阿拉伯国家联盟决策机制研究

阿盟采取不同的决策程序和方式来满足成员国复杂的利益关系和要求,其决策机制由多种要素构成,拥有多层次决策机构.阿盟决策机制既具有自身的特点,又存在一定的缺陷.从阿盟决策机制的历史变迁、决策要素的权责分配、决策程序与方式等方面进行分析,有利于系统理解阿盟决策机制的本质,也有助于理解阿盟在阿拉伯国家间以及中阿关系中所能起到的真正作用.     

Social support and children affected by parental HIV

While HIV and AIDS continue to decimate the population of sub-Saharan Africa, HIV remains an issue of major concern for those working with children and families throughout Europe. The combined impact of intravenous drug use by young adults and heterosexual transmission means that increasing numbers of children and young people in many countries in Europe are growing up in families where one or both parents is HIV positive (EuroHIV Report 2001 EuroHIV Report December 2001 www.eurohiv.org/AidsSurv/comments.htm  [Google Scholar]). This paper draws on findings of a recently completed qualitative study of children and young people in Scotland with a parent or carer with HIV. It is argued that social support is especially necessary and yet highly problematic for children and young people with a parent or carer with HIV.     

Building collaboration between school and parents: issues for school social workers and parents whose young children exhibit violent behaviour at school

This research explores the perceptions of 60 parents whose children, aged from three to nine, had been involved in bullying, as defined under the Safe Schools Act and the Code of Conduct. Some of these children had been suspended from school, while others were potential candidates for suspension. These parents were recruited from Ottawa's two French-language school boards to participate in qualitative interviews between June 2000 and June 2002. The aim of this research was to cast new light on the perceptions of parents and schools with regard to their relationships, and on the role of school social workers in maintaining and enhancing collaborative partnerships.

The desire of some parents to be involved in the decisions concerning remedial action taken to address their child's aggressive behaviour touched a raw nerve in some schools. Nonetheless, when schools and parents ultimately recognize the daily challenges that both parties face, and a shared plan of action develops therein, the path to effective collaboration becomes clear. Early intervention on the part of school social workers gives them an edge in their efforts as mediators. They seize every opportunity to initiate different collaborative approaches between schools and parents, so that the issue of bullying can be handled in a more respectful way for everyone.     

An Exploratory Needs Analysis of Parents Diagnosed with Cancer

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of parents and co-parents where one parent was diagnosed with cancer with specific interest in the impact of the disease on their role as a parent and the supports that were found to be useful in managing the ongoing care of their children. A qualitative research method using semi-structured interviews and thematic network analysis techniques was used. Participants included adult English-speaking parents receiving treatment for a new diagnosis of cancer at a major tertiary oncology research and treatment centre, with prior social work involvement. Participants reported multiple, complex layers of need. Four salient themes were evident: (a) emotional impact of a cancer diagnosis on the patient, (b) accessing professional supports, (c) children’s understanding, and (d) meeting children’s needs. Parents described difficulties in managing emotionally, physically, and existentially. Accessing supports within the healthcare service and community was paramount, as was guidance around communicating with children. Receiving a proactive service from a social worker was highly regarded. The results demonstrate that it is essential to respond to the needs of parents with cancer in order to minimise prolonged emotional distress.     

Children Exposed to Community Violence: Issues for Assessment and Treatment

Community violence is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for serious psychological problems with children particularly vulnerable to its effects. This article summarizes the existing knowledge on the effects of chronic exposure to community violence, highlights essential issues in assessing children for both exposure and resulting trauma from community violence, and provides treatment guidelines for those affected children.     

Disconnection and Decision-making: Adult Children Explain Their Reasons for Estranging from Parents

This article reports on a qualitative study of adult children who were estranged from at least one parent. Twenty-six Australian participants reported a total of 40 estrangements. Of these, 23 estrangements were initiated by the participant and 16 were maintained by the participant after being initiated by the parent or occurring after a mutual lessening of contact. Participants reported three core reasons for estrangement: (i) abuse, (ii) poor parenting, and (iii) betrayal. However, estrangement was predominantly situated in long-term perceived or actual disconnection from the parent and family of origin. Most participants had engaged in cycles of estrangement and reunification, using distance to assess the relationship and attend to their own personal development and growth across time. Estrangement was generally triggered by a relatively minor incident or a more serious act of betrayal considered to have been enacted by the parent.     

