Changing society's DNA codes: Democracy and the global movement for community progress measures

This paper examines some critical issues and opportunities for democracy and public policy posed by the growth of the global progress measurement movement. From the democratic perspective, these include: citizen progress measurement as a form of democratic re‐engagement; the re‐examination of democracy and the development of new indicators to define and measure a ‘healthy’ democracy; and the demonstration of clear linkages between healthy regimes, and broader individual and societal wellbeing. In public policy, the global movement challenges two long dominant assumptions: the primacy of continuous economic growth as the key driver of wellbeing; and the ‘inevitability of progress‘. In their place, it offers a more holistic, integrated and nuanced model that recognises the interdependence of economic, social, cultural, environmental and democratic dimensions for genuine wellbeing, progress and sustainability. The paper reviews work in Australia over the past decade at both local community and national levels as examples of these trends, including the development of citizen‐engaged community planning and neighbourhood renewal schemes in which progress and wellbeing indicators play a central role; the development of state‐wide local progress measurement frameworks as part of a commitment to devolved planning and stronger local democracy; and the evolution of national progress measurement systems. The paper concludes with a proposal for a broad community engaged National Development Index (NDI) for Australia.     

驻区单位与和谐社区建设

推进驻区单位参与社区建设是新时期社区建设与发展重要的内容。驻区单位与社区具有天然的依赖关系,驻区单位在参与社区建设方面也具有独特的优势,但目前两者之间的关系并不够和谐,主要原因有四个方面:一是社区的作用被忽视;二是驻区单位延续着传统的工作方式;三是驻区单位的功利取向;四是双方在资源上不对等性。新时期推进和谐社区建设需要寻找社区与驻区单位合作的新途径。     

Learning Lessons from the Past or Re-Visiting Old Mistakes: Social Work and Community Development in Northern Ireland

Correspondence to Dr Deirdre Heenan, School of Policy Studies, University of Ulster, Magee Campus, Londonderry BT48 7JL, UK. E-mail: DA.Heenan{at}ulster.ac.uk Summary In recent years there has been a re-emphasis on community developmentapproaches in health and social work in Northern Ireland. Underpinningthese approaches is the belief that local communities can beorganized to address health and social needs and to work withgovernment agencies, voluntary bodies and local authoritiesin delivering services and local solutions to problems. Thesemethods of working challenge the traditional social work focuson individual and family casework interventions. Governmentin Northern Ireland has stressed that community developmentshould no longer simply be an afterthought in key aspects ofHealth and Social Services, but should instead be at the coreof their work. It is now officially recognized that communitydevelopment has the potential to make a significant impact ona broad spectrum of policies and programmes, which are deliveredthrough agencies in both the statutory and voluntary sectors.This commitment to community development has been outlined ina number of key documents and reports. This paper assesses therelationship between social work and community development inNorthern Ireland. The first section looks briefly at the historyof community development and social work and then sets out thecontext in which this move towards the promotion of a communitysocial work approach is occurring. Against this backdrop, acase study of a Family Support Team, which provides a rangeof services in a community setting, is used to illustrate howthe strategy has already been adopted and the lessons of thisexperience are explored and discussed. It is concluded thatwhile this approach has a lot to offer it is not without itsdifficulties. Far from being a new philosophy, community developmentis being reinvented and reapplied. It is therefore crucial thatold mistakes are not revisited and old prejudices rekindled.It is hoped that this article will provide a useful contributionto the current important and necessary debate.     

Social capital and children's wellbeing: a critical synthesis of the international social capital literature

Drawing on social capital literature from the international realm, this article presents a critical synthesis of this social resource in relation to children's and youth's wellbeing. Although considerable evidence indicates that social capital can have a positive impact on future outcomes for children and youth, no prior comprehensive review exists of the literature on social capital and children's wellbeing. Adopting the systematic review method (SR), the author explores how social capital has been conceptualised and operationalised as an explanatory variable in research on individual and collective wellbeing with children and youth. Oft-cited indicators of family social capital and community social capital are identified, together with common control variables, such as human and financial capital. The author concludes by examining several social capital trends in relation to children's wellbeing and offering recommendations for future research using a social capital theoretical framework to explore additional outcomes related to children's and youth's wellbeing.     

