Why is history important at moments of transition? The case of ‘transformation’ of Irish child welfare via the new Child and Family Agency

This paper provides a critical commentary on researching social work in transition to make the case for why history is important at crucial moments of change. The present transition of child protection and welfare practice from a Health Services Executive Structure to an Independent Child and Family Agency (Tusla) is focused on for illustration. This development signifies a major transition of services within the country influenced by a number of factors, most notably a number of high profile cases of child abuse within institutions in the past and child deaths/neglect cases in the present. In particular, a discourse of prevention, early intervention and the promotion of children's rights are most dominant in light of a quest to purge the mistakes of the past. Supported by a history of the present approach, the author argues that while the existence of a ‘discursive shift’ typified by the establishment of an independent agency is arguably conclusive, the evidence of changes in practice, culture and underpinning analytical approaches is much more vague and complex. The paper concludes with reflections on implications for a wider European and global context and a call for the need for more critically informed approaches to history to inform present transformations.     

Ergonomic analysis of workplaces in the iron casting industrial pole in Claudio, Minas Gerais--Brazil

Brazil is currently recognized as the 10th largest producer of castings, and the city of Cláudio, MG is known worldwide as the "Greatest foundry and metallurgical pole in Latin America", with more than 80 companies. However, this large number of enterprises and increasing investments in product development has demanded an increase in manpower and working hours of workers in the sector, proportionally increasing the incidence of occupational related health problems like RSI (repetitive strain injury), WMSDs (work-related musculoskeletal disorders) and industrial accidents. This article aims to characterize the industry from previously conducted case studies to relate the main causes of occupational diseases and outline possible interventions through design, showing how this tool can contribute to improve the working environment, workplace, tools and equipment through ergonomics adjustments.     

Reverberations of Racism and Sexism Through the Subjective Sexualities of Undergraduate Women of Color

Young women of color (among others) face both subtle and overt discrimination on a regular basis, but few studies have examined relations between discrimination and sexual outcomes using quantitative tools. We surveyed 154 self-identified undergraduate women of color to examine connections between race- and sex-based discrimination and subjective sexual well-being (i.e., condom use self-efficacy and sexual life satisfaction) and also tested whether sexual autonomy mediated these relations. When examined individually, each form of discrimination was related negatively to condom use self-efficacy and sexual life satisfaction, such that as women reported more discrimination, they reported poorer sexual well-being. However, when examining both racism and sexism as joint predictors, only racism remained significant and there were no racism × sexism interaction effects. In a path model, sexual autonomy mediated the relation between racism and each measure of subjective sexual well-being; racism was negatively related to sexual autonomy, which in turn was positively related to both condom use self-efficacy and sexual life satisfaction. These findings are consistent with the broader literature on the negative impact of discrimination on various aspects of mental and physical health. They also reinforce the position that redressing social inequality is a vital component of promoting individual health.     

Career Counseling Is Personal Counseling

Despite many changes that have occurred in the field of career counseling, counselors continue to rely on models of counseling that emphasize the rational, informational aspects of career decision making. The author argues that career counselors need to pay more attention to the affective, psychological issues confronting clients with career problems. The impact of significant psychological variables that influence career decision making are discussed: developmental stages and tasks, identity formation and status, self-concept, psychological needs, and internal barriers.     

Getting Along or Getting Your Own Way: The Development of Young Children's Use of Argument in Conflicts with Mother and Sibling

The development of children's use of argument in conflicts with their mother and sibling during their fourth vear, a period of marked changes in their understanding of others, was studied in 49 children observed at home with their mothers and siblings at 33 and 47 months. Children's use of reasoned argument in conflict increased: however, the proportion used for conciliation and compromise decreased, and children used justifications increasingly to support their own position. Mothers, hut not siblings, changed in parallel to the children over this period. Both the initiator of a dispute and children's expression of affect were related to children's use of argument; children used less reasoned argument when they were upset. Results are discussed in relation to differences in the development of children's relationships with mother and sibling and the importance of the link between affective expression and the use of argument in family disputes.     

Sociology and the case for realism

It is argued that in the present era of ecological threat we need a critical sociology, which requires a realist ontology. Using Beck's Risk society as an example, I maintain that to the extent that postmodernist sociology rejects realism, its critical and substantive potential is compromised. The second half of the article argues that realism must extend also to moral positions, which are assessed in terms of knowledge of the natural and social world. Through various examples it shows that while postmodernist thinkers reject meta-narratives and universal truth, they are inevitably moral realist in practice when talking politics. Contra Bauman, sociology cannot dispense with the project of emancipation. The moral realist discourse of human needs permits us to move from statements about the world to recommendations for action.