Child custody placement outcomes for mothers

Internationally there is a broad literature on risks for child custody placements. In contrast, very little is known about their outcomes on parents. The topic is relevant not only for parents themselves but also for children placed outside their homes, as many children keep contact with their birth parents or return to live with them. In a retrospective cohort study setting we analyze child custody placement outcomes (social assistance receipt, unemployment and work disability) for mothers whose children had been taken into custody between 1997 and 2004 in Finland. Data from a child placement register were merged with several administrative social insurance registers. Comparison groups of population mothers are included in the study. The procedure yielded an internationally unique database. According to the results of our study, mothers whose children are taken into custody are more often unemployed and in need of social assistance than mothers in the comparison group. Furthermore, they are also more often on a disability pension, due to mental health problems in particular, than mothers in general. While considering the results, we examine family policy and general welfare policy implications of support to families whose children have been taken into custody.     

The contemporary situation and future possibilities for foster care in Bulgaria

This article explores some of the problems connected with building a system of foster care and family placement in Bulgaria. Based on an analysis of the situation of children at risk, especially that of institutionalized children, some directions are presented here, which could help and support the transition to a system of foster care. The short Bulgarian experience in this sphere, which took place first in the early 1940s, and subsequently after the democratic reforms in 1989, has been the starting point of this analysis, and is proof of the responsibility Bulgaria has taken for establishing a sound working system for children's protection.     

Interviewing parents of children in care: Perspectives, discourses and accountability

The ‘parental perspective’ in child care work is a matter of concern and is actively solicited by practitioners, managers, policymakers and researchers for differing reasons. This paper argues that the search for such a stable “parental perspective” should be abandoned and suggest that research should embrace a social constructionist turn by concentrating on how parents' views are negotiated conversationally in discourse. Using data drawn from research interviews with parents of children in care and employing conversation and discourse analytic methods, the paper demonstrates how there are critical issues of accountability, blame, and testing at stake in the interview encounter, as interviewer and interviewee jointly produce a moral version of the client, the institution, the case and its attributes. The implications of this argument are delineated.     

Self-care among school-aged children of immigrants

The present study uses data from the National Household Education Surveys Program to examine the unsupervised time (“self-care”) experienced by children in immigrant families. We argue that traditional models of self-care are insufficient for understanding self-care among immigrant families and should be expanded to capture the unique characteristics of this population. Considering the high rates of poverty, limited English proficiency, and unique cultural norms of immigrant parents, children of immigrants may be especially at-risk for self-care. Interestingly, results demonstrate that immigrant parents are not more likely to leave their children unsupervised than native-born parents, however the context surrounding self-care appears to differ, as immigrant children are more likely to be caring for a sibling during self-care. Additionally, we find that within immigrant families, boys and children of parents who speak a non-English language at home are more likely to be in self-care. These findings underscore the importance of examining parental nativity status in research on child care arrangements, as patterns and contextual factors associated with self-care may depend on the immigrant status of the parent.     

Deservingness,children in poverty,and collective well being

Rising numbers of children and families have been thrust into poverty. However, debates about poverty policies and aid are in fact debates about ourselves—our logic of life and our humanity—as a nation, a culture, a people; and social welfare programs will always be underfunded and of limited effectiveness if people don't believe in them due to their ambivalence and confusion about poverty. Because poor children are innocent and indisputably dependent on adult caretakers, they may be our route out of this malaise. Their circumstance and our aspirations as a nation to be just, fair, and progressive, force us to resolve the confusion, conflict and ambivalence that fuel ineffective and inhumane social welfare policies and practices.     

Risk, complexity, and deviations from expected-value maximization: Results of a lottery choice experiment

Varying several parameters of single-stage lottery choice tasks we investigate the question which features of a decision task lead subjects to deviate from maximizing expected monetary value (EV). Despite small differences in EV between the two lotteries in the choice sets, the subjects on average chose the lottery with the higher EV in every task. Risk avoidance occurs, but not consistently over all tasks. Further results are that subjects prefer less complex lotteries over more complex ones, and that risk matters the more the less complex the decision task is.     

