Equity in Education Expenditure in Thailand

This article analyses the distributional effects of education spending across regions of Thailand, a country that purportedly seeks to reduce regional welfare disparities through decentralisation. It finds that public expenditure on education is neither progressive nor pro‐poor, although there are sizeable regional differences, driven by the pro‐rich distributional profiles of public tertiary education spending and public transfers to private education. Policy‐wise, these results suggest that the current decentralised allocation of educational spending is not consistent with an equity‐enhancing goal.     

Difficulties in Diagnosing Sexual Abuse in Children with Condyloma Acuminata in Turkey

Human papillomavirus is responsible for anogenital warts and could be regarded as an indicator of possible sexual abuse in children. A genital wart was detected during an investigation of anti–hepatitis C virus positivity in a four-year-old male patient. No pathological findings of another sexually transmitted disease were found except complete cleft palate and circumferential lesions in the perianal region. No family member was anti-hepatitis C virus positive, but the patient's uncle and his wife had genital condylomata. Although detailed physical examination uncovered no other findings indicative of sexual abuse, suspicion of abuse could not be eliminated. Therefore, we wanted to draw the attention of health professionals to the association of anogenital warts and sexual abuse.     

Seasonal patterns in slot-machine gambling in Germany

Although several aspects of gambling have been thoroughly investigated, little is known about the effect of seasonality on gambling. This study investigated the seasonal patterns in slot-machine usage, based on a unique data set of slot-machine usage from a German gambling centre using time series analysis. Knowledge of seasonal slot-machine usage patterns provides useful insights for researchers, gambling centre managers and legal authorities. Slot-machine gambling activity appears to be highest in November, when poor weather is compounded with lack of entertainment activities and lowest in December, when ample entertainment possibilities may distract people from gambling. The estimated daily and weekly seasonal patterns support the self-control literature, which suggests that self-regulatory failures are more likely when people are more tired; after work, or late in the evening. The high variation in gambling during winter implies that the availability of alternative entertainment activities may have an important influence on slot-machine usage.     

Risk behavior in decision-making in a multi-person-setting

When people have to make a choice in an individual setting between a known-risk option and an untested situation of uncertainty, the majority prefers the known risk over the uncertainty of the alternative. The confrontation with an unfamiliar situation in an environment including other participants allows for new mechanisms in risk-perception and risk-evaluation. People tend to become other-directed and use the behavior and consequences of actions of other people in the environment to assess risk. Our investigations show that warning signals observable in the behavior of other participants in the setting reinforce people's preference for known risks over uncertainty.     

大学校园里的“大负翁”

随着人民生活水平的进一步提高,以及西方发达国家某些观念的渗入,父辈那种“省吃俭用,努力存钱”的观念在当代大学生的头脑里逐步淡化。追求名牌、时尚已成为当代大学生的生活目标,以至于越来越多的大学生加入“大负翁”一族。     

Social-movement Unionism in Theory and in Sweden

Many union leaders and observers of unionism in industrially advanced countries have recently argued for stronger links between unions and social movements but their arguments leave the nature of social movements underspecified. This article reviews the literature on social movements and argues in favour of a minimalist theory of the social actor rather than choose between American and European approaches to studying social movements. Both Melucci's European approach and McAdam, Tarrow, and Tilly's American approach to integrating the European and American schools of thought on social movements are inadequate to the task of specifying social-movement unionism. Hindess's minimalist theory of the social actor and articulated arenas of conflict offers a stronger approach to understanding social-movement unionism and appreciating its strategic pertinence in particular times and places. Two episodes of contention in Sweden illustrate the advantages of a minimalist theory of articulated social-movement unionism.     

Elder Abuse in Residential Settings in Sweden

ABSTRACT

To investigate frequencies and types of elder abuse occurring in residential settings in two municipal areas of Sweden, nursing staff were asked to answer a questionnaire; 499 responded. The findings indicated that elder abuse involving the staff did occur. Eleven percent of the staff knew of situations of elder abuse and two percent admitted that they themselves had been abusive towards an elderly resident. Psychological and physical abuse related to caring activities were most common. In the specific situations reported, the abusers were mostly characterised as hot-tempered, exhausted, and burned out. The abused people were often mentally and/or physically handicapped and generally over 80 years old. Feelings such as powerlessness, anger towards the abuser, and compassion for the abused person were reported. To cope with the situation, they talked to each other or to the manager. They recommended more education and support as the main preventive strategy.     

Women in Politics in Norway

This paper attempts to explain how and why women in Norway have achieved unusually high political representation. The study, based on forty-three personal interviews with female politicians and persons familiar with Norwegian political culture, found that certain favorable social and political preconditions existed in Norway that encouraged women's entry into politics. However, it was the strong and effectively organized women's movement which was responsible for the significant increase of women in politics. A number of environmental opportunities and threats facilitated the formation of a successful coalition between establishment and new feminist factions of the women's movement. This coalition then used effective strategies to get more women into politics.     

Sex Differences in Political Activity in Britain

Using survey data from 1963 and 1974, the analysis explores the relative rates of political participation of British men and women in a number of conventional political parties. As in the U.S. case, in Britain men and women do participate at about the same rates in a number of activities, including voting, party identification, party membership and activity, and political group membership and activity. On the other hand, more males than females claim interest in politics. Several explanations are discussed for these findings, and comparisons are made with findings from other nations.     

