Nonprofit Isomorphism: An Australia–United States Comparison

This paper examines the organizational structures of nonprofit organizations in Australia and the United States. Using random samples of nonprofits drawn from the two organizational populations, the analysis compares the extent of structural resemblance or isomorphism in each. It detects similar levels of isomorphism for several structural characteristics. The paper interprets this finding as reflecting expectations for nonprofit organizations that stretch worldwide.

Siting Affordable Housing in Opportunity Neighborhoods: An Assessment of HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Mapping Tool

In this article, we examine the content and structure of the new affirmatively furthering fair housing mapping tool (AFFH-T) developed by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of its new assessment of fair housing (AFH) process. Our analysis is focused on the degree to which the data included in the AFFH-T is suitable for the development of plans to site affordable housing in opportunity neighborhoods, and the utility of this tool as a public participation GIS (PPGIS) platform. Our analysis highlights strengths and weaknesses of the AFFH-T and we offer recommendations for its further development.     

Elections in Post-Communist Ukraine, 1994–2004: An Overview

The paper attempts a comprehensive and theoretically grounded analysis of all parliamentary and presidential elections carried out in Ukraine in the decade 1994 to 2004. It is organized into four sections. The first deals with the electoral system, how it came into being and has been amended, how it translates votes into seats, the "effective number" of political parties in the electorate and the legislature, and the battle over the electoral system itself during the presidency of Leonid Kuchma. In the second section, voting behaviour of the Ukrainian electorate is examined. Using voting data, along with the results of public opinion surveys and reports on the conduct of the various election campaigns, the paper sorts through the relevant determinants of voting choice to identify the most pertinent ones as they operate in the Ukrainian context. Generally speaking, such determinants are: (1) background social characteristics of the voters, including the regional and ethnic factors; (2) the public's assessments of the current political and economic conditions in the country; (3) individual voters' partisan identification and opinions on prominent issues; (4) their retrospective evaluations of the incumbents; (5) leadership qualities of the contenders; and (6) prospective evaluations of parties and candidates as to their expected performance in office. To determine which of these are consistently more important is an essential aim of the paper. The third section assesses the degree to which accountability has been achieved in any of these elections—those to the Verkhovna Rada of 1994, 1998, and 2002, and the presidential elections of 1994, 1999, and 2004. A penultimate section is devoted to evaluating the policy consequences of these elections: what difference have Ukraine's elections made to policies over the past decade? In the concluding portion, a characterization of the emerging party system is given along with a summing-up on the voting behaviour of Ukrainians in the post-communist era.     

Awareness of Self—A Critical Tool

This paper discusses the applications of self-awareness to all levels of clinical practice, and the urgency for its development in social work students; self-reflectiveness builds clinical competence, can prevent boundary violations and burnout, and offers protection against client violence. It is a basic cornerstone for the development of the professional self, which is the foundation for evolving professional maturation. Students need guidance in becoming aware of how their own feelings, attitudes, and relationships with clients are major factors in the helping process in all service settings, and further, that helping others is in itself a process. Students are generally idealistic, and wish to ease suffering, without understanding the obstacles to be overcome, nor how they themselves would be involved in the process. Social work education, dominated by cognitive-behavioral theories and evidence-based treatments, reinforces students' own tendencies to offer advice and to provide the ‘right solution’ to clients' problems. Educational recommendations for developing self-reflectiveness include: reclaiming psychodynamic theories; emphasizing self-awareness academically and in the field; utilizing process recording; and providing special educational opportunities such as video labs and observational experiences.     

Food Security: An Ecological–Social Analysis to Promote Social Development

Coupled with the obesity epidemic, food insecurity presents a public health and social crisis. The United States' industrialized food system embodies an unsustainable network of production and unequal distribution of food creating threats to both the natural environment and human development. Ecological, economic, and social systems are interdependent and their relationships to food security are complex and dynamic. Social workers have a unique set of community practice knowledge and skills that can help communities achieve greater access to affordable, healthy food. Building interdisciplinary networks to change food policies and develop sustainable and equitable food systems can address food insecurity.     

