Measuring What Matters: Achieving Consensus on a Positive Aging Indicator Set For Ireland

The objective of this study was to measure consensus among expert stakeholders on a set of positive aging outcome indicators in Ireland. Stakeholders from academic, public, and voluntary sectors and older people participated in a 3-round, online Delphi study to evaluate indicators for participation, security, healthy aging, attitudes to aging, and information access. Evaluation criteria included: acceptability, utility, accessibility, ranking, and balance and coherence. Consensus was achieved on 56 key indicators that are aligned with action areas in the National Positive Ageing Strategy. These indicators will be reported on a biannual basis to monitor progress in positive aging in Ireland.     

Social work education and political conflict: preparing students to address the needs of victims and survivors of the Troubles in Northern Ireland

This paper reports on the evaluation of a European PEACE III sponsored teaching and learning project that was designed to enable social work students to better understand the needs of victims and survivors of the conflict in Northern Ireland. The paper begins with an introduction to policy, practice and educational contexts before reviewing the literature on social work, conflict and trauma. It also summarises key, innovative pedagogical approaches used in the teaching, including the use of ground rules, teaching teams consisting of lecturer and service user dyads, learning exercises and case studies. The paper then explains the evaluation methodology. This involved two surveys which returned 144 student and 34 practice teacher questionnaires. The findings revealed that students were generally committed to this form of teaching and engagement with victims and survivors of the conflict, although some students reported that their attitudes towards this subject had were not changed. Some students also discussed how the conflict had affected their lives and the lives of families and friends; it is argued that such biographical details are crucial in developing new pedagogical approaches in this area. Practice teachers who supervised some of these students on placement reported general levels of satisfaction with preparedness to work with conflict related situations but were less convinced that organisations were so committed. The paper concludes with a discussion of the study limitations and a recommendation for more robust methods of teaching and evaluation in this area of social work education and practice.     

No safety net for disabled children in residential institutions in Ireland

The voices of adults and children with disabilities who have experienced violence and abuse are slowly beginning to surface in the public domain. Segregated residential institutions run by religious congregations appear to be dangerous places for children with disabilities and perceived differences – according to the former residents, speaking and communicating to us today as adults in Ireland. A statutory Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse in Ireland attracted important numbers of former residents – witnesses – who recounted appalling experiences of violence as children. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities contains articles concerning the prevention of cruelty, sexual assault, violence and acts of humiliation that may be useful for countries like Ireland which have been unable to ratify the Convention. The protection of children with disabilities requires legal reform in Ireland, statutory licensing, monitoring and inspection of the segregated centres where children with disabilities are living.     

魏晋南北朝的“异国寻亲”

魏晋南北朝时期,亲人被迫分居异国是普遍存在的现象,寻亲异国以求团聚是社会的普遍心理要求。一般的家庭毫无条件寻找亲人,只有少数家庭,或因有一定数量的财产可资寻亲,或因有人身居要职,可动用国家的外交手段,寻找到了自己的亲人。而异国政府有时也以其亲人为筹码,进行政治交易。魏晋南北朝中后期,政府有放还俘获生口或俘虏的政策,这有利于亲人团聚,但也仅是偶尔之举。     

试论西魏北周时期的赐、复胡姓

北魏末年即已出现恢复胡姓的社会现象 ,宇文泰主政期间 ,推行了赐、复胡姓的运动 ,并使之在一段时期内形成一股潮流。本文依据正史 ,列举西魏北周时期赐、复胡姓的情况 ,并从籍贯、赐姓时间、事由等方面对之进行了逐项考察 ;认为宇文泰赐、复胡姓的目的主要是推进府兵制的实行 ,而赐、复胡姓的中止也不应当是出于宇文泰的所谓“遗旨”。     

Differences in the job satisfaction of high-paid and low-paid workers across Europe

Data from six waves of the European Community Household Panel (1996–2001) in 11 countries suggest that low-paid employees are significantly less satisfied with their job than the high-paid in southern Europe, but not in the northern countries. Proxying job satisfaction for job quality, the authors show that while low-paid employment does not necessarily mean low-quality employment, workers in some countries suffer the double penalty of low pay and low job quality. Such dualism across European labour markets, they argue, reflects different country-level approaches to the trade-off between flexibility and security, calling for a policy focus on the latter to enhance job quality.     

Visual and textual narratives of conflict-related displacement in Northern Ireland

Combined textual and visual narratives and counternarratives illustrate a range of experiences in Northern Ireland’s conflictual, spatial landscape. In this article, I argue that combined textual and visual narratives about conflict-instigated displacement create and articulate community-specific experiences of disadvantage, with the intention of gaining political recognition and/or advantage over other communities in ongoing processes of conflict transformation. I expose the multiple, contextualised meanings of selective narratives that are accessible in language and image but, that are rarely questioned because of the political influence of their tellers or, because of their scale. Their meanings and intentions exist alongside counternarratives about intra-community displacement and displacement against other groups and are concurrent with public apathy, which serve to minimise their effectiveness as political tools to gain community-specific, social and political advantage. These narratives and counternarratives persist as key spatial markers and as sites on which conflict, and its effective transformation, are played out.     

魏晋南北朝道教身体哲学建设论纲

身体哲学是一种以身体为本体的哲学观。在身体哲学的视域下审视魏晋南北朝道教,其理论思想呈现出鲜明的“根身性”特征。在神道设教的语境中,宇宙之存在、真理之体认、善恶之判别都与“身体”相缠绕,是身体“向世界敞开”的内在环节、必要条件。天道之落实、伦理之践行、仙道之体贴,都因进入“以身体道”的身体场景而获得了笃实的存在根据,并因身体展开的不同指向而呈现出各自不同的身体特征。魏晋南北朝道教的这种“根身性”特征,基本上奠定了后世道教哲学思想构建的运思风格,使之沿着“身天一体”“天人感应”的整体趋向不断演变、发展。     

再论北魏道武帝早年经历——答安介生先生

本文是对安介生《北魏道武帝早年经历考辨--与李凭先生商榷》一文的回答.道武帝早年曾有被迫内徙长安和流徙蜀地的经历,这个观点由周一良提出,李凭对此作了考证.周一良"部分观点前后有较大的转变"的说法并不确实.另外,安文将羌俗、儒家文化、汉文化三者混为一谈是不符合逻辑的.至于道武帝厌恶羌俗的事例,非但不是他不曾迁居长安的明证,反而说明他了解长安附近的风俗,因而有利于李凭原先的论证.     

北朝胡人贵族门第婚中的胡汉通婚

北朝时期,胡汉之间通婚频繁,胡人贵族与汉人高门大姓之间尤为明显.胡汉通婚成为影响当时政治格局、社会结构、历史进程和文化互动的重要因素.此文主要剖析了在汉族门第婚观念的影响下,胡人贵族与汉族高门大姓之间的通婚表现,探讨了胡汉门第通婚在政治与社会文化方面的影响.