Index

This article discusses some of the reasons why social workers need to add to their understanding of the law and legal procedures, and to develop legal skills. It also explores several specific areas of the law to be studied: function, sources, concepts, procedures, and skills. A teaching approach to this material in an introductory course on law for social workers is then presented. The article concludes with suggestions for additional curriculum offerings.     

Nationality Policies in the Books and in Practice: Comparing Immigrant Naturalisation across Europe

This article explores whether differences in the implementation of nationality laws explain gaps between nationality laws and nationality acquisition across Europe. Previous research confirms that nationality acquisition among the foreign-born in Western European countries is largely determined by the inclusiveness of nationality policies and the characteristics of the immigrant population. Drawing on recent data on nationality procedures across Europe, this article argues that, regardless of the nationality laws in place, nationality procedures create major obstacles for different types of immigrants. This article uses data from the European Social Survey to conduct multi-level analysis of nationality acquisition in 17 European countries among long-settled foreign-born adult arrivals, controlling for their individual, origin and destination country characteristics. The analysis finds that nationality procedures are as important as nationality laws for nationality acquisition among most immigrants living in Europe today, especially for immigrants who are most likely to benefit and apply: immigrants from developing countries.     

Competency-Based Training: Objective Structured Clinical Exercises (OSCE) in Marriage and Family Therapy

The field of marriage and family therapy (MFT) has recently engaged in the process of defining core competencies for the profession. Many MFT training programs are adapting their curriculum to develop more competency-based training strategies. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is widely used in the medical profession to assess clinical competence. These examinations involve using simulated clinical situations as a tool in conducting summative evaluations of trainee competence. This article describes an adaptation of the OSCE procedures for competency-based training of MFT students. Instead of using the procedures as a summative examination as is typical in medical education, this article proposes how to use them as formative exercises in the development of student competence. The development of the OSCE is discussed, including “blueprinting,” focused competencies, procedures, and feedback protocols. The article concludes with suggestions of how to continue the development of the OSCE for evaluation in MFT education.     

Differential attrition rates and active parental consent.

Active parental consent in survey research poses ethical and practical concerns. One common argument against the requirement of active consent procedures is its effect on participation rates. There is additional concern that higher risk groups may be underrepresented in the final sample. Empirical support of differential attrition, however, is lacking. In the current multisite longitudinal study, passive consent procedures were approved for the collection of pretest data. For subsequent years of data collection, active parental consent procedures were required. In this article, we use the pretest data to examine demographic, attitudinal, and behavioral differences between those students for whom active consent was provided and those for whom active consent was either denied or for whom no response was received. The results indicate that active consent procedures produce deleterious effects on participation rates and lead to an underrepresentation of at-risk youth in the sample.     

From Talk to Action: Experiencing Interlocution in Developmental Interventions

This article explores how to analyze and conceptualize the dynamics through which conversations in Change Laboratory research interventions lead to envisioning and implementing material changes in activities. Leont'ev's concept of personal sense is used as a theoretical lens for tracing these dynamics and to provide a means to relate local conversations to overall transformation of professional practices. In addition, the article tests the potential of Vasilyuk's theory of experiencing and Trognon's interlocutionary logic for analyzing Change Laboratory conversations from the point of view of how talk is experienced by the interlocutors. Experiencing is seen as a dialogical process that connects ongoing conversations and future-oriented actions, and through which interlocutors overcome critical situations. The analysis of Change Laboratory discussions in a Finnish middle school provides ground for looking at Change Laboratory as a research setting and a practice of intervention which can enrich our understanding of how change unfolds through discourse. The article concludes that interventions such as Change Laboratory could benefit from identifying systematic procedures for facilitating experiencing and interlocution. Within the perspective of seeking such methodological procedures, the article opens up a discussion on complementarities and possibilities of integration between the Change Laboratory and another interventionist approach called the Clinic of Activity.     

Faire Formeln

The literature on fair division has experienced a renaissance recently. Novel mathematical procedures promising an envy-free, socially efficient solution to conflicts over nearly indivisible goods play a particularly prominent role. This article presents a comparative experimental evaluation of three procedures. We examine to what extent features of the subjects of the procedures influence the choice in favor of one of the three negotiation protocols and the results of the division. Our analysis of the behavior of 119 subjects shows that psychological factors only affect the procedural choice. Dominance-seeking individuals tend to opt for those procedures that promise a fairer outcome than the relatively crude divide-and-choose-mechanism. In contrast, the outcome of the bilateral negotiations is determined by the attributes of the procedures. The strong influence of psychological factors at the initial stage of the bargaining process nevertheless casts strong doubts on the practicability of the procedures, recommended by the normative strand of game-theoretic negotiation analysis. The further development of ”fair formulas” for the resolution of redistributive conflicts should not neglect that the warring parties have to agree with the philosophy of the proposed bargaining protocol.     

