Enabling children’s deliberation in deliberative systems: schools as a mediating space

In recent years, there has been a growing scholarly interest in conceptualising schools beyond their educational functions, as sites and agents of democracy. Yet this interest is often underpinned by a narrow conception of democracy, focusing solely on schools’ public and social aspects. To capture the democratic potential of schools more fully, this article suggests adopting a deliberative systems approach, which conceptualises democracy as differentiated yet linked sites of democratic communications and views schools as one such site. Using this approach as a broader framework and drawing on the fieldwork conducted in two Japanese schools, this article identifies the condition under which schools can become a meaningful part of deliberative systems. It reveals that schools contribute to deliberative systems when they serve as a bridge between children’s everyday practices and deliberative actions in the public space. In light of the findings, this article suggests conceptualising schools as a ‘mediating space’.     

The importance of systems thinking,context, and inclusion when studying the feasibility of expanding the FoodShare (SNAP) outreach program to rural communities of Northern Wisconsin

Evaluators often neglect to question whether a program has been appropriately designed for a new context prior to a feasibility study’s commencement. In this paper, we document the results of a case study that closely examined context when determining the feasibility of implementing a FoodShare outreach program in rural northern Wisconsin. Using community-based participatory mixed methods, we examine how stakeholder engagement led to both study refinement and a more comprehensive understanding of community food security based on contextual factors and systems thinking. Lessons learned when conducting feasibility studies from this perspective are provided to improve evaluation practice.     

Characterizing the systems of support for families of children with disabilities: A review of the literature

ABSTRACT

During early childhood, children require major support that is tailored toward their specific needs. For children with disabilities, families play a crucial part in providing the needed services. However, families often lack the knowledge, resources, and skills that would help them in overcoming challenges that arise while raising a child with disability. Although much research has focused on defining the needs of families with children with disabilities and the impact of disability on the family system, many questions remain. A comprehensive perspective is needed to identify the types of support families provide to the child with a disability, the impact of providing that support on family members, the support systems that are available to families, and the impact of support on society. This review consolidates the empirical research to date on family support during early childhood and outlines areas of research that need further exploration.     

农村老年人老化态度变动轨迹:基于积极老龄化框架的实证考察

基于积极老龄化理论框架和“中国老年健康影响因素跟踪调查”面板数据,文章从积极和消极两个维度对农村老年人老化态度问题进行实证考察。研究发现,两种老化态度均以2008年为重要转折点,女性老化态度比男性更具多样性和多变性。健康、社会参与和保障都能引起老化态度的积极变动,但社会适应、子女经济支持和社区照料三个因素对消极老化态度有正向影响,而生产活动降低了积极老化态度水平。从贡献率看,健康因素对老化态度差异贡献最大,其次是保障因素、社会参与因素,健康因素更能解释积极老化态度的变化,社会参与因素对消极老化态度的贡献率更高,二者分别在女性和男性老年人群体中表现得更为明显。贡献率排在前四位的因素是精神健康、子女经济支持、医疗可及性和身体健康。用积极老龄化的观点帮助庞大的农村老年人口建立正确的老化态度将有益于养老问题的解决。     

Rhetoric or reality? An economic analysis of the effects of religion in Sweden

On the basis of simple rational-choice theory, it is argued that Christian religious involvement influences the divorce, abortion, non-payment, and children-born-out-of-wedlock rates negatively. This influence stems from an expectation that a god punishes certain forms of action and from social reprimands of devotees. Regression analysis is then used to test the theory in the case of Sweden in the year 1990, and the importance of religion, in its negative effect on all of these rates, is strongly confirmed. A particularly interesting result: the marginal effect on three of these rates of increasing the fraction of people active in the Church of Sweden is clearly larger than the marginal effect of increasing the fraction of more conservative free-church members.     

人口红利、产业承接与农村劳动力就近转移——以成都城乡统筹试验区为背景

随着西部经济发展及中部地区的崛起。东部地区产业向中西部转移,中西部地区参与人口红利再分配成为必然。鉴于此。有必要及时调整农村就业政策,将农村劳动力就近转移作为一项主要的就业政策,以促进产业转移的顺利进行和人口红利的高效再分配。     

财政扶持政策对西部地区农民参加新农村合作医疗的影响——基于自然实验的研究途径

本文将对西部农民参加新农村合作医疗的财政扶持政策的实施作为一个自然实验,应用微观经济计量方法分析了财政扶持政策对西部农民参加新农村合作医疗的影响。研究结果表明,与2004年相比,2006年西部农民参加新农村合作医疗的概率增加了96.46%,说明针对西部农民参加新农村合作医疗的财政扶持政策作用效果显著。     

劳动力缺失背景下新型农村养老保险需求及其影响因素研究

新型农村养老保险试点工作的全面开展、制度优化完善必须充分考虑农村现实状况和农民实际需求,本文以劳动力缺失、老龄化加剧、家庭养老功能弱化为背景,对陕西省西安市10个涉农区县开展实地调查,通过问卷设计与数据收集,获取1156个有效样本,综合运用描述性统计、相关分析和二分类、多分类逻辑回归分析方法,从参保意愿和支付能力的二维视角实证研究新型农村养老保险需求及其影响因素,结果表明：养老风险意识、新农保政策了解程度、新农保政策效果和缴费原则认可程度、耕地面积、期望养老金额是新农保参保意愿的显著影响因素,而表征经济状况的农民家庭年总收入、年基本支出与新农保支付能力之间具有显著的因果关系。     

社会融合中的性别差异:流动人口工作搜寻时间的实证分析

文章以扩展传统的流动人口社会融合的静态研究视角,使用国家人口计生委2010年上半年流动人口动态监测调查数据,从男女农村流动人口工作搜寻时间的角度进一步比较农村流动人口融入流入地劳动力市场过程的性别差异及影响因素。文章采用持续时间模型,通过研究农村流动人口在流入地城市找工作所花费时间的影响因素,发现虽然在给定时间内,女性流动人口在流入地找到工作所花费的时间比男性要短,但女性找到高收入工作的概率要低于男性,而接受低收入工作的概率要大于男性,从而导致性别区隔的流动人口社会融入模式。     

新生代农民工与城市居民的社会距离分析

本文运用2008年宁波城市新生代农民工调查数据,对新生代主体视角下与城市居民社会距离的现状及影响凶素进行了探讨。分析结果发现：以新生代农民工为主体视角的社会距离建立在融入意愿和排斥预期两个层面基础上;与上一代农民工相比．新生代农民工与城市居民的社会距离在增大。社会经济地位、社会关系网络、居住空间和社会文化会显著影响新生代农民丁的社会距离。要促进新生代农民丁的城市融人,缩短新生代农民工与城市居民的社会距离,需要新生代农民工、城市居民、政府和社会等多方行动者的共同努力。