城市生活垃圾治理的系统工程研究

城市生活垃圾问题是城市面临的重大环境问题之一 ,生活垃圾的处理对社会的影响越来越大 ,城市生活垃圾治理是一项社会化的系统工程。本文对城市生活垃圾治理的系统结构、子系统进行了分析 ,并对我国城市生活垃圾治理提出了建议。     

Rethinking Occupational Integration

This paper uses US Census data from 1970 to 1990 to focus on “integrated” occupations—those in which men and women are approximately equally represented. We focus on the extensive variability that exists across these nominally integrated occupations, specifically their social demography and the paths by which they reach compositional sex equity. We also examine the link between occupational integration and race/sex succession, and explore the earnings consequences of working in mixed occupations. Our findings suggest that integration means quite different things at different levels of the occupational hierarchy and for the women and men integrating sex-atypical occupations. This is a revised version of a paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association, Anaheim, CA, August 2001.     

男幼师群体的职业困境研究——基于大连地区几所幼儿园的调查分析

文章以男幼师这个特殊的职业群体为研究对象,使用社会学的典型研究方法进行相关调查和取证,试图从社会宏观政策、组织机构制度、个人文化观念等维度来剖析男幼师职业困境的成因,并从社会化及学前教育发展两个方面论证了男幼师存在的合理性。通过提出相关介入策略,试图改善男幼师的职业处境,并引发社会公众对以男幼师为代表的新兴职业群体的关注,规范公众对职业性别角色的观念偏差,为男幼师群体的职场与个人发展创造更加健康的社会氛围。     

数字经济对城乡居民服务消费差距的影响研究

实现城镇化与乡村振兴协同发展需要不断缩小城乡居民消费差距。利用2008—2020年中国30个省份的面板数据,实证研究了数字经济对城乡居民服务消费差距的影响,结果发现:数字经济不但能够缩小城乡居民服务消费差距,而且存在着显著的空间溢出效应;数字经济通过缩小城乡人力资本差距和城乡居民收入差距以及提高农村金融效率等渠道降低了城乡居民服务消费差距;如果城乡人力资本差距和城乡居民收入差距不断缩小以及农村金融效率持续提升,数字经济对缩小各地区城乡居民服务消费差距的作用将逐渐减弱;从空间效应来看,各地区数字经济不能直接缩小本地区的城乡居民服务消费差距,但能够缩小周边地区的城乡居民服务消费差距。 数字经济能缩小东部和中部地区的城乡居民服务消费差距,但不能缩小西部和东北地区的城乡居民服务消费差距。因此,东北地区应加快数字基础设施建设,西部地区应与中部地区建立数字经济协调发展联动机制,东部地区应抢占全球数字科技战略制高点,全力推进数字经济快速发展,缩小城乡居民服务消费差距。     

A discrete/continuous choice model on a nonconvex budget set

Decreasing block rate pricing is a nonlinear price system often used for public utility services. Residential gas services in Japan and the United Kingdom are provided under this price schedule. The discrete/continuous choice approach is used to analyze the demand under decreasing block rate pricing. However, the nonlinearity problem, which has not been examined in previous studies, arises because a consumer’s budget set (a set of affordable consumption amounts) is nonconvex, and hence, the resulting model includes highly nonlinear functions. To address this problem, we propose a feasible, efficient method of demand estimation on the nonconvex budget. The advantages of our method are as follows: (i) the construction of an Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm with an efficient blanket based on the Hermite–Hadamard integral inequality and the power-mean inequality, (ii) the explicit consideration of the (highly nonlinear) separability condition, which often makes numerical likelihood maximization difficult, and (iii) the introduction of normal disturbance into the discrete/continuous choice model on the nonconvex budget set. The proposed method is applied to estimate the Japanese residential gas demand function and evaluate the effect of price schedule changes as a policy experiment.     

