Considering Improvisation: Play,Transitional Space,and Discovery

This article explores the concept of improvisation in the therapeutic setting as a complex construction when elaborated in the idiom of jazz music. A composite clinical case is offered that illustrates an impasse and how improvisational thinking offers a way forward. Improvisation has recently been conceptualized through the metaphor of theater improvisation, dance, and rhythm. The therapeutic hour is considered an improvisational dialogue with the main theme (melody) and counter melodies, and harmonic possibilities that underlie the rhythmic pulse of the hour. Improvisation requires a reflective/interpretive process that draws on patterns, structures, and experiences reformulated in the relational field of the participants. The client initiates the call and response pattern, from which improvisation emerges as a mutual process of discovery. A more relaxed, receptive, and reflective posture extends Winnicott’s 1971 notion of play to integrate classic understanding and relational interaction.     

Objective Tests versus Subjective tests

objective test has only one correct answer, while subjective test has a range of possible answers. Because of this feature, reliability will not be difficult to achieve in the marking of the objective item, while the marking of the subjective items is reliable. On the whole, a good test must contain both subjective and objective test items.     

循环经济与可持续发展刍议

发展循环经济已经成为当今世界的潮流和趋势,循环经济将经济活动组织成为"资源-产品-消费-再生资源"的物质反复循环的闭环式流程,从上世纪90年代确定可持续发展战略以来,发达国家正在把发展循环经济、建立循环型社会看作是实施可持续发展战略的重要途径和实现方式.循环经济是集经济、技术、社会于一体的系统工程,其启动和推广不仅需要政府、企业、科学界和公众等社会各界的不懈努力和共同参与,而且需要资金、技术以及法规、制度等软硬环境的强力支撑.     

Feminist Criticism in The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a great book. Through feminist criticism we can get how The Scarlet Letter may be read as dramatizing Hester Prynne's spiritual and physical struggle to survive as an individual in a society whose values authorize the privileged power of men.     

Abstracts of theses: Smith College School for Social Work,July 1954

Abstract

Many clients relate in ways that elicit emotional responses in practitioners and may also feel pressure to intervene when appropriate action is not yet clear. Practitioners must develop sufficient self-awareness so their own reactions do not interfere with the work they do with clients. Educators exhort their students to be self-aware, but locating methods that foster the capacity can be difficult. Infant observation is an elegant training model that helps to develop self-awareness. The method described here makes use of regular observation, supportive small groups, and repeated detailed examination of what is seen in training both generalist and specialized practitioners. It has become a prototype for the observational study of several kinds of specific populations. Because it attends to people in their own environments and demonstrates a flexible, reflective, multi-modal manner of information-gathering, infant observation is particularly useful in the education of social work practitioners.     

The gender gap in pensions in Latin America

Lower female lifetime labour market participation rates, greater interruptions during their working lives, and wage gaps contribute to create gender gaps in pensions at the time of retirement. The design of social security systems may reinforce or attenuate these gaps. This article provides new evidence on gender gaps in access to pensions and in pension income in four Southern Cone countries in Latin America and analyses their evolution between 2000 and 2013, showing significant improvements in both gaps, with differential patterns by countries. The decrease in the gender gap in pension income has been particularly significant in Argentina and Brazil. In both cases, the largest increases in pension values during the period correspond to the lowest income percentiles, where women are overrepresented. The application of redistributive policies in these countries, aimed at reducing poverty and inequality but not necessarily focused on gender equity, has had positive and probably unintended consequences in terms of reduction in gender gaps in pensions.     

India's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act: Assessing the quality of access and adequacy of benefits in MGNREGS public works

The extension of social protection to all has become a central policy objective, both nationally and internationally. A considerable number of middle‐ and low‐income countries have undertaken substantial efforts to extend social protection, while the international community reaffirmed its commitment to the extension of social protection through the adoption of the ILO Recommendation concerning National Floors of Social Protection, No. 202 (2012). This article reviews the legal provisions and the implementation of the Indian Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), legislated in 2005, and does so in the light of the more recent provisions of ILO Recommendation No. 202. Since its introduction ten years ago, MGNREGA has provided a source of income to rural workers, increased wage rates, achieved high female participation rates and created durable assets. India's local governance bodies, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), have been empowered and involved in the processes of planning and monitoring. However, despite successes, there have been considerable shortcomings in implementation. This article highlights two central themes: first, the innovative policy framework of the Act, which brings together rights‐based entitlements, demand‐driven employment, and citizen‐centred monitoring. Second, it assesses the accessibility and adequacy of benefits in the implementation of MGNREGA. We conclude that MGNREGA offers potential for South‐South learning, both in terms of policy‐design and implementation.     

