A remote sensing look at the economy of a Russian region (Rostov) adjacent to the Ukrainian crisis

Satellite data used in combination with a stochastic production function method reveal an inefficient formal economy in rural Rostov Oblast 2013–2015 embedded in an overall (formal and informal) relatively efficient economy with the measurement of both important to better understand non-economic impacts of sanctions. Increased military activity may have insulated the formal economy of the border area from poor economic performance and the deindustrialization that characterizes adjacent areas. The current Oblast Administration’s grant program to localities does not reward relatively efficient economic performance with a model suggested here to change the policy. The region’s economy has the ability to absorb many Ukrainian refugees though non-economic issues support the current assistance from other Russian regions in helping relocate refugees beyond Rostov region. Like other conflict zones, urban areas experience less of an impact relative to rural areas.     

Networks,case managers,and the job-search experiences of unemployed people

Employment services are commonly provided in network settings, but it is rare to find social policy analyses of how unemployed people search for jobs through networks. In a germinal analysis of social networks and employment, Mark Granovetter argued that “weak ties” (less familiar contacts) are more important to finding employment than are “strong ties” (family and friends). This is because weak ties provide more novel job-relevant information. Scholarship since Granovetter has predominantly supported the opposite argument, namely, that strong ties are more important for the unemployed, because they are more plentiful and thus provide more information in aggregate. Findings are also generally coloured by the focus being on “informal” networks or personal contacts. “Formal” networks, as represented most cogently by employment service providers, are absent or underestimated in most social network studies. On the basis of a qualitative study of 80 long-term unemployed people in Australia, incorporating analysis of both informal and formal networks, we argue that although “strong informal” ties are vital to job search, it is also important to consider “weak formal” ties, which can be complementary if and where service organizations are able to supply positive case management experiences.     

Supervision in Social Work with the Aged and Their Families

This paper focuses on the educational and supportive functions of the long-standing practice tradition of supervision in social work with the aged and their families. It examines the way in which educational supervision extends the clinician's knowledge and deepens his or her perceptions, feelings, and self-understanding of geriatric practice. It also explores supportive supervision as a means of helping supervisees cope with job-related stress and the ethical issues and value conflicts that are likely to occur in geriatrics. A case study illustrating some of these conflicts is included.     

Comparative institutions and management resiliency in Latin American small-scale fisheries

Encroachment by commercial fleets on small-scale fishing territories throughout Latin America over the last half-century is increasing inter-sector conflict. Small-scale fishery production is crucial to communities that rely on fish as a key source of protein in daily consumption and for supplying increased demand. As the continued viability of local management is threatened, we need to properly understand under what conditions informal institutions are resilient. Seven published Latin American case studies test which model management principles correlate with resilience. Shoreline exchange is identified as an effective practice promoting reciprocity and rapid collective action in the face of external threats.     

Discourses of Decision Making in Child Protection: Condusting Comprehensive Assessments in Britain

Findings from a qualitative study of comprehensive assessments in child protection social work in the UK are discussed. The accounts of social workers in formal interviews, informal interactions and case files are analysed, examining their explanations and understandings of the process of decision making. Two discourses of decision making are discerned: scientific observation and reflective evaluation. Whilst most social workers understand their work, at different times, through both discourses, it is argued that the discourse of scientific observation becomes the dominant one when communicating with other agencies such as the court. The findings are discussed in relation to wider issues in contemporary social work including the bureaucratisation of social work and the nature of assessment.     

Double Indemnity or Double Delight? The Health Consequences of Shared Housing and "Doubling Up"

With "doubling up" and shared housing increasing in the United States, it is time to revisit and reconsider the research literature on the physical, psychological, social, and economic health consequences of these living conditions; and to consider how specific social and physical environmental factors of shared housing may foster or deter healthy living situations for various household arrangements. In this light, this article examines the existing research in order to identify critical constructs and factors, and to craft research questions that can best guide future investigations of homesharing in a direction that points towards viable and healthy housing solutions, particularly for those in transitional life stages .     

Balancing Research and Action: Reflections on an Action Research Project in a Social Services Department

The relationships between social research, policy development and implementation are complex. External researchers are frequently employed by agencies to research their activities, with the expectation that the results will lead to organizational development. In some research traditions this takes place after the presentation of a final report. In the action research approach the two are integrated and action is a part of the inquiry process. Frequently, however, despite the best intentions of the commissioners and researchers, little action ensues. Influential factors, including issues arising from changes of key research personnel, shifts in organizational staff and roles, multiple agendas, and issues in presenting findings, dissemination and feedback dilemmas, are explored, using a case study of the introduction of care management in one local authority social services department. Finally, the usefulness of this type of research by an outsider in a context of very rapid change is assessed.     

