Representation of children's views in court hearings about custody and parental visitations — A comparison between what children wanted and what the courts ruled

PurposeFollowing the UN convention on the rights of children, a shift in policy towards greater emphasis on child participation in child protection case processing has occurred. A growing body of research has emerged concerning participation processes in child protection cases and the experiences of children in child protection cases. Very few studies have looked into if and when children get what they want, however. The aim of this study is to assess children's views about living arrangements and visitations in dependency court hearings and to compare these views with the rulings of courts.MethodThe study uses a retrospective cohort design. Cases where child welfare board rulings are in line with the wishes of children are compared to cases where rulings differ from the wishes of children. Data were collected from regional social welfare board archives. The study included 151 cases that were randomly drawn from a total population of 2481 cases. Simple and multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with the rulings being in accord with the child's wishes in each sample case.ResultsA child advocate was appointed in almost 95% of the cases (n = 142). Fifty-nine percent of the children did not want a change in care. Rulings about care were in line with the wishes of the child in 39% of the cases. Rulings about care were most likely to be what the child wanted, if the child was presently living in public care and did not want to move. Children wanted more visitations with their mothers in 60.5% of the cases and with their fathers in 39.8% of the cases. Whether children wanted more visitations with their mothers was associated with more visitations being granted. What a child wanted was not associated with the ruling on visitations with the child's father.ConclusionThe impact of children's views on visitations on dependency court rulings depends on what a child wants and how these desires coincide with what is proposed by child protection services. Children's views can be quite effective in blocking certain decisions but are less effective if the child requested a specific change. If a child does not want to stay with his or her birth parents, then the odds that the birth parents will be granted custody is minimal.     

Marital History and Intergenerational Solidarity: The Impact of Divorce and Unmarried Cohabitation

Among the more recent challenges for the family are the increasing divorce rates and the decline in marriages. This article examines the possible consequences of these trends for intergenerational family relationships. How does divorce in the parent generation, and the shift from marriage to unmarried cohabitation among adult children, affect intergenerational solidarity? These questions are explored with data from the Norwegian Life Course, Ageing and Generation Study (NorLAG, n = 5,589, age 40–79). Scandinavian countries have high divorce and cohabitation rates and may therefore be of interest as comparative cases for countries where these events are less institutionalized. The findings suggest, however, that Norway accommodates to the general norm in the sense that divorce among parents is associated with lower solidarity with adult children on most solidarity dimensions. This is more true for fathers than for mothers. There is, on the other hand, no difference in solidarity between married and cohabitating children vis à vis the parent generation. The explanations and implications of these findings are discussed.     

论大众化高等教育中的全球化、信息与沟通技术革命和教师专业化

全球化、信息与沟通技术革命和高等教育大众化对提升大学教学质量提出了怎样的挑战呢?毫无疑问,为应对全球化和信息与沟通技术革命的挑战,提高教学质量是大众化时代的高等教育保持竞争力的前提。学生来源的多元化要求大学教师具备因材施教的能力,促使学习过程个性化。全球知识经济越来越要求大学教学以问题为导向,致力于解决具体问题。信息与沟通技术迫使大学采用新策略来获取信息以及使用“电子”的形式组织学习,以使学生的学习成果直接与相关的职业生涯紧密结合起来,而且学习是“及时发生”,而不是同过去那样“也许发生”。文章结论指出,大学管理面临的挑战是如何促进教师发展、如何重构大学使其成为学习型组织以及如何聘任优秀的教师。     

Cosmopolitan communication online: YouTube responses to the anti-Islam film Fitna

In 2008, a Dutch member of parliament released a short anti-Islamic film entitled Fitna, which stirred a huge public controversy and provoked public condemnations around the world. In response to the film, hundreds of videos were uploaded on YouTube, mostly with the aim to provide a more positive representation of Islam, express support for the author and his views, or defend his freedom of speech. Drawing on interviews with YouTube users who posted the videos, this paper reflects on the capacity of the Internet to sustain cosmopolitan communication and examines how cosmopolitan attitudes and practices on-line differ depending on the participants' cultural and social background, especially their religious affiliations. Particular attention is paid to how the opportunities for cosmopolitan communication are shaped by the unequal distribution of cosmopolitan attitudes and practices among groups, and by global inequalities of power. In addressing these issues, the paper also engages with broader debates about cosmopolitanism, and argues for an understanding of cosmopolitanism as a quest for universalism, which remains anchored in the particular, but involves communication across difference, and requires openness to the possibility that the other is right.     