From “Either‐Or” to “When and How”: A Context‐Dependent Model of Culture in Action

In this article, I outline a framework for the sociological study of culture that connects three intertwined elements of human culture (cultural motivations, resources, and meanings) and demonstrates the concrete contexts under which each most critically influences actions and their subsequent outcomes. In contrast to models that cast motivations, resources, and meanings as competing explanations of how culture affects action, I argue that these are fundamental constituent elements of culture that are inseparable, interdependent, and simultaneously operative. Which element provides the strongest link to action, and how this link operates, must be understood as a function of the actor's position within wider social contexts. I argue that on average motivations have the most discernable link to action within a social strata, cultural resources provide the strongest link across strata, and meanings have the greatest direct influence when codified and sanctioned. I then offer a reframing and synthesis that reintegrates previously “competing” theories of culture into a more holistic context‐dependent model of culture in action. Finally, I use evidence from prior empirical research, as well as new data from an ongoing ethnographic study of health behaviors among the aged, to show how various elements of culture are concretely linked to action in eight different social contexts. In doing so, I provide a roadmap for the transition out of the “either‐or” logic underlying much of cultural theory and reemphasize the importance of the classical sociological concern for “when” and “how” various aspects of culture influence action and outcomes in concrete social contexts.     

Is subsidiarity a conditio sine qua non for sustainability?

This paper argues that subsidiarity is a condicio sine qua non for sustainability. Through the complexity paradigm, the paper provides a historical reconstruction of both concepts to the end of elucidating their interdependence. The main thesis is that subsidiarity to sustainability is what self-organisation is to emergence. The paper ends with a sketch of future global governance structures based on a subsidiarity where cities take the lead on sustainability.     

Global employment and decent jobs, 2010–2030: The forces of demography and automation

Globally, an estimated 734 million jobs will be required between 2010 and 2030 to accommodate recent and ongoing demographic shifts, account for plausible changes in labour force participation rates, and achieve target unemployment rates of at or below 4 per cent for adults and at or below 8 per cent for youth. The facts that most new jobs will be required in countries where “decent” jobs are less prevalent and workers in many occupations are increasingly subject to risks of automation further compound the challenge of job creation, which is already quite sizable in historical perspective. Failure to create the jobs that are needed through 2030 would put currently operative social security systems under pressure and undermine efforts to guarantee the national social protection floors enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).     

Ethical and Regulatory Challenges in Psychophysiology and Neuroscience-Based Technology for Determining Behavior

In the past three decades, there has been an explosion in research to understand the mechanisms of brain function. Recent advances in psychophysiology and neuroscience, while still limited, have sparked great interest in developing technologies that could peer into the brain and be used to identify or indicate certain behaviors. The polygraph (lie detector) represents an old technology used for discerning clues to the human brain; functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) represents one of the newest efforts. The use of these technologies in intelligence and counterintelligence in the field without validation represents a major concern about its usefulness. Both research on this new technology and subsequent use on public raise ethical challenges. This article will address the overall ethical issues associated with these new technologies. The report identifies the ethical and cultural challenges in conducting research on these new tools, explores the possibility of using current U.S. regulatory requirements regarding drugs and devices as a model for regulating these new technologies, and suggests approaches for the future.     

Youth‐oriented active labour market policies and economic crisis: Explaining policy effort in Greece and Portugal

The starting point of this study is the implementation of seemingly similar youth‐oriented labour market policies in Greece and Portugal. Both countries have suffered high youth unemployment rates and have been pressured to restructure their labour market as part of the rescue programmes adopted during the European sovereign debt crisis. Despite convergence in terms of policy trajectories, there is a significant divergence in employment outcomes. In Portugal, youth‐oriented policies were better‐targeted and structured. Their implementation has been more effective and has involved the social partners from the outset of the crisis. In Greece, policy design failures, administrative weaknesses and unfavourable macroeconomic conditions have limited the dynamics of youth‐oriented policies thus increasing youth insecurity. Τhe analysis suggests that convergence in policy content can be compatible with divergence in terms of outcomes.     

