Do You Speak English? Language Barriers in Child Protection Social Work with Minority Ethnic Families

This paper critically evaluates research and literature on childprotection social work practice with minority ethnic familieswho speak little or no English. Though the focus is on childprotection, many of the themes raised should be transferableacross to other areas and disciplines. Specifically, the paperfocuses on the limitations and difficulties of using professionalinterpreters in child protection work and covers themes likethe availability of interpreters, the role of interpreters,suitability of interpreters, the interpretation of particularwords and phrases, and manipulating the interpreting process.The paper then moves on to address the important but often neglectedarea of using children as interpreters, and ends by consideringthe broader issue of how language barriers can exacerbate discriminationagainst minority ethnic families.     

乐教与儒者的宗教情怀

乐教是理解儒家精神不可忽视的重要方面。乐教扎根于“亲亲”之情,具体体现为与“忧患意识”有别,而与“安”“乐”相协调一致的“怛”和“哀”“悲”之情。此情实质上是超越的天道内化为人的心性而落实下来的生命意义与价值得以呈现的方式。儒者虽深知人生之哀、悲,但以乐入手,解悟和转化现实的人生与宇宙,是一大特色。如此,宗教情怀转化为现实的人生关怀,成为特有的礼乐文明的核心内涵。     

Social Stratification and the Division of Household Labor in Japan: The Effect of Wives' Work on the Division of Labor among Dual-earner Families

Abstract:  This article explores the relationship between social stratification and the division of household labor by examining how the contribution to housework by husbands in dual-earner families varies across the Japanese social stratification structure. First, I review previous studies concerning the determinants of husbands' participation in housework and construct four hypotheses regarding the relative resources explanation, the time constraints explanation, the ideology/sex role explanation, and the alternative manpower explanation. Second, I examine the empirical support for these hypotheses in dual-earner couples and the effect of social stratification on husband's participation in housework, which has not been studied thus far. Third, I investigate the effect of social stratification in more detail. According to the results of TOBIT regressions and other supplementary analyses, the principal findings are as follows:

• 1) 

  the relative resources explanation is not supported;

       

The Chinese-speaking Muslims (Dungans) of Central Asia: A Case of Multiple Identities in a Changing Context

Chinese-speaking Muslims, called Dungans in Central Asia and Huizu in China, were forced to migrate to present-day Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan at the end of the nineteenth century. They reconstructed their identity through interrelations with local populations and the soviet categorisation of nationality. But after 1991, their status has being gradually destabilised owing to the changes in economic, social and political rules as well as citizenship regulations in these countries. They have to readapt to the new situation created by the independence of the three former Soviet Republics, which has challenged their unity.     

Fifteen Years of Family Group Conferencing: Coordinators Talk About Their Experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand

Family Group Conferencing (FGC) as a solution-focused strategyin child welfare has now been a mandated practice in AotearoaNew Zealand since 1989. This qualitative study examines theexperiences of Care and Protection Coordinators who have beenconvening FGC since the early years of the legislation. Thestudy explores early perceptions of the legislation, what firstattracted them to the role and what keeps them in the job. Inparticular, the study explores the practice tensions that restwithin family-centred child protection models, and the waysin which FGC practice has developed in response to modern imperatives.     

论抗日民族统一战线的历史性功绩

中国共产党是中国人民抗日战争的中流砥柱,其重要功绩之一就是在民族危亡的关键时刻,高举起抗日民族统一战线的伟大旗帜。这面旗帜,开辟了中国政党政治的新局面,改变了尖锐对立的国共关系,国共两党重新合作,为抗日战争的胜利奠定了重要的政治基础;这面旗帜,为中国各民主党派的发展和壮大提供了机会和可能,民主党派成为抗日民族统一战线的重要组成部分,是中华民族团结抗日的积极力量;这面旗帜,最大限度地调动了中国人民的抗日积极性,广大人民群众成为抗日民族统一战线的主体和中坚力量,使抗日战争成为真正的人民战争;这面旗帜,使中国共产党在极其困难的条件下,开展了积极的外交活动,为其走向世界、被国际社会所承认创造了有利的条件。     

Narrating Significant Experience: Reflective Accounts and the Production of (Self) Knowledge

Notwithstanding the rise of evidence-based practice, other tendencieswithin social work scholarship are also discernible. One ofthese is the study of the everyday, routine accomplishment ofpractice, drawing on microsociological methods and techniques.In this article, I apply techniques drawn from narrative anddiscourse analysis to the study of reflective practice accounts,which hold an important place in social work education. In particular,it is relevant to examine the form that reflective accountstake and the rhetorical and narrative devices deployed withinthem to accomplish a competent professional identity. My argumentis not that such accounts of practice are untruthful, ratherI propose that we would do well to move beyond taking texts(and talk) for granted and treating language as merely the mediumfor expressing inner thoughts and feelings. Social work shouldtake seriously the need to explore its modes of representationand to cultivate a more self-conscious approach to the way professionaland client identities are produced in practice.     

Measuring autonomy freedom

In the measurement of autonomy freedom, the admissible potential preference relations are elicited by means of the concept of ‘reasonableness’. In this paper we argue for an alternative criterion based on information about the decision maker’s ‘awareness’ of his available opportunities. We argue that such an interpretation of autonomy fares better than that based on reasonableness. We then introduce some axioms that capture this intuition and study their logical implications. In the process, a new measure of autonomy freedom is characterized, which generalizes some of the measures so far constructed in the literature.We thank Martin van Hees, Robert Sugden, Prasanta Pattanaik, the participants at workshops at the CPNSS, London School of Economics, and at the University of Caen and an anonymous referee for their suggestions. The support of the CPNSS is gratefully acknowledged. This paper is part of a research project on “The Analysis and Measurement of Freedom” funded by the Ministero dell’Istruzione, Università e Ricerca (Italy). Its financial support is gratefully acknowledged.     

“和谐”视角下的社区建设

构建和谐社会已成为当代中国新的时代主题。社区是社会的细胞、前沿和缩影,和谐社区的构建便成为一种新的社会主题。本文即针对我国当前和谐社区建设中存在的问题,进行了理性思考和探索,以期有助和谐社会的构建。     

Race and Population Change: A Longitudinal Look at Cleveland Neighborhoods

This paper investigates the relationship of racial composition to neighborhood population change from 1910 to 1990 in the Cleveland metropolitan area. To better understand the long-term dynamics of urban neighborhood change, we focus our analysis upon the longitudinal relationship of race, socioeconomic status, and life cycle stage to changes in neighborhood population densities. First, we find that the more established neighborhoods of the African-American community have experienced dramatic declines in population since 1950, a pattern that represents a clear change from the earlier part of the twentieth century. Second, population loss is experienced through a variety of mechanisms, including the demolition of dwellings, the increase in housing vacancy, and the decline of household size. Third, much of this population loss should be interpreted within the context of high economic distress, occurring most frequently in older African-American communities. Over time, economic distress appears to be more important than race in and of itself in leading to the loss of neighborhood populations.