Participation in leisure activities by Arab adults with intellectual disabilities living in the community

Azaiza F, Rimmerman A, Croitoru T, Naon D. Participation in leisure activities by Arab adults with intellectual disabilities living in the community Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 97–103 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. The present research study examined factors affecting participation in leisure activities of Arab adults with intellectual disabilities living in the community, via the conceptual frame of the ICF (International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health). The research was based on a secondary analysis of data taken from a nationwide survey, thus being the first of its kind. The factors examined were bodily functions (health condition, physical functioning and cognitive functioning); activities (activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living); participation in employment; and the environmental factor of service utilisation (N= 153). The findings reveal interesting patterns regarding the roles of physical functioning and cognitive functioning in participation in leisure activities. These findings are discussed in relation to previous findings and cultural characteristics with reference to socio‐economic disparities.     

Leisure Education

This article presents the concept of using leisure time as a potential coping resource for family caregivers of impaired older persons, that could be facilitated through a leisure education program within a caregiver support group. Included is a review of literature relevant to stresses of caregivlng, barriers to caregivers' leisure involvement, and rationale for a leisure education program within a family caregiver support group. It is suggested that leisure education programs be based on the Peterson and Gunn leisure education model which consist of four components: leisure awareness, leisure activity skills, leisure resources, and social skills. Each component is considered in relation to caregivers' situations. Reasons for caregivers' resistance to intervention and outreach techniques are also discussed.     

“大学精神”的理性反思与大学教育目的的深度澄明——从现代性社会与现代公民的德性人格生成的角度

教育目的是一个国家教育的总目标,是一个国家的教育活动在实现各种具体教育目标时的终极性追求,它同时也是一种教育模式最基本的价值取向,是教育活动中的“哲学”,它体现着教育的理性。现代性社会需要具备公共性精神与优良人格品位的人,只有以此为基础,才能建立起现代性文明、健康、公正和合理的公民社会。但从中国目前的大学教育制度安排与教育实践来看,与这种要求显然存在较大差距。现代大学教育本质上是一种社会化了的公民教育,即“公众教育”,是指全社会都参与到新的理性与人文精神的学习、传播、创新和实践中来,其核心是对大学生的“公民意识”和“公民精神”的教育,使其具有公民的人格意识、责任意识、权利意识、义务意识、纳税人意识、规则意识,等等。     

‘More time for what?’ Exploring intersecting notions of gender,work, age and leisure time among people with cognitive disabilities

This article explores intersecting notions of leisure among middle‐aged people with intellectual disabilities in the setting of the Swedish welfare state. The participants are recipients of long‐term disability services and have experienced the changing ideological frameworks of the welfare effort, which has recently focused on normalisation, inclusion and participation. Structured activities are arranged by disability services in order to normalise living conditions and provide recreation for disabled people. However, the range of activities is constrained by financial resources, by notions of gender and age and by an institutionalised emphasis on the work ethic – leading to constructions of leisure partly as ‘time beside’ where ‘free time’ activities should not interfere with the duties of the working week. The participants' limited resources and their lack of a strong voice limit their ability to demand their legal rights and leave many of them with ‘too much time with too little to do’. Key Practitioner Message: ● A common idea of leisure is the relationship between social and physical activities, well‐being and health; ● People with disabilities, regardless of age, engage in fewer leisure activities than the general population due to a lack of resources; ● Even with legal rights, the lack of a strong voice as well as institutional constraints limit their leisure opportunities.     

Children's influence on household economic activity in Nigeria

This study estimates the effects of children's economic contributions on parents' allocation of time for income-earning activities, care of preschool children, non-income home production, and leisure activities in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Fathers spent 65% of work time, mothers 20%, and children 15% during the assessment of family time allocation and income contribution. Demographic factors affecting the parents' time for the children include age of parents, age and sex of children and the number of other people living in the household. Economic factors affecting parents' time allocation include education, house value, wealth, and combined income of parents. Major observations noted were the following: 1) children contribute non-negligible amounts of income and time to their families' income-earning activities; 2) they play important roles in non-income home production and child care activities; 3) their presence has a considerable influence on their parent's allocation of time; 4) children appear to stimulate fathers to work longer hours at the expense of leisure; 5) young children reduce mothers' time in income-earning activities and leisure time; 6) older male children substitute for mothers' shorter work time; 7) older female children substitute for mothers' lesser home production time; and 8) older children of both sexes appear to increase mothers' leisure time.     

