Family functioning and emotion socialization in Chinese two-parent households: A person-centered approach

The current study adopted cluster analysis as a person-centered approach to identify patterns of Chinese families’ functioning and parents’ emotion socialization responses and investigate their associations with children's emotion regulation and behavioral outcomes. Both parents residing in the same family were included to explore joint contributions of mothers and fathers within the family system. Participants were 204 Chinese two-parent (mother and father) households of 5- to 10-year-old children (M_age = 7.43 years, SD = .81; 98 girls). Both parents filled out online questionnaires about their perceptions of family functioning (cohesion, adaptability) and endorsement of responses to children's negative emotions (supportive, nonsupportive). Mothers also reported children's lability/negativity, emotion regulation, problematic behaviors (internalizing, externalizing) and prosocial behaviors. Five clusters were identified: poor-functioning/dismissing, well-functioning/coaching, engaged fathers, engaged mothers, and balanced/diffuse. Overall, poor-functioning/dismissing families had children with the lowest functioning and well-functioning/coaching families had children with the most optimal outcomes. The other three clusters were moderate in terms of child functioning with children of engaged fathers having less optimal outcomes than the other two. The nuanced variations among clusters and meaning of results are discussed in relation to Chinese cultural contexts. Findings support the utility of a person-centered approach for illuminating how parents’ socialization practices interconnect holistically within dynamic family systems.     

An exploratory study of family‐centred help‐giving practices in early intervention: families of young children with autism spectrum disorder

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to investigate the early intervention (EI) experiences of mothers who have a young child at risk for autism spectrum disorder. Data were collected through observations, interviews and document analyses. Results of the study suggest (i) interpersonal skills of practitioners and provisions for family choice and collaboration lead to positive experiences for mothers; (ii) asset‐based attitudes lead to family progress and competence; (iii) effective partnerships are developed through supportive provider communication techniques; and (iv) satisfaction with EI services results from practitioner responsiveness to help families access resources and facilitate child development.     

Critical Realism,Dialectics, and Qualitative Research Methods

Critical realism has been an important advance in social science methodology because it develops a qualitative theory of causality which avoids some of the pitfalls of empiricist theories of causality. But while there has been ample work exploring the relationship between critical realism and qualitative research methods there has been noticeably less work exploring the relationship between dialectical critical realism and qualitative research methods. This seems strange especially since the founder of the philosophy of critical realism, Roy Bhaskar, employs and develops a range of dialectical concepts in his later work in order to extend the main tenets of critical realism. The aim of this paper is to draw on Bhaskar's later work, as well as Marxism, to reorient a critical realist methodology towards a dialectical approach for qualitative research. In particular, the paper demonstrates how dialectical critical realism can begin to provide answers to three common criticisms made against original critical realist methodology: that the qualitative theory of causal powers and structures developed by critical realists is problematic; that critical realist methodology contains values which prove damaging to empirical research; and that critical realists often have difficulties in researching everyday qualitative dilemmas that people face in their daily lives.     

Putting the ‘public’ into public service delivery for social welfare in South Africa

Mubangizi BC, Gray M. Putting the ‘public’ into public service delivery for social welfare in South Africa Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 212–219 © 2010 The Author(s), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of SocialWelfare. The privatisation of some essential services in South Africa has raised severe difficulties for those for whom the idea of fees for services is quite foreign and who, in any case, cannot afford to pay for services. The government has developed several initiatives to educate people about the need to pay for services provided by local government, the largest of which was the Masakhane fees‐for‐services campaign. This article describes two recent initiatives that seek to engage local citizen participation, namely, Integrated Development Plans and izimbizo (or traditional forums). These are examined along with the challenges faced by local government in promoting citizenship participation in service delivery within a decentralised system of governance. The article concludes with some recommendations on how citizen participation can be enhanced so as to make the ‘public’ visible in public service delivery and thus improve social welfare services.     

