The child welfare service's assessments in custody cases that involve minors

The percentage of breakdowns in marriages, cohabitations and civil partnerships is increasing in the Western world, resulting in questions of child custody. In Norway and other Western countries, there is little knowledge of the support system's work in child custody cases. This article focuses on the assessments Norwegian child welfare service employees conduct in 37 cases about child custody. We explain why they sometimes conduct investigations of reports and at other times do not.

‘Street-level bureaucracy’ is the theoretical reference framework for interpreting the interviews. Assessments and decisions of the child welfare service in custody cases vary from one service to another. It is relatively difficult to predict whether the notifications will be investigated or dropped. Decisions are the result of a jigsaw puzzle of risk assessment, interpretations of legislation, cooperative procedures and an understanding of the county social welfare board. Notifications concerning violence and notifications from family counselling offices stand out since generally they result in investigations.

Child welfare services' handling of notifications regarding custody questions is challenging as these cases are in the grey zone between the Children Act and the Child Welfare Act. Child welfare workers want clearer guidelines for the cases on which they are to work. However, new rules cannot replace the professional and ethical assessments the child welfare service workers have to make in each individual case.     

Book review

Wives and warriors. Women and the military in the United States and Canada L. Weinstein & C.C. White (Eds) Westport, Connecticut; London: Bergin & Garver, 1997. ISBN: 0-89789-491-X (hbk), 0-89789-526-6 (pbk)

Social skills for people with learning disabilities–A social capability approach Mark Burton & Carolyn Kagan (with Pat Clements) London: Chapman and Hall, 1995 ISBN: 0-412-43380-X (pbk)

Social Work with Children. The Educational Perspective

Jobs, Technology and People

Children in Difficulty: A Guide to Understanding and Helping

Step-parenting in the 1990s

Jobs and Economic Development Strategies and Practice

Caring to Work: accounts of working parents of disabled children

The WorWFamily Challenge. Rethinking Employment

No Place to Go. The Civil Commitment of Minors

Black Families in Corporate America     

Mothering,equality and the individual: Feminist debates and welfare policies in the USA and Sweden

This paper addresses issues raised by ‘welfare reform’ in the USA by using the example of Sweden's women activists in constructing a ‘woman friendly’ welfare state. In the USA, feminist advocates see a tension between the argument that motherhood should be valued by the provision of care allowances, and the view that work should be reformed to meet the needs of parents. This reflects debates about gender difference/equality, the possibility of commonality, and the individual.

The Swedish ‘woman friendly’ welfare state was built on the recognition, through social policy, of the interrelationship among care, material resources, and public voice. The interrelationship was embodied in what I call the ‘social individual’, and articulated in public child care and other policies and collective services. The adequacy of those universal policies and services was frequently judged by the situation of lone mothers, who ceased being ‘deviant’, and often became a model for understanding the interrelationship. Cross-class solidarity among women was a prerequisite for, and was built on, the social individual. This solidarity is now threatened by neoliberal economic and social policies that fragment care, resources, and voice, and therefore the social individual.

It is possible to challenge the downsizing of welfare states by moving the terms of discussion away from the poor as deviant other, acknowledging that all women have much in common with the targets of current policy making. This involves the creation of concrete social policies that embody the relationship among care, resources, and voice, and recognize the inseparability of community, work and family.     

Book reviews

Law, socialism and social emancipation

Books Reviewed: M. Los, Communist Ideology, Law and Crime. St. Martin's Press: New York. 1988.

Paul Q. HirstLaw, Socialism and Democracy. London: Allen and Unwin 1986.

Citoyens et citoyennes

Review of: C. Pateman (1988), The Sexual Contract, Stanford University Press.

H.M. Hernes (1987), Welfare State and Women Power, Norwegian University Press.

Franco Crespi (1989), Azione sociale e potere, Il Mulino     

Book reviews

Maurice Milliard and Simon Lee (eds.): The Politics of Social Policy in Europe. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing, 1997. 290 pp, ISBN 1-85898-367-3.

