Growing Up Where ‘No One Looked Like Me’: Gender,Race, Hip Hop and Identity in Vancouver

This paper examines how youth whose parents came from sub-Saharan Africa negotiate racialized forms of masculinity and femininity in Vancouver, Canada. The study is based on interviews with second generation African-Canadian men and women, and explores gendered and racialized dimensions of growing up in neighbourhoods where they were usually the only African and Black children. In this context, the second generation engages with representations of Black masculinity and femininity widely circulated through American popular culture, especially through hip hop, constituting a dominant frame of reference among adolescents that contributes to the great popularity of African-Canadian teenage boys, while girls find it much harder to fit in.     

A new look at the health and homeless experience of a cohort of five-year olds

Homelessness is increasing and health workers and others need to be ever vigilant about the risk that this has on children's health. What is that risk and what are children's experiences of homelessness? A retrospective case note study was carried out to compare the health of a group of five-year olds who had experienced homelessness and compare them with matched ‘non-homeless’ controls. A home interview questionnaire was used to give a profile of the children's housing experience and the health issues faced during their time in temporary accommodation. Fifty-three cases when compared with 41 controls showed a statistically greater prevalence of child protection issues and an increased number of health needs identified at the school nurse health appraisal. The housing profile identified that the case children moved homes many times (37 per cent more than five times), were homeless much longer than the officially registered period (67 per cent more than 12 months) and 61 per cent were made homeless through domestic violence. The study reinforces the need for us to acknowledge important environmental stress and to continue to advocate for this group of disadvantaged children.     

Short-term Migration and the Acquisition of a World Language

LA MIGRATION DE COURTED URÉE ET L'ACQUISITION D'UNE LANGUE D'ENVERGURE MONDIALE
L'anglais s'impose toujours plus comme langue de communication mondiale. Pourtant, on connaît mal les mécanismes par lesquels il s'impose de plus en plus comme seconde langue dans des populations en grande partie monolingues, et on en mesure mal également les conséquences immédiates. Dans cette étude, nous nous intéressons plus particulièrement à un cas particulier: l'acquisition de l'anglais seconde langue par les Coréens. Nous examinons brièvement la place qu'occupe la langue anglaise en Corée et le poids des mesures d'incitation déployées dans ce pays pour l'acquisition de l'anglais. Sur la base d'analyses empiriques, nous tirons la conclusion que les Coréens appliquent à l'acquisition d'une langue d'envergure mondiale une stratégie transnationale: la migration de courte durée dans des pays où la langue anglaise domine. Pour conclure, nous examinons encore quelques-unes des implications potentielles de ces mouvements et des nombreuses voies ouvertes à la recherche.     

Sustaining social work education in Ukraine: The second phase

A decade has passed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of communism. In partnership with countries from the west, many countries in eastern Europe, including Ukraine, have developed social work education courses as part of the process of establishing social democratic principles. This article has as its focus an innovative project being funded by the UK Department for International Development and managed by Hamlet Trust, a charitable body at the Kyiv Mohyla Academy, Ukraine. The project has been designed to develop and sustain earlier attempts to introduce social work into the country. Additionally, the intention is to extend training opportunities, and thereby to develop a new skills base in the workforce outside the capital city, Kyiv. Two new training courses are described and analysed, their unique features being on-site supervision and coaching of a group of experienced teachers and agency managers to take over teaching and training previously delivered by western consultants. Although the project does not end until 2002, it is possible to share some of the learning from this innovative approach with other eastern European countries in transition.     

Early childhood services: evolution or revolution?

This paper considers what progress has been made towards the development of a coherent national policy on services for young children under eight and their families. Since the election of a ‘new’ Labour government in 1997, services for children and families have been higher on the public agenda than at any time in living memory. Much has been achieved, through additional funding, expansion of services, and a more coordinated approach to service provision. But there is still a severe shortage of day care places for children under three, too few appropriately trained staff, a heavy reliance on short term funding, and no agreement on the overall policy on and purpose of early childhood services. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.