人民调解的社会化与再组织:对上海市杨伯寿工作室的个案分析*

笔者通过对杨伯寿工作室的第一手实地观察，结合其他文献资料，认为上海市近年来推行的人民调解社会化实质上是对人民调解的再组织。专业化的调解工作室成为“准科层结构”中的一环，同时被“焊接”到既有的调解网络当中，通过一系列制度安排与国家的组织网络相联结，在盘活国家治理资源的同时，提高了人民调解的效能。然而，在工作室作用日益突出的同时，居委会调解的作用却在逐渐边缘化。“社会化”与其说是国家与社会之间的权力转移，毋宁说是国家重点支持对象的改变。     

专业社会工作实务方法在人民调解中的运用

随着改革的纵深发展与当今人民调解工作面临的巨大挑战，迫切需要探究人民调解的新方法。本文以社会工作方法的工作框架、策略方法及工作程序为焦点，尝试分析了专业社会工作实务方法在人民调解中的运用，以此回应当今人民调解工作的新问题。     

农村民间纠纷调解中的公平建构与公平逻辑

本文以当代农村的调解实践为切入点,探讨在不同的纠纷类型和不同的情境中,纠纷的公平解决是如何达成的,以及背后遵循着怎样的公平原则。本文发现：维持人际关系延续的调解目标,调解人的角色定位、道德背景及其权威性,调解过程中包括上门调解等多种调解技巧和策略的运用,以及符合农村社会人们所普遍认可的公平提案等,是影响纠纷调解协议即公平达成的重要因素;而社会关系维系、公平的关系性以及综合性等,是中国农民公平观的重要特征。     

A Conceptual Framework for Differential Use of Mediation and Family Therapy Interventions With Older Adults and Their Families

The purpose of this article is to present a family-centered approach to working with older adults. This framework utilizes a differential use of family therapy and therapeutic mediation theoretical concepts and skills. This provides an effective approach to conceptualizing and intervening with these often complex situations regarding the decision-making processes related to care of older members. Family-centered mediators/clinicians must be skilled in both models to understand and intervene in the challenging issues presented by families. A case example is included in the article to illustrate the framework.     

三点一线:东湖社工给力社会服务

2009年,江西省南昌市东湖区被确定为全国第二批人才队伍建设试点城区,两年来,东湖区从实际出发,进行了本土社会工作的探索和创新.东湖区位于南昌市的中心城区,同时也是一个老城区,社会转型烙印深刻,辖区人口老龄化严     

Victim-Offender Mediation in the Italian Juvenile Justice System: The Role of the Social Worker

Correspondence to Anna Costanza Baldry, Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, via dei Marsi, 78, 00185 Rome, Italy Summary Mediation, according to the restorative justice approach, balancesthe victims' needs against holding offenders responsible forthe harm caused and requiring them to make reparation for it.Victim-offender mediation in the Italian juvenile justice systemis not, as yet, widely implemented. Social workers, employedby the Juvenile Criminal Justice Department, are the only professionalsinvolved in mediation. Results from a national survey conducted with social workerswho are responsible for victim-offender mediation as part oftheir probation duties, show that mediation programmes remainlimited and unstructured. Individual, locally based experiences,not equally distributed around the country and mainly involvingpetty crimes, indicate that in most cases primary attentionis paid to the young offender and that the victim's interestsare not considered. Social workers claim that, although theyperceive the advantages of a restorative justice approach tocrime, they lack the skills as well as the time to undertakethis duty adequately. The research findings also address thepotential biases of offering mediation programmes as part ofa probation order, thereby affecting the independence and neutralityof mediation. This risk can be avoided if social workers actingas mediators are thoroughly trained, as in the case study ofattempted murder presented below. The case study reported shows,moreover, that mediation can be successfully undertaken evenwith serious offences and that both the victim and the offendercan benefit from it. Issues related to the implications andsocial policy impact of mediation as a social work practiceare also considered.     

