加强青岛市农民技能培训的思考

农民技能培训是为提高农民的劳动素质、培养新型的应用型农民而开展的一种成人继续教育方式。加强农民技能培训有利于提升农村劳动力水平、增强农民的整体素质,有利于加速青岛城镇化进程步伐、提升农村经济实力,有利于破除城乡发展二元结构、建设青岛现代化新农村。青岛市现阶段的农民技能培训已初具规模,但存在诸多问题,需要构建高效统一的农民技能培训协调机构和增强农民技能培训的内涵建设和市场导向,从而提高青岛市农民技能培训的能力和质量,使其适应青岛市发展的战略需要。     

Engaging substance-affected families in child welfare: parent perspectives of a parenting intervention at program initiation and completion

Families affected by substance abuse are at an increased risk of child welfare involvement and poor child welfare outcomes. One strategy to improve outcomes among these families is evidence-based parenting interventions. While these interventions show the potential for advancing the child welfare field, they have not been widely and rigorously evaluated with birth parents, especially those affected by substance abuse, who face marked vulnerability and marginalization. We sought to draw on parents’ expertise and to understand their first and changing impressions throughout involvement in a parenting intervention, as well as overall impressions at program completion. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 10 parents who were involved in child welfare and a family drug treatment court. All parents were affected by parental substance use and had recently completed the Strengthening Families Program. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed for prominent themes. The study’s findings showed that parents described four key themes that influenced their perspectives of the parenting intervention: program reputation as communicated by peers, relevance and applicability of the program, children’s involvement and enjoyment of the program, and program structure issues that pointed to the need for high-quality group facilitation. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

An analysis of the relationship between parenting self-efficacy,the quality of parenting,and parental and child emotional health

ABSTRACT

The relationship between parenting self-efficacy, the quality of parenting, and parental and child emotional health has been conducted with Caucasian families and young children. The purpose of this study was to examine these relationships in ethnically diverse and impoverished families with children who have behavior problems. We examined the relationships between parenting self-efficacy, parenting practices, child externalizing problems, and caregiver depression. Participants included 213 caregivers of children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), who rated their parenting self-efficacy and completed questionnaires on parenting practices (APQ and FAD); child externalizing behaviors (Iowa Connors Inattention and ODD subscales); and caregiver depression (CESD). Data were examined using Chi-Square tests, a Linear Regression, and a One-Way ANOVA. Results demonstrate parenting self-efficacy was positively associated with positive parenting and inversely associated with inconsistent discipline. Among parents who perceived themselves as being a “better than average parent,” there was a greater percentage of youth who met cutoff for inattention problems as compared to youth who did not meet this cutoff. Lastly, depression scores were lowest for caregivers identifying as below average parents. This study underscores the need for involving parents and enhancing parenting self-efficacy in interventions targeting Disruptive Behavior Disorders.     

Pilot Evaluation of a Sexual Abuse Prevention Program for Taiwanese Children

The purpose of the current study was to develop and evaluate the efficacy of a school-based child sexual abuse prevention program for Taiwanese children. Forty-six Taiwanese children age 6 to 13 were divided into one of two groups based on their school grade and then randomly assigned to a skills-based child sexual abuse prevention program who received training immediately or a waiting-list control condition who received the training after a delay. Children's self-protection skills improved regardless of age after participation in the program. The program, however, did not successfully improve children's knowledge of sexuality and safety. Although future studies should modify the program content to better target knowledge of sexuality and safety, these results are promising for a pilot of this skills-based CSA prevention program in Taiwan.     

Knowledge and Behavioral Impact of Adult Participation in Child Sexual Abuse Prevention: Evaluation of the Protecting God’s Children Program

ABSTRACT

This article presents findings from an evaluation of a popular adult training program (Protecting God’s Children) used in Catholic institutions, including schools, churches, and social service agencies. The study explores knowledge and behavior change based on pretest/posttest questionnaires administered to over 500 adults and follow-up questionnaires sent six months after the training. The participants in the training were compared to a control group of adults who did not participate in the program. The results indicate that participants arrive at the training with fairly high rates of preexisting knowledge but that the program increases knowledge across demographic groups. Follow-up surveys suggest that the new knowledge is retained over six months. The study indicates that the program is associated with an increase in participants talking to their own children about child sexual abuse. Participants also report sharing information with other adults and monitoring behavior around children more closely.     

