Chile: has social security privatisation fostered economic development?

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of the impact of the privatisation of social security on Chile's economy and society. The paper also includes a brief discussion of Chile's current economic problems, and suggestions for integrating the social security system into the future development of the country. Its central argument is that social security should be able to provide adequate benefits not only to a privileged group of people, but to the entire society. In the case of Chile, the privatised system has created new sources of inequities, reduced the population coverage, and it has had a limited impact on economic development.     

China’s social security response to COVID-19: Wider lessons learnt for social security’s contribution to social cohesion and inclusive economic development

China has adopted an array of special social security measures in response to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, to mitigate the downside social and economic impacts caused by the pandemic. Measures include the reduction, exemption and deferral of social security contributions by employers, the extension of benefits coverage for employees, and the provision of more accessible e-services by social insurance agencies. The article points out that a preliminary assessment of those measures would suggest that they have played a key role in supporting social cohesion and in stabilizing the economy. In a critical manner, the article compares the measures adopted in China with those of other countries, and identifies how China could learn from international practice and experience. Finally, and based on recent Chinese experience, the article presents proposals that seek to improve the longer-term contribution made by the Chinese social security system to realize the goals of social cohesion and inclusive economic development. As set out in China’s Social Insurance Law of 2010, the social security system should not only support a fair sharing of benefits of development, but also promote social harmony and stability.     

Social cognition,social neuroscience,and evolutionary social psychology: What's missing?

In this paper I argue that something important, and something social, is missing from contemporary accounts of social cognition, social neuroscience and evolutionary social psychology. Contemporary accounts of social cognition focus on cognition directed towards social objects, that is, towards persons and social groups. In contrast, early twentieth century accounts of socially engaged cognition focused upon beliefs and attitudes oriented to the represented beliefs and attitudes of members of social ‘reference groups’ and directed towards both social and non‐social objects. I argue that this earlier conception of socially engaged cognition should be integrated with contemporary research on social cognition, social neuroscience and evolutionary social psychology, since it poses a challenge but also an opportunity for these disciplines.     

The impact of political violence: Adaptation and identity development in Bosnian adolescent refugees∗

This qualitative study explored the impact of the war in the former Yugoslavia and the experiences of forced exile on the processes of adaptation and identity development for five Bosnian adolescent refugees who have lived the United States for at least two years. Sources of resilience were found in individual temperament, adaptive responses to trauma, and cultural and family pride and loyalty. Because current research on political violence tends to focus on psychopathological outcomes and PTSD sequelae, particular attention was given to examining cultural meanings of trauma and development, as well as the health‐promoting forces that can occur in response to extreme trauma. Findings suggest several implications for future research as well as implications for mental health professionals working with refugees.     

Did how we learn affect what we learn?: Methodological bias,multimethod research and the case of economic development

This article explores the question of “did how we learn affect what we learn in social science?” through a case study of economic development research. Total dependence on a single method can be a dangerous practice as the method may dictate research findings and make it impossible to eliminate the rival hypothesis of methodological bias. When the multimethod approach is preferred, a mechanical application of multiple methods will not make it better than a single method approach. Using the case of state and local economic development studies, this article illustrates the promise of multimethod research and the danger of its misuse. Poor implementation of the approach can create equally misleading findings and a false sense of confidence in our theories. Among other factors identified in the article, a major key to its successful implementation is having researchers well trained in multiple methods.     

Crisis,trauma, and challenge: A relational resilience approach for healing,transformation, and growth∗

The concept of resilience — strengths forged through adversity — offers a valuable framework for working with a broad diversity of clients and life challenges. Grounded in a developmental systemic perspective on vulnerability, risk, and resilience, the author has drawn together clinical and research advances to develop a useful practice framework to identify and facilitate key processes for individual and relational resilience. This paper will describe and illustrate this strengths‐oriented approach for healing, transformation, and growth out of crisis, trauma, and loss, with a focus on belief systems that foster resilience through meaning‐making, a positive outlook, and transcendence/spirituality.     

Domestic violence, poverty, and social services: does location matter?

Objective. This study investigates whether or not domestic violence agencies are located in areas of need. Recent research indicates that community economic disadvantage is a risk factor for intimate partner violence, but related questions regarding the geographic location of social service agencies have not been investigated.Methods. Using Connecticut as a case study, we analyze the relationship of agency location and police-reported domestic violence incidents and assaults using OLS regression and correcting for spatial autocorrelation.Results. The presence of an agency within a town has no relationship with the rates of domestic violence. However, regional patterns are evident.Conclusion. Findings indicate that programs are not geographically mismatched with need, but neither are programs located in towns with higher rates of incidents or assaults. Future research and planning efforts should consider the geographic location of agencies.     

