A comment on ‘Climate change: Social workers’ roles and contributions to policy debates and interventions'

Peeters J. A comment on ‘Climate change: Social workers’ roles and contributions to policy debates and interventions' In this commenting article, I present several critical remarks about Lena Dominelli's contribution to the issue of climate change and its implications for social work. 1 In my view, her article lacks three important considerations. First, I argue that the issue of climate change should be addressed as part of a broader, fundamental challenge: the transition of the growth‐based economic system upon which our society is built. Second, within a context of social and ecological injustice, dealing with climate change inevitably requires a dimension of social struggle. Third and lastly, I emphasise social work's role in challenging the social, political and economic structures and processes that bring about climate change.     

Correcting misconceptions about the development of social work in China: a response to Hutchings and Taylor

Hutchings and Taylor, in their article entitled ‘Defining the profession? Exploring an international definition of social work in the China context’[International Journal of Social Welfare 16: 381–389], no doubt had good intentions in offering their account of the development of social work in China, as the opening and concluding sections of the article show. Within the text, however, their critique of contemporary social work in China is, in my opinion, unfair in relation to, among other things, (i) the undemocratic nature of the Chinese political system, which they say hinders the development of social work in China; (ii) the ideology of the Communist Party, the government, and traditional Chinese culture, which they say are at odds with Western social work's value system and methodology; thus concluding that (iii) it is doubtful whether social work development in China could integrate with that of the international community. In this response, I comment on (i) the information base of the authors; (ii) the disconnection between their conceptualisation and historical facts; and (iii) their use of the international definition of social work.     

Harre's Social Philosophy and Political Philosophy: A Social Scientific Critique

In his article, “Saving Critical Realism,” Harre (2009 ) relates his revised philosophy of science to a social philosophy concerning the nature of society, and to a political philosophy regarding the nature of freedom and reform. I argue that his social philosophy and political philosophy rest upon an individualistic sense of society and freedom. I demonstrate that his individualism is factually and politically untenable. (I shall not comment on his philosophy of science, although the errors in his social and political philosophies make it suspect.) I counterpose an alternative social philosophy and political philosophy that are based on a structural model of society, freedom, and social change. My critique demonstrates how social science can adjudicate claims of structuralist vs. individualist social and political philosophy. It also argues that social science must constitute the basis for formulating political ideals of freedom and social organization if these are to be viable.     

居家养老与社区服务研究综述

居家养老作为一种具有中国特色的养老新模式,基本符合我国的国情,顺应了社会化养老的国际潮流。本文从居家养老发展的客观依据、所存在的问题及完善措施等多个方面对目前这一领域内的研究进行了回顾和评论,并提出了进一步研究的方向。     

Ethnic Minorities and Social Justice in Australian Society

This paper will endeavour to comment briefly on the way in which the issue of social justice has been handled by Australian social policies relating to non-indigenous ethnic minorities in recent times, all of which have developed within a framework of multiculturalism. Hence, what are being considered are multicultural social policies — their goals and objectives as they have evolved over the past two decades. Part of this examination will also involve an exposition of the concept of social justice itself in relation to policy.     

观点与链接:在线社交网络中的群体政治极化:一个微观行为的解释框架

群体政治极化是互联网传播领域长期关注的重要现象,然而进入社会化媒体时代,网络群体极化的状况和形成机理是否发生了变化?为此本文分析了从观点生产到链接构建的群体极化机制,并结合在线社交网络用户数据与跨国比较数据进行了验证。研究发现,在社交网络的技术、媒介和社会网络三重特性的相互作用下,使用者会选择观点的隔离并转而链接同质群体,这一建构过程最终导致网络群体极化的产生。对跨国数据的分析也表明,在政治观点表达更为活跃的社交网络中,人们认知到相异观点的几率却下降了。因此,如何在新媒体时代构建一个多元协商的网络治理环境,我们或许可以从观点和链接两个方面入手。     

