No more than Contact: An Outcome of Social Work

Summary This study of the experiences of eight sets of clients withtheir respective social workers illustrates how the outcomeof each case is a reflection of each party's interpretationsof crucial aspects of their meetings. In many respects it isa one-sided picture of social work but part of its purpose isto emphasize the process whereby past events and present circumstancesaffecting both parties' perspectives make it probable that manyclients will fail to obtain help and will regard their meetingswith social workers as being little different from passing contactswith other 'officials' who feature in their lives.     

Coping,taming or solving: alternative approaches to the governance of wicked problems

One of the truisms of policy analysis is that policy problems are rarely solved. As an ever-increasing number of policy issues are identified as an inherently ill-structured and intractable type of wicked problem, the question of what policy analysis sets out to accomplish has emerged as more central than ever. If solving wicked problems is beyond reach, research on wicked problems needs to provide a clearer understanding of the alternatives. The article identifies and explicates three distinguishable strategies of problem governance: coping, taming and solving. It shows that their intellectual premises and practical implications clearly contrast in core respects. The article argues that none of the identified strategies of problem governance is invariably more suitable for dealing with wicked problems. Rather than advocate for some universally applicable approach to the governance of wicked problems, the article asks under what conditions different ways of governing wicked problems are analytically reasonable and normatively justified. It concludes that a more systematic assessment of alternative approaches of problem governance requires a reorientation of the debate away from the conception of wicked problems as a singular type toward the more focused analysis of different dimensions of problem wickedness.     

After the tax revolt: Why Medicare matters more to middle Australia than lower taxes

The Australian Survey of Social Attitudes 2003 gives new insights into the public's increasing preference for more social spending and their willingness to pay more taxes to fund services. This paper profiles the new electorate and discusses factors driving this trend in public opinion. Multivariate analysis allows us to identify the key demographic, political and policy variables that predict support for spending. All the usual factors matter: being older and more educated, and identifying as Labor, Green or Democrat all predict support for higher spending. But we find that policy perceptions matter as well: believing that health and Medicare and/or public education have declined in the past two years brings major support for increased spending. We also find that the Australian public supports modest tax increases to fund spending on health and education and that the Australian electorate is more open minded about tax rises than conventional wisdom holds. Our main conclusions are that support for social spending over reduced taxes has increased over the past two decades, and especially after the election of the Howard Government, and that dissatisfaction with health and Medicare, and public education, are reshaping the fiscal preferences of the Australian electorate.     

It was more difficult than we thought: a reflection on 50 years of child welfare practice

This article discusses the struggle in the years since the Children Act 1948 to establish a sense of confidence and direction in the practice of social work with children and families. It argues that although there were important achievements in the early years and many examples of sensitive and committed practice in the period under review, the service has not fulfilled its early promise. It has failed to develop a coherent, indigenous theoretical framework for practice. The reasons for this and some of its consequences and the opportunities which now arise for professional refocusing are discussed.     

Patient-centered approach to building problem solving skills among older primary care patients: problems identified and resolved

This article describes problems identified by older primary care patients enrolled in Problem Solving Therapy (PST), and explores factors associated with successful problem resolution. PST patients received 1 to 8, 45-min sessions with a social worker. Patients identified problems in their lives and directed the focus of subsequent sessions as consistent with the steps of PST. The 107 patients identified 568 problems, 59% of which were resolved. Most commonly identified problems included health related issues such as need for exercise or weight loss activities, medical care and medical equipment needs, home and garden maintenance, and gathering information on their medical condition. Problems identified by patients were 2.2 times more likely to be solved than those identified by a health care professional. Using PST in primary care may facilitate patients in addressing key health and wellness issues.     

I am more than a mom: Stories of parental leave during the transition to motherhood in Canada

The transition to motherhood is a time of tremendous change, during which maternal subjects experience important shifts in their relationships with family, friends, employers, and state. Parental leave policies have potential to mitigate some of these changes, contributing positively to health and economic outcomes. Indeed, such policies have been identified as essential for achieving gender equality, serving to address both recognition and redistributive claims. In this paper, we explore parental leave policy through the lens of first time mothers in Canada, where two distinct policy regimes coexist. Using narrative analysis, we examine the ways in which the transition to motherhood is embodied and enacted through policy experiences. The stories we uncover, stories of helplessness, of control and resistance, and of stymied progress, illuminate how leave policies differently position maternal subjects in complex social settings.     

