Transforming into the new era: public relations industry in Hong Kong and China

The public relations industry as one of the key industries in Hong Kong has metamorphosed into a new phase after the resumption of sovereignty to China. Based on in-depth interviews with eight experienced corporate communication practitioners from multi-national and sizeable local corporations in Hong Kong and China, the study traces the recent development of public relations and/or corporate communication (hereafter PR/CC) highlighting issues of role and function, language and communication strategy, and ethics and professionalism.     

Statewide dissemination of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT)

Despite evidence linking childhood trauma to subsequent social, emotional, psychological, and cognitive problems, many children who have experienced trauma do not receive mental health treatment that has been proven to be effective. Large-scale dissemination of evidence-based practices (EBPs) is one possible solution to enhance the current negative state of mental health treatment for these children. This article describes a dissemination effort of an EBP (i.e., Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy [TF-CBT]) for childhood symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder throughout Arkansas. The effort targeted mental health professionals within child advocacy centers and community mental health centers across the state. The article describes the process of dissemination and implementation. Lessons learned and recommendations for future dissemination efforts are highlighted.     

Social work in Spain: a new social and economic reality to develop in practical academic training

This work focuses on understanding how the current Spanish economic crisis is generating changes in the social and economic reality in which social work degree students are developing their practical training and on knowing if this new reality has an impact on their training and on the vision, they can create of the profession. Using a mixed qualitative methodological approach, we aim to visualize and analyze the opinions and insights that both social work professionals and students provide. Online and face-to-face interviews were conducted with social workers working as practice tutors. Likewise, two focus groups were set up and social work degree students at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain) were also interviewed. The main results show that the new scenario creates a debate not only among professionals, but also among the students themselves. They value this stage as an opportunity to rethink their future professional practice. This article may be applicable to the European context, given that the economic crisis is affecting, to a greater or lesser extent, on the different welfare states in Europe.     

Creating Happier Children and More Fulfilled Social Workers: Neoliberalism,Privatization and the Reframing of Leftist Critiques in Britain

To differing degrees, governments in Europe, North America, and Australasia have, over recent years, given particular attention to the reform of services for children and families. However, the aim of this article is to focus on Britain and to examine plans to transform social-work services for children and young people who are “looked after,” that is to say, in public care. It is argued that these plans, focused on the introduction of what are termed social work practices, are best grounded and interpreted within an analytical framework that recognizes the centrality of neoliberalism. Furthermore, social workers and others working in related areas of human services provision should take account of how the plan to install social work practices is being discursively constructed and organized. Important here, it is maintained, is how this strategy seeks to deploy selectively leftist critiques of social work that have emerged over the past two decades.     

A skeleton in Poland's closet: The jedwabne massacre

This paper presents a case study of the Jewish ethnic economy in the Moldovan town of Belz across a number of historical periods, with particular emphasis on the Soviet era. Economic practices are seen as embedded in a larger context of ongoing social relations at various levels, both within the Jewish community of the town and across ethnic borders. The author argues that the ethnic economy under socialism may be conceived as a non-market response to the ideologically imposed prohibition of private entrepreneurship, and focuses on the Jewish involvement in the second/ shadow socialist economy. Within this approach, economic ideas and practices emerge as markers of Soviet collective Jewish identity.     

A Comparison of Biological and Adoptive Mothers and Fathers

ABSTRACT

While poverty is suspected to be the major reason for birth families relinquishing their children for international adoptions, little is known of the impact of the interplay among the economic, familial, and cultural aspects of a particular sending country which culminates in the adoption decision. In this study, the authors studied 73 birthmothers in the Republic of Marshall Islands, a small Western Pacific island nation with a total population of 68,000, to explore the influences that led to their adoption decision. Their findings reflect an environment of extreme poverty, the breakdown of traditional family support systems, and the exploitation of the cultural understanding of adoptions.     

… the (unbearable) ‘in-betweenness’ of being …

ABSTRACT

It seems that there are no clear and mutually exclusive categories of modernity and traditionalism in modern Africa. Modernity still includes forms of traditionalism and at the same time modernity creates its own traditions in what Kaphagawani terms as C4-Contemporary Confluence of Cultures on the Continent of Africa.

We need to position ourselves somewhere between the over-romanticized idea of a golden era in the past and an overly pessimistic view of the family as a disappearing primary care institution; between the “warm, loving, caring, socially-oriented …” African generations and the “cold technology-oriented” Western generations. This search for a relative social realitywill be dealt with by a narrative/discursive approach. This framework should, for a start, aim towards intergenerational programmes with at least one of three outcomes: transmission of positive values, relevant imageries and a developmental approach.     

Autoerotism,Homoerotism, and Foreplay in African Women Who Practice Labia Minora Elongation: a Review

ABSTRACT. Objectives: Labia minora elongation is a female genital modification in which some women in certain linguistic groups from Africa engage. One of the purposes is to enhance sexual pleasure for their male partners. Methods: The literature has been reviewed to describe how labia minora elongation serves for women to increase their sexual pleasure, both as an autoerotic method and in the context of homoerotic and heterosexual relationships. Results and Conclusions: This aspect deserves to be investigated, as there are narratives from some women practitioners of labial elongation that this practice might contribute to improve the sexual health of some of the women who engage in it.     

Perceptions of Gangs and Crews by Justice-Involved Youth and Implications for Best Practice Work

ABSTRACT

Gangs and crews are at center stage when discussing youth violence. According to client-centered best practices in the social service arena, distinguishing between gangs and crews is not important for developing a trusting relationship; yet these terms are a master status for those agencies aimed at enforcement and suppression. Social service providers must navigate these different landscapes, particularly in light of their increasing involvement in multistakeholder violence-reduction partnerships. However, the voices of youth themselves have been left out of the mix. Perceptions of youth identified as gang affiliated or at risk for gang membership are used to empirically investigate how these best practices tensions should be navigated by service providers. Semistructured interviews with 41 youth involved in an employment program show that crews are perceived as less violent and less dangerous than gangs, and youth actively resisted the gang label, even though there were no differences in criminal records between self-identified gang and crew members. Implications for the important role of service providers in providing client-centered services and bringing forward youth voices into collaborative partnerships are discussed, as are future research needs relating to linking youth voices to best practice work.