传统与变迁:近代冀中定县集市的数量、结构与交易

冀中定县的集市交易,为中国近代农村市场的变化轨迹提供了重要例证。由于农产品商品化的提高、人口的大量增长以及现代运输条件的改善,定县集市数量有了长足发展,集市密度大大提高。尽管如此,定县市场尚未走入贸易现代化阶段,现代因素与传统经济仍处于融合之中。绝大多数的村级集市为最低一级的基层市场,店铺和牙行仍是重要的交易载体,现代服务性商业几乎还没有出现。在集市交易中,以传统的定期市最为常见,交易内容主要是地方的余缺调剂,不过也有部分产品的输出输入,反映了不同地区的经济联系日益紧密,原来地方自给自足统治的局面发生动摇。农作物和手工业品的交易价格一直呈上升趋势。虽也有急剧下降之时,但并不多见。季节差价、地区差价是农产交易久已存在的经济现象,不利于贫困农民的买卖,但考虑到运销成本,差别并非如此悬殊。农民参与市场基本上是自由的,农产品价格也主要是根据供求关系而定,但也不能说没有垄断行为。总而言之,这一地区的市场交易形态仍处于传统与现代交织的低级量变阶段。     

我国高校传统文化教育的现状及对策分析

中华传统文化是中华民族文化精神的精髓,对民族精神的塑造起着深刻的作用。近年来,中国高校的传统文化教育现状不容乐观,甚至出现忽视和弱化现象。通过对中国高校传统文化教育弱化的现象探析,提出相应对策。     

Protecting the Public's Health in An Era of Bioterrorism: The Model State Emergency Health Powers Act

During the fall of 2001, public health law scholars at the Center for Law and the Public's Health at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Universities were asked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a series of national partners to develop the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act (MSEHPA). The MSEHPA provides a series of modern powers for states to consider in responding to catastrophic public health emergencies, including bioterrorism events. Since December 2001, provisions based on the MSEHPA have been introduced in nearly 40 states and passed in 20. Underlying the development of the act is a long-standing debate between legal and ethical scholars and law- and policymakers as to the appropriate ways to balance individual and communal rights. The drafting challenge was to create a comprehensive model law that provides adequate powers to protect the public's health while also respecting individual and group rights. The MSEHPA empowers public health agents with broad authority and simultaneously limits the exercise of power in time, duration, and scope to accomplish communal goals of abating serious public health threats. Coercive public health powers, particularly isolation and quarantine, are exercised on a temporary basis, only so long as are reasonably necessary and only among persons who justifiably may pose a risk to others because of their contagious conditions. Individual rights to contest the coercive use of public health powers, even during an emergency, are secured.     

社会和谐是中国特色社会主义的本质属性

社会和谐发挥了中国特色社会主义推动社会发展的优势。它有可能做到完全按照社会发展的需要和最广大人民的利益去调节生产关系和上层建筑,使其不断适应生产力发展的要求,从而达到整个社会协调持续地向前发展,政治经济文化社会保持和谐稳定的状态。社会和谐反映了中国特色社会主义在社会关系方面的特征,它符合于中国特色社会主义发展的历史趋势,体现了中国特色社会主义的基本价值取向。实现人的全面自由发展,是科学社会主义的最高价值取向,也是共产主义社会最本质的特征。而人的自由全面发展的标志,是每个人的自由发展是一切人的自由发展的条件。这恰恰就是人与人和谐相处的最高境界,是社会关系和谐的最高境界。今天我们建设社会主义和谐社会就是在为实现这个目标而奋斗。     

Child Welfare in England: Problems, Promises and Prospects

This paper discusses developments in child welfare services in England in recent years and, particularly, the role and contribution of research. It is shown that a more significant and coherent body of child welfare research has been developed, which has linked formally to the policy process. Research programmes in England have highlighted specific problems in three areas: first, moving away from a narrow focus on child protection to an approach that provides broader family support for children in need; second, the absence of policies relating to services for adolescents; and, lastly, problems in the delivery of residential care for young people. A major programme of reform has been introduced by the new Labour government, consistent with research messages. It is concluded that research has had an impact on the development of child welfare services in England, although influencing the structure of services, social work practice and outcomes for young people are highly complex issues.