Differences in Understanding Generation in the Workforce

From an analysis of two age diverse samples in which we explored the ways “generation” is understood in the workforce, we make several contributions to generational research. First, we propose new conceptualizations on generations in the workforce. They are: contribution (a generation is defined based on the impact its members make on society or organizations) and generation as an ambiguous or irrelevant concept (generational categories are meaningless or inconsequential). Second, we note that individuals draw on a combination of multiple understandings of generations, making each person’s understanding unique and nuanced. Third, though most of our study participants leveraged age in their definition of generation, they did so in different ways. Fourth, we discuss outcomes of different understandings of generation, including conflict and identity work.     

Intergenerational Learning in Stockholm County in Sweden

Abstract

This article investigates a practical implementation of strategies for augmenting social capital, as they are being used within the Granddad Project, an intergenerational learning initiative conducted in schools in the Stockholm county area. Indicators for measuring social capital were constructed on the basis of questionnaire data. Responses from a total of 580 pupils, 19 granddads and 27 teachers in 17 schools were collected. Additionally, for the granddads, a qualitative analysis was also carried out using a set of narrative data, reflecting their perceptions and experiences of their work in the schools. The results indicate that the granddads' work itself is forming part of the social capital between individual granddads and the pupils. The pupil responses indicate that boys and girls feel secure in school and that the granddad supports and assists everyone. The responses from the granddads demonstrate that they find their work demanding, but nonetheless rewarding because of the social network it has established for them with the staff and the positive response from the pupils. These results support the assumption that interaction that occurs in the classrooms in schools where there is granddad intervention provides opportunities for increased social capital to be generated on the part of both the younger and the older generation.     

An Essential Component in Promoting Sexual Health in Europe is Training in Sexology

ABSTRACT

Training programs for sexologists are core activities to promote higher professional standards in sexology and to educate a new generation of sexologists. The summary information from 25 European countries provides evidence that training in sexology consists today of different models. The existing different national training models in sexology in Europe are: (1) a medical model, (2) a clinical model integrating medical and psychological approaches, (3) separated education in clinical sexology and human sexology, (4) sex therapy model, (5) human sexuality model, and (6) the Nordic human sexology model. This information provides basis for future collaboration between training institutes in Europe.     

Recent Developments in Aged Care Policy in Australia

Summary

A series of major reforms implemented through the mid 1980s sought to contain residential care and expand community care in Australia's long-term care system. While this goal has been maintained, a number of new policy initiatives followed the change of federal government in 1996. This article presents a systematic account of current policy objectives, implementation measures, and outcomes in three major policy areas: changing the balance between residential and community care, targeting in community care, and support for family caregivers. This analysis shows that while there have been shifts in emphasis from time to time, concerted policy efforts over the last 20 years have contained the growth of expenditure on long-term care and realized significant change in the service system.     

Ethnic differences in neighbourly relations in urban China

Using data collected in Lanzhou, this paper examines the effect of minority ethnicity on neighbourly relations in China. It shows that the Hui as a whole express a higher level of satisfaction at relations with neighbours than the Han do. It also shows that the Hui advantage is removed with key background characteristics controlled. Finally, this paper shows intra-group variation among the Hui. These findings suggest that social status is a better predictor of neighbourly relations than the focus on inter-group contrast in traditionality in the existing scholarship of the Hui. Both inter- and intra-group variation in urban life must be examined to attain a more balanced picture of Hui Muslims in China.     

Experiences of children in armed conflict in Nepal

This paper is based on the real life stories of child soldiers and children directly affected by armed conflict from different parts of the country from 2005 to 2009. These field based interviews were conducted with about 400 children between ages 12 and 18 from various researches throughout the country and with participants of HimRights programs. This article is based on primary information of children affected by armed conflict. The aim of this paper is to elaborate on the circumstances that led to their involvement as child soldiers, their expectations and harrowing experiences, and the negative and positive impact on children. The paper focuses on how both sides of conflicting parties used children as child soldiers, forcibly or voluntarily. Some children were attracted to Maoists ideology and rhetoric, singing/dancing, food/clothing/education while others were abducted or forced to join through the “one house one person policy”. Some children joined the insurgency as the last resort due to lack of community support, and after the deaths of their parents. It also looks at how schools were used as recruitment centers and battleground during this time. Gender-based violence has occurred rampantly during armed conflict in Nepal but respondents do not want to discuss openly about it, nor are government or civil society. Furthermore, this paper also deals with challenges of reintegration of child soldiers. They have had to face ostracism in their homes, schools and communities and are using substance abuse as a coping mechanism and the need for support and empathy at both the societal and policy level is indicated.     

Needed Changes in the Course in World History

Using Lani Guinier's notion of “racial literacy” and the findings from a study that analyzed how recent K-12 social studies textbooks portray racial violence against African Americans, I argue in this article that students come to teacher education programs possessing a limited understanding of racism as a historically situated, institutionalized practice. I consider the implications this gap has on preservice teacher education and offer suggestions on how social education might assist K-12 students and later preservice teacher candidates develop critical racial literacy.     

Contextualizing mistreatment in cognitive impairment in Latin America

Mistreatment is an important social outcome of the growing cognitive impairment epidemic, particularly in developing countries. This study aimed to bring to light what is known about mistreatment in cognitively impaired individuals in Latin American Countries. We identified a gap in the literature on this topic that opens the door for future research.