Implementing Rigorous Survey Methodology within Contexts of Social Work Education,Training and Practice: A Case Study in Substance Use

With the integration of evidence-based practice central to all areas of social work education and training across the globe, it is crucial that we continue to engage with the methodological challenges inherent in gathering this evidence, particularly when it is related to the nature of social work education itself. As a result, this paper addresses some of the methodological challenges involved in examining the education available to social workers on engaging with substance use, both within the social work academy and local authorities in England. Drawing on experiences of implementing large scale online surveys from three substantial research projects completed by the authors, this paper highlights four methodological themes: (1) Constructing a representative sampling frame; (2) Identifying participants within organisations with many departments; (3) Response rates; and (4) Questionnaire design. While these are familiar methodological considerations, this article draws attention to the specific complexities of gathering ‘representative’ knowledge to inform educational strategies on substance use within social work education and employment contexts. Finally this paper offers lessons learned and guidance for social work academics, students and practitioners who are minded to build, or draw from, an evidence-base using representative samples from and within these environments.     

Involving Service Users in Social Work Management Education: What Makes it Meaningful According to the ‘Experts’?

Course leaders have adopted a relatively cautious approach to involving service users and carers in Post-Qualifying (PQ) social work management education programmes in the UK, looking for opportunities in which it ‘makes sense’ for them to be included. Whilst there is, to a certain extent, the belief that involving service users and carers in PQ social work education is ‘a good thing’, it has proved challenging to implement. This research study sought to explore, through interviews with ‘experts’ in the field, why this process had proved so challenging. A term which emerged during the research was the importance of ‘meaningful involvement’. The research explored what ‘meaningful involvement’ might mean for managers, for academics and also for service users and carers; what it looks like and how might it take forward the understanding of and the preparation for PQ social work management education.     

The Brazilian organic food sector: Prospects and constraints of facilitating the inclusion of smallholders

The Brazilian organic food sector has experienced important growth during the last two decades. Brazilian smallholders, however, are facing huge challenges to enter and benefit from this growth in a sustainable way. Combining the lens of New Institutional Economics and socio-anthropology, we analyze six experiences of Brazilian smallholders who converted to organics in the 1990s’. Three different food systems are featured in this analysis: an alternative food system, which is strongly interwoven with the Brazilian Agro-ecological movement and two commercial food procurement systems oriented towards domestic and an export markets driven mainly by supermarket chains. The analytical focus was on 1) the governance of these food systems, 2) the constraints farmers are facing within these food systems and, 3) the benefits that they can expect from market inclusion. We highlighted the roles that NGOs, Faith-based organizations and public-related agencies play in supporting the inclusion of smallholders into all three food systems. We confirmed the arguments in support of pursuing the agro-ecological development based model in Brazil, but underlined that there is a critical lack of support for farmers included in the commercial market-oriented food systems. Such a lack is even more critical as the food systems driven by expanding supermarket chains are characterized by strong asymmetric power relations at the expense of smallholders. Considering the reluctance of NGOs and Faith-based organizations to support these farmers, we call for efforts to be made to provide a policy framework to enable public-related entities to secure sustainable inclusion into these systems and exit strategies for those experiencing exclusion from these highly competitive food systems.     

On ethnicity and development imperative: a case study of North-East India

‘North East India’ composed of different ethnicity is plagued with ethnic assertions and regionalism with that of centuries of alienation. Development is one big issue that need to be address in the region. The North East India after decades of independence is still lagging behind in term of socio, economic, education, political, cultural and social development. A deeper study reveals that movement for separate homeland, regionalism, tribalism, ethnic clash, crime, mass poverty, etc in the region are caused by backwardness of the region. The distinct geo-ethnic and socio-historical characters of North-East India constitute the hotbed of ethnic strife and extreme radicalism. The solution lies partly in resolving the conflict between primordial ethnic loyalties or ‘ethno-nationalism’ and the ‘nationalism of the nation state’, and partly a conscious and voluntary effort to resist corruption and unholy alliance between the militants and the politicians in the region. In any case, ethnic reconciliation would result in the reduction of ethnic violence of all kinds and would eventually restore law and order in the region. When the civil governance in the region will be spared from combating militancy or appeasing the militants, the whole energy of the government would be for strengthening the institutions of local self-government, which act as potential agents of development in the conflict-ridden states of the North-East India.     