人性与经济道德的离散——中国经济改革速度缓慢的一个原因

本文回首中国20年的经济改革,认为改革速度较慢的原因之一是人性与经济道德在认识上和行为中的模糊性所致。作者在定义了人性、道德、灵魂等一些基本概念之后,针对中国经济改革的两种选择(价格、所有制)的归宿进行评述,从而找出速度较慢的一方面原因。文中对儒家道德进行了说理的评说,意在对经济学哲学研究起到向前推动的作用。     

The Problems with Social Indicators

Researchers often use social indicators in their analysis of community problems and the subsequent proposals. However these researchers rarely consider the constraints placed on these indicators by construction and measurement problems. Some of these indicators are reviewed with particular reference to conceptualization of social phenomena and the intrusion of values. In the latter regard comment is made on the use of social indicators by political decision makers and policy planners.     

Legal Liability and Accountability for Child-care Decisions

Correspondence to Tom Guthrie, School of Law, University of Glasgow, Stair Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK. Summary Although decisions taken by social workers in cases of suspectedchild abuse and in looking after children in their care maybe the subject of public enquiries and press comment, they willnot in general incur any legal liability to compensate childrenwho claim to have suffered as a result of these decisions. Thisarticle examines the reasons why such liability is excludedby the courts, as well as looking briefly at other mechanismsfor challenging social workers'decisions. It is argued thatthe grounds for excluding liability are speculative and thatintroducing liability to this area might encourage good practice.     

Responding to the 2015 CMS Proposed Rule Changes for LTC Facilities: A Call to Redouble Efforts to Prepare Students and Practitioners for Nursing Homes

In July of 2015, the Federal Register published for public comment proposed rule changes for nursing homes certified to receive Medicare and/or Medicaid. If the final rules are similar to the proposed rules, they will represent the largest change in federal rules governing nursing homes since the Nursing Home Reform Act which was part of OBRA 1987. The proposed changes have the potential to enhance the quality of care and quality of life of nursing home residents. Many of the proposed changes would directly affect the practice of social work and would likely expand the role for nursing home social workers. This article discusses the role that members of the National Nursing Home Social Work Network (NNHSW Network) played in developing and submitting a response to CMS. The article provides the context for the publication of the proposed rules, describes the process used by the NNHSW Network to develop and build support for comments on these rules, and also includes the actual comments submitted to CMS. Social work education programs and continuing education programs throughout the country will continue to have an important role to play in helping to prepare social work students and practitioners for a career in long-term care.     

文章学视野下的明清小说评点

明清时期,自幼便浸润干八股文章的小说评点家形成了顽固的文章学思维定式,他们往往以文章学视野来观照小说.在尊题意识支配下,他们惯于按题解文而喜欢抱定题目来分析小说的叙事写人艺术.他们的小说评点表现出文法至上的批评倾向,以"合掌"、"断续"、"伏应"、"急脉缓受"、"虚实"等文章学理论来审视小说情节结构,以"代言"、"宾主"等来分析小说人物描写.文法派的出现在中国小说批评史上具有划时代意义,他们重文轻道,注重小说艺术技巧分析,其评点体现出明显的导读意识,并促进了小说在文人中的传播,但其评点文字也缺乏独立的理论品格.     

The Criminal Justice System and the Politics of Scrutiny

The criminal justice system remains largely untouched by over a decade of scrutiny and restructuring of public services by consecutive Conservative administrations. This is despite the system's lack of accountability, absence of clear objectives, prolific unfettered spending patterns, and discrepancies in its treatment of suspects and offenders at all stages of the prosecution process as witnessed by regular and embarrassing “mishaps”. This paper explains the apparent contradictions in the New Right's social policy agenda showing how the overtly Thatcheritepolicies of “law and order” with its own brand of moral authoritarianism continues to immunize and protect the professional players on the criminal justice stage from the policies of scrutiny and consequent change. Ironically, it is argued, criminal justice and penal policy is one area of social policy where the machinery of appraisal, audit and management by objectives would be highly beneficial. Paul Wilding provided stimulating and helpful comments on the first draft of this paper and Howard Parker helped me to keep the contradictions of the system as the theme of the paper.     

