Researching social work: Doctoral work in the UK

This paper discusses some current issues in relation to doctoral studies in social work in the UK. It draws on recent research and other sources to illustrate that our knowledge about the scope and scale of such doctoral work is limited. However, developments within the discipline and the wider policy and institutional context of professional education suggest that research (in general) has an increasing profile. This trend, together with debates about focus and research approaches in social work, has implications for the possible extension of opportunities for doctoral studies. It is further suggested that 'professional doctorate' programmes or 'PhD by publication' routes may be more suited to the needs of doctoral students in social work, given different career paths relative to students in some other disciplines.     

Researching the arts

As the social, economic, educational, political, and international significance of the creative arts is increasingly recognized by American society, the need for insightful research on the arts, their organization, production, and impact becomes more evident. But the diversity of arts disciplines and organizations can make it difficult for the researcher to identify and locate useful and reliable information on the arts. This article provides a broad summary of resources available to scholars and practitioners to inform their research on artists, arts organizations, audiences, and arts support systems.     

Parental mental health as a child protection issue: data from the NSPCC national child protection helpline

Analysis of a sample of 2084 child abuse referrals to the NSPCC Child Protection Helpline showed that in 10% a parent or carer was reported as having a mental health problem. Mothers were the parent affected in the majority of these cases. The mental health sample differed from the other referrals in an increased concern about emotional abuse and less about sexual abuse; greater levels of violence and discord between parents; and more agency involvement. Issues of potential labelling and therapeutic needs are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

WORKLESS PEOPLE AND SURVEILLANT MASHUPS Social policy and data sharing in the UK

This paper examines the use of ICT driven surveillant assemblages in UK welfare policy by drawing on the results of empirical research conducted for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The focus is on one aspect of the growing role of surveillance in social policy: data aggregation on populations characterized by sustained worklessness. The implementation and implications of this form of surveillance are examined. The paper explores surveillance systems that were extant in 2005/06 and those that were being designed. The paper argues that there is an ongoing need for critical evaluation of the underlying logic of data mashing on marginalized populations.     

On the historical origins of Chinese underdevelopment

Conclusion The Imperial regime bequeathed to its successors a double heritage and a double handicap: on the one hand, an exceptionally strong population pressure on the area of cultivated land; and on the other, a radical break between interior China (rural bureaucratic, traditional) and coastal China (cosmopolitan, enterprising, open to innovation). The history of the twentieth century only accentuated these contradictions and worsened these handicaps. Rooted in its urban bases, the Guomindang regime of 1927–1949 did virually nothing to transfer technology to the countryside, so that the gap between the two Chinas - coastal and interior - widened, and the regime was condemned to be swept away by peasant revolution. As for the People's Republic, by postponing the adoption of a real birth-control program until 1973, it wiped out a large part of the benefits that a policy of modernization extended for the first time ever to the whole country would have brought, and made economic take-off even more difficult in 1981 than it was in 1949.     

The sociopolitical origins of the American Legion

The American Legion was one of the most politically consequential organizations in the twentieth-century United States. It was a local bedrock of anti-communism in two post-war red scares and throughout the cold war. It also built a lavish and cross-nationally unique welfare state for American veterans. In this article, I examine the origins of the American Legion and demonstrate that it was organized by rentier capitalists acting in their intraclass and interclass interests. Most importantly, the Legion was an organization that fought the “battle over class” by denying the importance of class as a social concept and proposing “Americanism” as an alternative. I also argue that the Legion’s extreme anti-communism combined with its dedication to welfare provision for American veterans altered the course of American welfare state development.     

Personal meaning in the public sphere: The standardisation and rationalisation of biodiversity data in the UK and the Netherlands

The demand for biodiversity data is increasing. Governments require standardised, objective data to underpin planning and conservation decisions. These data are produced by large numbers of (volunteer) natural historians and non-governmental organisations. This article analyses the interface between the state and the volunteer naturalists to understand the emerging patterns of information flow between them. Our results are based on research in the UK and the Netherlands. These two countries have a long history in volunteer biodiversity recording and are facing similar issues in relation to the increasing demand for standardised data. Our findings demonstrate that citizens who become involved in recording do so because they value nature and biodiversity. Recording is for them a way to enact their relationship with nature and contribute to its protection. Our findings also show that they are concerned about the increasing rationalisation in the process of data flow and about the way in which the government treats them and ‘their’ data. Our paper concludes by discussing this tension and the challenges and opportunities for biodiversity recording.     

