The Savvy Caregiver Program: Impact of an Evidence-Based Intervention on the Well-Being of Ethnically Diverse Caregivers

This article reports on the impact of the Savvy Caregiver Program (SCP) on English-speaking caregivers of Hispanic, Black/African American, and Asian/Pacific Islander descent. Caregivers completed a questionnaire prior to study enrollment, at 6 and 12 months postenrollment. Caregivers in all 3 ethnic groups showed more caregiver competence, reduced depression, greater tolerance for care recipients’ memory problems, better management of their overall situation, and improved perception of that situation 6 months and 12 months post-enrollment. The study demonstrates that in the sample studied the SCP was as effective in helping ethnically diverse caregivers as it has shown to be with Caucasian caregivers.     

The potential power of social policy programmes: income redistribution,economic resources and health

Lundberg O, Fritzell J, Åberg Yngwe M, Kölegård ML. The potential power of social policy programmes: income redistribution, economic resources and health Int J Soc Welfare 2010: ??: ??–??© 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare. This Supplement includes a number of articles dealing with the role of social policy schemes for public health across the life course. As a key social determinant of health, poverty and its consequences have historically been at the forefront of the public health discussion. But also in rich countries today, economic resources are likely to be important for health and survival, both on an individual and an aggregate level. This introductory article serves as a background for the more specific analyses that follow. The focus is on why income and income inequality could have an effect on individual and population health. We discuss relationships between the individual and population levels and between income and health, and some of the possible mechanisms involved. We also present arguments for why welfare state institutions may matter.     

Elder Abuse and Neglect in South Africa: A Case of Marginalization,Disrespect, Exploitation and Violence

ABSTRACT

The problem of elder abuse and neglect in South Africa is widespread, but the definition of abuse remains problematic. An expanded typology is needed to classify certain types of abuse reported commonly, such as marginalization, disrespect, exploitation and violence. The history of elder abuse and responses is traced, relevant legislation and selected intervention programs are reviewed, and research and the status of elder abuse are evaluated. Interventions to address sociostructural factors that impact elders' settings, increase their vulnerability, and diminish their ability to realize human rights can contribute to an improvement in their condition and a reduction in abuse and rights violations in the long-term.     

Abuse and Parental Characteristics,Attributions of Blame,and Psychological Adjustment in Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of abuse and parental characteristics on attributional content and determine the relative contribution of different attributions of blame in predicting psychological symptomatology among adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. One hundred eighty-three female undergraduates with a history of childhood sexual abuse completed self-report questionnaires. Abuse characteristics were significantly related to attributions. Family- and perpetrator-blame accounted for significant variability in psychological symptomatology, beyond the contributions of abuse characteristics, family environment, and self-blame. Implications for research and treatment are discussed.     

Baseline Characteristics of Dependent Youth Who Have Been Commercially Sexually Exploited: Findings From a Specialized Treatment Program

ABSTRACT

Commercial sexual exploitation of children has emerged as a critical issue within child welfare, but little is currently known about this population or effective treatment approaches to address their unique needs. Children in foster care and runaways are reported to be vulnerable to exploitation because they frequently have unmet needs for family relationships, and they have had inadequate supervision and histories of trauma of which traffickers take advantage. The current article presents data on the demographic characteristics, trauma history, mental and behavioral health needs, physical health needs, and strengths collected on a sample of 87 commercially sexually exploited youth. These youth were served in a specialized treatment program in Miami-Dade County, Florida, for exploited youth involved with the child welfare system. Findings revealed that the youth in this study have high rates of previous sexual abuse (86% of the youth) and other traumatic experiences prior to their exploitation. Youth also exhibited considerable mental and behavioral health needs. Given that few programs emphasize the unique needs of children who have been sexually exploited, recommendations are offered for providing a continuum of specialized housing and treatment services to meet the needs of sexually exploited youth, based on the authors’ experiences working with this population.     

Internationally Adopted Children After Arrival: Temperament,Behavior Problems,and Age at Adoption as Predictors of Early Motor and Communication Competence

The temperament dimensions activity, emotionality, and shyness, together with behavior problems, gender, country of birth, and age at adoption, were explored in relation to early motor and communication competence among internationally adopted children in Norway (N = 106, gender: 55 girls and 51 boys, age at adoption: M = 9.99 months, SD = 4.29 months). Based on reports from adoptive mothers, regression analysis including all the variables showed that 56% of the variance in motor competence and 64% in communication competence were explained. Age at adoption explained most of the variance in both areas, while increased level of activity showed a significant correlation with improved motor competence.     

Reshaping the Social: A Comparison of Fasu and Kubo-Febi Approaches to Incorporating Land Groups

In Papua New Guinea, local communities increasingly strive to render themselves ‘visible’ to the state as entities entitled to control and claim benefits from developments on their land. When people commit expressions of social form to paper they inevitably reshape previously operative social and political forms. This article compares ways in which two groups of Papua New Guineans have gone about the process of forming Incorporated Land Groups. Different histories of resource extraction, associated differences in engagement with state and companies and different pre-existing social forms are all reflected in the negotiations described. We discuss people's motivations for drawing up lists of members, the ways they went about this and implications for the communities themselves and for ILG registration more generally. Our analysis draws attention to how outcomes are shaped by scales of differentiation and emergent inequalities within the legal entities being imagined.     

Balancing citizenship and interculturalism: a comparison of two European contexts of inclusion

The premise of this article is that unbalanced versions of inclusion politics are usually at work in European contexts. Some inclusion patterns may be more relevant for certain aspects or levels of the education system or various models may be applied to specific ethnic groups. A necessary balancing approach is discussed in this article, drawing on examples from Italy and Romania. In this article, I will engage with the profile of the inclusion politics of education in two European contexts, at different levels and regarding various arenas: nationally relevant policy documents issued by the Ministries of Education in both countries, consolidated configurations of school practices and specific provisions, the profile of the inclusion message as presented in some school textbooks and teachers’ guides. I will argue that at national policy level, both countries are difference recognition oriented, although for different rationales and following different patterns. At a lower level, a plurality of unbalanced and differently focused versions of inclusion politics inside national contexts, frequently as one-dimensional provisions, may be noticed. Yet, a more ‘balanced’ policy may still not be sufficient in itself. It may be, in fact, a matter of specific solutions as correcting the status quo in particular contexts and of multidimensional as substantial multicultural education to be taken on seriously in practice.     

Women Acting for Women

In the new country of Timor-Leste, women constituted in 2011 32 per cent of the parliament, a relatively high figure in the world and in the region. But to what extent has the presence of women in parliament contributed to progress towards gender equality? In this article we argue that the passage of a parliamentary resolution on gender-responsive budgeting in Timor-Leste was an act of substantive representation, and we draw on a range of data to examine what made it possible. We find that while ‘newness’, international norms, women's movement unity, women's machinery in government and parliament and networks linking them were important, it was the development of a cross-party parliamentary women's caucus that was crucial to success. The role of gender-focused parliamentary institutions in supporting critical actors has rarely been examined in the literature on substantive representation. This is in contrast to the rich literature on institutions such as women's policy agencies. Our study suggests that more focus on parliamentary institutions is needed to discover what enables women parliamentarians to become critical actors.