The education of children and adolescents in out-of-home care: a problem or an opportunity? Results of a longitudinal study

The education of children in care is an issue that often falls into a no man’s land in which responsibility always seems to be attributed to the other ‘department’. Furthermore, all too often, teachers, educators and foster parents find themselves working with these children with no support, as if they were isolated cases. The aim of this study is to get to know the school situation of children in different types of out-of-home care: residential, kinship and non-kinship care. Systematic data on the school situation of 11–16-year-olds (on class attendance, school behaviour, academic results and guidance towards post-compulsory education) were gathered over a period of 5 consecutive school years. A 3-year longitudinal study on the same items (N?=?391) was made and time-series data were gathered for 5 years (N?=?1841). Results show that the in-care population is at a clear disadvantage and inequality of opportunities compared to the general population in relation to their educational pathways and outcomes; the most disadvantaged being the population in residential care. Recommendations are included, posing the challenge that what has to date been considered a ‘problem’ should become an opportunity for these children.     

Reducing depression among mothers in a residential treatment setting: building evidence for the PST4PPD intervention

ABSTRACT

Objective

The prevalence of postpartum depression (PPD) nearly doubles among low-income mothers in the United States compared to the general population. Problem Solving Therapy (PST) is an effective treatment for populations of low-income women and more accessible than costly, long term interventions. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of implementing a problem-solving-focused intervention originally designed for home visits. Method: This study was conducted in a residential treatment facility (RTF). A chemical dependency counselor delivered the 5-session intervention named “PST4PPD”. A one-group pretest/posttest design was adopted. The standardized tools: Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) were used to assess depressive symptoms. The New General Self-Efficacy Scale (NGSE) was used to measure self-efficacy. Results: Among the 41 eligible women, 90% (n = 37) completed the intervention. The research found statistically significant decreases in depression (EPDS t(36) = 6.70, p <.001; PHQ-9 t(36) = 4.67, p <.001) and increases in self-efficacy (NGSE t(36) = ?2.41, p =.02). Conclusions: This pilot study finds positive results and feasibility of “PST4PPD”, a community-based, affordable intervention to lower symptoms of postpartum depression. Recommendations for future research and practice, including suggestions for engaging and retaining low-income mothers in PPD interventions, are discussed.     

Gender differences in the impact of job mobility on earnings: The role of occupational segregation

In recent years, researchers have begun to explore the extent to which the impact of switching firms (inter-firm mobility) on wages varies between men and women. Using data from the NLSY79 from 1979 to 2012, this paper extends existing research by exploring how occupational segregation and individual level factors contribute to gender differences in the impact of voluntary inter-firm mobility on wages. The paper also examines how patterns vary depending on education level. Findings suggest that men without a college education receive greater wage gains from voluntary inter-firm mobility than similarly educated women although there is no overall gender difference for individuals with a bachelor's degree. The wage returns to voluntary inter-firm mobility for both men and women increase as a function of the male representation in the occupation. For individuals without a college education, the male premium to voluntary inter-firm mobility is largest in highly male dominated occupations. However, women with a bachelor's degree employed in highly male dominated occupations use voluntary inter-firm mobility to narrow the gender wage gap.     

Part III: A student learns casework

Abstract

When homeless and severely mentally ill individuals leave housing programs designed to help them achieve stability, their very lives become at risk. Despite the prevalence of this problem and its potentially life-threatening consequences, there is a complete dearth of case studies examining why clients in programs for the homeless and mentally ill suddenly depart from those programs, and how paranoid and other seemingly unreachable clients can significantly improve the quality of their lives. This single case study, utilizing a naturalistic methodology, provides a before and after picture of a client who precipitously left a housing program, then returned two years later in a state of severe physical and mental decompensation. The study focuses on understanding why the client left the program the first time and what could be done to prevent another premature discharge. The findings point to a lack of coordination of care and problems with stable human interaction on the part of those caring for Charles, and are critical to understanding how to engage successfully with homeless and severely mentally ill clients.