Fostering social capital in an international multi-stakeholder issue network

Scholars have theorized that public relations contributes to societies and communities by bringing attention to pressing public issues and fostering social capital in civil society networks. However, the extant research has studied civil society networks of NGOs, donors, and the media in transitional countries. This study extends the public relations model of civil society in two ways. First, it broadens the scope to an international context. Second, it draws from the multi-stakeholder issue network perspective to conceptualize a civil society network as a space where stakeholders of an issue mix their interests as they collectively address a pressing public issue. The literature on international and multi-stakeholder networks suggest that the international scope and the mixing of interests across sectors may restrict the production of social capital. The results from the social network analysis suggests that the mixing of interests across sectoral and geopolitical boundaries did not restrict the production of social capital. Rather, the patterns of the relationships among those on the core and those on the periphery of the network restricted the production of social capital. Such finding demonstrates how public relations’ functions like relationship building can have profound influences on social capital and civil society networks. The implications for public relations theorizing and research are discussed.     

Placement Educators’ Experiences and Perspectives of Supervising International Social Work Students in Australia

International social work students in Australia have reported difficulties in finding quality placement opportunities and dealing with issues such as language and cultural barriers. While placement issues have been mostly investigated from a student perspective, this study explores the experiences and perspectives of placement educators towards supervising international social work students. It draws on an online survey of 83 placement educators working for an Australian university. The majority of placement educators reported that they supervised international students differently to domestic students. These differences were negatively framed as challenges involving students’ language competence, their understanding of cultural norms, and knowledge of Australian welfare systems. This framing implies that cultural and linguistic differences between international students and placement educators are viewed in terms of student deficiency rather than as a positive opportunity for mutual learning and professional development.     

Shall we follow the money? Anti-mafia policies and electoral competition

Building upon the evidence that the mafia increases the degree of vote concentration, we use data on regional elections in Sicily to estimate the impact of anti-mafia policies on electoral competition. We find robust evidence that the reassignment for social purposes of property and assets seized to the mafia reduces the degree of electoral concentration. This result supports the hypothesis that policies that create social value, such as the reallocation to social-driven organizations, are more effective than those targeted to public and political institutions.     

国际海洋法法庭迅速释放问题研究

国际海洋法法庭自成立以来共审理了9个迅速释放案件,其中6个案件判决被告沿海国迅速释放被扣押船只和船员,从而有效地解决了沿海国和船旗国之间的争议。因联合国海洋法公约迅速释放相关规定的模糊性,以及国际海洋法法庭在保证金合理性判断标准和实质性审查问题上所采取的非一致性立场,在迅速释放问题上尚未形成习惯法。应该肯定的是,国际海洋法法庭的司法实践对沿海国相关法律制度的完善起到积极作用。本文认为,为维护我国海洋权利不受非法侵犯,应及时修改和完善我国渔民被外国执法扣押时的国家援助制度,以及解决迅速释放时的保证金制度问题。     

Shared learning on an international clinical placement: Promoting symbiotic midwifery practice knowledge

AimThe aim of this study was to explore the experiences of shared learning between Australian and Balinese midwifery students during a two-week clinical placement in Bali Indonesia.BackgroundCultural safety in midwifery is a key concept that is underpinned by the provision of holistic quality midwifery care to all women. Therefore, culturally safe midwifery care identifies, protects and promotes women’s individual cultures and is a key concept that is fostered in midwifery education. To educate culturally safe midwives, international placements to resource limited countries have become more common within midwifery education programs.MethodsThis study used a qualitative research design with a convenience sampling design. The participants were enrolled in midwifery courses in a University in the Northern Territory of Australia (n = 9), a Balinese private midwifery school (n = 4) and a Balinese public midwifery school (n = 4). Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.FindingsThe findings were categorised into major themes under the headings of “Learning together despite differences”; “Cultural differences”, “Communication, Resources”, and “Recommendations for future placements”.ConclusionThis study provides a valuable insight into how shared learning increases students’ midwifery knowledge and is fundamental in understanding cultural differences that could be applied to students’ clinical midwifery practice.     

Stretching the borders: how international business travel affects the work–family balance

This study examined the consequences of international business travel for the balance between work–family domains by exploring how international business travellers and travellers’ partners manage the boundaries between work and family in order to maintain the balance. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used in analysing the semi-structured interviews of 10 male travellers and 10 partners. Because of its irregular nature, international business travel affects the personal life and the family of business travellers. Work-related travel also has an impact on how travellers and their partners construct, manage and negotiate borders between work and family in order to avoid an imbalance between these domains. Integration of work and family is usually inevitable in international business traveler families. Integration may lead to role blurring and thus lead to imbalance.     

降低刑事责任年龄否定论

降低刑事责任年龄的提议主要立足于三个命题:“犯罪低龄化”现象严重,降低刑事责任年龄是解决“低龄犯罪人”问题的应然手段,低龄未成年人已具备相当的辨认、控制能力。通过对实证数据与相关论据的收集分析,前两个命题得到证伪,第三个命题无法证明,由此可以否定降低刑事责任年龄观点的合理性依据。从我国历史与近代刑事责任年龄设定的发展历程来看,调整年龄节点的主张从未停止,援用的理由相差无几,经历过多次变动与论证后延续至今,具备符合我国社会发展实践的合理性与稳定性。从我国的义务教育设置与年龄之间的对应关系出发,刑事责任年龄确定的基准点应以义务教育的结束为合理节点,采取“从高到低”的刑事责任年龄设定逻辑。综合上述理由,兼顾少年司法“教育为主、惩罚为辅”刑事政策导向,最终得出当前的刑事责任年龄设置合理,不需降低的结论。     

Enduring not enjoying? Emotional responses to studying abroad among Danish and Chinese students

ABSTRACT

Students’ emotions during stays abroad have mainly been treated as ”culture shock”, where difficulties are interpreted as universal ”stages” towards ”adaptation”. This paper explores how students from different cultural and educational traditions experience studying abroad differently. The study presents a qualitative study of 18 Danish and Chinese students in Chinese and Danish universities and situates itself within the literature on culture shock, student emotions and study-abroad experiences. The study exposes the students’ complex emotions throughout their studies abroad and explains how these emotions relate to processes of self-formation, professional and academic development, increase or decrease in freedom, and student agency.     

The dimensions of gender in the last twenty years: an analysis of the International Review of Sociology

ABSTRACT

The Social Sciences and, specifically, the sociological research, have progressively assumed the gender factor as one of the strategic keys to understand contemporary phenomena. In fact, as a variable for socio-statistical analysis or as a characterizing trait of individual identity, it is a decisive factor in the interpretation of the deep social transformations, and it inspires the self-reflection of the sociologists about the analytical tools of their discipline. The contribution proposes, through a lexicometric approach, an analysis of the articles published in the last two decades by the oldest journal of Sociology, published by Routledge. The main aim is to highlight the different ways in which gender issues are declined in the international sociological researches presented in the repertoire of the International Review of Sociology and to outline, both on the lexical level and on the topic level, the changes occurred over time.