Jane Lewis (ed.): Lone Mothers in European Welfare Regimes: Shifting Policy Logics. London and Philadelphia, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1997. 214 pp., ISBN 1-85302 448-1 hbk; 1-85302 461-9 pbk.

Mlta Castle-Kanerova/ School of Policy Studies, Social Research & Politics, University of North London, UK

Saul Becker: Responding to Poverty. The Politics of Cash and Care. Social Policy in Britain Series. London, Longman, 1997. 223 pp., ISBN 0-582-24322X PPR.

Gunn Strand Hutchinson and Siv Oftedal: Modeller i sosialt arbeid: fra ulike retter til samme felt (Models in Social Work: From Different Roots to the Same Field). Tano-Aschehoug, Oslo, 1996. 265 pp., ISBN 82-518-3462-7, N.Kr. 268.00.

Michael Seltzer/ Faculty of Economics, Public Administration and Social Work, Oslo College, Norway

Malcolm Payne: Modern Social Work Theory (Second edition). Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1997. xiv+ 354 pp., ISBN 0-333-67654-8, £ 13.50.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference (Frost, 1916)

Martin Davies (ed.): The Blackwell Companion to Social Work. Oxford, Blackwell, 1997. 376 pp., ISBN 0-631-19876-8 (hbk), £50.00; 0-631-19877-6 (pbk), £14.99.

Steven Shardlow/ Director of Social Work Studies, Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, UK

Malfrid Grude Flekkoy and Natalie Hevener Kaufman: The Participation Rights of the Child: Rights and Responsibilities in Family and Society. London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1997. 182 pp., ISBN 1-85302-490-2, £13.95.

Nigel Thomas/ Lecturer in Applied Social Studies, University of Wales Swansea

Adalbert Evers, Riita Haverinen, Kai Leischenring and Gerald Wistow (eds.): Developing Quality in Personal Social Services. Concepts, Cases and Comments. Aldershot, Ashgate, 1997. 312 pp., ISBN 1-84014-337-1.

John Harris/ Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Studies, University of Warwick, UK

Crescy Cannan and Chris Warren (eds.): Social Action with Children and Families. A Community Development Approach to Child and Family Welfare. London, Routledge, 1997. 218 pp. ISBN 0-415-13151-0.

Bert Jones/ North East Wales Institute of HE, Wrexham, North Wales, UK.     

The discretion and power of street-level bureaucrats: an example from Swedish municipal eldercare

This paper focuses on discretion in the frontline practice of social work with elderly people in Sweden. The aim is to describe and analyse how care managers in municipal eldercare use discretion and power in needs assessment and decision-making. Emanating from Lipsky's concept of discretion, we identify the conditions of decision-making, which along with the concepts of structural power and intentional power constitute the theoretical framework of our analysis. Eight care managers from four Swedish municipalities were observed and interviewed. The researchers carried out 38 observations and nine in-depth interviews. The analysis led to the identification of four techniques in the decision-making process of care managers: reject, execute, transform needs and control. The consequences of these practices are discussed at the end of the paper.

Denna artikel handlar om beslutsprocessen inom socialt arbete med äldre i Sverige. Syftet är att beskriva och analysera hur några biståndsbedömare inom kommunal äldreomsorg, som exempel på frontlinjebyråkrater, använder sitt handlingsutrymme och sin makt. Utifrån Lipsky's begrepp handlingsutrymme, beskriver vi de villkor för beslutsfattandet som tillsammans med begreppen strukturell och intentionell makt, utgör ramen för analysen av det empiriska materialet. Åtta biståndsbedömare, från fyra svenska kommuner, har observerats och intervjuats. Sammanlagt har 38 observationer och nio djupintervjuer genomförts. I analysen framträder fyra handlingssätt i biståndsbedömarnas beslutsprocess: avvisa, expediera, omvandla behov och kontrollera. Konsekvenserna av dessa handlingssätt diskuteras avslutningsvis i artikeln.

