A review of the research priorities of practitioners working with children in social care

It has been argued both that research in social care is insufficiently relevant to practice, and that a clearer steer is needed from the social work community in shaping national research priorities. The work reported here systematically searched for and analysed findings from studies that asked practitioners working with children for their suggestions for research. Eight studies were found, and authors gave us access to the primary data from four of these, to which we added responses from the What Works for Children? website survey of practitioners’ research priorities. Responses were analysed in terms of both topic and type of research. Family support, parenting and child protection research were among the most frequently requested child‐focused topics. In terms of question type, almost half the research suggestions concerned the effectiveness of interventions. These findings suggest that a commitment to outcomes, and to robustly researched interventions to attain those outcomes, are increasingly important to practitioners. These views from the front line may well be useful in assisting decision‐makers in social work, and research funders, to set priorities.     

Delayed Hospital Discharge and Mental Health: The Policy Implications of Recent Research

In 2003, the Community Care (Delayed Discharges etc.) Act introduced charges for social services departments unable to discharge patients from hospital within agreed timescales. As details of this reimbursement policy have begun to emerge, it has become apparent that the new system may also be extended to mental health services. In response, this narrative review of the literature on delayed hospital discharges and mental health reports findings from 12 studies, which raise important and timely concerns about the feasibility of reimbursement. Although a significant number of people experience delayed discharges from acute psychiatric services, the task of defining delayed discharges is complex and subjective, dependent on the professional background and seniority of the person making the judgement. Reasons behind delayed discharges are also multi‐factorial in nature and cannot be attributed to social services departments alone.     

Reflections on rational choice—The existence of systematic irrationality

The behavioral challenge to the rational choice paradigm is oriented toward individual decision-making. Behavioral irrationality does not mean chaos. Most irrational behavior involves the exercise of reasoning. In reality, decision makers do not behave with full knowledge and/or optimal computational power in pursuit of maximizing expected utility. Besides reviewing critiques to the rationality paradigm for judgments and preferences and exploring the impact of culture on people's economic behavior, this paper is the first to call the attention of researchers to the phenomenon of systemic irrationality. Irrationality may exist at the aggregate or societal level, a conclusion based on the observation that large segments of the population are incapable of making decisions in accord with traditional rationality—groups such as those who have a psychiatric disorder, those who are taking medications, those with limited intelligence, those from the lower social classes, children and adolescents, and the elderly. Even those who are not included in the aforementioned groups, but who take medications for medical conditions may have their decision-making impaired to some extent. Therefore, it is argued that rationality in economic decision-making may be the exception rather than the norm.     

Passivity in Childminded Children: Problem or Prejudice?

SUMMARY. Many people still believe that healthy social and emotional development in very young children depends upon the presence of maternal care. Some research work in the UK has also suggested that childminded children, when away from their mothers, typically manifest withdrawn and passive behaviour. Drawing on findings from unpublished research and illustrations from an exploratory study in which childminded children and childminders' own children were videotaped and compared, it is argued that such conclusions cannot easily be demonstrated empirically. Rather, they may result from observational and interpretative biases which overlook the role of factors such as children's age and social experience. Further, it is suggested that attempts to quantify and measure theoretical constructs such as passivity may be less informative than observations focused more specifically upon the behaviour of individual children in day care.     

Extended Dialogue About Significant Developments: Manualising Systemic Family Therapy: The Leeds Manual

Steve Allison and Amaryll Perlesz review a systemic family therapy manual developed at the Leeds Family Therapy and Research Centre. Responding to the critique, Helen Pote gives an account of the manual's history, and its reception in the UK.     

Volunteer and coordinator perspectives on managing women volunteers

Recent changes in Australia, such as the new public management and national competition policy, have affected the way that human services are provided and have complicated the role of volunteer coordinators. However, because volunteers are free to choose their level of contribution, it is the volunteers' perspective that is the ultimate yardstick against which their coordination is assessed. The aim of the research examined here was a deeper understanding of women volunteers' and their coordinators' views of their work. The research was conducted within a qualitative paradigm, employing individual and focus group interviews. The analysis identified eight areas of concern for volunteers around their management. The analysis of the coordinators' interviews revealed three coordination styles—horizontal, nurturing, and managerial—of which the managerial was most in conflict with the volunteers' perspective.     

Training for frontline workers

This article examines the training needs of people who work directly with children and families–frontline workers. It argues that such people are working with child abuse, whether they have recognized this to be the case or not. The article outlines work that needs to be covered in training of frontline workers, in order that they can respond effectively to abused children and undertake appropriate prevention work. A range of relevant publications which can support this training are discussed.     

What Do We Know About Making Risk Comparisons?

The risks of unfamiliar technologies are often evaluated by comparing them with the risks of more familiar ones. Such risk comparisons have been criticized for neglecting critical dimensions of risky decisions. In a guide written for the Chemical Manufacturers Association, Covello et al. (¹) have summarized these critiques and developed a taxonomy that characterizes possible risk comparisons in terms of their acceptability (or objectionableness). We asked four diverse groups of subjects to judge the acceptability of 14 statements produced by Covello et al. as examples of their categories. We found no correlation between the judgments of acceptability produced by our subjects and those predicted by Covello et al. .     

WOMEN SOCIOLOGISTS IN THE MIDWEST: A STATUS UPDATE

In this article, an earlier study of the status of academic women sociologists in the Midwest that was extended to 1984–1985 is discussed. Type of appointment, rank, and chairpersons, as well as position in a Ph.D. rather than an M.A. program were used in the study as indicators of employment status. Midwest Sociological Society (MSS) leadership positions and participation in the annual MSS meeting served as indicators of professional participation. The results show that gains in employment status for women slowed in the 1980s. Employment of women in sociology department positions, especially in full-time positions and higher ranks, continued to lag behind the proportion of women Ph.D.s in the field. Women were overrepresented in the secondary labor market of part-time employment. However, women are now almost as likely to be employed in Ph.D. as well as M.A. programs. While gains in employment status generally slowed, professional participation has accellerated in recent years. Possible explanations for the differential penetrability of the two realms are offered. The appropriateness of statistical parity as a standard for evaluating equality in academic employment also is discussed. This article proposes that structural barriers to employment equity for women may not be more significant than direct discrimination.