Smith College School for Social Work and Combat‐Related Trauma: Allegiance,Scholarship, and Commitment

The Smith College School for Social Work (SCSSW) was founded for the purpose of treating soldiers returning from World War I who suffered from shell shock, conditions that are now described as combat‐related trauma. As history evolved, America found itself embroiled in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and contemporary conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. With each conflict clinical social workers have played a pivotal role in the care of active‐duty soldiers and returning veterans. This article explores the School's historical contribution to the treatment of combat‐related trauma through its curriculum, theoretical perspectives, and endorsement of different treatment paradigms over the last century. The earlier decades and Vietnam–era time involvement of the SCSSW in clinical social work practice with service members and their families is of particular interest. Specific recommendations are offered to the School that may benefit those practitioners entering the field of combat‐related trauma.     

The ‘flood’ of 1945: regimes and repertoires of migration in the Soviet Union at war’s end

The pioneering migration scholar Eugene Kulischer employed the metaphor of the ‘flood’ to characterize the movement of peoples across Eurasia at the end of the Second World War. This article builds on that metaphor by analysing the range of Soviet citizens’ migratory movements within and back to the USSR in 1945. It pays special attention to settlers, deportees, returning evacuees, repatriates, demobilized soldiers and itinerants. Not only did these different groups of migrants appear simultaneously, but each produced the other: settlers moved to deportees’ vacated land; many demobilized soldiers and evacuees were recruited as settlers; some repatriates were deported; and those escaping deportation often became itinerants. In each case the article examines the interaction between the state’s migration regimes – its projects and provision of infrastructure to move people – and migrants’ repertoires, that is, their reliance on networks of kinship and friendship to avoid or mitigate hardship and maximize opportunities. It argues that the fulfilment of the state’s agendas with respect to migration depended not only on its regimes but migrants’ own practices.     

Colonial workers,imperial migrants and surveillance: policing in Le Havre, 1914–40

This article explores how the police and municipal authorities of Le Havre responded to the colonial others who passed through, or resided in, the Seine-Inférieure port between the outbreak of the First World War and the defeat of France in 1940. Interrogating how the police and urban authorities monitored migrants to the port, it reveals how Le Havre’s imperial and transnational space was distinctive in terms of the peoples who established themselves in the port, the ways in which they forged links with other peripheral locations throughout the French empire, and how the local authorities attempted to control migrants and incomers from the French overseas empire. It highlights particularities of Le Havre’s urban space – notably its lack of a university and prestigious lycées, its pre-1914 history of militant strike action, its role as France’s main transatlantic port, and the presence of a small colonial population with a narrow social-economic profile – and shows how these particularities resulted in the enactment and sometimes neglect of national policies and agendas according to specific local priorities.     

War Leaves an Enduring Legacy in Combatants’ Lives

The memory of combat experience endures in World War II veterans. As veterans age, traumatic memory that previously may have been suppressed in the busyness of family and everyday life can re-emerge. Combat stress may affect not only the veterans, but also those people closely associated with them. Interviews were conducted with World War II veteran aircrew, wives, children, grandchildren, siblings, and friends to examine the impact of combat experience on the veterans and the family across the life course from the perspectives of the various participants. The combat experience significantly affected the life course of most.     

The Historical Development of Family Budget Standards in Britain,from the 17th Century to the Present

This article reviews the British tradition of research into household budget standards and describes a rich history of theoretical and methodological innovation in the social sciences. The origins of this enterprise lie in hypothetical family budget calculations made by political arithmeticians investigating living standards in the 1600s. Systematic budget inquiries emerge in England in the 1790s and by the end of the 19th century, normative standards are applied to determine lines of poverty across sections of British society. The first ‘scientific’ study to do this was conducted in England in 1912, local budget surveys flourish here until after the Second World War; by which time poverty researchers were abandoning them, turning instead to the data which was becoming available from national government surveys of family income and expenditure. Towards the close of the century, however, we see researchers trying to escape some of the circularity posed by family spending, which is, after all, constrained by household income. New and competing methods for determining household budget standards emerge before a groundbreaking inquiry attempts to establish a consensus in the field of minimum income standards research.     