Handlingsutrymme

Strukturell Och Intentionell Makt

Frontlinjebyråkrater

Beslutsfattande

Äldreomsorg

Biståndsbedömare     

Book reviews

The Political Sociology of Florian Znaniecki and Contemporary Politics (in Polish), Olgierd Sochacki (Ed.) Wydawnictwo Gdanskie, The Scientific Society of Gdansk, 1996

Why Read. Internal Space and the Social Function of Literature: An Investigation with. Psychoanalysts and Psychology Students, Graziella Pagliano (Ed.) Bonanno Editore, 1994

Voix Littéraires de Femmes

Cuadernos sobre Vico, Nos 5–6, José M. Sevilla et al. 1995–96

Studi in memoria di Ernesto Grassi Proceedings of the International Conference in Memory of Ernesto Grassi (Ischia, 4–6 October 1993), Emilio Hidalgo‐Serna and Massimo Marassi (Eds), Napoli, La Città del Sole, 1996

Naples Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Fiosofici, La Gittà del Sole, Napoli, 1996

Family, Women and Employment in Central‐Eastern Europe, Barbara Lobodzinska (Ed.) Greenwood Press, 1995     

Factors Influencing Family-Member Perception of “Homelikeness” in Long-Term Care Homes

Background: A number of long-term care homes in Nova Scotia, Canada, have been built or redesigned with new models of care with expanded care aide scope of practice and neighborhood-style layouts. Our objective was to examine what physical characteristics (bed size, owner-operator), model of care, and relational (family–staff relationship, perceived staff–resident relationship) factors were associated with increased family-member perception of homelikeness in long-term care homes.

Methods: We analyzed surveys collected from 273 family members from 23 long-term care homes in Nova Scotia, Canada. We conducted a multivariate linear regression to assess variables associated with increased family-member perception of homelikeness.

Results: We found that relationships between family and staff, perceived resident-to-resident relationships, and family involvement in decision making were positively associated with increased family perception of homelikeness. We found no significant associations between model of care or physical characteristics and increased family perception of homelikeness.

Conclusion: Relationships among family members, residents, and staff are integral to family members feeling at home in their loved one's long-term care home. Feeling at home in long-term care is largely related to family-member perception of meaningful social interactions between family and staff, and between residents.     

“We Live and Breathe Through Culture”: Conceptualising Cultural Connection for Indigenous Australian Children in Out-of-home Care

Indigenous Australian children are overrepresented in the out-of-home care (OOHC) system, with numbers and rates on an upward trajectory. There is now serious concern that this overrepresentation is creating a second Stolen Generations in Australia, noted within policy campaigns such as Family Matters—Kids Safe in Culture, not in Care, and Grandmothers Against Removals. While placement in OOHC is designed to protect children’s long-term safety and wellbeing, it threatens cultural connection, which is fundamental to Indigenous identity and wellbeing. Some government policies that aim to foster cultural connection have not been effective, while others, such as the 2014 permanency legislation in Victoria, arguably threaten cultural connection. This article highlights the vital importance of cultural connection for Indigenous child development, arguing that for Indigenous children, family connection strengthens cultural connection. We argue that family needs to be recognised as a critical component of cultural connection that is equally as important as placement stability in OOHC. Consequently, statutory and community organisations responsible for Indigenous children in OOHC must focus on facilitating and strengthening family relationships, not only to foster cultural connection, but also to explore reunification possibilities.

IMPLICATIONS

• Cultural connection is fundamental to Indigenous identity and wellbeing, but requires family connection if it is to be fostered and strengthened.

• When Indigenous children live in out-of-home care, social workers in child and family welfare need to ensure that children are connected to culture.

     

Association of general and abdominal obesity with age,endocrine and metabolic factors in Asian men

Objective: This study made use of the percent abdominal fat to define abdominal obesity (AbO) and examined the differential associations of general obesity (GOb) and AbO with age, metabolic and endocrine factors.

Methods: Metabolic, endocrine and anthropometric factors and body composition were measured in 481 Asian men.

Results: A DEXA-derived ≥25% abdominal fat (PAbdF) was used to define men with AbO. Age was directly associated with PAbdF and percent total body fat (PBF). Exercise intensity was negatively associated with PBF. Both PBF and PAbdF were associated with HDL and LDL, but have opposite correlation with triglyceride. Furthermore, both PBF and PAbdF were associated with the number of metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk factors. Men with GOb had lower levels of percent lean mass (PLM), testosterone and bioavailable testosterone, and higher insulin and glucose levels. Men with AbO had lower arm and leg fat, higher insulin levels and triglycerides.