TERROR AND THE COLONIAL IMAGINATION AT WORK IN THE TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATE SPACES OF JAKARTA,INDONESIA

This article examines the role of the imagination in the construction of meaningful places out of economically defined and organized spaces. It seeks to understand the processes through which a colonial imagery is deployed in the negotiation of a complex and continually transforming transnational corporate order. This article is based on research conducted while working as a cross-cultural trainer within a transnational corporate office space in Jakarta, Indonesia. I discuss cross-cultural training as a space within which a colonial discourse based on terror and uncertainty persists, producing an ambivalent understanding of foreign overseas labor. I argue that a colonial approach to the social relations that take place within trans-national spaces persists for both Western-born and Indonesian members of the transnational capitalist class and is central to their perspective on capitalist expansion.     

Interdisciplinary Community Collaboration: Perspectives of Community Practitioners on Successful Strategies

ABSTRACT

Six focus groups were convened to collect data on successful interdisciplinary community collaboration (ICC) strategies. Participants came from a variety of disciplines but shared the common identification of having worked in similar communities. Participant assignment to one of six groups was designed to insure diversity by gender and race or ethnicity. They discussed four questions received in advance. Prior consented tape-recorded sessions were transcribed and reviewed by group facilitators using a process of member checking. Data analysis utilized the qualitative methodology known as grounded theory. Results indicate that organizers must have (1) a knowledge base of strategic planning, management, and administration, (2) an intra- or interpersonal skills set, and (3) well-defined values and attributes. The Practice implications are that further research is needed to more fully explore the complexity of ICC work.     

Living in displacement context: Coping strategies,changing attitudes and family dynamics among Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Mindanao,Philippines

ABSTRACT

The main objective of the paper is to critically examine and document the living conditions of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Marawi City. Forcibly displaced more than a year ago due to armed conflict, these IDPs managed to find their way to an unoccupied building in the outskirt of Iligan City, Lanao del Norte Province, Philippines. Results show their range of main concerns such as the supply of electricity and water, health services and medicines and more importantly, food. Disruptions on children’s schooling and most especially the discontinuation of their parents’ livelihood were also documented. The community is waiting for their “turn” to access better temporary shelters provided by the government. The study utilized key informant interview (KII) among 10 household heads (from among the 75 families living in the building). Their narratives reveal several coping strategies amidst insufficient government assistance and community feeling of isolation, the most glaring of those, is the dependency to social network, capitalizing on the social ties with relatives and friends for assistance. The IDPs admitted however that the same assistance is not enough. Additionally, the reduction of food consumption and selling of food relief packs remain unsustainable in coping with their destitute condition. Moreover, the article also touches on the consequence of their displacement context on socio-familial dynamics.     

Korean immigrant older adults residing in Non-Korean ethnic enclaves: Acculturation strategies and psychosocial adaptation

ABSTRACT

Based on Berry’s bi-dimensional model of acculturation, this study examined acculturation strategies among first-generation Korean immigrant older adults residing in areas without a well-established Korean ethnic enclave and how their acculturation strategies are associated with psychosocial adaptation and acculturative stressors. Cluster analysis (N = 108) identified three acculturation strategies such as separated, moderately bicultural, and fully bicultural, indicating that the sample did not exhibit all four acculturation strategies of Berry’s model. The moderately bicultural group of the sample was the most dominant in size, which indicated strong adherence to Korean culture. The fully bicultural group reported less acculturative stress and depressive symptoms than the separated group, which indicated that biculturalism is strongly associated with a better psychosocial adaptation. A factor analysis showed that the separated group perceived stressors such as limited English proficiency and social isolation as more stressful than the other groups. The findings suggest that even though a strong adherence to ethnic culture might be a first-generation Korean immigrant older adults’ dominant acculturation strategy, it may make them more vulnerable to lingual and cultural barriers in a mono-cultural community without Korean ethnic enclaves. Implications for social work practice are explored.