Leisure Policy in France and the Reduction of Social Inequalities

In contemporary French society, despite extensive government intervention over the past half centuv, differential access to free time and to leisure facilities, together with differences in attitudes towards participation in cultural activities, remain good indicators of the social inequalities associated with gender, age, educational training, socio-occupational status and regional origins. Thejndings from recent government-sponsored national surueys and from other smaller scale empirical research highlight some of the most salient cultural inequalities persisting in leisure behaviour in France today. The evidence suggests that gender deferences, while still acting as one of the main discriminators in leisure behaviour, are most meaningful when considered in relation to age, correlated in turn with the level of educational attainment, family circumstances and socio-occupational status. A survey of the leisure policies pursued ly successive French governments in the post-war period demonstrates how the state has intervened increasingly with the overt objective of reducing social inequalities and breaking down the traditional cultural and economic barriers affecting access to leisure.     

民国时期北平高校教师的休闲文化

民国时期,作为新式知识分子重要组成部分的现代高校教师群体,其休闲文化展现出诸多特点:休闲生活悠然自得,休闲方式中西交融;休闲品味高雅,休闲时间自由;休闲活动中展现出强烈的社会责任感和精英意识;休闲过程实现了人际关系网络的巩固或重新建构。这些休闲文化特征具有深深的时代烙印,其形成原因,有民国社会各种制度的影响,也有文化资本和职业惯习的共同作用。     

北京市老年人休闲生活研究

本文基于对北京市老年人休闲生活的抽样调查数据,描绘了老年人日常休闲活动的日程安排;概述了老年人在体育、文娱兴趣、学习、公益及旅行游玩5大类休闲活动的参与情况;采用聚类分析的方法将老年人口及其休闲行为分成3个类别,并进行了类间比较;探讨了伴侣、子女及友人等在休闲和日常生活中的陪伴对老年人社会支持的提升以及对休闲生活品质的促进作用。     

Participation in social,leisure and informal learning activities among care leavers in England: positive outcomes for educational participation

Against a background of research and national statistics that consistently show that educational participation and achievement of young people in and leaving care is significantly lower than is the case for the non‐care population, previous research has shown the positive impact that social, leisure and informal learning activities can have on the educational participation and achievements of young people, and particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The UK: Care Matters Green Paper stated that involvement in leisure and social activities can have a positive impact on the self‐esteem of young people in and leaving care and upon their educational attainment and later success in the labour market. This paper reports on the English results of a cross‐national study of young people from a public care background and their pathways to education in Europe. Using case study examples it explores the impact that social, leisure and informal learning activities can have on educational participation and educational pathways of young people in and leaving care. The paper argues that, in view of these findings, encouraging and supporting young people in and leaving care into these types of activities should be a priority for social care professionals, carers and teachers.     

Social Participation and Family Welfare: The Money and Time Costs of Leisure in Australia

The concept of social exclusion has become a central organizing concept in social policy research. Indeed "social exclusion" has displaced many of the terms formerly in use, such as "inequality", "deprivation" and "poverty". Social exclusion is a multidimensional concept embracing economic, social and political deprivations, that alerts us to the significance of social identity, culture, agency and, ultimately, power relations. In contrast to some earlier research traditions, the perspective of social exclusion draws our attention to how people can be "shut out of society" by their inability to participate in customary leisure activities. The ability to participate in leisure is the product of both access to leisure goods and services, and a sufficient quantity of leisure time. An analysis of Australian Household Expenditure Survey data shows that the consumption of leisure goods and services is powerfully determined by income. Consequently, low income can lead to exclusion from leisure participation. However, analysis of Time Use Survey data also shows that access to time for leisure participation is most powerfully determined by hours of employment, family responsibilities and gender. After controlling for working hours, household income has no significant effect on available leisure time. A leisure-time poverty line, based on half-median leisure time, is used to show which groups are most excluded from leisure by time constraints. The paper concludes by considering a range of policies to alleviate social exclusion from leisure participation.     

