Research needs and priorities in housing and construction in Ethiopia

This paper attempts to present the main elements that are of central importance to housing problems and, in addition, gives an overview of the existing situations of housing research and construction activities in Ethiopia. It is hoped that such information may help the participants of the Seminar to suggest solutions in order to enhance the research and development for housing and construction activities and secure decent shelter for unfortunate urban groups in the developing countries.     

Advances in monitoring and evaluation in low- and middle-income countries

Data to inform and improve health care systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has been facilitated by the development of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems. The drivers of change in M&E systems over the last 50 years have included a series of health concerns that have animated global donors (e.g., family planning, vaccination campaigns, and HIV/AIDS); the data requirements of donors; improved national economies enabling LMICs to invest more in M&E systems; and rapid advances in digital technologies. Progress has included the training and expansion of an M&E workforce, the creation of systems for data collection and use, and processes for assessing and ensuring data quality. Controversies have included the development of disease-specific systems that do not coordinate with each other, and a growing burden on health care deliverers to collect data for a proliferating number of health and process indicators. Digital technologies offer the promise of real time data and quick adaptation but also raise ethical and privacy concerns. The desire for speed can cast large-scale evaluations, considered by some to be the gold standard, in an unfavorable light as slow and expensive. Accordingly, there is a growing demand for speedy evaluations that rely on routine health information systems and privately collected “big data” from electronic health records and social media.     

Organizational and health performance in small enterprises in Norway and Sweden

This article focuses on relationships between organizational factors such as leadership, learning, psychosocial work environment and quality aspects as they relate to organizational and health performance outcomes in 42 small enterprises in Norway and Sweden. A rather explorative analysis model was created using indicators that were based on theoretical concepts from a literature review and questionnaire data, concerning 988 employees and leaders. These indicators were then used for correlation analysis. The enterprise is the unit of analysis. Some strong links between organizational factors and organizational and health performance were found. There was also a strong relation between health performance and sickness absence. Using structural analyses, a structure containing six general components, and strong interrelationships between some indicators of organizational performance and health performance were found. It was also possible to position the enterprises according to two general dimensions. As a general guideline for action, the results tend to support the perspective that positive organizational development is related to health performance and a lowering of absence due to sickness. The findings support the strategies of practitioners who use a concept-driven or holistic approach that integrates several facets of workplace development.     

Sex and family planning in Denmark and in Danish communes

Sexual activity and family planning practice in the general Danish society and in Danish communes were examined. Denmark has a sexually active population which practices effective and consistent family planning and which has an impressively low abortion level. Effective methods of contraception - especially IUDs and the pill - are known and practiced by all socioeconomic classes in Danish society. Denmark's steadily falling birthrate is due to: 1) a liberal attitude toward sex and procreation, 2) an effective and early system of sex education in the schools, and 3) available and reasonably priced contraceptive methods. Sexual and family planning practices in Danish communes are similar to those in the general society. Most pregnancies in the communes are not accidental and most would not end in abortion. The sexual attitudes and practices in the communes are influenced by the general society.     

Social-movement Unionism in Theory and in Sweden

Many union leaders and observers of unionism in industrially advanced countries have recently argued for stronger links between unions and social movements but their arguments leave the nature of social movements underspecified. This article reviews the literature on social movements and argues in favour of a minimalist theory of the social actor rather than choose between American and European approaches to studying social movements. Both Melucci's European approach and McAdam, Tarrow, and Tilly's American approach to integrating the European and American schools of thought on social movements are inadequate to the task of specifying social-movement unionism. Hindess's minimalist theory of the social actor and articulated arenas of conflict offers a stronger approach to understanding social-movement unionism and appreciating its strategic pertinence in particular times and places. Two episodes of contention in Sweden illustrate the advantages of a minimalist theory of articulated social-movement unionism.     

Meaning and attachment in mothers and toddlers

This research explored if a mother's view of her attachment experience with her own mother was associated with sensitivity to her toddler's attachment related signals. Thirty mother-child dyads were videotaped and maternal sensitivity to toddler signals was coded. Mothers were interviwed and completed questionnaires regarding their experiences with their own mothers. Based on the subjects' responses to the questionnaires and the content and organization of their interview narrations, subjects were divided into two groups based on the security of their internal working model of attachment with their own mothers. Mothers with a secure working model of attachment were significantly more sensitive to toddler signals than those mothers with an insecure working model of attachment (p=.028) and differed in their style of narrating their lifespan attachment experiences.This study was completed as partial requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Institute for Clinical Social Work, Chicago, Illinois.     

