A Quantitative Evaluation of the Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Prevention Services (MAPS) Program to Protect Children and Strengthen Families

This article presents the results from an evaluation of a state-funded, prevention-based, pilot program called the Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Prevention Services that was designed to reduce the potential for child abuse and neglect. The program served 64 families of various races and ethnicities over two years. A quantitative pretest–posttest design was used to analyze existing program data related to client outcomes including parenting skills, parenting satisfaction, and the use of non-family resources to assist in improving skills and satisfaction. Means comparisons were used to assess the relationship between three standardized instruments (the Parenting Scale, the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory and the Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale). Findings indicated a statistically significant improvement regarding resource engagement by families, parenting behaviors and perceptions, and involvement with Child Protective Services. The results from this study offer insight into how to improve parenting behaviors and increase child protective factors for youth who are at risk of maltreatment. In addition, these findings contribute to strengthen the legitimacy of Weiner's Attribution Theory while providing the social work profession with additional data in areas of research targeting the intersection of financially viable prevention programs, family stability, parental education, resources engagement, and the reduction of child abuse and neglect. If additional research supports the efficacy of prevention programs such as MAPS, funding similar programs could lead to improved parenting and decreases in child maltreatment.     

Risk factors for preterm,low birthweight and small for gestational age births among Aboriginal women from remote communities in Northern Australia

Objective

To identify the risk factors for preterm birth, low birthweight and small for gestational age babies among remote-dwelling Aboriginal women.

Labour migrants in post-Soviet Moscow: patterns of settlement*

This article explores the impact of the social and the spatial structures of Moscow on the patterns of settlement of labour migrants. It emphasizes the ways in which the structure of post-Soviet urban environment differs from the European and U.S. one, and uses interviews with guest workers from Central Asia to map out the strategies they employ in their search for accommodation in Moscow, as well as the barriers they encounter. Special attention is paid to the role played by ethnic networks in the lives of migrant workers, and the ways in which these networks are configured by the urban space. This article demonstrates how the absence of spatial segregation in the post-Soviet city, inherited from the Soviet period, affects the trajectories of social and economic integration of migrants and explains the absence of ‘ethnic areas’ in today’s Moscow.     

Indigenous People and the Miserable Failure of Australian Planning

Abstract

Major changes in Australian law and significant research efforts have re-positioned Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as important actors in planning. Yet, this has barely penetrated the consciousness of the mainstream professional community. Current requirements for professional competencies and planning curricula fall well short of preparing planners to productively engage with Indigenous people. The profession itself barely acknowledges the significant changes advanced in Indigenous studies and planning, and the new imperatives. This paper details the contemporary position of planning practice in Australia with regard to Indigenous people and considers the changes required to more justly engage with Indigenous rights.     

电视新闻的娱乐化、收视率陷阱及其矫正

电视新闻类节目的娱乐化成为新闻从业人员获取收视率的突破口。在娱乐化的浪潮下,电视新闻制作故事化、夸张性、煽动性越来越强,媒介公信力不断下降,社会效益被经济效益逐步取代。对此现象,新闻从业人员及学术界必须予以关注,寻求一条充分发挥电视新闻节目经济效益和社会效益的路径。     

美国科学基金会课题遴选的评价体系述要

价值评审是美国科学基金会在课题遴选过程中的一项很重要的操作实践。文章着眼于价值评审的过程,收集和整理了与价值评审的各个环节相关的资料数据,在此基础上对这一工作作了多方面的总结与概括。     

居住小区的整体设计

从现阶段居住建筑的主要形态居住小区开发中存在的问题出发，首次提出了居住小区的整体设计理念，旨在提升居住小区的人居环境。通过系统论原理，分析了整体设计的可行性与优势，指出了优化居住小区人居环境对设计师提出的知识要求，并且总结了居住小区整体设计的思路框架以及各阶段应当关注的重点问题。     

关于建立行政诉讼调解制度的探讨

在我国行政诉讼领域,因"公权不可处分"等理论禁区的存在,立法上对行政诉讼调解予以明确禁止。然而从域外的经验、传统法律文化、服务行政、诉讼经济原则等方面来看,我国应当建立行政诉讼调解制度。行政自由裁量权为行政诉讼调解提供了可能。行政诉讼调解在调解范围、调解程序、调解协议等方面应作出特殊规定。     

Bus rapid transit identity meets universal design

As bus rapid transit (BRT) systems continue to become more popular and as capital expenditure for such projects continues to grow, careful consideration of BRT identity design becomes ever more necessary. Properly considered identity systems can ensure accessibility to and usability of physical features and can also ensure that BRT systems are accessible and practical to use. Based on the seven principles of universal design, this article proposes a basic means to evaluate existing and planned BRT identity systems. The article concludes with recommendations for evaluators and guidelines for designers of BRT identity systems that will help to ensure the practical usability of BRT identity systems by a broad audience of diverse users, regardless of physical, cognitive or situational ability.     

Conflict management in the modern world-system

What is the relationship between the status of nation-states in the modern world-system and their strategies for conflict management? Using Wallerstein's world-systems theory, Kick's empirical specifications of core, semiperiphery, and periphery, and Black's theory of conflict management, I examine the use of self-help, avoidance, negotiation, and third-party settlement by nation-states. These possible tactics are variously used as forms of social control from below, social control from above, and social control between equals. I argue that the status of nations within the world-system is correlated with the primary mode of conflict management they use at a given time. I speculate that the use of a particular strategy may also subsequently contribute to changes in nations' status.