Medieval origins of constitutional government in the West

Conclusions This survey of the political history of nonwestern countries has shown that Russia, Japan, and China never developed the levels of constitutional government found in late medieval Europe. Three of the four social origins of constitutionalism in the West, rough balance between crown and noble, contractual-feudal military organization, and lordpeasant dynamics have been largely absent from these countries. Nor has any other substantial source (such as religion or economic organization) been uncovered that compensated for these absences or which otherwise fostered constitutionalism. Consequently, the major institutes of medieval constitutionalism, rural local government, autonomous towns, estates, and the rule of law, have also been largely absent. Village government, on the other hand, which was fostered in the West by the continuance of Germanic peasant organization and by the commune movement of the medieval period, has been found to be quite ubiquitous outside Europe. Village government existed — and in vital forms — in all three nonwestern regions, but always dwarfed by the power of authoritarian organs of the surrounding state structures. Thus, village government in and of itself lacked constitutional significance unless it was able to fuse with other, stronger constitutional institutions as it did in the West.To avoid the charge that the present study is only another sentimentalization of remote, mythic past, the modern significance of medieval constitutionalism for liberal democracy must be established. Each component carried forth — and with essential continuity — one or more of the pivotal aspects of modern representative government, at least in those countries in which medieval constitutionalism was not destroyed by military-bureaucratic absolutism or by a labor-repressive commercialization of agriculture. Among those aspects of liberal democracy are citizenship rights, representative institutions, checks and balances on central authority, and the rule of law.Rural local government contained representative government, from tribal popular assemblies to gentry cliques, which persisted in one form or another. Citizenship found its expression in participatory government and in the chartered liberties of village communes and frontier settlements. Local government in itself could not act as a check on central power; it could, however, provide a scattered but collectively almost insurmountable obstacle to state penetration of the localities. Towns provided various levels of citizenship and representation, from narrow oligarchy to representation of the guilds and plebeian classes. The progressiveness of negative freedom (freedom from feudal authority) enjoyed by lower classes is easily missed by focusing too narrowly on the oligarchic nature of many municipalities. To be rid of seigneurial controls and to have access to a more rational judiciary were benefits that were not lost on the urban masses streaming in from the countryside. Royal dependence on revenue from the towns served as a de facto check on central power inasmuch as infringing the rights of one endangered and unified the others.The representative nature of the estates as well as their serving as checks and balances on the monarchy are very straightforward. The estates became the central arena of politics in successive centuries, and the struggle for citizenship rights was fought here in two senses. A main battle of liberalization was fought over the franchise, the right to vote and send representatives to the national assembly. Second, politics within the representative assembly often centered on extending freedoms and liberties by acts of legislation. The rule of law was a crown ornamenting and protecting medieval constitutionalism as well as liberal democracy. Law, that brooding omnipresence in the sky as Oliver Wendell Hohnes called it, served to guarantee citizenship rights, ensure proper consultation with the estates, and provide a normative and procedural grid in which the monarchal state had to act.It is important to note once more that medieval constitutionalism was not almost democracy, nor was it sufficient cause of liberal democracy. It did, however, provide many of the critical components including representation, citizenship, checks and balances, and the rule of law, that were absent in other parts of the world. Nor was constitutional government always accompanied by trust, cooperation, and acceptance of the political status quo. Tension, conflict, and often open hostility were more the norm as monarchs endeavored to rid themselves of meddlesome pests. But their animosities were held in check by constitutional protections and the strength of the opposition. Monarchs could only bide their time, abide by the governing rules and practices, and await the opportunity to shed what they viewed as the fetters of antiquated politics.The constitutional achievement, then, was a modest and frail one that had inherent instabilities owing to monarchal/state ambitions. It would be undermined in many countries where the commercialization of agriculture and the exigencies of modern warfare combined to bring about authoritarian relations and institutions. Elsewhere, where the impact of war and commercialization were less pronounced, medieval constitutionalism would serve as a basis for liberal democracy.     

Exploring the origins of careers in public relations

This study of the origins of careers in public relations seeks to contribute towards historical knowledge of public relations through content analysis of biographies and other published narratives of those who worked in the field within the US and Britain in its formative years. Opportunities for public relations to offer a career rather than simply a transitory job or occupation were identified. The potential for enhanced benefits, including greater income and higher social status, were noted as a result. However, despite evidence of the possibility of professional and bureaucratic career paths, public relations pioneers tended to reflect entrepreneurial, opportunistic and primarily commenda (agency) forms of career. Most early practitioners entered the field by chance revealing a lack of deliberate focus on seeking employment in the occupation. Their varying entry points suggest the concept of equifinality (whereby different routes may lead to the same end); although career progression for those employed in public relations support functions, and the experiences of women are largely undocumented. Overall, the tapestry of early careers in public relations reflects a common thread of communications and openness to take advantage of the changing times. Otherwise, few patterns can be detected, with individual opportunities than a specific career path being the dominant theme.     

Researching the occupational culture of public relations in Mexico

Within the field of international public relations, it is rare to find detailed accounts of the process of undertaking cross-cultural research. Yet researchers who collect data in cultural contexts different from their own face numerous ethical and cultural challenges. By failing to articulate these, researchers deny the accommodations they have to make in their methodological choices, limiting the explanatory power of their findings. This article reflects on how societal culture influenced the evolving research decisions and experiences in a study into the occupation of public relations in Mexico City. In considering how to explore in a culturally sensitive way the social reality of public relations practitioners, it raises ethical concerns regarding selectivity and relationship interactions in cross-cultural research.     

