Older Adolescents’ Understanding of Participant Rights in the BlackBerry Project,a Longitudinal Ambulatory Assessment Study

For a long‐term, longitudinal study that used BlackBerry smartphones for passive ambulatory assessment among older adolescents, this study focused on three areas of ethical concern: (1) adolescents’ competence to give assent; (2) understanding of confidentiality, the protection of information, and project goals; and (3) awareness of procedures and benefits, and comfort with the research design. One hundred and seventy‐eight participants were 17 and 18 years old (84 girls). Results suggested that participants freely gave consent and understood most, but not all of the informed consent information. Participants reported a high level of satisfaction. Participants showed less understanding of when their confidentiality would be broken and how data would be protected.     

Assessment processes in social work with children at risk in Sweden and Croatia

The aim of this article is to compare Swedish and Croatian social workers' assessments and protection of a 4-year-old child exposed to risk in its own family. The data were collected from 87 Croatian and 72 Swedish social workers by means of a questionnaire, which incorporated a vertical vignette. Effects of the participant's country of residence were investigated with respect to: (i) risk assessments; (ii) perception of the main problems; (iii) tolerance of corporal punishment; (iv) judgements about appropriateness of interventions. The results suggest that Croatian social workers have a more child-protective approach than their Swedish colleagues. Swedish social workers have a more supportive approach than Croatian social workers. Despite fundamental similarities in assessments between the countries, significant differences were found in preferred interventions. The Swedish social workers were more in favour of keeping the child at home with the support of social services. The Croatian social workers were more in favour of removing the child from home by means of a care order. This might primarily be attributed to the differences in availability of family support services and to different discourses in Sweden and Croatia.     

Settling into a new home as a teenager: About establishing social bonds in different types of foster families in Sweden

This paper provides a glimpse into young people's experiences and understandings of everyday life during their initial stages of placement in various types of foster families. The way family interactions strengthen or weaken the social bond between foster youth and foster family is focused upon. In this study the young people in kinship foster families reported the strongest social bonds to their foster families and the adolescents in traditional foster families the weakest. This is in line with previous research. However, youth in network foster families with whom they were not so close prior to placement also reported rather strong social bonds to the foster family, which is not well known. Including network foster families in the study sheds light on the importance of adolescents' active involvement and agency in choosing their foster family. Examples of family interactions which seem to be crucial in strengthening social bonds, also in traditional foster families, are e.g. fair treatment by other family members, mutual family activities, negotiating to find solutions, and, which is not so well known, humorous joking and laughing together.     

诺贝尔之路和共用资源的自治之道——埃莉诺·奥斯特罗姆在北京航空航天大学的演讲与问答

与解决集体行动困境问题的私有化和政府模型不同,埃莉诺·奥斯特罗姆开创性地提出了解决集体行动困境的第三条道路——自主治理,并进一步发展了多中心治理理论。在简要回顾有关集体行动问题研究背景的基础上,翻译整理了2011年5月9日埃莉诺·奥斯特罗姆在\     

Sampling efficiency for an alternating poisson process

The efficiency of schemes for sampling an alternating Poisson process (0,1 observations) is evaluated by the inverse ratio of the variance of the proportion estimate, p, to the binomial variance. The variance ratio presented by D.R. Cox (in Renewal Theory) for fixed interval sampling is generalized to accommodate random sampling and random sampling after a time delay equal to a fixed proportion, γ , of the mean time between observations, δ. The result is a sampling design tool that provides quantifications for the effect of various spacings between observations and of fixed vs. random sampling. Direct application is made to thes field of work sampling.     

A model for the diagnostic and therapeutic use of countertransference

The definitions of countertransference are examined and a new definition is offered. A model is suggested that facilitates exploration of countertransference data.We have become aware of the countertransference which arises in [the physician] as a result of the patient's influence on his unconscious feelings... and have nearly come to the point of requiring the physician to recognize and overcome the countertransference in himself. (Freud, 1910, pp. 144–145)     

Jokes and routines make everyday life a good life—on ‘doing family’ for young people in foster care in Sweden

The aim of this article is to identify inclusion practices in foster families by studying the everyday life of young people entering various types of foster family. Structure and warmth in the family stand out as important dimensions of everyday life. What is not so evident in previous research is the way emotional ‘warmth’ is created. In particular, joking, gentle teasing and laughing, which in this paper stand out as important inclusion practices, seem to be rather unknown aspects in foster care, as is the importance of doing things together in everyday life. The young people's contributions in creating a good family atmosphere are visible in the study, as is their capacity to adapt to a new family. Daily routines normalise the adolescents' everyday life. Negotiations make them part of important decisions, and may strengthen them as social agents. Foster parents' positive attitude towards birth family facilitates birth parents' support to their children. In this case study, mixed qualitative methods are used: interviews, network maps, ‘beepers’ and video recordings in the foster home.     

An Outcomes Focus in Carer Assessment and Review: Value and Challenge

Correspondence to Elinor Nicholas, Research Fellow, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK. E-mail: en2{at}york.ac.uk Summary A focus on outcomes and a desire to improve assessment and supportto carers are central to government policy, crystallized inthe 2000 Carers and Disabled Children Act. This paper exploresthe benefits and challenges of implementing an outcomes approachto carer assessment and review, highlighted by a research anddevelopment project, undertaken in partnership with one localauthority. The project developed and tested research-based practicetools which aimed to promote carer-centred practice, togetherwith clarity in communication and recording of outcomes intendedand achieved. Findings indicated that practice could be enhancedwith the help of a clear conceptual framework and tools, flexiblyand sensitively used to assist discussion and decision-makingwith carers about outcomes. Information about outcomes, aggregatedfrom individual records, was perceived as potentially usefulfor informing service development. Some significant obstaclesand challenges also emerged; not least, the subtle but significantculture shift required, and the additional time needed to effectivelyidentify and address outcomes with carers. A number of factorswere highlighted as important in introducing such an approach:collaboration with, and between, all stakeholders; trainingand support for practitioners to include practice in recordingoutcomes, and opportunities for continuing discussion and reflectionduring implementation.     

‘Mrs Sisulu's Husband’: Subversion of Gender Roles in an African Marriage

Abstract

Most biographies about great leaders of the struggle have focused on the public persona and have revealed little about gender relations or the domestic spaces of their lives. In this unique lecture, Elinor Sisulu – the daughter-in-law as well as biographer of Walter and Albertina Sisulu, leading members of the African National Congress in South Africa – gives insights into what it meant to write the biography of her famous parents-in-law. Her book is unusual in that it explores both the public and private domains, showing how, despite the political pre-eminence of Walter Sisulu, Albertina stood as an equal partner in their marriage. The unexpected and intimate role reversals seen in their long and loving partnership (which survived even his 26 years in jail on Robben Island) provide not only fascinating insight into their personalities, but also a useful case study in terms of the specificity of African feminisms and their contexts.