F.A.D.E. A.W.A.Y.-The Financial Affairs of Dementing Elders and Who Is the Attorney?

The financial affairs of twenty-five community dwelling elders with dementia who had lost financial competence were studied by a semi-structured interview with the main carer. Many elders had no access to their own money. Inappropriate management was revealed in twenty-four cases although professionals had been consulted previously in most instances. Legal advice was sought in six cases and resulted in four procedures which were rendered invalid by confusion. In six cases pensions were collected by local authority employees without appropriate authority. Most financial institutions when contacted had no written policy for controlling the resources of those who have lost financial competence.     

Metacommunications. A missed opportunity?

1. The process of communication is a multilevel phenomenon. Certain levels may be transparent or hidden. 2. Human communication dictates that people not only communicate, but also that they communicate about their communication. In essence, humans metacommunicate. 3. "Meta" instructions provided by the patient are interpreted by the therapist during therapeutic discourse. These interpretations allow the therapist to shape the relationship with the patient. 4. A complementary interactional communication approach allows the patient and therapist to maximize their inequalities to the therapeutic benefit of the patient.     

A Tibetan Woman Has Conquered Mt. Qumolangma

KUN Sang, which means "perfect" in Tibetan, is the name of an ordinary Tibetan woman. Obviously, it contains her parents' wishes for her. Kun Sang, the heroine of this article, is a mountaineer and conqueror of the highest peak of the world.     

A Review of: “Exploring Black Sexuality. By Robert Staples.”

Higgins, Trussell, Moore, and Davidson (2010) expand our understanding of sexual satisfaction by showing that first vaginal sex is more likely to be psychologically than physically satisfying and by revealing differences between women and men and similarities between African Americans and Whites. Their analyses highlight the need for further theory-building, explicating the dynamics of change over time, integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches, and articulating implications for public policy. These are crucial steps toward developing a social science of sexual satisfaction. More research that focuses on positive aspects of sexuality, such as satisfaction, should be encouraged.     

German agri-environmental schemes — I. A preliminary review

This paper gives a preliminary review of German agri-environmental schemes (including the new Länder). The focus is less on participation rates for individual schemes, but on the analysis of how Germany and the individual Länder are interpreting EU environmental directives. The number, type and specific regulations of schemes offered in each of the German states is discussed, and the German situation is compared with the wider European setting. In contrast to the majority of EU countries, environmental policy for the German countryside is dominated by regionally based programmes, suggesting the operation of the ‘regional filter’ for agri-environmental schemes. The Länder have a significant role to play in the development, financing and administration of agri-environmental schemes.     

Cultural constraints on rising income inequality: A U.S.–Japan comparison

Prior research has identified fundamental cultural and normative concepts—including wa, enryo, giri, and amae—that are typically argued to be integral to Japanese society. We advance this line of research by discussing how these traditional cultural concepts may influence labor market relations and thereby constrain the degree of income inequality in Japan relative to the U.S. Collectivist cultural attitudes are embedded in Japanese work organization, and are naturally inherited social constraints when compared to more unbridled labor market relations of the “New Economy” in the U.S. While studies of rising inequality in the U.S. and Europe consider how governmental policies impinge upon market forces in order to moderate labor market outcomes, our analysis suggests how culture may sometimes directly constrain income inequality without imposing legal regulations or instituting official programs.     

A. S. Serafimovich’s Forgotten Novel,City in the Steppe (1912)

La plupart des écrits prérévolutionnaires de A. S. Serafimovich se trouve reléguée à l’ombre par la popularité en Union Soviétique de son roman "classique" Torrent de fer, 1924. Son premier et son plus long roman, Ville dans la Steppe, 1912, est l’une de ses oeuvres les plus achevées; une synthèse tragique et pittoresque de ces forces lointaines et sourdes concrétisées par le régime capitaliste en Russie à la fin du 19ème siècle. Cet article souligne surtout le dépouillement du monde intérieur des personnages principaux du roman – Zakharka et Polynov – que l’écrivain accomplit magistralement avec de l’acuité psychologique et une imagination puissante. Les destins de ces deux hommes opposés s’entrecroisent d’une façon qui ressemble les coups dans une partie d’échecs. Par une antithèse saisissante, Serafimovitch dévoile l’état de ces deux âmes destinées à être détruites parmi les bestialités d’un milieu capitaliste. L’auteur met en jeu ses ressorts psychologiques pour rendre les personnages secondaires et épisodiques également émouvants et mémorables. On trouve dans la caractérisation des faiblesses, des banalités, un certain pessimisme, parfois des exagérations, mais le tout est compensé par les analyses originales et inquiétantes dont l’auteur empreint toutes ses images. Riche en péripéties, sans être confus, le développement des faits dans le roman a une certaine valeur socio-historique.     

