Spending time together: the impact of children on couples�� leisure synchronization

The presence of children may oblige parents to desynchronize their schedules in order both to minimize childcare expenses and to become more efficient in their domestic tasks. This disconnection between the father’s and the mother’s schedules may be undesired as such, and may represent an additional component in the overall cost of children as traditionally considered. This article analyzes the impact of children on their parents’ schedules, using the French time use survey data (INSEE 1998–1999). The comparison of female and male schedules makes it possible to measure the leisure synchronization of dual-earner couples. We show that the presence of children within a household significantly reduces joint leisure time, and the more so if they are young. Parental schedule adjustments are severely limited by work constraints. The parents’ difficulties in coordinating their schedules in order to spend time together is expressed as a deprivation of leisure which is larger for joint than for individual time. Finally, for couples with children, greater housework synchronization does not free up enough time to maintain joint leisure time.     

Social work and Nordic welfare policies for children—present challenges in the light of the past1

The aim of this article is to explore welfare policies for children in five Nordic countries—Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden—and in that context identify what kinds of issues and challenges social work is currently facing. The data reviewed consist of policy documents, law texts, official reports, statistics, professional texts, and previous research. Policies and laws on children's protection; provisions, including policies on state benefits and care for children; and the autonomous integrity of children in terms of the norms and policies concerning their participation, in particular in public everyday life, are analysed from a historical perspective. Hence, future challenges for social work are analysed in light of the past. Our conclusion is that social workers have a unique opportunity, based on their close encounters with children as clients, to work for the realisation of children's rights. Furthermore, by applying a holistic perspective to issues of childhood and parenthood, social workers can contribute to the development of knowledge on how welfare systems can meet the challenges brought about by the new ideas of children's rights, social changes, globalisation, and the new ideological concepts of risk that have arisen in child welfare.

Artikkeli tarkastelee lasten hyvinvointipolitiikan kehitystä viidessä Pohjoismaassa—Tanskassa, Suomessa, Islannissa, Norjassa ja Ruotsissa—ja sen valossa sitä millaisia kysymyksiä ja haasteita tämän päivän lasten hyvinvoinnin parissa tehtävä sosiaalityö kohtaa. Artikkelissa on käytetty aineistona erilaisia politiikkadokumentteja, lakeja, julkisia raportteja,tilastoja, professionaalisia kirjoituksia sekä aiempaa tutkimusta. Artikkelissa analysoidaan historiallisesta näkökulmasta lastensuojelun, sosiaalipalvelujen, lapsille suunnattujen sosiaalisten tukien sekä lasten osallistumista koskevia normeja ja toimintapolitiikkaa. Sosiaalityön tulevaisuushaasteita analysoidaan menneisyyden valossa. Johtopäätöksemme on, että sosiaalityöntekijöillä on ainutlaatuinen mahdollisuus, joka perustuu heidän läheisiin työskentelysuhteisiinsa vaikeissa elämäntilanteissa olevien lasten kanssa, olla lasten oikeuksien todellisia toimeenpanijoita. Lisäksi lapsuuden ja vanhemmuuden näkökulmat yhdistävästä toimintapaikastaan käsin juuri sosiaalityöntekijät voivat vaikuttaa tutkimukseen ja kehittämiseen niin, että hyvinvointipalvelut ja –etuudet kohtaisivat nykyistä joustavammin lasten oikeuksien, yleisen yhteiskuntamuutoksen, globalisaation ja kovin ideologisena pitämämme riskiajattelun haasteet.     

Does family support ensure the protection of children? Messages from child protection research

The history of child protection is, in many ways, a catalogue of changes arising from the political/professional interface tensions relating to a highly contentious area of public and professional policy. The latest contribution to this process is the Department of Health's 1995 publication Child Protection: Messages from Research. The overview of the studies recommends that there be a shift in resources and attitudes from an investigative approach to a family support perspective. Many local authorities have subsequently produced policies which will lead to referrals being recorded as ‘children in need’ rather than child protection. The ramifications of this change in approach are examined from the dual perspectives of policy and practice. The article suggests that while much of the change in emphasis is to be welcomed, the needs of the most severely abused children may be compromised by the new orthodoxy, as it is not based on the reality of the many problems encountered by children and professionals in child protection work. It is argued that a focus on practice issues needs to permeate all such documents. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Some effective methods of teaching children English

This paper made a study on children’s English learning,method of teaching English to children are discussed and the innovation,hope that through this study,to help all children English teaching innovation.     

