Communication faculty internships

The present study attempts to initiate and motivate interest in communication faculty internships. Based upon a participant-observer, experiential faculty internship at a major international public relations firm, this paper synthesizes direct experience with a review of the internship literature to advance specific conclusions about this activity. Public relations internships are advantageous for faculty with little or no professional experience, those in need of knowledge or technique updating, and for those who need to understand the student internship experience.Problems and disadvantages of faculty internships include difficulty in arrangements, and an insufficient number of sites. Faculty internships pose a major imposition to the internship host, and they may also involve faculty financial sacrifice. A series of ten experiential realizations accruing from the faculty internship are also presented. These included the pace of professional activity, the importance of good communication skills, and the significance of attitude.     

Public relations internship system evaluation: criteria and a preliminary instrument

Few aspects of contemporary public relations education are as important as internships. Unfortunately, American public relations internship systems are characterized by diversity, perhaps more so than would be desirable.This article presents an instrument for measuring, comparing, and evaluating public relations internship programs. The crux of this instrument is a series of ten value judgments as to what is optimal in public relations internships.The PRISE instrument embodies these ten criteria; (1) student autonomy, (2) public relations broadly defined, (3) student responsibility, (4) flexibility is a virtue, (5) limited faculty involvement, (6) appropriate credit, (7) internship contracts, *8) appropriate assessment, (9) allow prestige firms, and (10) voluntary, not mandatory.     

Practising Observation in Shadowing: Curriculum Innovation and Learning Outcomes in the BA Social Work

One of the requirements of the curriculum of the new BA Social Work is that students shadow the work of practitioners before they undertake supervised practice. Shadowing provides an opportunity to observe social workers in different agencies and to learn from the experience of being in the observer role. This article focuses on the observational learning which is part of the shadowing experience. It discusses an observation curriculum designed for a new student group at an early stage in the programme. Using feedback from student assessments on the Sussex/Brighton BA, the course structure and learning outcomes are described and analysed. From initial evaluations it is argued that observation in shadowing provides an important introduction to key aspects of professional learning such as anti‐oppressive practice and communication skills.     

Does public housing reduce housing cost burden among low-income families with children?

ABSTRACT

About half of all renter households and over three-quarters of very low-income households in the United States experience a housing cost burden, with higher rates among families with children. Public housing may be an important tool for reducing families’ housing cost burdens. The current study uses nearly four decades of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and its Assisted Housing Database to explore the relationship between public housing and housing cost burden among children in low-income families. Results from fixed effects models suggest that public housing is associated with a greatly reduced risk of experiencing housing cost burden when housing assistance receipt is measured a year before housing cost burden. These findings highlight the importance of public housing for reducing low-income families’ housing cost burdens.     

Social housing mediation: education path for social workers

ABSTRACT

Social mediation constitutes an alternative method to legal proceedings, providing effective support for the management and resolution of the most common types of conflicts between individuals, within families and among neighbours, as well as other types of disputes that can arise from interactions between people. Over the last 20 years, urban areas in Italy with high concentrations of public housing have gradually become zones of social disadvantage in which conflict is widespread, due to a number of different factors. On the local level, some municipalities have started promoting innovative initiatives, thanks in part to the sharing of successful practices, both nationally and internationally. This paper presents the methodology and results of an innovative intervention of social mediation in public housing contexts, carried out in a number of municipalities in the Marche Region with financing provided under two projects of the European Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants. Particular attention is given to training courses for social workers, as well as to actions carried out in public housing neighbourhoods, together with the public housing tenants, in order to manage the various issues related to housing and to prevent and deal with conflicts by reinforcing relations between neighbours.     

Family homelessness in Britain: More than just a housing issue

This article offers an analysis of family homelessness in Britain and makes suggestions for change and development in both policy and practice. In Britain, family homelessness too often has been defined solely as a housing issue. The author asserts that this approach ignores the evidence that it is a complex problem in which not only economic and political, but also personal and social, factors play significant roles. The widespread failure to recognize the broad range of needs and problems experienced by homeless families seriously limits British vision and creativity in developing potential solutions. The article sets forth a number of policy recommendations, including developing comprehensive housing and service programs for homeless families; adding an intensive service component to existing homeless-at-home programs; emphasizing homelessness prevention; better utilizing persistently vacant housing; better utilizing the private rental sector; and exchanging Britain's present national commitment to temporary accommodation for an ongoing commitment to build sufficient affordable housing. These recommendations are based on the author's experience as an Atlantic Fellow in Public Policy at the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Oxford and on her 10 years of work with homeless families in the United States.     

