Attributing Responsibility and Assessing Gravity in Wife Abuse Situations

There is continued concern that legal and social systems underrespond to domestic violence. The present study compares police officers' and social workers' attributions of responsibility and their assessment of gravity of domestic violence incidents. The differential effect of eight contextual variables on attribution and assessment is also investigated by manipulating the variables in vignettes. Two-way analysis of variance was carried out, controlling for worker type and each of the contextual variables. Results indicate significant main effects for worker type on all variables defining attribution and assessment, though gender may play a role in some of the differences observed. Significant main effects were also observed for type of abuse, alleged provocation by the woman, child abuse and alcohol.     

Children's Living Conditions in Sweden. Social Patterns and Trends in Parental Accessibility, Child Care and Economic Resources

In this study, using data from the Swedish level of living surveys in 1981 and 1991 of more than 3,500 children, social patterns and trends in children's living conditions are analysed. The conditions focused on are linked to parental employment, namely, parental accessibility, use of child care and economic resources. The primary statistical method used is logistic regression analysis. The results show differences in children's access to mothers and fathers as parental access is restricted by various aspects of employment. There were also differences in childrenrsquo;s resources by social class and family structure. Of further importance was the combination of these, especially in the way that social class was more decisive for the children of single parents.     

层次分析法和模糊综合法在高新企业扩张模式选择中的应用

高新企业的扩张是其发展到一定阶段的必然选择。立足于影响高新企业扩张的关键因素基础上 ,应用层次分析法与模糊综合评价法相结合的方法分析战略扩张模式选择问题 ,即通过定性、定量相结合的方法 ,为企业在众多扩张模式中选择一种最适途径。     

残疾人高等教育发展道路探讨

"平等·参与·共享"是残疾人进入社会生活、参与社会生活的目标,对残疾人实行高等特殊教育是实现这一目标的途径。残疾人接受高等教育是社会发展的需要和人道主义精神、人的平等权利的体现。本文通过分析社会需要和残疾人权益与发展,探讨实行高等特殊教育的战略。     

The Family Contexts of Gender Development in Childhood and Adolescence

We review research on the family's role in gender development during childhood and adolescence. Our discussion highlights children's dyadic family relationship experiences with their parents and siblings; additionally, we describe ways in which the larger system of family relationships, including gendered dynamics in the marriage and the differential family experiences of sisters versus brothers may have implications for gender development. We also emphasize the significance of contextual factors—ranging from situational demands and affordances to forces emanating from the larger social ecology—in family gender socialization. We conclude that family experiences may have a more important impact on gender development than has previously been believed, and we highlight directions for future study. These include: (1) applying more complex models of parent socialization and family dynamics to the study of the family's role in gender development; (2) expanding on research directed at the socialization of sex differences to study how family dynamics are linked to individual differences in girls’ and boys’ gendered qualities and behaviors; and (3) further exploring how contextual factors exert an impact on gender socialization in the family.     

Asian Social Workers' Perceptions of Glass Ceiling,Organizational Fairness and Career Prospects

Abstract

This study examined the glass ceiling phenomenon and its effects on Asian Americans' careers in social work. A model was tested that explored utilizing a national sample of 192 Asian American social workers. Structural equation modeling techniques were employed to evaluate the adequacy of the proposed model's appropriateness to the collected data. Results indicated that the model successfully explained the glass ceiling phenomenon and organizational fairness as mediating variables. This study adds to the literature by investigating the theoretical and observed (or not observed) link between the glass ceiling literature and social justice theory. Recommendations for further study are highlighted along with the call for theory development and empirical work on race and ethnic differences as they relate to organizational behavior, with special attention to the effects of ethnicity and gender.     

Reducing Prejudice: Lessons From Social-Cognitive Factors Underlying Perceiver Differences in Prejudice

This article describes research findings on individual differences in stereotyping and shows how these findings have been and can be further applied to prejudice reduction efforts. A notable strength of this 'new' generation of individual difference work is its dynamic nature—that individual differences can be both stable and malleable. The first section of this article reviews work showing that both adults and children differ in social-cognitive factors related to stereotyping, namely the way theyprocess social information and their endorsement of social ideologies. The second section describes intervention strategies that target these factors. In the final section, limitations and future directions of basic and applied research on individual differences and stereotyping arediscussed.     

