廉租住房住户：社会支持网现状分析与建构策略——来自贵州省贵阳市的实证研究

随着我国廉租住房保障制度的实施,廉租住房住户作为一个特定聚居群体逐渐形成,完善的社会支持网络是他们维持日常生活、应对危机的重要保证。廉租住房住户社会支持网主要由非正式支持构成,在经济困难解决、情感宣泄和社交支持三方面起着重要作用,但该群体社会支持网较脆弱,网络规模小、结构单一,部分住户甚至缺乏基本的社会支持。这样的社会支持网现状难以有效地化解日后生活过程中可能遭遇的生活危机与困难,这既无益于个体生活状况的安定,也无益于社会秩序的稳定。因此,本文尝试提出廉租住房住户社会支持网络的建构策略,即以社区为平台,以社区服务组织和社区工作者为依托,以赋权理念为指引,以廉租住房住户需求为基础来帮助他们建构多类型、多主体介入的社会支持网络。     

Sheltered Housing and Community

This paper considers the role of sheltered housing following the introduction of new community care arrangements in 1993 and examines the continuing uncertainty about its exact role as community care continues to develop. It reports on a study conducted in Shropshire, using a postal survey and interviews with older people and service professionals. The study highlights the importance of sheltered housing for older people, particularly in relieving them of concerns about maintenance and repairs, social isolation and security. These factors were crucial for their overall peace of mind and quality of life. While only a small proportion of tenants received help under social services' community care arrangements, the additional support, monitoring and service coordination provided by wardens helped some of them to remain in sheltered housing when residential or nursing home care might otherwise have been necessary. Sheltered housing was overwhelmingly popular with older people — but their satisfaction was closely associated with the availability and quality of the warden service. Although sheltered housing is not currently in vogue in housing policy, the paper argues that it plays a vital role in local provision for older people and needs to be more closely integrated into community care policy, while at the same time preserving the characteristics that make it popular with its residents.     

Alcohol Misuse Among Older Adult Public Housing Residents

Low-income older adults living in public housing are at heightened risk for substance misuse. This study identified the prevalence of alcohol misuse among older public housing residents (n?=?187) and explored predictors of problem drinking. Including weekly drinking levels and binge drinking, 23% of the sample engaged in problem drinking behaviors. Logistic regression analysis revealed that race, gender, employment status, years smoking, and illegal drug use were significant predictors of problem drinking. No residents were receiving substance abuse treatment. As the number of older adults increase, training social workers to assess and treat alcohol misuse in older adults is critical.     

Investing in Community Participation to Receive Social Support

ABSTRACT

According to the investment theory of social capital, the investment of valuable resources in social activity leads to the reception of social support. This theory is applied in examining the contribution of community participation to expected social capital. A survey of 1,523 mothers in low-income neighborhoods of Hong Kong, China, suggests that community participation was not generally conducive to expected social support. However, community participation tended to contribute to expected social support when coupled with family resources such as the employment and income of the mother and her partner.     

Family conditions, parental acceptance, and social competence and aggression in Chinese children

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relations among family ecological factors including parental educational and occupational status, family income and housing conditions, the quality of the marital relationship and social support, parental acceptance and rejection, and social competence in a sample of Chinese children. Four hundred and seventy-six primary school children in Shanghai, P.R. China, and their parents participated in the study. Children were administered a peer assessment measure of social behavior and a measure of their perceptions of parental behavior. Parents completed questionnaires concerning family background, parental acceptance and rejection, perceived social support, and marital conflict and satisfaction. Teachers completed a rating scale concerning children's behaviors in school. Information on children's leadership was collected from the school administrative records. Results indicated that parental educational and occupational status was associated with family psychological conditions which, in turn, were predictive of parental acceptance. Family capital resources were negatively related to parental acceptance. Results also indicated that parental acceptance was associated positively with prosocial-competent behavior in children and negatively with aggressive behavior in children. Parental educational and occupational status was directly associated with children's competent behavior. Finally, it was found that family psychological resources were positively related to competent behavior and negatively related to aggression in children, through the mediation of parental acceptance and rejection. Family capital resources were indirectly and positively associated with child aggression through the mediation of parental acceptance and rejection.     

Prioritizing Choice: Perceptions of Neighborhood Social Cohesion for Residents in Subsidized Housing

ABSTRACT

Many families living in poverty rely on housing subsidies. Housing subsidies restrict the housing stock and neighborhood choices for families living in poverty. Fortunately neighborhood social cohesion can protect families from many of the deleterious consequences associated with living in a low-income neighborhood. This study uses panel data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Making Connections initiative to test the role of public housing types on perceptions of neighborhood social cohesion. The probability sample used in the study consists of 2,470 households living in low-income neighborhoods in ten cities in the United States. Results show that public housing residents, both housing choice voucher users and non-housing choice voucher users, on average, report lower neighborhood social cohesion than their non-public housing neighbors. Results also show that moving to a new neighborhood consistently predicts improved neighborhood social cohesion while moving to public housing predicts declines in perceived neighborhood social cohesion. Choice in where one lives seems to play an important and positive role in perceptions of neighborhood social cohesion. Based on these data, it is suggested that policy makers and housing providers prioritize choice in the development and delivery of public housing.     

