Jean Valjean Bank in Korea: an innovative approach to poor defendants sentenced to pay fines

ABSTRACT

This study aims to introduce Jean Valjean Bank in South Korea which is an innovative approach supporting poor defendants who cannot pay fines and accordingly are imprisoned. In Korea, it is reported that we have more than 40,000 Jean Valjeans annually. As a civil movement against the unfair criminal justice system, a non-governmental organisation Human Rights Solidarity (Inkwon Yondae in Korean) opened Jean Valjean Bank in 2015. Jean Valjean Bank targets poor defendants who are not able to pay fines and who are confined to prison because of non-payment of fines. As of December 2017, the Bank has loaned KRW1,024 million to 545 persons with an average loan per participant of KRW1,879,700. The Bank reported that, among the receivers, 84 persons completed redemption and 277 persons are redeeming loans to the Bank. This study concludes with implications for reforms in criminal justice system in Korea.     

A Leadership Training Group for at Risk Fifth & Seventh Graders: Results from A Brief Strength-Based Group Program

ABSTRACT

An increasing number of youth are exhibiting social, emotional, and behavioral problems that hinder their ability to function at grade level. Subsequently, school mental health services have not been able to address the need for services particularly among students who are minority and poor. A mixed methodology study was conducted to determine the treatment outcomes from a brief strength-based leadership training group for primarily students who are African American and poor. Pre–post scores on three scales and focus group data revealed significant positive changes in regard to internal areas of functioning and social skills, anger management skills, and school attitude. Gender and age significantly impacted outcomes.     

Consumption and poverty in the homes of the English poor,c. 1670–1834

The consumer behaviour of the poor in the long eighteenth century has attracted more historical attention in recent years. Yet, we have little understanding of whether regional factors affected consumption or how the poor’s ownership of household goods was influenced by level of poverty and the life-cycle. By focusing on Kent and drawing comparisons to other counties, this article argues that the material lives of the poor were improving by the late eighteenth century, but finds that there were distinct regional differences as the poor acquired more and better goods in London and the Home Counties than in relatively remote areas. Moreover, by using pauper inventories and labourers’ probate inventories, the research finds that the poor were not a homogeneous group with similar levels of material wealth, but should be considered in terms of different subgroups which often led very different material lives to one another due to life-cycle-related problems including sickness and old age. Labourers’ probate inventories are found to represent a minority of the poor who were materially richer than most, whilst pauper inventories appear to represent a more typical subgroup of the poor that struggled to make do and owned most types of goods in smaller numbers.     

Poverty and material deprivation among European workers in times of crisis

Many EU countries are faced with abysmal public debts and high unemployment, and may have to reduce their social expenditure and deregulate their labour market, which should lead to an increase in ‘working poverty’ (i.e., an increase in the number of working men and women who live in a low‐income household, or in a household that cannot afford certain goods and services considered essential for a decent life, respectively). However, working poverty remains an under‐analysed phenomenon in Europe. Moreover, the vast majority of existing definitions used in Europe are based on a relative income poverty line and the EU's official definition of ‘in‐work’, which raises concerns about the robustness of existing findings. This article first examines how the socioeconomic situation has evolved in seven EU Member States that have fared differently. In addition, the article examines whether the use of non‐monetary poverty indicators and of an encompassing definition of ‘working’ has an impact on the conclusions drawn. An attempt is made to identify the main macro‐level determinants of changes in ‘working poverty’ and to better understand their impact at the micro‐level.     

论国民革命思想在农民运动中的流变

国民革命思想是由中国共产党提出和倡导、被主张革命的国民党左派原则采纳、并被广大民众普遍接受的一种富有特色的新型民主革命思想。从农民是中国国民的主体和农民问题是中国革命的基本问题出发,中国共产党和国民党左派一度将国民革命直接等同于农民革命;在国民革命的高潮中,以农民革命为中心的国民革命思想流变为贫农革命思想,发生了革命对象、内容、性质和目的的变化,革命的目标由以推翻帝国主义和封建军阀统治为主转变为以消灭封建地主阶级、消除剥削压迫为主,革命的阵地回转为广大的乡土社会内部,革命的性质由民主革命向社会主义革命转化;贫农革命思想使社会的兴奋点集中在有土地财产的地主富农与无土地财产的贫下中农的阶级斗争方面,苏维埃性质的土地革命思想呼之欲出。     