简论中国艺术思维的基本形态

中国艺术思维的基本形态包括:观察、摹形、情感、想象、象征、整体、妙悟。观察是中国艺术思维的起点之一;人类早期的造型艺术,就是从摹形发展而来的;中国艺术十分强调情感因素;想象是中国艺术的基本形态之一;中国艺术思维具有强烈的象征性;中国艺术历来讲究整体性;妙悟是中国艺术思维的特有现象。     

Microinsurance: A short history

Twenty years ago, the International Social Security Review published an article that introduced a new term to the vocabulary of development and social protection: Microinsurance. Now, twenty years later, it is suitable to take stock of the contribution of microinsurance towards promoting coverage and social security. The article reviews the main insights gained from 20 years of implementation, including a clear expression of the value proposition of health microinsurance, understanding the demand for microinsurance, the business process for successful implementation, and conditions that must be satisfied for scaling and sustainable operations. It also explains the context that led to a considerable divergence in the microinsurance space. The article offers a discussion of unresolved issues and thoughts about the future of microinsurance. The conclusion of this article is that microinsurance can flourish when the necessary four pillars for its implementation exist, namely mainstreaming through political support, enhanced insurance literacy of the customers, technical assistance to self‐administer the schemes, and availability of seed capital. The sufficient additional condition is that customers perceive microinsurance as offering welfare gains that cannot be obtained by other means.     

Populism as a fantasmatic rupture in the post-political order: integrating Laclau with Glynos and Stavrakakis

ABSTRACT

The recent challenges of populist movements to the ‘post-democratic horizon’ in Greece and elsewhere have highlighted its possibilities as a political force able to mount a challenge to the technocratic logics of the neoliberal consensus. The theoretical perspective of Ernesto Laclau, which focuses on the rhetorical act of naming ‘the people’ and extrinsic representative form over intrinsic content, thus becomes increasingly valuable to explore such possibilities and to account for the current ubiquity of populist articulations both here in New Zealand and further afield. However, the need to clarify and iron out any inconsistencies in Laclau’s approach also increases, and the main task of this article is to raise the consideration of how it could be supplemented by, and articulated with, the Lacanian psychoanalytic concepts of fantasy and jouissance. Analysis of a selection of John Key’s populist articulations in the New Zealand media, and photographs from Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) protests, reveal that both forms of populist articulation, while constructing very different visions of ‘the people’, hinge on the fantasmatic representation of an other; an antagonistic power who steals our enjoyment. However, I conclude that a normative assessment of populist articulations is both possible and necessary.     

How to read efficiently

At present, the university graduates have mountains of books to read. For this phenomenon, this paper first indicates why the students must read extensively and then tentatively suggests three measures establish new concept in reading, practise reading pragmatically, review and exchange.     

Culture,Place of Origin,and Service Delivery for Latino Older Adult Immigrants: The Case of Puerto Rican Older Adults

ABSTRACT

A conceptual model for the design and implementation of effective social services for Latino older adult immigrants in the United States is proposed in this article. Built on the stage-of-migration framework (Drachman, 1992 Drachman, D. 1992. A stage-of-migration framework for service to immigrant populations. Social Work, 37: 68–72. [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the model presented shows how the premigration service experience of Latino older adults can be used as a basis for service design and implementation in the country of immigration. The case of Puerto Rican older adult immigrants is used to illustrate how the model can be applied to understand present service utilization and develop future programs that are useful and culturally sensitive for Latino older adult immigrants.     

Identifying Themes Regarding the Benefits and Limitations of Caregiver Support Group Conversations

Support groups continue to be one of the most needed and desired forms of help for family caregivers to persons with dementia. Though the effects of caregiver support group participation have been examined, the benefits and limitations of the dynamics of support group conversations have been neglected. This study focuses on the perceived consequences of group dynamics. Three themes—balance, sameness, and individuality—emerged through analysis of open-ended interviews with support group members following observations of their meetings. The consequences of these themes are illustrated with a case study and the implications of these themes for practitioners are discussed.     

Rethinking melas as subaltern spaces: Pardhan blacksmiths and some aspects of ‘caste-passing’ in fairs, 1872–1931

Nineteenth-century melas (fairs) were evanescent public spaces that facilitated anonymity and unplanned encounters between castes, classes, men and women. By recognizing caste-passing in various mela clusters, historians gain insights into a range of subaltern debates about caste. Caste-passing involved lower caste adoption of the accouterments of upper castes and threatened social hierarchy. Opaque to police, associational life within fairs signified a society undergoing transformation. The figure of the Pardhan blacksmith embodied the unknowable fair-going crowd. Hailing from an adivasi (indigenous) community in the Central Provinces of India, these blacksmiths attracted police notice. Pardhan blacksmiths deployed their skills towards manufacturing imitation gold; at the fair they passed off as members of upper castes. For the police, Pardhan caste-passing within fairs threatened to unravel taxonomies of tribe and caste, region and religion. It was at the fair that hounded and persecuted Pardhan blacksmiths found some respite from the theft of their lands and labour. Through an analysis of caste-passing, a social history emerges of nineteenth-century fairs in colonial India that foregrounds experiences of those fairgoers who were members of ‘criminal tribes’ persecuted by colonial police, and the plebeian multitude that mingled in melas and participated in anti-caste debates.