"Religion is the finding thing": an evolving spirituality in late life

This paper discusses some important dimensions of faith and of the social contexts surrounding faith that are illustrative of continuity and growth in spirituality in the lives of older adults. Examples of an evolving spirituality emerge in the analysis of a recent qualitative research study that probed the nature of religious experience among thirty-one community-dwelling elders and fifteen elders residing in long-term care facilities. Face-to-face interviews with these forty-six older adults and with seven people who directed or assisted with formal and informal programs of faith comprise the empirical base for this paper. The seven people, I refer to them mnemonically as faithreps, worked in various ways in the long-term care settings to provide programs involving faith to older adults. The faithreps came from a range of educational and religious backgrounds and are not accurately or handily categorized. An evolving spirituality is shaped by the older person's links to the structural and the socio-relational contexts that have been created through interaction in the past as well as through interaction in the present. Moreover, the interaction of older adults and faithreps encourages spiritual growth because as social actors engaged with one another over a sustained period of time in an institutional setting, questions and dialogue about life and its meaning are regularly evoked. The social interactions that foster spiritual evolution may be an admixture of the secular and the sacred. Such socio-relational contexts were once part of the naturalistic settings of daily life among the old, but now must emerge through the efforts and planning of others. The salience of faith among present cohorts of older adults sensitizes us to the necessity of devoting more consideration to optimal ways of strengthening and building contexts that are conducive to the evolution of spirituality.     

对法院调解的再认识

文章在分析法院调解的基本属性的基础上 ,强调指出 ,一定程度上人们对法院调解的认识已陷入误区。认为这是目前影响法院调解立法与实践操作的关键因素。笔者以此为切入点 ,主张对法院调解不可轻易言废 ,进而提出完善建议     

Race and Place: Exploring the Intersection of Inequity and Volunteerism Among Older Black and White Adults

Although the historical impact of racial segregation and ongoing health and economic inequities between older Black and White adults is well documented, little is known about the relationships among race, individual- and neighborhood-resources, and formal volunteering in later life. This study explores this intersection. Individual-level data from 268 respondents aged 55+ were collected in the St. Louis metropolitan area through paper-based mail surveys. Objective neighborhood data were obtained at the zip code level from secondary sources and matched with respondents. Using exploratory factor analysis, we constructed a 14-item environmental scale with 3 neighborhood dimensions (economic, social, and built environment). Older Black adults had lower levels of education; had fewer financial assets; lived in neighborhoods with less economic resources and lower built environment scores; and fewer formally volunteered when compared to older White adults. Individual resources (financial assets, health) and neighborhood resources (social and built environment) were positively associated with formal volunteering among older Black adults. Only individual resources (age, marital status, financial assets, health) were associated with formal volunteering among older White adults. A coherent set of policies that bolsters individual and environmental capacities may increase the rate of volunteerism among older black adults.     

Racial Differences in Attitudes Toward Professional Mental Health Treatment: The Mediating Effect of Stigma

Stigma associated with mental illness continues to be a pervasive barrier to mental health treatment, leading to negative attitudes about treatment and deterring appropriate care seeking. Empirical research suggests that the stigma of mental illness may exert an adverse influence on attitudes toward mental health treatment and service utilization patterns by individuals with a mental illness, particularly African Americans. However, little research has examined the impact of stigma on racial differences in attitudes toward seeking mental health treatment. This study examined the hypothesis that stigma partially mediates the relationship between race and attitudes towards mental health treatment in a community-based sample of 101 African American and White older adults. Multiple regression analyses and classic path analysis was utilized to test the partial mediation model. Controlling for socio-demographic factors, African American older adults were more likely to have negative attitudes toward mental health treatment, and they also reported more public and internalized stigma than their White counterparts. As hypothesized, the relationship between race and attitudes toward mental health treatment was partially mediated by internalized stigma, suggesting that internalized stigma may cause older adults to develop negative attitudes about mental health treatment. The partial mediation model was not significant for public stigma, however. Implications for social work research and practice are discussed.     

A conceptual framework for differential use of mediation and family therapy interventions with older adults and their families

The purpose of this article is to present a family-centered approach to working with older adults. This framework utilizes a differential use of family therapy and therapeutic mediation theoretical concepts and skills. This provides an effective approach to conceptualizing and intervening with these often complex situations regarding the decision-making processes related to care of older members. Family-centered mediators/clinicians must be skilled in both models to understand and intervene in the challenging issues presented by families. A case example is included in the article to illustrate the framework.     

