"虚拟经济"的哲学思考

关于"虚拟经济"的讨论,并不是一个单纯的经济学问题,同时也是哲学问题.我认为作为一门学问,用"模拟经济"比用"虚拟经济"的概念,可能更好一些.模拟是人类实践活动中能动性发展的必然结果,从文字到文化、艺术,以至到经济活动,都是人们模拟客观世界,同时又改造客观世界的结果.模拟经济在形式上是"虚拟"的,在内容上是客观的,它最终受实体经济制约.     

Contact with Family Members and its Impact on Adolescents and Their Foster Placements

This paper discusses findings from a recently completed studyof adolescent foster care, which included a detailed assessmentof the fostering skills and supports of carers and of the contactthat adolescents had with parents, siblings and other familymembers during a long-term foster placement. Sixty-eight fostercarers, young people and their social workers were interviewedat two points in time, 3 months after the start of a new fosterplacement and again at 12 months or at the point of disruptionif this occurred earlier. Detailed questions about contact whichwere asked of foster carers, young people and their social workersenabled the researchers to make summary ratings about the quantityand the quality of contact and its effect on the young peopleand on their placements. This paper describes the contact theyoung people had with their families, its impact on them andon the foster families and how it changed over time. The findingsrevealed that contact for the majority of adolescents was problematicand had a significant impact on placement outcomes. Ways ofmanaging contact are highlighted, and the corresponding implicationsfor policy and practice discussed.     

Improving functional outcomes in college and university students with schizophrenia in the Western world

Retrospective research from patients with schizophrenia suggests that remission becomes increasingly less likely the longer psychosis goes untreated. Yet symptoms of schizophrenia are insidious and disease evolution varies between patients, requiring an ongoing diagnostic process. One way of justifying early treatment is by focusing on functionality rather than symptomatology. Most patients are diagnosed with schizophrenia between the ages of 17 and 25—when many young adults are undergraduates or pursuing post-graduate education. The extent to which schools partner with mental health services has implications for the short-term success of students' recovery and their future employability. Translating study findings on schizophrenia to the college setting remains an important area of investigation.     

生态文明社会内涵在公共政策导向中的制度性势能

在建设性后现代主义视阈下,生态文明的社会内涵引领生态文明的自然内涵。厘清了这层关系,就具备了发挥生态文明社会内涵在公共政策导向中的制度性势能的基础。在当前我国社会分层结构呈现倒丁字形分布的社会背景下,对于优化社会管理而言,发挥生态文明社会内涵在公共政策导向中的制度性势能的必要性尤为明显。而要将其诉诸实践,一方面,要在经济发展指导思想上,破除对新自由主义的盲从,革除对"唯GDP论"的迷信;另一方面,要在实体制度建构层面上,将社会维度融入公共政策,并在法制层面完善相关监督制度体系。     

Psychosocial Intervention and Clinical/Educational Outcomes for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: An Evaluation of the Astor Transitions Program

The Astor Transitions Program (ATP) was developed to assist youth with emotional and behavioral disorders moving into a new educational environment where the services would often be less integrated. A research/evaluation consultant was hired to conduct a program evaluation of the ATP. The study sample consists of the charts of 150 consecutive students admitted to ATP between April 2010 and March 2013. The following hypothesis was tested: the ATP service in terms of caseworkers’ contacts will be associated with better clinical and educational outcomes. The major findings were the impact of caseworker contacts on clinical outcomes was indirect and greatest on type of placement; caseworker contacts had no effect on school attendance, yet ATP students were present about 85% of the time; and casework activity increased for chronic cases in placement but decreased after hospitalization. Recommendations were made to program staff on how to improve ATP services.     

Evaluating unintended program outcomes through Ripple Effects Mapping (REM): Application of REM using grounded theory

Several evaluation models exist for investigating unintended outcomes, including goal-free and systems evaluation. Yet methods for collecting and analyzing data on unintended outcomes remain under-utilized. Ripple Effects Mapping (REM) is a promising qualitative evaluation method with a wide range of program planning and evaluation applications. In situations where program results are likely to occur over time within complex settings, this method is useful for uncovering both intended and unintended outcomes. REM applies an Appreciative Inquiry facilitation technique to engage stakeholders in visually mapping sequences of program outcomes. Although it has been used to evaluate community development and health promotion initiatives, further methodological guidance for applying REM is still needed. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the methodological development of evaluating unintended outcomes and extend the foundations of REM by describing steps for integrating it with grounded theory.     

AN EXPLORATION OF THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP AND COUNSELLING OUTCOMES IN A PROBLEM GAMBLING COUNSELLING SERVICE

This study examined the relationship between a number of counselling process variables thought to influence counselling outcomes in a sample of 150 clients undertaking short‐term counselling in the state‐wide government funded Gambler's Help problem gambling counselling services in Victoria, Australia. Factors measured included psychosocial well‐being of clients prior to and after counselling, client readiness to change, self‐reported gambling activity levels before and after counselling, self‐assessment of current gambling behaviour, strength of therapeutic alliance, self‐reported counselling outcomes achieved in the area of symptoms, life matters, and related problems and a measure of client satisfaction with the service. The therapeutic alliance was found to have the strongest predictive power with respect to the level of problem resolution achieved by clients across all but one of the problem areas. The implications of these findings for clinical social work practice and education of practitioners are noted.     

A cross-national comparison of public project benefits management practices – the effectiveness of benefits management frameworks in application

Abstract

Benefits are the principal reason why an organization may seek to enact change through programmes and projects. The discipline of identification, definition, planning, tracking and realization of benefits is recognized to be instrumental in achieving organizational strategy. In this study, we describe the results of a cross-national comparison of public sector benefits management (BM) practices in Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA. It explores ‘BM practices in action’, considering to what extent ‘espoused’ or ‘mandated’ frameworks are actually practised and perceived by their users. Employing qualitative analysis, semi-structured interview data were analysed from 46 participants with experience in sponsoring, managing and/or reviewing government projects. The results expose considerable variation in the adoption and standardization of BM frameworks from inter and intragovernmental perspectives. We evidence a strong focus on benefits identification across the data set, specifically at the outset (the business case stage seeking project approval) and observe deterioration in focus as the project or programme progresses through the authorization (or assurance) approval gates towards close-out and operations. The results further emphasize the prominence of political interest, leadership buy-in, a benefits-driven culture and a transparent benefits reporting mechanism in the implementation of ‘effective’ BM frameworks.