Three measures of non‐resident fathers' involvement,maternal parenting and child development in low‐income single‐mother families

This study examined the relationships among non‐resident fathers' involvement, mothers' parenting and parenting stress, and children's behavioural and cognitive development in low‐income single‐mother families. Based on the theoretical concepts of father involvement in terms of accessibility, responsibility and interaction, this study operationalizes fathers' involvement with three different measures: (i) fathers' frequency of contact with their children; (ii) fathers' amount of child support payment; and (iii) fathers' quality of parenting. Analyses used the first three waves of longitudinal data from a subsample of single and non‐cohabiting mothers with low income in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Results suggest that non‐resident fathers' child support payment is indirectly associated with both children's behaviour problems and cognitive development. Fathers' parenting is also found to be indirectly associated with children's behaviour problems. The findings further suggest that those estimated associations are transmitted through mothers' parenting. The expected associations between fathers' contact and child outcomes are not found in this sample. The study also discusses the policy and practice implications of its findings.     

Client Violence Against Social Workers at Homeless Assistance Organizations in South Korea

This study examined the essence of client violence that social workers encounter at homeless assistance organizations in South Korea. Based on 149 self‐administered questionnaires in 29 homeless assistance organizations in Seoul metropolitan areas, the study verified that client violence against social workers was prevalent. More than 70% of respondents experienced physical violence from their clients; 78.5% reported emotional violence; 53% reported property damage. This study also found that client violence emerged differently according to gender and types of agencies in the field. The results suggested that effective prevention strategies against client violence should be encouraged to maintain valuable human resources and to create a safe workplace in the field of social work.     

Does family still matter? Public and private transfers in emerging welfare state systems in a comparative perspective

Kim JW, Choi YJ. Does family still matter? Public and private transfers in emerging welfare state systems in a comparative perspective Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 353–366 © 2010 The Author(s), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. While the role of the family has been a distinctive feature of East Asian welfare systems, rapid social policy development and reforms in South Korea and Taiwan over the last two decades have led to an increase in public welfare. Yet, despite a growing number of studies, little is known about the role of family support – private transfers – and public programmes in the performance of state welfare. This article reports on a comparative analysis of the role of public and private transfers aimed at poverty and inequality reduction in 12 Western and two East Asian states employing the Luxemburg Income Study data set. Results indicate that, in contrast to the West, private transfers that rest primarily on family support remain more important than public transfers in reducing income inequality and poverty in South Korea and Taiwan.     

Capitalism's global financial crisis: The role of the state

The bankruptcy and merger of three major American investment banks: Bear Stearns, Lehmann Brothers and Merrill Lynch in 2008 have shocked the United States government to undertake dramatic market intervention by the state, and a $700 billion U.S. dollar bailout, that resembles “industrial policy” in many other countries. Critics of market intervention, often called industrial policy in many countries, point out to two potential weaknesses: governments may have less knowledge than markets on how to pick winners and industrial policy creates possibilities of corruption and rent seeking. This research note's contribution analyzes the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, through the importance of, institutional infrastructures, and how industrial policy can help create the institutional infrastructures that can expand economic wealth and stability for all countries in the 21st century.     

Forecast Households at the County Level: An Application of the ProFamy Extended Cohort-Component Method in Six Counties of Southern California, 2010 to 2040

Population Research and Policy Review - Policymakers and market analysts have long been interested in future trends of households. Among household projection methods, the ProFamy extended...     

Family Systemic Approaches for Borderline Personality Disorder in Acute Adult Mental Health Care Settings

This thematic literature review explores the contribution of family/systemic approaches in the treatment and care of people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) in acute adult mental health care settings. It recognises the importance of early childhood trauma, family dynamics, and relationships in the aetiology of BPD and outlines key benefits and constraints of a family systems approach. The article discusses institutional, cultural, and power structures that influence the diagnosis and treatment process for adult clients with BPD and the value of relational ethics in guiding or mediating care between the family, healthcare system, and community.     

Fertility Behavior of Interracial Couples

Despite the unprecedented rise in the number of intermarriages and multiracial individuals in recent decades, our understanding about the fertility behavior of interracial couples is limited. Using data from the 2002 and 2006–2015 National Survey of Family Growth, this study compares the risk of pregnancy and the pregnancy intentions of interracial couples with those of same‐race couples. Interracial couples' risk of pregnancy differed little from that of same‐race White couples, with the exception of White wife–Black husband couples, whose risk of pregnancy was higher than both same‐race White and Black couples. Neither socioeconomic disparities nor union characteristics explained their elevated pregnancy risk. Interracial couples' risk of unintended pregnancy mirrored closely that of same‐race couples from the husband's racial or ethnic group. Socioeconomic disparity was the primary driver of differences in pregnancy intentions between interracial and same‐race White couples.     

A Reinvented Community: The Case of Gamcheon Culture Village

This study explores Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan, South Korea, as a special case of inclusive and participatory cultural-spatial transformation by which the village was transformed from an impoverished and decaying hillside slum into a vital and picturesque location and tourist attraction. The study delineates this process in terms of a distinctive engagement of the arts and cultural dynamics relative to general social well-being. Of particular note are the roles of resident activism and civil society, social entrepreneurs, and the arts and artists as key resources, all coming together in an organic redevelopment process. Evidence indicates an increased sense of community and cooperation, overall improvement in the quality of life, and cultural enrichment for the residents. However, transformation continues, and the sustainability of Gamcheon Culture Village as a successful case of redevelopment is dependent on the ongoing cooperation and participation of the resident base and primary artistic support.     

Analyzing Disaster Loss Trends: A Comparison of Normalization Methodologies in South Korea

Increasing concern for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction is driving the need for more accurate and sophisticated tools of analysis to protect populations. Standards of analysis that can normalize measurements under various contexts are particularly valuable in the global arena of disaster management. One concern that may benefit from normalizing is the analysis of disaster loss trends. Previous studies have used a combination of inflation, wealth, and societal factors in their normalization of disaster loss methodologies. This study examines the various normalization methods in previous research and applies a selection of eight formulae to 50 years of disaster data in South Korea. The results show both decreasing and increasing trends in disaster damage losses based on the methods, but there are curious biases under the results that may be artifacts of Korea's unique experiences in economic development. The conclusion discusses how the case of Korea may help to clarify the optimal normalization methodology for other countries.