Children's Living Conditions in Sweden. Social Patterns and Trends in Parental Accessibility, Child Care and Economic Resources

In this study, using data from the Swedish level of living surveys in 1981 and 1991 of more than 3,500 children, social patterns and trends in children's living conditions are analysed. The conditions focused on are linked to parental employment, namely, parental accessibility, use of child care and economic resources. The primary statistical method used is logistic regression analysis. The results show differences in children's access to mothers and fathers as parental access is restricted by various aspects of employment. There were also differences in childrenrsquo;s resources by social class and family structure. Of further importance was the combination of these, especially in the way that social class was more decisive for the children of single parents.     

Conditions for migrant mothers' socioeconomic disadvantages in Hong Kong

The present study utilizes both survey and interview data to examine the socioeconomic disadvantages in terms of limited social support, poverty, and non-employment in migrant mothers in Hong Kong, China. It seeks to understand the disadvantages from a social distance perspective, which holds that social distance hinders access to employment, and social and formal support. This article surveyed 837 mothers living in two impoverished communities. A subsample of 72 migrant mothers participated in follow-up in-depth interviews. Findings indicate the socioeconomic disadvantages and reveal some local conditions for the disadvantages. Specifically, the norms of childcare and self-reliance, social stigmatization of welfare recipients, and remote residential community come to shape migrant mothers' experiences of caring for young children. These findings provide implications to social work practitioners for targeting migrant mothers to reduce their social distance from local community resources.     

Family and community support among older Chilean adults: the importance of heterogeneous social support sources for quality of life

Family and community social networks act as social resources that promote well-being at advanced ages. In this study, we analyze the association between social support received from personal social networks (social support from various family members and friends) and community social networks (social support from neighbors and the neighborhood, age, ethnic, or religious group peers and formal social support networks) and quality of life (QoL) for a sample of older Chilean persons (n = 777). The results confirm that social support from family (partner, children, and extended family) and friends, integration in the community (neighbors) and social support from informal systems (social groups) are associated with QoL. Moreover, the model including both types of support explains 25.8% of variance in QoL. The results and their possible implications are discussed.     

Care leavers: A British affair

Individuals in and leaving care within the UK experience numerous dilemmas that include a lack of supportive housing and potential homelessness, lower educational attainment and occupational status, and greater likelihood of moving into poverty. These adverse situations—all of which are interrelated—shape their present and future health status. Models of these processes usually focus on individual behaviours/characteristics, the consolidation of positive identities through the development of supportive networks, and specific social policies germane to this group. Although informative, these models neglect many key contextual factors that shape these outcomes. In this paper, we present a model of care‐leaving that incorporates developments in the political economy of health literature to show how differing welfare state arrangements shape health by mediating the distribution of economic and social resources over the life course for populations in general and for those in and leaving care specifically. The key recommendation suggested by this model is to focus upon developing public policies to address the vulnerable situations care leavers experience associated with skewed income distributions, lack of housing affordability, weak employment standards, and lack of access to higher education typical of liberal welfare states such as the UK.     

Resilience among older caregivers in rural Namibia: The role of financial status,social support and health

Background: Namibia has one of the highest human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence rates and one of the highest rates of orphanhood in the world, and older caregivers provide much of the care to Namibians living with HIV and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) (UNAIDS, 2014). In this study, the authors explore how financial status, social support, and health were related to the resilience of caregivers caring for people affected by HIV and AIDS in rural northern Namibia, Africa. Method: Data were collected through a structured interview from (N = 147) caregivers from the Zambezi region. Results: Findings from this study show that employment and physical health were significantly associated with increased resilience in older caregivers. Discussion: Our findings point to the need for employment assistance and health services to improve the resilience of caregivers caring for people living with HIV and AIDS. We conclude that there is a need for more vigorous concerted efforts from public and private sector practitioners and policy makers to create more sustained formal employment opportunities and intervention programs aimed at improving the overall health of older HIV caregivers, especially those residing in rural HIV endemic communities in developing countries.     

社区内的主要矛盾纠纷及其舆情疏导

近年来,社区居委会作为矛盾纠纷调解的基层组织,经过实践,总结出了许多比较典型的舆情疏导方法。社区居委会针对社区内存在的政府与居民、物业与居民、居民之间、居民家庭内部和居民与其他组织的矛盾纠纷,巧妙运用舆情疏导的具体方法,对于维护社区稳定具有非常重要的现实意义。     

“It was like leaving your family”: Gentrification and the impacts of displacement on public housing tenants in inner‐Sydney

In March 2014, the minister responsible announced that all of the approximately 600 public housing tenants of Millers Point and the Sirius Building in inner Sydney are to be moved and the properties sold. Millers Point is probably the oldest public housing area in Australia. The Sirius Building was purpose built for public housing tenants in the late 1970s. The article briefly examines the gentrification process in the Millers Point area. However, the main focus, drawing on six in‐depth interviews with public housing tenants who are still residents in the area and 13 who have moved, is an examination of the impact of the government's removal announcement and the actual displacement of residents. What this article illustrates is that the place attachment of most of the interviewees was profound and the removal announcement and the actual move were devastating. Interviewees spoke of deep sadness and anxiety at the thought of leaving what they considered a unique and genuine community. Residents who had moved told of their isolation and melancholy at having lost their local social network. The research shows that the human cost of policies and not revenue should always be the central consideration.     

