Economic Growth,Inequality and Poverty in the EU

Social Indicators Research - A country’s poverty rate is influenced by numerous factors, including economic growth and the distribution of its effects. This article aims to classify European...     

Gender Equality Revisited – Changes in Nordic Childcare Policies in the 2000s

The Nordic childcare policy model is often reviewed and even recommended internationally for its contribution to gender equality, high female labour force participation and, perhaps more indirectly, to a high fertility rate. Nordic childcare services and parental leave schemes have thus been portrayed in the literature as policies which have managed to facilitate a work–family model of dual earners and dual carers. However, the recent introduction of cash‐for‐care schemes seems to go against the Nordic dual earner/dual carer model and ideals of gender equality, in supporting parental (maternal) care of the child in the home. At the same time, new upcoming trends of political fatherhood and the perspective of lifelong learning for the child are also changing the Nordic childcare model. This article provides an analysis of how new childcare policy goals have been articulated into policies from the late 1990s to the late 2000s and how these may challenge the traditional goals of the Nordic welfare states.     

Peers Increase Late Adolescents' Exploratory Behavior and Sensitivity to Positive and Negative Feedback

Adolescents take more risks with peers than when alone. It is not clear how peer presence affects adolescents' risky decision making, however. We used the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT)—a game used to assess decision making involving risk and reward—to examine how peers affect late adolescents' exploration of relevant environmental cues, ability to learn from the outcomes (positive and negative) of that exploration, and ability to integrate feedback to adjust behavior toward optimal long‐term outcomes. One hundred and one 18‐ to 22‐year old males (M = 19.8 years) were randomly assigned to play the IGT either alone or observed by peers. Late adolescents tested with observers engaged in more exploratory behavior, learned faster from both positive and negative outcomes, and evinced better task performance than those tested alone.     

Great Middle Eastern instability: Structural roots and uneven modernization 1960-2012

The paper deals with the structural roots of political instability in the Middle East that has been manifested by the Arab Spring throughout the region since early 2011. The roots of the instability are seen in cumulative effects of highly uneven long-term social change in its three main dimensions since 1960s: (1) rapid social and demographic changes, (2) slower and fluctuating economic development, and (3) rigid political subsystem. The Middle Eastern uneven social change is also under way in a specific (4) cultural and (5) international context. The political instability is thus seen as a consequence of multiple and complex interactions among various dimensions of uneven modernisation process, Islamic political imagination and the international context. The paper deals with the interactions on the macro-level and with its politically destabilizing consequences on micro-level using selected examples of causal mechanisms. The Middle Eastern uneven modernisation pattern is systematically documented by empirical macro-indicators and is compared with the modernisation process in other post-colonial world macro-regions.     

Transformation of Social Care Services for the Elderly in Slovakia

ABSTRACT

The main objective of this article is to present a theoretical framework for the relevant historical, economic, demographic, and political factors influencing the transformation of social care services for the elderly in Slovakia. A major restructuring of the social care services for the elderly is necessitated by the aging of the Slovak population (demographic reason), the path dependency of the current Slovak elderly care system (historical reason), the growing purchasing power of older people and the general population (economic reason), and new requirements formulated by the European Union and the general public (political reason). Historical documents, legislative acts, strategic documents, international project documents, and statistics were reviewed, and 34 open-ended interviews within the framework of two case studies were carried out in order to obtain qualitative and quantitative data. The theoretical framework and the results based on those interviews indicate that the Slovak social care service for the elderly may turn out to become more similar to the advanced Central European systems, but also that prompt legislative and financial changes are required. Nevertheless, the future direction can only be more precisely identified when more case studies can be compared with one another.     

Forbidden Talk: Commentary on Article by Andrea Celenza “The Guilty Pleasure of Erotic Countertransference: Searching for Radial True”

Sexual passions lie outside the bounds of what can usually be thought about and discussed. I applaud Celenza's (this issue) contribution to opening this area for discussion, but my understanding of the passionate nature of human experience requires that her relational conceptualizations be augmented by Freudian and Lacanian models of desire, the real, and jouissance. These models help us recognize that some psychic material can never be put into words or thought. Although we seek to expand thinking and speaking, a residue will always remain that is unthinkable. I suggest analytic therapists develop intimate peer support groups to enhance the individual's ability to think and talk of his or her unrecognized passions. Although necessarily inadequate, such arenas for safe exploration provide an essential addition to ongoing efforts to work both passionately and safely with vulnerable patients.     

Negative situation appraisal and mental well-being among refugees in Germany: Serial mediation by religious coping and sense of coherence

It has been widely demonstrated that pre- and post-migration experiences can be highly traumatic for refugees. The purpose of this study was to assess the mediating effects of religious coping and sense of coherence on the association of negative dysfunctional situation appraisal and mental well-being among refugees. Paper surveys were completed by 600 people representing various refugee groups (mostly from Mashreq Countries) in German Bavaria, aged 18–65. Mediation analysis revealed that negative religious coping and sense of coherence singly and serially mediated the relationship between negative dysfunctional situation appraisal and well-being, whereas positive religious coping did not have statistically significant relationships with these variables. The data obtained suggest that the negative religious coping style and sense of coherence are two important targets for future experimental studies, and interventions on them may bring the synergistic effect on improving mental well-being in refugees.