社会管理：作为实践和概念

本文从历史和逻辑相统一的角度,梳理了社会管理作为一种概念是如何被定义的,主要包括社会管理的主体、功能、价值取向等,以及社会管理作为一种历史的存在是在西方和中国的实践过程中不断发展的,最后指出了社会管理在中国发展的可能路径及需要注意的两个问题。     

The Impact of Immigration on Skills,Innovation and Wages: Education Matters more than where People Come from

With the ensuing immigration reform in the US, the paper shows that targeted skilled immigration into the R&D sector that helps low-skilled labor is conducive for controlling inequality and raising wage. Skilled talent-led innovation could have spillover benefits for the unskilled sector while immigration into the production sector will always reduce wage, aggravating wage inequality. In essence, we infer: (i) if R&D inputs contributes only to skilled sector, wage inequality increases in general; (ii) for wage gap to decrease, R&D sector must produce inputs that goes into unskilled manufacturing sector; (iii) even with two types of specific R&D inputs entering into the skilled and unskilled sectors separately, unskilled labor is not always benefited by high skilled migrants into R&D-sector. Rather, it depends on the importance of migrants’ skill in R&D activities and intensity of inputs. Empirical verification using a VAR model in the context of the USA confirms the conjectures, and the empirical results substantiate our policy-guided hypothesis that skilled immigration facilitates innovation with favorable impact on reducing wage-gap. Inclusive immigration policy requires inter-sectoral diffusion of ideas embedded in talented immigrants targeted for innovation.     

Research as Profession and Practice: Frameworks for Guiding the Responsible Conduct of Research

Programs in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) vary between institutions, demonstrated by disparate structures and goals. These variations may be attributed to the absence of grounding frameworks within which to examine research and RCR education programs. This article examines research as a practice and a profession, using these frames to draw out defining features of research and the moral obligations entailed. Situating research within virtue ethics can clarify how researchers might cultivate the virtues necessary for meeting its obligations and aims. By elucidating these features, these perspectives can serve to guide the development of RCR education programs.     

Vital Conversations with Family in the Nursing Home: Preparation for End-Stage Dementia Care

Family members of persons with advanced dementia may be asked to make complex treatment decisions without having adequate knowledge regarding the risks and benefits. This 6-month, prospective, randomized trial tested the effect of an intervention consisting of a face-to-face, structured conversation about end-of-life care options with family members of nursing home residents with advanced dementia. A comparison group received only social contact via telephone. Structured conversations between a palliative care team and intervention group family members included goals of care and how best to achieve those goals, and provision of psychosocial support. Psychosocial support was also provided via telephone at three 2-month intervals. Family members participated in three telephone interviews: baseline, 3, and 6 months. Specific advance directives for persons with dementia were extracted from medical records. Results showed that intervention families had higher satisfaction with care than comparison families at the 6-month time point, and they were more likely to have decided on medical options listed in residents' advance directives (Do Not Resuscitate, Intubate, Hospitalize) over time. Study findings reinforce the need for increased education and support for families around issues of end-of-life care decisions for advanced dementia.     

Keeping Social Work Honest: Evaluating as Profession and Practice

Correspondence to Ian Shaw, School of Social and Administrative Studies, University of Wales Cardiff, 50 Park Place, Cardiff CF1 3AT Summary The central argument of this paper is that social work needsa radical alternative to existing options for evaluating practice.Social workers at present are offered three choices. They areinvited to choose between applying research, conducting researchor adopting specific forms of empirical research-based practice(for example Everitt et al., 1992; Thyer. 1993; Fuller and Petch,1995). We touch briefly on reasons why we believe none of these optionsprovides an adequate grounding for social work, referring especiallyto the growing call for social work to find new purpose throughan empirical, research-based practice. If alternative approachesare to be persuasive, they must be fashioned from the materialsof a new approach to research on social work practice—‘one that is exploratory rather than confirmatory, buildinga model of evaluation from the practitioners' own accounts ratherthan superimposing an ideal model’ (Elks and Kirkhart,1993, p. 555). The major part of this paper is taken up withevidence from research of this kind. The model of evaluatingin practice with which we conclude the paper is simultaneouslytrue to social workers' accounts of their practice, while offeringa critical starting point for evaluating and refashioning thatpractice.     

