Development,Feasibility, and Piloting of a Novel Natural Mentoring Intervention for Older Youth in Foster Care

Aging out of foster care is associated with deleterious emerging adulthood outcomes. The enduring presence of a caring adult, such as a natural mentor, can improve outcomes for emancipating foster youth. Caring Adults ‘R’ Everywhere (C.A.R.E.) is a novel, child welfare-based intervention designed to facilitate natural mentor relationships among aging-out youth. Our aims were to test the feasibility of implementing C.A.R.E. and the feasibility of conducting a randomized controlled study with older foster youth. Twenty-four foster youth aged 18–20.5 years were recruited and randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 12) or control groups (n = 12). Ten natural mentors were identified and contacted for participation in the intervention and study. Process-oriented qualitative data and quantitative pre- and postintervention outcome data were collected and analyzed. Utilizing a controlled rigorous design, the findings highlight the positive experience of both the intervention youth and their natural mentors with C.A.R.E. Overall, results support the continued refinement, delivery, and rigorous testing of C.A.R.E. with great promise for programmatically supporting natural mentor relationships among youth aging out of foster care.     

没有公众的公共空间:北京大栅栏院落调整中的国家与个人

本文采用社会学干预的研究方法,在北京大栅栏的院落空间调整中讨论了公共空间的含义与公共重建的问题。与西方将公共空间作为具有政治或社会意义的公共生活不同,大栅栏的居民从所有权出发将公共空间定义为国家财产,又在使用中逐渐侵占并瓜分了这些在管理上被忽视的国家空间。这既是住房等公共服务欠缺的结果,也被历史形成的国家与个人关系所建构,公共空间因此充满了各类行动者在日常生活与社会实践中的互动。本文将介绍两个强干预的社会行动案例,它们分别以“孵育社会生活”和“划分公私边界”为思路进行院落空间调整实验,但前者失败,后者成功。结论部分对此进行反思并指出,公共重建需要调整空间中的国家与个人关系,并建立公共空间使用的规则。     

Recognizing and addressing child neglect in affluent families

This paper explores how social workers intervene with affluent parents when there are child protection concerns about neglect. Based on data gathered from a small‐scale exploratory qualitative study with 30 practitioners from 12 local authorities across England, this study examined three overarching questions: (a) How do social workers identify risk factors for vulnerable children in affluent circumstances? (b) Which factors inhibit or enable social workers' engagement with resistant affluent parents when there are child protection concerns? (c) What kind of skills, knowledge, and experience is necessary for social workers to effectively assert their professional authority with affluent parents when there are concerns about abuse and neglect? The findings revealed that indicators of neglect can be difficult to identify and challenging to respond to when parents are affluent. Results indicate that social workers have to navigate complex power relationships with parents who are able to use their class privileges to resist their interventions. The paper concludes with a discussion of social workers' skills and capacities for engaging highly‐resistant affluent parents in the child protection system.     

Birthday celebrations as a family homelessness intervention: a mixed-methods analysis

Families report that the experience of homelessness presents a significant barrier to family functioning and interrupts regular family routines. This study uses data from 22 homeless shelters in Massachusetts to examine the relationship between birthday parties for homeless children, family functioning, and parent well-being in homeless families. The study includes a sample of 255 residents across 20 homeless shelters in both urban and rural communities that received regular monthly birthday parties from a nonprofit agency. A small comparison sample of 25 residents came from two shelters that were not receiving birthday parties from the nonprofit agency. Data from 78 staff members working at all 22 shelters was collected on shelter environment and resident cohesion. Results indicated that residents in those shelters that received monthly birthday party celebrations for children had higher levels of happiness. Residents’ satisfaction with the birthday parties showed correlations between levels of hope, happiness, and parental empowerment. Shelter staff who reported higher levels of satisfaction with birthday parties also reported higher levels of resident cohesion. Results point toward the value of continuing regular family routines, such as annual birthday celebrations, to help mitigate the stressors and disruptions of homelessness on families.     