The Impact of Public Housing Policy on Family Social Work Theory and Practice

Social workers are the professionals most engaged with families living in low-income and subsidized housing and most familiar with the problems associated with inadequate housing. Yet the discussion of public housing policy has been left largely to economists and housing activists and the clear implications for family social work practice have not been made clear. To connect these critical policy and practice issues, this article provides a theoretical foundation and a review of the research supporting the use of housing vouchers to combat race and class segregation, joblessness, family breakdown, inferior public services, child abuse, mental illness and crime victimization.     

从农民工进城住房入手改革户籍制度

现阶段城市户籍实际代表了三项公共服务:以城市最低生活保障为主的社会救助服务,以经济适用房和廉租房实物或租金补贴为主的政府补贴性住房安排,以及迁移人口子女在城市公立学校平等就学的机会。户籍制度改革的关键,就在于如何通过有效的政策改革方案,为外来人口提供可支付的住房,以及为其子女教育建立有效的融资机制,从而使外来务工人员主要是农民工可以在城市定居下来。土地制度改革可以作为突破口,通过城中村政府和村民有效的公私合作,充分利用市场机制为外来人口提供可支付住房,辅以相关财税体制改革,同时可以有效解决外来务工人员子女的教育问题。在通过土地制度改革和相关财税体制改革有效解决了外来人口住房问题和子女教育问题后,户籍制度改革也就完成了实质性突破。     

对租赁型公共住房退出机制的思考

上海目前的出租型公共住房包括廉租房、租赁型经适房和公租房。随着上海住房保障体系建设的快速推进,租赁型公共住房后期管理中的退出问题受到关注,如何有效地使用公共住房资源,从一些国家和地区的经验出发,可从3个方面进行思考:根据收入及资产准入线,决定租赁型公共住房退出机制;根据承租人是否遵纪守法,决定租赁型公共住房退出机制;租赁型公共住房以出售作为退出。     

The Poverty Deconcentration Imperative and Public Housing Transformation

Public housing has been on the chopping block for almost two decades now in an effort to deconcentrate poverty. In 1992 the federal government created the Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere (HOPE) VI program. HOPE VI is driven by the assumption that deconcentrating neighborhood‐level poverty will yield better access to upward mobility opportunities for former public housing residents. To accomplish this, existing public housing is demolished and replaced with mixed‐income developments. Public housing residents are relocated, many with Housing Choice Voucher subsidies to private‐market rental housing. However, by its very definition mixed income means that only a small percentage of former residents get the opportunity to return. Do voucher relocated residents end up in lower poverty neighborhoods with greater upward mobility opportunities? We examine the spatial organization of relocation within the critical discourse on the deconcentration imperative. We highlight Atlanta because it recently became the first city in the nation to eliminate all of its public housing. Findings reveal that voucher relocatees end up in neighborhoods with modestly less poverty than the public housing neighborhoods they left. Questions remain about what poverty deconcentration means vis‐à‐vis policy goals. We provide recommendations for future research.     

Service user and carer feedback: simply pass/fail or a genuine learning tool?

Social Work Students in Britain are required to submit feedback from Service Users and Carers as part of their Practice Learning portfolios. The purpose of this is twofold—to demonstrate evidence of the student’s ability and to provide information for the student to reflect on and learn from. Members of the Service User and Carer Advisory group attached to a Social Work degree course believe this represents an opportunity for users and carers to influence future social work practice. In reality however, does this feedback actually make a difference? Group members reviewed user and carer feedback contained within student portfolios submitted during one academic year. They found that whilst there were some excellent examples of constructive criticism, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive towards students. The findings raised questions about how gathering Service User and Carer feedback is viewed and undertaken. Is the feedback seen more as a pass/fail issue or as an opportunity to learn from? Could there be better ways to gain constructive feedback for students? What conditions enable students to learn from the feedback that is gathered? This paper starts to explore these questions and suggests ideas for further research and training.     

Psychologists’ roles in ending homelessness

Homelessness in the U.S. remains a pernicious social problem despite national coordinated efforts to end it. Psychologists are well positioned to address homelessness through direct service, advocacy, research, and policy work. Results of a survey of psychologist members (n?=?197) and student members (n?=?209) of the American Psychological Association highlighted activities they engaged in related to helping people who experience housing instability and showed psychologists are more compassionate toward those who experience homelessness than is the general public. Respondents suggested a number of factors that would encourage their greater involvement with homelessness issues including receiving more focused training, increased funding for services, and simply being asked by someone to help. Given the continued problem of homelessness, psychologists can play an important role in supporting those who are in this situation. Suggestions for increasing training and engagement of psychologists are discussed.     

The Role of Design Factors of the Residential Environment in the Physical and Mental Health of the Elderly

This study examined the relationship between selected dimensions of architectural design and measures of physical and mental health and morale among 171 elderly residents of congregate public housing and private housing. Several indices of social interaction were also investigated as possible mediators of the effects of the design factors on health. Design factors included congregate public housing versus private housing; high-rise versus low-rise; floor level; position on corridor; length of corridor; distance from elevator; number of bedrooms; and home ownership versus renting. Residents of congregate housing, high-rise buildings and those living at the end sections of corridors were found to be significantly higher in morale, but not in physical or mental health. Social interaction was not found to contribute significantly to this relationship.     

