Transition secured? A follow-up study of adolescents who have left secure residential care

Many adolescents who make the transition to adulthood experience problems after their departure from secure residential care. Research suggests that these young people are often in need of support after they have left secure care. Little is known about the experiences and perceptions of adolescents during and after this transition. The aim of this article is to assess these experiences for a group of 24 adolescents in the Netherlands that have left secure residential care. The results show, in line with previous studies, that many adolescents experience problems during their transition from secure care, especially with regard to finances, school and employment, and living arrangements. In contrast to other studies, a majority of the adolescents reports to have received support in the year following their departure. Relatively few adolescents move to independence after their departure, which suggests that many adolescents are not ready for making a true transition into adulthood yet.     

从市民形象塑造看老舍的文化心态

老舍的小说构筑了一个独特的现代市民社会。透过老舍笔下市民社会的世态人情和世事变迁,可以看出老舍对"市民形象"的清醒认识,也可以看到老舍在人物形象塑造方面独特的文化心态。他一方面深感民族的愚弱而神往古老民族在现代意识的拯救下获得新生,一方面又对古老文明在现代文明冲击下的衰败表现出难以按捺的焦灼;他既站在现代意识层面上重新审视传统文明,又从传统文明的角度批评现代文明带来的人性沦丧;他既抨击古老民族血液中的沉淀物,又力图让传统美德溶进时代潮流中去,从而显示出他在新旧交替时代的觉醒和困惑。     

"经济-上层建筑"模式与土家族民间工艺之融合——以贵州思南"周家盐号"民居为例

以贵州思南的"周家盐号"民居中的民间工艺美术为对象,与相距不远的清代民居郝家院子进行比较,用艺术社会学"经济-上层建筑"的模式,考察土家族区域不同经济力量下,社会经济如何影响建筑空间结构的内在逻辑性,以及民间建筑中装饰纹饰的选用及意义重组与社会经济的关系.     

河南农村人口居住方式的变迁及影响因素

农村居民居住状况是农村经济社会发展的综合反映。研究农村居民的居住条件,调整农村居民的居住模式。对建设社会主义新农村和全面建设小康社会具有重要意义。河南是一个农业和农村人口大省,因此,更有必要对河南农村住宅、农民居住条件的变化及影响因素进行分析探讨。并提出对策建议。     

Good Practice in the Education of Children in Residential Care

Correspondence to The Directors, New Horizons (Child Care) Ltd., Unit B, Silkmoor, New Street, Frankwell, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY3 8LN, UK. E-mail info{at}new-horizonschildcare.co.uk Summary Research shows that the education of children in residentialcare is generally poor, in terms of both process and outcome.This has highlighted the uncertainty over how best to educatethese children and a pessimism over what they can achieve. Drawingupon the findings of an evaluation of a children’s home,this paper argues that children in residential care can havegood educational outcomes. It also shows that it is possibleto identify the processes by which these outcomes can be broughtabout. However, this largely positive assessment is predicatedupon education being defined broadly in respect of ‘process’and ‘outcome’. Moreover, it is important not tounderestimate the formidable challenges inherent in this work.While the multi-agency nature of this work gives rise to oneof the most significant, it has to be recognized that responsibilityfor the education of children in residential care falls primarilyto children’s homes. If children’s homes are tomeet the increasing expectations that are being made of them,national and local government will have to undertake a radicaltransformation of residential childcare, especially in termsof attitudes towards, and resources invested in, this sector.Central to this is the establishment of a qualified and properlysupported workforce.     

Occupational shifts across sex-type boundaries in the Swedish labour market

This study examines sex differences in employees’ patterns of mobility between occupations of different sex proportions between 2002 and 2003 and how occupational sex segregation in Sweden is influenced by employees’ occupational shifts. The empirical analysis is based on large-scale and nationwide data sets with a panel design. The results show that employees’ occupational shifts strengthen sex segregation across occupations, especially female ones. Moreover, when we compare employees who in 2002 were in occupations with a given sex proportion, employees shift towards more sex-typical occupations relative to employees of the opposite sex, and this is particularly true for women and older employees. The analysis also shows that whereas the outflow from occupations of certain sex proportions is sex-biased, the sex composition of the inflow of other employees is mostly equal in magnitude to the outflow, partly explaining why the level of overall occupational sex segregation remains almost unchanged between these 2 years.     

Ethnic concentration in the neighbourhood and majority and minority language: A study of first and second-generation immigrants

Ethnic residential concentration is often found to hamper immigrants’ majority language proficiency. However, there are still several gaps in our understanding of the relationship between ethnic concentration and ethnic minorities’ language practices. This study examines the extent to which ethnic concentration also constrains immigrants’ majority language use, whether contact with natives and co-ethnics mediates these relationships, and whether ethnic concentration relates to second-generation minorities’ minority language proficiency. Structural equation models on data for people of Turkish and Moroccan origin living in the Netherlands (N = 2163) showed that ethnic concentration is indirectly related to weaker majority language proficiency and less majority language use through contact with natives and co-ethnics. For second-generation minorities, ethnic concentration is related to better minority language proficiency.     

Implications of spatial and physical structures for ICT as a tool of urban management and development in Cameroon

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) hold enormous promise for development efforts in developing countries. However, the potential of ICTs remains untapped for reasons that are largely unknown in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This region has the lowest level of ICT penetration in the world. The need to understand impediments to ICT performance are therefore most urgent in this region. This paper seeks to address this need by identifying factors that inhibit the functionality of ICT as a tool for improving urban management. It analyzes two cities in the region, namely Douala and Yaounde, respectively Cameroon’s economic/cultural and politico-administrative capitals. The following three factors are shown to impede the functioning of ICT devices, hence urban management in these cities: colonial racial segregation policies, the colonial legacy of land use compartmentalization and the lack of unambiguous physical addresses for structures in the built environment. It is suggested that concerned authorities institute the following measures. 1] Establish an unambiguous addressing system reposed on the municipal governance structure and the country’s vehicle matriculation taxonomy. 2] Actively promote ICT as an element of national development. Finally, it presents some examples of efforts to improve ICT penetration and functionality from Senegal and South Africa.     

Going Against the Flow: A Longitudinal Study of the Effects of Cognitive Skills and Gender Beliefs on Occupational Aspirations and Outcomes1

Occupational sex segregation persists in part due to cultural beliefs in the existence of gender differences in skills. This article explores potential resistance to the gender‐typical aspirations and outcomes that re‐create occupational sex segregation: cognitive skills in gender‐atypical areas (i.e., math skills for women and verbal skills for men) and beliefs about women’s prioritization of family over paid work. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 cohort, I find that individuals with skills in areas considered gender atypical have less traditional occupational aspirations and outcomes than their otherwise‐similar counterparts. This process varies by gender, however. The results reflect the differential valuation of math and verbal skills. I conclude that programs designed to encourage women to pursue gender‐atypical occupations that align with their gender‐atypical skills are focusing on the least resistant group.