Dilemmas of Inter‐Professional Collaboration: Can they be Resolved?

Members of eight inter‐professional teams working in different areas of children’s services discussed their thoughts on three types of inter‐professional dilemmas. Participants described resolutions to dilemmas in terms of the construction and pursuit of joint goals. However, emergent themes included identity, power, territory and expertise. These arise from professionals’ everyday roles and activities and can directly influence construction and pursuit of joint goals. Successful collaboration, therefore, may entail some degree of professional self‐sacrifice in these areas.     

The Role of Housing Space in Determining Freedom and Flourishing in Older People

This paper takes as its central thesis Martha Nussbaum’s normative proposition that social arrangements should be evaluated primarily according to the extent of freedom people have to promote or achieve functionings they value. Using this as a lens the paper explores the housing circumstances of older people in the UK. The paper makes three points. Firstly, given that people use their homes to structure and manage their lives, the design, quality and standard of their home is therefore a critical factor in determining their “doings and beings” [Sen: 1992, Inequality Re-examined (Clarendon Press, Oxford) p. 40]. Since older people are more likely to spend greater time within the home through lower income, lessening mobility or loss of companions, this may be of greater significance to them than other age groups. Secondly the paper argues that the design of “specialist” dwellings for older people where there is a shifting balance between housing and care has played a part in shaping the thinking about the position and status of older people as well as providing a material context in which older people live [Laws: 1994, Environment and Planning A 26: pp. 1787–1802]. This paper suggests that this context may alter or deny many aspects of life that may be meaningful to individuals and therefore may inhibit rather than promote human flourishing. The paper draws mainly on a small qualitative study in which older people spoke of their home and its meaning. Quotations from this work are given in italics.     

Gender and savings in rural India

In this study we use data from rural India to examine the impact of the birth of a boy relative to the birth of a girl (i.e., the “gender shock”) on the savings, consumption and income of rural Indian households. We find that the gender shock reduces savings for medium and large farm households, although there is no evidence that the shock affects savings for the landless and the small farm households. We also estimate the effect of the shock on income and consumption for the former group in order to determine the source of the drop in savings. The results indicate that the fall in savings subsequent to the gender shock arises from its effect on consumption in the year following the birth, and from its effect on income in other years. Received: 3 September 1996 /Accepted: 15 July 1997     

Monitoring Indicators of Children’s Victimization in School: Linking National-, Regional-, and Site-Level Indicators

The paper presents a conceptual framework and methodology developed by the authors to create systematic empirical basis to monitor important social indicators. The focus here is on ways to employ indicators of victimization in school in order to inform a range of constituencies interested in the well being of school children. The paper outlines the importance of developing a wide range of indicators based on a theoretical model of social context of schools, as perceived from multiple perspectives (students, staff, parents, the general public). The importance of linking national-, regional-, and site-level indicators is emphasized and demonstrated. The paper presents examples of analyses and reports that can inform practice, policy making and evaluation in the area of school safety. Finally, monitoring indicators of victimization on all levels is described as a democratic youth empowering process.     

The progress of child protection in South Africa

Child abuse in South Africa is a serious and escalating problem. In this article, the writer reflects on the response of the South African government and civil society organisations to the problems experienced by practitioners in their management of child abuse during the past decade. This response must be understood within the context of South Africa's transition from a past characterised by state-enforced discrimination, exclusion and inequity. The article focuses on the child protection service system and draws attention to a review conducted in the nine provincial departments of social development across the country. It discusses the recommendations of the review in light of international literature on child welfare and lessons learnt over the past ten years. Despite the progress in policy formulation, implementation remains a major problem regarding child protection in South Africa.     

FROM THE EDITOR

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