An examination of population changes in Alabama's black belt counties: 1960–1970 and 1970–1980

Population changes in 11 Alabama Black Belt counties are examined by comparing annual average birth, death, and migration rates during the 1960s with those of the 1970s. The specific focus of the study is migration patterns among the nonwhite segment of the population. Data from the 1980 and earlier censuses are utilized, along with birth and death data from Alabama vital statistics reports. Average annual migration rates for each of the two decades are derived. The results indicate that net migration losses among nonwhites declined substantially during the 1970s compared with the 1960s and that in two Black. Belt counties there was a reversal from heavy net losses to moderate net gains. Whites, on a county‐to‐county basis, however, were generally characterized by significantly higher rates of loss during the 1970s than in the 1960s. The substantial reduction in outmigration rates among nonwhites is tentatively attributed to political and economic advances coupled with increased employment opportunities in nonagricultural occupations.     

An exploratory study of subjective well-being in organizations–A mixed method research approach

ABSTRACT

Subjective well-being (SWB) has been widely found to have a profound impact on the individual, yet the process of its occurrence in public organizations remains unexplored. So the primary purpose of this paper is to explore the determining factors affecting the process of employee’s subjective well-being in public organizations using mixed methods research. Qualitative analysis using the grounded theory methodology reveals the effective factors that affect the process of employee’s subjective well-being in public organizations. Quantitative hypotheses are then developed based on a qualitative investigation. Survey data were collected from employees of public organizations in one of the provinces of Iran. Analysis of Moment Structure is used for data analysis. The results of the research revealed that both individual and organizational factors (as causal factors) influence the employees’ subjective well-being process (life satisfaction and positive affect). This phenomenon leads to the use of strategies which are affected by intervening and contextual factors. The consequences of this process are to change the attitude and behavior of individuals and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. This paper is among the first known to examine subjective well-being in public organizations using mixed methods research. The mixed methods approach offers a better insight to understanding effective factors affecting subjective well-being compared to the use of either a qualitative or quantitative method alone.     

When dogs meow: An electrophysiological study of lexical–semantic processing in toddlers

The goal of this study was to investigate lexical–semantic processing at an early phase of language development. Adults often communicate with children using infant-directed speech that typically involves lexical and syntactic modifications such as onomatopoeias (Soderstrom, 2007). Here, we asked how and when children start to show an advantage for processing conventional linguistic forms, such as common nouns, and consequently decreasing sensitivity to onomatopoeias. We recorded event-related brain potentials in children of two age groups (16–21 months and 24–31 months) and in an adult control group during the presentation of four conditions in which either common nouns or onomatopoeias were presented auditorily followed by a picture of an either congruent or incongruent object. We focused on the N400 effect, a more negative ERP response to incongruent compared with congruent semantic relations. The younger children showed an N400 effect only for onomatopoeic words, while the older children showed an N400 effect only for common nouns. The adults showed N400 effects for onomatopoeia and nouns. These different N400 effects suggest that onomatopoeia and common nouns are differently organized in children's semantic memory and that the acquisition of linguistic abilities affects and modifies semantic processing of different lexical information.     

Learning from Our Mistakes: An Autopsy of an Unsuccessful University–Community Collaboration

A challenge facing social work education is how to enhance its connection to local communities. To this end, university and community collaborations have grown in popularity to address community needs and to augment student learning. The research literature indicates that there are many factors—from designs to guidelines—that drive successful collaborations. Building on the lessons from that research, this article provides a case study about a service-learning collaboration between a community organization and a masters-level social work course in the United States that was ultimately unsuccessful. Through stakeholder interviews and reflections, the authors provide several suggestions to improve future collaborations. These suggestions include the following. First, increase accountability for students and agency staff. Second, conduct an orientation session at the agency that includes necessary agency staff. Third, be mindful of cultural differences between organizations. Finally, restrict the number of service-learning options for students.     