Custom,class and change: The trade societies of Birmingham∗

E. P. Thompson, The Poverty of Theory and Other Essays (1978), v+406 (The Merlin Press, paperback £3.95).

W. Bick, P. J. Müller and H. Reinke (eds), Quantum Dokumentation. Quantitative historische Forschung. Historisch‐Sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung‐en Bd. I (1977), 236 (Klett‐Cotta Verlag, Stuttgart, DM. 39). (Quantum Documentation. Quantitative Historical Research)

P. J. Müller (ed.), Die Analyse prozess‐produzierter Daten. Historisch‐Sozialzvissenschaftliche Forschungen Bd. II (1977), 226 (Klett‐Cotta Verlag, Stuttgart, DM. 29). (The Analysis of Institutionally produced Data)

H. Best and R. Mann (eds), Quantitative Methoden in der historisch‐sozialwissenschaftlichen Forschung. Historisch‐Sozialwissenschaftliche Forschungen Bd. Ill (1977), 253 (Klett‐Cotta Verlag, Stuttgart, DM. 39). (Quantitative Methods in Historical and Social Science Research)

F. Irsigler (ed.), Quantitative Methoden in der Wirtschafts‐und Sozial‐geschichte der Vorneuzeit. Historisch‐Sozialvnssenschaftliche Forschungen Bd. IV (1978), 171 (Klett‐Cotta Verlag, Stuttgart, n.p.). (Quantitative Methods in the Economic and Social History of the Early Modern Period)

P. D. A. Garnsey and C. R. Whittaker (eds), Imperialism in the Ancient World (1978), 392 (Cambridge University Press, £12.50).

Guy Cabourdin, Terres et Hommes en Lorraine (1550–1635). Toulois et Comté de Vaudémont (1977), 2 vols., 763 (Université de Nancy, n.p.).

Sharon Kettering, Judicial Politics and Urban Revolt in Seventeenth‐century France: The Parlement of Aix 1629–1659 (1978) xi+370 (Princeton University Press, £15.00).

R. J. Morris, Class and Class Consciousness in the Industrial Revolution 1780–1850 (1979), 79 (Macmillan, £1.75).

Clyde Binfield, So Down to Prayers: Studies in English Nonconformity, 1780–1920 (1977), xiv+296 (Dent, £8.50).

Ian Sellers, Nineteenth‐century Nonconformity (1977), ix+102 (Arnold, £5.95, paperback £2.95).

Lynn Hunt, Revolution and Urban Politics in Provincial France: Troyes and Reims, 1786–1790 (1978), viii+187 (Stanford University Press, $11.50).

Gwynne Lewis, The Second Vendée (1978) x+250 (Oxford University Press, £10.00).

Joseph F. Kett, Rites of Passage: Adolescence in America, 1790 to the Present (1977), 327 (Basic Books, New York, $16.50).

Alain Corbin, Les filles de noce. Misere sexuelle et prostitution aux 19e et zoe siècles (1978), 576 (Editions Aubier Montaigne, Paris, 96 f).

(The Good‐time Girls. Sexual Poverty and Prostitution in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries)

A. J. Youngson, The Scientific Revolution in Victorian Medicine (1979), 237 (Croom Helm, £9.95).

F. B. Smith, The People's Health 1830–1910 (1979), 436 (Croom Helm, £14.95).

Ian Carter, Farm Life in Northeast Scotland, 1840–1914: The Poor Man's Country (1979) xiv+258 (John Donald, Edinburgh, £12.50).

Shulamit Volkov, The Rise of Popular Antimodernism in Germany. The Urban Master Artisans 1873–1896 (1978), ix+399 (Princeton University Press, £16.80).

Stefan Collini, Liberalism and Sociology. L. T. Hobhouse and Political Argument in England 1880–1914 (1979), vii+281 (Cambridge University Press, £12.00).     

Parenting is genetically influenced: What does that mean for research into child and adolescent social development?

Individual differences in child and adolescent social development are due to a combination of variation in genetic propensity and environmental conditions. That is, variation in social domains like bullying-victimization, loneliness and pro- and antisocial behaviour is genetically influenced to a substantial extent. That is not to say that social contexts also do not play an important role in shaping social development. Indeed, parenting and parent–child relationship quality have been associated with various aspects of social development. What complicates matters is that environmental conditions – including parenting – are under genetic influence as well. Genetic influence on parenting has not received sufficient attention in the literature on social development although it likely biases estimates of parental effects on offspring social development. To change this situation, I review recent twin and molecular research on genetic influence on parenting and discuss why genetically-informed studies improve and enrich contemporary research into social development. The aim of this topic review is to provide an accessible introduction to genetics of parenting and encourage genetically-informed research into social development.     

Society without the social: the Spanish labour movement and the rise of the social, 1840–1880

Focusing on the Spanish case, this article addresses two fundamental questions: why were many unionized workers sceptical about state intervention in labour issues throughout the nineteenth century, and why did this attitude begin to change from the 1860s onwards? Its main thesis is that workers’ attitudes derived ultimately from different historical notions of ‘society’ that shaped their perceptions and experiences of labour relations and their attitude toward the role of the state. Thus, a notion of society as an aggregation of individuals shaped unionized Spanish workers’ hostility toward state intervention since the creation of the first unions in the 1840s. From the 1860s onward, a new conception of collective relations, namely ‘the social’, began to transform some workers’ expectations of the role of the state in labour conflicts. The main factor that explains this change, it is argued, lies in the relationship between the workers’ imaginary, their actions, and their expectations about these actions.     

Corruption, globalization and development: How are these three phenomena related?

This paper examines the existence of any relations between globalization and corruption using cross-section data for 127 countries. The estimation results indicate that, under the assumption of a linear model, a positive correlation between corruption and globalization exists, while when linearity is dropped there seems to be no significant effect of globalization on corruption. According to our analysis, linearity is a good approximation only for middle and high income countries. Hence, our main conclusion is that globalization is a powerful weapon against corruption only for middle and high income countries, while for low income countries globalization has no significant impact on corruption. For such countries fighting corruption requires additional global action aiming at the reduction of poverty.