Binding the Generations: Household Formation Patterns among Vietnamese Refugees1

Much of the analysis of refugee and immigrant adaptation has stressed the interaction of prior experience with the requirements of life in a new country. For refugees, that interaction has often been jarring because of the after‐effects of their flight and their relative inability to prepare for a new life in a new country. Yet refugees have often done rather well in economic terms in that new country. The reasons for that relative success have been phrased in cultural terms (e.g., the predisposition toward education) and in general socioeconomic terms (e.g., refugees as educated and skilled). This article examines a set of factors that lie between these customary cultural and socioeconomic categories. Specifically, the paper examines key features of household formation among Vietnamese refugees. An examination of historical data from southern Vietnam indicates patterns in household formation that appear durable over time yet are not shared across the breadth of Vietnam and cannot thus be viewed as “cultural” in the usual sense. A comparison of the historical data with recent national survey data on refugees in the United States indicates that these patterns continue among Vietnamese refugees and are ‐ as compared to other refugees ‐ distinctive to them. These patterns of household formation provide Vietnamese refugees with important options in adaptation to a new country.     

城市社区公共空间构筑与基层社会的动员整合——基于上海市G社区的案例分析

城市社区公共空间既是一种物理空间,又是一种制度与文化空间。上海G社区探索楼道公共客厅与楼道居民自治,通过楼道公共空间的拓展与构筑,增强居民归属感,构建居民交流、共商机制,改善社区认同,让社区从一个生活的共同体演变成一种信念的共同体,维护了社区的和谐和稳定,推进基层社会的动员整合。这种社区自治性的成长不仅是社会力量内部整合的基础,也构成了社区共治的基础。由此,未来社区治理的方向是如何建立起社区事务协商参与的多级公共空间,形成共治、自治衔接的有效机制,从而真正实现基层社区国家与社会良性互动、政府行政管理与居民群众自治相衔接的基层社会管理的新格局。     

Exploring the Gay Community Question: Neighborhood and Network Influences on the Experience of Community among Urban Gay Men

The reported declining significance of gay neighborhoods has raised questions about the role of gay enclaves as a locus for community building. Using Wellman and Leighton's community “lost,” “saved,” and “liberated” frameworks, we examine the degree to which gay enclave residence and network socializing are associated with experiences of gay community among men in the New York City area. Multilevel models indicate that enclave residence is neither directly nor indirectly associated with perceived community cohesion or community attachment. Increased socializing with gay men and heterosexuals were, respectively, positively and negatively associated with our community outcomes. Increased socializing with lesbians was associated with greater community attachment, while socializing with bisexuals was associated with greater perceived community cohesion. Our findings lend support for a “gay community liberated” perspective; experiences of gay community are shaped principally by network relations rather than residential proximity to gay institutions.     

Theory for Community Practice in Social Work:

The effort is made to revitalize the search for practice theory which will inform and guide the community practitioner. Ecological theory is used to identify a generic model of community practice and analyze member cohesion in the three traditional modalities. The theory of energy in human ecology is developed to set the stage for an energy assessment, and the selection of strategic energy patterns in phases of organizing. Theoretical propositions with practice implications are offered for research on the relationship between strategic energy-patterns of organizing, energy costs, specialization of function, and styles of intervention.     

Forces of Altermodernization: Urban Social Movements and the New Urban Question in Contemporary Poland

The article discusses contemporary Polish ‘right to the city’ movements and their potential for creating change, described here as the potential for ‘alternative modernization’, a term rooted in the alterglobalist movement. The waning of the latter’s energy has fostered the emergence of local movements focused on protest and reform. In Poland, both an historical anti-urbanity and monologic patterns of regime transformation (the latter producing the ‘anti-city’) have become points of reference for urban movements and their demand for alternative patterns of modernization, called here altermodernization. The altermodernist model focuses, among other things, on discourses and praxis of decommodification, institutional reform and visions of a ‘well-organized city’. The article is primarily a product of desk research and the author’s own materials based on in-depth interviews collected in six Polish cities as well as participant observation and content analysis.     

Using Concept Mapping to Promote Community Building: The African American Initiative at Roseland

ABSTRACT

While many organizations recognize the value of community building, they often encounter difficulty in actualizing projects and developing tangible results. This article presents how a planning and evaluation method known as concept mapping was used to drive a community building effort by a large not-for-profit organization in Chicago around the issue of at-risk African American male youth. This work grew out of a grant related to the needs of African American families, called the African American Initiative, which was funded by the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. The article describes the first phase of the African American Initiative at Roseland, and lessons learned. Primarily, this study was able to generate a conceptual framework of problems facing African American male youth, which was used to revise previously defined outcomes and also create new ones. In addition, use of concept mapping to drive community building generated reflection on intended and unintended benefits. At the same time, challenges around this approach demonstrate the need for continued research.     

Child Sexual Abuse: Community Concerns in Urban Tanzania

The aim of this study was to explore community perceptions about child sexual abuse in Tanzania. Thirteen focus group discussions were conducted with adult community members. The core category, children's rights challenged by lack of agency, was supported by eight categories. Aware but distressed portrayed feelings of hopelessness, lack of trust in the healthcare and legal systems reflected perceived malpractice, decreased respect for children's rights referred to poor parental care and substance abuse, myths justifying CSA illustrated cultural beliefs to rationalize child sexual abuse, disclosure threatened by fear of stigma and discriminationaligned the manifestations that prevent disclosure, actions driven by economic circumstances described the economical dependence of victims, urging a change in procedures reflected informants' wish to ally with local governance and pressure groups, and willingness to act indicated the community's role in supporting victims. The study showed how lack of agency calls for efforts to increase children's human rights at all levels.     