Employment status transitions among young adults,with and without disability

Employment is a crucial avenue through which young people with disability can experience material wellbeing and social participation. While the low employment rates of young people with disability are well established, little is known about the stability of employment status – that is, the degree to which individuals remain in or move in and out of employment. This article uses longitudinal data from a large Australian national data set to investigate the transitions between full‐time, part‐time and non‐employment for young people with and without disability. Considerable mobility was found between employment states for both young people with and without disability, with young people with disability more likely than their peers without disability to transition to reduced levels of employment and less likely to transition to increased levels of employment. Social background and contextual factors predicted employment for young people with disability; however, disability represented an additional penalty even after taking these factors into account. Findings suggest a need for social policy targeted specifically towards the barriers to maintaining and increasing employment experienced by young people with disability.     

Social harmony and community wellbeing

This special issue explores social harmony and community wellbeing with some examples of Asian countries. These are essential tools to fight against many social problems and meet elucidation. While these concepts are not documented well in social work literature, the articles on this special issue will provide thoughtful and valuable guidelines to the readers, academics, policy makers and researchers for expanding and improving social and community services.     

Results of a nationwide hospice and palliative care social work job analysis

The role of the hospice and palliative social worker is often ambiguous and misunderstood by colleagues and fellow team members. One reason for this is the lack of identified, clearly delineated roles, skills, and tasks employed by these specialty social workers in their daily work. This article summarizes the first nationwide job analysis of hospice and palliative social workers. A contextual, cross-sectional survey design was used to identify current and relevant job tasks from practicing hospice and palliative social workers. A sample of 482 social workers representing 46 states responded to a survey that included demographic questions and ranking of 152 tasks and importance to the position. Tasks were categorized into four broad categories: assessment and reevaluation; planning and intervention; death, grief, and bereavement; and professionalism; which includes subcategories consisting of multiple tasks and skills. Respondents identified performing a psychosocial assessment from a patient/family centered care perspective, assessment of the patient’s current and desired quality of life and of coping skills as the tasks most important to their role. This outline of the role of the hospice and palliative social worker was then used in the development of an evidence-based certification exam that may be required of those who want to receive specialty certification in the field.     

中国城市社区工作专业化的困境与出路——基于专业和本土社区工作的比较分析

西方专业社区工作与我国城市社区工作经历了两种不同的发展路径与取向,本文诉诸于比较分析,呈现出二者在性质、价值观、目标、角色、工作原则、技巧等方面的差异与差距。藉此,通过深入探究这些差异和差距形成的机制,尝试提出促进我国城市社区工作专业化的若干建议。     

Health Care Utilization Among the Elderly

The present study represents and attempt to develop a conceptual framework which provides a theoretical linkage between predisposing, enabling, and need for care factors and the utilization of physicians' services within an elderly population. Multiple regression and path analytic techniques are used to access the relative importance of these factors in determining health care utilization. The findings indicate, among other things, that the measures of morbidity, or the need-for-care, are the most important variables determining use. The substantive findings and their implications for the development of health care policies and programs for future research are highlighted.     

深圳、珠海、汕头经济特区发展比较研究

1980年,中国在借鉴世界各国和地区举办经济特区的经验和教训的基础上创办和发展了深圳、珠海、汕头和厦门4个经济特区,其中广东省就占了3个。经过30多年的发展,广东省3个经济特区的产业规模不断扩大,发展速度均高于全国平均水平,与此同时,特区之间的发展也很不平衡,存在诸多差异。可从不同经济特区的区位优势、地域划分等客观因素和产业发展策略、城市定位策略、创新意识等主观因素认识产生差异的原因。     

Care leavers: A British affair

Individuals in and leaving care within the UK experience numerous dilemmas that include a lack of supportive housing and potential homelessness, lower educational attainment and occupational status, and greater likelihood of moving into poverty. These adverse situations—all of which are interrelated—shape their present and future health status. Models of these processes usually focus on individual behaviours/characteristics, the consolidation of positive identities through the development of supportive networks, and specific social policies germane to this group. Although informative, these models neglect many key contextual factors that shape these outcomes. In this paper, we present a model of care‐leaving that incorporates developments in the political economy of health literature to show how differing welfare state arrangements shape health by mediating the distribution of economic and social resources over the life course for populations in general and for those in and leaving care specifically. The key recommendation suggested by this model is to focus upon developing public policies to address the vulnerable situations care leavers experience associated with skewed income distributions, lack of housing affordability, weak employment standards, and lack of access to higher education typical of liberal welfare states such as the UK.     