An Analysis of State–Civil Society Relations in Finland: A Case of Joensuu

Theoretical researches have argued that state–civil society relations differ from one country to another because of different economic, political, and socio-cultural factors. This article aims to show civil society’s role in the Finnish welfare state and how the state and the civil society affect each other in Joensuu, a 72,167 populated Finnish city. Joensuu case is analyzed from the theoretical perspectives of Esping-Andersen (The three worlds of welfare capitalism, 1990), Young (Nonprofit Volunt Sector Q 29:149–172, 2000), and Schofer and Fourcade-Gourinchas (Am Sociol Rev 66: 806–828, 2001) by taking into account interviews with 13 members of voluntary organizations in the city. In the light of the field work, the argument is based on the negative impact of welfare system’s transformation process on nongovernmental organizations in Joensuu, Finland.     

An Exaggerated Art

Tian Li's work expresses a strong rhythm and inner tension His painting consists of dots and lines, full of the passion and imagination of modern society If you focus on the dots and lines, you can walk into the soul of the painter. The flying bird has become a symbol of society For hundreds of thousands of years, humans, just like birds, farmed groups, passing through time and space The Forbidden City is deformed in Tian Li's work Strong colors break the lirnita-     

Public–private partnerships for e-government in developing countries: An early stage assessment framework

Although public–private partnerships (PPP) and electronic government (e-government) have proven to be fruitful mechanisms for economic development and emerging economies seem to recognize their importance, consistent methods for analyzing the early planning stages of e-government portfolios are lacking. The present work utilized a comprehensive literature review to understand the evaluation criteria for PPP projects throughout the early-stage planning process. A qualitative meta-synthesis was employed to identify critical factors for PPP and e-government, with a particular focus on developing countries, PPP, and e-government criteria. Our research presents a framework named “PPP4e-Gov” (public–private partnerships for e-government). The framework compares risk and value factors of e-government PPP projects and adopts a weighted scoring model that estimates the risks that should be considered in a project and how much value a given e-government initiative may generate if the PPP option is chosen. As an illustration of how the framework may be used, the paper interviewed ten practitioners in Costa Rica who tried out PPP4e-Gov and showcased how to plan their e-government initiatives.     

Preparing Social Workers for Child Welfare Practice: An Innovative University–Agency Learning Collaborative

This paper describes the evolution of a university–community child welfare learning collaborative based on an adaptation of the teaching hospital concept. This partnership between an agency providing a range of child and family welfare services and two university units, the school of social work and outreach, was intended to accomplish multiple agency, university and community goals: implement best practices in the agency, enhance social work education, increase staff resources in child welfare, influence public policy, and improve the lives of children and families in the child welfare system. The major strategy was ‘Grand Rounds’ modeled after the system used to train medical students through multiple transactions with experts in a clinical setting. The first year was very successful, with students, agency staff and faculty giving the sessions high ratings in content, quality and utility. One key to the success of the initiative was that it was an agency‐driven process and was based on working relationships of mutual respect and trust. Building such relationships takes both time and effort. Future challenges will include garnering the resources, both human and financial, to sustain the collaboration over time.     

Occupational pursuits of free American women: An analysis of newspaper ads, 1800–1849

Recent studies have challenged a long-prevailing notion that free women held unusually high economic status in colonial America. The present study tests a corresponding idea that the 19th century afforded American women fewer occupational opportunities, with a resulting loss in freedom and status. Drawing from a large and broad sample of newspapers, we examine the distribution of occupational pursuits and changes in this distribution over time, and then compare these findings with observations from an earlier study for the 18th century. The theoretical implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the ideology of separate spheres, increasing divorce patterns, and the growth of the midwestern frontier.An earlier version of this article was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in August 1991.