索马里伊斯兰极端组织的发展及影响

冷战后,伊斯兰极端组织在索马里迅速发展,成为该国乃至非洲之角面临的最严重的非传统安全威胁之一。从根源上来看,索马里伊斯兰极端组织是体系层面、地区层面与国家层面结构性因素互动的综合产物。索马里的伊斯兰极端组织在其发展过程中形成了理念相互共享、成员相互渗透和行动策略相互模仿等特点,境外极端分子在其中扮演着重要的角色。索马里伊斯兰极端组织频繁发动暴力恐袭,不仅对索马里的民族国家构建造成挑战,而且极大地冲击了非洲之角的国际关系格局。面对索马里伊斯兰极端组织的泛滥,国际社会和地区力量均采取了一系列应对措施,但目前取得的成效十分有限,其主要原因在于索马里伊斯兰极端组织对意识形态的多重"包装"和其管理能力的不断提升,以及各方力量在打击索马里伊斯兰极端组织过程中的相互掣肘。     

Making places: The role of attachment in creating the sense of place for traditional streets in Malaysia

Sense of place definition includes the point where the physical element, activity and meaning are intertwined in the people experience of place. In urban design and place quality research, much has been discussed on the significance of the physical elements and activities in creating the sense of place; however, the role of place attachment as a component that gives places meaning(s) has not been adequately explored. This article is based on the main findings of a doctoral research examining attachment to traditional shopping streets in the city centre of Kuala Lumpur. Surveys and face-to-face interviews were conducted with users of the streets to investigate place attachment and its influence on place identity. The finding demonstrates that attachment to the traditional streets is strong and it influences the users’ perception on the identity of the places. The streets were regarded as very important in sustaining the economic activities and meaningful in accentuating cultural diversity and self and group identity. The historical significance of the area as the earliest shopping locations in the city evoked personal and shared meanings to the long-term users who developed stronger place attachment. The paper concludes by establishing that place attachment has a significant contribution to the sense of place therefore should be considered in the design of urban places especially when redevelopment is one of the options.     

Independence and effectiveness: Messages from the role of Independent Reviewing Officers in England

This paper draws on research into the role of Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) in England, exploring the dimensions and challenges of their ‘independence’. IROs are specialist social workers whose function is to review the cases of children in public care and ensure that they have appropriate plans and that these plans are being implemented in a timely manner. IROs are ‘independent’ in the sense that they are not the social worker to whom a child's case is allocated, and do not have line management responsibility for the case, however they are employed by the same local authority. There are detailed regulations and government guidelines on their role, and high expectations, but what does independence mean in this context? The paper draws on a mixed methods study conducted by the authors in 2012–14, which included a survey of 122 files of children in care from four local authorities; interviews with 54 social workers, 54 IROs, 15 parents, and 15 young people; six focus groups; and nationally-distributed questionnaires for IROs (65), social work managers (46) and children's guardians (39). The study found five dimensions of independence: professional, operational, perceived, institutional and effective. The IROs and social workers generally took more nuanced and pragmatic approaches to their inter-professional working than prescribed in the policy guidance or the pronouncements of politicians and judges, seeing this as more likely to be effective. IROs are not, and cannot be, the solution to all the problems that exist in services for children in care, and the other professionals involved should not be seen as necessarily any less capable or committed to the best interests of the children. Rather, the IRO is part of an interactive system of checks and balances which, together, may increase the likelihood that professional judgement will be exercised effectively on the child's behalf.     

The role of birth/previously adopted children in families choosing to adopt children with special needs.

Engaging birth/previously adopted children during the adoption process is crucial to laying the ground-work for successful placements. When families choose to adopt children with special needs, however, the role their other children will play in the adoption's success is often overlooked. This article presents a practical model that recognizes the dynamics of strength and vulnerability in adoptive families, then applies this model in preparing and supporting the family through the changes that are inevitable in special needs adoption. The model can also be used to assist adoptive parents in identifying and developing the skills they need to manage these shifts within the family.     

The sacred dimensions of pregnancy and birth

This paper is an exploratory study of the ways pregnant women in American society are elevated to a sacred status and symbolically marked as moving through a rite of passage. Utilizing insights of Emile Durkheim, Henri Hubert, Marcel Mauss, Mary Douglas, Victor Turner, and Arnold Van Gennep, it analyzes interviews with four women pregnant six to seven months and two women who had recently given birth. The analysis underscores how changes in the ways these women were treated by others, and changes in their dietary and hygienic habits, acted to place them in a special social category. The paper suggests that further research is needed into the roots of these sacralizing behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of this frame of analysis in expanding our understanding of many of the burning social dilemmas currently revolving around the event of pregnancy.Dedicated to the memory of Howard Balin, M.D.I want to thank Harold Bershady, Charles Bosk, Renee Fox, and Adam Weisberger for their contributions to my thinking on this subject and their help and advice in the writing of this paper.     