A children’s election—Dilemmas of children’s political participation

In this article, we explore how fifth graders (9–10-year-olds) and their teachers view children's participation in a parliamentary election for children arranged by Save the Children Norway in 2017. The participants draw on available discursive resources when making sense of children's political positions in society. In the discursive resources, longstanding tensions surrounding children, childhood and politics come to the surface. We conclude that although children's position in politics remains marginal, there are ways to move beyond the tensions to be able to imagine children as political actors.     

Moving on from ramps? The utility of the social model of disability for facilitating experiences of nature for disabled children

Experiences of nature have been shown to be beneficial for disabled children; however, opportunities for disabled children to experience nature are often limited. The social model of disability may provide a theoretical base for increasing access to nature for pupils at Special Educational Needs (SEN) schools. Using results from interviews conducted with teachers from seven SEN schools, considered alongside responses from interviews with staff from six environmental centres, this paper seeks to identify the specific constraints that may act upon the opportunities for disabled pupils to visit environmental centres. The research finds that a ‘medicalised’ approach to access may impede upon environmental centres’ ability to cater effectively to the needs of SEN school groups. Dialogue between environmental centres and SEN school teachers is recommended as a means of facilitating SEN school group access.     

Where are the children? Exploring the boundaries between text and context in the study of place and space in four different countries

In this article, we demonstrate how the cultural conceptions of a team of five researchers from different cultural and national backgrounds can be used as a source of knowledge during a collective, self‐reflexive analytical process. While collectively analysing texts describing daily life produced by first‐grade children and their parents in China, Norway, South Africa and the United States, the research team engaged in a collectively negotiated analytical process, which we refer to as an ‘analytic negotiating method’. The strength of this process rests on the ability to examine critically the boundaries between the researcher's contextual conceptions and conceptions derived from the texts. Engaging in this kind of negotiated analytical process contributes to scholarship by working towards a level of self‐reflexivity that makes the link between empirical data and researcher interpretation more transparent and produces a sensitivity to context that allows insights into the conceptions of childhood that operate cross‐culturally.     

Telephone communication with children as part of the self‐care arrangement: A research note

Children in self‐care (latchkey) arrangements have been portrayed as a population at risk, and this has recently led to research investigations, social policy discussions, and legislative proposals. This study examines selected characteristics of mother, child, and family, and the amount of time children spend in self‐care, for their influences on the use of the telephone to communicate with children in self‐care. The analysis builds on earlier studies that indicate the importance of time, child's age, and mother's employment for understanding the growing phenomenon of self‐care. The results of multiple regression analyses are presented and discussed. As expected, the age of the child is the most important variable in predicting the length of time spent in self‐care. The age of the child and the length of time spent in self‐care are the strongest predictors of telephone communication with children in self‐care arrangements.     

From neglect to partnership? Challenges for social services in promoting the welfare of Traveller children

This paper explores current and potential directions in social services' provision for Traveller children, drawing on a Nuffield‐funded study. Many Traveller communities experience harassment, racism and oppression, which create a structural ‘vulnerability’ for children. However, the paper focuses on services for children where structural and family vulnerability interact, and the extent of statutory neglect. After outlining the study, three models of provision are explored. Firstly, crisis response in relation to child protection and youth justice issues has dominated social services' interaction with Travellers, tending to reinforce existing difficulties in relationships between the two. Secondly, family support was the subject of initiatives beginning in the study areas (selected as more engaged with Traveller issues) to facilitate Travellers' access to services, and plan a more strategic engagement with Traveller communities. Thirdly, specialist work was represented both formally and informally in the study, and demonstrated considerable benefits. Lessons from these findings suggest priorities for developing work with Travellers: recognition of Travellers as a minority ethnic/cultural group; inclusion of Travellers in equality policy and practice; training for workers; changes to referral systems; development of community support services; specialist posts; support to, and outreach work in partnership with, voluntary agencies; interagency initiatives; and, crucially, consultation with Travellers. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mediating self‐hood: exploring the construction and maintenance of identity by mothers of children labeled with autism spectrum disorder

