Women and the work of caring

In the U.S., care for chronically dependent people is done mostly by family and friends, with only sporadic community support. Though such unpaid caregiving work--the bulk of it performed by women--constitutes an enormous subsidy to the national welfare, the contribution is undervalued, and the negative practical consequences for caregivers seldom recognized.     

Family structures and the moral politics of caring

The paper seeks to develop the discussion of informal care in the community stimulated by feminist analyses in social policy of what has been called ‘the moral politics of caring’. In particular the paper enquires into the relationship between family structures and the ‘political styles’ through which families bargain about caring issues. A selection of studies dealing with family structure and decision-making are discussed. The paper closes by making some observations about the potential development of family therapy strategies, particularly by social workers trying to ensure the co-operation and involvement of family members, friends and neighbors in caring responsibilities within the new community care framework.     

Transforming finance for the future

Abstract

Significant changes in external market conditions have resulted in operations placing greater demands on the finance function. Traditional finance departments are increasingly expected to deliver more value and be more proactive in supporting the organization's overall business strategies. Unfortunately, many finance departments are not yet ready to meet such challenges. This article proposes a transformation process to reorganize present day finance functions to become a finance of the future. The proposed process applies tools such as best practices, outsourcing and technology to achieve a desired future outcome.     

Expanding transnational care networks: comparing caring for families with caring for homes

Although many factors may motivate a migrant to own a house in their country of origin, significant practical labour is needed to maintain it, as both a material structure intended for shelter and as a symbolic object reflecting attachment to a place of origin. Most research in this area focuses on the significance accorded to transnational houses by their owners and families connoted by the ‘myth of return’, but little attention has been given to how the labour of ownership – constructing, maintaining, overseeing and improving the house – is accomplished. In the light of emerging studies on the care labour that remittance houses require, this article suggests a theoretical framework for studying networks of transnational house maintenance on three dimensions of care – trust, communication, and remittances – observed in networks for transnational family care provisions. A review of literature on transnational home ownership indicates that these dimensions are also present, with some differences in application.     

Transforming Governmental Systems

Governmental as well as other public systems are facing new challenges due to, among other things, current information technology trends and changes in peoples’ lifestyles. Hence, ideas of web services for the citizens and agencies accessible over the net 24-hours per day are born. However, in order to implement this new type of net-based services a set of accessibility, integrity and security problems and hindrances are to be overcome. Further, the methodological challenges are far from unproblematic. Neither the artefact approach nor the approach of social systems design seems to be directly applicable. Instead, an approach called pragmatic systemics is proposed. At last, organizational transformation is not only a technical problem. Seen in a systemic perspective, the technological changes and the introduction of new artefacts have to be carefully balanced with changes in human competence, organizational structures, and system culture.     

Men, power and caring relationships

Power is a controversial subject. In this article we reject the notion that power is simply a matter of the exercise of control over others. Instead, we posit the view that power is a complex phenomenon which is constantly negotiated and renegotiated between social actors. We examine this idea by looking at men working as carers and consider how power is used in caring relationships through the use of case materials. Our analysis reveals that no one party to an interaction is either all powerful or all powerless. Taking this idea through into empowering practice means that carers need to create spaces in which people can exercise a greater sense of agency through their interaction with others.     

新型能源替代化石能源的有效途径——低碳燃料排放标准

一旦谈论起“能源安全”和“大气变化”,交通运输就是罪魁祸首,因为它消耗了世界上一半的石油,并造成将近1／4的温室气体排放。在美国情况则更为严重,交通运输消耗了2／3的石油,形成了1／3的温室气体排放。由于汽车、飞机、轮船几乎完全依赖石油,为了能源安全和防治空气污染,     

Creating caring institutions for community informatics

This paper explores the potential affordances of applying a feminist ethics of care approach to community informatics practices in public internet access facilities. As feminist technology scholars have long observed, technology and technoculture are strongly encoded as masculine, privileging traits such as scientific knowledge, rationality, objectivity, and distance. These characteristics are expressed in traditional infomediary practices in a variety of ways, including notions of expertise, ways of conceptualizing technology, emphasis on skills attainment, and deficit-based models of user behavior. In contrast, ethics of care emphasizes the importance of relational and situated knowledge, pluralistic voices and experiences, and relationships bound by mutual interdependence. Traditionally, caring has been feminized and thus necessarily excluded from technoculture and relegated to invisible and unpaid labor. Caring and associated affective labor practices remain an under-examined subject in infomediary practices. Public libraries and community technology centers are logical places to explore for care work, given that they share many characteristics of the spaces where care work has historically been performed. We argue that an ethics of care framework has several possible affordances for infomediary practices in these institutions, including highlighting the gendered power dynamics that define and shape existing practices; distributing care work and making existing care work visible; and envisioning a more holistic and ethical approach to engaging diverse publics. We translate Tronto’s seven warning signs for ‘bad care’ in institutions into seven positive guidelines for providing ‘good care’ in public internet access facilities, then contextualize these for community informatics institutions and practices.     

Supporting foster parents: caring voices

This article reports the responses of foster parents to a mailed questionnaire on the supports needed to maintain their caring role. An overarching finding was the need for respect and recognition, manifested in many ways, which appeared to be in short supply. In addition, the presence of several ambiguities in the relationships between agency, children in care, and the foster parents was revealed, requiring acknowledgment and discussion between the parties.     

Story sharing: restoring the reciprocity of caring in long-term care

Residents in long-term care facilities often experience an interruption in the reciprocity of caring, inadvertently cut off when they enter the unfamiliar surroundings of a residential health care system. This transition from the give and take of caring to being completely cared for often leads to a breakdown of meaning, a loss of identity, and loneliness. This article addresses how an intervention called story sharing can restore the reciprocity of caring. Beginning with a review of the significance and functions of storytelling and listening, a specific story sharing intervention-the mutual sharing of everyday experiences among nurse aides and the nursing home residents for whom they care-is described. The theoretical and practice implications of story sharing are discussed.     

The culture of gangs in the culture of the school

The complex relation between gangs and the schools in which they are found is explored in this paper. It is argued that gangs can exist quite well within the limits posed by the official school culture. How gangs relate to schools depends in no small way on the type of community from which they emerge. Under some circumstances the schools can soften or make worse the frequency and nature of gang activity that occurs in them.     

Measuring adequacy of child caring: further developments.

New testing of the Childhood Level of Living Scale offers evidence of its reliability in defining factors in child neglect.