Searching for a Capacity Building Model in Social Work Education in China

This paper contains our reflections about our experiences in employing a capacity building model for training social workers to conduct community development work in rural China. Unlike the conventional approach to social work practicum, our approach advocates an educational practice of capacity building; not only for local people and learners, but for educators as well. It stresses that the educator should assume a non‐expert role in relating to his/her students so that the students will do the same with local people. We challenge the concept of the social work educator as an expert because it gives a teacher the power and authority to dominate students, which disempowers students during the learning process. In the same vein, we challenge the desire of social work students to become experts in rural development, which in turn disempowers local people from taking charge of the future direction of their lives in rural China. The capacity building approach subscribes to a critical pedagogy that calls for a re‐invention of self by challenging tradition and culture, and by developing academic knowledge, the habit of inquiry and critical curiosity about society, power, inequality, and social change.     

Voluntary and Involuntary Driving Cessation in Later Life

This study explores the decision-making process of driving cessation in later life, with a focus on voluntariness. The sample included 83 former drivers from the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study. A majority of participants (83%) reportedly stopped driving by their own decision. However, many voluntary driving retirees reported external factors such as financial difficulty, anxiety about driving, or lack of access to a car as main reasons for driving cessation. These findings imply that distinction between voluntary and involuntary driving cessation is ambiguous and that factors beyond health status, including financial strain, play a role in the transition to non-driving.     

Does International Economic Integration Lead to a Cleaner Production in China?

In contrast to the Pollution Haven Hypothesis, the Trade‐Up Hypothesis holds that international integration helps improve firms' environmental performance in developing countries. Using firm‐level data from Shanghai, this article examines how international linkages, in the form of foreign direct investment or international trade, affect firms' environmental compliance and performance. We find that firms with international linkage via ownership exhibit better compliance with environmental regulation and emit less pollution than firms with no international linkage. We also find that firms with international linkage via market exposure are more likely to exhibit better compliance with environmental regulation than firms with no international linkage, but find no evidence that the former emit less pollution than the latter. This provides a piece of empirical evidence for the Trade‐Up Hypothesis.     

Social skills training and parent education programs for aggressive preschoolers and their parents in South Korea

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate social skills training and parent education programs for aggressive young children and their parents in South Korea. Participants consisted of intervention group I, which included six children and their mothers in the social skills training and parent education programs; intervention group II, which included seven children and their mothers in the social skills training; and control group, which consisted of six children and their mothers. Pre-test-post-test control group design was used. Participants in both intervention groups reported a significant decrease in aggression and on improvement in pro-social behavior, emotional regulation, and social skills, while the control group reported an increase in aggressive behavior. Mothers in the intervention group I also reported an increase in warmth/acceptance. The findings indicate that both programs are highly effective in reducing aggressive behavior among young children and in fostering positive parenting behaviors.     

Developing the scale of presidential candidate's dialogic communication (PCDC) during the 2017 presidential campaign in South Korea

This study aims to develop and validate a measure of presidential candidates’ dialogic communication (PCDC) in political public relations. We conceptualized the construct of PCDC with two dialogic dimensions, voicing and listening, from the relational perspective. Through the scale development process, we conducted an online survey of 1,195 Korean participants during the Korean presidential campaign in February 2017. The results showed that the proposed two-dimensional PCDC scale with 12 items was statistically reliable and valid. The findings also revealed that voicing and listening were significantly associated with publics’ intention to support or oppose a candidate and their supportive or critical communication behavior regarding the candidate. Theoretical and strategic implications are further discussed.     

Caregivers’ Mental Illness and Adolescent Delinquency Among African Americans in Chicago’s Southside: Exploring Potential Protective Factors

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal - The aim of the present study is to identify protective factors that buffer the effect of caregiver mental illness on adolescent delinquency. Specifically,...     

Complicated narratives of ‘Korean-ness’: towards strategic provisionality in parental involvement

The purpose of this paper is to advance the discourse on parental involvement drawing from Butlerian notion of strategic provisionality. In developing a new approach to understanding cultural differences and their relation to Korean parental involvement, the authors analyze qualitative and quantitative data from five New York metropolitan elementary schools. The authors examine the ways in which ‘Korean-ness’ and Korean parental involvement are discursively constructed and embodied in sociopolitical and historical contexts in the United States. We present two themes related to Korean parental involvement: (a) the double-edged component of respect for teachers and (b) biopolitics related to English language and parental involvement. By challenging normalized understanding about Korean-ness, the authors suggest a different approach to ethnoepistemology in order to enrich discourses concerning parental involvement and ethnic/racial studies.     

ESTIMATING TEMPORAL FARM INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS USING SPATIAL SMOOTHING TECHNIQUES

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics (ABARE) has conducted the annual Australian Agricultural and Grazing Industries Survey, covering the broadacre sector, in a consistent format since 1978/79. In this period the incomes of farmers have fluctuated considerably. Interest has focused on temporal income variation because of its relationship to the inherent riskiness of farming. Part of these income fluctuations can be explained by changing commodity prices and by highly variable climatic conditions. This paper outlines a method of measuring the magnitude of this income variation and how it relates to other variables. Due to rotation within the sample of farms surveyed, data are limited for determining the income variability of any particular farm. This paper, using spatial locations of surveyed farms, shows how kernel smoothing techniques can be adapted to estimate the distribution of a farm's income. This analysis uses data collected from 1978/79 to 1991/92. Summary information from these distributions is cross-tabulated against several other variables. This shows that income variability is strongly related to the production mixture of farming businesses.     

AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF CLIENT AND THERAPIST PERCEPTIONS OF THERAPY EFFECTIVENESS IN A UNIVERSITY-BASED TRAINING CLINIC

The purpose of this study was to explor client and therapist evaluations of direct practice in a university-based training center using an ethnographic research methodology. Client and therapist perceptions about the strengths and limitations of ethnographic practice evaluation were also analyzed. A domain analysis was performed on postsession interviews with both clients and practitioners over a 4- month period. Six core categories of client and therapist perceptions of therapy effectiveness emerged from a domain analysis: (a) changes associated with counseling, (b) important practitioner qualities, (c) effective interventions or techniques, (d) ineffective interventions or techniques, (e) recommendations for future sessions, and (f) strengths and limitations of ethnographic practice evaluation. Implications of this study for clinical practice, training, and future research are discussed.