Service Learning and Developmental Education: The Need for an Applied Theory of Role-Taking and Reflection

This article examines service learning through the lens of cognitive-developmental psychology and developmental education. Recent interest in service learning as a means of encouraging further learning and growth is commendable; however, the goals need to be linked to relevant research and theory. Such theory is lacking. The theories of Kohlberg, Hunt, and Loevinger, as well as recent research on social role-taking and guided reflection interventions are reviewed. The goal is to build a developmentally based theory of service learning that provides conditions (e.g., action, reflection, balance, support and challenge, continuity) to promote guiding programs and to explain how persons construct meaning as they engage in problem solving and reflection on complex new roles and encounter social-ethical issues. Implications for practitioners and future research are discussed.     

A Developmental Approach to Recognition of Prior Learning in Social Work Field Education

This paper comments on the policy issue of recognition of prior learning (RPL) in social work education. Contrasting approaches to RPL are explored through a case study of Charles Sturt University’s experiences with RPL in its professional entry social work programs. RPL for field education in Australian social work education has been a contested issue within the profession and for social work education providers since its introduction in 2008. Notwithstanding the Australian Association of Social Workers’ credentialist approach to RPL, Charles Sturt University’s experience is that a developmental approach is preferable and can be a transformative professional education strategy.     

Acquisition of Nonadjacent Phonological Dependencies in the Native Language During the First Year of Life

Languages instantiate many different kinds of dependencies, some holding between adjacent elements and others holding between nonadjacent elements. In the domain of phonology–phonotactics, sensitivity to adjacent dependencies has been found to appear between 6 and 10 months. However, no study has directly established the emergence of sensitivity to nonadjacent phonological dependencies in the native language. The present study focuses on the emergence of a perceptual Labial‐Coronal (LC) bias, a dependency involving two nonadjacent consonants. First, Experiment 1 shows that a preference for monosyllabic consonant‐vowel‐consonant LC words over CL (Coronal‐Labial) words emerges between 7 and 10 months in French‐learning infants. Second, two experiments, presenting only the first or last two phonemes of the original stimuli, establish that the LC bias at 10 months cannot be explained by adjacent dependencies or by a preference for more frequent coronal consonants ( Experiment 2a & b ). At 7 months, by contrast, infants appear to react to the higher frequency of coronal consonants ( Experiment 3a & b ). The present study thus demonstrates that infants become sensitive to nonadjacent phonological dependencies between 7 and 10 months. It further establishes a change between these two ages from sensitivity to local properties to nonadjacent dependencies in the phonological domain.     

“上下分合轨迹”:社区空间的生产——关于南苑肿瘤医院的抗争故事

本文聚焦于南苑①围绕广安肿瘤医院的抗争故事,将该事件置于城市空间重构与生产的结构性情境下,分析社区空间的生产机制。文章指出,自上而下的空间规划权力在执行过程中隐蔽在市场化的话语体系下,以程序合法性及产权的话语获得垄断地位;而自下而上的抗争以规则、权利等意识为主导,通过间隙运用的策略生产出社会空间,但最终服从于空间的霸权体系。作者分析了空间霸权的战略、空间抗争的战术特点,以及上下分合轨迹,将其统合成为社区空间的生产过程。笔者认为,社区空间应该趋向对社会主义空间的生产,才能更好地实现空间正义。     

农村最低生活保障的福利依赖及防范研究——以重庆市涪陵区、湖北恩施市屯堡乡为例

对重庆市涪陵区、湖北恩施市屯堡乡的部分村落进行实地调查结果表明:当前农村最低生活保障的福利依赖问题是存在的。有效降低福利依赖的策略是:要改进最低生活保障制度中的差额补助方式,激励低保对象就业;加大对隐性收入的监督和惩处力度,制定法规等措施促使受益人寻找工作;将最低生活保障与扶贫开发结合,构建两者组成的致富通道;实施国家补贴和个人投资相结合的资产建设政策,促进个人资产的长期积累,以摆脱最低生活保障依赖。     

The Developmental Perspective in Social Work

The developmental perspective is attracting more attention today as conventional residual and institutional approaches to social welfare lose appeal. This article explains the need to adopt a developmental perspective, traces its history, describes its key features, and outlines implications for social work education with reference to the educational needs of a new century.     

The Sandwich Generation: Dependency, Proximity, and Task Assistance Needs of Parents

This study was designed to determine the extent of sandwiched families and the impact of dependency and proximity to task assistance provided to parent(s). Data were collected in Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Michigan from a random sample of 40–65-year-old respondents. Fifteen percent are sandwiched between needs of aging parents and financially dependent children. Respondents are much more likely to be providing assistance to mothers than fathers. Parents are most likely to live near, but not necessarily with, the respondent. Spouses and partners' parents, however, are likely to live farther away. Task assistance provided most often to aging parent(s) includes help with transportation and shopping; financial assistance was reported least often. Income of respondent and dependency and proximity of parents are significantly related to providing assistance to parents. This study offers a unique glimpse at the relationships between personal characteristics, dependency, proximity, and task assistance issues as they pertain to the sandwich generation.     