A Qualitative Study of Social Work Assessment in Cases of Alleged Child Abuse

Correspondence to Dr Dorothy Scott, School of Social Work, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia 3052. Summary While there has been considerable theorizing about how socialworkers think and act, there has been relatively little researchin this area. In the study reported in this paper, in-depthinterviews and observations of practice were used to explorethe process of assessment undertaken by Australian social workersin a hospital specialist service and in a statutory child protectionservice. Using a semi-longitudinal approach which ‘shadowed’10 families (17 allegedly abused children), highly detaileddata were collected from 42 observations of practice and 123interviews with 12 hospital social workers and 15 child protectionworkers on how their assessments evolved over the life of thesecases. While there were some individual differences betweenpractitioners within each organization, of greater significancewere the marked differences between the two groups in the variablesto which they attended. Both groups tended to adopt a proceduralizedmodel of practice which narrowed the range of factorsconsideredin assessment.     

Who Benefits the Most? The Unequal Allocation of Transfers in the Israeli Welfare State

Objective . This article critically examines contradictions within the Israeli welfare system, and asks how welfare transfers affect poverty for different social groups. Methods . Using data from Israel's 1996 Income Survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the analysis focuses on households with working-age heads, and compares poverty rates, before and after transfers among three groups: (1) recent immigrants; (2) Arabs; and (3) ultra-orthodox Jews ( Haredim ), distinguishing between couple- and female-headed households. Results . The results show that social welfare policy is more effective in aiding recent immigrants, who are entitled to special benefits, than aiding Arabs. The findings also show that transfers have a stronger effect in reducing poverty among female-headed families than among couple-headed families, thus reducing the gap between these two types of households. Conclusions . Israeli welfare policy reduces poverty, but this effect differs substantially by social group. While formally Israel is considered a universalistic welfare state, for historical and ideological reasons certain social groups, such as Jewish immigrants, have been favored and granted extra benefits, while others, such as Arabs, were neglected.     

Intake strategies: organising the intake of new social assistance inquirers

This article looks at how the intake of new social assistance clients is organised in Sweden and which factors affect the existence of special intake units, using interview and register data from 100 Swedish municipalities. The discussion is organised along two distributional principles: that of general access for all citizens and that of social assistance only to those who are in need. The results show that different intake types can be distinguished: to promote or limit both access to the social assistance units and the possibility for selection among the callers. Examining factors that affect the organisation of intake in special intake units, the results show that factors related to the economic and demographic structure of the municipalities have no, or only in indirect, effect on the organisation of intake. Intake is instead mainly related to the structure of the whole social assistance unit. In addition, some factors related to professional norms have an impact.     

中国当代的高等教育、精英形成与社会分层——来自“首都大学生成长追踪调查”的初步发现

在现代社会中,高等教育在促进社会流动方面的重要性已毋庸置疑。以往的研究往往集中关注那些受过大学教育和没有受过大学教育人群之间的比较,将前者视为一个高度同质的群体,将大学求学过程当作一个"黑箱"。本文基于对"首都大学生成长跟踪调查"研究设计的介绍和首期数据的分析,揭示了中国高等教育内部的社会分层,即进入三种不同层次高校(清华大学、北京大学和中国人民大学等精英高校,"211大学"和其他非"211大学")的决定因素,特别关注家庭背景、招生制度、重点中学制度等中间机制的共同作用。研究发现,家庭社会经济地位和居住地对于进入不同层次的高校仍然有直接的影响,但是否重点高中,以及是否获得高考特殊政策的照顾,对进入什么层次的大学作用更加明显。重点中学主要影响学生高考分数,而招生的各种优惠政策明显有利于家庭社会经济条件好的学生。进入精英大学的学生更有可能入党,尽管他们的入党意愿低于其他类型高校的学生。这些发现对理解中国当代高等教育在精英形成过程和社会分层中的作用具有重要的启示意义。     

社会工作教育中的学生学业评价

社会工作专业教学中的学生学业评价具有促进学生学业、促进教师教学以及促进学校管理等多种功能。学业评价的领域包括学生认知学习评价、技能学习评价、价值学习评价等多个方面。在学生学业评价中，可以综合采用多种方法，也可以针对性地采取特定方法。要切实改进社会工作专业教学中的学生学业评价，需要在结合中国现实、丰富课堂教学、提高教师素质、加强专业支持等方面积极努力。