The importance of social circumstances for Swedish women's subjective wellbeing

The importance of social circumstances for middle-age women's general subjective wellbeing (SWB) was investigated in a representative sample of Swedish women, aged 43 (N = 369). The results showed non-existent to moderate relationships between a number of social circumstances variables and general SWB. The strongest relationship was found between marital status and global life satisfaction. Being off work because of illness and household income were the strongest predictors of negative affect. A moderate relationship was found between a cumulated social disadvantage index and SWB, indicating that extreme differences in this index were related to fairly large differences in SWB. In person-oriented analyses, social circumstances were compared between women with a typical profile of generalised low SWB and women with a typical profile of generalised above-average SWB. The results indicated stronger relationships between SWB and the cumulative disadvantage index and unemployment than was the case in the variable-oriented analyses. When personality factors were controlled for, they eliminated nearly all relationships between the social circumstances variables and SWB, except for those between global life satisfaction and marital status or unemployment.     

The limits of inequality: Public support for social policy across rich democracies

Does public opinion react to inequality, and if so, how? The social harms caused by increasing inequality should cause public opinion to ramp up demand for social welfare protections. However, the public may react to inequality differently depending on institutional context. Using ISSP and WID data (1980?2006), we tested these claims. In liberal institutional contexts (mostly English‐speaking), increasing income inequality predicted higher support for state provision of social welfare. In coordinated and universalist contexts (mostly of Europe), increasing inequality predicted less support. Historically higher income concentration predicted less public support, providing an account of the large variation in inequality within the respective liberal and coordinated contexts. The results suggest opinions in liberal societies – especially with higher historical inequality – reached the limits of inequality, reacting negatively; whereas in coordinated/universalist societies – especially with lower historical inequality – opinions moved positively, as if desiring more inequality.     

Developing visibility for aging in social work: the first NGSWC

In March 2001, the Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) Strengthening Aging and Gerontology Education for Social Work (SAGE-SW) project published an action agenda for social work and aging (CSWE/SAGE-SW, 2001). CSWE SAGE-SW, funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation from 1998 to 2004, had several charges in the first phase of funding, including the gathering of data through a thorough review of literature, focus groups, surveys and a variety of activities to garner expert input. This agenda, often referred to as the Blueprint, identified a number of serious issues regarding the lack of attention, preparation, leadership and interest in aging within the social work profession. It also provided some recommended actions to address these issues and help set the stage for the creation of the National Gerontological Social Work Conference. What were the issues at hand and why might a National Gerontological Social Work Conference (NGSWC) address some of these issues?     

A code of ethics for social work and social care research

Summary This Critical Commentary is the final product of the Economicand Social Research Council sponsored seminar series, TheorisingSocial Work Research to appear in the BJSW. The special editionof the British Journal of Social Work published in August 2000carried several key papers arising from the seminar series aswell as reports of some of the events themselves. The responsibilityfor drafting the Code of Ethics for Social Work and Social CareResearch fell to me and although discussed at the Luton Seminarand at the final conference in Manchester, the text presentedhere is much as it first appeared. This is simply to reaffirmthat it has no particular status and is reproduced in the Journalas a prompt to further discussion, precisely the purpose itwas to serve for the seminar series. Before reproducing the Code, it might be helpful to revisitsome of the main points which were raised in the paper presentedat the Luton Seminar which set the context for the Code (Butler,2000).     