Opportunity in paid vs. unpaid public relations internships: A semantic network analysis

Semantic network analysis was used to compare differences in benefit appeal in two sets of letters written by the business community to the internship director. In the Unpaid set (N=72) the promise of “opportunity” co-occurred more often with appeals such as “for credit,” “flexible schedule” and “supervision.” In the Paid set (N=73) emphasis was placed on writing skills and work related tasks. This study reveals the business community's understanding of student expectations from the internship experience.     

Increasing Opportunities for Co-production and Personalisation Through Social Work Student Placements in Disabled People's Organisations

Social work student practice placements in disabled people's organisations offer several advantages for individual students, their peers and tutors, and DPOs themselves, who can offer placements for students in supporting service users to give their views as well as delivering social care services. In this context professional skills and anti-discriminatory practice are fostered through learning directly from disabled people as experts without the constraints of local authority policies.

This paper draws on my experiences of such student placements at Wiltshire and Swindon Users' Network over a 15-year period, 1993–2008, in collaboration with different universities. The social work student on placement here experiences an alternative organisational culture which recognises service users' expertise over professionals. The student learns to value collective peer support and working with activists who view their experience through the framework of the social model of disability. This facilitates a two-way exchange as the student learns about user-led practice and the disabled activists appreciate the skills the student brings.

The advent of policies of personalisation, the Big Society and the decreased role of local authorities is challenging the traditional model of adult care social work within local authorities. The placement of social workers in local centres for independent living, in order to provide intensive one-to-one support in support planning for those in complex situations, is only likely to increase in future. This can be seen as a positive alternative which enables professionals to rediscover their professional values and practice and extends the opportunity for placements beyond DPOs concerned with user involvement only.     

对租赁型公共住房退出机制的另类思考——基于典型国家和地区的经验

我国香港地区公屋退出收入及资产标准的设定看似宽松、有悖公平原则,但有其科学和合理之处。而美国在公共住房的管理中对物(即房屋)的管理仅仅是一个方面,对人(即公共住房的居住者)的管理也同样重要,为保持公共住房的居住质量,对租户的某些行为必须进行严格管理。从新加坡经验看,是否实行租赁型公共住房出售政策与地区公共住房供应总量之间存在一定的正相关关系。相比之下,上海目前廉租住房的退出收入及资产标准太过严格,需要进行更多的人性化思考。     

Poverty,Residential Mobility,and Student Transiency within a Rural New York School District*

Abstract Human capital models assume residential mobility is both voluntary and opportunity‐driven. Residential mobility of low income households, however, often does not fit these assumptions. Often characterized by short‐distance, high frequency movement, poverty‐related mobility may only deepen the social and economic instability that precipitated the movement in the first place. Children may be particularly affected because of disrupted social and academic environments. Among community institutions, schools often experience significant student turnover as a consequence. This paper presents a case study of student transiency and residential instability within an impoverished rural New York school district, examining both enrollment change data and residential histories collected from economically disadvantaged parents of mobile students. It finds that poverty‐related mobility is frequently not voluntary but the consequence of precipitating social and economic crises at the household level in combination with the inability to obtain adequate and affordable housing. Hence, poverty‐related hypermobility may be interpreted as both a consequence and determinant of rural community disadvantage.     

Developing an Undergraduate Internship Program in Applied Sociology

In this paper, I describe the steps taken to develop an undergraduate internship program in applied sociology at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. I begin with an introduction to the internship program, including examples of student projects. I discuss the program's goals and leadership and the structure of the program, including scheduling, credit hours, prerequisites, admission requirements, project supervision, and curriculum. Afterward, I outline how internship opportunities were identified and describe the continued coordination of the internship program. I end with a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the program.     

Predictors of college-student food security and fruit and vegetable intake differ by housing type

ABSTRACT

Objective: We assessed whether college-student characteristics associate with food security and fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and whether these associations differ in students in housing with and without food provision. Participants: 514 randomly-sampled students from a large, Midwestern, public university in 2012 and 2013 Methods: Ordered logistic regression tested how student characteristics associate with food security. Linear regression tested how student characteristics associate with FV intake. Analyses were stratified by housing type – that is, housing with food provision (dormitory, fraternity/sorority house, cooperative) vs. housing without food provision.Results: Only among those living in housing without food provision, males (p = 0.04), students without car access (p = 0.005), and those with marginal (p = 0.001) or low (p = 0.001) food security demonstrated lower FV intake. Conclusions: Housing with food provision may buffer the effects of student characteristics on food.