Group Benefit and Protection of Pediatric Research Subjects: Grimes v. Kennedy Krieger and the Lead Abatement Study

The Maryland Court of Appeals in Grimes v. Kennedy Krieger Institute was sharply critical of the lead abatement study conducted by this Institute, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University. Grimes ruled that investigators might, given the facts of the case, have a special relationship with subjects, thereby creating a duty of care that could, if breached, give rise to an action in negligence. This ruling has implications for pediatric research practices and long-standing disputes among informed people of good will about what pediatric studies should be permitted.     

Providing Mental Health Services to Older People Living in Rural Communities

Summary

Rural dwelling elders who experience mental health problems often have difficulty finding help since rural communities often lack adequate mental health service providers. This paper reports on the initial phase of a 5-year, interdisciplinary clinical research study that is testing the effectiveness of providing a home delivered, therapeutic psychosocial intervention, aimed at improving the emotional well-being and the quality of life of medically frail elders who live in rural communities. In the early phases of this study, the clinical research team encountered a number of interesting and often unanticipated challenges as it attempted to recruit study participants and provide services to them. In this article, we examine these challenges and share what we have learned so far about providing mental health services to elderly persons living in rural environments.     

中国农村社会学研究现状与前景展望——“第七届农村社会学论坛”观点综述

“第七届农村社会学论坛”于2016年5月21－22日在西北农林科技大学成功举办。这次论坛主要围绕现代乡村文化建设与公共空间重建、乡村的现代命运及其未来发展趋势、国家治理下的基层社会治理困境与逻辑、农村公共事务治理及社区发展转型、农村社会发展和社会治理等议题展开讨论交流。     

农村邻避型环境群体性事件引入行政诉讼禁令判决的分析

行政诉讼禁令判决,是指根据行政相对人的申请,人民法院作出的,要求行政机关不得实施某项行政行为的判决,是法院为制止违法行政行为可能造成的潜在性风险的一种预防性的判决方式。我国农村邻避型环境群体性事件中,现有权利救济机制存在环境司法治理模式边缘化、政府环境风险监管责任乏力以及事后救济难以恢复生态环境等缺陷,因此,亟有必要在农村邻避型环境群体性事件中引入行政诉讼禁令判决并进行相应的制度构建,从而达到防范环境风险、树立司法权威和保障农民环境权益的目的。     

理论观照与实践反思:乡村振兴道路背景下产业融合探究

为从全球性现代化的视野观察中国现代化道路,通过在湖北西部（鄂西南、鄂西北）、渝东南、贵州（六盘水、遵义、黔东北等）等地烟草行业综合体建设进行调查,对城乡融合发展中的产业融合进行综合考察和研究。研究认为,中国的乡村振兴从“战略”提升为“道路”,表明中国式“两条腿走路”的三农现代化道路认知正式成形,乡村振兴道路在本质上讲是“农村就地现代化道路”,以农业为基础的农村就地现代化道路的关键是农村产业的融合发展;走乡村振兴道路,必须坚持政府是“主导”、乡村是“主场”、就地现代化是“主道”、产业融合发展是“主业”、内生发展是“主流”、三农工作队伍是“主体”、城乡等值发展是“主向”,再从土地流转关系、政策法规、主导产业培育、共享经济平台建设等方面,培育和推进乡村振兴中的产业融合工程。     

乡村治理与发展的协调路径

在乡村地区治理导向不断强化和发展自主权相对弱化的普遍趋势下,乡村振兴战略的提出凸显了治理和发展之间关系的不协调性。事实上,治理与发展关系的不协调并非现阶段独有的特征,而是具有理论意义和实践意义上的普遍性。另外,治理与发展关系的不协调程度不仅与基层组织体制的变动息息相关,从而呈现出不协调程度演变的阶段性;还与区域差异、地方差异以及村庄的类型有关,从而呈现出不协调程度的地方性。因此,要协调好乡村振兴过程中治理与发展的关系,就需要在认识到治理与发展不协调关系的普遍性、阶段性和地方性的基础上,按照权责利一致的原则理清乡村振兴中治理和发展关系再协调的基本思路。     

Strengths-Based Approach and Coping Strategies used by Parents Whose Young Children Exhibit Violent Behaviour: Collaboration Between Schools and Parents

This research study explores the strategies adopted by 60 parents of children between 3 and 9 years of age considered to have engaged in violent behaviour, within the meaning of the Safe Schools Act (Ontario Ministry of Education, Canada, 2000). This legal framework requires parents to be involved in the decisions concerning their children. Parents’ perceptions of their involvement lead them to develop coping strategies enabling them to play a more active role in such decision making. This article analyzes their perceptions according to a strengths-based approach and seeks to provide a mediation perspective to social work practice with families.

Rhetoric and Reality of Economic Self-sufficiency Among Rural,Low-Income Mothers: A Longitudinal Study

This study examined the contributions of maternal labor force participation and marital status on economic self-sufficiency over time for rural mothers. Data were from 174 rural families participating in three waves of data collection in Rural Families Speak. χ ² and multiple logistic regression were utilized. Results revealed only one-third of mothers moved toward economic self-sufficiency over three years. Maternal education, employment status, and weekly work hours were associated with improved economic well-being. Compared to single-parent families, unmarried-couple and married-couple families had increased odds of improving economically. In an analysis of all mothers with partners, married or unmarried, martial status was not significant in economic improvement. Findings suggest the role of marriage in welfare reform for rural families should be reconsidered.

西北农村人口对生态环境的压力与生态移民的战略选择

人口与生态环境问题密切相关,对大量数据、指标的分析结果表明,西北农村地区人口对生态环境造成的压力已经十分严重,生态移民是最重要的缓解人口压力的途径。目前生态移民实践相对于生态环境保护的要求还存在一定差距,因此,还必须进一步加大生态移民的力度,拓宽生态移民的安置途径,把生态移民与农村城镇化发展结合起来,才能最终从根本上解决生态移民问题。     

Studying children in armed conflict: data production,social indicators and analysis

The authors seek to give an overview of ways in which social indicators relevant to research on children affected by armed conflict can be developed, and how such research can be carried out. Technical and methodological challenges involved in this pursuit are discussed. It is argued that data production must consider issues of definition and delineation of the phenomenon of war-affected children more actively than it does currently. An analytical approach is proposed, in which children’s characteristics in different situations, or in different stages of conflict, may be used as intakes to understanding how the social processes pertaining to life histories of children in armed conflict are created and reproduced.