Leisure for youth in residential care: an important context for intervention

Compared with non-institutionalized youth, adolescents under the protection of a social welfare agency have somewhat differing patterns of free-time activity. However, little is known about the contexts in which meaningful free time activity occurs. Data on this topic were collected from a sample of adolescents (n = 20) under the care of the Child Welfare Organization (Oslo, Norway) and a comparison group of non-institutionalized adolescents (n = 27) from neighboring schools. The Experience Sampling Method was used to collect data on 1220 situations sampled during after-school hours, with particular attention given to the nature of the activity, social group, and location. The dependent variable was the respondent's desire to do that activity more or less often. Compared to the reference group, adolescents in the youth protection group were significantly more likely to say they wanted more self-involving activities and found this type of engagement within the privacy of their institution rather than in public arenas. These results are discussed in relation to the potential for intervention to enhance the leisure opportunities of institutionalized youth.     

The implications of different ethnicity categorisation methods for understanding outcomes and developing policy in New Zealand

ABSTRACT

Identifying with more than one ethnicity is becoming increasingly common in New Zealand. It is therefore important that the methods of categorising ethnicity used by government agencies and researchers effectively account for diverse ethnic identities. The aim of this research was to assess the impact of using different methods of categorising ethnicity on understanding outcomes in New Zealand, using Census 2013 information about tobacco smoking among the population aged 15+ years as an illustration. Prioritised, total response and single/combination categorisation methods were compared. Prioritised and total response categorisation generally produced similar prevalence estimates and patterns for smoking status, although estimates diverged somewhat for Māori ethnic groups and to a lesser extent for Pacific Peoples and Asian ethnic groups. Single/combination categorisation indicated that combination ethnic groups tend to have smoking outcomes between those of the constituent groups. Categorisation method had a considerable impact on the size of some ethnic groups. Prioritised ethnicity categorisation may be inappropriate for use by government agencies and for policy-relevant research principally concerned with children, young people, Māori or Pacific Peoples. Single/combination categorisation is useful for understanding the associations between ethnicity and outcomes, however previous work suggests this method should be used with caution.     

论知识休闲的必然性

社会进步赋予公众更多的休闲时间,也赋予休闲更多的知识内涵,进步的社会观念推动公众选择高雅的休闲,因此,休闲活动的知识化是社会进步的必然要求。随着科学技术的发展,教育与其他知识活动都趋向休闲化,提供知识服务的公共场所,也越来越休闲化,而且必定在科技高度发达的未来社会里能够做到真正休闲化,因此,知识活动的休闲化是科技发展的必然结果。人类文明的发展方向是全社会成员都享有高度的自由,都能全面发展,并处于高度和谐的社会关系中,这需要通过知识休闲去实现。知识休闲必将成为全社会都享有的生活形态,知识休闲的社会化是人类文明发展的必然方向。     

老年休闲与居家养老——以上海市某社区老年人休闲为例

截至2008年底,中国60岁以上老年人口近1,6亿,占总人口的12％。迅速到来的老龄化让整个社会聚焦养老问题,通过多年的摸索、试验、论证,各界大多认为社区居家养老是应对人口老龄化挑战的重要方式。老人退休后基本处于休闲状态,那么老年人的休闲活动与居家养老有无内在关系,是否会影响居家养老模式的推行呢？鉴于此,作者通过对老年人日常休闲的调查研究,试图揭示它与社区养老的内在逻辑,并就如何提高老年人的生活质量和顺利推进居家养老模式提出相应的对策。     

Addressing Ethnicity in Social Care Research

This article surveys recent developments in relation to the dimensions of ethnicity and ethnic disadvantage in social policy research and practice, with a focus on social care. While there has been limited increase in attention to ethnicity within general policy discussion and increasing sophistication within specialist debates, advances in theory and methodology have largely failed to penetrate the research mainstream, let alone policy or practice. This is a long‐standing problem. We advocate more focused consideration of ethnicity and ethnic disadvantage at all levels. Failure to do so creates the risk of social policy research being left behind in understanding rapid changes in ethnic minority demographics and patterns of migration, with increasing disadvantage to minorities.     