Transitions to employment from labour market enterprises in Norway

In this article we analyse a labour market programme for partially disabled workers that involves the transition from labour market enterprises to a job in the ordinary labour market. We found that the percentage of these people who found jobs after a maximum two-year programme period increased over time. In 1995, 28 per cent became employed in the ordinary job market after leaving the programme. Exit rates to employment increased to 36 per cent in 1998 and to 39 per cent in 1999. We also found heterogeneity in the job transitions. Employment ratios for men were relatively stable over time, varying between 30 and 40 per cent over the period 1995–1999. For women, however, we found a significant change in employment ratios, with 21 per cent finding a job in 1995 and 40 per cent in 1999. In 1995, employment ratios for female participants were below those of male participants, although there was no difference over the whole period studied (1995–1999). In 1999, the average transition rate to employment was higher for female than for male participants.     

Urban bird community composition influenced by size of urban green spaces,presence of native forest,and urbanization

Urban Ecosystems - Understanding what determines wildlife species richness and community composition in urban green spaces is important for wildlife management and urban planning. Numerous studies...     

Social functioning and mental health among children who have been living in kinship and non‐kinship foster care: results from an 8‐year follow‐up with a Norwegian sample

Studies have shown relatively high rates of emotional and behavioural problems among children living in out‐of‐home care. This study reports the prevalence of social problems at an 8‐year follow‐up for a group of children/young adults. Predictors for prevalence and change in emotional and behavioural problems at the follow‐up are examined. A prospective cohort design with 233 children who had been living in foster care was used. Forty‐eight per cent (n = 111) of those interviewed at baseline were located and interviewed at follow‐up. Mean age was 17.4 (standard deviation = 2.9) years. Mental health symptomatology was measured with Child Behaviour Checklist and Adult Self‐Report. Linear and generalized mixed model analyses were used. Changes in internalizing and externalizing problems from baseline to follow‐up was associated with gender. Boys showed more problems at a young age, whereas girls developed more problems later. Predictors for social problems at follow‐up were mental health at baseline, kinship care and care placement away from the local community.     

The essential dialogue: a Norwegian study of art communication in mental health care

This study focuses on how semi-structured art dialogues can be used to communicate with older patients with impaired mental health. The study was conducted on a geropsychiatric ward at a university hospital in Norway. To communicate with the patients via works of art, health professionals used semi-structured art dialogues; data were collected by qualitative methods. The findings are based on verbatim quotations regarding the health professionals' experiences of their communication with the patients. Two main categories were identified: the physical domain and the caring domain. Dialogues about figurative as well as nonfigurative art forms were found to stimulate and evoke memories; for some patients, these dialogues were an essential step in creating well-being as well as more-being.     

Emergent Intraverbal Forms may Occur as a Result of Listener Training for Children with Autism

The purpose of the present study was to assess whether intraverbal behavior, in the form of answers to questions, emerges as a result of listener training for five children diagnosed with autism. Listener responses were targeted and taught using prompting and differential reinforcement. Following successful acquisition of listener responses, the intraverbal form of the response was probed. Data were evaluated via a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design that included a control series. Results showed listener-to-intraverbal transfer for four of the five participants. One participant required additional teaching that involved tacting the items selected during listener training.

     

Scandinavian Contrasts and Norwegian Variations in Special Housing for Older People

De-institutionalization is a general trend for Scandinavian long-term care over the last decades. Denmark and Sweden have taken this trend a step further than Norway has, as Denmark suspended institutional care altogether in 1987 and Sweden in 1992. Since then, residential care has been provided to individuals in special housing in various forms. This housing is in principle “independent housing,” where residents are tenants and are provided services according to needs and not sites. This article concentrates on the Norwegian variations to this system, as this is the only country of the 3 that still provides residential care under 2 “regimes,” an institutional care regime and an assisted housing regime. Is assisted housing essentially different from institutional care, or is it better described as old wine in new bottles? The latter may be the case for Sweden, whereas Denmark stands out as having the most housing-oriented care model. Institutional care (i.e., nursing homes) still dominates in Norway, where assisted housing is merely a minor supplement to institutional care in most municipalities. The article explores the reasons for these trends and, in particular, the reasons for the Norwegian resistance to assisted housing as an alternative form of residential care.