新西兰参加英布战争的原因、表现与影响

爆发于1899年至1902年结束的英布战争是一场具有多重意义的世纪之战,它不仅改变了英国的海外扩张格局和布尔人及南非的命运,也对参战国产生了深刻影响。出于与英国的特殊关系、自身安全的需要、对南非政局判断的偏差以及国内反战力量薄弱等方面的因素,新西兰成为第一个参战的英殖民地国家,并从军事、医疗、教育和物资保障等方面积极援助英国。新西兰的参战及其表现导致其国内的爱国主义思想空前高涨、妇女社会地位明显提高,与英国的关系却日趋疏远,直至彻底自治独立。     

Benefit ‘Myths’? The Accuracy and Inaccuracy of Public Beliefs about the Benefits System

There is a widespread assumption by academics and commentators that negative public attitudes to the benefits system are due to ‘myths’ held by the British public. However, there is little research on whether the public believe these ‘myths’, nor critical scrutiny of benefit ‘truths’. This article therefore investigates what British people believe about the benefits system, and the extent to which these beliefs can be regarded as correct. To do this, we use 46 measures from 18 datasets (including British Social Attitudes, the European Social Survey, Eurobarometer, and surveys by YouGov and Ipsos MORI made available for academic study for the first time), and compare these perceptions to true figures obtained from a variety of sources. We find that – against expectations – there are some areas where the public are (on average) relatively accurate (e.g. the share of the population who currently claim out‐of‐work benefits). Yet overall, our evidence shows that the British public have low levels of understanding of the benefits system, primarily in ways that seem likely to undermine public support. People wildly overestimate unemployment benefits compared to pensions, the value of unemployment benefits, and misperceive trends in claims. While it is difficult to know the true level of benefit fraud exactly, the public overestimate fraud compared to any reasonable figure. We conclude by discussing the implications for both understanding and changing attitudes towards benefits.     

Peasants and Swedes: the making of a Habsburg nightmare in Early Modern Austria

The analysis of confessional conflict in early modern Austria has often focused on nobles and townspeople. To get the full picture, however, it is essential to integrate the rural core into the analysis. In the Habsburg domains, the dynasty’s resolve to uphold or subsequently re-establish the old faith antagonized large sectors of the populace. This occurred in the early phase of the Reformation, when a broad diversity of reformist thought influenced peasant activism. Yet it also returned at a later stage of Austrian confessionalization, when a reinvigorated church and dynasty had begun to roll back the advances of the new creed. During its final period in the midst of the Thirty Years’ War, Austrian peasants even sympathized with the Habsburgs’ international adversaries, personified above all by Sweden’s King Gustavus II Adolphus. These confrontations between monarchy and commoners form the centrepiece of this essay. By demonstrating both the potential and the limits of peasant agency, the article throws new light on the nature of Austrian society during the confessional era.     

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Canadian implementation efforts for indigenous children and youth

Since playing the role of co-host at the 1990 World Summit for Children in New York, Canada has promoted the adoption of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child at home and abroad. What impact has this unprecedented international human rights document had on Canadian First Nations, Inuit and other Aboriginal groups? This paper looks at Canada's implementation of this UN Convention, and specifically at Canadian initiatives for indigenous children and youth. The Indian Act, upon which the Canadian government has based its control over Aboriginals since 1876, is explained. Five national organizations representing various Aboriginal perspectives have reviewed the federal government's efforts to honour the World Summit's‘First Call for Children,’ and the emergent issues for at-risk children's programming on- and off-reserve are reviewed. The‘best interests of the child’ ideology that has guided the developed world's notions of children's rights has evolved in a cultural and value-laden context that must now be left for indigenous social scientists, children and youth around the globe to decide for themselves.     

New Zealanders returning from overseas: how their experiences of xenophobia could help us respond to superdiversity

ABSTRACT

This article draws on qualitative interview data with 42 New Zealanders returning to New Zealand after living overseas, finding they feel more like a ‘migrant’ than someone coming ‘home’. This is in part because New Zealand people and institutions demonstrate an intolerance to difference, theorised here as a form of xenophobia that inhibits the economic, social and political integration of participants. However, the same experiences and ideas that lead many New Zealanders to frame returnees as an ‘out-group’ can be regarded as a national resource. The article concludes that we should embrace – not ignore or disparage – returnees' awareness of integration issues, transnational networks and cross-cultural experiences as we attempt to maintain social cohesion in an increasingly superdiverse world.     

Ethical values and social change: Mahatma Gandhi,Martin Luther King,Jr. and Ahn Chang Ho

Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ahn Chang Ho exemplify the leaders who brought social change by applying their belief in non-violence and love of humanity to the accomplishment of their respective goals. Gandhi’s goal was securing India’s independence from British colonialism, and King’s was to rid America from racial segregation. Irony about England and the US was that they had a long history of commitment to human rights and democracy. Hence, Gandhi and King’s struggle for justice focused on reminding their adversaries of their hypocrisy, a gulf between their commitment and actions. Ahn had to deal with Japanese colonialists, who had little respect for and commitment to human rights and civil liberties. Ahn’s job was, therefore, more complicated than Gandhi’s or King’s. Ahn insisted that for the Koreans to achieve their political independence from Japan, they must build their inner strength first, and do this by self-cultivation of moral and ethical values. Building moral and ethical strength ought to also accompany receiving modern education, acquiring marketable skills, and building financial resources. At the same time he condoned the militant approach to the Korean independence movement, as necessary. Ahn was a complex figure, a blend of a moralist, a strategist, and a pragmatist.     

