Engaging with families in child protection: lessons from practitioner research in Scotland

This paper reports findings from practitioner-led research on engagement with families in the child protection system in Scotland. Engagement is here defined in a participative sense, to mean the involvement of family members in shaping social work processes. Key findings include the importance of workers building trusting relationships; the value of honest and clear communication, information, and explanation; and the potential for formal structures such as reports and meetings to hinder family engagement. These findings contribute to a growing critique of managerialism in social work.     

College Based Placement Co-ordinators in the United Kingdom: Their Perceptions of Stress

Placement co-ordinators on college-based social work courseshave a demanding task, liaising with students, tutors and agencytraining sections in order to provide appropriate practice learningopportunities. They cope with long established limitations onthe quantity and quality of placements. Therefore, the rolewould appear to be a stressful one. This research examines jobsatisfaction, pressure and constraints, psychological well-being,the impact of the host institution, and some changes that mightalleviate stress. A postal questionnaire was sent to all placementco-ordinators on college-based social work courses in the UK.The findings indicated that small numbers of placement co-ordinatorsexperienced high levels of stress to the point of sufferingfrom ‘borderline’ anxiety and depression. Stressscores for placement co-ordinators as a whole, however, werelower than those of the general UK population. The co-ordinatorsenjoyed considerable autonomy and a reasonable amount of support.Generally, they had positive attitudes towards the institutionswhere they worked. Males tended to emphasize the importanceof the institutional context rather than females. However, aroundhalf of the placement co-ordinators had considered giving uptheir posts; only about a quarter liked their work. Respondentsenjoyed only limited job satisfaction, felt pressurized, subjectto excessive demands and were ambivalent in attitudes aboutmanagers, colleagues, students and practice teachers.     

“Neutrality” and “card check” agreements: Union assaults on employee rights and the integrity of the national labor relations board

Employer “neutrality” and union recognition by “card check” are tools unions use to bolster their shrinking numbers. Employee freeinformed choice and the sanctity of a democratic, secretballot National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election are the casualties of this fast-track approach to organizing. The NLRB is faced with challenging issues about some of the agreements which may overreach legal boundaries. This paper addresses those issues and highlights pending NLRB cases which may resolve some of them.     

The centrality of impairment in the empowerment of people with severe physical impairments. Independent living and the threat of incarceration: a human right

To research what empowerment and independent living meant to physically impaired people with severe impairments, and to consider whether their understanding and interpretation of empowerment equates to the politically generated version of empowerment and independent living as described in the Direct Payments Act 1996. An important element of the research was to consider the issue of impairment in the empowerment of physically impaired people with severe impairments within current social models of disability, i.e. current field of disability studies the need for a social model of impairment. As the research progressed it became evident that the Direct Payments Act was not about empowerment, but rather a process of 'enablement' in which the principles of empowerment and independent living espoused by physically impaired people was fundamentally different to the politically-generated version inherent within the Act itself. The findings revealed that empowerment and independent living transcended the realms of the political rhetoric of 'enablement' and was seen as a rights issue in which 'the right to live in ones own home or accommodation within mainstream society and community without fear of incarceration in a residential institution' was accorded the status of a fundamental human right.     

Anti-Semitism in America: The Dynamics of Prejudice

The authors explore the relation among social demographic characteristics, occupational prestige, and anti-Semitism in America. The National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey (1986) data are used to assess Americans' attitudes toward Jews. The results suggest that respondents' age, gender, and educational level are important predictors of anti-Jewish sentiment. The influence of age, however, contravenes previous research in that young Americans report themselves to be anti-Semitic. Reanalysis of these same data, focusing on Americans' attitudes toward Israel, suggests that age is an important factor for explaining anti-Zionism. Implications of these findings are discussed.