2012年宏观调控要处理好四大关系

随着经济增长的不确定性和风险进一步增加,2012年,中国继续保持经济持续平稳增长的关键,是在宏观调控上要处理好国际经济与国内经济的关系,“松银根”与“抑通胀”的关系,“抑通胀”、“惠民生”与“控成本”的关系,“稳增长”与“调结构”的关系。要处理好上述四大关系问题,关键是要坚持科学发展观,更加深入地推进转变经济发展方式。其中非常关键的举措,就是要在“稳增长”的前提下,适度调低经济增长率指标,加大结构调整的力度。     

上海社会组织建设与社会转型研究

社团、民办非企业单位和基金会构成上海社会组织的主体。尽管上海社会组织建设工作取得了突出的成绩,但面临的现实问题不容忽视,且存在一些先天性的制度障碍。在当前社会转型条件下,上海社会组织建设必须坚持培育发展和监督管理并重的方针,加强分类指导,强化政策扶持,改革管理体制,完善内部机制,严格依法监管,切实发挥社会组织在加强社会建设、创新社会管理中的重要作用。     

人口计生宣传教育为“先导”的重心和支点

宣传教育为先导的战略决策,是国家人口计生委党组书记、主任李斌同志2007年年底在河南召开全国农村人口文化建设工作现场会和在宁波市召开全国婚育新风进万家活动经验交流会上提出的重大战略思想。宣传教育为先导战略决策的提出,是在科学发展观指引下尊重思想政治工作、精神文明建设和人口计生工作客观规律,总结正反两方面工作经验教训的必然产物,是今后做好人口计生工作的元点工程。本文主要论述了为什么要先导,先什么、导什么,如何先导三个重大问题。     

网络青年文化的“自我空间”论

后现代的网络社会既给青年人寻找自我、建构身份搭建了广阔的新舞台,也为青年人提供了一个空间自由、文化自主的新天地——青年文化的"自我空间"。在这样一个以"自我"为中心和遵循"快乐至上"原则的空间里,青年人主动将自我符号化,充分运用网络媒介的自主权,通过创建微电影、微小说等微美学文本,把自己的内心世界投射到网络社会并最大限度地释放与表现、宣泄与满足。他们在"自我空间"里呈现自我、形塑自我的同时,也进行着青年亚文化的传播与实践。     

100 key research questions for the post‐2015 development agenda

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) herald a new phase for international development. This article presents the results of a consultative exercise to collaboratively identify 100 research questions of critical importance for the post‐2015 international development agenda. The final shortlist is grouped into nine thematic areas and was selected by 21 representatives of international and non‐governmental organisations and consultancies, and 14 academics with diverse disciplinary expertise from an initial pool of 704 questions submitted by 110 organisations based in 34 countries. The shortlist includes questions addressing long‐standing problems, new challenges and broader issues related to development policies, practices and institutions. Collectively, these questions are relevant for future development‐related research priorities of governmental and non‐governmental organisations worldwide and could act as focal points for transdisciplinary research collaborations.     

高校生命教育现状与学生个性发展问题研究

生命是教育的起始点,教育的最终目标是引导鲜活的、独具个性的生命体得到其个性的充分发展。随着我国经济建设飞速发展,人们将主要精力放在有助于生存的知识和技能的获取上。在这样的背景下,高校把具有个性的生命塑造成知识的载体和社会发展的工具,学生个性特征得不到应有的发展。因此,要认清当前高校在教育理念、教育体制、教育实践等方面不尽如人意的现状,认真分析传统文化及周围环境对高校生命教育和学生个性发展产生的影响,并坚持将生命教育贯穿学生学习全过程、加强专职教师队伍建设、不断丰富生命教育的内容和形式,进一步促进学生个性发展。