Family policy and the under-3s: Money, services, and time in a policy package

The key components of social policy toward the elderly and disabled, and policies for families and their children, have featured what are by now widely employed income and service components. Now, as demographic and social change have motivated increasing numbers of countries to face the need for societal policies for children under the age of 3, exploration reveals the centrality of an additional policy dimension — time. A six-country study and earlier research targeted on this group finds that several major policy patterns are emerging, with individual country choices reflecting history, culture, religious traditions, political configurations, and resources. Referring to illustrative countries, the paper explicates these options: (a) supporting an at-home parent in "family work"; (b) backing a pattern of involvement of parents in both family and work; (c) offering parents of very young children the option of concentrating on family or work; (d) stressing programmes in support of the socialization and education of young children and their parents. It is suggested that social security institutions internationally contribute to these new developments through data collection, dissemination activities, and encouragement of discussion and research.     

Creating places,relationships and education for refugee children in camps: Lessons learnt from the ‘The School of Peace’ educational model

This paper describes a unique model for building an afternoon school for refugee children sustained by volunteers and refugee teachers and based on humanistic intercultural values. The methodology is participatory including the whole school, from children to teachers to volunteers and managers. Central themes in the findings include a synergetic focus on creative placemaking, conflict negotiation and formal studies. This points to a theoretical connection between informal and formal studies. The findings teach us about the needs of refugee children. A methodological contribution is the use of arts-based methods to capture refugee children's lived experiences of school.     

A riddle wrapped in an enigma: Demystifying Russian managerial motivation

Western business people are eager to penetrate the vast Russian market that has opened up following the breakup of the Soviet Union and the fall of communism. Yet, many are discovering that their Russian contacts are like the ‘riddle wrapped in an enigma’ that Winston Churchill called Russia in decades past. Using a framework of five components of motivation, Sheila Puffer explains how Russian managers think and act in three time periods: the autocrat in pre-revolutionary tsarist times, comrade communist from the Russian revolution of 1917 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the emergent entrepreneur in the fledgling market-oriented economy of the 1990s.     

Thirty Years of Change: Children with Special Educational Needs

SUMMARY. With reference to reports and educational legislation as key markers, the article traces developments in special educational needs over 30 years. The terms special educational needs and needs are critically appraised, the effects and impact of reports is examined and two notably significant areas are singled out to chart change over time, namely, working with parents and integration. Finally the notion of shared responsibility is outlined as a formula for ensuring policy and maintaining provision for special educational needs.     

Rural communities and well‐being: a good place to grow up?

This study looks at young people's accounts of life in communities in rural northern Scotland, and considers in what ways affective and social aspects of community are bound up with well‐being, over and above young people's concerns for the future, rural youth transitions, and out‐migration. Interviews were held with 15–18 year‐olds in four study areas (16 groups, N=60+) and a parallel survey of 11–16 year‐olds was conducted in eight study areas (N=2400+). Themes to emerge from the interviews included: opportunities locally, the future and staying on, as well as local amenities and services; but older teenagers also spoke at length about their social lives, family and social networks, and their community, both as close‐knit and caring and as intrusive and controlling. Rural communities were seen as good places in childhood, but not necessarily for young people. In parallel with that, the survey data paints a picture where feelings of support, control, autonomy, and attachment were all associated with emotional well‐being. Importantly, links between emotional well‐being and practical, material concerns were outweighed by positive identifications of community as close‐knit and caring; and equally, by negative identifications as intrusive and constraining, where the latter was felt more strongly by young women. Certainly, beliefs about future employment and educational opportunities were also linked to well‐being, but that was over and above, and independently of, affective and social aspects of community life. Additionally, migration intentions were also bound up with sense of self and well‐being, and with feelings about community life; and links between thoughts about leaving and community life as controlling and constraining were, yet again, felt more strongly by young women. Thus, gender was a key dimension affecting young people's feelings about their communities with significant implications for well‐being, and out‐migration. The study illustrates the importance of understanding the experiences young people have of growing up in rural areas, and how they evaluate those experiences: particularly, how life in rural communities matters for young people's well‐being; and especially, for young women.     

What's good and good for you? A personal review of selected nonprofit periodicals

We depart from the standard book review style here to include a more informal critique. A busy, top-level nonprofit manager shares her perspective on five journals.     

Management commitment to safety and health in residential construction: HomeSafe spending trends 1991-1999

The support of good management is fundamental to the success of any safety and health program. Residential construction is a high-risk industry requiring significant commitment by management to impact day-to-day safety and health challenges. Investigators have evaluated management practices and spending trends in a cohort of 228 residential homebuilders in the Denver metro area of Colorado. Findings suggest that companies significantly increased dollars allocated to support safety and health practices between 1991 and 1999. In addition, the HomeSafe Pilot Program has positively impacted financial commitments of partner companies. Resource allocations were significantly greater for specific expense categories when comparing pre to post HomeSafe intervention. This paper presents data on the use of written safety and health programs, safety committees, and workers compensation premium cost containment certification, as well as allocations to safety incentive programs (SIP), personal protective equipment (PPE), other safety equipment (OSE), and safety training (ST).     

Perceptions of domestic abuse in same-sex relationships and implications for criminal justice and mental health responses

Male and female university students (N = 171) read scenarios describing a domestic abuse incident that systematically varied the sex of victim and perpetrator to produce four between-participants conditions. Results were consistent with and extended previous findings about perceptions of heterosexual domestic abuse to include gay and lesbian domestic abuse. Findings suggest that participant perceptions of abuse in same-sex and heterosexual relationships are similar. Where they differ, the differences have significant implications: (a) participants considered male against female abuse to be more serious than same-sex domestic abuse, (b) participants were more likely to recommend that the victim press charges in male against female abuse than in same-sex domestic abuse, (c) participants perceived same-sex victims to be less believable than heterosexual victims, and (d) victim believability was correlated with sentencing recommendations. Implications for criminal justice and mental health intervention are considered. Directions for future research are outlined.