A Socioeconomic Scale for Canada: Measuring Occupational Status from the Census

Cet article présente une nouvelle échelle professionnelle pour la classification nationale des professions (CNP) au Canada. En premier, l'on discute le contexte historique dans lequel la production des échelles des professions, faites par des sociologues aux Canada et aux États-Unis, s'est réalisée. La méthodologie de la récente échelle Nam–Powers–Boyd utilisée aux États-Unis est ensuite appliquée au recensement des professions de 2001. Celle-ci sert à créer des scores des statuts professionnels pour les titres professionnels de la classification nationale des professions (CNP 2001) à Statistiques Canada. Ces scores soulignent les inégalités démographiques et socio-économiques qui existent parmi les groupes au Canada. L'article se termine par une discussion des débats courants concernant l'utilisation des scores composites professionnels.
This paper provides a new occupational scale for the Canadian National Occupational Classification system. The historical context for occupational scales produced by sociologists in Canada and the United States is first discussed. The methodology used in the recent Nam–Powers–Boyd scale in the United States then is applied to the 2001 census of occupations to construct occupational status scores for the occupational titles found in the National Occupational Classification for Statistics (2001) at Statistics Canada. The occupational status scores highlight inequalities existing among groups in Canada along demographic and socioeconomic dimensions. The paper concludes with a discussion of current debates over the use of composite occupational scores.     

Long Term Social Work in a Primary Health Care Setting

Summary This study was designed to explore which factors characteriselong term clients and to investigate the relationship betweenthe burden on medical and welfare resources in a general practicesetting. Two groups of clients were studied; 135 long term clientsreferred over a five year period, where contact was maintainfor a minimum of one year and 157 cases referred during a sixmonth period, in all of which the duration of social work interventionwas less than 12 months. Few differences were found betweenthe characteristics of the two groups, nor did any individualsocial worker emerge as being particularly predisposed to maintainlong term contact However, a significant change in the proportionof referrals which became long term was found over the fiveyear period under consideration, and policy regarding the handlingof cases was therefore felt to constitute a major influenceon the length of contact with any particular client Relationshipswith other members of the primary health care team were generallyfound to be good, especially in relation to the long term clients.Moreover, the OPs' workload with regard to these clients wasfound to be reduced following social work intervention. Theseclients' consultation rates dropped significantly after receivingsocial work help, and continued to drop when the case had beenclosed.