Communication and representation of risk in health crises: the influence of framing and group identity / Comunicación en crisis sanitarias y representación del riesgo. La influencia del framing y la identidad grupal

Based on the Social Representations Theory (SRT) applied to the social construction of risk and the role played by group identities, this study examines the construction of risk created by the mass media in health epidemics. An experimental design with split-ballot questionnaire and 319 participants was used in which message framing (human interest vs. attribution of responsibility) and proximity (high vs. low) were manipulated for a high invulnerability identity (youth) vs. a low invulnerability identity (elderly) population. Results showed that the human interest framing increased the perception of risk, especially when the proximity of the epidemic was high; this effect was explained by people’s emotional response. Furthermore, youth projected the risk towards ‘the other’ in order to protect their invulnerability identity. Finally, we stress the importance of the SRT on a theoretical and applied level for risk communication in health crises.     

The sustainability of Egan’s Skilled Helper Model in students’ social work practice

This paper investigates the nature of students’ learning of the Egan Skilled Helper model in enabling them to develop collaborative communication skills which place service-users at the centre of decision making. The paper is a follow-up to an earlier paper which found that the Egan model was helpful to students as a communication and problem management tool and that they had transferred their learning into practice. The current study involves seven students from the first study and examines whether their knowledge and skills from learning the model in year one have been sustained two years later during their third year practice placement. A key finding is that participants were continuing to use most stages of the model (with the exception of challenging skills) with service-users in a variety of settings. Further findings are that the model is still useful in situations where goals are set by social workers rather than by service-users; and that it is the utilisation of role-play when learning the model which most embeds skills. The implications of these findings for skills training are discussed together with suggestions for further focus.     

Innovating the provision of welfare services through collective action: the case of Italian social cooperatives

Social cooperatives are the most widespread social enterprise type in Italy. Their evolution has stimulated the development of diverse interpretative frameworks of social enterprise determinants: the mainstream one is that social cooperatives are the outcome of contracting out policies. Through a critical investigation of social cooperatives’ emergence, integration into public policies, and reaction to the financial crisis, the authors refocus attention to one of the key modes of creation of social enterprises that has not gained the attention it deserves: the bottom-up dynamic. The analysis carried out sheds light on the contribution of citizens’ mobilization to institutional change and confirms that social enterprises can also emerge in an unprepared and hostile ideological, economic and political context.     

Processes Employed by Social Work Practitioners in Child Welfare for Exchanging and Using Knowledge

Organisations in the health and social services sector expend a considerable amount of energy promoting the implementation of better practices and research data use in their establishments. In the field of social work, several studies suggest that social work practitioners do not make great use of scientific knowledge and tend to favour knowledge acquired from their colleagues or through their own occupational experience. However, interactions between types of knowledge are rarely analyzed in explanations proposed by the scientific literature. Based on research conducted with social work practitioners in child welfare, this article discusses the different ways that they acquire knowledge.     

‘Back to our Roots?’ Re-visiting psychoanalytically-informed baby and young child observation in the education of student social workers

While there is a well-established literature on psychoanalytically-informed baby and young child observation in social work education, little has been published recently. This paper reviews the rationale for its use, evaluating its impact on students’ learning in the light of contemporary policy and practice contexts facing social work education. Analysis of feedback gained from a recent cohort, identifies three ways in which learning through baby and young child observation contributes: firstly, students encounter and learn about the complexity of child development from the direct experience of observing and secondly, observing facilitates the development of important skills for practice; students’ ‘use of self’. Thirdly, through observing, students describe how they develop the capacity to take-up and sustain a professional role. Well-structured teaching and learning through observation is therefore shown to provide a rigorous, theoretically-grounded contribution to the training of university-based social work students entering this complex and challenging professional field.     

Whom Do Centenarians Rely on for Support? Findings From the Second Heidelberg Centenarian Study

ABSTRACT

This paper provides a detailed picture of the sources and types of informal support available to centenarians, depending on their housing and care arrangements. Participants were 112 centenarians and 96 primary contacts of centenarians enrolled in the population-based Second Heidelberg Centenarian Study. Findings indicate that children of centenarians were their primary source of support in daily life. Those without living children had overall less help. Most frequently reported was help with administrative tasks, regardless of centenarians’ residence or living arrangement. All other types of help (e.g., with activities of daily living and housework) were reported by about one-third and were mostly provided by children; centenarians without children were more likely to have friends/neighbors involved in some of these tasks. The one category reported by a third of the centenarians regardless of residence, living arrangements, or presence of a child was help with socializing/companionship. Findings constitute an important step toward identifying and meeting the support needs of centenarians and their families. Policy implications are discussed.     

中华传统美德的个体性展示

中华民族传统美德是中华民族的优秀遗产,需要中华民族一代一代人不断传扬下去。在这个过程中,社会全方位的美德倡导播撒,是个体展示的最佳环境和前提,同时又是个体展示的机遇。但社会展示只是一个形式和要求,社会展示要通过一个个个体展示落到实处,个体性展示才是具体可视和可操作性的,是社会展示的承载,没有这个承载,社会弘扬与展示只是一个空壳,无根无基。由此,强化个体性展示,对个体性展示提出更高更具体要求,是中华民族传统美德弘扬与践行的根本所在。     

从立法的角度推动社会组织健康有序发展

在依法治国的背景下,社会组织的发展离不开法律的保障,通过分析有关社会组织法律的现状,提出进一步加强社会组织法的必要性,进而从立法对象、立法高度、立法程序以及立法经验借鉴四个方面探讨在社会组织立法的过程中需要重视的关键命题,推动社会组织健康有序的发展。     

后现代语境下网络造句现象的解读与反思

后现代语境下的网络造句既是一种文化现象,也是一种社会现象。它采用复制拼贴、移植杂揉、反讽戏谑等手法,把“娱乐至死”精神发挥到极致,刻画出了一幅全民参与的狂欢图景。并非所有的网络造句现象都是无实质意义的娱乐化产物,有相当部分的网络造句现象来源于现实社会问题,只不过表达形式采取了娱乐式的戏谑手法。然而过度娱乐化,却会造成文化消费主义、虚无主义、非理性主义、个人主义伴随着网络造句现象不断蔓延。为此,需要对后现代语境下网络造句现象的消极影响进行理性反思,有针对性地加以消解,从而保障虚拟社会得以秩序化运行。     

新常态视角下高校社会服务功能拓展研究

高校社会服务功能拓展是经济"新常态"背景下的应有之义和必然选择。强化高校社会服务的职能观,以社会需求为导向培养应用型人才,面向社会领域主动开展科学研究,构建高校科学研究转化机制,建立高校社会服务的激励与评价机制,是高校社会服务主动适应和服务"新常态"的重要举措。