Conclusions: Men with GOb and AbO had different pattern of body composition. Age may be a contributory factor in AbO and a sedentary lifestyle may contribute to GOb. Both GOb and AbO are associated with an increased risk of MetS, with GOb more predispose to risk of diabetes, while AbO more at risk for cardiovascular diseases.     

Books reviews

Peter M. Blau and Marshall W. Meyer, Bureaucracy in Modern Society (3rd. ed). New York, Random House, 1987.

Gareth Morgan, Images of Organization, Beverly Hills, Sage Publications, 1986.

Malvyn Dubrovsky (ed.) Technological Change and Workers’ Movements. Explorations in the World Economy: Publications of the Fernand Braudel Center. Vol.4: Beverly Hills, Sage Publications, 1985.

Helmut Klages, Gerhard Franz, and Willi Herbert, Sozialpsychologie der Wohlfahrtgesellschaft. Zur Dynamik von Wertorientirungen, Einstellungen und Ansprüchen (Social Psychology of the Welfare State. On Dynamics of Value Orientations, Attitudes and Claims). Frankfurt ‐ New York, Campus Verlag, 1987.

Gunter Endruweit, Eduard Gauler, Wolfgang H.Stähle, and Bernhard Wilpert, eds. Handbuch der Arbeitbeziehungen. Deutschland‐Oesterreich‐Schweiz. (Handbook of Work Relations: FRG, Austria and Switzerland). Berlin ‐ New York, Walter de Gruyter, 1985.

Gerhard Lenski and Jean Lenski, Human Societies. An Introduction to Macrosociology, 5th ed., New York, McGraw‐Hill, 1987.

Stephen K.Sanderson, Macrosociology. An Introduction to Human Societies. New York, Harper and Row, 1988.

Wojciech Gasparski and Tadeusz Pszczolowski, eds. Praxiological Studies. Polish Contributions to the Science of Efficient Action. Warsaw‐Dordrecht, PWN and D.Reidel, 1983.

James S. Coleman, Individual Interests and Collective Action. Selected Essays. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Darreil Steffensmeier, The Fence: In the Shadow of Two Worlds. Totowa, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 1986, pp. 295.

Max Kaase (ed.) Politische Wissenschaft und Politische Ordnung. Analysen zu Theorie und Empirie demokratischer Regierungsweise. Festschrift zum 65. Geburstag von Rudolf Wildenmann. Opladen, Westdeutscher Verlag, 1986.

Volker Meja, Dieter Misgeld, and Nico Stehr eds. Modern German Sociology. New York, Columbia University Press, 1987.

Feliks Gross, Ideologies, Goals and Values, Greenwood Press, 1985.     

Case Reading as a Practice and Training Intervention in Domestic Violence and Child Protection

This article explores the role of a case-reading tool, developed by the Safe and Together Institute, deployed across five Australian states, and which engaged workers from child protection (CP) and specialist domestic and family violence (DFV) services. It aimed to assess the extent to which DFV is identified in CP case files and to assess the quality of case practice from a DFV-informed perspective, as documented in the case file. The Safe and Together approach to child welfare provides a robust foundation upon which practitioners from statutory and nonstatutory backgrounds can work collaboratively and reach consensus about how best to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children living with DFV. The case reading is both a process of transformative working for practitioners and an analytical tool through which their agencies can affect systemic change.

IMPLICATIONS

• A national audit of 20 child protection case files using the Safe and Together case-reading process indicated that documented child protection practice sits at the lower end of a domestic and family violence-informed Continuum of Practice.

• Analysis indicates a need to improve: child protection engagement with fathers who use DFV, assessments of their parenting role and its impact on children and family functioning; identification of adult survivors’ protective capacities and their impact on children.

• Research in this area may have broader implications for other professions and government policy both nationally and internationally.

