Spatial approaches to social work – theoretical foundations and implications for practice and research

ABSTRACT

Spatial approaches have inspired and grounded the social sciences and social geography already for a longer time. Beyond these models, the theory discourse on social work developed innovative concepts and models of socio-spatial approaches. They set a special focus on aspects of individual and social development, the concept of acquirement and emancipatory approaches to spatial design. For interventions, special methods for socio-spatial analyses were developed. This article reflects the main approaches of this theory discourse and asks for its key implications for social work practice and research.     

How Large Are Your G-Values? Try Gosset’s Guinnessometrics When a Little “p” Is Not Enough

Abstract

A crisis of validity has emerged from three related crises of science, that is, the crises of statistical significance and complete randomization, of replication, and of reproducibility. Guinnessometrics takes commonplace assumptions and methods of statistical science and stands them on their head, from little p-values to unstructured Big Data. Guinnessometrics focuses instead on the substantive significance which emerges from a small series of independent and economical yet balanced and repeated experiments. Originally developed and market-tested by William S. Gosset aka “Student” in his job as Head Experimental Brewer at the Guinness Brewery in Dublin, Gosset’s economic and common sense approach to statistical inference and scientific method has been unwisely neglected. In many areas of science and life, the 10 principles of Guinnessometrics or G-values outlined here can help. Other things equal, the larger the G-values, the better the science and judgment. By now a colleague, neighbor, or YouTube junkie has probably shown you one of those wacky psychology experiments in a video involving a gorilla, and testing the limits of human cognition. In one video, a person wearing a gorilla suit suddenly appears on the scene among humans, who are themselves engaged in some ordinary, mundane activity such as passing a basketball. The funny thing is, prankster researchers have discovered, when observers are asked to think about the mundane activity (such as by counting the number of observed passes of a basketball), the unexpected gorilla is frequently unseen (for discussion see Kahneman 2011 Kahneman, D. (2011), Thinking Fast and Slow, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. [Google Scholar]). The gorilla is invisible. People don’t see it.     

线上线下融合模式下考虑战略顾客行为的供应链协调研究

在移动电商高速发展和移动支付日益便捷的时代，线上线下融合商务模式正日益成为传统零售、电子商务甚至快递物流企业转型升级的重要方向，影响着供应链运营管理及其优化决策。线上线下融合模式下的战略顾客行为不同于传统模式，其对于供应链运营管理及其优化决策的影响也不同于传统模式。基于O2O运作模式特征，运用战略顾客行为理论、供应链优化与协调理论，本文分别构建了"线上下单+线下体验+线下支付+自行提货"O2O模式1、"线上浏览+线下体验+线上购买+线下配送"O2O模式2、纯线下模式和纯线上模式下考虑战略顾客行为的供应链集中决策模型和契约协调模型，并进行了相应的数值分析，在此基础上，提出了相应的管理启示。研究结果表明：（1）无论是"线上下单+线下体验+线下支付+自行提货"O2O模式1还是"线上浏览+线下体验+线上购买+线下配送"O2O模式2，收益分享契约机制可以有效地实现战略顾客行为下的供应链协调。（2）对比两种O2O模式和两种非O2O模式，O2O模式1和O2O模式2能给供应链及其成员带来更多的利润，而纯线上模式和纯线下模式能给战略顾客带来更高的效用。（3）O2O模式下，制定较高的自提补贴和较低的折扣价格，有利于提高供应链及其成员的运营绩效。（4）O2O模式下，增强产品及其相关服务的实际体验效用，有利于提高供应链整体及其成员的运营绩效，有利于提高战略顾客的净效用。     

Everything for the Children: Orphans Growing Up in Informal Adoptive Families in China

