valuable information to those instructors and students of public administration who are interested in the problems of public policy.

Dr. Verne H. McClurg Auburn University at Montgomery

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