明清的回回宰牛业

由于饮食习俗的原因,宰牛业是回回民族的传统行业之一。然而传统的中国是以汉族为主体的农业国家,耕牛在经济中具有重要意义。文章回顾了明清两朝回回宰牛业生存发展的社会环境,对部分官员、文人对宰牛业的态度进行了述评,分析了明清宰牛业不能禁止的原因。     

职业道德:当前道德建设的突破口

由于职业道德在市场经济社会的重要性以及目前所存在的突出问题,将其作为当前自觉地进行全社会的道德建设的突破口,是极为必要的。而且,传统文化中的职业道德资源相对匮乏,也使得从这方面加强建设有着特殊的意义。职业道德建设在短期内取得成效有其自身有利的条件。职业道德建设应首先从一些特殊行业展开,还应在高校和职业学校中及时开展职业道德教育。同时,职业道德建设需要相应的外部条件和主体的思想观念建设。     

悲悯与宽容——汪曾祺改写《职业》和《异秉》体现出的人生关怀

汗曾祺先后改写了《职业》和《异秉》,两文前后期情节处卵的变化体现了作者的创作对人生苦难本质的认识与悲悯人世的宽厚情怀.     

La clôture comme seule protection ? Syndicats du spectacle et marché du travail dans l’entre-deux-guerres (1919-1937)

The case of performers in the entertainment industry during the period between the two World wars serves to test the hypothesis of a monopolistic closure, as workers try to improve their lot by restricting access to the labor market. In line with the predictions of this hypothesis in the sociology of professions, actors and singers did try to close the labor market by instituting a “professional card”. Contrary to expectations however, labor organizations of musicians sought to control pay scales and jobs by opening the market so widely that anyone entering it joined the organization. These two different strategies affected these groups’ identities by drawing legitimate boundaries and influencing the nature and degree of solidarity. Beyond these strategies, two prospects for emancipation contrast with each other: the professional one of an exclusive group among performing artists on stage and in song, and the wage-earning one of an inclusive group among musicians.     

Informing UK Policy Development on the Regulation of CAM Practitioners: Lessons from Hong Kong?

Public policy discussions on how to regulate acupuncture and herbal medical practitioners have reached a stalemate in the United Kingdom. After considerable activity in the first half of the current decade a wider review of professional regulation has re-opened the discussion as to the most appropriate way to regulate the practice of all health-care practitioners. In the meantime, the public continues to consult complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners in large numbers and self-medicate with herbal products and other natural remedies, posing challenges for policy-makers as to how to ensure public safety. In the NHS, providers and purchasers struggle to reconcile demands for access to CAM services with their clinical governance requirements. Hong Kong implemented new arrangements for the statutory regulation of traditional Chinese medical practitioners in the 1990s and has experienced the challenges of regulating a large established private market as well as integrating Chinese medicine further into the public health system. This experience is analysed in order to see whether the approach adopted there could address the public policy challenges faced in the UK. The article finds that, despite key cultural and historical differences related to the provision and use of CAM services, the similarities between the health-care systems and the reasons for moves to professional regulation in Hong Kong and the UK provide useful insights into what is happening in the UK in relation to service provision and the relationship with the NHS and the medical profession. These are discussed in the light of current health policy developments in the UK.     

Measuring the Quality of Peer-Reviewed Publications in Social Work: Impact Factors—Liberation or Liability?

Systems for measuring the quality of publications in peer-reviewed academic journals have achieved importance in the ‘audit culture’ to which academia worldwide has become increasingly subjected. In the United Kingdom this debate has focused on government proposals to give greater emphasis to bibliometrics (counts of journal articles and their citations) as a measurement of research quality, in respect of publications in the emergent Research Excellence Framework (REF) which is set to replace the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). This approach impacts on social work educators who are the main producers of papers published in peer-reviewed academic journals. It affects their publishing behaviour by pressurising them to publish their work in journals that are regarded as being prestigious, for which ‘high impact factor’ journals as determined by Thomson Reuters—a private commercial information management enterprise with headquarters in the United States—has become a proxy for quality. In this paper the authors describe and critique the Thomson Reuters system as it applies to social work and propose an alternate fair, inclusive and transparent system for assessing the quality of publications based on peer evaluation and incorporating an ethical approach consistent with the discipline's professional values.     

From Further Education to Higher Education: Social Work Students' Experiences of Transition to an Ancient,Research‐Led University

In 2004, as part of its initiative to widen access, a Scottish university offered places for the first time to a group of students coming from further education (FE) colleges with Higher National Certificates (HNCs) and Higher National Diplomas (HNDs). A longitudinal study has followed the experiences of transition and subsequent progression of this cohort of students. The study, entitled ‘From FE to HE’ has interviewed and surveyed 45 students at key points since 2004. This paper reports on findings from the study overall, giving particular attention to the views and experiences of the nine Social Work students within the cohort. It will be argued that whilst FE colleges provide considerable support for their students, there is no easy transition to an ancient, research‐led university such as this one. The findings of this study have implications for all those involved in social work education.     

Professional Commitment in Novice Social Work Students: Socio-Demographic Characteristics,Motives and Perceptions of the Profession

The article attempts to define the characteristics of students at the beginning of their social work studies in institutes of higher education in Israel, including demographic characteristics, motives for choosing the profession, perceptions about the profession, and commitment to the profession. The study was conducted among a sample of 450 students, all beginning their first academic year, at four social work schools in Israel. Study findings show a demographic range, such as: nationality, level of religiosity, and political attitudes. Findings indicate that three of these socio-demographic variables predict commitment to the profession at the onset of academic studies: psychometric score, level of religiosity, and previous academic learning experience.

Findings indicate two profiles of novice students: students who choose to study social work out of a desire to bring about social change; and students who choose to engage only in clinical social work. The latter are not committed to the profession in its essence, but rather recognize the importance of its professional individual activities only. The article discusses these findings and implications with regard to both the social work profession and social work training.     

Exploring turnover intentions among three professional groups of employees

Abstract

Although considerable research effort has been devoted to understanding work attitudes, behaviours and outcomes regarding turnover intentions, little has been done to explore it across different professions. This study takes a step in this direction and examines the effect of affective commitment, job satisfaction and job performance on turnover intentions across three professions. To this end, we surveyed three professional groups of employees and managers: financial officers and social workers employed in the public sector and lawyers employed in the private sector. The results of these three studies show that turnover intentions vary across these professions. Social workers exhibit lower turnover intentions than financial officers and lawyers, who tend to exhibit high turnover intentions. In addition, we found that job satisfaction and affective commitment are negatively associated with turnover intentions, while no significant relationship was found to exist between job performance and turnover intentions. The implications of this study suggest that both researchers and practitioners should take into consideration not only the organizational context, but also the occupational context while exploring the process of voluntary turnover.     

CSWJ Forum: Is Clinical Social Work a Profession? Preliminary Considerations

Clinical social work, as it currently exists, is rooted in the formation of a professional association which represents the interests of professionals primarily concerned with direct practice. A diverse group of practitioners now describe themselves as clinical social workers, and clinical social work is increasingly being described as a profession. This article reviews the history of professions, and employs commonly accepted sociological criteria to begin to evaluate clinical social work's current standing as a profession.