The Kids Say Project: Supporting Children to Talk about their Experiences and to Engage in Decision-making

Research and policy calls for hearing the voices of children and youth in out-of-home care and involving them in decisions about their own lives. The “Kids Say” cards were designed to facilitate this engagement, particularly with Indigenous children and youth. A feasibility study explored the extent to which the Kids Say cards were acceptable to young people, and prompted discussion about their lives and what is important to them. The study involved 47 participants, aged 7 to 18 years, from three cultural groups: Aboriginal n?=?20; culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) n?=?10; non-Indigenous English-speaking n?=?17. The cards were found to be appealing to all three groups, and to facilitate child and youth voice. Findings also did not differ significantly according to gender or age. These preliminary findings indicate the potential value of appropriate practice tools to support children and youth to share their experiences and participate in decision-making.

IMPLICATIONS

• Engaging resources, such as the Kids Say resource, are potentially valuable in supporting practitioners to encourage children and young people to share their experiences and participate in decision-making about their own care and service needs.

• Training in creating safe sharing contexts for children and young people is essential. While emphasis is often given to gathering child voices, there is a need for at least equal emphasis on respectful adult listening.

     

Exploring issues of children as actors in social research

In recent years, there has been an increasing focus among childhood researchers on the concept of children's agency, or children as social actors, within research. The argument for the focus on children as ‘agents’ has commonly critiqued an earlier dominant tradition of research, whereby children had been positioned as passive objects of investigation, with their capacity for social agency largely ignored.This paper provides a theoretical and methodological exploration of the concept of children's agency in the research process. The authors outline conceptual developments that have contributed to the increased focus on children's agency and discuss how this focus has influenced research methods, both in terms of counting children in and researching collaboratively with them. Key elements of a methodological framework for promoting children's agency in collaborative research are outlined and some of the contextual obstacles to the implementation of this framework are discussed, in particular those encountered in attempting to ‘balance power relations’ between adults and children. The facilitation by adults of children themselves as researchers is identified as a possible way forward.The paper concludes with a brief discussion on the extent to which the acknowledgement of children's agency in research may lead to more inclusive policy practices.     

A historical perspective on the working contributions of children in britain: 1800-1914

This paper considers the work of children and their contribution to modern societies by looking at this from a historical perspective. Children's work today is often characterised as being little and of no consequence, while it is expected that children should enjoy a childhood free from the cares and worries of the adult working population. In this article I show how children's experience of work moved from the 'public' world of the street and workplace outside the home, to one where children's work is centred in the 'private' realm of the home and school. Children were denied the status and benefits associated with receiving a wage and were therefore a role assumed to be dependent upon others and undervalued. It is argued that children's place in society is similarly devalued and their contributions to the reproduction of that society marginalised. Children's activities and contributions are merely represented as being unworthy of any kind of economic, political or legal reward. The subsequent exclusion from social, economic and political reward separates children from the independence normally enjoyed by adults. While not of course condoning the exploitation of children, or even suggesting that children today are not entitled to a time where they are free of the burdens of paid work, I discuss how children's contributions are redefined, undermined and undervalued. I do so by focusing on the experience of the city of Manchester between 1800 and 1914, and the effects of the slow introduction of legislation curbing children's paid work.     

Prediction and Decision Making in Child Welfare

Use of computer-based statistical models to support decision making may reduce the subjectivity and uncertainty in this process of more acceptable levels. Multivariate procedures capture the collective experience of many workers by integrating information from a large number of variables and cases. Once a predictive model has been developed and validated, the profile of new cases can be compared to cases already on the data base. The probability of critical case events such as admission tocare, occurence of abuse, and placement breakdown can be identified. Such capabilities could also be incorporated into the development of computerized information systems. This would faciliate case planning and a more equitable and effective match between client needs and resource utilization.     

