Finding Place in Community Change Initiatives: Using GIS to Uncover Resident Perceptions of their Neighborhoods

The growing recognition that place matters has led to numerous foundation- and government-sponsored initiatives that attempt to simultaneously strengthen neighborhoods and address the needs of families that live there. Despite the centrality of the concept of neighborhood, these place-based initiatives have few tools to understand how residents identify with the space within their target areas. This article demonstrates how resident-drawn maps gathered in a household survey can be used to uncover individual and collective neighborhood definitions. Using data gathered as part of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Making Connections program in 10 cities, the study finds that there is considerable variation among residents in how they define their neighborhoods, but that there are also commonly held neighborhood identities that need to be taken into account in community practice.     

A Case for Improving Social and Supportive Service Delivery for Ex-Offenders with Community Information Systems (CINS)

Research has shown that information technology, such as reentry mapping, community information systems (CINS) and other geographic information system (GIS)–related applications have improved criminal justice and social welfare outcomes. These Web-based applications are essential in that they serve as portals for extensive data allocation, collection, storage, and information sharing. One such Web-based application, reentryBase, is a planned CINS, designed to respond to the growing need for improved delivery of social and supportive services to those returning from prison and jail. Its specific aim is to build capacity for both outreach to ex-offenders and networking among and between reentry stakeholders.     

Working with Immigrant Children and Their Families: An Application of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory

The influx of multicultural and multiethnic immigrants to the United States following the liberalization of immigration law in 1965 has resulted in a high representation of children who reside with immigrant families. As these children are approaching early adulthood, their encounter with various ecological systems is likely to be shaped by their cultural differences and the diversity of family settings. Drawing on the insights of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, this article highlights the critical function that family social ecology plays in how children of immigrants will fare over their adolescent life course. By providing a comprehensive picture of how immigrant family process takes place, this article suggests how understanding the ecology of immigrant families can help strengthen social work service delivery.     

神奇的白狐——琼瑶《白狐》的文化诠释

琼瑶的《白狐》是狐文化在当代的重要发展。小说不仅鲜明地体现了古代白狐文化信仰的祥瑞色彩、报恩主题和子嗣观念,而且客观的人狐分离的当代叙述视野,又为狐小说注入了诸多新质,显示出神奇迷离的艺术品性。     

基于动态补偿的矩形广义系统模型预测控制

针对线性矩形广义系统,研究了基于动态补偿的有限时域模型预测控制问题,给出了存在合适维数的动态补偿器使得闭环系统正则、无脉冲、稳定的充要条件.在有限时域性能指标中引入一个终端有限权矩阵来保证稳定性,并利用矩阵不等式和Lyapunov方程求解优化问题,将提出的Lyapunov方程转化为双线性矩阵不等式形式(BLMI),以便采用路径算法最小化性能指标,保证了闭环系统是容许的.数值算例验证了方法的有效性.     

支持哈尼梯田存续千年的家庭经济模式

家庭的经济功能是其他各种社会功能得以发挥的基础.文章通过对哈尼稻作梯田农业文化遗产系统中家庭经济的分析,指出在传统哈尼族社会中,家庭的经济实际上是一种自给自足的小农经济.这种经济模式下,农户家庭通过多样性的生计,尽量提高农业生产的产出价值;同时,通过家庭内部和家庭间生产与消费的平衡,在一个较低的水平上维持了社会经济的自我运行.农业经济的维持是哈尼梯田系统的景观结构与民族社会存续千年的根本保障.在自然与社会都发生巨大变化的今天,哈尼梯田作为遗产应当更为强调其传统意义上经济模式和文化体系的保护、维持与发展.     

从跨文化的视角看高职英语翻译与审美

文章从加强英语文化研究与学习、提高跨文化意识、培养跨文化交际能力、进行中西文化对比四个方面,论述了如何从跨文化的视角提高高职英语翻译质量与审美水平。     

过程视角下的国内城镇化研究综述

为了系统总结城镇化过程中理论研究的主要观点和存在问题,通过文献资料查询和归纳总结,概括出了城镇化过程的工业化与城镇化互动说、路径与综合模式说、动力说、周期说以及绿色城镇化、可持续城镇化和新型城镇化等研究趋势.认为城镇化在研究的范围中以微观层面为主、宏观上缺乏系统的理论成果,城镇化与相关领域的结合研究相对较少,对民生、福利关注、落后地区以及生态脆弱区域的城镇化进程及其机理分析、在新的社会形势下新型城镇化在社会医疗、公共设施建设、教育培训、.劳动力就业、社会保障、公共安全、城乡差距等问题等的研究稍显不足,这也进一步明确了后期城镇化研究的重点和方向.     

Viable Systems Approach and Consumer Culture Theory: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract

The aim of this study is to depict the relational dynamics between the firm/brand and the individual/consumer or communities of consumers. To this aim we propose a conceptual framework, integrating the viable systems approach (VSA) with consumer culture theory (CCT), which considers the individual as an active co-maker of the product/brand (‘prosumer’). The VSA view of the firm overcomes the limitations of CCT research, which is mainly focused on the individual, giving little consideration to the other actors in the context. Among the different approaches under the umbrella of viable systems we chose the VSA because of its emphasis on the analysis of the systemic external relations with the agents in the context, helping to underscore the marketing and social perspectives of CCT. Using a viable systemic perspective, the firm/brand and the individual/consumer can be conceived as viable systems embedded in a social-business context. Therefore, the consumption system can be considered as the momentum for the creation and maintenance of symbolic and cultural relationships between the firm/brand and the individual/consumer or communities of consumers (i.e. brand communities or subculture of consumption). These relationships are finalized to establish a common and consonant language in order to achieve a desired consonance level capable of enabling both the consumer and the firm/brand to co-evolve, maintain, and enhance their systemic viability.