Most orphaned children in China are cared for by their extended families or become state wards under the guardianship of child welfare institutions. Some exceptions are children who are found and cared for by families in the community, without a formalized adoption or foster relationship. In some locations, institutions now accept guardianship for these children and support the informal adoptive family to continue to care for them. This article examines the outcomes for these children as they became young adults by comparing these 12 children raised within the system as they approach or have approached young adulthood (now aged 16–40 years-old). Some of the participants were either informally adopted or lived in institutional care. The results of this study found that the family environment was more conducive to the young people’s wellbeing as they approached or entered adulthood. The participants raised in informal care appeared to be treated similar to the biological children in these families. When the institution formalized the state guardianship responsibility, it also meant the families had state resources for support to protect the children’s rights to economic security, education, health care, and social participation. This practice by the institution supported the addition of informal adoption, as one step closer to permanency than foster care. Future implications include considering this option to help promote the family system assisting these children, families, and the state.     

从“嗑瓜子事件”看教师教育惩戒权规制

我国法律明确规定班主任有权采取适当方式批评教育学生，但对何谓适度并未作出清晰界定。因此，班主任批评教育学生时容易将惩戒越界为体罚，同时，因为缺乏评价标准，涉及惩罚学生的事件往往成为舆论热点。2014年底，湖南省娄底卫校某班主任因惩罚学生而引发的“嗑瓜子事件”，迅速成为网络热点，再次证明了规制教师教育惩戒权的必要性。应在坚持反对体罚的前提下，厘定“教育惩戒”与“变相体罚”两个概念的关系，并对教育惩戒权行使作详细规定。     

以迹求心，破解先秦诸子六大迷津

思考中国现在的文明形态和人文气象需要建立起贯通文、史、哲、宗教、人类学的人文学，其战略思想和核心方法是将空间维度有机嵌入时间维度，确立汉族和少数民族共同创造中华文明的整体文化观，高度关注并科学对待不同文化层次的本质价值和互动关系问题，还原历史文化典籍蕴藏的生命状态和生命过程。具体到先秦诸子研究领域，则可以利用上述文化要义破解诸如老子的母系氏族特征、“唯女子与小人为难养也”的含义、孙武其人的有无、墨子的出生地、庄子的家世、《疠怜王》的作者等六大迷津。     

A new stratified three-stage unrelated randomized response model for estimating a rare sensitive attribute based on the Poisson distribution

This article suggests an efficient method of estimating a rare sensitive attribute which is assumed following Poisson distribution by using three-stage unrelated randomized response model instead of the Land et al. model (2011 Land, M., S. Singh, and S. A. Sedory. 2011. Estimation of a rare sensitive attribute using poisson distribution. Statistics 46 (3):351–60. doi:10.1080/02331888.2010.524300.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) when the population consists of some different sized clusters and clusters selected by probability proportional to size(:pps) sampling. A rare sensitive parameter is estimated by using pps sampling and equal probability two-stage sampling when the parameter of a rare unrelated attribute is assumed to be known and unknown.

We extend this method to the case of stratified population by applying stratified pps sampling and stratified equal probability two-stage sampling. An empirical study is carried out to show the efficiency of the two proposed methods when the parameter of a rare unrelated attribute is assumed to be known and unknown.     

Qualitative exploration of supporting figures in the lives of emerging adults who left care compared with their noncare‐leaving peers

Studies on youth leaving care have emphasized their limited social support and their need for continuing support after emancipation. However, less is known about the nature of their existing social networks after emancipation and their roles during their transition to adulthood compared with their noncare‐leaving peers. With this in mind, 32 young adults aged 18 to 25 participated in semi‐structured interviews regarding their current support figures in order to learn whether they were congruent with their needs after emancipation. Thematic analysis revealed four main features of the two groups' social networks: (a) stability versus uncertainty as to the lasting presence of the supportive figure, (b) reliance on parents as main supportive figures versus relying on different supportive figures, (c) confidence versus uncertainty in the supportive figures' ability to help, and (d) holistic versus fragmented support of the young adults' needs. The discussion addresses the unique characteristics of care leavers in emerging adulthood and the implications of their social networks' features for their adjustment after emancipation. One of the study's recommendations is to proactively connect them to new supportive figures such as professionals or mentors by offering them mentoring programs cognizant of the instrumental and developmental tasks of emerging adulthood.     