The origins of Soviet sociolinguistics

The work of Lev Iakubinskii, Boris Larin and Viktor Zhirmunskii working at the Institute of Discursive Culture in Leningrad in the 1920s and 1930s deserves to be recognised as an early version of sociolinguistics. These thinkers combined dialect geography with Marxist sociological thought and contemporary work on linguistic conflicts and planning to produce very sophisticated sociological reflections on language. The influence of their teacher, Jan Baudouin de Courtenay, was crucial to their work, as was the tradition of Russian dialect research carried out by Aleksei Shakhmatov and others. However, the socio-political conditions for linguistic research brought about by the 1917 revolution were decisive. The historical significance of the reception and reinterpretation of these ideas is considerable, leading to a reconsideration of the origins of sociolinguistics and of the relationship between Marxism and the language sciences in the early years of the Soviet Union.     

Re-evaluating standards of human subjects protection for sensitive health data in social media networks

This study addresses ethical questions about conducting health science research using network data from social media platforms. We provide examples of ethically problematic areas related to participant consent, expectation of privacy, and social media networks. Further, to illustrate how researchers can maintain ethical integrity while leveraging social media networks, we describe a study that demonstrates the ability to use social media to identify individuals affected by cancer. We discuss best practices and ethical guidelines for studying social media network data, including data collection, analysis, and reporting.     

Researching religion: The vocation of the sociologist of religion

This paper reflects on the vocation or 'calling' of the researcher in the sociology of religion in the light of his experiences of researching transformations in English Catholicism in the last quarter of the twentieth century. It takes as its starting point Weber's two essays. A consideration of religious perspectives on the lay vocation leads to an evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of insider research. The paper reflects on research mistakes, threats and attempts to co-opt the researcher, unexpected surprises and serendipity, and the need for the social scientist to retain control of his/her research. It concludes with inspiration from Havel that the calling of the sociological researcher is socially important and urges renewed commitment to seeking with integrity the extension of certified knowledge and the demystification of powerful institutional structures.     

Researching the food processing-farming chain: the case of Nova Scotia

Cette communication se propose d'examiner le débat sur le destin des petits producteurs agricoles dans les sociétés capitalistes avancées. On examine ce problème avec une étude empirique du complexe agro-alimentaire de la Nouvelle Écosse. L'étude a démontré une concentration rapide des industries agro-industrielles dans la province, et le rôle important du secteur de vente en détail dans ce domaine. Nos recherches montrent aussi que les industries agro-alimentaires préferent avoir des contrats direct avec les fermiers pour les produits périssables, et que ces industries jouent un rôle important dans la concentration d'exploitations agricoles. Une comparaison avec la situation en Ontario indique que les conseils de la mise en marché peuvent améliorer la situation économique des agriculteurs en négotiations avec les industries agro-alimentaires. This paper attempts to shed further light on the debate over the fate of petty commodity producers in advanced capitalism. Arguing for a more comprehensive analytical framework, this problem is examined through an empirical study of the food processing-farming complex in Nova Scotia, Canada. The study found evidence of rapid corporate concentration in food processing in recent years and support for the thesis that food retailer concentration is at least partly responsible for this. Preference for contract farming arrangements was apparent, but only in the case of especially perishable agricultural commodities. The impact of contract farming on producer independence is assessed. Some evidence of food processors fostering the concentration of farm operations also came to light. A comparison of process crop prices and contract conditions in Nova Scotia and Ontario suggest that producer controlled marketing boards can significantly enhance the economic position of farmers vis-a-vis corporate processors.     

The landscape of UK child protection research between 2010 and 2014: Disciplines,topics, and types of maltreatment

This paper draws on the results of a commissioned systematic map of UK child protection empirical research published between 2010 and 2014. It analyses current patterns in child protection research in relation to three variables – disciplinary background of authors, types of maltreatment examined, and focus of the research – and considers the relationship between these. It finds first authors' disciplines to be reliable indicators of both the focus and topic of the research, with the dominant fields of psychology, medicine, and social work addressing respectively the long term outcomes of sexual abuse, the short term outcomes of physical abuse, and the care system's response to child maltreatment. The proportion of research dedicated to specific types of maltreatment appears to depend on factors other than their real-world prevalence. Instead, definitional issues and ease of access to research participants appearing to be more influential in determining the topic of the research. UK child protection research appears to show narrow multidisciplinary interaction and little focus on preventative or ameliorative interventions. The development of a coordinated national strategy adopting an interdisciplinary approach in the design and commissioning of child protection research could help maximise research efforts by reducing duplication and potentially facilitating the emergence of more innovative directions.