Ego psychology in case work

This article discusses major concepts of developmental theory in terms of their concurrence with neurobiological information. Regulation theory is used to summarize the development and functions of the right hemisphere, the workings of two distinct memory systems, and right-brain involvement in attachment functions. The clinical relevance of interpersonal neurobiology to transference and countertransference is illustrated with a clinical case example.     

Using case study in library research

An examination of the case study approach which combines conceptual clarification with a pragmatic discussion of technique. The author sees the emergence of the case study as a consequence of the difficulties of applying the methodology of the sciences to problems ‘in which human behaviour, action or intention play a large part’. History, ethnography and particularly educational research are shown to offer models and insights into the case study tradition. The author has recently embarked upon a project which uses multi-site case studies to examine sixth formers' capacity for independent, library-based work, and he uses this as a framework for discussion of the questions to be considered by those contemplating research of this kind. He considers three main sources of information (interviews, documents and observation), their integration into case records; and narrative, vignette and analysis as alternative methods of reporting. He draws attention to the agonies of ‘writing-up’, and sees it as crucial to find forms of presentation conducive to a critical reaction on the part of the reader ‘rather than a willing suspension of disbelief’.     

Parental participation in child protection case conferences

Child protection case conferences (CPCCs) are a fundamental part of child protection processes within the United Kingdom. They provide a mechanism for professionals and families to share information, enter an assessment dialogue, and develop a plan for intervention and support. The participation of parents is a core feature of U.K. and Scottish CPCCs. This reflects an international trend that recognizes the rights of family members to participate in the decision‐making processes of child protection. This article reports on the analysis of 11 qualitative interviews with parents who had attended CPCCs in Scotland. The findings highlight that parents were profoundly affected by these meetings, which were experienced as distressing. Parents lacked clarity about the purposes of CPCCs and found the large number of professionals in attendance intimidating. The discursive practices and structural arrangements of CPCCs acted to privilege professional voices and marginalize the voices of parents. The findings of this study raise important questions about parental participation in CPCCs in the contemporary context of child protection practice.     

Disability insurance risks: The Argentinian case

This article analyses the risk of disability facing workers who contribute to the Argentinian Integrated Social Security System (Sistema Integrado Previsional Argentino— SIPA). Using administrative records as our source of data for the period 2000‐2006, the results indicate that 1.46 workers per 1,000 became disabled annually during that period. The risk of disability rates were higher for men than for women, but increased with age for both sexes. The risk of disability rates have also been broken down by pathology and social security scheme, taking the effects of age and sex into account. To conclude, international comparisons are presented.     

Aggregation of preferences: The fuzzy case

The basic purpose of this paper is to link both theorems of impossibility and existence by introducing fuzzy relations of preference and an exogeneous requirement, the planner's one, and then proving the fundamental part played by the extremist agents, leximin and leximax. In other words, to bring out the link between the planner's requirement and the difficulty of the transition from individual to collective, as well as the theoric relation between this requirement and the extremist agents, we define a fuzzy behavior of preference which allows us to build up two determinant fuzzy coalitions. These coalitions will be the base of the planner's requirement and the link between pessimistic results (Arrow's impossibility) and optimistic ones (May's theorem of majority choice).     

Auditing biochemical research data: A case study

There is little documentation in the literature of how to conduct a data audit of laboratory research. The purpose of such an audit is to verify the extent to which the published data agree with the corresponding laboratory notebook data and whether the data thus examined appear to be sufficient to justify the published conclusions. A case study is presented, which demonstrates a step by step approach towards conducting a data audit of a published research study.     

State formation from below: the Turkish case

This essay focuses on the state-formation theory through the lens of the Turkish state-formation experience. The movements of resistance against state-formation in Turkey such as the internal struggles based on ideological and cultural factors, social banditry, military desertion, ethnic and religiously inspired uprisings, and non-Muslim and non-Turkish opposition are analyzed in the context of a model which has been developed in this study. According to this model state-formation is linked to a wide range of practices of social resistance. To provide the means of exploring the mechanisms of the processes of state-formation that are unintended and unplanned responses provoked by various types of resistance, their impact, not directly on institutional state-formation, but rather on the cultural and ideological dimensions of the same processes has to be carved out.     