社区内的主要矛盾纠纷及其舆情疏导

近年来,社区居委会作为矛盾纠纷调解的基层组织,经过实践,总结出了许多比较典型的舆情疏导方法。社区居委会针对社区内存在的政府与居民、物业与居民、居民之间、居民家庭内部和居民与其他组织的矛盾纠纷,巧妙运用舆情疏导的具体方法,对于维护社区稳定具有非常重要的现实意义。     

Early access and use of housing: care leavers and other young people in difficulty

This paper presents findings from a study of how care leavers access and use housing services, and what they said had helped them to do so. The sample comprised 80 care leavers, and, for comparison, a group of 59 young people (termed ‘in difficulty’) who met certain criteria of disadvantage. Care leavers were found to have fewer crisis transitions and less experience of homelessness, together with a much higher level of autonomy and support in their first accommodation, relative to other young people in difficulty. Several factors are identified that, from the care leavers' point of view, contributed to their better access and use of housing services, including having family and friends to turn to, and leaving care teams that negotiated on their behalf with housing services. The paper concludes that care leavers had more positive housing experiences than other young people in difficulty, helped by the improved preparation for independence and ongoing support available to them from leaving care teams.     

Contested Housing Landscapes? Social Inclusion,Deinstitutionalisation and Housing Policy in Australia

Deinstitutionalisation is represented as a major step toward social inclusion through the resettlement of disabled people residing in segregated large‐scale institutions into community‐based homes. By promoting the right to live in ordinary community residential settings, deinstitutionalisation fundamentally changes both the support services and housing arrangements of former institutional residents. In Australia, as in many western countries, debates on community care have tended to focus on the location and nature of non‐housing supports for people leaving dependent care. This focus, however, overlooks the fact that deinstitutionalisation involves a radical rehousing of people in care. This paper explores the character and implications of deinstitutionalisation in Australia as a rehousing process. It is based on a recent national research project that has examined the housing futures of people with intellectual disabilities who have been, or will be, deinstitutionalised. The paper considers the increasingly divergent socio‐political perspectives that have emerged in recent discussions about social inclusion, institutional reform and independent living and their implications for housing and community care policies.     

Family support, social capital, resilience and adolescent coping

All too often young people are excluded in practice from the general policy and professional consensus that partnership and participation should underpin work with children, young people and their families. If working with troubled and troublesome young people is to be based on family support, it will require not only the clear statement of that policy but also demonstration that it can be applied in practice. Achieving that involves setting out a plausible theory of change that can be rigorously evaluated. This paper suggests a conceptual model that draws on social support theory to harness the ideas of social capital and resilience in a way that can link formal family support interventions to adolescent coping. Research with young people attending three community‐based projects for marginalized youth is used to illustrate how validated tools can be used to measure and document the detail of support, resilience, social capital and coping in young people's lives. It is also suggested that there is sufficient fit between the findings emerging from the study and the model to justify the model being more rigorously tested.     

Someone to check in on me: social capital,social support and vulnerable parents with very young children in the Australian Capital Territory

Although knowledge of how social support can mediate stress is now well known, finding ways to enable isolated parents to access social resources that could make a positive difference for children during their critical early years remains difficult. This paper reported on the findings of a telephone survey aimed at understanding levels of social capital and social support experienced by isolated parents raising young children on their own in Canberra, Australia. Specifically, it discussed a successful methodology for reaching isolated parents, those whom services find hard to reach. The survey found that despite the relative affluence of Canberra's population, there is a significant group of parents who are isolated from both formal and informal support and the social capital that can help them cope with the stresses and demands of raising young children. These parents were unsure where to get parenting information and had a strong sense that they were judged by their local communities and services. We identified lost opportunities by general practitioners and other widely used systems such as public housing and security to take more proactive roles and connect parents to formal service support systems. Flexible, affordable child care was identified as an unmet need for these parents, not only as a source of relief from extreme isolation but also to enable them to work or prepare for work through study.     

Effective personalised housing support for people with disabilities – case study analysis

International policy trends favour personalised approaches to housing support for people with disabilities. Previous research is inconclusive about whether these approaches are effective compared to group home support in the way they use government resources and benefit clients, partly because it does not usually consider the experiences of people who use the support. In this research we compared six new, innovative case studies of personalised housing support to previous research about group home support. We included qualitative data about client experiences, in particular regarding social networks, decision making, community service use and participation in domestic tasks. We found that client outcomes were positive in all four categories, while the financial costs to clients and government were similar to group home support. The results offer evidence that current, personalised approaches to housing support can be an effective policy option that allows people with disabilities to make choices about how to live and participate in their communities, without increasing the cost to government.