How Japanese Families Cope with Fragile Elderly

Coping with caring for ill, fragile elderly is taxing the families in Japan, where longevity statistics predict early in the twenty-first century it will have the highest percentage of aged in the world. Interviews with 20 families revealed that although the culture mandates families care for their elderly, many are having considerable ambivalence and conflict, and caretakers suffer in the process unless they have assumed the defense of a martyr stance. Most do not seek nursing homes but are turning to government for supportive services. The trend in Japan, in spite of tradition, is for adult children to delay taking parents into their homes until they are unable to care for themselves.     

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Bipolar Disorder: Implications for Clinical Social Workers

ABSTRACT

The purposes of this review article are to orient clinical social workers to cognitive-behavioral theory, intervention, and research on bipolar disorder (BD); identify pros and cons of applying cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to social work clients with BD; and identify specific implications for clinical social work practice. Of the 545 articles that were obtained via the systematic review, 18 studies were identified as being potentially eligible for inclusion, and 9 of those studies ultimately satisfied the inclusion criteria. The results of each study were summarized via identifying statistically significant (p< .05) differences that existed between experimental cohorts who received CBT (plus pharmacotherapy) and control cohorts who received treatment as usual. Outcomes showed CBT cohorts as having significant improvement over their respective control groups. The review's implications for clinical social workers and the need for future research are discussed.     

Interdisciplinary Practice in Developmental Disabilities

ABSTRACT

This article explores the development of interdisciplinary team practice within the field of development disabilities. Various interdisciplinary models are described, and the role of the social worker is specifically reviewed. As social workers practice as members of teams in a variety of contexts, a greater understanding of an interdisciplinary approach is warranted.     

Effects of Work Incentive Policies and Determinants of the Socioeconomic Status of Welfare Leavers in an Economically Disadvantaged Area

Abstract

This study explores how work incentive policies influence the socioeconomic status of welfare leavers. Logistic and ordinal regression methods were used to analyze 1999 statewide survey data on West Virginia WORKS leavers. This study found that people who had more months of eligibility remaining for TANF were more likely to have jobs than those with fewer months of eligibility. People who had been sanctioned for noncompliance with work requirementswere less likely to have jobs than those who had not been sanctioned. However, childcare assistance had a significant influence on the employment of welfare leavers. EITC was significantly associated with the expectation of high economic status. Policy implications are discussed.     

Reaching Isolated Older People

In the second part of a paper reporting a unique single day a week adult day program, the service methodologies developed in the program are described as well as a study of outcomes in four areas: success in reaching the target group, attendance, length of participation, and resolution of psychosocial and health related problems. Outcomes, illustrated by statistical and case material, indicate success in achieving the overall goal of maintenance and enhancement of the participant's life and functioning as a whole. Such a resource is recommended as a vital one for the target population of isolated older people described in the paper.     

A comparison of social work education across South Africa and Japan in relation to the Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training

Sakaguchi H, Sewpaul V. A comparison of social work education across South Africa and Japan in relation to the Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 192–202 © 2009 The Author(s), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This article draws on a one‐year study visit to the University of KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa, interviews with field supervisors and students in Japan and reviews of the national frameworks of education in Japan and in South Africa. In doing so, the authors identify the similarities and differences in social work education across the two countries and they explore some of the historical and socio‐cultural factors that might account for the differences. There are some identifiable peculiarities in social work education in Japan, especially with the coalescing of care work and social work education. The lack of differentiation between care work and social work makes it difficult to narrow the scope of social work education and practice. National social work standards have been approved in South Africa and regulatory frameworks for social work education and practice have been long accepted, thus rendering ‘social work’ a protected title and a profession that is more entrenched compared with social work in Japan. The codes of ethics in Japan and South Africa are discussed with specific reference to their control functions in South Africa. The article concludes by discussing these comparisons in relation to the Global Standards for Social Work Education.     

乌兰夫民族工作思想的主要内容——纪念乌兰夫诞辰100周年

乌兰夫是党和国家优秀的领导人,卓越的民族工作领导人.他在我党我国民族工作的长期实践中形成了民族工作思想,其内容十分丰富.本文仅就乌兰夫关于民族平等、民族团结、民族区域自治、发展少数民族经济方面的思想加以研究和论述.     

明清回族进士考略(十)

本文考证了明清时期甘肃所属州县15位进士的生平、事迹及其家世,重点提供了他们为回族的根据,以为进一步深入研究的线索。     

民族高校德育工作的创新发展

民族高校的德育工作既有普通高校德育工作的共性,又有其民族的特殊性。因此,在德育工作中针对少数民族学生的特点,与时俱进,开拓新思路,探索新方法,加强德育工作的针对性和实效性。     

社会工作视野下的城市少数民族流动人口问题

城市少数民族流动人口问题正逐渐成为社会关注的一大热点,文章主要对城市少数民族流动人口的现状、特点,对城市发挥的积极功能和城市少数民族流动人口问题的具体表现作一概述,并从社会工作这一新的视角分析了城市少数民族流动人口问题的成因,在此基础上就社会工作如何介入此问题提出一些建议.