It Is Expected by the Year 2000

Abstract

Authors in the Encyclopedia of Social Work (formerly the Social Work Year Book), beginning in the 1930s, have proffered forecasts to help social workers anticipate the composition and needs of the current cohort of older adults. First 1980 and later the year 2000 were often targeted in these forecasts. The purpose of this article is to analyze accuracy and utility of these earlier forecasts and to examine implications for social service professionals now attempting to make forecasts and develop practice and policy strategies for the 21st century when the baby boom cohort will become the elder boom.     

It Takes a Village (Perhaps a Nation): Families,States, and Educational Achievement

Research in the United States has shown that children growing up in 2‐parent households do better in school than children from single‐parent households. We used the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data to test whether this finding applied to other countries as well (N = 100,307). We found that it did, but that the educational gap was greater in the United States than in the other 13 countries considered. Results from 2‐level hierarchical linear models demonstrated that international differences in the educational gap were associated with several indicators of national policy and demographic contexts. No single policy appeared to have a large effect, but several policy combinations were associated with substantially reduced educational gaps between children from different family structures.     

Participation and Emotions: Troubling Encounters Between Children and Social Welfare Professionals

This paper explores the emotional aspects of participation within social welfare contexts. The focus is on individual professionals, such as social workers and children’s rights workers and their articulation, management and negotiation of the emotional when working with children and young people. The institutions of welfare are also shown to be ambiguous in their approaches to participation. Lastly, the dimensions of power that are enacted in relations between professionals and children reveal some of the complex dynamics in this fraught area of social welfare policy and practice.     

Producing and Using Video Data in the Early Years: Ethical Questions and Practical Consequences in Research with Young Children

This article considers ethical questions and practical challenges arising from the production of video data with young children, and suggests that such considerations are reciprocal and that video data should be seen as constructed collaboratively by all participants. Video data can be a valuable means of eliciting children’s perspectives, but it raises particular issues of consent and confidentiality. Opportunities for young children to use video cameras are helpful in supporting informed consent and active participation, whilst the visual nature of video renders anonymity and confidentiality more difficult, and anonymisation of images may impact upon data quality. Video, like all research data, is influenced by the actions and biases of participants, and young children’s experiences as consumers of television will influence their reading of, and responses to, video data. An advantage of video is that it can provide participants with feedback about their participation. Challenges remain with regard to ownership.     

邓小平党内和谐观的理论特质和历史价值析论

邓小平党内和谐观富有鲜明的理论特色,体现为理论逻辑的传承性与创新性、理论思维的辩证性与逻辑性、理论品质的实践性与人民性,就其历史地位来说,不仅实现了马克思主义党内和谐理论的伟大创新,也是新时期推进党内和谐、构建社会主义和谐社会的理论指南。     

治理通货膨胀预期应成为宏观政策关注的新视角

通货膨胀既可以是供求失衡导致的，也可以是货币膨胀导致的。在世界经济迅猛发展的今天，通货膨胀发生发展的机理也存悄然发生着变化，正是这些变化，使得通货膨胀对社会经济的影响已经前置到通货膨胀预期对经济发展的影响。本文以中国经济企稳过程为真实背景，初步探讨通货膨胀预期的负效应及治理的政策路径，尽管存在个案特征，但仍不失为一种分析思路。     

Workforce Issues in Residential Care Facilities in Rural China

This study examined contemporary frontline workforce issues related to residential care for elders in rural China. Residential facilities in rural China are in transition from exclusively providing shelter to childless elders to providing long-term care for frail elders. These facilities are also under pressure to improve the quality of services that they provide. The study is based on in-depth interviews with administrators and field observations of facilities. The study focused on the following issues related to the workforce: recruitment and retention, training, work environment, workforce organization, regulations, compensation, and career ladders. The implications of resident characteristics for demands on the work force were examined. The study found that lack of skilled personnel is one of the major reasons that the overwhelming majority of facilities deny admission to frail and demented elders. Improving workers’ skill is critical if these facilities are to meet the increasing demand for institutional long-term care needs.     

Breakdown of care: the case of Danish teenage placements

This article analyses the breakdown of teenage placements in Denmark from survey data on 227 teenagers placed in care during 2004. We explore frequencies of breakdown, time of breakdown occurrence and factors possibly causing breakdown. These are factors related to (i) the teenager, (ii) the parents, (iii) the care environment and (iv) the casework process. Results show that 26 per cent of the teenagers in the study experienced placement breakdown. Thirty per cent of these breakdowns occurred within the first 4 months of placement. A factor significantly increasing probability of breakdown was emotional problems of the teenager. A factor significantly reducing placement breakdown was the teenager having continuity with the same caseworker throughout the placement. System- and policy-related factors also proved to have an influence on breakdown rates. We discuss possible policy implications of these findings.     

Child custody issues and co‐occurrence of intimate partner violence and child maltreatment: controversies and points of agreement amongst practitioners

The situation of families undergoing separation in a context of co‐occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment raises certain issues related to child custody. The results presented in this paper were collected and analysed within the framework of a qualitative study aiming to identify the principal points of agreement and the main controversies amongst practitioners in several different types of organizations. Focus groups were held with a total of 43 practitioners from six different settings concerned with child custody in cases of co‐occurrence of IPV and child maltreatment. Although they agreed on the importance of ensuring the safety of victims of violence, their views diverged on three points: (1) the importance of preserving the father–child relationship; (2) collaboration between voluntary organizations and semi‐voluntary or legal agencies; and (3) consideration of cultural differences.     

Professional Responses to Government-Endorsed Premarital Counseling

Abstract

This paper presents preliminary findings about the manner in which public policies that promote premarital counseling impact professionals who conduct premarital counseling. The purpose of this paper is to describe findings from a survey of premarital counseling providers in a state in which the government endorses premarital counseling. A total of 194 premarital counseling providers described their responses to their state government's endorsement of premarital counseling. Results indicated that a majority of providers held a favorable opinion of this policy, although a number of providers held either unfavorable opinions of the policy or were uncertain about the policy's effectiveness. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.