     

Book reviews

Henry Cavanna (ed.): Challenges to the Welfare State. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 1998. 204 pp., ISBN 1-85898-636-2, £49-95.

Robert Adams, Lena Dominelli, and Malcolm Payne (eds): Social Work: Themes, Issues and Critical Debates. London, Macmillan, 1998. 390 pp., ISBN 0-333-68818-X, £14.99-

Friedrich W. Seibel and Walter Lorenz (eds): Soziale professionen ür ein Soziales Europa/ Social Professions for a Social Europe/ Professions Sociales pour une Europe Sociale. ERASMUS-Evaluations-Konferenz, Koblenz. IKO, Frankfurt, ISBN 3-88939-443-4

Bruce A. Thyer and John S. Wodarski (eds): Handbook of Empirical Social Work Practice, i. Mental Disorders. New York, John Wiley, 1998. 470 pp., ISBN 0-471-15361-3.

Keith Pringle: Children and Social Welfare in Europe. Buckingham, Open University Press, 1998. 218 pp., ISBN 0-335-19701-9, £14.99.

Walter Hellinckx, Matthew Colton, and Margaret Williams (eds): International Perspectives on Family Support. Aldershot, Arena, 1997. 223 pp., ISBN 1-85742-347-X, £35.00.

Ulla Björnberg and Jiirgen Sass (eds): Families with Small Children in Eastern and Western Europe. Aldershoc, Ashgate, 1997. 180 pp., 1-85972-481-7, £35.00.

Deborah Padgett: Qualitative Methods in Social Work Research: Challenges and Rewards. Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage, 1998. 178 pp., ISBN 0-7619-020O-7 (hbk.); 0-7619-0201-5 (pbk.), £16.99.     

Book reviews

Nathan Glazer Ethnic Dilemmas Harvard, Harvard University Press. 1985

Giddens, Anthony The Constitution of Society, Berkeley, University of California, 1985, pp.XXXVII, 402. Notes, glossary, diagrams, bibliographic notes and index.

Jeremy Rifkin Declaration of a Heretic. Boston. London, Melbourne and Henley, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1985, pp.X,140.

Ted Benton The Rise and Fall of Structural Marxism: Althusser and his Influence, New York, St.Martin's Press, 1984, pp. VII,259.

Raymond L. Garthoff Détente and Confrontation Washington, The Brookings Institution, 1985, pp.XVI,1126.

Joseph J. Collins The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. A Study in the Use of Force in Soviet Foreign Policy, Massachusetts/Toronto, D.C. Heath and Company/Lexington, 1986, pp. XV, 195.

Jan Shipps Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition, Chicago, University of Illinois Press, 1985, pp.211.

Robert Jay Lifton Home from the War: Vietnam Veterans: Neither Victims nor Executioners, New York, Basic Books, 1985, pp.478     

Effect of warning placement on the information processing of college students reading an OTC drug facts panel

Objective: To compare three over-the-counter (OTC) Drug Facts panel versions for information processing optimization among college students.

Participants: University of Houston students (N = 210) participated in a cross-sectional survey from January to May 2010.

Methods: A current FDA label was compared to two experimental labels developed using the theory of CHREST to test information processing by re-positioning the warning information within the Drug Facts panel. Congruency was defined as placing like information together. Information processing was evaluated using the OTC medication Label Evaluation Process Model (LEPM): label comprehension, ease-of-use, attitude toward the product, product evaluation, and purchase intention.

Results: Experimental label with chunked congruent information (uses-directions-other information-warnings) was rated significantly higher than the current FDA label and had the best average scores among the LEPM information processing variables.

Conclusion: If replications uphold these findings, the FDA label design might be revised to improve information processing.     

Effects of resistance training on liver structure and function of aged rats

The aging process may cause negative physiological changes. However, exercises as resistance training (RT) have been considered an important intervention to attenuate these changes. Additionally, liver plays an important role in blood glucose homeostasis in exercise.

Aim: This study aimed to analyze the effects of RT on the liver components of aged animals.

Methods: Male Wistar rats were divided into two groups: 24 months’ group (CONTROL); and group submitted to a progressive RT protocol for 16 weeks (EXERCISE). Both groups were sacrificed at 24 months.

