Protection of the Right of Rural Girls to Receive an Education

Ⅰ.IntroductionInruralareas,therearealwaysmoregirlsthanboyswhodropoutofschool.Thismeansthatthereexistsadifferenceineducationbetweenruralboysandgirls,whichhasaveryadverseeffectonthewholelifeofthesegirls.Wethereforeconductedaninvestigationonthehighdropoutrateamongruralgirlsfromtheperspectiveoftheprotectionofruralgirls'righttoreceiveaneducation.Thereformsthatbeganinthe1ate1970shavebroughtaboutunprecedentedeconomicandsocialdevelopmentinChina.Wethereforeconductedourinvestigationagainstthebroaderba…     

Rolling with the shakes: an insight into teenagers’ perceptions of recovery after the Canterbury earthquakes

Natural disasters are harmful worldwide events that inflict multiple psychosocial impacts on disaster-exposed individuals. A significant proportion of affected individuals are teenagers (13–18 years old) who, compared with adults, have been historically overlooked in disaster research. The literature is particularly sparse concerning teenagers’ recovery from natural disasters, specifically what recovery means to them and the contributing factors towards their positive recovery. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to gain deeper insight into this largely unexplored area by conducting five focus groups with teenagers (16–18 years) who experienced at least one of the Canterbury, New Zealand, earthquakes since and including the initial September 2010 earthquake. This study directly asked teenagers about their recovery over the three years after the initial earthquakes, with data being analysed using thematic analysis. Two main themes were identified: (1) perceptions of recovery, with three sub-themes (i) knowledge and being less frightened, (ii) talking about the earthquakes and (iii) shift in perspectives; and (2) contributing factors to recovery, with three sub-themes (i) participation in the community response, (ii) returning to school and (iii) the rebuild of Christchurch. These factors provide insight into how we can better support the recovery process for disaster-exposed teenagers to reduce long-term distress.     

“Farewell to the Cold War”： the historical implications of China＇s normalizing its relations with the Soviet Union

从中国与冷战关系的角度看,中苏关系正常化的进程反映了中国对外政策逐步摆脱冷战时期形成的战略思维框架,以及中国决策层在改革开放中逐步形成和丰富起来的外交新理念。建国初期,中国领导人选择的发展战略是追随苏联的模式,对外政策则选择了“一边倒”与苏联结盟。经历了近三十年的动荡与波折,中国领导人终于提出了“中国特色的社会主义道路”,并选择了“独立自主的不结盟的和平外交”,这标志着自1950年代末以来,中国的国家发展战略与外交政策终于又一次实现了根本性的协调,其结果就是“告别冷战”。     

“Work Units” and the Commodification of Housing: Observations on the Transition to a Market Economy with Chinese Characteristics

Housin9Reforms:AWindowontheTransitiontoaMarketEconomvThe"workunits"phenomenonherereferstoworkers'dependenceontheirworkplaceorganizationstlnderaplannedeconomy(Walder,l986,l992;Bian,l994).Beforethereforms,urbanhousinginChina,whichwasbuiltbythestateandalloca…     

Negotiating the ‘state of exception’: Gypsies' encounter with the judiciary in Germany and Italy, 1860–1914

The tensions between judicial and executive authorities regarding so-called Gypsies in fin de siècle Germany and Italy reveals an inherent contradiction between the universalist dictates of the modern Rechtsstaat and the requirements of building a national state free of perceived outsiders. The frustration of executive authorities with judicial authorities who insisted on protecting the universalist individual enshrined in law pushed executive authorities to utilize the ‘state of exception' to achieve their vision of the national community. Rather than choosing to create illiberal laws that would expressly exclude Gypsies from the national body, and would resolve the tension with the judiciary, authorities in Germany and Italy instead chose to go around the law by treating Gypsies as an exception not subject to the law. The state of exception not only deprived those labelled as Gypsies of a method of resistance, since many were able to use unwilling courts to protect them from over-zealous executive authorities, but also created a group of stateless people, persecuted and lacking basic human rights.     

