The Role of Risk and Future Land Use in Cleanup Decisions at the Department of Energy

As a result of the legacy of the Cold War, the Departments of Energy and Defense are involved in massive cleanup and remediation projects. While health risk to humans and ecological receptors is perceived to be the basis for remediation, this assumption is rarely examined. In this article, we examine the role of risk and future land-use designations in cleanup decisions, using the Department of Energy's self-assessment of 36 sites. We then discuss the risk-related tools that might be required to address the cleanup challenge. Much of the current cleanup program is driven by compliance with federal and state statutes and regulations, presumably to protect human health and the environment. Compliance, however, is not synonymous with cleanup. Although some of these laws and regulations take risk into account, the lack of site-specific data on exposures and risk scenarios, and the lack of attention to future land use or end states, has often resulted in disconnects between risk and cleanup goals, risk and final end states, and cleanup levels and end state or subsequent land use. Partly, these disconnects result from the need for a range of technical, economic, sociological, and public policy tools to address the issues. A better transfer of information among and within Department of Energy facilities, operations offices, and DOE headquarters is required. Further, linking cleanup decisions and goals with the final end state involves a number of risk tradeoffs, including (1) ecological versus human health, (2) worker versus public health, (3) among competing contaminated areas, (4) among temporal patterns of cleanup, (5) among different ecological receptors (plants vs. animals, one animal vs. another), and (6) among the sites across the DOE complex. For the nation, balancing among risks is essential within sites and among Department of Energy sites, as well as among other remediation sites (such as those of Department of Defense and Superfund sites).     

Improving Service Delivery in Education Through Collaboration: An Exploratory Study of the Role of Cross‐Sectoral Alliances in the Development and Support of Charter Schools*

Objective. This article explores cross‐sectoral alliances as mechanisms for enhancing service delivery in public education. We assess the extent to which the three economic sectors—nonprofit, for‐profit, and public—are involved in partnerships with charter schools and identify the benefits that charter schools receive from partnering with other organizations. Methods. The study utilized a qualitative approach: data collection involved interviews with charter school experts in 37 states. Results. We found that organizations from each of the three economic sectors were involved in alliances with charter schools and that these alliances offered a range of financial (e.g., facilities, salaries), political (e.g., legitimacy, credibility), and organizational (e.g., curriculum, management) benefits. Conclusions. Our findings from this exploratory study suggest that cross‐sectoral alliances have the potential to enhance the capacity of charter schools to deliver high‐quality educational services. Three hypotheses generated from the findings are also offered to guide future research on charter school alliances.     

“Wearing a Mask Won't Protect Us from Our History”: The Impact of COVID-19 on Black Children and Families

The data on COVID-19 show an irrefutable and disturbing pattern: Black Americans are contracting and dying from COVID-19 at rates that far exceed other racial and ethnic groups. Due to historical and current iterations of racism, Black Americans have been forced into conditions that elevate their risk for COVID-19 and consequently place Black children at the epicenter of loss across multiple domains of life. The current paper highlights the impact of the pandemic on Black children at the individual, family, and school levels. Based on an understanding of the influence of structural racism on COVID-19 disparities, policy recommendations are provided that focus on equitable access to quality education, home ownership, and employment to fully address the needs of Black children and families during and after the pandemic. Research, practice, and policy recommendations are made to journal editors, funding agencies, grant review panels, and researchers regarding how research on COVID-19 should be framed to inform intervention efforts aimed at improving the situation of Black children and families.     

Hope: An empirical study of attitude toward the timing of uncertainty resolution

Hope is experienced when there is enjoyment in delaying the resolution of uncertainty. The main objective of this article is to identify the phenomenon of hope. In addition, we empirically test several axiomatic theories of temporal preferences which have implications for attitudes toward the timing of uncertainty resolution. Overall, the data support the extension of recursive expected utility specification to incorporate a weighted utility model of attitude toward future uncertainty. We find that the instances where hopefulness are more prevalent tend to be associated with a small probability of occurrence of a large gain. Interestingly, the degree of hopefulness is not correlated with risk attitude.     

Preparing social work students for policy practice: an Australian example

This paper presents an innovative approach to the teaching of policy skills across the two years of an Australian Social Work degree programme. It argues that placing policy back into practice and teaching the skills involved provides social work practitioners with a better capacity to effect change. Australian Catholic University, School of Social Work is located in Australia's capital city. The policy units have a clear framework within which to understand policy development and provide students with real hands‐on policy experience combining an experiential based learning approach with traditional teaching methods. The second year subject is structured around a number of policy workshops. Each workshop deals with a current policy problem and examines a different stage of policy development. It has as a consultant to the process a social worker who works as a policy practitioner providing a role model of practice in a policy area. Feedback from students has been extremely positive reporting increased confidence in policy skills and a recognition of the importance of these skills in social work. This teaching experience reinforces the need to focus on the educational considerations in teaching a subject where conceptual, theoretical and skill components are equally important if policy practice is to effect change.     

Nobody’s business? White male privilege in media coverage of intimate partner violence

ABSTRACT

Portrayals of celebrities perpetrating Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) are ideal for understanding the association between gender and racial privilege in representations of social problems. Unlike prior scholarship on framing of IPV, with celebrity perpetrators, race can be analyzed as an important aspect. Using 330 news articles about 66 celebrities, I find patterns of reporting consistent with male privilege that sanctions men’s violence against women, whereas the differential treatment of Black men fosters a racialized interpretation that pathologizes Black men. Black men's IPV is more often criminalized, with criminal imagery included 3 times more often in articles about Black celebrities than White celebrities. By presenting violence as an escalation of mutual conflict and excusing it due to mitigating circumstances, such as inebriation, White men's violence is justified 2½ times more often than Black men's IPV. These findings contribute to sociological understandings of racial privilege in the social construction of IPV.     

Integrating Human Rights and Trauma Frameworks in Social Work with People from Refugee Backgrounds

Abstract

Social work practice informed by human rights and trauma frameworks can be empowering and enabling. While both frameworks are complex and contested, their implementation “from below” via praxis can maximise benefits for social work with people who have experienced trauma and human rights abuses, such as those from refugee backgrounds. This article presents an exploration of this practice approach through the presentation of the story of Zillah and Amman, a fictionalised composite of many real refugee experiences. Taking as examples the education and child protection systems, the discussion highlights how theory to practice integration requires cross-cultural engagement, critical reflection, dialogue, and an understanding of human rights “from below”.     

“If I Did It Over There,I Can Do It Here”: U.S. Latinx Social Work Students in Costa Rican Service Placements Deepening Their Professional Identity and Skills

ABSTRACT

Social work student participation in global experiences continues to increase despite limited research on the impacts of these educational experiences on knowledge and skill development. This article reports on professional identity and skill development for 25 U.S. Latinx students who completed internships or service-learning projects in Costa Rica while living with host families. Three groups of MSW students spent 6 weeks in full-time summer internships and one group of primarily BASW students completed two-week summer service-learning projects and language immersion course work. Through longitudinal qualitative data collected before, during, and after the time abroad, and the use of the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards as a conceptual framework to assess learning outcomes, three key areas of professional gains emerged: demonstrate ethical and professional behavior, engage diversity and difference in practice, and engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. This study reveals specific benefits of opportunities for students assumed to already be culturally competent with clients of related backgrounds because of language or ethnic similarities. Discussion on the findings and implications for social work educators and students is included.