Standing up to complexity: researching moral panics in social work

Moral panics are central to social work policy and practice. Voluntary agencies and statutory bodies (including governments) create and sustain moral panics in order to raise awareness of, and win support for, their own understandings of social issues and problems. This is not a neutral enterprise; on the contrary, moral panics often have consequences that are negative, whether intended or unintended. Far from leading to greater social justice and a more equal society, they may reinforce stereotypes and lead to fearful, risk-averse practice. This paper discusses one such moral panic in 2013 that centred on the story of ‘Maria’, a Bulgarian Roma child living in Greece. The paper explores the meaning and use of the concept of moral panic before unpacking this case-study example in more detail. We argue that the moral panic over ‘Maria’ has much to tell us about ideas of welfare and protection, institutional racism and children and childhood, as well as the connections between ‘private troubles’ and ‘public issues’. We conclude that social work as a profession must stand up to complexity, and in doing so, be aware of its own role in relation to moral panics.     

Using institutional ethnography's ideological circle to portray how textually mediated disability discourse paralysed a Supreme Court of Canada ruling

Persons with disabilities created through texts as damaged goods are being ‘cured’ by workplace accommodation, a textually mediated work process. Prior to 1999, workplace accommodation in the Canadian federal public service signified the adjustments necessary to enable a disabled worker to fit into a workplace designed for able-bodied workers. In 1999, a Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruling known as Meiorin turned this accommodation provision on its head. Instead of being focused on individual-level fixes so that a disabled worker could be accommodated in an existing workplace, this legislation required employers to transform their workplaces so as to make them ready to receive as many different types of workers as reasonably possible from the outset. Using Dorothy E. Smith's institutional ethnography, I use my experiences as a disability rights activist employed in the Canadian federal public service to explicate how textually mediated disability discourse paralysed this groundbreaking SCC ruling.     

多元文化主义对族裔少数群体权利的理论建构

多元文化主义关注的核心焦点是族裔文化多样性和族裔少数群体权利保护的问题,它的发展过程就是对族裔少数群体权利保护的建构过程。贯穿多元文化主义建构族裔少数群体权利的逻辑始末的线索就是族裔少数群体的三重身份问题:差异公民身份是多元文化主义建构族裔少数群体权利的事实基础,公共公民身份是建构族裔少数群体权利的政治逻辑,而文化成员身份则是建构族裔少数群体权利的道德空间。族裔少数群体权利不仅保护了群体内的个人自由,而且还可以促进群体间的平等关系,它是对公民权利的有效补充。多元文化主义建构族裔少数群体权利具有突破性的积极价值,同时也存在潜在的结构性危险,它的发展需要进一步明确方向。     

人权保障的新近发展及其完善

近年来尤其新一届领导人执政以来,我国的人权保障有了巨大进展,但同时也在诸多方面存在亟需解决及逐步完善的问题。文章从人权观念、执政理念、法律制定、政策制订、司法举措、行政管理、人权普及、现有问题等几方面对之进行了初步总结。     

论对社区矫正对象的权利保障及其立法贯彻

社区矫正对象与监狱服刑人员一样,属于“犯罪(受刑)人”群体。当前的社区矫正试点工作,必须突出对矫正对象权利的保障。鉴于社区矫正立法的阙如,在中国未来的社区矫正法中,应明确肯认宪法的“国家尊重和保障人权”原则,并在规定社区矫正实施机构的管理职权和社区矫正对象的义务与权利等方面,要创设人道、科学、系统化的制度来保障社区矫正对象的法定权利。这既是落实宪法和有关国际人权规约的立法要求,也是革新社区矫正制度的根本价值所系。     

论抽象行政不作为侵权及其法律救济

目前,我国行政法学界对行政不作为的研究相当薄弱。中国首例公民状告政府行政“立法”不作为案,使这一理论问题凸显出来。抽象行政不作为是一种违法行为,由于其作用的对象广泛,比具体行政不作为更具有危害性,应将抽象行政不作为纳入行政侵权行为的范畴,对其进行救济。     

刑事司法沉默权刍议

沉默权是刑事诉讼中,犯罪嫌疑人、被告人享有的一项自然权利,是无罪推定原则的延伸。西方大多数国家在刑事诉讼中采取了沉默权制度,中国目前尚未有关于沉默权的明确规定。我国应借鉴国外的经验,加强立法确立沉默权制度,以完善我国刑事司法制度。     

关于金融债权维权的思考

金融债权维护难是当前金融业面临的普遍问题,也是创建金融安全区的极大障碍,文章在深入探讨金融债权维护难的原因基础上,有针对性地提出一些对策和建议。     

环境法执法机制研究

随着我国环境法立法体系的日益完善,加强环境执法已成为当前环境保护领域的焦点和难点问题。本文在分析了环境行政执法存在的问题及完善对策后,提出环境刑事执法的健全应以程序机制的完善为中心,并认为应从扩张民事诉讼主体资格和建立中立环境损害鉴定机构两个角度去完善当前的环境民事执法机制。     

社会保险制度中社会风险的产生、内涵及应对*

社会风险是社会保险制度存在的前提,没有社会风险,就不会有社会保险。从风险、风险社会及社会风险这些相关概念出发,全面阐述社会保险制度中社会风险的产生及其发展路径,发现社会保险制度上所应对的社会风险是一种中度危险的风险事故,有着自身特定的制度内涵。在此基础上,从作为技术途径的保险原则与社会保险权之权利规则的两个视角分析了社会保险制度对社会风险的应对原理、机制与优势。