Peeking into the past to plan the future: Assessing bird species richness in a neotropical city

Urbanization has been considered as a major threat to biodiversity, making its ecology of increasing interest. Many urban ecology studies have been developed in a short time-scale, measuring real-time patterns. However, long-term studies are imperative to understand the responses of some species to the urbanization process. In this study, we aimed to assess the information provided by a recent one-year citywide bird survey when compared to a published ‘historical’ bird list of a neotropical city (Xalapa, Mexico) that compiles information of the past three decades, mainly from urban greenspaces. Specifically, we contrasted species richness values and assessed differences in species composition between both lists. We recorded 51 species in the one-year citywide survey, representing ~15 % of those reported in the historical list. Nonetheless, the upper-bound confidence interval of the citywide survey richness prediction represented ~66 %. Most of the species recorded in the one-year citywide survey are insectivores and granivores, a pattern that agrees with previous findings that underline the importance of insectivores as part of urban bird communities in the Neotropics. Although we used robust methods to compare our one-year citywide bird list and the historical list for the city of Xalapa, we acknowledge the limitations of comparing them. However, our results shed some light on the kind and type of information that one-year citywide surveys can provide and the importance of long-term studies for comprehending the processes involved in biodiversity changes within urban areas over time. Undoubtedly, establishing long-term citywide surveys sampling birds and other biodiversity groups will allow us to better understand the response of biodiversity to urbanization over time.     

Autism self-advocacy in the Netherlands: past,present and future

This article presents the results of participatory research into the roles and practices of autistic self-advocates in the Netherlands, and the outcomes of their activities. The article discusses the history of Dutch autism self-advocacy, situating it within the history and practices of self-advocacy internationally and the socio-cultural context of the Netherlands. Particular reference is made to Judi Chamberlin’s model for building effective self-advocacy organisations. Key findings include the scope of significant achievements, and the identification of barriers to efficacy in the areas of governance, personal and organisational capacity, relationships with other organisations, and coalition-building. The research concludes by considering what practices could serve to build increased capacity and efficacy, based on the experiences of these and other self-advocates.     

大境门的过去与未来

大境门坐落在张家口市区北端,始建于清顺治元年(1644年).大境门位于高耸入云的东、西太平山之间,据长城之要隘,扼边关之锁钥,形势险要,历史上这一带是兵家必争之地,是扼守京都的北大门,连接边塞与内地的交通要道.大境门经历了数百年风雨的冲刷与岁月的洗礼,见证了张家口的历史巨变,印证了中国北方最大国际商埠的繁荣与辉煌,同时也是蒙汉两族人民交通和贸易关口,为发展蒙汉两族人民的友好关系,沟通内地与边塞贸易,发挥了重要作用.     

Paternal incarceration and the family: Fifteen years in review

Since the turn of the 21st Century, research has highlighted the use of the American criminal justice system as a forager of young, low‐income, low‐educated, men of color, but less is known about how these men exist within such realities and construct meaningful relationships in their families. Research in the early 2000s has focused on how paternal incarceration affects these men, their partners, and their children. However, there is limited research about how these men understand fatherhood and the mechanisms for how paternal incarceration disrupts relationships and exacerbates inequality in the larger family system. Highlighting the consequences to family and child well‐being, the incarceration literature is beginning to focus on the variational and complicated experiences that families cope with when a father is incarcerated. This paper reviews the literature since the early 2000s, tracing what is known about incarcerated fathers and consequences for their children and families. In doing so, this paper discusses both the evolution of the literature and how more research about family processes is needed to understand the dynamic experiences of families and caregivers who manage periods of confinement during the age of mass incarceration in America.     

The Disability Rights Movement in Japan: past, present and future

This paper introduces the history of the modern disability rights movement in Japan, which has been a driving force for change in social norms and policies, and for improving the lives of disabled persons and their families. It presents the traditional social norms and policies that resulted in the confinement of disabled people in their parents' homes and in institutions, a radical movement of people with cerebral palsy active in 1960-1980s, the emergence of the independent living movement in 1980s, and the current disability rights movement and its future challenges. This paper is based on a review of documents and on interviews conducted during the spring of 2000 in Japan with disability rights advocates and personnel working for centres for independent living.     

