SOCIAL HIERARCHIES: A LABORATORY STUDY ON PUNISHMENT PATTERNS ACROSS NETWORKS

We experimentally study punishment patterns across network structures, and their effect on cooperation. In a repeated public goods setting, subjects can only observe and punish their neighbors. Centralized structures (like the star network) outperform other incomplete networks and reach contribution levels like the ones observed in a complete network. Our results suggest that hierarchical network structures with a commonly observed player benefit more from sanctions not because central players punish more, but because they follow, and promote, different punishment patterns. While quasi-central players in other incomplete architectures (like the line network) retaliate, and get trapped in the vicious circle of antisocial punishment, central players in the star network do not punish back, increase their contributions when sanctioned by peripheral players, and sanction other participants in a prosocial manner. Our results illustrate recent field studies on the evolutionary prevalence of hierarchical networks. We document a network-based rationale for this positive effect in an identity-free, fully anonymous environment. (JEL C72, C91, C92, D90, H41)     

Sustainable social work: Modelling knowledge production,transfer, and evidence‐based practice

Gray M, Schubert L. Sustainable social work: modelling knowledge production, transfer, and evidence‐based social work This article is a first attempt to present a model of knowledge production and transfer in social work, drawing on the expanding literature on knowledge production. It highlights features of knowledge production in social work, such as the diverse contexts in which knowledge is developed and applied. It argues that knowledge production by itself is not enough. Equally important is knowledge transfer and implementation. The literature on knowledge production highlights problems with the implementation of actually existing knowledge and the potential resistance to this implementation as highly important issues for social work research. It leads to a greater awareness of the context in which knowledge is produced and applied and creates a bridge between traditional informal and tacit ways of knowing in social work and the demands of evidence‐based practice.     

Environmental ethics for social work: Social work's responsibility to the non‐human world

Gray M, Coates J. Environmental ethics for social work: Social work's responsibility to the non‐human world This lead article in this Special Issue begins discussion on an environmental ethics for social work and raises arguments as to whether and, if so, why social workers have duties, obligations, responsibilities and commitments to the non‐human world. It provides an overview of the field of environmental ethics in searching for a moral stance to affirm an environmental social work. To what extent should social workers engage in fundamental geopolitical issues concerned with climate change, global warming, environmental degradation, pollution, chemical contamination, sustainable agriculture, disaster management, pet therapy, wilderness protection and so on and, if so, why and how? Are these issues incidental and peripheral and only of concern when they impact upon humans or do social workers have a responsibility beyond human interests? What is the significance of the ‘non‐human’ for social work? The article explores the terrain of the burgeoning field of environmental ethics to determine whether convincing ethical grounds for environmental social work might be found beyond hortatory claims of what the profession ought to be doing to address environmental concerns.     

Putting the ‘public’ into public service delivery for social welfare in South Africa

Mubangizi BC, Gray M. Putting the ‘public’ into public service delivery for social welfare in South Africa Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 212–219 © 2010 The Author(s), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of SocialWelfare. The privatisation of some essential services in South Africa has raised severe difficulties for those for whom the idea of fees for services is quite foreign and who, in any case, cannot afford to pay for services. The government has developed several initiatives to educate people about the need to pay for services provided by local government, the largest of which was the Masakhane fees‐for‐services campaign. This article describes two recent initiatives that seek to engage local citizen participation, namely, Integrated Development Plans and izimbizo (or traditional forums). These are examined along with the challenges faced by local government in promoting citizenship participation in service delivery within a decentralised system of governance. The article concludes with some recommendations on how citizen participation can be enhanced so as to make the ‘public’ visible in public service delivery and thus improve social welfare services.     

Re‐conceptualising the link between research and practice in social work: A literature review on knowledge utilisation

Despite the recent movement towards greater research use in many areas of social work, criticisms persist that decision making in practice is seldom informed by sound research evidence. Discourse about the research‐to‐practice gap in social work has tended to focus on the feasibility of evidence‐based practice for the profession, but has rarely drawn from the broader knowledge utilisation literature. There are important understandings to be gained from the knowledge utilisation field, which spans more than six decades of interdisciplinary research.This article introduces the wider knowledge utilisation literature to a social work audience. It considers the potential of this body of literature to facilitate research use in social work, as well as conceptual issues that may be hindering it from informing improvements to research utilisation in practice.     

Internationally Adopted Children After Arrival: Temperament,Behavior Problems,and Age at Adoption as Predictors of Early Motor and Communication Competence

The temperament dimensions activity, emotionality, and shyness, together with behavior problems, gender, country of birth, and age at adoption, were explored in relation to early motor and communication competence among internationally adopted children in Norway (N = 106, gender: 55 girls and 51 boys, age at adoption: M = 9.99 months, SD = 4.29 months). Based on reports from adoptive mothers, regression analysis including all the variables showed that 56% of the variance in motor competence and 64% in communication competence were explained. Age at adoption explained most of the variance in both areas, while increased level of activity showed a significant correlation with improved motor competence.     

The sustainability of China’s Urban Employees’ Pension Programme: A case of getting old before getting rich?

This article examines the sustainability of China’s Urban Employees’ Pension Programme – the main component in China’s overall old‐age support system. It looks at the sustainability of the programme generally and, in particular, at case studies of two areas (Tianjin municipality and Guangxi province) to highlight both the extent of regional variations and the common challenges facing Chinese policy‐makers. It discusses a number of key issues that should assist policy‐makers to address the challenge of population ageing. It concludes that the challenge facing China is no more severe than that already faced by other countries in Europe and Asia. Moreover, the ageing of the population is not uniform across the regions of China. Consequently, those areas where the demographic shift is more advanced will provide some opportunity for policy experimentation. Given the experience to date of slow progress on various aspects of pension policy reform, the article suggests that it seems unlikely that paradigmatic change will be significant. Nonetheless, the study suggests a range of parametric policy measures that China should consider. The challenge facing China’s policy‐makers is to ensure that China gets old and rich at the same time.