A social policy model for the reconciliation of employment and family life from a gender equality perspective

The issue of family–employment reconciliation has rapidly evolved from being ignored to a certain dejá vu perception in public debate, as a result of its media success during the last decade. This is even more the case in Spain, where it was only in the late 1990s, when a law was passed to regulate and extend parental and other leave for workers with close relatives in need of care, that reconciliation policies began to be generally discussed and considered. In a context of quick population aging as a consequence of low fertility, concern on labor force supply in the middle term is high on the agenda. Women are increasingly considered to be necessary both as workers and mothers (of future workers), thus raising awareness of the importance of social policies to make their double presence in both worlds possible. There is now general agreement from the right to the left on the urgency to develop family–employment policies. But what is not generally addressed is the impact of such policies on gender equality, a dimension which tends to be either ignored or taken for granted. Not all reconciliation measures have the same effects on the women and men relationship. Some of them push forward equality, whereas others go backwards. Efficiency in making job and family responsibilities compatible does not always go hand in hand with increasing equality. The paper presents a theoretical model for the reconciliation of work and family life from a gender equality perspective. The three main kinds of instruments available in social policy – services, leave, and cash – are examined in four different cases: care of under-threes, care of sick children, coordination of work and school schedules, and care of children during school holidays. Each case is looked at considering its effects on social and gender equality, as well as child welfare. The model includes as active agents of the system the State (promotes and regulates), families and individuals (those directly implicated), and the market as labor market, on the one hand, and supplier of private services, on the other.     

The effects of a pedometer-based intervention on first-year university students: A randomized control trial

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To assess the effects of a 12-week pedometer-based intervention on the physical activity behavior, health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and psychological well-being of first-year university students. Participants: First-year university students (N = 184) were recruited during September 2012 and randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group. Methods: Intervention participants were provided with a pedometer, monthly tracking logs, and follow-up e-mails. Control participants received no intervention. Physical activity, HRQOL, and psychological well-being were measured at baseline and post intervention. Data were analyzed using multivariate/univariate analysis of variance (MANOVA/ANOVA). Results: All participants experienced an increase in mild physical activity (p < .01) from baseline to follow-up. The intervention failed to produce significant differences between groups for physical activity (p = .28), HRQOL (p = .80), or psychological well-being (p = .72). Psychological well-being (p < .001), vigorous physical activity (p = .04), and mental health status (p < .001) decreased across the duration of the study. Conclusions: More intensive interventions may be required to elicit physical activity behavior change.     

Life Change and Spirituality Among a College Student Cohort

Objective: Because college marks a time when life-change is typically high, the authors designed this study to determine whether life-change was related to degree of spirituality, the "directing" component of health, among a college student cohort. Participants and Methods: The sample group, consisting of 180 northeastern US undergraduate college students, completed the 48-item Life Attitude Profile-Revised (LAP-R) and the Schedule of Recent Experience (SRE) in the fall semester of 2004. Results: Findings indicate that college students who reported experiencing higher levels of life change, both positive and negative, also scored lower on spirituality. Nevertheless, these students had scores indicative of a higher desire to find spirituality, even though their motivation to do so was low. Conclusions: Although life changes among college students likely will remain high, lower spirituality can be enhanced; therefore, interested health educators are encouraged to help students increase their degree of spirituality.     

The myth of everyday life: Toward a heterology of the ordinary

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the rethinking of everyday life as a central, if highly diverse and problematic, theme of modern philosophy and social theory. The focus of the essay concerns the uncertain ontological status of ‘the everyday’ within the human sciences. An initial exploration of the ambiguity of the expression ‘everyday life’ points to a more consequential type of undecidability once it is fully recognized how the ideology of ‘everyday life’ functions to suppress the materiality, contingency, and historicity of human experience. This can be seen in the contrast between powerful atemporal conceptions of everyday life and more critical understandings of the lifeworld framed in temporal categories. The distinction between everyday life and lifeworld proves useful as a marker for two very different approaches to the ordinary. The paper claims that the ordinary has been systematically denigrated in the very act of being theorized as ‘everyday life’. A tradition of binary and dichotomous theorizing is uncovered as one of the fundamental sources of the myth of an ahistorical, unmediated everyday life. After mapping a range of more reflexive perspectives toward the investigation of ordinary life, the paper concludes on a positive and reconstructive note by suggesting that any attempt to go beyond the dualisms and antinomies of contemporary theory must first abandon this mythology to reveal the histor(icit)y and alterity of lifeworlds in their rich natural, incarnate, political, and reflexive imbrications.     