The use of focus groups in rehabilitation research

In this article, the authors explore the applications of focus groups to rehabilitation and disability research. Key issues in designing focus group research (e.g., methodological considerations, strategies for conducting focus groups, data analysis procedures) are highlighted. The authors then discuss specific considerations for conducting focus groups with people with disabilities. The article concludes with a review of three research studies in rehabilitation that used a focus group methodology.     

Bite Mark Evidence in Crimes Against Persons

Abstract

Bite marks are often found on victims of homicide, sex crimes, and child abuse. Since this type of physical evidence often links victims and assailants, it is essential that bite mark evidence be recognized and properly preserved. The superior courts of several states and United States military courts have accepted this evidence as admissible.

This article is intended to familiarize college and university health workers and security personnel with the appearance of bite marks as they may be found on victims. Further, it describes techniques of photography and related procedures, necessary for the preservation of this essential evidence. Photographs of actual bite marks and diagrams illustrating correct techniques for photography are included. This article is intended to alert college health and security personnel that early recognition and preservation of bite mark evidence is essential to investigative procedures.     

Debunking misconceptions about weight loss surgery

The recent and steady rise in the U.S. obesity index has resulted in a consumer-driven market for more effective treatment interventions for the morbidly obese population. Given the relatively poor outcomes associated with traditional approaches for treating obesity, such as diet programs, behavioral modification, and pharmacotherapy, weight loss surgical procedures represent a safe and effective option for those who meet selection criteria. To provide optimal treatment and consumer education, psychiatric nurses need to be well informed about the psychological and physiological aspects of these surgical procedures. This article clarifies six common misconceptions related to weight loss surgery.     

Listening Assessment: The Watson-Barker Listening Test

This article discusses the need for valid and reliable measures of listening behavior and how the Watson-Barker Listening Test was developed to measure the listening abilities of adults and mature college students. Sections of the article describe the nature and forms of the test, various validation procedures and research studies using the test. The claims of validity are partially supported by the data, and the Watson-Barker Listening Test has gained wide acceptance.     

Europe and the Immigration of Highly Skilled Labour

The competition for highly skilled labour continues to be fierce and is taking a more institutionalized pattern across most of the developed world. This article sketches the changes in policies, legislations, and procedures across various EU countries and compares these with those of other developed countries.
The article shows that EU member states not only compete with non-EU countries and regions but also among themselves in order to attract and maintain sufficient flows of highly skilled labour.     

Inpatient psychiatric treatment of the difficult child: Common practices and their ethical implications

This article reviews and discusses the available research literature pertaining to the prevalence of seclusion and restraint procedures in inpatient psychiatric treatment facilities for children and adolescence. The rationales for use, potential effects, and factors found to influence the application of these more extreme clinical interventions are considered. The author suggests that the supposed therapeutic function of these types of practices has not been substantiated and their implementation can vary widely from one setting to another. Results from several studies suggest that clearly defined criteria for use and more observational studies of prevalence and precipitant factors could considerably refine these procedures and reduce potential abuses. The psychopharmacologic approach to the treatment of difficult children is examined as a sophisticated counteraggression strategy which has yet to demonstrate therapeutic efficacy. These clinical procedures, which are utilized in scores of inpatient settings, generate serious ethical questions for the health professional concerned with the legal rights of those minors labeled as deviant members of families or the society at large.     

The two-party system under alternative voting procedures

Countries that elect their policy-makers by means of Plurality Voting tend to have a two-party system. This observation can be explained by the strategic behavior of voters. This article derives two broad classes of voting procedures under which strategic voting behavior induces a two-party system under standard assumptions on voter preferences. One class consists of the voting procedures with unique top-score, i.e., under which a voter can cast a top-score vote for only one candidate (e.g., Plurality Voting, Borda Count). The other class consists of the voting procedures that permit truncated ballots, i.e., under which voters do not have to cast all their votes (e.g., Approval Voting). This analysis suggests that the key for strategic voting behavior to induce a two-party system is that voters can always cast a different score for the two candidates they rank first and second on their ballots.     

