Providing a secure base for LGBTQ young people in foster care: The role of foster carers

The experiences and needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) young people in care have been overlooked in England, in both policy and research. This paper reports on findings from the first study of LGBTQ young people in care in England and focuses on the nature of foster carers' experiences and perspectives on caring for LGBTQ young people. Qualitative interviews regarding the fostering role in caring for LGBTQ young people were conducted with a sample of foster carers (n = 26) and analysed thematically. Foster carers described the importance of offering LGBTQ young people not only the nurturing relationships that all children in care need but also availability, sensitivity and acceptance to help young people manage stigma and other challenges associated with minority sexual orientation and gender identity. The Secure Base caregiving model provided a framework for analysing the different dimensions of these relationships. Understanding caregiving roles and relationships for LGBTQ young people in care has important implications for recruiting, training, matching and supporting foster carers to care for LGBTQ young people effectively.     

The Roles Played by the Staff and Workers’ Representative Congress in the Formation of Work Regulations

Article 4 of the Labor Contract Law lays down the right of the Staff and Workers’ Representative Congress (SWRC) to deliberate on the formulation of (intra-enterprise) work regulations, but this has become a “soft” law in judicial practice. The judicial criteria for judging the validity of work regulations are in essence determined by the judge’s judgment on their reasonableness. As an important embodiment of Chinese politics, economics and culture, the transformation of the SWRC that accompanied the market economy has not negated its value as an indigenous traditional resource. The SWRC does not just enjoy deliberative rights in the formation of regulations, as clearly specified in constitutional law, but also has rights under the law in local legislation and practice. Hence the system of work regulations is neither a unilateral decision on the part of management nor a contract, but rather an autonomous norm developed through the SWRC mechanism. Given the mandatory nature of Article 4 of the Labor Contract Law, regulations will only be valid after they have gone through a democratic process. The further development of the theory of normative system formation should endow the SWRC with greater rights and integrate it smoothly with the collective contract system to standardize collective labor relations.     

Asymptotic Theory of Outlier Detection Algorithms for Linear Time Series Regression Models

Outlier detection algorithms are intimately connected with robust statistics that down‐weight some observations to zero. We define a number of outlier detection algorithms related to the Huber‐skip and least trimmed squares estimators, including the one‐step Huber‐skip estimator and the forward search. Next, we review a recently developed asymptotic theory of these. Finally, we analyse the gauge, the fraction of wrongly detected outliers, for a number of outlier detection algorithms and establish an asymptotic normal and a Poisson theory for the gauge.     

社会资本与身心健康--概念辨析基础上的关系再检验

社会资本与健康研究领域存在核心概念界定不清与理论解释欠缺两大不足。文章在社会网络的视角下对社会资本、社会凝聚和社会支持三个相互杂糅的概念进行辨析区分，并在此基础上以调查数据实证检验了社会资本对身心健康的作用效果与影响机制。结果显示，在控制社会凝聚和社会支持作用的条件下，社会资本依然对自评健康和心理健康存在显著的独立影响，但其对两种健康在影响因素和影响方向上呈现一些差异。其中，网络规模和网络顶端对自评健康和心理健康都具有显著的正向作用，而心理健康同时还受到网络差异的负向影响。从这个角度而言，社会资本对个体身心健康的影响并不必然是积极正向的。     

关于高校思想政治教育与大学生就业工作的思考

艺术类院校应发挥思想政治教育的功能,帮助大学生树立正确就业观念。     

河北省高校周边文化圈建设研究

建设河北特色文化大省，实现文化大发展、大繁荣，是时代的课题。高校和地方文化各自独立发展，缺乏竞合的现状是制约河北文化发展的一个难题。高校周边文化圈建设是解决这一难题、建设文化特色大省的有效途径，河北省政府牵头，协调高校，以地方文化为主体，采取以点带面的形式，逐步实现文化圈的建设。     

Exploring gaps in the online economic inclusion of persons with disabilities in Korea

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the difference in the online economic activities of people with and without disabilities in Korea. We conducted a multiple regression analysis to investigate the impact of socioeconomic characteristics, internet access, and internet skills on online economic activities. Our sample, based on a 2016 dataset that included 1554 people with disabilities and 6004 people without disabilities, was developed using quota sampling based on gender, age, and residence. We determined that individuals with disabilities were more likely to engage in online economic activities if they had higher levels of education, lived in urban areas, were employed, or had greater internet skills. Individuals without disabilities were more likely to engage in online economic activities if they were women, had higher levels of education, were employed, lived in a two-generation or more household, or had greater internet skills. For both people with and without disabilities, the level of education, employment status, and internet skills positively contribute to online economic activites. We also determined that education level, participation in economic activity, living in a two-generation or more household, and internet skills had a statistically significant influence on online economic activity for people both with and without disabilities. These results highlight the importance of education and internet training for people with disabilities, as well as social support systems that help them learn to use the internet in diverse ways through both formal and informal networks. The study also underscores the importance of information and communications technology that adequately addresses people’s needs.     

Lesbians and Gay Men’s Vacation Motivations,Perceptions, and Constraints: A Study of Cruise Vacation Choice

ABSTRACT

This study explores the push-pull vacation motivations of gay male and lesbian consumers and examines how these underpin their perceptions and purchase constraints of a mainstream and LGBT¹ cruise. Findings highlight a complex vacation market. Although lesbians and gay men share many of the same travel motivations as their heterosexual counterparts, the study reveals sexuality is a significant variable in their perception of cruise vacations, which further influences purchase constraints and destination choice. Gay men have more favorable perceptions than lesbians of both mainstream and LGBT cruises. The article recommends further inquiry into the multifaceted nature of motivations, perception, and constraints within the LGBT market in relation to cruise vacations.     

Connecting and Strengthening Young Aboriginal Men: A Family Wellbeing Pilot Study

A significant proportion of young people in Australia are currently not being engaged in school and other social systems. This article presents the results of a mixed-methods study of a pilot Family Wellbeing intervention designed to enhance the social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) of young Aboriginal men and improve engagement in education, employment, and other social participation. A questionnaire incorporating the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale and respondent self-assessment SEWB questions was administered to program participants pre and post intervention (N = 30) and qualitative data were collected from program organisers (N = 6). The results suggest that the Family Wellbeing intervention has the capacity to make a marked contribution to the SEWB of young Aboriginal men; participants experienced strong improvement in capacity to manage relationships, engagement in education and employment, and mental and physical health. The factors that enabled the program to be adapted to the target group and setting are documented.