Shared Housing: Making Alternative Lifestyles Work

Changing lifestyles mean that fewer people are living in traditional families and that demands for innovative styles of housing are increasing. Many young people live in shared houses. Such housing offers relatively cheap and flexible accommodation and also has the potential to make a positive contribution to individuals' quality of life. This paper considers the factors that contribute to the success of these households: successful conflict management, the personality and expectations of sharers, the social interaction within the house and its physical design. It concludes with a consideration of ways in which sharing could be encouraged as a housing option.     

Beyond Convergence: Toward Theoretical Relevance in Quantitative Modernization Research*

The 200 year old debate about convergence is indicted for one-sidedness in theory and lack of clarity in its propositions. A functional typology of solidarities is developed with predictions of convergence, divergence, and evolutionary invariance. Specific hypotheses for comparative survey research are presented.     

Positive and negative impacts of job loss on family life: the perceptions of Australian car workers

This article contributes to research on the impact of job loss on families. It is based on survey responses from 371 workers and in‐depth interviews with 39 of them about the family impacts of their job loss from the Mitsubishi car factory in Adelaide in 2004–2005. A majority of workers said family life had been affected by their job loss. Quantitative analysis identified four variables significantly associated with family impacts: marital status, children living at home, employment status and financial management. Qualitative responses showed the predominantly negative impacts were financial strain, loss of relationship stability and general stress and worry, although few faced catastrophic impacts from their job loss. However, in contrast to most previous research, the in‐depth interviews also revealed positive impacts from job loss, such as having more time at home and to spend with their family. We conclude that the existence of ongoing income support and public health insurance in Australia were important in avoiding catastrophic financial impacts on these workers and their families.     

Children removed from home by court order: Fathers' disenfranchised grief and reclamation of paternal functions

The study, based on in-depth interviews with 15 fathers in Israel, reports on fathers' emotional reactions to the court-ordered removal of their children from home. The findings show that all the fathers experienced the removal as a traumatic event, which utterly devalued them and annihilated their paternal identity. Although they suffered intense pain and loss well after their children were removed, their grief was disenfranchised as friends and family accused them of allowing the removal to happen. With this, most of the fathers acclimated to the removal and even reported an expansion of their parental identity. The discussion suggests some theoretical conceptualizations of their intense feelings of pain and loss.     

Social Work Students' Pre-placement Anxiety: An International Comparison

This paper compares the degree and nature of anxiety experienced by American and Israeli social work students as they anticipate beginning field placement. Despite having greater prior exposure to social work through relevant coursework and experience, American students were significantly more anxious than Israeli ones. Overall, Americans reported a slightly higher sense of preparedness, but this difference was not statistically significant. While there were some shared worries, notably regarding the quantity and quality of field instruction, and their capacity to meet both field and academic obligations, specific concerns regarding field agencies, clients, and social work education differed between the groups, likely reflecting the distinct social, cultural, historical and educational contexts. Implications for social work education and future research are discussed.     

Resistance in infusing minority content in social work education

Abstract

The familiar language of codependency, while it represents an effort to name and articulate pain, has become a mythology in which the leading characters are defined as victims and as sick. This paper describes the historical evolution of the concept of codependency and discusses the dysfunctional dynamics in families that are seen as the origins of codependent behavior. An alternate language for describing such families is offered.     

康德实践哲学中的法和伦理

本文是曼弗雷德·鲍姆(Manfred Baum)教授2008年10月3日在武汉大学哲学学院所作讲演的译稿.文中对康德<道德形而上学>一书划分成"法权论"和"德行论"的来由、理论根据和基础进行了分析,认为康德摧毁了传统的自然法学说,而把法权和德行全都建立在人的自由之上,视为人的义务的内外两方面.同样作为定言命令,康德的法权原则是分析命题,德行原则是综合命题,前者对人的目的不作要求,后者则要求人把人格和人性当作目的.但法权毕竟要以道德为前提和评价标准,而道德本身的评价标准则是从外部合法性向内部行动"转移"而来的,这是一个矛盾.     

Social Work Students Cope with Terror

This study examines the responses of social work students to the wave of terror of the Second Intifada, focusing on issues of professional identity raised by the terror. The study, based on statements of students who lost meaningful persons in the terror and on class discussions, identifies four key issues involving the formation of the students' professional identity that were accentuated by the terror. These are: (1) the conflict between personal needs and professional needs; (2) doubts about professional competence; (3) the conflict between carving out personal space and meeting professional responsibilities, and (4) the difficulties of doing fieldwork under terror. The study also observes the discomfort of the Arab students in the situation.     

Life after work: older Australians' experiences of early exit from the workforce

Little is known about the experience of those in the baby boom cohort who are outside the labour market. Understanding their experience has the potential to inform policy strategies to support older people to remain longer in the workforce. Using in‐depth interview data from 26 participants, this paper examines the reasons people aged between 50 and 64 years give for being not‐employed, how they perceive it affects their health, how socioeconomic characteristics shape their experience and what would entice them back into paid work. Participants' main reasons for being not‐employed included: feeling financially able and ready to exit, feeling unhappy about workplace reorganisations, disability, or their partner's retirement or ill‐health. The reasons given and the degree to which they had planned to exit the workforce affected their willingness and capacity to consider returning. Key determinants of participants' health and wellbeing after stopping paid work were the extent to which they had planned their exit and the status of their health and wealth at the time of their exit. The paper concludes there is some scope for increasing the number of employed older people if policy makers attend to workforce health and wellbeing as crucial to workforce retention policy development.