略论社会科学研究中的研究设计

研究设计是指对整个研究工作进行规划,制定出探索特定社会现象或事物的具体策略,确定研究的最佳途径,选择恰当的研究方法。研究设计一般包括选择研究课题,确定研究性质、分析单位和分析层次,选择研究方式和手段,选择资料收集方式,制定具体规划等内容。     

The place of research in social work education

Summary This paper argues for a stronger emphasis on research in socialwork education and the recognition of a triangular and dynamicrelationship between social work research, education and practice.The focus here is on the particular relationship between thefirst two of this triad. The paper locates the discussion inan examination of the literature on the nature of knowledgeand ideas about professional education, and proceeds to a considerationof the place of research in disciplinary development. This includesa brief mention of changing paradigms reflected in social workresearch in the past century. Empirical data from research carriedout in the mid-1990s is used to illustrate the place of researchin social work education currently, and to support the argumentthat social work educators have responsibility for knowledgecreation (through research), as well as using research in theirteaching, and in devising curricula which develop knowledgeabout and skills in research among social workers at differentstages of training. Developing the research and knowledge baseis seen as an essential role for social work academics, in theface of uncertainties about future directions for professionaltraining and the complexity of the task for which social workersare being educated.     

The mediating effect of civic community on social growth: The importance of reciprocity

This paper examines the effects of economic structural change on community social capital. The content of 156 interviews in Southern communities entrenched in the offshore oil economy, were used to investigate the consequences of industrial and civic restructuring on the social structure and social ties among local residents. The central finding is that population turnover and in-migration of workers demanded by a rapidly expanding economy enhances the density of weak tie networks within the community. However, the activation of these weak ties is highly dependent upon perceptions of future reciprocity from newcomers to the community by the entrenched members. Weak ties are important because they serve as a foundation for community members engaging in collective problem solving. Civic and social institutions can mediate the negative effects of rapid community growth shown. When newcomers are not integrated into the community, it may lead to exploitation and exclusion due to stigmatic labels.     

The relationship between different social expenditure schemes and poverty,inequality and economic growth

In this article, we study how social expenditure is related to poverty, income inequality and GDP growth. Our main contribution is to disentangle these relationships by the following social expenditure schemes: 1) “old age and survivors”, 2) “incapacity”, 3) “health”, 4) “family”, 5) “unemployment and active labour market policies” and 6) “housing and others”. For this purpose, we employ OLS and 2SLS regression models using a panel data set for 22 Member States of the European Union from 1990 until 2015. We find total public social expenditure to be negatively related to poverty and inequality, but not related to GDP growth. The results vary substantially between the different social expenditure schemes, which makes more accurate targeting possible.     

Implications for social security policy-making of research in mortality

"The main purpose of this article is to outline the relationship between mortality research and policy-making in social security. Reasons are first discussed as to why more information is needed for social security purposes on how and why mortality varies over time periods and across population groups. There follows a synopsis of the correspondence between the type of policy question asked and the kind of research required to answer it. The paper concludes with a discussion of the incorporation of mortality research into policy models." The geographic focus is on the United States.     

Income inequality and risk taking: the impact of social comparison information

Theory and Decision - In contrast to the assumptions of standard economic theory, recent experimental evidence shows that the income of peers has a systematic impact on observed degrees of risk...     

青少年犯罪社区矫正的社会工作方法探讨

社区矫正是一种与监禁矫正相对的行刑方式,当前青少年犯罪社区矫正日益引起社会各界的广泛关注。自2003年社区矫正试点工作在北京、上海、天津等6省市展开以来,许多专家学者都在探索社区矫正的理论,但尚没有形成适用的方法体系。本文在社区矫正实践经验的基础上,就社会工作方法介入青少年犯罪社区矫正的意义、程序、原则等做积极的探讨。     

Using research in practice: A research information service for social care practitioners

In recent years a variety of initiatives have been created with the aim of increasing the use of research in social care practice. This article reports findings from a one‐year pilot research information service provided by the What Works for Children project. Taking note of the evidence from the research utilization literature, the service was set up to support social care practitioners in using research findings in their service‐planning. An implementation officer worked with service‐planners to identify areas where research could be helpful. Researchers provided responses to practitioners’ questions by searching for, critically appraising and summarizing the relevant literature. This article looks at the practicalities of running such a service and discusses its potential for influencing research use. The pilot underlines the importance of some of the obstacles to using research, some of which our service was able to overcome. The gap between what practitioners want from research and what research provides is discussed.     