The reliability of recall measurement in assessing migrant reintegration: Evidence from Ethiopia,Somalia, and Sudan

This article asks whether and under what conditions the use of retrospective or “recall” measurement is reliable. Migration researchers are often forced to retrospectively measure baselines when evaluating the impact of interventions due to the transitory nature of migration, developing country contexts, and hastily assembled policy programmes, a situation exacerbated by Covid-19. This article first theoretically considers the extent to which this approach is reliable and likely to result in biased estimates, as well as its broader advantages, disadvantages, and recommendations for best practice. It then considers the case of the “IMPACT” evaluation of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in which 1774 Ethiopian, Somalia, and Sudanese migrant returnees in 2021 were assessed on a range of reintegration measures, 1095 of whom were measured retrospectively. Regression analyses demonstrate that those measured retrospectively give more negative scores on several “Reintegration Sustainability Scores” in line with some theoretical expectations but contrary to others. However, this—mostly non-statistically significant—effect is largely diminished when the small minority who report finding it difficult to remember the baseline period are removed—suggesting that any retrospective measurement effect results from memory bias rather than, for example, consistency bias. No evidence is found to support several theoretically derived interaction effects. Determinants of self-reported memory are demonstrated and recommendations for usage of retrospective measurement are provided, based on these findings.     

The effectiveness of parenting support

This research review examines what is known about the effectiveness of parenting support, and assesses the international evaluation evidence focusing on primary and secondary prevention programmes. It outlines several factors affecting the success of parenting support interventions in terms of service implementation and delivery, as well as outcomes for children and parents. The conclusions highlight the need for more rigorous UK‐based evaluations, and for further investigation of the support services for specific parenting groups such as very vulnerable families, fathers, and ethnically diverse families. The review also underlines the need for further national policies that address the broader social inequalities affecting the impact of parenting programmes.     

The effectiveness of CLT in the Asian context

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) that focuses on developing a high level of communicative competence for students has been widely adopted in the Asian regi...     

The traditional line drawing in Chinese painting

<正>The importance of brush principle in Chinese painting techniques isself-evident,but one significant problem is how to explain the brush rulesin different time,different forms of content for the expression of thestructuremetamorphosis.How the painter to cultivate out imagesthrough our heart?And how these line drawings reach the painter andrequire specific creation idea of its era?     

Psychological antecedents and motivational models of collective action: examining the role of perceived effectiveness in political protest participation

The present study examines Hong Kong citizens’ willingness to participate in the Occupy Central/Umbrella Movement. A representative adult survey (N = 816) was conducted before the Occupy Central protest in 2014. Regression analyses showed that the core psychological antecedents of political identity (psychological attachment to pro-democracy parties and Occupy activists), political efficacy (perceived effectiveness of individual and movement agency), ideology (dissatisfaction with the pace of democratization), and emotion (anger with the political environment) were significant predictors of likely participation. Measures of perceived effectiveness of the Occupy movement to achieve successful outcomes (i.e. its ability to influence public opinion, strengthen the pro-democracy cause in Hong Kong, and facilitate opinion expression) explained additional variance even after controlling for demographics and the core antecedents. An integrated motivational model of collective action was then tested using structural equation modeling. Findings are consistent with the extant literature. Moral convictions (democracy as a fundamental human value) served as an antecedent of identity, efficacy, ideology, and anger, while identity exhibited direct and indirect effects on participation through efficacy, ideology and anger. The model also pointed to a role for perceived effectiveness, supporting the idea that individuals are motivated by other potential outcomes of a protest beyond achieving its primary objective.     

中国传统文化在现代建筑中的体现

在人类社会发展进程中,建筑与文化是密不可分的。建筑是人类改造自然的一种物质成果,是人类文明的重要组成部分,以其独有的艺术形式体现了人类文化在不同历史阶段的发展水平。     

The effectiveness of back pain and injury prevention programs in the workplace

Musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace cause thousands of injuries and cost industry billions of dollars yearly. Work injury prevention programs have been developed and implemented as a means for cost containment. A variety of preventive strategies have been investigated in primary research. The purpose of this review article is to examine the effectiveness of back injury and pain prevention programs in the workplace. Nine studies published between 1995 and 2000 were reviewed and analyzed. Studies used primarily one of three types of preventive strategies: 1) back belts, 2) education and task modification, and 3) education and task modification with workstation redesign. The effectiveness of back belts to prevent back pain and injury remains inconclusive. Positive outcomes were associated with studies reporting high compliance that used job-specific and individualized/small group education and training approaches. Themes that arose following a critical review of primary research studies are discussed.