“Adding Their Flavour to the Mix”: Involving Children and Young People in Care in Research Design

Abstract

Children and young people are often the subjects of research but are not usually thought of as codesigners of research projects contributing to the development of tools and resources so that research about them and their peers is more likely to be appropriate and effective. This paper describes and analyses the involvement of a group of 14 children and young people who have been in out-of-home care. They assisted in the design of a research project that sought their views on what makes a “good” foster carer. The impetus for this study arose from a desire to include children and young people as stakeholders in improving the foster care system and a long-held belief that they could and should be active partners in creating change. The study demonstrated how children and young people could be engaged creatively in individual and group conversations and activities in relation to potential research questions and research methods and tools. The paper concluded that capturing their views will ensure that research will be of benefit to other children and young people and to policy makers and practitioners working in the field.     

Publication Rates of Undergraduate Social Work Programs in Selected Journals

Abstract

Scholarship is receiving an ever-increasing emphasis within social work education, particularly at the undergraduate level. Decisions on recruitment, reappointment, tenure, salary, and promotion often are influenced by publication productivity. The authors extend previous research on publication activity of graduate faculty by reporting the journal article production of undergraduate social work faculty over a 7-year period in seven major social work journals. As expected from earlier studies, relatively few faculty produced a sizable proportion of the articles. However, articles written by only one author were less common than previous research suggested. The majority of articles appeared in three of the journals reviewed: Social Work, Journal of Social Work Education, and Families in Society (formerly Social Casework). The most prolific undergraduate faculty were likely to come from programs located in combined bachelor of social work/master of social work settings in relatively large public universities. Gender differences were noted in only one area: twice as many women authors were among the most prolific baccalaureate contributors.     

ISA,ISSAM, EAU,EAA and ASA recommendations: investigation,treatment and monitoring of late-onset hypogonadism in males

Abstract

Hypogonadism or Testosterone Deficiency (TD) in adult men as defined by low levels of serum testosterone accompanied by characteristic symptoms and/or signs as detailed further on can be found in long-recognized clinical entities such as Klinefelter syndrome, Kallmann syndrome, pituitary or testicular disorders, as well as in men with idiopathic, metabolic or iatrogenic conditions that result in testosterone deficiency. These recommendations do not encompass the full range of pathologies leading to hypogonadism (testosterone deficiency), but instead focus on the clinical spectrum of hypogonadism related to metabolic and idiopathic disorders that contribute to the majority of cases that occur in adult men.     

Effects of public transit policies on taxi drivers’ wages

We investigate the effects of two public transit policies, subsidization and privatization, on the wages of taxi drivers. In theory, transit operating subsidies benefit transit firms at the expense of the taxi industry and its employees. By contrast, the privatization policy of contractingout transit service to lower cost private providers is potentially beneficial to taxi firms and their drivers. Estimated wage equations confirm that transit operating subsidies have negatively affected taxi driver wages even as they have bolstered transit drivers’ wages. Transit privatization has had the predicted positive effect on taxi driver wages, all else held constant. These results suggest that a more accurate assessment of the effect of transit operating subsidies on labor costs must encompass their net effects on the labor costs of the entire urban transportation sector, not just the public transit industry.     

Ecological Risk Assessment Conceptual Model Formulation for Nonindigenous Species

This article addresses the application of ecological risk assessment at the regional scale to the prediction of impacts due to invasive or nonindigenous species (NIS). The first section describes risk assessment, the decision-making process, and introduces regional risk assessment. A general conceptual model for the risk assessment of NIS is then presented based upon the regional risk assessment approach. Two diverse examples of the application of this approach are presented. The first example is based upon the dynamics of introduced plasmids into bacteria populations. The second example is the application risk assessment approach to the invasion of a coastal marine site of Cherry Point, Washington, USA by the European green crab. The lessons learned from the two examples demonstrate that assessment of the risks of invasion of NIS will have to incorporate not only the characteristics of the invasive species, but also the other stresses and impacts affecting the region of interest.     

Career Salience of Institutionalized Adolescent Offenders

This study investigated self-esteem and career salience of institutionalized adolescent offenders in the context of Super's (1980) lifespan career development theory. Participants were 185 male adolescents. Results indicated that participation, commitment, and values expectations in home-family roles contribute significantly to self-esteem in adolescent offenders. Additionally, adolescent offenders differ from adolescent non-offenders on home-family and work roles, with adolescent offenders scoring higher. Implications for career counseling of institutionalized adolescent offenders for transition into the community are discussed.     

Subordinate social adaptability and the consequences of abusive supervision perceptions in two samples

The present investigation examined social adaptability as a moderator of the relationships between perceptions of abusive supervision and several work outcomes. Specifically, we hypothesized that individuals with lower levels of social adaptability would be more adversely affected by heightened levels of abusive supervision perceptions than employees with greater levels of social adaptability. Data from two samples offered strong support for the hypotheses. Specifically, employees with lower levels of social adaptability reported heightened job tension (i.e., Sample 1) and emotional exhaustion (Samples 1 & 2), as well as diminished job satisfaction (Samples 1 & 2) and work effort (Samples 1 & 2) as perceptions of abusive supervision increased, whereas employees with greater social adaptability skill were less strongly affected by their perceptions of abusive supervision. Contributions of the research to scholarship and practice, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.