Voluntary Leaders in Voluntary Welfare Agencies

The voluntary sector is an increasingly important component of our system of welfare provision. This paper focuses on voluntary leaders of welfare agencies in the voluntary sector; the chairpersons of governing bodies. It draws on a study carried out in an outer metropolitan borough with a socially mixed population. The characteristics of chairpersons and the background to their involvement are described. It appears that most are drawn in to their agencies and in to the role of chairperson more by chance than through positive commitment to a cause, but that, once in post, they rise rapidly to the challenge. Leadership of the local voluntary sector is found to be part of a wider commitment to community benefit and to collective provision of welfare. Some implications of the findings for the development of voluntary sector welfare agencies and for social policy are discussed.     

Hispanic Immigration and Black Violence at the Macro‐Level: Examining the Conditioning Effect of Victim Race/Ethnicity

Much attention has been devoted to the relationship between Hispanic immigration and violent offending at the macro‐level, including how it varies across racial and ethnic groups. Unfortunately, little attention has been paid to the conditioning effect of the race/ethnicity of the victim, or how Hispanic immigration is associated with crime by one racial/ethnic group against members of the same or different groups. Using National Incident‐Based Reporting System offending estimates and American Community Survey data, we examine the association between Hispanic immigration and black intra‐ and intergroup (black‐on‐white and black‐on‐Hispanic) homicide, robbery, and serious index violence in over 350 U.S. communities. We employ advanced imputation methods to address missing data that have constrained much prior research, as well as utilize crime measures adjusted for the likelihood of random contact between groups. Findings suggest that (1) Hispanic immigration has a positive association with black violence on the whole, but that (2) this association is conditioned by the race/ethnicity of the victim. Our results reinforce the importance of distinguishing across offender–victim dyads in research on the immigration–crime nexus, particularly in light of competing theoretical expectations. Directions for future research and policy are discussed.     

Education for Democratic Citizenship through A Literacy‐based Approach: A Case of South African Township Children

The study contextualises the position of child citizens in the South African democracy and highlights how education for democratic citizenship is employed through a literacy‐based approach. The qualitative study was exploratory and based on a lesson presented to nine‐year‐old township children by giving them language‐related tasks. Through the children's voices we present the life experiences that expressed their need for basic services, education, extra facilities and security. We argue that children need to experience the benefits of democracy and education for democratic citizenship to build and sustain a resilient democratic society.     

A TEACHING NOTE ON THE USE OF ASSUMPTIONS IN CASE STUDY

This note describes a modification in the conventional case method of instruction. The modification, which deals with the problem caused by each student making a different set of assumptions for a given case, has successfully met the test of classroom use.