The Quality‐Defining Process in Early Years Services: A Case Study

In this article we argue, through a case study in a large, urban local authority in England, that local stakeholders in early years provision express a variety of perspectives on quality but are constrained by a national framework which promotes an ‘official’ definition of quality. We offer a quality‐defining model that captures the role of both ‘official’ definitions and more pluralistic approaches to quality. Finally, we highlight mechanisms already in place in the structure of early years services that could offer social spaces for the quality‐defining process to take place.     

Reconsidering Social Cohesion: Developing a Definition and Analytical Framework for Empirical Research

Despite its growing currency in academic and policy circles, social cohesion is a term in need of a clearer and more rigorous definition. This article provides a critical review of the ways social cohesion has been conceptualized in the literature in many cases, definitions are too loosely made, with a common confusion between the content and the causes or effects of social cohesion. This motivates us to propose a refined definition that we hope is clearer and more rigorous. We will show how our definition could be operationalized into a measurement scheme that facilitates empirical work on social cohesion.     

Getting tougher for the fourth quarter: boomers and physical activity

Baby Boomers might not consider themselves as growing old but are starting to reach the last quarter of average life spans. This article asks how Boomers prepare for their fourth quarters through physical activity. Three years (1999-2001) of National Health Interview Survey data yielded 96,501 adult respondents. Dependent variables were moderate, vigorous, and strengthening activity. Old boomers (1946-1955) and young boomers (1956-1965) were compared to respondents born before 1926, after 1975, and 10-year cohorts between. SUDAAN multiple logistic regression adjusted for complex sampling structure and multiply imputed income. Age-adjusted, older cohorts showed greater likelihood of activity than younger cohorts, offsetting moderate-activity declines with age until sharp decreases at advanced age: a plateau across Boomer and younger-aged cohorts. Interventions should promote activity at intensities and frequencies to which Boomers are most receptive.     

Managing sexually abused and/or abusing children in substitute care

This paper reports on research on the characteristics, management and therapeutic treatment of sexually abused and/or abusing children in substitute care. Of the 40 sexually abused and/or abusing young people aged 10 or over in the interview sample, two‐thirds showed sexual behaviours in the placement studied but one‐third did not. The range of sexual behaviours shown by the young people is described. Analysis of the findings shows that four key components of effective management are supervision, adequate sex education, modification of inappropriate sexual behaviour and therapeutic attention to the needs that underlie such behaviour. Supervision includes planning for safe care before placement, preparing other children in the setting, teaching young people how to keep themselves safe when out on their own, and careful monitoring of contact with birth family members. The need for a proactive approach to sex education is stressed. Effective management approaches to masturbation, sexualized behaviour and sexually abusing behaviour are discussed but the processes of denial and minimization of sexual abuse and the development of high thresholds for action when looked after children are abused or at risk are shown to present obstacles to effective care. Finally, the importance of addressing children's deeper needs is emphasized, including the importance of regular review of their need for counselling. At the end of the article two case examples from the study are given.     

Human Service Organizations: Useful Category or Useless Jargon?

In recent years a growing body of literature has examined the peculiar features of human service organizations and the difficulties which these pose for their administrators. This paper begins by reviewing recent writings on this subject, noting the differing emphases emerging from social welfare and public administration backgrounds respectively. The definition of human service organizations is then reconsidered, suggesting that it is useful to examine their characteristics in terms of two clusters of features: one related to their public source of mandate and resources, and the other related to the nature of the services they provide. A proposed definition based on these two clusters of features makes explicit two characteristics generally assumed in previous definitions of human service organizations; their purpose of meeting socially recognized needs, and the relatively powerless position of their clients. The definition proposed, rather than setting categorical boundaries, provides a model against which the features of a variety of organizations which wholly or partly fit it may be examined. The implications of the identified features of human service organizations for their administration are considered briefly, with particular reference to such problematic issues as the clarification of goals, the rights of consumers and the evaluation of services. It is suggested that the training and development of administrators for human service organizations must be based on an understanding of the particular difficulties and challenges arising from the nature of these organizations.     

Dual Relationships in Social Work Education

Dual relationships between social work educators and their current or former students is largely unstudied. This article reports on a survey of deans and senior social work educators’ ethical beliefs on dual relationships. Educators were asked how they regarded different types of dual relationships and differences between dual relationships with current and former students. They were also asked about ethics education in their schools. Beliefs about dual relationships varied, especially regarding current students and former ones. While ethics education in schools of social work is extensive, policies on dual relationships are scarce. Further research is needed on the ethics of dual relationships in social work education.     

NISO Webinar: The Future of Integrated Library Systems: Part 1: RDA & Cataloging

Abstract

This column's offerings cover late spring through summer to fall of 2011: NISO Webinar: The Future of Integrated Library Systems: Part 1: RDA & Cataloging (May 11); American Library Association Annual Conference (June 23–28); Association of College and Research Libraries New England Serials and Electronic Resources Interest Group Summer Program: Current Trends in E-Journals (August 18); Kentucky Library Association/Kentucky School Media Association Joint Conference (September 28–October 1); American Society for Information Science and Technology Annual Meeting (October 9–12); Great Lakes E-Summit Conference (October 10–11); and Potomac Technical Processing Librarians Annual Meeting (October 21).     

I hardly see my baby: challenges and highlights of being a New Zealand working mother of an infant

Combining motherhood and paid work presents a significant challenge for many women. We asked 2388 working New Zealand mothers of infants about their biggest highlight and challenge since the birth of their child. Thematic analysis revealed the top three reported highlights were Enjoyment of the Child (40%), Child Development (29%) and Attributes of the Child (16%). The top three challenges included Time Management (24%), difficulties with maternal role and responsibilities (21%) and work-related challenges (18%). Using logistic regression, working was more likely to be reported as a challenge by mothers who worked longer hours, returned to work when their infants were younger, had greater household incomes, or expressed concern about negative career consequences if they stayed on leave. Working was less likely to be reported as a challenge for mothers whose infants had health or developmental problems and who ‘wanted to get out of the house’. Practical implications are explored.     

Employer‐sponsored programmes for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS: Recent experience from sub‐Saharan Africa

This article examines a sample of employer programmes in sub‐Saharan Africa that supplement government efforts to prevent and treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Some of these programmes provide workers with in‐house education, voluntary HIV testing and antiretroviral treatment. Others rely on new forms of employment‐based group health insurance that include an HIV treatment package. In addition, some enterprises use the workplace as a platform for launching efforts into neighbouring communities to reach spouses, children, sex workers, secondary school students and others. Early evidence suggests that employer programmes maintain the health of large fractions of workers living with HIV who are served by them. They further enable enterprises to avoid productivity losses and turnover costs associated with HIV. At the same time, they take pressure off government agencies that face demands for treatment far exceeding their capacity. The article identifies features of successful employer programmes including “elite appeal”, which mobilizes community leaders and role models to deconstruct stigma, change perceptions and call for behavioural change; and “collateral linkage”, which extends the reach of HIV workplace programmes by linking them to related community concerns: e.g. alcohol abuse, malaria and domestic violence. Looking forward, the potential for expanding employer programmes as well as the restrictions associated with the limited scale of formal‐sector employment within sub‐Saharan African economies is assessed. Actions by which governments, employer associations, trade unions and international organizations can encourage further development of such programmes and extend their reach are suggested.