Adjustment strategies revisited: Agricultural change in the Welsh Marches

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, much attention was paid by British agricultural geographers to the restructuring of the farm sector under pressures of national, European and global change. The need to adopt a perspective capable of looking beyond the farm gate inspired the introduction of modified political economy approaches into agricultural research. One important cornerstone of the empirical application of this thesis was the concept of the ‘farm adjustment strategy’. This attempted to map out the responses, especially those of survival, made by farm family businesses to rapidly changing agrarian conditions. Subsequently, the farm adjustment strategy became remarkable for its popularity as a way to organise research into agricultural change in developed market economies. Following a retreat in the 1990s, there has been something of a recent revival in the use of the term ‘strategy’ relating to agricultural adjustment. Revisiting this concept is therefore timely. Using empirical evidence from studies of farming change in the Welsh Marches, this paper examines two issues. First, it makes a critical re-examination of the concept to resolve differences with interpretation linked to theoretical perspectives so that future misuse can be minimised. Second, an attempt is made to assess the relevance of defined elements of farm adjustment strategies to analyses of farm business change. In so doing, there is an attempt to recover our knowledge of agrarian restructuring and to help situate newly encultured investigations into the likely survival of family labour-based forms of production.     

Reflections on Practical Approaches to Involving Children and Young People in the Data Analysis Process

This article reflects on key methodological issues emerging from children and young people's involvement in data analysis processes. We outline a pragmatic framework illustrating different approaches to engaging children, using two case studies of children's experiences of participating in data analysis. The article highlights methods of engagement and important issues such as the balance of power between adults and children, training, support, ethical considerations, time and resources. We argue that involving children in data analysis processes can have several benefits, including enabling a greater understanding of children's perspectives and helping to prioritise children's agendas in policy and practice. © 2007 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2007 National Children's Bureau.     

In search of the wage-labour/service contract: new evidence on the validity of the Goldthorpe class schema

In this paper we examine new empirical evidence on the coherence and magnitude of the main classes in the Goldthorpe class schema. Particular attention is paid to issues that have recently been a source of academic dispute: the coherence and size of the service class and the distinction between the service class and intermediate classes. Using recently available British data collected by the Office for National Statistics we examine: (i) the extent to which measures of class-relevant job characteristics are empirically discriminated by the categories of the schema; (ii) the structure of a 'contract type' dimension of employment relations conceived of as a categorical latent variable; and (iii) the association between this latent variable and both the Goldthorpe class schema and a related measure socio-economic group (SEG). We find that the data are consistent with the existence of a three category latent 'contract type' variable largely corresponding to the notions of service, intermediate and wage-labour contracts explicit in discussions of the theoretical rationale for the Goldthorpe schema. We further find a substantial degree of fit between the latent 'contract types' and the schema. However, the service class fault line appears to lie within class I and II of the schema rather than between them and the intermediate classes which suggests a revised, smaller service class would better capture the reality of the contemporary British occupational structure.     

Promising practices for delivery of court-supervised substance abuse treatment: perspectives from six high-performing California counties operating Proposition 36

Operative for nearly a decade, California's voter-initiated Proposition 36 program offers many offenders community-based substance abuse treatment in lieu of likely incarceration. Research has documented program successes and plans for replication have proliferated, yet very little is known about how the Proposition 36 program works or practices for achieving optimal program outcomes. In this article, we identify policies and practices that key stakeholders perceive to be most responsible for the successful delivery of court-supervised substance abuse treatment to offenders under Proposition 36. Data was collected via focus groups conducted with 59 county stakeholders in six high-performing counties during 2009. Discussion was informed by seven empirical indicators of program performance and outcomes and was focused on identifying and describing elements contributing to success. Program success was primarily attributed to four strategies, those that: (1) fostered program engagement, monitored participant progress, and sustained cooperation among participants; (2) cultivated buy-in among key stakeholders; (3) capitalized on the role of the court and the judge; and (4) created a setting which promoted a high-quality treatment system, utilization of existing resources, and broad financial and political support for the program. Goals and practices for implementing each strategy are discussed. Findings provide a "promising practices" resource for Proposition 36 program evaluation and improvement and inform the design and study of other similar types of collaborative justice treatment efforts.     

Does job resource loss reduce burnout and job exit for professionally trained social workers in child welfare?

This study contributes to the literature on burnout and turnover in child welfare by examining the applicability of conservation of resources theory (COR). This theory argues that a loss of resources leads to the stress underlying burnout. This article examines the loss of two resources in particular: (a) the loss of a member of the entering cohort of workers and (b) change in the coethnic population of the community in which the social worker practices. In this sample of 1001 specially trained social workers, 44.3% reported high levels of emotional exhaustion or burnout. Stress was positively associated with burnout. Likewise, job satisfaction was protective against burnout. Furthermore, coethnic resources were associated with higher personal accomplishment scores for Asian–American, Hispanic, and Caucasian workers. Cohort member loss was not associated with burnout when controlling for personal resources and organizational factors, but cohort member loss did triple the odds of others in the cohort leaving. However, burnout was not associated with job exit in this sample. Although this study did not find evidence that cohort loss or coethnic loss was associated with burnout, it raises questions for further research about the social network implications of turnover.     

An Innovative Project for Young People in Care Who have been Sexually Abused

Correspondence to Willm Mistral, The Mental Health Research and Development Unit, 3 East, 2.10, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY,UK. E-mail W.Mistral{at}bath.ac.uk Summary Professional awareness of child mental health problems and sexualabuse has increased greatly over the past 20 years, and thisis especially true for young people under the care of socialservices. The current paper provides an overview of the researchliterature on needs and service provision in this area. It goeson to describe an innovative interagency project in Dorset whichoffers flexible, fast track intervention packages to lookedafter young people with a profile indicating sexual abuse, whohave been reluctant to engage with conventional child and adolescentmental health services. The paper includes preliminary resultsfrom an evaluation of this project and discusses the implicationfor future service provision.     

Who Wants a Deliberative Public Sphere?1

Democratic theorists and social scientists suggest that a deliberative public sphere would be good for democracy by maximizing emancipatory possibilities and providing broad legitimacy to political decision making. But do ordinary Americans actually want a deliberative public sphere? I examine this question in the context of four contentious “religion and science” debates. Through a multidimensional evaluation exercise with 62 ordinary respondents, I find that evaluation of public representatives in these debates tends to favor open‐mindedness and ongoing debate. Further, respondents explicitly discount elected representatives who participate in public debate precisely because they are seen as violating deliberative norms through their affiliation with electoral politics. Respondents want a deliberative public sphere. However, this desire reflects an understanding of the public sphere and institutional politics as disconnected arenas with incompatible rules and objectives, raising multiple questions for democratic theory and for political sociology.