An alternative measure of social wellbeing: analysing the key conceptual and statistical components of quality of life

Statisticians, policy makers and social researchers widely accept that there is a need to consider a more nuanced range of measures of quality of life that move beyond the economic domain and that take into account key aspects of an individual's life circumstances. Using data from an Australian household survey, a composite Wellbeing Index was created that covered objective circumstances, with known associations to wellbeing, evaluated from the individual's subjective viewpoint. The robustness of the measure comes from the fact that while covering a broad range of key dimensions, the index only includes the items deemed important components of wellbeing by a majority of respondents. The index was then used to explore the extent to which wellbeing is associated with other dimensions of quality of life that have currency in the contemporary literature. The study contributes to the contemporary debate on social wellbeing and adds new Australian evidence to a body of research that has been mainly based on European and American data.     

社区公共服务设施规划建设研究——以北京市为例

本文以社区公共服务设施为研究对象,结合北京市的案例,通过规划指标对比和现状剖析的方式,分析北京市社区公共服务设施规划指标和实际规划建设中的不足,从明确项目、统筹规划、完善机制等方面提出加强社区公共服务设施规划建设的建议。     

Learning from the experience of parents in poverty: The power of recognition

This study aims to contribute to the literature exploring the parents' perspective on what parenting in poverty means in their everyday life and how they are able to cope with the challenges that arise from a condition of economic deprivation. Forty parents living in different Italian regions had been interviewed. Data gathering and data analysis were conducted as a simultaneous and iterative process, oriented by the constructivist grounded theory. Our findings provide a clear picture of the parents' constant struggle to protect their children from an environment in which structural conditions and dominant narratives lead to normalize and personalize disadvantages. Parents described enabling and disabling processes that interplay at a material, relational and symbolic level, influencing their movement along a continuum that depicts different experiences in different moments of their lives, as the output of processes where vulnerabilities and strengths are combined. The parents' knowledge helps to explain the wider social processes and the day-to-day social interactions that influence the flow along this continuum. The final purpose is to allow their voices to be heard and to learn from their perspective, as it is essential in designing policies and services that are supposed to help them.     

国家基层策略行为与社区过程: 基于南苑业主自治的社区故事

在转型的社区情境中,国家基层政府的行为是策略性的,社区居民亦陷入了权变的回应过程。文章聚焦于20世纪80年代以来政府行为的不同阶段,从中观的社区形态考察基层政府的不同策略和社区过程。政府干预、释出和旁观调控三种不同类型的行为反映了政府对于社区的态度,社区层次和事件性质是基层政府策略行为的关键自变量。文章运用拓展性个案研究方法,分析了国家在社区的基层策略,以及转型期社区的生成和发展,基层政府行为与社区回应的不同逻辑是社区治理困境的重要根源。     

中日都市社区教育比较研究:以上海静安寺街道社区学校和大阪大开市民终身学习室为例

在中国改革开放和社会转型过程中，具有现代特征的社区教育在上海崛起并迅速发展，受到学界的关注。本文以非西方后起社会现代化背景下的都市社区学校（上海市静安区静安寺街道社区学校和大阪市福岛区大开市民终身学习室）为个案，以跨国比较研究的视角，通过对都市社区学校（学习室）中的管理者、施教者和学习者进行访谈，对社区学校（学习室）的组织运作形式、教学活动特点，以及产生的社会成效等问题进行实证考察和比较分析，阐述社区教育对个体社会化、社区发展的功能，总结提炼大阪市社会教育的理念和成熟经验，提出社区教育比较研究后的启示。     

城市社区建设中政府与非政府组织互动关系的建立和演变对华爱社和尚思社区中心的个案研究

中国城市社区建设自上世纪90年代初起发展至今已有十多年的历史,在这个历程中,城市社区建设不仅与社会结构转型、管理体制转轨、社会组织功能分化和重新定位的社会演进密切联系,而且与民众主体意识的逐渐萌芽和民间组织自治化趋向不断增强的社会现实相互促进(朱健刚,1999;王思斌,2001)。因此,社区建设及其未来走向是一个值得关注的话题。一、引言1949年以后的中国社会结构是以国家权力的不断强化为其主要特征的(路风,1989;孙立平、王汉生,1994)。1954年通过《城市街道办事处组织条例》,开始逐渐健全由市、区、街道和居委会组成的城市行政管…     