Transcending Borders,Bridging Gaps: Opening a Dialogue Between the U. S. A. and Italy’s Migration Turn

ABSTRACT

This essay discusses recent theoretical engagements in the fields of migration and postcolonial studies in Italy by examining their contribution to American and transatlantic studies. It focuses on cultural critiques and manifestations which seek an interrogation or revitalization of Italy’s cultural identity. The analysis draws on the many links between past and present, a confrontation of the histories of migration from and to the country. For instance, the Italian/American influence is remarkable on transforming views of Italian identity, particularly regarding (im)migration. The objective of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, it examines how artistic productions compel the Italian society to come to terms with the past. This phenomenon attests to a unique social and cultural transition in Italy, and represents a breeding research ground within Italian studies and the Anglo-dominated area of postcolonial and diaspora studies. On the other hand, the essay investigates how these changes enhance to the role of transatlantic migrations. In doing so, the significance of such cultural productions is framed within ongoing epistemological and scholarly endeavours. This is exemplified by the abundant number of publications, seminars, conferences and new curricula challenging, as well as advancing, contemporary debates on migration, multiculturalism, identity (Italian-ness) and memory.     

Neoliberalism as a real utopia? Karl Polanyi and the theoretical practice of F. A. Hayek

ABSTRACT

This article interprets Hayek’s theoretical practice with the help of Polanyi’s framework. Hayek aimed at renewing liberalism after the interwar period, thus helping transforming it into neoliberalism, a real utopia instrumentally concerned with the political and moral economies underpinning markets. The distance between neoliberal theory and practice is less pronounced than it is sometimes assumed. The strength of neoliberalism partially stems from a capacity to articulate an effort to think about real-world mechanisms with an effort to demolish, reconfigure or transform existing structures. Despite his failure to anticipate neoliberalism, Polanyi gives ample intellectual resources to critically interpret the tasks that neoliberals would collectively have to face at the theoretical level, in an epoch of ideological marginality, before their triumphal political deployment at the global level.     

Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Special Education … and Were Afraid to Ask (I.D.E.A.)

Abstract

Social workers who work with families and children are often unaware of the legal protections afforded to educational experiences for children, particularly to children with disabilities. Yet, all social workers, regardless of their practice setting, should be aware of the important educational rights to which children with disabilities and their families are entitled, as codified in the original legislation, P.L. 94–142, and its subsequent revisions. This legislation is currently entitled the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,” or the “I.D.E.A.” Provisions included in the I.D.E.A. are covered with which all states that receive federal educational funding are mandated to comply. Reviewed are the 13 “disabling conditions” that allow for students to qualify to receive special educational services, as long as one of the conditions is adversely impacting their educational success. It concludes with recommendations for social work advocacy regarding this legislation.     

A Fitting “Social Model”: Culturally Locating Telemadre.Com

Telemadre.com is a website that represents what its producers call a “social model,” by which, for a fee, unemployed mothers cook meals for young professionals who do not have time to cook for themselves. In this paper we analyze this “social model” as a mediated relationship that is related to existing strands of contemporary Spanish culture and society. Drawing from existing ethnographic research and an analysis of the website itself we suggest the success of telemadre.com lies in (1) the ambiguous line it draws between (fictive) kinship and economic transaction; (2) its cultural embeddedness in diverse contemporary and traditional Spanish understandings of gender roles, expertise and knowledge; and (3) the mediated nature of the social relationships it entails.