Older peoples' experiences of Community Care

This exploration of the position of “poor older people”within the context of Community Care, analyses the evidence and identifies discriminatory features that affect their lives. There follows an examination of poverty and the Government's management of the changes in Social Security legislation around pensions and benefits, with special reference to the position of women and carers. Are “economically fragile”older people members of the newly emerging underclass? The consequent inequalities are further explored via the position of carers and retired women in relation to the Benefits System; both groups seem to miss the much heralded effects of the trickle-down economic ideology. In the era of Citizen's Charters, so called choices for economically fragile service users appear to be little more than Hobson's Choice.     

When Things Go Wrong: Being an Independent Person under the Children Act 1989 Complaints Procedure

The introduction of market principles into public services in the 1990s meant that British local authorities were required to develop complaints procedures. In the case of services for children and families, the Children Act 1989 required the appointment of an "independent person". This article describes the findings from a research study conducted in 1999. A total of nineteen independent people from a range of London boroughs participated. It was found that young people themselves rarely use this system designed to protect their rights. As "sole traders" in adversarial situations between social services personnel and complainants, the independent people were constantly negotiating their position. Depending upon the issue, they are required to move skilfully between conciliation and formal investigation. The findings will be useful to local authorities using independent people, and to the independent people themselves who are largely unsupported in their roles.     

Perceptions of Reconciliation and related Indigenous Issues among Young Residents of Shepparton

It has been argued that reconciliation between Indigenous and non‐Indigenous Australians requires non‐Indigenous Australians to change their attitudes. Some suggest that this process is occurring and that younger people hold more positive attitudes towards Indigenous Australians. This paper explored the perspectives of 86 young people from Shepparton, Victoria in relation to reconciliation and related Indigenous issues. The study found that young participants' views of reconciliation varied, and while some supported reconciliation, many opposed a national apology and indicated that they were not very informed about or interested in Aboriginal issues. Many distinguished between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Aboriginals based on behaviour. Their talk was embedded with notions of special privilege, ‘sameness’ and social hierarchy but excluded attention to cultural difference. Findings suggest that these young people have embraced discourses of sameness, individualism and ‘practical reconciliation’ and that they are reluctant to reflect on their position of White privilege.     

孔子"仁"学思想对秘书人员处理人际关系的影响

中国五千年文明中,有二千多年儒家思想在思想领域占据统治地位.所以中国文人的思想里,受孔子的儒家思想的影响极深,秘书人员也不例外.这些思想中的一些积极因素影响着秘书人员能具备良好的素质,出色完成自己的工作任务.而孔子所提倡的"仁"和"爱"尤其使秘书人员在处理复杂的人际关系时,能带有一种宽容、谦虚的心态,收到意想不到的效果.因此秘书人员如果能在工作中注意吸取孔子思想中的精华,并善于应用于工作中,必会有所收益.     

中华人民共和国的社会形态、历史方位及其基本政治元素辨析

国名或国号是一面公开的旗帜,人们可以根据它来判断国家的政治构成、政治方向、政治形象、政治力量。今天,中华人民共和国所处的社会形态、历史方位及其涵盖的基本政治元素有其鲜明的特色：多质态并存的社会形态,是以社会主义质态为核心、为导向的社会;新民主主义社会尚未真正成为历史,它是新中国的起跑线,“后新民主主义社会”是中国特色社会主义初级阶段的另一种表达法,是当代中国社会的历史方位和价值取向的底线;共和国涵盖的内外基本政治元素公式为：中华人民共和国=主权＋（政党＋民族＋人民＋共和）民主。     

Independent fostering agencies uncovered: the findings of a national study

This paper presents the findings of a survey of independent fostering agencies (IFAs) in England, Scotland and Wales. Information was gathered about their operational arrangements, services, fees, staffing, foster carers and the children and young people in placement. This information is supplemented by an earlier evaluation of one large English IFA and by reference to the available relevant literature. The expansion of the IFAs has been generally greeted with hostility by local authority managers because of what is perceived as the loss of foster carers to the independent sector, the costs of the IFAs and their position outside the public welfare sector. This paper questions the validity of these views following an examination of the status of the agencies, the background of their foster carers and the circumstances surrounding the placements of the children and young people. It concludes by identifying gaps in our knowledge and areas for future research.     

Professional Advocacy as a Force for Resistance in Child Welfare

Correspondence to Jane Dalrymple, University of the West of England, Glenside Campus, Blackberry Hill, Stapleton, Bristol BS16 1DD, UK Summary The development of child and youth advocacy is a relativelyrecent phenomenon, increasingly recognized by both practitionersand politicians as a way of establishing communication spacesfor young people who are looked after in state care. Literatureto date has focused on the development and underpinning principlesof child and youth advocacy, which is a necessary starting pointfor establishing good practice. However, while policy and legislationpromote the view that young people are actively involved indecision making, their advocates can be placed in a passiveposition, effectively denying young people a position as socialactors. This paper argues that the problemitizing of independentadvocacy as unprofessional can serve to further marginalizeyoung people and render advocates impotent. It suggests thatwhile it is structurally necessary for adults to take on theadvocacy role, this must be undertaken in a way that activelyresists the oppression of young people. Through considerationof accounts of advocacy activity, by way of illustration, thepaper takes the debate beyond the principles of participation,empowerment and rights to a consideration of strategies thattake into account the complexities of advocacy practice in childwelfare.     

