Shards of the old looking glass: restoring the significance of identity in promoting positive outcomes for looked‐after children

There is a driving force within current UK child welfare policies which promotes a strengths led approach to both assessment and care planning for children in need. Social policy emphasizes the importance of tangible outcomes such as education achievement, which have been enshrined in statute. However, other developmental outcomes, such as identity, are subordinated. Notwithstanding the relevance of these more concrete indicators, this paper suggests that this focus has left a gap at theoretical, strategic and operational levels relating to more psychosocial aspects of human growth and development, such as identity. This paper seeks to redress that gap by considering identity as both a process and an outcome. Following a review of the literature on identity development, it presents an analysis of semi‐structured interviews with 13 young people and their social workers. The findings show how young people's identity is shaped by their relationships, can be a protective mechanism, and deferred or put on standby. In the concluding discussion the implications for social work practice are highlighted.     

上下级政府间“考核检查”与“应对”过程的组织学分析——以A县“计划生育”年终考核为例

中国基层政府执行国家政策或上级指令过程中一个普遍的组织现象是,上级对下级工作进行频繁的检查或考核,而下级政府采取各种手段、策略来应对。本文以华中地区某农业县2007年度计划生育年终考核为例,试图从组织学角度分析、解读这一检查与应对过程,尤其关注基层政府应对上级政府的各种策略。本文认为,这些非正式组织行为的普遍存在和重复再现常常导致自上而下考核检查的失败,究其根源,主要是组织结构、组织设计的不合理,尤其是监督制度、激励制度与组织目标、政治环境等方面的不兼容和内在矛盾。     

Growth management in Maricopa County, 1988–1992: An application of Kindgon's agenda setting model

This is a case of growth management activities of Maricopa County, Arizona, the metropolitan-Phoenix area, between 1988 and 1992. It tests Kingdon's three stream model of agenda setting as an analytical approach to explaining the development of regional governance. Growth planning is a controversial topic in Maricopa County. The region contains numerous, fiercely independent local jurisdictions; competition between the private and public sectors for control of the growth planning process; and a growth-fueled economy. Some successes in regional growth planning occurred, but political forces constrained full regional governance. Longer term assessment of growth planning in Maricopa County needs to go beyond Kingdon's model and case study analysis.     

A comparison of models for strategic planning,risk analysis and risk management

Summary Risks, uncertainties in firms and their environment are increasingly dealt with strategic planning, risk analysis and risk management. The present state of strategic planning enables us to consider the greatest part of internal and environmental risks mainly qualitatively - due to the fact that the majority of planning models used are of a deterministic type.The application of CAPM in strategic planning could take risks into account explicitly and maximize the expected value of the firms' common stock. Linked to a corporate simulation model or a DSS it could generate a series of values for the expected rate of return, its standard deviations as well as other output variables important for the management. The difficulties of the use of CAPM are numerous but an attempt to optimize the value of the firm would be a big step in developing new powerful instruments for evaluating the economic consequences of alternative strategies. The problems of CAPM lead to the considerations of the application of stochastic programming in strategic planning. For special cases solution methods can be developed and applied. The implementation of the Decision Support System in strategic planning could help to find the best decision in an interactive way - as suggested in this paper for the case of strategic marketing planning. DSS renders the consideration of other factors relevant to strategic decisions possible; businesses need not be reduced to portfolio terms. The limitations of CAPM, stochastic programming and the difficulties of the implementations of DSS for strategic planning could be partially avoided through the concept of Risk Management. On this concept strategic planning represents only one instrument of Risk Management and is a powerful tool of risk identification. In this paper the other instruments have been shortly demonstrated for the cases of product reliability and risks in relation with foreign countries. The development of new instruments for special cases (e.g., siting problems, specific strategic decisions, etc.), the considerations of risk behavior in individual, group and inter-organizational or even international decision making are now the main topics in the urgent task of research in risk management.     