International migration in Western Europe: reflections on the past five years

Five significant developments have occurred since 1974 with regard to the European labor force: 1) growth of return migration; 2) adoption of a new ILO Convention and Recommendation on return migration; 3) the movement towards a New International Economic Order; 4) the holding of the World Employment Conference in 1976; and 5) growing support for the idea that countries of origin should be compensated for out-migration of its citizens. About 1.5-2 million migrant workers have returned to their country of origin since the early 1970's when about 6 million workers and dependents were in Western Europe. The inequity that pervades international economic relations in general and migration in particular stems from the unequal bargaining power of the partners and the absense of corrective international social policies. The developing countries' wish for a new economic order questions the distributional aspects of the old liberal order. While raw materials and trade are covered comprehensively, labor movement is neglected. The growing realization that migration is a resource drain has led many poor countries to request compensation.     

Selfobject functions of the family: Implications for family therapy

The application of Self-Psychology theory to family functioning adds to our models of understanding and intervention in family therapy. This article develops a theory of the family as a supraordinate selfobject and explores diverse clinical applications of the theory. The family as a selfobject matrix enhances the self development of the child by the provision of continuity through the maintenance of proximity over time, and by an enhanced quality and quantity of selfobject responsiveness for the individual. This application of Self Psychology theory has wide implications for family therapy with children in foster care, family therapy with elderly couples coping with dementia in one spouse, and family therapy as a component of treatment with suicidal adolescents.     

The ILO and the new UN convention on migrant workers: the past and future

Migrant workers are less protected than nationals against the actions of states and employers. These workers therefore require special global protection of their rights while employed in countries other than their own. Accordingly, the UN International Labor Organization (ILO) is constitutionally charged with developing international measures to protect the interests of migrant workers from developing countries. The ILO, however, had little involvement in molding the International Convention on the protection of the Rights of All Migrants Workers and Members of their Families, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1990. Instead, final adoption of the Convention stems largely from developing state dissatisfaction with the former 1975 ILO Migrant Workers Convention No. 143, and Mexican and Moroccan government machinations outside of the ILO in support of modifications. Convention No. 143 threatened to sever employment opportunities and hard foreign exchange remittances in North America and western Europe from illegally employed immigrant workers from developing countries. By working in the UN outside of the ILO, developing nations would enjoy automatic majority, and greater potential for success in reforming the Convention. Soon, developing nations squelched a delay tactic proffered by the Swedes, and succeeded in bringing the UN General Assembly to adopt resolution 34/172 in December 1979, which led to the establishment of an Open-Ended Working Group. This group then elaborated the 1990 Convention over 19 sessions. At the expense of the ILO and more developed nations, developing nations successfully challenged and changed the international order to benefit their peoples and national economies. Finally, the paper considers the interests of immigrant businesspeople and asylum seekers during or immediately upon entry to a foreign country, who are not specifically covered by the Convention. While the university of international humanitarian law suggests that businesspeople be included in the Convention, changes to the Convention will probably not be forthcoming. As for asylum seekers waiting for either refugee status or an interim-term engagement for work, the sensitive nature of this topic in certain countries precludes the adoption of inclusive documentation.     

Ethics and family therapy: the case management of family violence*

All family therapists, and especially Milan-style systemic therapists, have been trained to take a neutral stance regarding family issues, based on a circular causality model of family interaction. Therefore, when therapists deal with family violence, their ability to perceive individual responsibility for unethical behavior is weakened or suppressed. In fact, this ability is the primary tool in developing effective treatment planning in cases of family violence: The actively physically abusive man needs to be in individual and/or group therapy, not conjoint or family therapy. The ethical judgment of the therapist is what determines the limits of family therapy.