城市随迁老人的精神生活与社区融入

随迁老人是指与进城子女一起生活而户籍在农村的老年群体。本文在实地调查的基础上,从闲暇时间利用、社区活动参与、社区情感和心理认同等方面描述老人的精神生活状况,发现该群体精神生活单调、很少参与社区活动、对城市社区的认同度低。要改善随迁老人的精神生活,必须通过社区融入的方法,组织多样化的社区活动,扩大老年人社会交往的范围,帮助他们重新构建一个新的社交网络,从而改善他们的精神生活状态。     

Daily moods,health routines and recovery among employees working in the retail and services sector: A diary study

This study examined the quality and fluctuation of daily moods as well as health routines and means of recovery from work strain among employees (n = 38) working nonstandard, often unpredictable schedules in the retail and services sector in Finland. Data were collected via a background questionnaire and a one-week mobile diary. The results indicated that the daily moods of employees were relatively positive but varied greatly from day to day. Hectic working days, unpredictable changes in work schedules, and compounded responsibilities at home and work were reported as causes of daily strain stemming from work. In contrast, more sleep and exercise were positively associated with daily mood and, therefore, are likely to enhance recovery from work related strain. Additional activities employees reported as useful in recovering from work strain included low-effort leisure activities along with social activities with family and friends, as well as mastery experiences stemming from successful work experiences.     

The Fighting Behavior of Asian–Pacific Males in Guam: Do High School Extracurricular Activities Matter?

Objective . We predicted that the social integrative effects resulting from participation in high school extracurricular activities would reduce the physical fighting behavior of Asian–Pacific males in Guam, a population that is known for excessively high levels of physical fighting. Methods . Using ordinary least squares multiple regression analysis we tested the hypothesis with a probability sample of Guam's Asian–Pacific high school students. Results . Controlling for age, ethnicity, gender, and a number of risk and protective factors, males who participated in extracurricular activities were found to be less likely than others to participate in physical fighting, and extracurricular activities buffered the effects of males' participation in physical fights. Conclusions . Males who participate in extracurricular activities are integrated into their school environment such that they are less likely to report participation in physical fights. The implications of our findings for theory and future research are discussed.     

Formal Alternative Transportation Options for Older Adults: An Assessment of Need

ABSTRACT

This study measured the need for formal alternative modes of transportation among older adults by applying traditional factors of the Behavioral Model. Survey participants who regularly drove were compared to those who could no longer drive. Race/ethnicity and self-reported health were significant predictors of perceived need for transportation services for both groups. However, income and service awareness were significant predictors only for drivers, while family proximity was a significant predictor only for non-drivers. Results suggest the importance of gaining a better understanding of the factors associated with need for senior-focused transportation services to more effectively plan such programs.     

Children's Gender- and Ethnicity-based Reasoning about Foods

This article reports two studies that investigated the ways in which children use gender and ethnicity for making judgments about food choice. In Study 1, White and Asian 5- to 10-year-olds (M  =  7.37) were asked to rate how much they and others would like novel non-stereotyped foods. White children inferred that girls and White others would like the foods more than boys and Asian others would. An 'ethnocentric' pattern was found where children inferred that ethnic in-group others' food-liking would be more similar to their own compared with ethnic out-group others. These patterns were replicated with adults. In Study 2, a larger range of foods was used to assess White, Black, and Asian 3- to 8-year-olds (M  =  5.63), followed by gender and ethnic categorization and constancy tasks. Children from five to six years used ethnicity-based reasoning, which was influenced by their ability to categorize themselves and others by ethnicity. The role of social categories in food choice is discussed in the light of theories and research in category-based reasoning.