Investigating the Task Dependency of Viewing Time Effects

The viewing time method (VT) is an indirect measure of sexual interest in which participants are usually asked to rate the sexual attractiveness of target stimuli while their response latencies are unobtrusively measured. Higher response latencies for a certain group of depicted individuals indicate sexual interest in that group. Contrary to the general assumption that the picture content accounts for this effect by eliciting affect- or attention-based response delays, we hypothesized that the attractiveness rating task might be responsible for the VT effect. To test this hypothesis, we used two different tasks. Our heterosexual and homosexual male participants (N = 50) were instructed to rate the attractiveness or the sex of the depicted individuals. As expected, VT effects only emerged in attractiveness rating trials. Based on these findings, we conclude that VT effects are task dependent and are unlikely to be caused by affective or attentional processes (at least when participants are instructed to rate the attractiveness of target stimuli). We argue that rating tasks in VT measures cause participants to use affect independent response strategies. These response strategies seem to undermine stimulus-driven processes (like increased attention directed toward salient stimuli) which were thought to cause VT effects according to previous hypotheses.     

Strategic Management and Change in High Dependency Environments: The Case of a Philanthropic Organization

On the basis of a detailed, in-depth study of the operations and strategic decision-making of Centraide, a charitable organization in Greater Montreal, this paper suggests that dependency on the environment can be a stimulus to organizational adaptation. Two major changes over a 10-year period are studied to show that strategic management in high dependency situations requires a continual attention to the organization's relationships and interactions with the forces in its environment, and a continuous management of the process by which change takes place. The basic position advanced is that: strategy in philanthropic organizations is more effective in ensuring survival and growth when the search for autonomy is seen as irrelevant and when dependence is seen as an unavoidable fact that should shape behavior. A set of propositions helps conceptualize the findings and is offered as a guide for further research.     

The Debate Over Dependency as a Relavant Predisposing Factor in Elder Abuse and Neglect

Current research on elder abuse and neglect is replete with conflicting findings about dependency as a risk factor for elder mistreatment. This article reports on some of the varying ideas about the meaning of dependency using different methods and producing seemingly contradictory results. Four additional perspectives on the issue are provded by guest commentators.     

Socialism and Dependency in Parsons' Theory of Evolution*

According to Parsons' theory of evolution, socialist (communist) societies deviate from the progressive line of evolutionary development. But Parsons' empirical analyses indicate that socialist societies exhibit many of the features which, according to his theory, are supposed to characterize societies at the apex of evolutionary development. An endeavor to elicit from Parsons' works plausible solutions to this contradiction fails. Juxtaposing Parsons' treatment of the relationships between the developed and the underdeveloped societies to that of the imperialism-dependency theory it is found that the assumptions, propositions, and interpretations of the two are incompatible, or even diametrically opposed to each other. Moreover, Parsons completely disregards the rich theoretical and empirical research emanating from the school of imperialism-dependency. It is concluded that Parsons' theory of evolution can explain neither the socialist path, of development, nor can it address the issue of change of underdeveloped countries within the context of the contemporary world system.     

Utilization of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Services:

No abstract available for this article.     

中国城市化发展道路及其新趋势

本文通过对我国城市化历程的回顾,分析了我国城市化发展的历史阶段及其特点。在分析我国城市化存在的重大问题的基础上,提出未来城市化发展的新特点、新趋势是发展以中心城市为核心,带动周边中小城市发展为主的模式,指出该发展模式的特点、意义及其政策建议。     

The Developmental Course of Habituation in Infancy and Preschool Outcome

A longitudinal sample of 226 infants were tested monthly on habituation and novelty preference tasks, augmented with simultaneous heart rate recording from 3 to 9 months of age. Infants were then administered the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (BSID) and MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (MCDI) at 12, 18, and 24 months. Prior findings regarding the decline in look duration with age were replicated. Age‐based factors were extracted from the monthly assessments, an early attention factor from 3 to 6 months and a late attention factor from 7 to 9 months. A novelty preference factor, which grouped recognition performance at 4 and 6 months of age, was also derived. The late attention factor correlated negatively with a factor score derived from the BSID mental index, and the novelty preference aggregate was correlated positively with a factor score derived from the MCDI production scores. Two clusters of infants were derived based on the developmental course of change from the early attention to late attention look duration aggregates: One cluster (n= 150) decreased strongly, and another (n= 50) increased. Infants belonging to these clusters subsequently differed on both the BSID and MCDI outcomes, with the former cluster showing distinct advantages that increased as the outcome assessments progressed from 12 to 24 months of age. This finding was bolstered by subsequent analyses of data from infants who completed all tests run from 3 to 9 months. The results of this study suggest that the developmental course of attention during infancy is an important clue to cognitive and language outcomes in early childhood.     

The Emergence of the Emotional Self: A Developmental Theory

G.H. Mead (1934) offers a set of stages of development which describes how infants transform into mindful and self-reflexive social beings through social interaction. He does not, however, provide any parallel set of stages in the development of emotionality. This paper attempts to extend Mead's model by specifying seven stages in emotional development which are interdependent with Mead's stages of development of mind and self. These stages specify how individuals learn to share emotions with others, and learn to identify and interpret their own and others' emotional selves. Fundamental to this analysis is that self development and emotional development are inextricably linked. A framework is offered for the analysis of emotions that (1) recognizes emotions as processual; (2) notes the hierarchial relations among emotions; and (3) presumes that cognition and emotion are not mutually exclusive. The framework illustrates its utility by answering the question, “How does an infant transform from a being who experiences sensations into a being who experiences emotions?”