Inclusion as Social Practice: Views of Children with Autism

This study illuminates the social realities of inclusion of 16 high functioning children with autism (HFA) in public schools in the United States. The study suggests that the practice of inclusion rests primarily on unaffected schoolmates rather than teachers, who typically are occupied monitoring academic progress and disciplinary transgressions across a range of children. Utilizing ethnographic observations and video recordings of quotidian classroom and playground activities, the analysis elucidates how classmates employ a range of positive and negative inclusion practices that either integrate or distance autistic children. Ethnographic observations of the study population indicate that the children whose diagnosis was fully disclosed enjoyed more consistent social support in the classroom and on the school playground. The study further suggests that high functioning children with autism exhibit a range of reactions to negative inclusion practices such as rejection and scorn. Such reactions include oblivion, immediate behavioral response, and emotionally charged accounts of disturbing school incidents shared after-the-fact with family members. Significantly, these observations indicate that HFA children can be cognizant of and distressed by others' derisive stances and acts, despite symptomatic difficulties in interpreting others' intentions and feelings.     

Activity Preferences of Community-Residing Aged as a Guide for Practice Emphases

Through the use of a highly structured, pretested questionnaire and an area probability sample of 257 male and female community residing aged, this research details preferences for social participation in four spheres of activity: family, friends, organizations, and work. The findings were analyzed for their relevance to practice considerations. These data indicate a low preference for organizational involvements, an interest in family activities, and an unusually high priority for friendship or peer associations. The lotter finding suggests that practitioners working with the aged could best serve their subtle social needs by helping them focus on developing opportunities for maintaining age-related peer contacts.     

策略大于理念的选择--战后日本宪法第九条产生过程解析

随着自卫队海外派遣的日益频繁和"改宪"政治日程的启动,日本急欲恢复战后宪法第九条禁止的不保持军队和国家交战权的目的已昭然若揭.日本此番举动,固然有现实因素的影响,但根源则在日本历史深层.实际上,宪法第九条只是历史虚像,从来就没有成为战后日本的政治基石.日本统治阶级在战后初期接受第九条是策略大于理念的选择,是日本在战败的历史条件下,被迫签署的"对外条约",维护天皇制的政治"苦肉计",回避冷战锋芒的策略手段.     

Maybe We Should Just Shut Up: The Body as an Important Consideration for Group Work Practice

ABSTRACT

This article explores the role of the human body as an important consideration for group work. It discusses six concepts related to how the body can be paid attention to and utilized within the realm of practice. These concepts include the idea of the body as related to the sense of self; physical experience as metaphor; the body as a barometer of group experience; shared physical experience and group cohesion; physical experiences and behavior; and the notion of somatic intelligence and communication. Examples of each are discussed from the lens of the author's practice.     

Social Conflict: Implications for Casework Practice

Summary The concept of social conflict is examined in terms of its usefulnessin refining and extending social casework theory. Attentionis given to the influence of the homeostatic approach to caseworkpractice versus an approach utilizing a conflict orientation.Primary emphasis is given to Coser's sociological theory ofconflict in an effort to discover heuristic concepts which areconsidered to be applicable in the practice of social casework.Specifically, seven of Coser's original sixteen propositionsrelated to conflict theory have been selected for analysis.It is concluded that a conflict orientation would serve to clarifythe functional aspects of conflict as they relate to the dyadiccasework relationship     

基于国际比较的国家良治要素——辨析丁学良制度思想的方法与结论

中国正快速发展且深度介入世界事务,丁学良为此提出一系列国家良治要素的建言,其中包括经济增长内生机制、一流大学制度、人才启用机制、提升政府效能、民主政治发展、多元信息机制和社会公正;这些见解引发广泛关注和争议。丁学良突出之处在其国际比较的视野和方法。本文深入辨析了这些见解、方法和争议,并伸论之。