Social europe,social citizenship,and social services

The article begins by considering moves to establish Social Europe, alongside the European Unions single market, and the emphasis within the formulation of Social Europe on an employment-based model of social citizenship. This employment-based model is considered to be too limited for application to the social services. Accordingly, two other models are placed within the context of continuing European debate. These models are termed state clienthood and state-sponsored consumerism. The social democratic model of state cli-enthood is considered to be flawed by its neglect of the power exercised by the state over users of social services and by its lack of concern with individual needs. The potential of state-sponsored consumerism to open up questions concerning the rights of users of social services and responsiveness to their individual needs is explored and the conclusion is reached that, despite its inauspicious beginnings as part of the New Rights reform programme, this model has possibilities for enhancing social citizenship. Procedural rights offered by state-sponsored consumerism not only can extend social citizenship within existing social services provision but also can serve as a precursor to the wider participation of citizens in the social services, as the site of a continuing struggle around their rights.     

The unequal impact of Covid-19 on the lives and rights of the children of modern slavery survivors,children in exploitation and children at risk of entering exploitation

This article discusses the unequal impact of Covid-19 on the lives of the children of survivors of modern slavery, child victims of exploitation and children at risk of exploitation in the UK. It draws on research that has analysed the risks and impacts of Covid-19 on victims and survivors of modern slavery. It explores how pandemic responses may have hindered these children's rights to education, food, safety, development and participation and representation in legal processes. It suggests that the pandemic should be used as an impetus to address inequalities that existed pre-Covid-19 and those that have been exacerbated by it.     

Negative Stereotyping of Older Nurses Despite Contact and Mere Exposure: The Case of Nursing Recruiters in Western Australia

Ageist attitudes have been identified across different industries. The nursing profession has a high proportion of older workers. As this facilitates regular contact with, as well as exposure to, older nurses, it may be expected to show less ageism. This study investigated 163 Western Australian nursing recruiters' attitudes toward older nurses. Results showed clear evidence of both negative and positive stereotyping of older nurses. Nursing recruiters indicated that they would be more than likely to hire older nurses and that age was less relevant in making hiring decisions. These findings suggest that enhancing the employability of older workers does not necessarily change ageist attitudes. This is relevant to policy formulation, attitude change interventions, and the well-being of older workers.     

Rethinking the Canon: Reflections on a Text That Ought to be Essential Reading

Abstract

The 2006 war in Lebanon that erupted between Hezbollah and Israel marked the largest evacuation of Americans abroad since World War II. This article captures the experiences of Lebanese-American women and investigates how gender identity was expressed during these evacuations. Presented from the point of view of a participant-observer and personal interviews, findings show that gender became a master identity that influenced these women's choices regarding how to escape the country and return to the United States. Some embraced dependency upon masculinist exercises of power while others claimed agency as they determined their own fate and carried out their own evacuation without waiting to be rescued by the state or male kin members. The evacuation stories in this article confirm and illuminate the complexity of ethnic citizenship and gendered agency.     

Editorial

This paper questions whether it is possible that current policy and guidelines could ever effect a significant shift in education of social work students. There are several issues which need to be appreciated if social work education is to become anything more than an induction to a technical craft. These issues include debate on the nature of theory and reflective practice and on pedagogy and curriculum. Rather than understand theory and reflective practice in the applied technicist sense what is required is an understanding and appreciation of moral practical deliberation—what scholars of the virtues refer to as phronesis. Debate on pedagogy has stopped short of tackling important issues which find succour in technicist and managerialist accounts of practice. As such, any idea that practice experience will improve the practice of student social workers is questionable.     

Seasonal and weather-related behavioral effects among urban Aboriginal, urban non-Aboriginal, and remote Aboriginal participants in Canada

The influence of seasonal change and weather on mood, social activity, weight, food consumption, and sleep length was compared across urban Aboriginals (n = 43), urban non-Aboriginals (n = 49), and remote Aboriginals (n = 39) in Ontario, Canada. Such research is important since climate change may differentially shape the well-being of social groups. Behavioral items—including mood, social activity, weight, sleep, and food consumption—were measured using the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire, and associations between these items and meteorological data were examined with bivariate and multivariate approaches. Weather variables had consistent, significant associations with behavior except within the remote Aboriginal group despite living in a more extreme climate. Lifestyle and adaptation may contribute to an increased weather tolerance among remote Aboriginal people, intriguing findings as cultures grapple with the implications of future climate change.     

Don't ask don't tell: examining attitudes about black homosexuality and the media in an online forum

On 8 November 2005, a posting appeared on the BET.COM Bulletin Board under the heading Noah's Arc. It read: ‘Has anyone caught the new show called Noah's Arc? It comes on a gay/lesbian channel called LOGO and the show is really good. It is about four gay men living and loving in Los Angeles … it gives us a glimpse into a world of gay men and the struggles that they endure in life. I suggest that all of you watch it.’ Using textual analysis, this study examines the responses of forum users addressing the following research question: Thematically, what attitudes and opinions emerged from the postings surrounding the question ‘Has anyone caught the new show Noah's Arc?’ Eight themes emerged from the postings submitted by 84 respondents as BET.COM visitors engaged in a four-month discussion about sexual orientation and identity, race, religion and spirituality. The analysis reveals that while many respondents were homophobic and heterosexist, others had a more sophisticated and enlightened understanding of sexuality, media images and stereotypes, religion, and identity politics. Results suggest that an inevitable consequence of discussions of homosexuality is a discussion of morality and religion.     

The cost of uncertain life span

Much uncertainty surrounds the length of human life. The standard deviation in adult life span is about 15 years in the USA, and theory and evidence suggest that it is costly. I calibrate a utility-theoretic model that shows that 1 year in standard deviation is worth about half a life year. Differences in variance exacerbate health inequalities between and among rich and poor countries. Accounting for the cost of life-span variance appears to amplify recently discovered patterns of convergence in world average human well-being because the component of variance due to infant mortality has exhibited even more convergence than life expectancy.