Older people, work and equal opportunity

People in industrialized countries are living longer, having fewer children and retiring sooner. The proportion of older people in the population is rising; their labour force participation is declining. These trends are arousing apprehensions about future labour supply and pension financing as contributor/beneficiary ratios decrease. A widely advocated policy response is to seek higher participation rates, especially by raising pensionable ages and restricting early retirement. Little has been done to improve the labour market position of seniors. Three-pronged action is needed: promoting training, placement and workplace flexibility; changing attitudes through education and information; and prohibiting age discrimination in employment.     

Struggling with Poverty: Implications for Theory and Policy of Increasing Research on Social Class-Based Stigma

Low-income people are stigmatized in a number of ways, including being negatively stereotyped and discriminated against both interpersonally and institutionally (see Lott & Bullock, 2007 for a comprehensive review). Yet psychologists have not focused much attention on social class in general, nor on social class-based stigma in particular. This article argues that by resolving three main problems in the literature (the achieved/ascribed discrepancy, the complexity of operationalizing social class, and the seeming lack of identification with one's social class), psychologists are in a unique position to use their knowledge to aid practitioners and policymakers in ameliorating the consequences of poverty. Thus, this article focuses on how better to incorporate social class into the stigma literature and how this research can be linked to social policy initiatives.     

Young People's Images of Self and Others

In an analysis of the validity of popular stereotypes of youthful conflict with adult society, based upon surveys carried out in Melbourne, the attitudes of young people are compared with the attitudes which they impute to their friends, parents and teachers. The results indicate that young people are influenced in their estimate of the friends' attitudes by the popular stereotype of young people which may in turn, influence their own attitudes. This interpretation explains the distribution of responses along the conservative-innovative continuum, except in regard to opposition to de-humanization where the respondents are more likely to attribute innovative responses to themselves than to their friends. Most young people perceive their interpersonal environment to be supportive of their own attitudes.     

Keyworkers Re-examined: Good practice, quality of care and empowerment in residential care of older people

Correspondence to Rosemary Bland, Department of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland Summary Social work definitions of ‘good practice’ in residentialcare which were originally developed in work with children andyoung people have also been applied to residential settingsfor other user groups, including older people. However, anylink between such elements of practice and positive outcomesfor users has not always been demonstrated. The introductionof market principles and orientations into social welfare inthe 1980s re-defined the social work ‘client’ asa ‘consumer’ with the associated power to make choicesin the area of social care. The success with which such an approachcan be applied to services for people who are very often, notin a position to exercise much choice, is debatable. Alongsidethe notion of the ‘consumer’ or ‘user’of services has grown the ideology of ‘empowerment’of people who use social work services. Drawing on findingsfrom a recent study, this article explores the contributionof the keyworker role to good practice and the empowerment ofolder people living in residential homes. It concludes that,because their understanding of the concept and practice is largelyundeveloped, the role as currently interpreted is not consonantwith good practice and tends rather to reinforce the power ofstaff.     

Defining responsibility for care: approaches to the care of older people in six European countries

This article examines the social care of older people in six contrasting European countries. Family, institutional and community care are compared, focusing on vulnerability, empowerment and the gatekeeping of resources. The article considers the position of older people in each care system by presenting individual case studies. The six countries include the family-oriented systems of Ireland, Italy and Greece, and the individual-oriented systems of Denmark, Norway and England. To improve the care of older people in any of these welfare cultures, resources need to be developed that work with existing sources of care but extend the rights of older people, at least to assessment and an equitable matching of needs to the care services available. Overall, the different levels of provision of organised social care services are a major aspect of inequality within and between the countries. Whilst there is little prospect for any major policy transfer across national boundaries, there is potential for selective cross-national learning with regard to particular service developments.     

Framing the tendency to betray one's good intentions. Akrasia as a dialogical dynamic

Akrasia, otherwise known as ‘weakness of will’, is a state of mind whereby people act deliberately against their better judgment. This paper aims to provide a conceptual framework for understanding akrasia from psychosocial perspectives that assume the self is multiple and strongly interconnected with the relational flow of which it is a part. Drawing on key ideas from Dialogical Self Theory, we analyze the main dialogical dynamics that can generate akratic episodes with reference to how individuals organize their personal position repertoire, and to the relational and socio-cultural setting in which the actions are taken. The discussion enables us to identify some indicators to frame the tendency to betray one's good intentions, and to offer some suggestions on how to reduce the occurrence of the various forms of akrasia analyzed.     

