The Utilization and Training of Volunteers in a Psychiatric Setting

Summary The Volunteer Case Aide Program, which was begun in 1963 atthe Boston State Hospital, Boston, Mass. U.S.A., is ongoingand developing new facets of volunteer intervention in a psychiatricsetting. It is the first program of its kind in the Commonwealthof Massachusetts to utilize the talents of mature communityvolunteers to work in a direct personal, one-to-one relationshipwith the mentally ill and/or emotionally disturbed. The fouroriginal purposes of the program have been carried out. Thecommunity has been brought into closer co-operation with thehospital, and community resources have been utilized in helpingpatients move out of the hospital. Through the creative useof volunteers and part-time psychiatric social workers, theprogram has moved toward diminution of the manpower shortagein the mental health field. The efforts of hundreds of volunteercase aides have contributed to relieving the chronicity of manypatients, and have assisted them to move into community placements. The Associate Leader Training Program, through its weekly trainingmeetings, gives the Associate Leader the responsibility of supervisingnovice case aides. The trained Associate Leader, an experiencedvolunteer, teaches the beginning case aide to understand hisown role with the patient, to relate effectively with the patientand to learn about the hospital operations, treatment modalitiesand pertinent psychiatric and social theories. New volunteergroups under the Associate Leaders' guidance, have proven tobe effective instruments for the expanded teaching and serviceaspects of the Case Aide Program. Given the numerical limitationsof a professional social work staff and with the added resourcesof Associate Leaders, the Program has been able to help manymore patients     

Negotiating Alternatives to Custody: a Quantitative Study of an Experiment in Social Enquiry Practice

Summary Between january 1980 and December 1982, a team of probationofficers attempted a new approach to probation practice whichhas been described in an earlier article. The present articleoutlines the types of social enquiry reports which resultedfrom the experiment, and in a quqntitative analysis of the team'sreports, compares the relationship between recommendation andoutcome in the different types. Indications of the effect onsentincing of recommendations for a strict reporting style ofprobation order are examined.     

Arrangements for Paying for Care in Independent Homes for Elderly People

Correspondence to Anne Corden, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, Heslington, York YO1 5DD. Summary A fundamental reorganization of the basis of financial supportfor elderly people in independent sector homes is currentlyin progress. Much of the debate so far has focused on the reasonsbehind the policy changes, and possible implications for furtherdevelopments in provision of care and services. Less attentionhas been paid to practical details of mechanisms for transferringmoney to effect payment to independent proprietors. These havenot yet been finalized. It is important that arrangements eventuallydecided serve the best interests of the elderly people concerned.Such arrangements may not always be the simplest and cheapestto administer, either for those authorities paying the bills,or for proprietors balancing the books and managing homes. Thereis an opportunity now, while mechanisms of payment are stillbeing worked out, to consider the options and raise the levelof discussion on this topic, so that the welfare of elderlypeople is high on the agenda while policy decisions are beingmade. This article describes how elderly people currently paytheir bills for care and accommodation in independent long-stayhomes. Changes in the basis of government financial supportfor long-term care, due to be fully implemented in April 1993,will require different mechanisms for transfer of monies. Theoptions are considered in the light of what we already knowabout the significance of financial exchanges within care homes.     

COSTLY INTERMEDIATION AND CONSUMPTION SMOOTHING

This paper studies quantitatively how intermediation costs affect household consumption loans and welfare. Agents face uninsurable idiosyncratic shocks to labor productivity in a production economy with costly financial intermediation and a borrowing limit. Reducing intermediation costs has two effects: (1) For a given decrease in the interest rate on borrowing, agents' ability to smooth consumption over time improves. (2) The demand for loans increases, which increases the interest rate. The net welfare gain of reducing intermediation costs from 3.927% (U.S. level) to 1% is about 1.14% of equivalent consumption in the baseline economy for an endogenous interest rate and 1.90% for an exogenous interest rate. The gains are distributed unevenly: households at the bottom wealth decile improve welfare by 3.96% and 5.86% of equivalent consumption, while those at the top decile have welfare gains of 0.35% and 0.2%, respectively. Sufficiently high intermediation costs eliminate borrowing and hence the welfare gain of reducing costs is not substantial. The welfare analysis includes transitional dynamics between steady states. (JEL D91, E60, G38)     

Research Note: Education and Training in Genetics in Social Work Programmes Across the United Kingdom

Correspondence to Rachel Iredale, Welsh Institute for Health and Social Care, University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd CF37 1DL. E-mail: riredale{at}glam.ac.uk Summary Genetics is an issue which has only recently come on to theagenda, but it is one that will rapidly assume great significanceas the twenty-first century approaches. This article describesa survey of social work course directors in the UK, undertakento assess their opinions of the likely impact of the new geneticson future social work practice. The results provide baselinedata on education and training on genetics in social work programmesin the UK. Only a small proportion of colleges in the UK currentlyteach genetics, partly because of full curricula, and partlybecause genetics is not perceived to be relevant to contemporarysocial work practice. Other attitudes of social work coursedirectors to the new genetics are also described.     

Volatilité des revenus salariaux et volatilité de l'emploi chez les jeunes en Europe

Les auteurs fournissent de nouveaux éléments d'appréciation sur la volatilité des revenus salariaux et de l'emploi chez les jeunes Européens après la crise de 2008. L'analyse, qui repose sur des données de la base EU‐SILC (2004–2013), révèle des différences de niveaux et de tendances importantes entre les pays. Sans surprise, l'instabilité augmente après la crise, mettant fin au recul enregistré précédemment. Une analyse de variance montre que les jeunes des pays d'Europe méridionale sont particulièrement exposés à la volatilité de l'emploi. Une régression à effets fixes permet d'associer certaines institutions (prestations de chômage et législation protectrice de l'emploi) à une baisse de l'instabilité.     

Power at work: reflections on the research process

Reflecting on a research project on workplace learning amongst low-grade staff in the public sector, this paper identifies a number of key issues arising from the research process. The theme which runs throughout the paper is a concern with the nature of power, both in the workplace and in the research process. The research itself focused on a relatively powerless section of the workforce. The process of securing access contributed to the research team's understanding of power relations in the work place and to consideration of the nature of the relationship between the researcher and the researched. The paper identifies a range of sources of power and concludes that researchers must use an understanding of the research process as a part of the findings, not merely a route to findings.