Based on the findings of a qualitative study, this article describes how mothers of children labeled with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) mediate for their children in interactions with those who are unfamiliar with ASD. Data were collected through in‐depth interviews and participant observations. Findings indicate that mothers mediate for their children because they perceive hostility and lack of accommodation for their children on the part of unfamiliars. As they mediate, mothers attempt to construct and maintain positive identities for their children by explaining and reframing their children’s behaviors to influence the interpretations and responses of unfamiliars. I argue that in these interactions mothers function as proxy selves for their children because they are attempting to influence the perceptions others develop of their children, thus shaping their children’s social identity in the process. The findings of this study demonstrate the active, interpretive role that many mothers of children with autism play as they continually sort and assess information in order to determine what is in the best interests of their children. Further, the findings presented here demonstrate the social nature of self‐hood and identity, that all people involve others in the performance of their self‐hood. In this way and others, people labeled with ASD have much in common with those considered normal.     

What is the value of qualitative longitudinal research with children and young people for international development?

This paper draws on data from Young Lives, a longitudinal study of childhood poverty, to explore how international development research might be strengthened by including qualitative longitudinal research (QLR). We review three problems in development studies: (a) the relatively low status of qualitative research within the hierarchy of development knowledge, (b) the predominance of cross-sectional research, and, (c) marginality of research with children and young people. We offer examples from Young Lives research on early marriage in Ethiopia, household poverty dynamics in India and Ethiopia, and aspirations and migration in Peru, to highlight the potential of QLR to address these drawbacks. We suggest that QLR illuminates the dynamic complexities of the processes and practices of everyday life, how they are experienced by children and young people, the responses they make, and the shifting trajectories of their lives.     

Safeguard Rights and Interests of Women in Accordance with the Law——the Five-Year Anniversary of the Implementation of the Law of the PRC on the Protection of Righ Is and Interests of Women

ON April 3, 1992, the Law of the PRC on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women (Protection Law), the first basic law for protecting rights and interests of women and promoting equality between men and women in China, was adopted at the fifth session of the Seventh National People's Congress (NPC), and entered into force on October 1 of the same year.     

General Principles of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China

In this issue we will introduce readers to the General Principles of the Civil Lave of the People's Republic of China, which was adopted at the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People's Congress, promulgated by order No.37 of the President of the People's Republic of China on April 12, 1986, and effective as of January 1, 1987.This law was formulated according to the constitution and the actual situation in our country, drawing upon our practical experience in civil actirities,for the purpose of protecting the lawful civil rights and interests of citizens and legal persons and correctly adjusting civil relations,so as to meet the needs of the developing socialist modernizationThe Civil Law of the People's Republie of China has 156 articles and 9 chapters. The chapters are:1) Basic Principles;2) Citizen (Natural Person); 3) Legal Persons; 4) Civil Law and Agencies; 5)Civil Rights; 6) Civil Liability; 7) Limitations of Action; 8) Application of Law in Civil Relations with Foreigners; and 9) Supplement     

Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors

Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors is China's first overall law aimed at guaranteeing minors' rights and interests. We will introduce this law to our readers in this issue.     

For the Sake of the Children

THE United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has come a long way in China. Since its assistance program was resumed in 1979, UNICEF has assisted children of China through 100 major projects involving a commitment of more than US$ 200 million through 1995. The global organization's contribution to improving the well-being of 380     

Locating the Source of the Changjiang

Aiding a colleague‘s recovery from mountain sicknessSeracs at the source of the Changjiang RiverThe magnificent Tuotuo RiverA Tibetan girl in the regionLocal herdsmen milking COWSLocating the Source of the Changjiang