江苏省区域经济落差原因与苏中苏北协调发展的路径思考

江苏区域经济由南向北产生阶梯式落差,尤其苏北远远落后于苏南。究其原因,区位优势和区域经济基础是形成发展落差的重要因素,而区域文化、传统观念、思维定势是形成落差的主要因素。应立足实际、发挥优势、整合资源、统一规划、综合开发,有效开辟区域经济发展新途径,创建区域经济发展新模式,促进苏中苏北经济快速协调发展。     

Regional Welfare System Developments in Russia:Community Social Services

Micro-level studies of welfare service developments are largely absent from the literature on Russian social policy issues, which tends to concentrate on macro-level social security arrangements. This paper highlights the emergence of community-based social services in the post-1991 era, examining their development in two provincial Russian cities, based on an empirical study carried out in 1998. The paper adds to a growing literature which seeks to understand "welfare systems" from the perspective of welfare services as opposed to a social security or policy-based approach. It takes a user-group perspective on the services by looking at their use by, and relevance for, disabled children regarded as having learning difficulties, and their families. The empirical data indicate the shape of "new" services in the field sites, the means by which such institutions were maintained and their integration into the welfare sphere as a whole. Their development and maintenance at the local level is explained in part by socio-economic, political and administrative factors in these regions. By highlighting the various factors that help to maintain welfare provision and drive change at the local level, the case studies indicate the possible shape of future welfare developments in Russia as a whole.     

Child involvement in treatment planning and assessment in Israel

What can facilitate at‐risk children's involvement in treatment planning and assessment? We examine this question by investigating the perceptions, attitudes, and characteristics of Israeli social workers. We examine whether their seniority, views on the importance of children's participation, and their attitudes toward parents are related to their report of at‐risk children's involvement in treatment planning and placement decisions. At‐risk children's involvement includes preparing them to appear before the committees that handle placement decisions for youth and the social workers' willingness to consider children's opinions. Eighty coordinators of these committees in social services departments in Israel participated. Our findings indicate that, based on the coordinators' answers, at‐risk children are more likely to be involved in treatment planning and assessment committees when the child protection officers prepare parents prior to participating in the committee meetings, and when the coordinators assigned the case are more senior. The influence of children's opinions on the decisions of the committees was predicted by the weight their parents' opinions carried and whether their parents received any relevant materials prior to the committee meetings. Our findings highlight the importance of involving parents in treatment planning and assessment committees' decision making.     

中国绩效管理的实践特点与理论价值(英文)

中西方国家政府绩效管理在宏观环境、制度基础、功能定位等方面存在着诸多差异,政府绩效管理的价值定位、指标体系、实施机制等要素也不尽相同。我国各地政府在实施绩效管理的实践中,借鉴西方绩效管理的经验,又不单纯停留在制度移植与照搬层面,而是着眼于我国经济社会发展、人文环境、政府改革现状等实际,立足比较、反思与超越的眼界,建设体现中国国情的中国式绩效管理模式,以积极推进政府管理改革事业。基于政府绩效管理中西方之间经验的比较,分析中国特色的政府绩效管理的实质和理论价值,可以发现这是一种新模式,即创效式绩效管理模式,这一模式涵括的体制、机制、功能、辅助性创效等内在结构是完善的,其未来发展路径还有待深入探讨。     

对我国土地行政管理体制的思考

目前中国正处在经济高速发展、城市化和工业化突飞猛进的时期，非农用地的需求不可避免将进一步增长。不仅国家粮食安全、生态安全、保证建设用地需求与耕地有关，其他一系列社会问题也在耕地转移的过程中反映出来。面对诸如此类的问题．土地行政管理如不能统筹各种关系，就会陷入顾此失彼的境地，一切症结也正在于此。这里主要谈一下“统筹城乡协调发展”和“统筹一要吃饭，二要建设”两个关键问题。     

Preparation and planning for face‐to‐face contact after adoption: the experience of adoptive parents in a UK study

Whilst there is a general international trend towards more open adoption, there is considerable variation between agencies in the extent to which they are prepared to support different forms of contact arrangements. Agencies have a pivotal role to play in decisions about contact and early planning that is integrated into the assessment and preparation of prospective adopters is fundamental to its success. This paper reports on adoptive parents' experiences of the process of preparation and planning for direct, face‐to‐face contact. During preparation, agencies were clearly getting the message across to prospective adopters about the importance of contact for the child's well being. However, insufficient attention was directed at helping adopters to anticipate their feelings towards birth relatives and their responses to the kinds of management issues that might arise after adoption. There was considerable variation in the extent to which adopters were involved in the process of planning detailed contact arrangements, and this seemed to bear relevance on the success or otherwise of subsequent contact arrangements.     

