Taking stock: parents' reasons for and against having a third child

In developed countries with below-replacement fertility, the proportion of people who have at least three children make a substantial difference to the aggregate level of fertility. This study, based on 40 in-depth interviews with Australian parents of two children, analyses what factors influence the decision to have a third child. Using a grounded theory method of qualitative analysis, the study finds that parents who have decided to stop at two children are more able to articulate their reasons than are parents who are considering having a third child. The reasons for stopping include age and health; work and finances; and the capacity to parent another child. The weighing up of multiple factors is evidence of parents taking stock of personal and financial resources when making complex family formation decisions. The reasons for having a third child are expressed with far less elaboration and are more guarded and personal. We conclude that there is less shared or familiar language for articulating the value of family relationships. The contemporary context is one in which parents are attempting to manage risks related to having children, including the personal and financial implications of time out of the workforce. This study finds a persistent story of limited resources among parents of two children. Policies aimed at increasing fertility need to address this perception of limited resources through direct measures like affordable childcare and more generally through greater government and community support for families.     

The public intellectual trope in the United States

This article takes the “public intellectual” trope as a theoretical case study, and traces how it has been used in the elite public sphere of the contemporary United States since its coining in 1987. The analysis challenges the notion that the “public intellectual” is primarily about broad democratic publics. It documents instead how the trope is used to frame meaning and practice within specific intellectual publics, namely science, higher education, and journalism. By focusing on the play of tropes around the “public intellectual” and examining the authoritative cultural members who use the trope, the trope analysis identifies principles and strategies under contest in the journalistic, academic, and political fields of the contemporary United States.     

The role of a bio-ecological assessment system in writing a culturally sensitive report: The importance of assessing other intelligences

This article shows how the bio-ecological assessment system is applied in assessing a child's cognitive intelligence beyond a psychometric intelligence test. The authors conceive of intellectual behavior as an inextricable bio-ecological phenomenon and argue for an assessment system consistent with this conception. The recognition that there are many types of intelligences (such as musical and bodily kinesthetic) is discussed. The article presents a cursory review of how to assess the other intelligences of a child and how to incorporate this into a culturally sensitive report. A case sample via a psychological report demonstrating this model is presented with the goal of showing how the psychological status of minority children can be enhanced if psychologists adopt an integrated approach to assessment by way of a bio-ecological model. The case presented is that of a child with deficient cognitive functioning on the psychometric tests, but advanced functioning on the “Other Intelligence Assessment Measure.” Diagnostic impressions are given and implications for report writing and interventions are suggested.     

对意向性存在论/本体论批判的方法论预设——柏拉图笔下的苏格拉底看艾多斯

海德格尔对胡塞尔的现象学构想进行了批判,他认为胡塞尔的现象学在意识的基础上决定了意向性的存在,而对意向性“存在规定”的理解是本体论的缺失,这种观点基于对意向性错误的“客观化”和“主观化”,因此在限定意向性存在模式和意义的反思性方法时,胡塞尔纯粹现象学具有必然缺陷,并无力质询意向(Intentio)所包含的对存在的先验理解.海德格尔认为,纯粹现象学对存在问题忽略的终极历史根源在于希腊人对存在作为实存意义上的理解,在这个理解上,柏拉图和亚里士多德是不可调和的,而胡塞尔的意向性概念不能被看作是对柏拉图逻各斯提诺斯洞见的重新发现.但是,海德格尔对于柏拉图的批判预设了,柏拉图的苏格拉底式对诸艾多斯看法的说明就是柏拉图就这个主题最后的定论,这也就意味着,海德格尔对胡塞尔意向性概念的存在论/本体论批判是依赖于希腊本体论限制中的历史优先性的.     

WHEN 'VIRTUAL' MEETS VALUES: INSIGHTS FROM THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR

Electronic networking can support strategic re-positioning within organizations seeking to respond effectively to deep shifts in the social, economic and political regimes in which they operate today. Evidence, though, from our large-scale survey of core UK voluntary organizations suggests that voluntary organizations do not always seek to exploit this capability. Instead, our survey indicates that voluntary organizations are exploiting information and communication technologies (ICTs) in conventional ways to enhance administrative and operational efficiency and effectiveness. There is little evidence of more strategic applications supporting reconfiguration of the organization internally, redefinition of relationships across organizational networks or the extension of business scope. Further research based upon in-depth case studies demonstrated that social conditions are active in shaping the uptake and application of information and communication technologies within voluntary organizations. Within volunteer-intensive settings in particular,founding philosophies and the deeply rooted values that accompany these can have a profound effect. Ultimately,the technologically supported transformations, which occur within the organizations that we examine here, emerge from the inter-play between historically institutionalized values, strategic objectives and technological capability.     

Enforcing divorce settlements: Evidence from child support compliance and award modifications

This paper uses an implicit contracting framework to understand the dynamic nature of divorce settlements and to analyze the determinants of noncompliance with child support awards. In addition to the standard economic variables that affect the noncustodial parent’s (NCP’s) ability to pay child support, our approach focuses on factors that may affect the NCP’s desire to pay, such as the ongoing relationship between the two parents and between the NCP and the children. We also examine the “state-contingent” nature of child support payments and explore the factors that lead to modifications in child support agreements. Using a longitudinal data set collected by the Stanford Child Custody Project, the empirical analysis provides documentation that compliance by noncustodial fathers can vary substantially from month to month. In addition, we find that even within a short period after divorce, a substantial minority of parents agree to make informal modifications to their divorce settlement in response to changes in economic circumstances and in custodial arrangements     

Are we ready for them? Overseas-qualified social workers' professional cultural transition

Developing sociocultural competence in a new country is essential for migrants practising social work within new and distinct cultures. An argument for interventions needed to support the cultural transitioning of a migrant social work workforce is made, informed by findings from a mixed methods study of the experiences of overseas-qualified social workers in New Zealand. One of the main findings relates to migrant social workers' professional adaptation to the new environment. We focus the discussion here on how the perceptions and practices regarding the cultural dimensions of the transition informed their adaptation. Although this is a highly contextual example of social work practice in a foreign setting, the dynamics have equivalents in many international contexts as migration of labour is common globally. We argue that a greater focus on the migrant workforce is required in debates on globalisation. The discussion of the findings will highlight the need for culturally informed interventions to enable an increasingly global workforce to successfully make a professional cultural transition.     

Health belief dualism in the postnatal practices of rural Swazi women: an ethnographic account

ObjectiveThis study explores and describes the values, beliefs, and practices of rural Swazi women regarding childbearing in the postpartum period.MethodA retrospective ethnographic research design was used. A snowballing sampling method was used to recruit fifteen participants. Face-to-face unstructured audio-taped interviews and field notes were utilised to gather data.FindingsResults showed that rural Swazi women held a dual health belief system of modern and traditional medicinal use; practiced lengthy periods of postpartum confinement; customarily gave regular enemas and traditional medicines to their babies; undertook the specific cultural practice of taking the baby to enyonini [a tree struck by lightening] to perform specific rituals; used self-prescribed pharmacy medicines; used both traditional and modern contraception; as well as practiced breastfeeding.ConclusionRural Swazi women observe modern health practices alongside traditional customary practices that are inherent to their health belief and value systems in the postnatal period. These customary beliefs and values underpin their birth practices postpartum. Recommendations include the need to consider including formal knowledge on cultural aspects of childbirth and postpartum care into midwifery education; a review of maternal care practices and policies to incorporate widely practised traditional elements including redressing the use of self-prescribed pharmacy medicines to ensure a higher level of safety.