政社分工与合作：中国社区建设体制改革创新的根本要件

在计划经济时代,中国并不存在现代意义上的社区。市场经济体制的确立和单位制社会的解体,是中国社区建设得以开展的深刻背景。现行的社区建设体制,本质上属于政府的城市行政管理体制,是政府内部的行政权力与职能重新分配的结果,并未改变“政社不分”的传统社会体制的结构性缺陷。在构建和谐社会的新阶段,该体制已难以承担社区的社会发展、社会民主、社会治理与社会服务的制度角色。社区建设体制改革与创新的必由之路在于,切实转变政府的社会职能,积极培育民间社会组织,建立现代公共财政体系,努力构建政府与社会的分工合作体制。     

中国城市社区选举的想象：从功能阐释到过程分析

一、引言 进入20世纪90年代,随着传统意义上的单位制度的解体,以及与 市场经济发展相伴而来的城市社会变迁,中国城市的观察者们开始把 着眼点从宏大的国家与社会的关系微缩到一个更为基本的问题意识中 去,亦即"公共领域、城市空间和市民生活的生长"(Davis et al.,     

城市社区民主建设与制度性约束上海市居委会改革个案研究

一、导论在当今,如何在基层社会实现良性治理或“善治”1是各国都在探索的共同课题。对中国而言,尽快在城市基层建立良好的治理秩序更是国家面临的一个紧迫任务。城市是中国现代化建设的中心。随着近年来经济体制改革的深化,国家原先赖以整合城市基层社会的“单位制”模式的控制功能逐步弱化。在此背景下,国家对城市基层实行管理的重心开始由单位移向街区———市民居住区。因为民主是实现“善治”的手段和保证,新形势下的基层治理要求实现社区民主化,使得普通市民有权参与社区公共事务管理,从而在基层社会实现市民与国家、市场的良性互动和…     

The politics of community arts: quilting the power and identity of women

This article attempts to articulate and re-validate the unique social contributions of marginalized and working women to their communities and to society-at-large, contributions which tend to be obscured if not forgotten, given the global dynamics of exclusion as they are at work in the capitalist society of Hong Kong. It looks at how a group of disenfranchised women workers renegotiate their identity, reclaim their dignity and regenerate social power through a community arts project ‘Quilting the Power and Identity’; that is, how through these creative but powerful actions, their transformation from a transient state of imposed victimhood into active agency could be made possible.     

Community Development, Partnership Governance and Dilemmas of Professionalization: Profiling and Assessing the Case of Ireland

Over the last two decades, Ireland has emerged as a paradigmaticcase of partnership governance. Underpinned by state-facilitatednational agreements that sought to maximize economic and socialdevelopment, ‘partnership’ was also held to includethe development of progressive social policies. The ‘communityand voluntary sector’ has been both the site and purportedvehicle for these progressive policies. In this context, communitydevelopment emerged as a discourse of social action that wasboth popular with what Donnelly-Cox and Jaffro (1999) have inthe Irish context called ‘second generation communitydevelopment’, i.e. the emergence of self-activated localcommunity groups informed by a social justice ethos, and tothe Irish state as a route to social inclusion for an arrayof marginalized social groups. Since the early 1990s, thesegroups have been the recipients of significantly increased statefunding. This resource has had a dramatic effect on the structureand nature of community development. In this paper, we outlineand assess the model of community development that has emergedin Ireland during this period. Based on empirical data arisingfrom a nationwide survey of community workers, we profile theextent of state funding; the consequent employment profile ofcommunity development workers and the impact on volunteerism;and the nature and consequence of community development’semerging relationship with the Irish state.     