Becoming the mother of a child with disabilities: a systematic literature review

The transition to motherhood starts early in pregnancy and is completed when the mother feels competent in caring for the infant. Becoming the mother of a child with disabilities is demanding as their needs are complex. The aim of the review was to appraise completed qualitative and quantitative reports on the challenges of mothers of children with disabilities regarding their own transition to motherhood. A review of the literature was carried out through, first, a computerized search strategy to identify relevant studies from selected databases and, second, quality appraisal and thematic analysis of selected studies. The transition to motherhood of children with disabilities takes place in the inside world at home, the outside world external to home and the ‘going-between’ world of travelling between the two worlds. The mothers are challenged at home to integrate basic infant care with technical care of their children. In the outside world they often struggled to ensure that their children got the necessary professional care. Travelling between their homes and healthcare services posed many problems.     

新农合对四川藏区的减贫效应分析

The New Rural Cooperative Medi-cal System ( hereafter NRCMS) in Tibetan areas of Sichuan was started in Wenchuan in 2005 , and by 2008 covered all of the province’s Tibetan areas. This paper studies the effects of the NRCMS on im-proving the health of and alleviating poverty for farmers and herdsmen in Tibetan area of Sichuan. Most parts of the Tibetan areas of Sichuan are located in high altitude districts. Thirty two coun-ties of these areas are classified as “National Pov-erty Counties”. Poverty and disease go hand in hand in these regions. Kashin-Beck disease and hydatid disease are the major endemics in the pas-toral and agro-pastoral areas of Sichuan. Endemic, infectious and chronic diseases are widespread in Sichuan’s Tibetan areas. More than 70% of pa-tients are workers from 20 to 60 years old. Disea-ses are more prevalent in women than in men. Kashin-Beck disease and hydatid disease are cur-rently incurable. Patients suffer from health prob-lems, which leads to a decrease in their income and the heavy burden of medical expenses. The new rural cooperative medical system alleviates the negative effects of farmers’ falling into, or back in-to poverty due to disease. However, the existing medical compensation mechanism is not sufficient to solve the problem. The greatest impact of NRCMS on the farmers and herdsmen in Sichuan’s Tibetan areas is that the system has gradually changed local people’s medi-cal behavior, as well as their underlying ideas a-bout medicine: they begin to believe in hospitals. In particular, more pregnant women are choosing to give birth in hospitals, which reduces the rate of infant mortality and postpartum diseases, and im-proves the health of women. Since the full coverage of the NRCMS in 2008 , the number of people participating in the system has reached the overall average level of Si-chuan province. By analyzing the data before and after the implementation of this system, and meas-uring the impact of the system on people’s health, it can be found that the NRCMS’s role in serving the vulnerable population, such as the elderly and infant children, is more marked. Since the implementation of the NRCMS, all administrative villages in Sichuan Tibetan areas have established village clinics, which solved the problem of a shortage of medicines and doctors in those areas. Farmers and herdsmen have conven-ient access to medical treatment, enhancing the ac-cessibility of medical service. After the implemen-tation of the NRCMS, the health of the elderly population in rural areas has improved. Infant mor-tality rates have dramatically fallen. The implementation of the NRCMS improved the medical service capacity of township hospitals and village clinics. And the NRCMS has brought the township hospitals and village clinics into its scope of compensation, which greatly promotes the utilization of primary medical services in Tibetan areas. The poverty reduction effect of the NRCMS can be analyzed from two aspects:Firstly, the im-
provement in health leads to increased income, be-cause good health can promote labor productivity. Meanwhile, the increase in income will in turn im-prove the overall level of health. Secondly, the in-patient and outpatient compensation rate is raised year by year, which reduces the medical fees of farmers, and prevents them from falling back into poverty.