城乡“漂流”的行迹与“新颢气”的追寻——鲁迅人生轨迹与精神线索再考察

鲁迅的生命历程呈现出螺旋上升的整体轨迹,富含着复杂的心灵密码.舍弃中小城镇而选择大城市,摒弃传统城镇而选择现代都市,可谓鲁迅城市之行中的内在逻辑,其心态也呈现出规律性的变化.鲁迅的城乡之途实质上是一条生命跋涉和文化选择之路.鲁迅恰以走向城市为契机,以“新颢气”的现代文化精神为指针,永恒不懈地选择、探索,从而克服“脑力顿锢”的委顿心态,摒弃“村人”、“木偶人”、“人如机器”的角色,寻求“活”的生命状态,蜕变为现代社会充满“活”力的“捣乱”者,实现思想的自觉.     

陶行知生活德育思想摭论

陶行知的生活教育思想影响广泛,他倡导的“生活即教育”“学校即社会”和“教学做合一”等教育思想,深入人心。他的德育思想脱胎于生活教育思想,对当前复杂的德育工作环境,有一定借鉴意义。     

从孙承泽与王铎交游论及人清后二人不同的生活状态

孙承泽和王铎是清初两位身居高位的“贰臣”,也是清初书画史上具有代表性的两个重要人物,入清后二人来往密切,相携游玩、共赏书画。在清统治者强大的政治压力和自身身事两朝大节有亏的负罪心理双重作用下,他们选择了不同的生活方式,王铎消极逃避,借助酒和书画,佯狂适世,颓废自放,而孙承泽则能积极面对,著书“立言”,玩赏书画,潇洒送日月。     

车载高压天然气钢瓶的结构优化

文章对34CrMo4钢质车载天然气气瓶进行了水压爆破试验和水压疲劳试验,运用有限元软件ANSYS分析了气瓶的爆破压力与疲劳寿命。并通过ANSYS的优化模块对气瓶进行了结构优化设计。分析结果表明文中的计算方法准确,可作为工程上CNG气瓶结构设计时的参考方法。     

中国社会工作发展的路径——生态系统理论下的维度分析

中国的专业社会工作作为一个"舶来品",从进入中国社会,到慢慢适应和本土化建构,并逐步发挥应有的作用,这一过程是漫长的。然而,在当前社会工作的研究中,还缺少对这一过程的理论性辨析。本文借鉴生态学的思想,尝试将这一过程分为三个阶段:即融入以获取地位,相互协助以巩固地位,彰显独特价值最终完成职业化过程。基于此,本文选取三个概念,即融入、共生与竞争来解析各个层次的内涵。三个层次相辅相成,既有联系,又有渐进性和层次性。     

分期针刺配合心理干预对缺血性中风患者生活质量的影响

目的 观察分期针刺配合心理干预对缺血性中风患者生活质量的影响.方法 选择缺血性中风患者80例,随机分为治疗组和对照组,每组各40例,治疗组采用分期针刺配合心理干预,采用分期针刺.用临床疗效、Fugl-Meyer评定量表（FMA）、修订Barthel指数（MBI）、焦虑自评量表（SAS）和抑郁自评量表SDS评价疗效差异.结果 治疗组临床疗效、FMA、MBI、SAS、SDS均优于对照组,差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）.结论 分期针刺配合心理干预提高缺血性中风患者临床疗效,改善心理情绪,提高患者生活质量.