Coping Strategies and Relapse of Substance Abusers: A Case Study of the Therapeutic Community Program in Indonesia

The present study examined the ability of people with substance‐dependence problems to cope with stressful events and refrain from resuming alcohol drinking and the use of drugs. This study specifically examined the length of time that substance abusing‐residents spent in a state‐owned, residential‐based therapeutic community program at Lembang‐Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. A study sample of 68 residents completed a questionnaire with four sections. The results of this study showed no significant differences in the scores rating the coping behavior of the residents according to the length of stay in the program. This study also found no significant differences in the Coping Behavioral Inventory scores of the residents according to the level scores of total Coping Strategy Inventory. It is important for social workers to understand the relationship between the length of stay of residents and their ability to cope so that they can effectively engage in intervention work with individuals with substance‐dependence issues who participate in the therapeutic community.     

The role of the voluntary,community and social enterprise sector in Early Help: Critical reflections from embedded social care research

The independent review of children's social care (2022) has proposed a radical reset of England's children's services, shifting a remote, assessment heavy system towards one that works alongside communities to help prevent statutory interventions. However, notions around the harnessing of community resources to deliver Early Help are often underpinned by assumptions regarding the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector and the ease with which such organizations can be integrated into preventative strategies. This paper reports findings from embedded research within a unitary authority in Southwest England during remodelling of its Early Help service to work more collaboratively with local VCSE organizations. The study generated data from ethnographic observations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 95 participants, including local parents, service providers, VCSE organizations and Council leaders. The findings illustrate that families value the compassionate, responsive and flexible support available within many VCSE settings. However, differences in practice cultures, regulatory pressures on statutory providers, the need to (re)build trust in communities and sensitivities around power-sharing and resourcing meant negotiating VCSE sector integration was fraught with complexities. Few studies have gained such privileged access to a Local Authority's remodelling of Early Help services, and this paper has significant insights for the debates surrounding the independent review of children's social care (2022) and its recommendation to bring services ‘closer to communities’.     

和谐社区构建：公共服务、社会融合与居民表达——来自宁波、大连和北京的案例研究

通过对宁波、大连和北京的三个案例研究,探讨和谐社区建设中的公共服务、社会融合及居民表达的途径和具体做法。宁波案例描述了政府主导下的社区公共服务网络的起源、规模和服务效果;大连案例描述了社区主导下的促进弱势群体社会融合的社区自治组织的诞生、发展和功能;北京案例描述了居民表达主导下的社区发展评估的价值取向、方法和建设性的经验。     

Older Carers of Adults with a Learning Disability Confront the Future: Issues and Preferences in Planning

The Valuing People White Paper (Department of Health, 2001)requires services to secure a plan for all service-users withlearning disabilities living with older carers and promisesthem and their families more choice and control over how andwhere they live. This paper examines the views of the oldercarers (aged over seventy) of sixty-two adults with a learningdisability about planning for the future. Fifty-six took partin interviews in their own homes and six completed a questionnaire.All carers were white and recruited from one local authorityin response to the requirements of the White Paper. Findingsindicate that a significant proportion (thirty-four—55per cent) is either not ready or is unwilling to make futureplans. Barriers to planning include a perceived lack of needdue to the existence of two carers, a lack of awareness of timescalesinvolved in securing housing, difficulties in letting go, alack of confidence in available housing options, and the existenceof mutually supportive relationships. The findings show a needfor a proactive approach to information and support provisionto enable these families to work through a process of makingplans for the future. This is essential to prevent the needfor emergency placements in response to crisis and in turn toensure that adults with learning disabilities have genuine choiceand involvement in how and where they live.     

An integrated system of engaging social workers and community volunteers in social care for the elderly: case studies in Taiwan

Integrating volunteers into social care is widely expected but rarely successful in practice. This paper discusses how the Community Care Centre Plan organising community volunteers to provide services to the elderly in Taiwan. This plan successfully integrated social workers and volunteers in a national system to offer service in local communities, showing a systemic practice of community care and a unique case of community-based and volunteer-based service. The purposes of this paper are to introduce the programme design and to understand how to integrate the mission of social workers and volunteers’ performance. The governmental policy and requirements, the role of social workers and the provision of voluntary community service which contributed to form the system were examined in this paper.