Social security support for informal caring in the Republic of Ireland

This article looks at the policies of social security support for informal carers in the Republic of Ireland. The demographic context and the overall policy context are first outlined, with a brief summary of the available institutional and community care services. The development of social security policies is subsequently examined, tracing the development of specific social security support for informal caring since the late 1960s and looking, in particular, at the recent establishment of a means-tested carer's allowance in 1990. Some of the issues surrounding social security and informal carers are then discussed, including the different strategies which can be adopted in providing support for informal caring and the factors which influenced the development of support in Ireland.     

Extension of social insurance coverage to informal economy workers in China: An administrative and institutional perspective

This article reviews administrative issues in the context of decentralized social protection in China. In particular, what are the main obstacles to expanding social insurance coverage for workers in the informal economy? Over the last two decades, China has achieved remarkable progress toward universal social protection when this target was set as a national policy priority. However, the social insurance enrolment of informal economy workers still lags significantly behind. This article reviews the application of the International Labour Organization’s definition of informality in the Chinese context and overviews existing pension and health insurances in China. This article discusses the impact of China’s inter‐governmental fiscal relations and decentralized social protection in the multilevel government system. The article highlights that under a system of decentralized managed social insurance many informal economy workers choose to opt out of the system because of low benefits and high compliance costs. This result in deficits in social insurance coverage amongst informal economy workers.     

Service workers' responses to abuse of the elderly

The social service providers and physicians who encounter elder abuse have several potential avenues of intervention open to them in helping the elderly. Practice and training issues are discussed that are relevant for improving interventions and referrals in cases of family abuse of the elderly.     

Daughters helping their elderly mothers: impact of early attachment, daughter's trait anxiety and helping interaction characteristics

The aim of the study was to explore the relationships between early attachment between mother and daughter, the adult daughter's general anxiety level, and characteristics of the helping interaction between the adult daughter and her elderly mother on the one hand and the quality of this help on the other. One sample consisted of 46 Swedish women (mean age: 55 years) who acted as informal caregivers for their elderly mothers. A second sample consisted of 106 Swedish female nursing students (mean age: 27 years). The participants rated the quality of the practical, physical and psychosocial help they gave their elderly mothers (imagined helping activities in a predefined situation among the nursing students). Subjects also rated their mother's degree of caring and overprotection in childhood, their own trait anxiety, and various characteristics of their helping interactions. A high degree of motherly caring and a low degree of motherly overprotection in childhood covaried with a lower level of trait anxiety in the adult daughters. These conditions, in turn, covaried with mutual friendliness during the helping interactions. All these conditions covaried with high-quality psychosocial support. The quality of practical help and physical caring covaried with friendliness during the helping interactions only.     

Ego Psychological Contributions to Understanding Psychopharmacology and Clinical Practice in Social Work Education

Due to increasing evidence that supports the efficacy of combined pharmacology and psychotherapy in the treatment of multiple psychiatric disorders, an educational focus on integrated approaches is growing in social work and related fields. However, there are few guiding clinical theoretical models that can help students integrate pharmacology and clinical issues. The authors propose that ego psychology can advance clinical knowledge by helping students understand pharmacological issues and integrate pharmacotherapy with psychotherapy. Assessing ego functions in response to medication referral and use contributes to enhanced assessment and treatment.     

Motives,experiences and strategies of next of kin helping older relatives in the Swedish welfare context: a qualitative study

Dunér A. Motives, experiences and strategies of next of kin helping older relatives in the Swedish welfare context: a qualitative study Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 54–62 © 2008 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. Next of kin provide the major part of the help given to older people in Sweden, a country where the official goals of formal eldercare are universality and extensive coverage. This qualitative interview study investigates the thoughts and actions of next of kin who provide informal help to older relatives who also receive formal help from the municipal eldercare. Informal help‐giving, in the context of Swedish social policy, was connected with a multiplicity of motives, experiences and strategies. The motives for help‐giving were moral considerations, emotional attachment and ‘out of necessity’. The experiences of next of kin support the idea of ambivalence as a significant feature of informal help‐giving. Different strategies were employed, both active and passive in nature, to manage their situation. The study points out the importance of outlining working forms and methods of collaboration for older persons and their informal and formal networks to lessen the ambivalence experienced by help‐giving next of kin.     