Understanding the needs of LGBTQ clients and their risk for commercial sexual exploitation: Training community mental health workers

Training on commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and victimization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youths can increase awareness among professionals who provide services to this community. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a community-based training program geared toward mental health workers in a diverse metropolitan city. The training provided information about the continuum of sexuality and gender identity, sensitivity when working with LGBTQ clients, LGBTQ clients’ risks for CSE, and ways to improve service delivery to this population. Participants’ (N?=?64) knowledge level of these areas was examined prior to the training, immediately thereafter, and in a six-month follow-up. Participants showed an increase in knowledge from pretest to posttest. Follow-up testing on a limited sample revealed scores that were lower than posttest scores, but higher than pretest scores. Overall, through this community-based training, participants gained knowledge about the continuum of sexual and gender identity, appropriate service delivery when working with LGBTQ individuals, and the risk factors for CSE for LGBTQ youths. Participants also reported feeling satisfied with the training approach and format. Implications for future training to enhance mental health workers’ competence with LGBTQ victims of sexual exploitation are explored.     

E-social work and at-risk populations: technology and robotics in social intervention with elders. The case of Spain

Information and communication technologies are increasingly relevant. Finding a sphere of activity that is isolated from technological advancement proves increasingly difficult, and social work is no exception. Therefore, given the socio-demographic and technological context for this sector in Spain, we must face and tackle new challenges. Focusing exclusively on the elderly, e-social work highlights new skills and abilities that can be developed by means of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), which are viewed as powerful tools that can guarantee egalitarian access to an improved life standard. Nevertheless, despite the digital divide growing smaller, its impact on people over 75 is still significant; hence, we need to use every tool at our disposal to reduce it to the bare minimum. With that purpose in mind, this article discusses usability, the causes of unequal access to ICTs, technological gerontological pedagogy and robotics as forward-looking technology. The aim is to technologically enable the senior population by adapting the necessary interfaces for an easier interaction; likewise, online intervention also aims for the utilization of alternative technologies. Technology has completely changed the world we live in pushing us to a new approach towards old age, fragility and chronicity. ICTs in social intervention must be a true source of opportunities to further social cohesion.     

Estimation of common location parameter of several heterogeneous exponential populations based on generalized order statistics

In this article, several independent populations following exponential distribution with common location parameter and unknown and unequal scale parameters are considered. From these populations, several independent samples of generalized order statistics (gos) are drawn. Under the setup of gos, the problem of estimation of common location parameter is discussed and various estimators of common location parameter are derived. The authors obtained maximum likelihood estimator (MLE), modified MLE and uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimator of common location parameter. Furthermore, under scaled-squared error loss function, a general inadmissibility result of invariant estimator is proposed. The derived results are further reduced for upper record values which is a special case of gos. Finally, simulation study and real life example are reported to show the performances of various competing estimators in terms of percentage risk improvement.     

人民币升值压力的另类诠释--汇率机制中的央行干预与非对称性

在纸币流通条件下的固定汇率制和管理浮动汇率制中,中央银行的外汇市场干预行为能够直接影响外汇市场的供求关系,从而成为影响汇率走势的直接因素;转型过程中所特有的非对称性机制,也会直接影响外汇的供求变化。我国国情的基本状况决定了目前人民币币值稳定的汇率政策,在外汇供过于求的情况下,实现汇率政策目标的较为有效的工具则是中央银行外汇市场干预行为。而形成目前人民币升值压力的原因,本质上并非经济基本因素,而是供求机制中的非对称性。     

现代市场语境中个人价值实现的道德哲学审视

在市场语境中,市场主体的联结纽带发生了根本变化。现代市场经济的契约本性使得市场主体的价值追求以及现代社会的“秩序与和谐”呈现出新的特点。在市场生活世界中,诚信之所以成为现代社会的“道德的底限”,是因为超越这一底限,现代社会的经济体系与个人价值的实现将会失去保障。必须理解与把握市场主体间“目的手段”与“竞争合作”辩证逻辑,主体与他人、社会才能互利共生共存。竞争与合作是实现个人价值的主要方式。个人价值实现中的道德不是“守伦理的道德”而是基于意志自由基础上的“守法律的道德”。     

我国最低工资制度研究

根据最低工资制度的相关理论,实施”最低工资”制度有利于保护劳动者的权益,维持社会的稳定,缩小过大的收入差距,有利于低收入劳动者进行人力资本投资,有利于扩大内部需求.我国在该制度的实施过程中存在最低工资标准内涵不统一、调整时间不明确和立法层次较低等问题与弊端.针对最低工资制度在运行过程中出现的问题及其原因,提出了统一其内涵、规范其调整时间和加强立法建设等可行的建议与措施.