Rising to the Challenge of Treating OEF/OIF Veterans with Co‐occurring PTSD and Substance Abuse

This article reviews data on the relatively high incidence of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) veterans reporting mental health and substance abuse problems, and some perceived barriers that may account for low rates of their engaging in treatment. Treatment outcomes for veterans with co‐occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorder (SUD) are generally poorer than for those with PTSD or substance abuse alone. Several evidence‐based individual therapy approaches offered by VA Medical Centers are described along with how they conceptualize the relationship of substance abuse to PTSD. Problems with sequential treatment for persons with PTSD and substance abuse in specialized programs are discussed, including notably the practice of requiring veterans to be completely drug and alcohol free for a month or longer prior to entering PTSD treatment. Several integrated treatment programs are described along with a brief summary of evidence supporting their effectiveness. Some recent policy changes from the Department of Veterans Affairs that bode well for the future of PTSD/SUD treatment are described. Differences between younger and older veterans were cited along with their implications for treatment. Recommendations regarding how to better engage and retain OEF/OIF veterans with PTSD/SUD in treatment are presented together with examples of their implementation. The author concludes that to rise to the challenge of treating this difficult population it is necessary to adapt treatment to meet their needs rather than requiring them to adapt to therapies that may not be a good fit.     

A Pilot Randomized Trial of an Intervention to Enhance the Health-Promoting Effects of Older Adults’ Activity Portfolios: The Engaged4Life Program

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and outcomes of the Engaged4Life program, an intervention to encourage inactive community-dwelling older adults to embed physical activity, cognitive activity, and social interaction into their everyday lives in contexts that are personally meaningful and natural for them. Fifteen participants were randomized to the intervention group (technology-assisted self-monitoring of daily activity via pedometers and daily tablet-based surveys; psychoeducation + goal-setting via a 3-hour workshop; and peer mentoring via phone 2×/week for 2.5 weeks) and 15 to the control (technology-assisted self-monitoring only). Recruitment was shown to be feasible and efficient, but not able to reach the target for men. Retention rate was 83% and participants manifested high adherence and engagement with the intervention. Though this pilot trial was not powered to demonstrate significant differences between groups, daily steps increased by 431 (11% increase) from baseline to Week 4 for the intervention (p < .05), but decreased by 458 for the control, for a net difference of 889 steps (p < .05). Findings were sustained at Week 8 (p < .01). In a future trial, difficulties in recruiting men, barriers due to the technology-intensive design, and the optimization of secondary outcome measures should be addressed.     

How are policies implemented in children's services? Developing an initial programme theory to evaluate the implementation of the new Child Sexual Exploitation guidance in Wales

Although children's social care is an area rich in guidance, there is very little research looking at the implementation of new policies in the United Kingdom. In this article, we report on the first stage of a realist evaluation of the implementation of the new Safeguarding Children from Child Sexual Exploitation guidance in Wales. We discuss the development of an initial programme theory, for which we conducted semi-structured interviews with practitioners and managers in three local authorities. We developed programme theories across three areas: policy nature and development, implementation plans and organizational context. Findings suggest that, for policies to produce a significant impact on practice, they need to be sufficiently different to social workers' current perceptions of practice. Second, we found that the coordination between national and local policies is critical for successful implementation as contradictions between them might lead to confusion in what local teams should prioritize. Finally, our findings highlight the importance of effective communication of policy changes, as well as a supportive organizational culture to strengthen implementation in local contexts. These findings illustrate the complexity of policy implementation and the need for policymakers to consider the meaningful involvement of local practitioners in national policy development.     

Transcending Hukou Barriers Effectively Unleashes the Income-Raising Effect of Education:Based on an “Agricultural to Non-agricultural Hukou Conversion” Perspective

The relatively low rate of return to education has played an important role in explaining the urban-rural income disparity. However, rural residents have a high demand for education, and one significant reason is that education can help them break the restrictions of the household registration(hukou) system and obtain a higher income. Using data from the 2017 China Household Finance Survey(CHFS 2017), this study employs unconditional quantile regression to find that after reclassifying individua...     

Using a Group Work Practice Standards Inventory to Assess the Impact of a “Social Work Practice with Groups” Course

This article describes the design and delivery of a group work course that has as its primary purpose the meeting of group work practice standards. This multisection course uses a common course syllabus and a team approach to ensure the fidelity of course implementation. The recent development of a standards-based inventory of competencies in social work with groups, which measures the perceived importance of, and confidence in performing practice standards, led to the decision to administer the inventory to the authors' students at the beginning and end of the course to see if students were in fact making significant progress in the group work practice skills articulated in the standards. The results indicated that students were significantly more confident in their group work practice skills; however a few areas, particularly the development of middle-stage skills, were in need of further attention.