哈尔滨金太阳·索菲亚商城服装个体户闲暇生活状况的调查研究

作者采用问卷调查的方法对哈尔滨金太阳·索菲亚商城的258位个体户的生活方式进行了调查.调查结果表明从事服装经营的个体户以已婚女性为主,中专、高中学历者居多.他们关心社会、关心政治;由于工作时间长,业务繁忙,闲暇时间明显不足;以至于虽有较强烈的学习愿望,但很少付诸实践;他们的阅读兴趣与其业务紧密相连.调查还反映出经营时间短的个体户有着炫耀性消费的问题.服装个体户是个体业户中最庞大的组成部分之一,对社会生活有较大的影响,满足他们的需求并进行合理的引导是全社会的共同责任.     

Migration and welfare

Migrants accout for an increasing proportion of unemployed people in Europe, and their economic position is deteriorating in many countries. Non-European refugees face the biggest risk of unemployment and welfare dependence. This, in turn, affects their health and wellbeing. Assessing and meeting the need for health care and social welfare for these vulnerable individuals is a challenge to health care, social services and to the public in host countries. Mainstream facilities should be the base, but transitional culturally sensitive programs may have many advantages as complements. Ethnically specific public services should not be regarded as a privilege for certain groups but as a measure to protect minorities from hidden discrimination. There is great complexity in migratory flows as well as in the responses of recipient countries. This generates opportunities for comparative research programs focusing on intercultural encounters and adaptation processes. Joint effort are essential to initiate collaborative research.     

邓小平与当代中国知识分子社会属性的认识研究

建国以来的国家经济政治发展的曲折历史证明,知识分子社会属性的认识是关系国家盛衰的重大问题。邓小平总结了建国以来的经验教训,继承发展了马克思主义关于资本主义社会脑力劳动者的思想,提出了知识分子的阶级属性是工人阶级;在政治地位上知识分子是科学技术第一生产力的先进开拓者,担负着重大的历史责任;知识分子的绝大部分世界现是无产阶级的世界观,其世界观改造的性质同工人阶级和劳动人民内部的自我教育和自我改造是基本相同的;在政治上对知识分子要求要适当,不能苛求。     

With the dragon as a foil： American imagining of China and the construction of America＇s national identity

从18世纪晚期一直到20世纪中期，美国一直把中国想象成为与自己形象相对照的“他者”。对中国的这种“他者”想象反映着美国人自己的恐惧、渴望和向往，在不同的历史时期帮助美国人界定自己的国家身份与国家地位，是美国自我审视、自我想象的一种方式，因而具有深刻的自传性质。美国应放弃在自己的观念和利益框架内理解和想象中国的方式，真切地了解和体会中国人的感受、欲望和抱负，从而使中美关系的稳定发展能有一个健康的情感基础。     

社会地位、生活境遇与焦虑

本文运用定量研究方法,探讨了人们的社会地位和遭受不公正对待的生活境遇在焦虑形成中的作用。研究表明,社会地位（包括客观地位和主观地位）和生活境遇对焦虑的产生具有明显的影响,社会地位低的群体和生活境遇中遭受过不公正对待的人,更易产生焦虑。这些由社会地位和生活境遇等因素导致的焦虑对于个体的影响是偏向消极的;在社会因素的持续作用下,具有焦虑特征的个体增多,焦虑有可能从个体的心理问题转化为社会的心理问题。     

Clinical trials litigation: practical realities as seen from the trenches

Litigation involving human clinical research trials has escalated rapidly in the past few years. Whereas these suits raise many important theoretical questions, they also have important practical and human dimensions of which many people are unlikely to be aware until, by some unfortunate turn, they must live the reality. From the vantage of a fairly close view on one recent lawsuit, this article offers some ground-level observations and reflections that, it is hoped, may be of use to people in clinical research who might one day find themselves in a similar position.     

The Tyranny of Fit: Yet another Barrier to Mainstream Employment for Disabled People in Sheltered Employment

Policies that encourage the aspirations of disabled people for mainstream employment might be an effective way to increase their workforce participation rate. This study aims to determine which people in sheltered employment aspire to a job beyond their current sheltered employment job. We asked 64 people with sheltered employment jobs about their workplace and job fit, their intentions to stay in their current job and their future job aspirations. The key finding is that perceptions of fit indirectly and adversely affect aspirations via intention to stay. Participants who felt they fitted planned to keep working at their sheltered workplace, but a stronger intention to stay made it less likely that they could identify an alternative to sheltered employment. These results were not influenced by age or the time spent in sheltered employment. Policy should therefore support people in sheltered employment to develop realistic job aspirations. Helping disabled people to identify opportunities beyond sheltered employment can avoid complacency and free up sheltered job opportunities for other disabled people. But policy changes are required to leverage sheltered employment as a first step for disabled people to develop mainstream job aspirations and facilitate transitioning beyond sheltered employment job options.