Welfare losses due to monopoly: Korea's case

This paper estimates the negative effects of monopolies in Korea by measuring welfare loss due to monopolies. The results of this analysis reveal the following policy implications: (1) Welfare loss caused by monopolization represented was 7.56% of the gross value of shipments of 1998. (2) Welfare loss is greater in a firm whose monopoly power is greater. This result supports Leibenstein's research [Leibenstein, H. (1966). Allocative efficiency vs. X-efficiency. American Economic Review, 56(3), 391–415] that a firm with greater monopoly power will be more X-inefficiency. (3) Social cost for welfare loss in Korea is higher than that of the U.S. and Japan. In conclusion, it suggests that the government must implement stronger policies to regulate monopoly and promote competition.     

由个案引发的法律风险之反思

文章从“首例机动车员全责案件”中机动车驾驶员的赔偿问题出发，分析了我国新《道路交通安全法》的漏洞，并根据亚里士多德的关于法治的定义，对我国已经制定的法律的内在质量进行反思，认为不具有可预期性、明确性、可循性、稳定性、无内在矛盾性、同一性等，可能是我国现行法律在不同程度上面临的风险。     

The politics of case management and social work

A case study analysing the introduction of case management into British social services supports the argument that social work is constructed through political processes. In such processes, the interaction among the interests of stakeholders within service innovations influences the construction of the role of social work. Case management was introduced to Britain, but developed in three different forms: social care entrepreneurship, brokerage and multiprofessional case management, including assertive outreach. The forms adopted were affected by the political interaction of stakeholders rather than the professional possibilities offered by case management itself. Evidence for the politics of case management is drawn from analysis of professional literature, the texts of official documents and empirical research outcomes. The introduction of case management led to a debate about how the nature of social work was affected by the innovation. Three alternative views were that social work was improved, or attacked by case management, or made a valid contribution to case management as a different form of practice. It is proposed that to understand the impact of a service innovation on social work, four factors must be considered: the character of the innovation itself; the economic, political and social contexts in which it is introduced; the political and social interests of the stakeholders themselves; and the political and social processes that take place during the introduction of the innovation.     

Differentiation of welfare regimes: The case of Italy

The different welfare system classifications mainly address systems on the national level, while the local levels have not been considered in any great detail. The welfare reform measures adopted in some countries have led to more autonomy on the local level. Consequently, local authorities have adopted different social policies and developed diverse welfare services. This article addresses the case of Italy and shows that classifying a welfare regime by considering only the national level can lead to important local features being missed that are indeed relevant for its classification. The units of analysis are the 20 administrative regions of Italy. The results demonstrate that the Italian welfare system is far from being a homogeneous system and that the resources available on the local level have a considerable effect on the level of the welfare services provided. These results show that more attention needs to be directed at the local level.     

Governance struggles in the case of Camp Carroll conflict

This research examines the multifaceted governance struggles associated with the alleged burial of Agent Orange at Camp Carroll in Chilgok County, Korea. To deal with this incident, the Korea central government forms bureaucratic conflict management system, which can be characterised as a joint response system, a one-voice system for press briefing, and an intergovernmental joint supporting group. However, this system conflicts with the participatory governance of local governments and civic society. This research explores why the Korean central government's bureaucratic conflict management prevails over the participatory governance of local governments and environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs). It argues that the Status of Forces Agreement between Korea and the USA provides the Korean central government with a reason to curb the participation of local governments and environment NGOs in the governance of Camp Carroll conflict.     

Managing the maze: case management and service delivery

The author discusses case management as the most recent social work effort to make manageable the pluralistic and proliferating array of human services. She notes that social work now claims case management as part of its long defined territory. The ability to make this function work is based upon an educational curriculum which prepares the professional in both direct interventive skills and management capability. Problematically, social work education usually provides the student with only one or the other sets of professional preparation. The importance of the power dimension must be acknowledged and honed if the case manager is to be successful working within a chaotic social service delivery system.