Stress in Parents and Late Elementary Age Children in Divorced and Intact Families and Child Adjustment

The cumulative effect of stressful life events on 40 children in the 4th to 6th grades who were in matched pairs from intact and divorced families were investigated. Children's adjustment was assessed by parent report, teacher report and fantasy material from an abbreviated Thematic Apperception Test. In comparison to children from intact families, children of divorce were rates as less well adjusted by parents and teachers (as expected), and they had a greater number of rejection themes in fantasy. There was no interaction between stress levels and marital status in predicting child adjustment. Higher parental stress was related to parent ratings of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in the child, and to teacher rated externalizing symptoms in the child. Higher numbers of stressful life events that were primarily child oriented were related to higher teacher ratins of anxiety, social withdrawal and internalizing symptoms. Thus, the source of stress leads to different types of maladjustment.     

Power and identity in theory and practice

Power is often theorised in a way that equates its meaning with A's control over B. Alternatively, it is regarded as a universal transformative capacity. In which case, power is conceptualised in terms of its accomplishment of social order. The central objective of this paper is to expose the contribution and limitations of existing functionalist, action theoretic, radical and relational conceptions of power. This is done by attending to the significance of identity securing strategies in the reproduction of power relations. Highlighting the relevance of this identity dimension, we argue that individuals’ attempts to distance and protect themselves from their ‘powerlessness’ can have important, self-defeating consequences in respect of the reproduction of asymmetrical relations of power. Connecting the search for independence to the preoccupation with securing a stable and valued sense of identity, we explore how this preoccupation sustains the very structural conditions that promote insecurity. Our thesis on power and identity is then applied and illustrated through a critical discussion of relevant aspects of two recent labour ethnographies: Nichols and Beynon's Living with Capitalism and Willis's Learning to Labour.     

Drug and Alcohol Addiction in Singapore: Issues and Challenges in Control and Treatment Strategies

SUMMARY

The problem of drug addiction in Singapore has been relatively under control over the past few years. This is a result of the strategy of controlling supply to reduce demand for drugs. Alcohol consumption in Singapore is relatively low compared to Western countries. This paper provides an overview of the drug and alcohol control and treatment strategies adopted in Singapore. While new strategies have been formulated, some issues and challenges still remain. These issues and challenges are discussed and findings of a recent study conducted by the author are described. They include the need to focus on gateway drugs like alcohol, intervention involving family members, opportunities for regular employment for drug addicts, and the role of religion in aftercare treatment.     

Deprivation,poverty and marginalization in rural lifestyles in England and Wales

Research studies of the problems of rural life in Britain have often been based on concepts such as ‘deprivation’ or ‘disadvantage’. In this paper we explore the basis of these conceptualizations and note claims that they have been appropriated by government at local and central levels, suggesting that criticism of such appropriation should not lead to a neglect of material privation of opportunities caused by changes to the structure of rural life, brought about by economic restructuring, social recomposition and the political-economy of deregulation. Rather, we draw on studies of rural poverty to suggest that the changing material base of rural life has been accompanied by a range of discursive strategies which obscure rural problems and even filter them out altogether in the various constructions of idyll-ized rural life as the spatial expression of self-supporting, self-sufficient, happy, healthy and problem-free existence in a market place economy. Using some of the findings from the Rural Lifestyles research programme in England and Wales we discuss some of the different experiences of opportunity privation in rural areas, and some of the different ways in which cultural constructions of rural life can lead to a range of expectations from imagined rural geographies which are variously met and not met in day-to-day rural lifestyles. We suggest that rural problems are associated with a wide range of experiences of marginalization — economic, political, social, cultural — which cannot be mapped out according to normative or cultural expectations, but which occur differently at the intersection of material and experiential elements of rural lifestyles.     