Social work in a conflict context: Challenges facing social workers with indigenous inhabitants of unrecognised villages in Israel

This qualitative study presents the experiences of social workers whose clients are the inhabitants of unrecognised Bedouin Arab villages in Israel. It used in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews with 25 participants, recruited by the snowball method. These social workers reported that they are caught between their personal and professional values, on the one hand, and employer regulations, government policy and government law, on the other – which greatly limits their ability to fulfil their professional role. The social workers also comment that they are working in a ‘grey area’ in which the government’s policy is unclear. This adds another layer of complexity to their work and reveals the differential implementation of critical social work principles by social workers with different cultural identities.     

Robert Henryson and the Popular Fable Tradition in the Middle Ages

Evelyn S. Newlyn's essay is concerned with two issues: the popularity of the fable tradition and Henryson's use of it to comment on various social and political ills. The fable has a long history as a form of literature designed not only to entertain but to instruct, and Henryson's creativity with the form is evidenced in his use of it to address social issues, as well as to incorporate moral instruction with entertainment. The popular representation of various social classes, with all their follies, and the hard-nosed look at the failure of certain institutions such as the law and the Church, reveal Henryson's awareness of reality as he perceives it.     

The mind–body problem and social science: Motivating a quantum social theory

This comment addresses some of the critiques of “Quantum Mind and Social Science” by the other contributors, with special reference to the challenge that the mind‐body problem poses to conventional, classical thinking about social science. A quantum social ontology transcends those challenges, and in the process could transform social scientific thinking across the board. As an example the essay concludes with a consideration of the physics of social structure.     

Global–regional interaction to extend access to social protection for migrant workers: Insights from ASEAN and MERCOSUR

Universal access to social protection for migrant workers is emerging as a problematic issue in the implementation of free movement regimes at a regional level. This article focuses on the concept of regional governance as a possible mechanism to address the unsolved challenges of social security regimes to extend coverage. To this end, the article looks at current legal developments in two regional projects (ASEAN and MERCOSUR) to identify a creative approach to strengthen the development of national floors of social protection. The interest of using these case studies lies in exploring whether the regional integration process can play a major role in the progressive extension of social protection rights to migrant workers by facilitating the adoption of social security agreements.     

The Facets of Social Capital

The emergence of the two facets of social capital, the individual and the collective, has contributed to much of the confusion in the field of social capital. The overall objective of this article is to elaborate on a theoretical model aiming at clarifying some bridges between the facets and dimensions of social capital previously suggested in the literature. Initially, the article shortly presents and discusses some important definitions of social capital. Furthermore, limitations and shortcomings of previous definitions are discussed. Moreover, a theoretical model is elaborated on suggesting that social capital comprises social resources that evolve in accessible social networks or social structures characterized by mutual trust. This model also emphasises some of the potential dark sides of social capital. The presented definition does not definitively address the theoretical uncertainties in the field; however, it suggests that a resource‐oriented notion of social capital could be useful in bridging the facets of social capital.     

Social security privatisation: the lessons from the Chilean experience for other Latin American countries and the USA

The purpose of this article is to analyse the economic and social implications of the privatisation of social security in Chile and to draw some lessons from the Chilean experience. The focus of the analysis is on the costs and benefits of the privatised system and its impact on social equity. Thus, the main section of the article is devoted to the analysis of the 20-year-old Chilean experience. This section is followed by a discussion of privatisation in other Latin American countries and the impact that World Bank's policies have had on the region. The last section looks at the lessons for the United States and argues against the establishment of a partially private plan in the USA.     

Introduction: The Residential Context of Health

Our understanding of the relationship between housing and health will improve with closer attention to the characteristics of residents, their activities in relation to their housing, and social ecological factors that set the boundaries for those activities. To highlight these aspects of the subject area, we propose recharacterizing the housing and health field as one of inquiry into the residential context of health. In introducing this issue of the journal, we first elaborate on this proposal in conceptual and practical terms. We then overview the individual articles, each of which helps us develop a more nuanced view of the subject area. Finally, we comment on two themes running through multiple articles—stress and coping, and social ecological influences on residence .