Social Return on Investment of an Innovative Employment Option for Persons with Developmental Disabilities

Common Ground Co‐operative (CGC) provides training, administrative, and job coach support to five social enterprises for which persons with developmental disabilities are the non‐share‐capital partners. This study examines the use of social return on investment (SROI) as a means of determining the value of program impacts related to quality‐of‐life changes for enterprise partners and their families. The process of conducting this SROI analysis is described and analyzed in terms of its utility in employment services for persons with developmental disabilities.     

Multidimensional Resilience: Predictive and Construct Validity of the Individual,Family, and Community Resilience Profile

Few measures parallel the robust depth offered in the existing multidimensional and ecologically informed theories of resilience. This study sought to evaluate the test–retest reliability, construct, and predictive validity of the individual, family, and community resilience resource profile (IFCR-R). The IFCR-R measures a family’s access to resilience resources and protective factors across multiple ecological levels. Confirmatory factor analysis was used with a sample of n?=?810 low-income families. And 159 families completed multiple time point measures for test–retest reliability and predictive validity evaluation. Results of this study support the proposed multidimensional ecological structure of the IFCR-R and found that the IFCR-R offers an acceptable test–retest reliability and predictive validity for outcomes of mental and physical health.     

Class participation as a pedagogical tool in social work education

Class participation is an essential part of the social work pedagogy. However, active student engagement in classes is inconsistent and varies based on factors such as social backgrounds, educational background, and individual characteristics. Instructors often evaluate participation based on frequency of verbal contributions. Evaluation criteria are often unarticulated or difficult to measure, presenting numerous challenges for instructors and students alike. A model of reflective self-assessment of participation by students, paired with timely instructor feedback is put forth in this paper to mitigate these concerns. The steps in this model include initial self-assessment, goal setting, midterm review, and a final review. The process of continuous self-evaluation and problem-solving is discussed as strategies that aid the process of class participation. Three instructor touch points are suggested: at the goal-setting stage, the midterm review, and the final grade. Throughout the paper, connections to social work practice and social work pedagogy are highlighted. This model has yet to be implemented in a social work school’s curriculum. Challenges in the implementation and resolution of those challenges are also presented. This model suggests ways to enhance opportunities for student engagement and integration into graduate programs, in addition to fostering valuable skills for future practice in the field.     

Is money the main reason mothers return to work after childbearing?

Women’s reasons for returning to work after childbearing are complex, often including a mix of financial and other reasons related to their preferences, choices and constraints regarding employment; various qualitative studies have explored this decision-making process. This paper also considers how these decisions about returning to work are made, but uses quantitative techniques to analyse how reasons for return to work vary with factors such as women’s timing of return to work, what types of jobs they had previously worked in, or returned to, and what type of leave they used. This enables an examination of which women feel more constrained in their labour market options by returning to work sooner than preferred, and also their reasons for returning. Analysis is based on the 2005 Parental Leave in Australia Survey, a survey nested in the Wave 1.5 collection of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Mothers had children aged between 15 and 29 months at this time, and 56 per cent of these mothers had returned to work.     

Prevalence,people and processes: a consideration of the implications of Lord Laming's progress report on the protection of children in England

Media coverage of the death of Baby P revived national concerns about the standard of child safeguarding practice in England following the implementation of widespread structural changes in response to the Victoria Climbié Inquiry chaired by Lord Laming in 2003. This paper discusses the recommendations of Lord Laming's recent Progress Report. It questions whether the scale of the challenge in improving child protection is fully recognised and considers briefly the culture of social care in the UK and the barriers to effective reform. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performing Beauty: Dove's “Real Beauty” Campaign

Dove, a popular beauty brand, impressed some in the advertising world with its unique “Campaign for Real Beauty” and made others cringe. But little is known about how real women respond. “Real” beauty according to Dove means various shapes and sizes—flaws and all—and is the key to rebranding, rebuilding women's self‐esteem, and redefining beauty standards. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with sixteen Canadian women and guided by social semiotics and dramaturgy, I examine Dove's presentation of beauty and women's reactions to it from a “beauty as performance” frame. This study examines processes of interpretation and finds that expressing beauty, the self, and a public image inextricably requires elements of performance.     

Perceived facilitators and barriers to saving among low-income youth

Asset-based social welfare programs focus on helping low- to moderate-income citizens to accumulate wealth in the form of homeownership, savings, small businesses, and higher education. Individual development accounts, savings accounts in which account holders’ deposits are matched, are a vehicle often used in these programs. In a national demonstration of individual development accounts for children (children's savings accounts), low-income youth were interviewed to learn what helped them to save and what made it difficult to save. We describe the young people's perceptions of these factors, and conclude with implications for policy and program design.