Working in Complexity: Ethics and Boundaries in Community Work and Mental Health

While codes of ethical conduct are important, they do not always fit neatly in the organic community settings in which some workers engage. Professional standards from accrediting bodies are easy to sign up to, yet much more difficult to put into practice. Drawing upon community connection practice in recovery-oriented mental health work, this article names the professional boundary tensions peculiar to less structured fields of engagement. We suggest that for workers in these fields, there has been a disconnection between the theory, the experience, and the public discourse of professional boundaries. We argue that such disconnection can create uncertainty, anxiety, and secrecy, creating exactly those cultures we wish to avoid. Ultimately this leads to greater harm for vulnerable individuals, as well as the workers and organisations that serve them. The alternative is to engage in what we name a “risky conversation,” to expose this disconnect and engender a new type of professionalism.     

Developmental Changes and Individual Differences in Trust and Reciprocity in Adolescence

A Trust Game was used to examine trust and reciprocity development in 12–18‐year‐old‐adolescents (N = 496), as findings have been conflicting and transitions in adolescence remain elusive. Furthermore, this study tested the roles of gender, risk, and individual differences in empathy, impulsivity, and antisocial tendencies in trust and reciprocity. Results indicate stability in trust and a decrease in reciprocity across adolescence, but also show that trust and reciprocity choices were influenced by risk, and that empathy mediated the age‐related decrease in reciprocity. Males trusted more than females, but there were no gender differences in reciprocity. These findings highlight the importance of considering individual differences and adolescents’ sensitivities to varying contexts in explaining trust and reciprocity development in adolescence.     

Interpersonal trauma and associated psychopathology in girls and boys living in residential care

Out-of-home placement in e.g. residential care is the most common intervention for children and adolescents at risk and studies have shown that this population exhibits high prevalence rates of traumatic events. Associations with specific psychopathology need to be studied in order to sensitize caregivers to the specific needs of this population. The present study aimed to assess the relationship between interpersonal traumatic experiences and specific psychopathological symptoms in a high-risk population of girls and boys living in youth welfare institutions in residential care. 370 adolescents living in 64 different Swiss institutions and their professional caregivers filled out questionnaires on traumatic experiences and psychopathology and took part in structured clinical interviews. They were grouped in 3 different subgroups: no interpersonal trauma, single interpersonal trauma and multiple interpersonal trauma, i.e. interpersonal trauma in two or more domains. Furthermore, associations between the identity of the perpetrator (if the perpetrator was known vs. unknown to the victim) and psychopathology were examined. One third of participants reported multiple interpersonal trauma with female adolescents being more often affected. Multiple interpersonal trauma was associated with more internalizing and externalizing symptoms, but this association was only found with self-reported psychopathology. Male adolescents with multiple interpersonal trauma seemed to be more vulnerable to substance use and affective disorders, while female adolescents with multiple interpersonal trauma tended to have disorders of attention, activity and conduct disorders. Interpersonal trauma (compared to no interpersonal trauma) was not associated with higher rates of PTSD. Furthermore, associations between interpersonal trauma and psychopathology were stronger when the perpetrator was known to the victim.Our results suggest that interpersonal trauma, especially multiple interpersonal trauma, seem to be associated with mental health problems beyond the symptoms of PTSD in this high-risk population. Concepts of residential care institutions should contain trauma-sensitive care and include psychiatric liaison services in order to take into account the specific needs of adolescents in residential care.     

Community work and community care: Links in practice and in education

This article emphasises the individualising nature of much current community care provision and then discusses opportunities which may have been presented by the emphasis on user-empowerment within the community care changes. Drawing on personal experience and written from a perspective that we need a community care provision infused with the practices and values of community work, the article considers how community work needs to change and how community care workers need to change. The implications for social work educators are brought out throughout the article.     

Reassessing Differences in Work and Income in Cohabitation and Marriage

Are cohabiters different than married couples who cohabited before marriage? This study used the 2002 wave of the National Survey of Families and Households to determine how work behavior might differ for 4 relationship types: (a) cohabiters with uncertain marriage plans, (b) cohabiters with definite marriage plans, (c) premarital cohabiters who recently married, and (d) premarital cohabiters married 5 or more years (n = 638). The results are compared with differences found in overall comparisons of all cohabiters and married couples (N = 916) and were markedly different, indicating that overall comparisons do not adequately capture the range of behavior across cohabitation and marriage. Evidence of increased specialization was found in marriage, yet steep behavioral differences were not found between cohabiters with definite marriage plans and recently married couples but instead were associated with longevity in marriage. This implies that any possible causal effect of marriage on behavior may accrue with time spent married.     