Results: We observed a decrease in blood flow due to the practice of resistance exercises. Besides, our results showed that hepatic tissue plays an important role in glycemic homeostasis during RT. In addition, RT increased mitogen capacity of hepatocytes.

Conclusions: Our study showed many implications for the knowledge about the effects of strength training on old animals’ liver.     

Book reviews

Women and phenomenology—a survey of the literature

Élites discriminadas (sobre el poder de las mujeres) María Antonia García de Leòn Santafé de Bogotà, Editorial Anthropos, 1994, 254 pp.

G. Ferrero, El Poder. Los genios invisibles de la Ciudad     

Book Reviews

Welfare States in Transition. National Adaptations in Global Economies. Edited by Gösta Esping-Andersen. London, Sage, 1996. 276pp., ISBN 0–7619–5048–6, £13.95.

Social Protection and the European Economic and Monetary Union. Edited by Jozef Pacolet. Aldetshot, Avebury, 1996. 305 pp., ISBN 1–8562–581–2, £40.

Valuazione e sapere sociologico (Evaluation and Sociological Knowledge). Edited by G. Bertin. Milan, Franco Angeli, 1996. 299pp., L. 38.000.

I bisogni dimenticati. Rapporto 1996 su emarginazione ed esclusione sociale (Report on Social Marginalization and Exclusion). Caritas Italiana—Fondazione E. Zancan. Milan, Feltrinelli, 1997. 292pp., L. 30.000.

Social Theory, Social Change and Social Work. Edited by Nigel Parton. London, Routledge, 1996. 238pp., ISBN 0–415–12698–3, £13.99.

Lena Dominelli: Sociology for Social Work. Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1997. ISBN 0–333–61521–2, £13.99.

Simon Goodwin: Comparative Mental Health Policy: From Institutional to Community Care. London, Sage. 183pp. ISBN 0–8039–7729–8, £13.99.

Anthony Colombo: Understanding Mentally Disordered Offenders. Aldershot, Ashgate, 1997. 226pp. ISBN 1–85972–689–5. £37.50.

Critical Approaches to Ageing and Later Life.

Edited by Anne Jamieson, Sarah Harper and Christina Victor. Buckingham, Open University Press, 1977. 195pp., ISBN 0–335–19725–6. £14.99.

Education and Fascism. Political Identity and Social Education in Nazi Germany. Edited by H. Sünker and H.-U. Otto. London, Falmer Press, 1997. 180pp., ISBN 0–7507–05919-X, £14.95.     

Book reviews

Patrick Kenis and Bernd Marin (eds.): Managing AIDS: Organizational Responses in Six European Countries. Aldershot, Ashgate, 1997. 381 pp., ISBN 1-85972-126-5, £25.

Mark Doel and Steven Shardlow (eds.): Social Work in a Changing World: An International Perspective on Practice Learning. Aldershot, Arena, 1996. 213 pp., ISBN 1-85742-343-7.

Jack Hutten and Ada Kerkstra (eds.): Home Care in Europe. Aldershot, Arena, 1996. 317 pp., ISBN 1-85742-3364, £19.95.

Joanna Bornat, Julia Johnson, Charmaine Pereira, David Pilgrim, and Fiona Williams (eds.): Community Care: A Reader. Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1997. xi + 351 pp., ISBN 0-333-69847-9, £13.99.

UNICEF: Children at Risk in Central and Eastern Europe: Perils and Promises. Economies in Transition Studies, Regional Monitoring Report, No 4. Florence, International Child Development Centre, 1997. 170 pp., ISBN 88-85401-32-5.

Margit Harder and Keith Pringle (eds.): Protecting Children in Europe: Towards a New Millennium. Aalborg, Aalborg University Press, 1997. 176 pp., ISBN 87-7307-49-3.

Klaus Hurrelmann and Stephen F. Hamilton (eds.): Social Problems and Social Contexts in Adolescence: Perspectives across Boundaries. New York, Aldine de Gruyter, 1996. 299 pp., ISBN 0-202-36101-2.