Construire le mérite dans la fonction publique d’État : l’exemple de la Culture (1880-1980)

Merit-based procedures for evaluating and grading civil servants in the French central government have often been studied from the angle of circulations of ideas or practices between the public and private sectors or toward foreign organizations. Less attention has been given to the internal origins of procedures for assessing the work of civil servants. This article focuses on the procedures gradually worked out to evaluate civil servants in the French Ministry of Culture. Light is shed on the difficulties of keeping the Republic's promise to base merit only a difference in talent alone. How to measure a civil servant's work? Are qualifications evaluated while seeing to it that as many government employees as possible receive promotions? This focus on procedures, imagined or actually used, for grading, evaluating and promoting the personnel in museums shows that these processes follow a timing and modality that vary depending on the level in the hierarchy. The evaluation process, however, does wield ties between socio-occupational groups that all else separates. Practices for measuring the work done by these civil servants existed before the neomanagerial objection to the bureaucratic system's rules and regulations in the 1960s. The French way of evaluating merit is not simply an importation of Anglo-Saxon managerial methods.     

Comparing groups on latent variables: a structural equation modeling approach

Structural equation modeling (SEM) provides a dependable framework for testing differences among groups on latent variables (constructs, factors). The purpose of this article is to illustrate SEM-based testing for group mean differences on latent variables. Related procedures of confirmatory factor analysis and testing for measurement invariance across compared groups are also presented in the context of rehabilitation research.     

Between the Procedural and the Substantial: Democratic Deliberation and the Interaction Order in “Occupy Middletown General Assembly”

This article analyzes interaction from an intentional, self‐reflexive democratic meeting of ordinary citizens—a “General Assembly” from the 2011 Occupy Movement—to explore two competing theories of democracy: Habermas's democratic deliberation and Mouffe's agonistic pluralism. The group's rational ideals and procedures for democratic deliberation approximate those of Habermas's “ideal speech situation,” but appear limited in their capacity to ensure Habermasian understanding or consensus. Intertwined with these rational procedures are practices best explained in terms of what Goffman called “face‐work”—the ways in which participants maintain a working consensus of mutual acceptance and respect in conversation. These face‐work procedures—rather than sincere, rational intentions—help constitute the civility necessary for rational deliberation and participation. Such symbolic valuing of self and other provide interactional grounds for the liberty and equality of agonistic democratic conversation as conceived by Mouffe.     

Liability Issues in Social Work Education

This article reports on a spring 1995 national survey of program deans and directors on liability issues in social work education. Areas explored included programs' use of field training agreements, legal actions involving students in field placements, and formal procedures for and litigation resulting from termination of students and faculty. Court decisions and accreditation standards are linked to the findings, and comparisons are drawn to a 1988 study. Program size, rather than level or location, was found to be the key factor in the formality and use of established procedures.     

The maturity of corporate giving and its long-term consequences

This article, which is based on the author's experience with corporate giving programs, discusses the principal impediments to large-scale corporate giving prior to World War II, traces the growth of corporate contributions over the past fifty years, and suggests that the procedures and practices now used by most of the largest public companies are evidence of a high degree of maturity with respect to corporate giving. Certain contributions procedures that are now common among major companies are described, together with some of the consequences of these developments for nonprofit organizations.     

Assessing project approval procedures as formalised forms of public participation

Formalised public participation in project approval procedures is rarely addressed in technology assessment. Empirical data about public participation processes are taken into account even more rarely. This article explores the practice of public participation in infrastructure projects in the Federal Republic of Germany on the basis of empirical data from the period of 1990 to 2010. The author compares the empirical data about participation processes with the targets of the public participation and asks for the reasons for the lack of participation in formalised approval procedures. Furthermore, the author contrasts participation formats used in technology assessment with formalised public participation. In his conclusions, he advocates for a stronger combination of formalised and informal public participation in technology assessment.     

Safer recruitment? Protecting children,improving practice in residential child care

In the wake of a number of high‐profile cases of the abuse of children and young people in residential child care, there have been repeated calls for the improvement of recruitment and selection of residential child care staff. This paper describes the findings from a survey, undertaken in 2005, of operational and human resource managers who have responsibility for the recruitment and selection of residential child care staff in the voluntary and statutory sectors in Scotland. This research was commissioned by the Scottish Executive to identify which elements of safer recruitment procedures had been implemented following the countrywide launch of a Toolkit for Safer Recruitment Practice in 2001. Research findings show that although local authorities were more likely than voluntary organisations to have gone some way toward implementing safer recruitment procedures, the recruitment process lacked rigour and commitment to safer procedures in some organisations. The article discusses the current barriers to the introduction of safer recruitment methods and proposes some possible solutions for the future. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.