A children's space? Participation in multi‐agency early intervention

The common assessment framework provides a model of early intervention, which is familiar in local authorities throughout England, and asserts a participatory framework of child and family engagement. This article draws on data from a research project undertaken in 1 local authority in the Midlands of England, to explore the experiences of children, young people, and their families, who were engaged in the process of multi‐agency early intervention. The article considers the young people's involvement, including their accounts of attending common assessment framework meetings, and their engagement by practitioners. The research found that young people's participation was limited. The findings suggest that this is, in part, a response to disciplinary discourses around schooling and attendance. In addition, the narratives of parents and young people showed that under‐resourcing of work with young people meant that the time taken to build relationships and engage them in a process of self‐assessment, planning, and decision making was constrained and rationed. The article concludes that to achieve a participatory children's space, an active and more engaged model of childhood needs to be facilitated by practitioners and parents outside the school‐dominated space found in this study.     

Community care for adults with severe mental disorders in rural China: A case study

In China, family care is the dominant form of care for people with mental disorders. Since 2004, the government has been developing a community‐care model that places more responsibility on community organisations and the local governments at the provincial, municipal and county levels for the provision of formal care. As a large number of people with severe mental disorders live in rural China, this case study was conducted in a rural county in order to examine the development of community care. It was found that, although family care remains dominant, families’ need for formal care is increasing. Community services have improved, but their development is constrained by several contextual and micro factors. In this study, it is argued that the community‐care model introduces a process of reconfiguration of the relative responsibility for care among the family, social organisations and the government, but progress depends on further administrative and fiscal reforms.     

行政法的现实反映与价值追求

21世纪 ,在实现法制文明化、现代化这一历史进程中 ,包含一项重要内容 ,即行政法制现代化。中国行政法制现代化是一个长期的工程 ,需要以完善的行政法律规范为基础。完善的标准在于 :一是行政立法应满足社会的客观需要 ,反映新的经济关系 ,以实现行政法对经济发展的保障作用 ;二是行政法应体现和保障人民群众的民主权利 ,彰显民主、科学 ;三是行政法要协调好行政权与各种权力与权益的关系 ,在价值上达到社会公正理念。     

From administering administrative divisions to regional public administration： a game analysis of evolution in the pattern of governance by the government

区域公共管理实质上是政府治理方式上的制度变迁,即打破原有行政区行政的制度安排,重塑利益格局的制度演变过程。在这一过程中,始终贯穿着不同利益主体的博弈,从而最终形成新的制度——相关因素充分博弈后的契约格局。这些博弈关系主要包括中央政府与地方政府的博弈、地方政府之间的博弈等。对可能出现的博弈困境提出树立合作的“重复博弈”思维,建立良好的信息沟通以及双边或多边协商机制,进一步转变政府职能、斩断地方政府与社会经济主体的利益连带关系,强化中央政府的宏观调控职能,是建立区域公共管理制度、实现政府治理形态嬗变的有效引导性对策。     

北京近代警察制度之区划研究

北京近代警察制度从光绪二十七年 (190 1年 )开始尝试建立 ,经过近一个世纪的发展不断走向成熟。专业的警察机关逐步设立 ,城市警政架构不断完善。这一过程是北京城市现代化的重要组成部分。而北京警察制度现代化的另一个重要表现和作用就是引入了城市分“区”的概念。伴随着北京警察制度的发展变迁 ,“区”从最初的警务区划最终发展成为现代城市独立的行政单位。而地理空间的诸多因素在城市分区的过程中起了重要作用     

