Reviewing Respite Services: some lessons from the literature

Although the community care reforms raised the profile of respite services for adults with learning disabilities, little is known about the character of respite provision in Britain. This lack of information is compounded by the way the literature about respite is dispersed across user groups and is often restricted to particular types of services or to specific localities. In order to highlight some of the key issues associated with respite, this paper draws on a wide range of literature. Regardless of differences in terms of the service user groups, common themes are identified which are relevant to service planning and provision for adults with learning disabilities. The paper discusses these themes and argues that a break with the traditional notion of respite as primarily a way to relieve carer burden is long overdue. Adopting the perspective of the primary service users affords the opportunity to re-think respite services.     

Very Public Scandals: Nongovernmental Organizations in Trouble

This paper analyzes, from a cross-national perspective, publicized incidents of alleged wrongdoing on the part of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Data were derived from daily, weekly, or monthly newspapers and special nonprofit newsletters accessible through websites. Analysis of media reports of scandals involving NGOs was conducted to identify issues and trends in governance and management problems associated with this sector. The paper focuses on NGOs involved in the financing or delivery of health and human services. After highlighting some of the precedent-setting cases of NGO improprieties in the United States during the 1990s, prominent global cases of wrongdoing during the period 1998–2000 are reviewed. The underlying problems that allowed these cases to occur and their implications regarding NGO credibility and public trust are identified, and strategic options for enhancing accountability presented.     

Manageable Discord: Fraud and Resistance in the Social Security System

This article presents findings from a study of the attitudes and beliefs of social security claimants engaged in benefit fraud. The basis for a taxonomy of such claimants is outlined, drawing upon concepts of reflexivity and anxiety. This is compared and contrasted with other theoretically-drawn taxonomies, one relating to workplace crime, the other to the consumption of social care services. Finally, the article considers whether benefit fraud is intelligible as resistance to social control. It is argued that benefit fraud represents a conservative form of resistance. Benefit fraud does not signify a "culture" of resistance, so much as a "manageable" form of rule-breaking.     

Family treatment of a borderline personality

This article discusses family therapy as a complementary treatment modality with the adult borderline patient. According to theory, the separation-individuation process is the underlying conflict of the pathological adaptation of the adult borderline patient and the goal of therapy is often considered to be separation of the patient from the family. Family treatment can facilitate the process of separation-individuation as it allows for the concomitant enhancement of the separateness of the parents. Family treatment can also reduce anxiety about separation, minimize the development of a premature intense transference, and prevent the battle for control between the therapist and the parents. Moreover, the process of the family treatment itself, described in this article, reflects the developmental phase of symbiosis, followed by the subphases of the separation-individuation process, i.e., differentiation, practicing and rapprochement, with the groundwork being laid for moving into object constancy. The ego functioning of all family members has the potential of being enhanced and strengthened through this process.     

Short-term care for children

Research into short-term care services for children has largely concerned provision for disabled children and their families: a reflection of the greater development of services for disabled children than their non-disabled peers. This paper describes the range of services in the UK, identifies current gaps in provision as well as some of the factors that affect uptake and user satisfaction with services. It concludes with a summary of current issues of concern for practitioners and policy-makers, including the importance of making services more child-centred and attractive to a wider cross-section of families.     

Bereavement Research: An Historical Introduction

Early research in the field of bereavement and widowhood was often problem generated and focused on intrapersonal issues such as health consequences. More recent research has emphasized that, to understand the grieving individual, we must also understand the social context in which the bereavement occurred and in which recovery must progress. This introduction traces the historical development of theory, empirical research, and methodology in the field, and places current developments in perspective. The papers in this issue underline the complexity of the bereavement phenomenon, and the need for conceptual perspectives with which to understand the cultural, socioeconomic, interpersonal, and physiological determinants of grief, mourning, and recovery.