Understanding Procrastination

Procrastination is frustrating. Because the procrastinator's frustration is self‐imposed, procrastination can also be quite puzzling. I consider attempts at explaining, or explaining away, what appear to be genuine cases of procrastination. According to the position that I propose and defend, genuine procrastination exists and is supported by preference loops, which can be either stable or evanescent.     

Understanding localism

These two special issues of Policy Studies investigate various aspects of localism and draw insights from a broad range of different academic disciplines; which illustrates how ubiquitous the issue has become, both in the academy and in political discourse, particularly in the UK and increasingly in Australia. In this introduction, we begin by outlining three different types of localism – managerial, representative and community – which have underpinned both debates in the area and policy developments, before outlining our definition of the term. Subsequently, we introduce the theoretical and empirical contributions that this issue makes to understanding localism in Westminster-style democracies.     

Understanding Collective Hatred

Few days after the tragic events of September 11, Osama bin Laden invited President George W. Bush to convert to Islam. This article explores this fantasmatic "conversion offer" in order to demonstrate the hidden workings of collective hatred and its ambivalent mechanisms. Based on previous work (Yanay, 1989, 1995, 1996), this article claims that collective hatred signifies a failure to mediate between similarity and difference, closeness and separation, isolation and connectedness, at the same time that national and religious groups aspire to be included and be recognized as part of humanity.     

Understanding and Preventing Burn-Out

Please address reprint requests to Professor C. Zastrow, Department of Social Welfare, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 800 West Main Street, Whitewater, WI 53190, USA. Summary This article defines burn-out and describes its symptoms andcauses. Burn-out is conceptualized as being one of the reactionsto high levels of stress. Strategies to prevent and treat burn-outare presented.     

The Act of Understanding

Summary Attention is drawn to experience that much social work has beenundertaken on a base of common sense, personal intuition andfeelings that the client's situation has been 'understood'.Medical, sociological and psychological sources for theory whichhave given status to objectivity and implicitly deterministicways of thinking are criticized as sometimes contrary to usefulunderstanding and not supportive to constructive change. Itis claimed that a goal of social work theory should be to disciplinethe 'understanding' which exists in the practice and it is suggestedthat this might be based upon the investigation of the meaningwhich people give to the world in which they live and to theirself within that world. This phenomenologkal approach placessubjectivity and the role of the self-concept at the focus ofattention. As a working philosophy it incorporates the formativeinfluences of past experiences whilst also asserting the primacyof the person who may impose a new significance upon both thosepast events and his immediate situation. It is claimed thatsuch an approach might be the source of a discipline which couldrelate more intimately than hitherto the theory and good practiceof all concerned with social welfare and social change.     

领悟马克思的解释学哲学理论

从某种意义上说,马克思哲学就是一种解释学哲学理论.在这一理论领域,马克思不仅先于狄尔泰完成现代方法论解释学的创立,而且先于海德格尔完成解释学的本体论转变,同时,贯穿马克思一生理论活动的是他独特的批判解释学.因此,在谈论解释学这一哲学理论时,马克思是一个无法绕过去的名字.     

Understanding disaster warning responses

When threatened with some type of disaster, how do people respond? What are the social factors that constrain their responses? Receiver characteristics, message characteristics, and social contexts are explained and related to variations in disaster warning responses. Finally, two components of a vision for the future are described: (1) disaster event taxonomies, and (2) implemented social policies.     

Understanding long-term environmental risks

How well we manage long-term environmental risks depends on how well we understand them. Whether the risk managers are experts or laypeople, that understanding is typically limited. As a result, people must rely on judgment when making decisions about risks. Estimating how big risks are and how much reducing them is worth is an intellectual skill. After reviewing the behavioral principles that govern how people acquire such skills, this article offers several proposals for facilitating learning abut risks by improving the ways in which scientific data are created or presented. It also describes some pitfalls facing attempts to determine the quality of other people's understanding of risks, whether through direct study or more casual observation.Preparation of this article was supported by National Science Foundation Grant SES-8846459. It is gratefully acknowledged. The opinions expressed are those of the author.     