The proof of the pudding: What difference does multi‐agency working make to families with disabled children with complex health care needs?

More than 20 years of research with disabled children, young people and their families has highlighted the need for the different professionals and services that support them to work more closely together. The British policy and legal framework for ‘joined up working’ has never been stronger. However, there has been an assumption that multi‐ or inter‐agency working will inevitably be a ‘good thing’ for families. This paper discusses findings from a 3‐year research project which looked at both the process and impact of multi‐agency working on families with a disabled child with complex health care needs. Interviews with 25 parents and 18 children and young people who used six developed, multi‐agency services were carried out. Findings suggested that the services had made a big difference to the health care needs of disabled children but were less able to meet the wider needs of the child and the family – particularly in relation to social and emotional needs. Multi‐agency working appeared to make some positive, but not significant, differences to the lives of families.     

‘Gypsies’ in Fascist Italy: from expelled foreigners to dangerous Italians

Italian research on the persecution of Rom and Sinti under Fascism is still incomplete (in terms of exploitation of the archival sources) and marginal (in terms of the national academic context). This article analyses new sources for the development and application of anti-Gypsy policy during the Fascist era. The central focus is on developments in the new border provinces of Venezia Giulia and Venezia Tridentina, acquired from the Habsburg Empire at the end of the First World War. As a result of the transfer of sovereignty over the resident populations, the nationality status of ‘Gypsies’ had to be addressed, while the significant presence of Rom and Sinti communities in those territories challenged the symbolic meaning they had for the Fascist regime. The outcome was that Fascism marked ‘Gypsies’ as both ‘undesirable foreigners’ and ‘dangerous Italians’, thereby creating a dual rationale for placing them in police confinement and interning them after Italy’s entrance into the war. An approach that combines archival research and field work with Sinti and Rom reveals the transformations, continuities and contradictions in the categorization of ‘Gypsies’. This article thus presents a case study of the place of social and geographical margins in the construction of the nation state.     

＂Who Are We？＂ Woodrow Wilson,the First World War and the Reshaping of America＇s National Identity

在美国崛起为世界大国的新形势下，威尔逊借助美国卷入大战和实施战争动员这一难得的时机，通过重新阐释美国的传统与特性以及利用德国作为“他者”与美国相对照，成功地使美国的自我形象与国际角色从19世纪的“共和榜样”和“自由典范”转换为“自由卫士”和“世界领袖”。威尔逊对国家身份的重塑不仅有助于当时的战争动员，而且解决了美国踏上世界舞台后的角色困惑与身份危机，为崛起的美国确立了长远的国家政策走向。他对美国理想、角色和命运的创造性阐释主导了美国人对自己国家存在意义以及美国与世界关系的理解，成为20世纪美国最有影响力的外交政策话语，对美国外交产生深远的影响。     

Journey through the ‘Gate of Zion’: British policy,Jewish refugees and the La Spezia Affair, 1946

ABSTRACT

This article explores the case of ‘illegal’ immigration at the end of the Second World War and, specifically, the events that unfolded at the Italian port of La Spezia. In April 1946, 1014 visa-less Jewish refugees, who were attempting to reach the British Mandate of Palestine, were detained on a vessel by Italian authorities under the instruction of the British. Rather than conceding to Whitehall’s rejection of entry visas, the Spezia refugees remained defiant, threatening collective mass-suicide and staging hunger strikes until passage was finally granted. The Spezia narrative has, however, remained on the periphery of academic scholarship, with the case of the ship Exodus 1947, which set sail the following year, dominating historiographical accounts. This article demonstrates the impact of the La Spezia Affair on post-war migratory movements and, most notably, the importance of refugee agency within the context of forced migration. Analysing the events at La Spezia from the port itself recasts the narrative through a ‘local’ lens, recovering the role of the refugees which has been largely overshadowed by state-level responses. In so doing, traditional perspectives from ‘above’ are confronted with those from ‘below’, reconfiguring our historical understanding of refugees and transnational migration in the twentieth century.     