Inside the interdisciplinary team experiences of hospice social workers

Interdisciplinary teamwork is the foundation for the delivery of hospice care. This project interviewed 23 hospice social workers by telephone to explore their experiences with hospice team collaboration. Two research questions were explored: (1) What do social workers perceive as the strengths of interdisciplinary collaboration and (2) What are the challenges for social workers on interdisciplinary hospice teams? Participants identified issues related to team process, administrative processes, and barriers to effective team collaboration. Collaboration was said to be fostered by good communication, trust, roles, joint visitation, respect, team building activities, and administrative interest and support. Challenges to collaboration included large caseloads, a focus on the medical model, limited visits, personality and team conflict. Opportunities for improved collaboration between social workers and hospice team members exist through active evaluation of collaboration and strategic initiatives aimed at improving collaboration.     

Predicting chronic neglect: Understanding risk and protective factors for CPS‐involved families

Child neglect continues to receive less attention in research literature compared to other forms of maltreatment, despite accumulating evidence of serious negative impacts on child well‐being. Chronic neglect is also poorly understood. Although such cases comprise a relatively small percentage of workers' caseloads, they represent accumulation of harm that impacts the cognitive and social development of children. These cases can also disproportionately utilize protective service resources. This study contributes to the literature by examining risk and protective factors of chronic neglect. We utilized administrative data (N = 2,074) from a midsize city in the Northeast to examine the use of existing risk assessment tools to distinguish families with and without chronic neglect, including an analysis of the predictive capacity of risk and protective factors. We found that families with chronic neglect were younger, had more children, were more likely to have children under age one, and had higher rates of domestic violence, mental health problems, and cognitive impairment. None of the assessed protective factors differed significantly. The overall predictive value of the assessment was low. Implications include the need to expand risk assessment tools to incorporate patterns over time and identify early indicators specific to chronic neglect.     

The Application of Family Systems Theory to Geriatric Hospital Social Work

Integrating and applying Family Systems Theory principles into the assessment and treatment process of families of hospitalized high risk elderly is an area that has received little attention in health care literature. The multigenerational approach is a model that can be used as a clinical framework for guiding the social workers in developing intervention strategies when working with hospitalized high risk elderly and their families. This approach can be extended to clinical assessment techniques and psychosocial rationales for discharge planning. Three case examples are presented to illustrate how Family Systems Theory can be integrated into social work practice resulting in effective interventions for hospitalized high risk elderly and their families.     

Understanding Strategic Behavior： A Preliminary Analytical Framework

理解复杂的国家行为需要更为精细的战略行为研究。若要在研究上吐故纳新，应该突破当前的方法论瓶颈，充分利用多元的研究方法，探讨各变量之间的复杂相互作用，构建一个基本的分析框架。这首先需要将战略行为分为战略评估、战略决策、战略动员和战略执行四个阶段，然后需要厘清影响每个战略行为阶段的作用因素，并基本把握各种因素之间的相互作用。一个理解国家战略行为的初步框架将有助于推动战略行为研究的深入发展。     

Consultation,for a Change? Engaging Users and Communities in the Policy Process

The process of consultation has become integral to the development, implementation and evaluation of a raft of UK health and social policies. However, the current bewildering patchwork of area–based initiatives means that, in many localities, it is impossible to evaluate the outcomes of particular targeted initiatives, let alone make sense of local planning consultations, Best Value reviews and (multi–agency) service reviews which run concurrently. The cumulative effects of this consultation "overload" threaten to swamp both local authorities and their service users. Consul–tation is itself a crucial yet deeply problematic process. There is an official view which holds that an "old" model of consultation—often tokenistic and unrepresentative—is being replaced with a "new" one. This paper examines and challenges that view in relation to the key policy areas of housing, social services and policing. It also pays particular attention to, and problematizes, the notion of "hard–to–reach groups", which is so dominant in the discourse of consultation. The paper argues that developing appropriate tools and recognizing that consultation is a process—not an event—are essential starting points in addressing these problems. The next step is to reconcile the principles of both evidence–based policy and user–led services into a strategic (and "joined–up") framework. But, when all this is accomplished, we still need to question the political and fiscal contexts in which policy–making takes place and within which the process of consultation is itself bounded.