认识中国的不平等

摘要：基于以往的研究,作者在本文中进一步提出了以下命题：（1）中国的不平等很大程度上受到一些集体机制的影响,例如区域和单位;（2）传统中国的政治意识形态助长了以业绩为基础的不平等,业绩被认为能够促进民众的集体福利;（3）目前很多中国人认为不平等是经济发展的一种不可避免的后果。有鉴于此,作者认为,社会不平等的问题本身在当今中国不太可能造成政治和社会的不稳定。     

Understanding Canonical Discriminant Function Analysis

The intent of this paper is to explain nonmathematically the appropriate use and interpretation of canonical discriminant function analysis. The two primary purposes for which this multivariate statistical technique are employed are elucidated as (1) exploratory dimension-reduction, and (2) the testing of typological hypotheses. A heuristic discussion of the technique is provided emphasizing applied rather than theoretical issues presented via an empirical question relevant to social work. A detailed explanation of how the question was answered is provided in a discussion of the output from the SPSSx statistical package. Throughout the paper, the advantages and disadvantages of doing a discrminant function analysis on both SPSSx and SAS are explicated by an ongoing comparison of each package's features.     

Understanding risk and regulatory reform

There are few areas in regulation likely to cause more controversy than where risk, science and politics collide. While the case of Thalidomide shows that it is by no means an exclusively recent concern, David Vogel’s work confirms that it is an enduring theme of contemporary debate. Vogel has maintained that, while the American regulatory regime of the 1960s and 1970s may have been intensely contested, its European counterpart now displays significant similarities, so that the “Tortoise has now caught up with the Hare”. This article challenges such a view, suggesting that he has overstated the role of Precaution in European regulation, where it is qualified by other regulatory principles (BATNEEC, Proportionality and Subsidiarity) that embrace other socially valued objectives: economic growth, technological innovation and employment. Moreover, while the rhetoric of European regulation may evoke a concern with the role of science in regulation (often at the cutting edge, where precaution demands the evidentiary bar to intervention is lowered) in practise, its role (through risk assessments) has ensured that it is elevated.     

"代表"的概念理解

代表理论是政治学重要的理论之一.本文从代表概念的内部元素以及代表同民主的外部关系两方面对代表概念进行考察,并探讨了代表理论发展过程中出现的矛盾与问题.基此,作者认为,我们需要对民主代表制而非代议制民主进行反思.     

论傅立叶对人的存在理解

傅立叶社会哲学在社会主义思想史上独树一帜.他批判当时各种社会思潮,转向人的生活领域,开启了社会主义对人的存在研究的先河;他对于人的存在研究,突出了人的意义和价值,彰显了人的批判、超越的维度;尊重个性差异,力图在和谐社会中实现个人自由.这些思想对于当前社会主义和谐社会建设具有借鉴意义.     

My Understanding of Marxist Philosophy

OneofthefocalpointsinphilosophycirclesincontemporaryChinaishowtounderstandMarxistphilosophy.LuJianjiesummarizesthethreeapproachestointerpretingMarxistphilosophyincontemporaryChinainhis"AConfirmationof'PracticalMaterialism'inModernandContemporaryPracticeinChina."1Theseinterpretationsaremadeintermsofdialecticmaterialism,practicalmaterialism,andpracticalhumanism.ThistopicisalsodiscussedinarticiesbyZhengYouxian,YuWujinandWangJinfu.2InthisarticleIwouldliketoexpressmyownviewsonthesubject.(1)…     

Understanding and Representing Human Services Knowledge

Expert systems-computerized decision consultants-offer potential for human service professionals to share expertise and reduce variability in decision making. The development of such systems is particularly important in the field of child protection because of high staff turnover and complex decision making requirements. This paper presents a method for knowledge acquisition in building a prototype expert system in child welfare. Patterns of decision making are traced and translated into computer-based rules. Solutions to research problems in developing expert systems are presented. Continued refinement of research practice in this area can lead to the development of usable expert systems for the social services.     

Understanding the Harm of Hate Crime

This article provides an overview of the context and content of this issue devoted to hate crime. Working definitions of hate crime and hate speech are situated within the broader context of intergroup relations, prejudice, aggression, and law and social policy. Theory and research from social psychology, criminology, and legal studies are utilized to describe this context. We present summaries of the multidisciplinary contributions to this issue and note how these articles emphasize the origins of hate crime, the harm that it creates, and victims' and society's response to hate crime. They also highlight tensions between the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. Finally, we note the interrelationships among these contributions and discuss the policy implications that arise from their analyses.     

Three Approaches to Understanding Self-Help Groups

With the increasing importance of self-help groups, professionals need to augment their understanding of how groups work in order to help clients make effective use of them. Three conceptual frameworks-social networks, social learning and cognitive theory-explain the basic psychosocial processes of self-help groups. Practice implications indicate how clients can benefit from self-help groups and suggest how professionals might enable their clients to realize the full benefits of participation in them.