EFFECTS ON THE PRIMARY CAREGIVER WHEN A FAMILY MEMBER EXPERIENCES ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY

This pilot study examines a random sample of 20 families with adults who have experienced acquired brain injury. Information about family structure pre and post accident is obtained by structured and open ended interview along with identification of the role of the primary caregiver. Analysis of the role of primary caregiver demonstrates the importance of the role of mothers and wives and the extent to which greatly increased responsibilities are acquired post accident. These increased responsibilities are a burden and alter the women's lifestyle such that their quality of life, like that of the person with brain injury, is severely impaired. This is a distinct but often unheralded outcome of acquired brain injury.     

Social Trust,Social Partner Time and Television Time

Social trust is an important phenomenon, but the influence of important time-based measures upon trust has not been examined. Such measures include social contact and anti-social activity, such as television watching, which allows for the co-presence of other people. This paper reports on associations between trust and weighted means of co-present ‘social’ time (defined as time spent in various ‘social’ activities) and co-present time spent watching television, using the Australian Time Use Survey, 2006. It finds that trust is associated with social time spent in the co-presence of ‘strangers’ predominately from outside the household, and that TV watching in the co-presence of ‘familiars’—friends and family—is negatively associated with trust.     

Intensity and persistence of individuals' social exclusion in Australia

We construct a measure of social exclusion that recognises its multidimensionality at the individual level, including its potential variability in intensity at a point in time and in persistence over time. We distinguish seven dimensions or domains of social exclusion: material resources; employment; education and skills; health and disability; social; community; and personal safety. For each of these seven domains, several indicators of social exclusion are produced. Our exclusion measure identifies 20 to 30 per cent of the Australian population aged 15 years and over as experiencing ‘marginal’ or worse levels of exclusion at any given point in time. However, there is considerable variation in both the extent and persistence of exclusion among the excluded. We further find that, although there are commonalities in the demographic composition of the socially excluded and the income poor, there are also some important differences. For example, persons 65 years and over represent a much smaller share of the most ‘excluded’ group than they do of the ‘poorest‘; and – adopting a household‐level measure of exclusion – children represent a larger share of the excluded than they do of the poor.     

Are elderly drivers a road hazard?: Problem definition and political impact

Elderly drivers are increasing in number and some statistics show they are more likely to be involved in fatal accidents than all other age groups but those under 25. States have attempted to address the problem in various ways, but very few have required mandatory retesting at license renewal for those beyond a particular age. Why have so few states chosen to act? The key is how the issue is framed for the public and decision makers. Several phases of problem definition are explored to explain the political dynamics of the older driver issue: incidence, causality, severity, crisis labeling, problem population characteristics, and linkage of values to the issue and solutions. Based upon this analysis, it is not surprising that elder interest groups have been successful in containing policy initiatives designed to restrict elderly driving.     

Diversity in sociology: Problem or solution?

Some of sociology’s recent internal critics (e.g., Turner and Turner, 1990; Halliday and Janowitz, 1992; Collins, 1986; Gans, 1990; Crane and Small, 1992) suggest that the discipline's diversity of theoretical, methodological and substantive foci leave it in a weakened position for achieving individual and collective ends. Other sociologists (e.g., D'Antonio, 1992; Roos and Jones, 1993; Stacey and Thorne, 1985) argue that substantive diversity has made the discipline attractive to a greater variety of previously underrepresented groups, particularly women, groups that have, in turn, contributed to sociology’s substantive diversity. This paper reports on a content analysis of 2,016 articles from North American sociology journals in 1936, 1956, 1976, and 1996 as well as from chemistry, anthropology, economics, political science, and psychology journals in 1996. The analysis focused on a number of, often contradictory, hypotheses drawn from the competing views of sociology's diversity with respect to its substantive concerns and its gender composition. It finds, for instance, that there is more substantive diversity in today's sociology journal articles than there was earlier, at least when diversity is measured in terms of fields that are reputed to be attractive to women. This may not be surprising, since more women are writing sociology journal articles than ever before. Moreover, the substantive diversity seems to be related to more, not less, funding of sociological research. It is, of course, a trite remark — one made more frequently by sociologists than by their gibing critics — that sociology has not yet come to the development which commands from its adherents wholehearted agreement as to the objectives to be aimed at, the field to he limited, and the methods to be used. Gladys Bryson, 1936     

Extracting a revised labor supply theory from Becker's model of the household

Conflicting assumptions about labor supply behavior lie at the nexus of ideological and theoretical debates regarding the reality of involuntary unemployment, the efficacy of Keynesian macro-policy, and the appropriate nature of welfare policy. This can in part be attributed to the fact that orthodox theory is effectively predicated upon describing the behavior of individuals whose level of affluence enables them to voluntarily withhold their labor from the market. Ironically, a means of resolution appears if we extend Gary Becker's utility producing model of the household to recognize two latent behavioral concerns: (1) the ‘need’ of households for money income in order to produce utility, and (2) the presence of work activity in the home. The resulting generalized labor supply model extends Becker's analysis to explicitly encompass both the behavior of the affluent, and the behavior of the poor who need to work in order to sustain their existence.     

Exploring Social and Geographical Trajectories of Latin Americans in Sweden

Close to 20 percent of the Swedish population are of immigrant origin; one in eight is foreign‐born. About 45 percent of all immigrants originate from outside Europe and most of these have entered the country as refugees or relatives of refugees. Issues connected to immigration, including the number of immigrants, settlement patterns and level of social integration of ethnic minorities, have been much discussed in Sweden in recent decades. This paper focuses on the integration of Latin American immigrants in Sweden. It compares the level of integration – measured as educational achievement, labour market participation, income and housing – experienced by first and second generation migrants. I use register information allowing me to include all 1^st and 2^nd generation Latin Americans that have lived in Sweden between 1990 and 2006 (in total 127,000 individuals). Data are longitudinal, which means that individuals can be followed over time. I make use of the longitudinal material in order to study changes in residential patterns and in attempts to explain educational and employment outcomes for second generation Latin Americans. The general conclusion of the paper is that in terms of integration, LAC immigrants have an intermediate position compared to other immigrant categories; they are often better off than people from Africa and the Middle East but clearly below the level experienced by some other migrants, especially those from Western Europe. This cannot be explained by level of education. The average level of education is high for first generation immigrants from LA countries. For many people, the level of labour market participation and income increase over time but one important result of this analysis is that second generation Latin Americans seem to do less well in Sweden compared to many other second generation migrants.     

Continuing professional development after qualification--partnerships,pitfalls and potential

Social work educators, employers and policy-makers have increasingly recognised the importance of continuing professional development. The UK social work qualification (DipSW) provides a broad base of practice skills, knowledge and values. However, increasingly complex work, frequent legislative and policy changes, research findings and challenges of working in a societal context of increasing change and diversity all contribute to the necessity of developing strategies for continuing professional development which adequately equip social workers. Such education cannot be alienated from social workers' employment context, and thus needs to remain mindful of employers' needs while concurrently maintaining academic rigour. This paper explores the development and delivery of a year-long post-qualifying training course run collaboratively between West Sussex Social and Caring Services and University College Chichester. It places some of the experiences of tutors, candidates and Training and Development Officers within the wider context of social work education, training and the delivery of social care. In exploring some of the contradictions and tensions experienced it seeks to further understand the challenge of delivering effective training in an increasingly complex and fragmented arena. Finally, it considers possible future developments, mindful of future changes in UK social work education.