中原贫民亡入匈奴地区谋求生存

中原贫民违反汉禁亡入匈奴地区者大量存在,虽有严刑峻法障塞哨卡亦不能完全阻断。出塞攻略匈奴的中原将士多留没不还,其子孙亲戚仍在中原而生活贫困者都愿意亡出塞外去谋求生存。中原农民赋役负担过于繁重:力役兵徭苛捐杂税几十倍于古,产子3岁须出口钱,连续23年的大面积严重黄河水患及皇帝官吏的无度奢靡敲骨吸髓,致使他们常衣牛马之衣而食犬彘之食,不少人因饥寒冻饿而死,或至人相食。破产农民流亡就食他乡被诬指为盗贼,并以军兴之法无情镇压。匈奴地区的管理相对宽松。匈奴中有不少来自中原的“秦人”。     

The prevalence and composition of asset poverty in Canada: 1999, 2005, and 2012

A household is considered asset poor if its assets (financial assets or net worth, taken separately) are insufficient to maintain well‐being at a low‐income threshold for 3 months. We provide the first national‐level estimates of asset poverty for Canada, using the 1999, 2005, and 2012 cycles of the Survey of Financial Security, and juxtapose these estimates with income poverty. The analysis provides new insight into economic insecurity by showing that asset poverty rates are consistently two to three times higher than income poverty rates. In addition to the prevalence of asset poverty across socio‐demographic groups, we analyzed how the composition of the poor change over time. Age and geography shape the risk for asset poverty in distinct ways. We found that while education appears to play a comparable role in shaping both income poverty and asset poverty, immigration places Canadians at a relatively higher risk of income poverty but not asset poverty. Key Practitioner Message: ? Practitioners ought to consider assets as well as income in assessing economic vulnerability; ? Asset poverty levels are 2–3 times higher than income poverty levels; ? Certain groups (e.g., immigrants) may be income poor but maintain sufficient assets.     

贫困农户脱贫主体性不足的发生逻辑

“干部积极干，农户站边看”的贫困群体脱贫逆化现象影响着农村社会的健康发展和脱贫攻坚工作的高效开展。通过田野调查发现，贫困农户脱贫主体性不足的发生逻辑首先在于小农理性下受利益驱使的农户形成争当贫困户的“自愿型贫困”，造成贫困农户“不愿”脱贫；其次，贫困农户在贫困识别、资源匹配和脱贫行动选择方面因决策受限形成“边缘化治贫”，造成农户的“不能”脱贫；最后，贫困农户受贫困文化影响导致“精神贫困”，造成贫困农户的“内卷化脱贫”。因此，需要从增加贫困农户脱贫意愿和强化贫困农户内生脱贫能力两个维度来构建贫困农户的有效脱贫主体性。     

压力型扶贫模式下的群体角色及其行为特征

民族地区的精准扶贫有对口帮扶和维稳工作的双重压力。在压力源、压力点和压力氛围的作用下，精准扶贫中的扶贫责任人、扶贫责任单位和扶贫帮扶单位等扶贫群体构成了独特的压力分解与承接工作机制。在此背景下，扶贫群体由于所面临和所分解的压力不同，因此其主体行为和行动特征也就各不相同。而作为被扶贫者的贫困群体，由于其所依赖的扶贫群体的压力和资源不同，使得前者的行为也各不相同，角色特征也会出现异化。总体来看，扶贫过程中存在着扶贫压力或过重、或不足的问题。要解决这一问题，既需要适当减轻扶贫者的任务压力，又需要增加被扶贫者的利益压力，从而回到科学扶贫的道路上来。     

Assessment of a State TANF Funded IDA Initiative: A Case Study

Individual development accounts (IDAs), wealth-building programs for the working poor, have existed since the late 1980s. Current research suggests that IDA programs benefit families while contributing to local and state economies. This program evaluation assessed the impact of one state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)-funded IDA initiative. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from four agencies chosen using cluster sampling across the state. Agency programmatic and participant data from the last year of operation (N?=?160) were examined. Agencies also provided contact information for three participants who had graduated and three who exited the program prematurely in the past year of operation. In person, interviews were held with agency directors (n?=?6) and IDA participants (n?=?11) were interviewed by telephone. Results indicate that 69% (n?=?111) of IDA enrollees successfully completed the program. IDA participants who exited the program prior to completion also expressed benefits associated with the time in which they were involved. Programmatic and individual benefits and challenges reported guide recommendations for improving IDA marketability, participant outcomes, and organizational performance rates. A critical implication of the findings is the need to expand the use and design of IDA programs legislatively to better serve historically oppressed and working poor families more effectively.