Maori and the New Zealand values survey: The importance of research relationships

Abstract

Requirements for non‐Maori researchers to consult with Maori compete with “by Maori for Maori” research agendas. Nevertheless, Maori provide varying forms of consultation, with Maori perspectives rarely being entered into the literature. Following an invitation from the Centre for Social Health Outcomes Research and Evaluation (SHORE), members of the Whariki Research Group agreed to take a consultative role, providing Maori input into the New Zealand Values Survey 2004. After initial examination of the survey instrument and follow‐up on previous consultation with Maori, Whariki's main role focused on questions relevant to the Treaty of Waitangi (signed in 1840 between the United Kingdom and Maori) and to Maori. The questions and related findings were of particular salience in the context of ongoing controversy and challenges to the status of the Treaty in New Zealand and to the position of Maori. Here we describe research processes and relationships and present the findings with reference to their social and political implications.     

The implications of dialogicality for ‘giving voice’ in social representations research

Social representations research is often undertaken by scholars who seek to ‘give voice’ to knowledge(s) that are held by socially disenfranchised individuals and groups. However, this endeavour poses a number of problems in practice, not least because it assumes that the ‘voices’ voiced by individuals and/or groups in social research will be unambiguous and uniform, and unchanged by the research encounter. Despite the growth of attention to the critical potential of social representations theory, there remains a lack of scholarship on the relationship between the theory's emphasis on the relational, or dialogical, nature of social life (the Ego‐Alter‐Object relation) and the implications of this for critical research. In this article, I argue that the dialogical epistemology from which social representations research must depart incites reflection upon (i) the design of empirical studies, which must equally attend to both ‘Ego’ and ‘Alter’, and (ii) the researcher‐researched relationship, which may itself be best viewed as an Ego‐Alter interaction. I make the case for adopting dialogical epistemology in critical social psychology, and argue that this is essential to undertaking ethical social research. I conclude by suggesting that claims to ‘giving voice’ have little place in critical social psychology in general, and social representations scholarship in particular.     

Kosovo's social policy during self‐management,UNMIK and independence: Persisting high inequality and social exclusion

This study examined: (i) Kosovo's social policy's poverty and inequality outcomes in recent history, namely during Yugoslav self‐management socialism (1952–1989), the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) (1999–2008) and independence (2008 onwards), and (ii) the impact of local politics in the more recent trajectory of social policy. The study shows that the poverty rate after the war (1999) is significantly lower than it was during socialism, but that there is persistent high and deepening Gini inequality and social exclusion. Transfers and taxes of the residual‐liberal policy have reduced more pretransfer–pretax inequality, and especially poverty, compared with self‐management's insurance‐dominated socialism, but their effectiveness is declining due to the policy's underlying long‐term, pro‐market logic and its increasing particularism with respect to short‐term transfers. The article argues that the main local political cleavages have originated from self‐management socialism's extensive stratification. These cleavages matter in distributive conflicts, and they mattered also during the UNMIK period by easing the pathway for the unprecedented influence international organisations have had on policy formation.     

The ethical review of medical research: a social movement to protect the interests of research subjects

This paper is based upon observations made in the United States regarding the operation of the Institutional Review Boards. Institutional Review Boards are an essential part of the American system for the ethical review of human subjects research and it is argued that their importance is due in part to the American approach to the protection of minority groups. It is important to evaluate the effectiveness of the Institutional Review Boards since a similar model is being proposed by the National Health & Medical Research Council as part of the ethical review of medical research projects conducted in Australia.     

The gender and race-ethnicity of faculty in top social science research departments

This paper provides a recent profile of the gender and race-ethnicity of faculty in top research departments of economics, political science, and sociology. Most faculty are male, although there appear to be critical masses of women in political science and sociology. Blacks and Hispanics are underrepresented among faculty relative to their shares of the population. Within each racial-ethnic group examined, there are more male than female faculty members, with a smaller gender gap for Blacks than for other racial-ethnic groups. In general, the higher the rank, the greater the proportion of males than females, especially for Whites and Asians.