Family, Neighborhood, and Peer Characteristics as Predictors of Child Adjustment: A Longitudinal Analysis of Additive and Mediation Models

The purpose of this study was to test direct, additive, and mediation models involving family, neighborhood, and peer factors in relation to emerging antisocial behavior and social skills. Neighborhood danger, maternal depressive symptoms, and supportive parenting were assessed in early childhood. Peer group acceptance was measured in middle childhood, and data on antisocial behavior and social skills were collected when boys were 11 and 12 years old. Results were consistent with an additive effects model of child antisocial behavior. In contrast, peer relationships were stronger predictors of social skills than were family factors. Support for mediation was found in models involving neighborhood danger and supportive parenting. However, only peer group acceptance predicted change in antisocial and prosocial behavior. Implications for family and peer relations as socialization contexts are discussed.     

Pathways to age-friendly communities in diverse urban neighborhoods: Do social capital and social cohesion matter?

ABSTRACT

Using a social capital and social cohesion lens, we reposition the concept of civic engagement among older adults to examine pathways for building age-friendly communities. We analyzed data drawn from a Community-Based Participatory Research study in the Southern U.S. that explored lived experiences of older adults, age 55 and above, who participated in individual interviews (n = 15) and six focus group discussions (n = 45) to examine their perceptions of social identity, social connectedness, and civic engagement geared toward an age-friendly city. Findings indicated that several older adults had access to social networks and socially invested resources, thereby having opportunities for civic engagement and building age-friendly neighborhoods. However, social, cultural, linguistic, and structural barriers were more evident among certain diverse ethnic populations. Marginalized low-income minorities and immigrants, such as Hispanic participants, felt the lack of social cohesion among the larger society limited their ability to give back, thus decreasing their civic engagement activities. In contrast, Caucasian and African-American older adults were able to contribute to the political process through more civic participation activities. We provide implications for examining the role of social capital and social engagement to bolster civic engagement among older adults in building age-friendly communities.     

Social Work and Child-centred Family Court Mediation

Correspondence to Dr Greg Mantle, APU, Ashby House, Floor 2, Brook Street, Chelmsford CM1 1UH, UK. E-mail G.J.Mantle{at}apu.ac.uk Summary In April 2001, the Children and Family Court Advisory SupportService (CAFCASS) became responsible for family court work,including the provision of mediation services. Family courtmediation offers a gateway for social work with children andfamilies whose needs are largely left untouched by current services,and could thereby play an important part within the broaderextension of prevention, early intervention, parenting and supportservices recommended by government. Over the past two decades,mediation has become a popular approach to reducing conflictand resolving disputes in a wide range of inter-personal, communityand organizational settings. Given the professional interestthat social workers have in helping their clients achieve moreharmonious lives, the space for mediation would appear considerableand yet the connections between mediation and social work are,as yet, insufficiently mapped and analysed, in terms of boththeory and practice. This paper draws on literature and recentresearch to review the relationship between family court mediationand social work.     

Nonpharmacological Pain Management by Ethnically Diverse Older Adults With Chronic Pain: Barriers and Facilitators

As key players in multidisciplinary health care systems, geriatric social workers must understand the dynamics of pain management among older adults with chronic pain. This study identified perceived barriers to, and facilitators for, utilizing nonpharmacological pain management through face-to-face interviews with 44 ethnically diverse community-dwelling older adults. Constant comparative analysis identified barriers not recognized in prior studies: (a) embarrassment/self-consciousness, (b) unavailability of certain treatments, and (c) lack of faith in effectiveness of nonpharmacological treatments. Most frequently reported facilitators were (a) social support, (b) positive attitude, and (c) available resources. Social workers can provide counseling to motivate older adults to exercise to manage chronic pain and refer them to exercise programs tailored for older adults. To resolve the most frequently reported barrier—transportation—social workers can link older adults with transportation services offered by senior centers or other nonprofit agencies.     