Support and Access in Sports and Leisure Provision

This paper will look at different ways of enabling people with learning difficulties to engage in leisure opportunities: the Support Model and the Access Model. These models will be put in their social context and then critiqued.

The support model will be be contextualised in the theory of normalisation, access in disability theory. The support worker role will be shown to be useful in motivating people with learning difficlties into new activities, as well as having a protecting element, and unwittingly, disguise the level of discrimination people with learning difficulties are subject to.

The access worker role will be shown to have strengths in understanding discrimi nation. With this analysis, it has the potential to dismantle disabling practices. However, the needs of people with learning difficulties have ramifications for disability theory. In practice, that means that ideas of self-advocacy need to be taken on board.

Through interviews with sports personnel, social workers and people with learning difficulties, the implications of creating fully comprehensive access will be examined. I will conclude that both effective support and comprehensive access must be in place before people with learning difficulties are able to make a meaningful choice as to how they are enabled to participate in sports. It is only at that point of choice that the two models become complementary rather than competing discourses of provision.     

Biomedical and bioethical issues in Parliamentary TA and in Health Technology Assessment

HTA and TA institutions at national parliaments (PTA) both share the same origin and of course have objectives and some of their methods in common. Nevertheless both TA branches developed in some distance during the 1970s and 1980s. Drawing on the case of biomedicine this paper outlines the differences between HTA and PTA, highlighting the “clinical perspective” of HTA and the “societal perspective” of PTA. It is shown that biomedicine which has developed rapidly during the last decade has hardly been dealt with by HTA, whereas it ranked quite prominent on the agendas of PTA institutions. Biomedical technologies became a subject of policy making beyond the boundaries of health care politics since biomedicine is perceived as an ethical challenge to society and not only as a medical innovation that has to be assessed by clinical experts. It is argued that there may however be good reasons to integrate the HTA and the PTA perspective in future TA on biomedical technologies.     

Visions and Revisions in Family Therapy in Africa

This paper reviews the changes that have taken place in the field of guidance given to the family in Africa in the last one hundred years. It distinguishes several eras in ideas about the family and ways of working with the family in Africa. It traces adaptations in both orientation and technique made by contemporary family therapists in Africa to respond to the changing needs and problems of today's African client family. The essay is restricted to the experience of family therapy in Africa south of the Sahara, excluding South Africa.     

The lifestyles and changes in culture of Afghan Kyrgyz and Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan

This paper traces changes in the culture of the Kyrgyz ethnic group in the era after the break-up of the USSR. In order to describe correctly changes in their lives, a comparison was used from a wide range of areas where Kyrgyz live. As a basis, the way of life of Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan is used. Kyrgyz here represent the majority, but before the break-up they did not emphasize their ethnicity significantly. After the break up of the USSR and the formation of the national state, they began to look for new, or new-and-old, roots and to strengthen their nationalistic tendencies. Looking for new roots included the creation of historical constructs and emphasizing many specifics of lifestyles of ‘real Kyrgyz’. But Kyrgyz live in many other states as a minority – especially in China, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. These Kyrgyz, however, often designate different elements of their culture as a basis of their ethnic group compared to Kyrgyz from Kyrgyzstan. The paper first tries to identify important elements of Kyrgyz culture in the era of the break-up of the USSR based on statements of respondents from Kyrgyzstan and to find out if these elements are also important as an identification feature for Kyrgyz in other states. Field research has been conducted in China and Tajikistan, but in this work, results from Afghanistan in particular are presented. The paper also tries to give an answer as to the influence of the formation of the national state (Kyrgyzstan) on members of ethnic groups living in other states as a minority (Kyrgyz in Afghanistan) and how this changed their ethnic identity.     

Intentions and realities in rehabilitation service in Denmark

We used Danish register data on rehabilitation benefits paid from 1994 to 2005. The purpose was to compare actual payments of rehabilitation benefits with intentions in the law. Legally, rehabilitation benefits should be used for providing living expenses during a planned rehabilitation period facilitating the recipients' return to the labor market. We found that one third of recipients were paid for less than 3 months, and half of remaining recipients had time gaps in their payments. The findings indicated that rehabilitation benefits were not paid only for planned rehabilitation periods, and that not all recipients followed the legally required plan.