Play streets: women,children and the problem of urban traffic, 1930–1970

This article explores women’s participation in campaigns for urban play streets in England c.1930–1970. Concentrating on activities in ‘traditional’ terraced streets, it argues that working-class street sociability was strongly connected to children’s play and that rising levels of traffic were beginning to threaten this before the Second World War, feeding growing anxieties over the high rate of road accidents to children. One response to this from the 1930s was a series of local experiments aimed at separating traffic from children (a radical alternative to the more usual response of keeping children away from traffic) through the creation of ‘play streets’, closed to traffic for much of the day. The idea was taken up by national government and became popular in post-war decades, often due to the efforts of local women to defend the public life of their communities. The growing controversy over the introduction and maintenance of play streets from the 1960s shows women struggling to maintain traditional street sociability against the gathering power of business interests and rising car ownership in the period.     

斐济的民族主义与种族冲突——1987年斐济军事政变的起因分析

由于历史原因和英国殖民统治时期的"分而治之"政策,斐济国内两大种族之间的矛盾和冲突十分尖锐,最终导致了1987年的两次军事政变。个中缘由众多,但在笔者看来,"二战"后民族主义的勃兴以及两大种族之间长期以来的矛盾与冲突,是造成该国政治冲突的根本原因。斐济应摒弃对土著斐济人优越地位的维护,放弃简单的二分法,加快民主进程,重新定义"斐济人"的概念,以缓解政治冲突。     

Warriors and Healers: Preparing for Returning Veterans

Despite its ideological differences, social work has had a long history of affiliation with the military. In 1918, the Smith College School for Social Work was established to respond to the mental health needs of “shell‐shocked veterans.” In 2008, the School renewed this commitment by sponsoring a three‐day conference aimed at preparing social workers to respond to the new and complex needs of veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. A joint planning process effectively developed a program that helped military and civilian social workers gain insight into the impact of multiple deployments, traumatic brain disorder, post‐traumatic stress disorder and other factors present in today’s new military culture.     

The 'Dole or Drudgery' Dilemma: Education, the Work Ethic and Unemployment

Before the recession, Labour ministers claimed that much unemployment in the UK was voluntary. While social policy authors have repeatedly countered such claims by stressing that unemployed people generally possess a strong work ethic and employment commitment, their accounts typically neglect the role that choosiness in job search behaviour plays in deciding individuals' employment status. Fifty in‐depth interviews with both unemployed and employed respondents exposed considerable diversity in attitudes towards ‘dole’ (being unemployed and claiming unemployment benefits) and ‘drudgery’ (doing less attractive jobs). The more educated were more likely to prefer ‘dole’ to ‘drudgery’ (this was also found using National Child Development Study survey data), yet they usually found jobs despite their greater choosiness. Those with very low educational attainment often desperately wanted jobs but could not find them due to their low employability – which might offer an explanation for the often replicated (yet paradoxical) finding that unemployed people generally exhibit a strong work ethic and pro‐employment attitudes and behaviours. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the scope for many Jobseeker's Allowance claimants to increase their net income by undertaking an unattractive job is greater than social policy authors often imply. The question of ‘who must do the least attractive jobs?’ has been neglected by both social policy academics and policy‐makers.     

Latin America and the crisis (points for the balance of a decade)

The decade of the 1980s was catastrophic for the countries of Latin America because of profound transformations in the world economy, which started in the 1970s, the wilting of the state development programs that were imposed after World War II, and the collapse of socialism with the incipient transition to market economies. The crisis started because of the erosion of the world economic system as constituted under the Bretton Woods agreement; the drastic drop in the economic growth of market economies; the increased costs of living and the deterioration of the environment; the decrease in industrial capacity; and the emergence of transnationalization of production. In Latin America, the economic models that had been in place without solving underdevelopment became even more obsolete (import substitution, internal trade, and the role of the state). The crisis of socialism and the rapprochement of eastern European countries to western Europe also affected Latin America (e.g., Germany cancelled 30 mine exploration projects in Bolivia due to investments in East Germany). The structural readjustment policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank resulted in currency devaluations, redistribution of government funds, elimination of various subsidies, reduction of public debt and social expenditures, reduction of public employment, and payment of external debt. The result was more inflation (in Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, and Argentina, inflation rates were 683.7%, 157.1%, 100.1%, and 326.2%, respectively, between 1980 and 1986), unemployment, and poverty in the lost decade of the 1980s. After 1982, state expenditures on roads, education, hospitals, and nutrition declined by 40% in Mexico. Even though most countries returned to democracy in the region, this was at the cost of the increased role of the military and the transnationals. The grand parties collapsed and in Venezuela, Mexico, and Colombia authoritarian tendencies survived into the 1970s degrading democracy. The states' socioeconomic regulatory role has to be redefined.