Baby Boomer’s Substance Abuse and Researcher Indifference

The current older adult population is more likely to need and seek treatment for alcohol and drug abuse than previous cohorts of older adults, which necessitates the need for age-appropriate substance use treatment. Building on previous research that examined the lack of attention on substance use among older adults, this study examines articles addressing substance use disorders among older adults in leading gerontological and substance abuse journals and federal funding between 2011 and 2017. Publications were identified from ten leading gerontological and ten leading substance abuse journals using Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms. During this time-period, there were 68 and 44 articles published in gerontology and substance abuse journals respectively related to substance use disorders in older adults. Most (59.8%) addressed alcohol abuse and 7% involved intervention studies. In the 7-year period, there were 13 federal grants. A paucity of published or funded work exists in this area despite growing misuse and treatment seeking among older adults with substance use disorders. Effectively addressing substance abuse in older adults will require a coordinated effort between researchers and practitioners to establish and implement best practices for practitioners to rely on when working with substance abusing older adults.     

Factors Protecting against Suicidal Ideation in South Korean Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Systematic Literature Review

This systematic literature review investigates protective factors against suicidal ideation among community-dwelling older adults in South Korea. Existing research focuses on risk factors for suicidal thoughts among older adults living in the community, but research on protective factors for this population is rare. Furthermore, studies have been more likely to examine individual and social factors rather than macro factors, yet suicidal thoughts among older adults may come from various long-term challenges. This study applied Bronfenbrenner’s ecological frame to synthesize 60 studies. The results reveal that protective factors against suicidal thoughts among community-dwelling older adults in South Korea are found at four levels: individual, family, community, and macro-level factors.     

Hoarding Cases Involving Older Adults: The Transition From a Private Matter to the Public Sector

Hoarding interventions with older adults require significant resources from multiple public agencies, yet recidivism occurs frequently. To improve services through better coordination, some communities have formed multiagency hoarding teams (MAHT), which include aging services. MAHTs requested this mixed methods study to understand the progression of cases through the public sector. Quantitative data collected on 52 cases involving adults ages 60+ identified steps in this process. Qualitative data collected from MAHT members were the basis for case studies illustrating the progression of cases through the public sector. Findings have implications for social workers involved in local service coordination, training, and policy.     

矛盾凸显期农村纠纷调解的个案分析——基于鄂北一个村庄的纠纷调处记录

随着我国社会进入矛盾凸显期,农村各种矛盾纠纷日益增多,为及时调解纠纷,维持社会稳定,实践中各种纠纷调处机制应运而生。本文分析了鄂北一个村庄的纠纷调处记录,研究发现,较之于"以事实为依据,以法律为准绳"的现代司法准则,以"村庄法官"角色存在的调解者,不以立法条文以及事实情况作为判断是非的依据;实现法律意义上的公平、公正也并非是纠纷调处的主要目的,但他们在工作中特别注重当事人主观上的接受情况。同时,调解者经常集多重角色于一身,实行"保姆式"办案,还会动员多方主体参与到问题的解决中去;在另一些冲突中,调解者刻意不彻底解决纠纷,为当事人自动和好留下足够的空间,最终既平复了争议,又保存了当事人的颜面。结合村庄的调解经验,文章认为,尽管矛盾纠纷的增多,为现代立法快速进入乡土社会提供了更大的空间和可能性,但到目前为止,无论是笼统意义上的法治理念,还是国家立法的具体规则都没有全面、彻底地进入乡村社会;各地村级调解机制设立和运作更多是为了维持社会稳定,而不是为了推进"法律下乡"。     

Implementing reverse mentoring to address social isolation among older adults

ABSTRACT

Reverse mentoring is a means to address the social work Grand Challenge of social isolation. Among older adults, reverse mentoring can improve social connection by increasing the digital competence of older adults so they can use technology for social benefit, and by facilitating intergenerational connections with young adult mentors. In this paper, reverse mentoring is examined within an intergenerational program that serves older adults and utilizes the native technological knowledge and skills of young adults who mentor older adult participants. Qualitative data were collected through young adult mentor logs of each session, and through open-ended questions on the post-surveys collected from older adults and young adult mentors. Qualitative analysis revealed three themes related to social connection: (1) an increased sense of self-efficacy for older adults as they build confidence in technological use, and for young adults as they develop leadership skills through mentoring, (2) the breaking down of age-related stereotypes, and (3) intergenerational engagement and connection. The findings demonstrate that reverse mentoring can be used in various settings to decrease the social isolation of older adults by developing intergenerational connections and increasing older adult usage of technology.