Social Work Education and Clinical Learning

In response to a growing diversity of opinion regarding educational models and essential content in clinical social work education, this paper offers a perspective concerning graduate clinical curricula. Part I, the foundational piece of the paper, discusses the definition of clinical social work, social work’s core orientation and values, and influential contextual issues. The interrelated core orientations guiding knowledge and skill development are identified as the person-in-situation perspective and the concept of relationship. Based on this foundation, Part II identifies elements of a contemporary biopsychosocial knowledge base and essential clinical skills. This paper is intended to stimulate dialogue about a topic of importance to the profession and the clients it serves.     

The satisfaction of Finnish adoptive parents with statutory pre-adoption counselling in inter-country adoptions

We examined how satisfied Finnish adoptive parents were with statutory pre-adoption counselling in inter-country adoptions. The data were collected through the Finnish Adoption Study using a retrospective survey measuring satisfaction with received pre-adoption counselling. All adoptive parents with a child under the age of 18, adopted from abroad between the years 1990 and 2007, were included. The sample of the study comprised parents of 1451 children and a total response rate of 55.7% was achieved. The data consisted of self-scored reports of satisfaction as well as open answer questions. Parent satisfaction and associated variables were analysed using chi-square and multiple logistic regression. Of the respondents, 81.7% reported satisfaction with the pre-adoption counselling they had received. The level of satisfaction was stable over time and did not differ according to service provider, whereas family type and sending country were associated with satisfaction. However the explanations for satisfaction were different for those services provided in units specialized in adoption and for those provided by municipal child protection services. The components found to explain satisfaction and dissatisfaction were experience, adoption knowledge, and attitude of the social worker, service accessibility and availability issues, as well as the content of the pre-adoption counselling offered.     

高师普通话口语教学刍议

本文根据个人普通话教学的体会,就如何有效开展普通话口语教学提出了一孔之见。     

Making sense of nuclear war: narratives of voluntary civil defence and the memory of Britain’s Cold War

In interviews with members of Britain’s Civil Defence Services, experiences of Cold War voluntarism are recalled in different ways. Some remembered their desire to help defend their nation and local community. Others remembered making a leisure choice that had little connection to the potential nuclear war the organization was ostensibly preparing for. No one provided a well-developed account of civil defence’s ability to provide a defence against the effects of a nuclear war. Popular memory theorists suggest cultural discourse limits the ability of individuals to narrate stories that do not align with culturally valued frameworks: in this case, dominant understandings of civil defence as at best ridiculous or at worst dangerous were established in the 1980s. This article argues that memories of civil defence voluntarism in the 1950-60s have been shaped by these discourses, but that individuals were able to express the different meanings civil defence had in their lives in ways that provide a more nuanced and holistic picture of the intersections of leisure, service and sociability that made up civil defence. As such, it argues that oral history allows us to understand the various ‘horizons of possibility’ that made up individual experiences of the Cold War.     

Tales of transition: self-narrative and direct scribing in exploring care-leaving

Direct scribing is a technique that transforms oral discourse into written text, basically by typing oral material verbatim . It was developed in practice with youth in child welfare care and adapted for research data collection. The technique flattens the power imbalance in the interview situation and between oral speech and written text, supports self-reflection, democratizes the ownership of written material, is potentially empowering, and is an efficient means to produce high-quality text. The origins in practice are reviewed and a research application is discussed in detail. Thirty youths aged 18/19 from child welfare constructed self-narratives about how they conceptualized and managed the adolescent transition, and collaborated with the researcher in analysing the narrative as a story. Each interview was direct scribed and printed copy given to the participant. Participants were introduced to direct scribing by completing a questionnaire presented on a note-book computer, and some took part in a gender-specific group discussion as a final data-collection event, which was audio-taped and transcribed. The value of direct scribing and self-narrative in this research project and possibilities for other applications are discussed.     

谈思维表达对英语口语教学的影响

只有熟悉中西方思维的差异、并结合英语学习的特点,才能在英语口语教学中培养中国英语学习者的英语思维习惯,防止“中国式英语”的产生,进一步提高英语学习者的口语水平。     

Preparation for Adoptive Parenthood with a Special-Needs Child

ABSTRACT

Mothers of 86 adopted special-needs children were surveyed regarding the tasks they undertook to prepare for parenthood. They engaged in tasks related to learning about the child most often and stated participating in training to be adoptive to be most helpful. Overall preparedness, more so than either the number or type of adoption preparation tasks (APTS) completed prior to the adoptive placement, was found to be positively associated with assessment of child and family functioning. Implications of these findings for the delivery of adoption preparation programs are discussed.     

An Empirical Examination of Sexual Relations Between Adolescents and Adults

SUMMARY

The American view that adolescent-adult sexual relations are by definition “child sexual abuse” has spread throughout the Western world and reshaped public policy. This paper, originally presented as a talk, examines the scientific validity of this view. A historical perspective traces the conflation of the adolescent experience with rape, incest, and that of the young, prepubescent child. Biological and cognitive perspectives support the view that adolescents have more in common with adults than children. Sweeping claims that adolescents react as children are said to is critically tested by examining two types of relations-those between heterosexual teenage boys and women and those between gay or bisexual teenage boys and men. Non-clinical empirical data show overwhelmingly that such relations are characterized mostly by positive reactions based on consent if not initiative on the part of the minor, with perceived benefit rather than harm as a correlate. It is concluded that the American view is false, and that public policy that heightens official reaction to such relations, such as that currently proposed by the European Union, are either misinformed or disingenuous in alleging to protect when the motive is to control adolescents.     

非英语专业学生会话结构意识的匮乏及改善对策

将会话结构的相关理论应用到口语教学，分析了非英语专业学生由于缺少会话结构方面的知识，在口 语交流中所出现的主要问题，并提出了相应的解决策略，为口语会话教学的研究提供了新思路。     

高职学生英语口语能力提升策略研究

随着经济的国际化发展,企业对员工英语的要求越来越高。英语口语作为最直接的交流方式,其重要性日渐明显。而目前高职学生的英语口语情况不容乐观。因此,教师要深入分析造成高职学生英语口语水平不高的主要原因,本着高职教育“实用为主,够用为度”的原则,探索出能够切实提高学生英语口语能力的策略和方法。