Anti-Oppressive Research in Social Work: A Preliminary Definition

In comparison with other helping professions, social work claimsto embrace a very distinctive mission: to oppose the roots andeffects of social oppression. This article examines social workresearch from an anti-oppressive social work perspective. Itargues that in order to match the liberating mission of theprofession, social work research should defy the dominant traditionsof social science research. The paper first outlines a definitionof anti-oppressive research in social work and then suggestsa relevant set of criteria for assessing it. A case study isdescribed and analysed according to these criteria, followedby a discussion of some ethical and methodological issues involvedin the development of a more inclusive inquiry in social work.     

Paternal domination: Its influence on child guidance results 1

Acknowledging the limitations of adhering to one particular theoretical orientation in helping clients with multiple issues, psychotherapy integration in treatment becomes a prominent trend in clinical practice. However, we have few guidelines for an integrated case formulation. Also, there have been some concerns that available treatment options limit and even pre-determine how clinicians understand and formulate cases. In order to address these concerns, this article first critically reviews the psychotherapy integration movement and highlights social work contributions to this movement. Next, using a clinical case example, we illustrate an integrated case formulation in clinical social work practice, which comprehensively assesses a client-in-context from psychodynamic, behavioral, and cognitive approaches. We also delineate how social workers can directly link this integrated assessment to selecting the integrated treatment options to custom-fit with the idiosyncratic needs of the client. This formulation is then truly client-centered. Thus, formulating a case is developing a theory of a client.     

Social Protection in Vietnam and Obstacles to Progressivity

The present paper analyzes the incidence and progressivity of Vietnamese state income transfers using survey data from the Vietnamese Household Living Standards Survey 2004. Data quality and sample selection issues are highlighted, especially in the coverage of rural-urban migrants. Simple income-based profiles of incidence are matched to several influences that confound and complicate the measurement of progressivity. The issue of the informal economy is highlighted through analysis of both the extent of private inter-household transfers and remittances and their relationship with state transfers, and in the informal charges that accompany uptake of state services and other petty corruption. Second, the issue of user-charges for health and education services is considered, as a considerable portion of state transfers are related to the take up of schooling and health care. Third, the issue of behavioral effects is also considered, concentrating on private inter-household transfers. The paper concludes by drawing together the evidence and the obstacles to measurement and progressivity to argue a range of data collection, methodological and policy recommendations.     

国家社会主义市场转型：问题与争议

市场转型研究通常包括四类问题: 各种资本(特别是政治资本和人力资本 ) 的回报率变化、倪志伟之“市场转型理论”的普适性问题、产权结构变化以及转型的最终结局。本文试图厘清上述诸问题研究的基本发展脉络，并着重阐述它们间理论上的关联。在制度转型研究中，凡研究当今中国和东欧市场转型的人员应当注重分析国家在大规模制度变迁中所起的中心作用，并意识到所谓的制度变迁，不仅包括正式制度的改变，也包括非正式限制的变化。     

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.     

The World Bank Approach to Pension Reform

This paper highlights the World Bank's thinking and worldwide involvement in pension reform. Both are driven by the Bank's mandate to help countries develop economically and to reduce poverty. The Bank has four key concerns in working with clients on pension policy: (1) short-term financing and long-term financial viability; (2) effects on economic growth; (3) adequacy and other distributive issues; and (4) political risk and sustainability. In response to these concerns and after review of the three main reform options for unfunded systems - mere PAYG reform, a rapid and complete shift to a mandatory funded system, and a gradual shift to a multipillar scheme - the Bank clearly favours the multipillar approach but in a pragmatic and country-specific manner. When helping to implement a pension reform the Bank fully takes account of country preferences and circumstances, bases its support on sound reform criteria, links the client assistance with knowledge management, provides training and other measures to enhance the reform capacity of a country, and seeks cooperation with other international institutions. In addition, the Bank has a comprehensive research agenda to improve the working of multipillar schemes, and the investigations include issues of coverage, administrative costs and annuities.     

Climate change: social workers' roles and contributions to policy debates and interventions1

Dominelli L. Climate change: social workers' roles and contributions to policy debates and interventions Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 430–438 © 2011 The Author(s), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. Climate change is seldom discussed in mainstream social work. Its first presentations on the world stage occurred in Copenhagen during the Conference of the Parties (COP15). This article argues that the profession has an important role to play in: helping people understand the issues; promoting sustainable energy production and consumption; mobilising people to protect their futures through community social work; and proposing solutions to greenhouse gas emissions as indicated in two case studies, one based on a community initiative in the Global South, and the other in the Global North. The article also demonstrates that social workers can foster climate change endeavours that are equitable for all, for example the Equitable Carbon Sharing Scheme.