Effects of Government Contracting of Services on NGOs in China: Convergence and Divergence with International Experience

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - The government of the Communist Party of China (CPC) rolled out a national policy to contract out social and welfare...     

LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYMENT,EMPLOYMENT ATTITUDES AND MENTAL HEALTH

The effect of long-term unemployment and employment attitudes on mental health of 99 unemployed people in New Zealand were investigated in 1989 and again one year later. Each participant was interviewed in-depth on employment attitudes, and the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale(RSE) together with a demographic questionnaire were administered. The results indicated that the percentage of people who in 1989 wanted employment and of those who were interested in training had decreased within one year, whereas the percentage of people who stated having alternatives to employment increased. The group who felt unable to work stayed the same in size. Good mental health was associated either with re-employment or with those who had alternatives to employment. Poor mental health was evident in those still wanting employment and in those who felt unable to work. The implications of these findings regarding governmental policies are outlined.     

Die ambivalente Autonomie des Kulturschaffens: Film, Pressefotografie und Architektur im digitalen Wandel

Basing its findings on a qualitative study, this article examines the digital transformation of cultural production in film and video, press photography and architecture in Austria since the beginning of the 1990s. The focus is on the aspects cost structure of the means of production, occupational roles, and working methods. Amain result is that the use of digital means of production allows a single person or a small enterprise to realize several or all production stages alone, removing the former need to divide the labor. For this phenomenon, the term ‘rational universalism’ was coined by the author. The increased autonomy for the cultural producers connected to it provides not only freedom, especially with respect to artistic and organizational possibilities, and moreover easier entrance to the market, but can also be a mixed blessing for the actors, as it may mean fiercer competition and the risk of precarious working conditions in the investigated cultural industries.     

Analysing partial ranks by using smoothed paired comparison methods: an investigation of value orientation in Europe

Summary. This paper introduces the paired comparison model as a suitable approach for the analysis of partially ranked data. For example, the Inglehart index, collected in international social surveys to examine shifts in post-materialistic values, generates such data on a set of attitude items. However, current analysis methods have failed to account for the complex shifts in individual item values, or to incorporate subject covariates. The paired comparison model is thus developed to allow for covariate subject effects at the individual level, and a reparameterization allows the inclusion of smooth non-linear effects of continuous covariates. The Inglehart index collected in the 1993 International Social Science Programme survey is analysed, and complex non-linear changes of item values with age, level of education and religion are identified. The model proposed provides a powerful tool for social scientists.     

Differential Developmental Profiles of Adolescents Using Sexually Explicit Internet Material

This study used a person-centered approach to examine whether different developmental trajectories of boys’ and girls’ use of sexually explicit Internet material (SEIM) exist, which factors predict these trajectories, and whether sexual behavior develops differently for adolescents in these trajectories. A combination of latent class growth analysis on SEIM use and latent growth curve analysis on sexual behavior was used on four-wave longitudinal data of 787 eighth through tenth grade Dutch adolescents. Among boys, four SEIM use trajectories were identified, which were labeled Nonuse/Infrequent Use, Strongly Increasing Use, Occasional Use, and Decreasing Use. Among girls, a large Stable Nonuse/Infrequent Use and smaller Strongly Increasing Use and Stable Occasional Use trajectories were distinguished. Higher initial levels and/or stronger increases in SEIM use were predicted by demographic, social contextual, personal, and media use characteristics, including a stronger sexual interest, a higher degree of perceived realism regarding sexualized Internet content, and more permissive sexual attitudes. Moreover, initial levels of and, to some extent, developmental changes in sexual behavior varied for boys and girls in the different SEIM use trajectories. Whereas some adolescents showed concurrent low levels, or parallel strong increases in SEIM use and sexual behavior, a subgroup of boys decreased their SEIM use while increasing their sexual behavior.     

Avian biotic homogenization driven by airport-affected environments

Urban Ecosystems - Building and operating airports are human activities associated with adverse changes in the natural environment, resulting in threats to the biodiversity in airport surroundings....     

If all you have is a hammer,everything looks like a nail: Operationalization matters

Operationalization has been the focus of less research than many other methodological topics. In this article, we argue that considering operational decisions is particularly critical for those who study stratification, because measures of inequality often involve multiple layers of operationalization: researchers first decide how to assign individuals to social groups (e.g., race), which are then themselves used to construct measures of group‐level differences and inequality (e.g., racial segregation). We provide examples of this by drawing on contemporary debates about how to operationalize social groups based on class, race, gender, and religion. Then we discuss three examples (religion, racial segregation, and family type) of second layer operationalization decisions, focusing on the consequences of operational decisions for research findings. We conclude by discussing the broader implications of operational decisions, focusing particularly on issues of power and applications for policy makers.     

Developing social work education in Lithuania

From 1991 through 1998, during the turmoil of independence and transition to a democracy and free-market economy, the authors established the first social work education programme in Lithuania and assisted Lithuanian professionals to assume responsibility for the programme. This article supplies an initial general and conceptual narrative and analyses some of the factors that influenced the development of the programme and a practice model to address conditions in Lithuania.