Decision-making around psychotropic medications for children in foster care: Perspectives from foster parents

Background and objectiveChildren in foster care have complex mental health needs and receive high rates of psychotropic medications. Rarely can foster parents make legal decisions about treatment, yet they are intricately involved in the child's life and responsible for the child's safety and well-being. We aimed to conduct the first study of foster parent perspectives on decision-making relevant to the use of psychotropics with children in foster care.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured phone interviews with 13 parents in a small northeastern state who had fostered a child receiving psychotropics in the past 5 years. The state child welfare agency sent information about the study via email to all foster and adoptive parents for whom they had email contact. Interviews queried parents' knowledge and attitudes toward psychotropics, engagement in decisions, and recommendations for the decision-making process. Interview responses were coded and synthesized using mixed inductive and deductive methods in Dedoose software.ResultsChildren came into care on an average of four psychotropics. Parents reported receiving little information about the medications and finding information on their own. Parents acknowledged the potential benefits of medications, yet attitudes were largely against their use. Internal and external pressures for and against the use of medications were described. Many parents felt left out of the decisions and recommended team decisions.ConclusionsEfforts to improve foster parents' knowledge of medications, side effects, and monitoring, as well as team decision protocols, are sorely needed to improve decisions for this population.     

Behavior problems in children raised by grandmothers: The role of caregiver distress, family resources, and the home environment

Over the past few decades there has been a dramatic increase in children being raised by grandparents due to a variety of factors including child maltreatment, parental abandonment, substance abuse, and incarceration. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of behavior problems in children being raised by grandmothers and to determine factors in their current environment that are related to child behavior problems. The study draws on McCubbin's resiliency model of family stress, adjustment and adaptation.The sample comprised of 230 children ages 2 to 16 years who were being raised by grandmothers in parent-absent homes. The families were predominantly low income and African American. The grandmothers ranged in age from 37 to 80 years. Grandmothers responded to several self-report measures pertaining to child behavior problems, family resources, social support, and caregiver psychological distress. Trained research assistants completed a standardized observational measure of the home environment.Results indicated that 31.3% of child participants scored in the clinically elevated range for total behavior problems, with 21.3% and 32.6% scoring in the elevated range for internalizing and externalizing behaviors, respectively. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that of the variables examined, increased psychological distress in grandmothers was most predictive of child behavior problems, followed by less supportive home environments and fewer family resources.Results of the present study underscore the need for interventions that focus on reducing child behavior problems, as well as enhancing the parenting skills of grandmothers raising grandchildren. Findings also support the need for strategies to reduce stress in grandmother caregivers and to improve access to resources needed to provide supportive home environments for their grandchildren.     

Does poor weight gain identify children in need?

To determine the socioeconomic variables in children with slow growth (failure to thrive), a case–control study was carried out in two economically deprived areas of Newcastle upon Tyne. Three hundred and six children, aged 12–24 months, registered at two health authority clinics, were studied by reviewing their growth charts. Sixty-three had poor growth (weight deviating downwards across two major centiles from the maximum centile attained at 4–8 weeks of age). Five children were excluded because of known organic disease. A matched control group of normally growing children was selected from the same clinics. Study children and controls were examined and their parents interviewed on a range of socioeconomic, health and interactional factors. A health visitor assessment and a record of social work contact was obtained. The slowly growing children differed significantly from controls in being lighter and shorter, while their mothers spent less on food, needed more help with the child, had a poorer home environment and expressed greater concern over their child's health. Four different patterns of poor growth were identified by inspection of the charts: early onset (before 6 months but sustained), late onset (after 6 months), temporary and recurrent. The ‘recurrent’ group was associated with parenting difficulties and the ‘late onset’ group with adverse socioeconomic factors. Slow growth patterns in children under 2 years may be used as a screening tool to identify ‘children in need’ and should be sought on a population basis. Those identified can then be assessed further to ascertain the area where underlying difficulties lie, for intervention to follow as appropriate.     

简论埃及投资环境及中国对埃及的投资取向

本文从埃及政局稳定、区位条件优越、基础设施比较健全和政府实行投资优惠政策等方面入手分析了埃及比较良好的投资环境;提出中国对埃及投资的重点应放在基础设施建设、油气勘探开采和机电纺织等领域;认为中国在埃及投资应有长远目标、充分了解投资政策及其环境等方面,力争获得更大的成效。