Gender in the Midst of Reforms: Attitudes to Work and Family Roles among University Students in Urban Indonesia

ABSTRACT

The onset of the Reform era in 1998 after the fall of Suharto bears interesting prospects on gender relations among youth in Indonesia. Using a survey of 1,761 university students from 12 universities in two contrasting urban settings, this article explores attitudes to work and family roles among senior university students in 2004: this is the year when people were preparing to elect a president directly for the first time in history, with the incumbent president the first woman in the role. Results determined that women were less traditional than their male counterparts in their attitudes toward gender roles. This article further explores correlates of gender role attitudes, offering insights on the role of sex, sample sites, gender ratio in faculty, parental role models, religion, and ethno-cultural background.     

“推广街区制”的规划思辨

2016年2月,《中共中央国务院关于进一步加强城市规划建设管理工作的若干意见》中明确了"推广街区制"和"开放封闭小区"为我国住宅未来发展的方向。在《意见》印发后,与之相关的内容也成为公众和城市规划专业领域共同关注的焦点。本文在解读《意见》的基础上,深入探讨"推广街区制"在围墙设置、街区尺度、街道活力、产权划分、社会公平等方面引发的一系列争议,并进一步提出当前在城市规划中"推广街区制"的实施路径。     

Localising Social Work: Lessons Learnt from a Community Based Intervention amongst the Bedouin in Jordan

This paper presents an example of local social work practice in Jordan in the health field. It draws on a research study on Bedouin health in the North Eastern Badia. The project developed, implemented and evaluated a training intervention developed in partnership with a range of providers for improving local social work practice. Evaluation methods used included a pre and post test, focus group discussions and students' field notes. Findings revealed the significance of promoting culturally competent practice to respond to local health and social needs. Students and practice assessors agreed that the training interventions were an effective way to implement theory into local practice in relation to Bedouin society. This training intervention is an example of developing local social work practice as a way of responding critically to social inequalities.     

The Contribution of Law and Social Work to Interdisciplinary Community Development and Peace Building in the Middle East

SUMMARY

Reducing inequity and strengthening civil society are both intrinsically related to peace building. This article outlines how social work and legal theory, coupled with an interdisciplinary practice framework, advance the development of community networks for the promotion of social rights as a medium for peace building in the Middle East. The combined effect of human rights advocacy, civic engagement, and the structuring and building of community, work to reduce inequality and promote civil society. Examples of interdisciplinary practice as implemented through the initiative of the McGill Middle East Program in Civil Society and Peace Building are presented. Finally, implications for interdisciplinary training for schools of social work are discussed.     

生态城区的建设与范例——武汉市江汉区满春街闹市屋顶变都市田园的经验与思考

在快速城市化的过程中,都市闹市区因为经济价值极高,绿化奇缺,人们居住环境嘈杂、拥挤;特别是在老旧城区,人与自然发展不平衡的矛盾突出,不宜居的问题集中,追求良好的生态效益困难。地处繁华闹市的武汉市江汉区满春街在屋顶、空中平台上精心绿化,形成了一片空中的都市田园。     

Refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina in Serbia: A Study of Refugee Selectivity

This paper examines selectivity of refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina in Serbia with respect to certain demographic and socio‐economic structures. Analyses indicated that the demographic and socio‐economic characteristics of these refugees are significantly more favourable than those of other refugees in Serbia and those in the place of origin. The results show that refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina who, because of war, have sought refuge in Serbia are positively selective compared to the population that moved shorter distances (i.e. within the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina) for the same reason. Their educational level and participation in the Belgrade workforce, the main urban and functional centre and pole of demographic concentration, support the hypothesis that despite the forced nature of their migration, movement to Serbia as a destination rather than migration within Bosnia and Herzegovina was partly determined by economic factors in keeping with the structural characteristics of the refugees. The directions of recent refugee migrations from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Serbia have continued the historic trend of previous migrations on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. To be specific, the centres with the highest concentrations of recent refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina are precisely those municipalities with the greatest number of persons who migrated from Bosnia and Herzegovina before 1991.     

Feeling at Home at Work: Life in Academic Departments

Qualitative Sociology -     

Community Relationship Building: Local Leadership in the Risk Communication Infrastructure

This study examined the impact of the risk communication infrastructures-local emergency planning committees (LEPCs) and citizens advisory committees (CACs)-on risk communication activities in communities where chemicals are manufactured, stored, and transported. Findings indicated low unawareness of both types of organizations and low use of such organizations as information sources or forums for voicing concerns. These organizations played a minor role in communication activities in the community that lacked local city government. Findings suggested that a fully functioning communication infrastructure leads to a healthier community that responds to risks as manageable uncertainties. Infrastructures that can exert little control and are weak cannot be corrected simply by the creation of such committees as LEPCs and CACs. In addition, problem recognition, uncertainty, control with approval, involvement with stake, and knowledge are the focal variables motivating active communication behaviors.