A Collage Of Cults

Children contribute substantially to the workforce needed to produce tobacco in Indonesia. Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork, I discuss the reasons behind children's economic involvement in tobacco cultivation in the eastern region of the island of Lombok in eastern Indonesia. I explore children's paid work in the plantations by looking at the three dimensions of their economic lives: the local economy, their households and their individual lives. I address the tension between children's agency and the systems that constrain it.     

The use of child care center for infants of dual-working families in Korea

Using the first and second wave data of the Panel Study of Korean Children (PSKC), which is comprehensive longitudinal data with a nationally representative birth cohort, this study explores whether and when dual-working families place their infants and toddlers in child care centers and what factors influence these families' selection process. Among the 2078 families examined in the PSKC, 466 dual-working families which had any kind of nonparental care arrangement for their very young children at the time of the second survey were included in the analysis. Since our research questions address when the use of child care centers occurred, an event history analysis was conducted. The results show that 32.4% of the families had placed their infants in child care centers prior to the second interview. Family structure and income variables (number of children, nonparental adults in the household, and household income), mother's education level, and the mother's number of working hours turned out to be significantly related to the probability of child care center use.     

Moderating effects of race on internalizing and externalizing behaviors among children of criminal justice and child welfare involved mothers

This study examined whether the influences of multiple maternal criminal justice involvement (MCJI), community adversity, and violence exposure on children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors were moderated by race. The study included 409 children of criminal justice and child welfare involved mothers, ages 5–15 who participated in the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW). Results indicated that race, defined as Black vs. non-Black, moderated the associations between multiple MCJI and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Decomposition of the regression effects indicated that non-Black children exposed to multiple MCJI, as compared to non-Black children who were not exposed to multiple MCJI, exhibited significant increases in both internalizing and externalizing behaviors, while Black children who experience multiple MCJI, on average, showed no increases. Similarly, race moderated the association between exposure to community adversity and externalizing behaviors. The decomposition of regression effects indicated that non-Black children who experienced higher levels of community adversity exhibited increases in externalizing behaviors, while Black children showed no increases. Criminal justice and child welfare practice and policy implications are discussed.     

The role of service users in problem formulation and technical aspects of social research

The importance of the practitioner-researcher relationship in problem formulation derives from the need for relevance to the issues faced by practitioners. This paper argues that if research is to be relevant to the issues faced by service users, they too must be involved in problem formulation. There is a substantial literature on the moral case for user involvement in research but relatively little about the technical benefits. The paper sets out some distinctions in the meaning of user involvement in different models of social research, and, drawing on examples of user-led and user-controlled research, suggests not only that problem formulation benefits from user involvement but that several other key technical aspects of social research may also be improved.     

Learning for the Twenty-First Century: Maximising Learning Transfer from Learning and Development Activity

This article builds on the learning gathered from the evaluation of a Scotland-wide child protection training programme. Based on Kirkpatrick's four-level framework, the study aimed to evaluate the impact of the learning programme on the practice of participants in the workplace. The study prompted the authors to examine the literature on maximising learning transfer across a range of occupations. This literature is discussed in the light of the findings from the evaluation and the experience of the authors in designing and implementing continuous professional development programmes in social services.

The practice of inspection, monitoring and audit seems to have impacted negatively on staff's willingness to participate in data collection, and coupled with what appeared to be confusion about data protection legislation, the perceived burden of audit and inspection has significant implications for research and evaluation activity.

Suggestions are made for the future design, delivery and evaluation of learning and development activity, and the role of managers is explored in relation to their responsibility for preparation, support and follow-up of workplace learning.     

Domestic Violence and Children with Disabilities: Working Towards Enhancing Social Work Practice

Abstract

Globally, domestic violence, where a family member, partner or ex-partner attempts to physically, sexually or psychologically dominate or harm the other, is now recognised as one of the most entrenched and pervasive forms of violence in society. Nevertheless, internationally and in Australia, the occurrence of domestic and other forms of violence in families affecting children with a disability is poorly understood. The present article examines the information available on domestic violence and children with a disability. Through the use of case studies drawn from a large disability organisation in New South Wales, Australia, practice issues with families where domestic violence affects a child with a disability are drawn out for social workers to consider. These considerations are designed to enhance practice in this field.     

Children and Domestic Violence: A System of Safety in Clinical Practice

Abstract

The present paper provides a framework for working with children and families where there are domestic violence and child protection concerns. A model of practice developed by the St George Domestic Violence Counselling Service and the St George Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in the South East Sydney and Illawarra Health Service (NSW, Australia) is outlined. The present paper includes a discussion on a recently developed service agreement between the two services and a case study focusing on a ‘system of safety’ when working with children. The present paper focuses on the effects of domestic violence on women and children by male perpetrators. We do not ignore that men may be victims of domestic violence; however, the authors recognise the gendered nature of domestic violence and the significant number of women and children who experience and live with domestic violence.     

Making Records Meaningful: Creating an Identity Resource for Young People in Care

Abstract

The Who Am I? research was an interdisciplinary, action research project focused on the past and present record-keeping practices for people growing up in out-of-home care in Australia. This paper reports on two of the nested projects directed at current record-keeping practices. For the 100+ Points of Identity study, a tool was developed (the Document Accessibility Exercise or “Daesy”) to determine the number of personal records critical to identity that could be accessed by practitioners prior to a young person leaving a placement. The Backpack of Identity project developed a further iteration of the action research cycle, as the first project identified the vulnerability of the record when placements for the young person changed. A number of implications for practice arose, including the need for greater attention to the development of personal records (as against an administrative record) and the need for practitioners to understand their responsibilities for the story “of the record” as well as the story “in the record”.     

家庭因素对流动儿童学校融合的影响——以南京为例

通过对南京市4所小学555名4～6年级小学生自填式问卷调查分析,发现家庭因素显著影响流动儿童的学校融合,父母越关心子女学习、与老师交流越多、对学校组织的课外活动越支持、越注重亲子间交流以及父亲对孩子的管教越多,流动儿童的学校融合度越高。但父母亲的文化程度和家庭经济条件并不影响流动儿童学校融合情况。据此建议政府依托社区,开办流动儿童家长学校,改善流动儿童家长的家教素质;学校教师需消除"刻板印象",增加"问题学生"的家校沟通,帮助家长提高教育素养。     

Saving for Children’s College Education: An Empirical Analysis of the Trade-off Between the Quality and Quantity of Children

This paper examines the effect of children’s college expenses on household savings. The theoretical model introduces life-cycle savings into the quality–quantity model of fertility and derives predictions for the impact of expected expenses on parents’ savings. Using the actual amount of parents’ financial support reported in the Survey of Consumer Finances, the empirical model estimates the expected expenditures on children’s college education and investigates the effect of expected expenditures on parents’ savings. The results show that parents’ support for each of their children’s college expenses decreases with the number of children. The results are consistent with the predictions of the life-cycle theory of saving and consumption that households save in advance for expected expenses to smooth their consumption.