Specialization and the Survival of Self‐Help Organizations

This article examines the survival rates of 589 self‐help organizations in order to understand how self‐help niches, organizations specializing in biomedical, human services, and behavioral health, differentially impact longevity. Drawing on a study of the self‐help movement, we examine how the various mechanisms by which specialization impacts self‐help movement organizations' chances of survival. Extending the concepts of embeddedness, countervailing powers, and organizational specialization to self‐help organizations, we investigate how formal structures and professional alliances differentially promote longevity. Results show how formalization enhances self‐help organizations' longevity, and serves as a mechanism by which specialization impacts organizational viability. While formalization has a robust and beneficial impact on longevity, some professional linkages are negatively associated with survival and others are positively associated with it.     

Challenges Experienced at Age 100: Findings From the Fordham Centenarian Study

ABSTRACT

This article examines the challenges experienced by very old individuals and their consequences for well-being and mental health. In order to capture unique issues experienced in very old age, 75 participants of the population-based Fordham Centenarian Study answered open-ended questions on everyday challenges. Theme-based coding was then used to categorize and quantify responses. The challenges mentioned most often were challenges faced in the functional (e.g., physical health/activities of daily living restrictions, mobility, sensory impairment), psychological (e.g., loss of well-liked activity, dependency, negative emotions, death), and social (e.g., family loss) life domains. Functional challenges were negatively associated with aging satisfaction and positively associated with loneliness. Psychological challenges were positively linked to aging satisfaction. Social challenges were marginally related to loneliness. Notably, challenges were not related to depression. In conclusion, the challenges experienced in very old age are multidimensional and multifaceted, unique in nature, and have differential relations to mental health. Functional, psychological, and social challenges affect very old individuals’ lives and therefore need to be better understood and addressed. Given their consequences, it is imperative for policy makers to develop an awareness for the different types of challenges faced by centenarians, as there may be unique policy implications related to each.     

Mindful of the Intersession Break in Family Therapy: The Time to Think Experiment

The Time to Think Experiment researches the experience of clinicians, consumers, and families of an intersession break, which has been used historically in various models of family therapy training. This qualitative pilot study explores the experiences of 21 clinicians, 19 consumers, and six family members using this break for reflection, across the domains of family and couple therapy, individual therapy, group work, and supervision in a mental health service covering the whole age range. Using a phenomenological design, the analysis included narrative, thematic, content, and comparative techniques. The paper considers the impact of privileging reflection in the therapy process, in a climate where models, work cultures, and general lifestyles may not encourage it. Using the intersession break to create space to ‘be’ in the therapy process is one way to integrate mindful and family therapy practice. The emerging themes of an intersession break to promote a richer and deeper therapy experience, and the apparent shift of responsibility for change from clinicians to consumers is discussed.     

What can microblog exchanges tell us about food safety crises in China?

The affordance of microblogging services has made them an ideal tool for communicating risk and crisis. However, research on social media and risk communication is still in its infancy. This study, following the uses and gratifications framework, attempts to give some insight into the way micro-bloggers communicate about risk by investigating food safety communications on the microblogging service in China. A content analysis was conducted on 6186 microblog posts relating to 12 recent food safety incidents in China. A series of bivariate chi-square tests was conducted to test the association between micro-bloggers and gratifications. The results indicate that different types of micro-bloggers gratify different needs. Compared to other types of micro-bloggers, the general public tends to use microblogging to express opinions on food safety incidents, regulation and/or policy, rather than simply disseminating information; members of the public enjoy fewer multimedia affordances in their microblog posting but express more negative feelings. Although we anticipate growth in the use of social media in environmental health communication, caution is still needed: communication in China still follows a traditional top-down pattern.     

黑龙江省"十五"期间招商引资总体情况与效益分析

通过统计资料,本文从总量结构、增长速度、内外资结构和地区结构四个方面对"十五"期间黑龙江省的招商引资工作进行了总体的情况和效益分析。在总量结构分析中,发现贸易总额增长但项目数量却变化不大;从增长速度看,各项指标都呈稳步上升态势,显示黑龙江省的招商引资工作处在高速增长阶段;从内资和外资结构看,内资在增长和比重上都优于外资;在对地区结构的分析中,发现总体上处于稳定增长态势,地区间则不均衡。最后,结合分析结论,进一步简要阐述了其政策意义。     

Ideas, private institutions and American welfare state 'exceptionalism': the case of health and old-age insurance, 1915–1965

Traditional theories of welfare state development divide into two camps: societal accounts and institutional accounts. The aim of the present article is to amend and enrich the institutional approach to US social policy by reconsidering key aspects of the genesis of the American welfare state: 1) showing that concepts such as 'policy feedback' and 'path dependence' need to be extended to encompass the effect of private social policies; and 2) taking policy paradigms and agenda setting more seriously than is the norm in institutional scholarship. The empirical analysis is divided into two parts. The first part explores the activities of the American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL) in the decade beginning in 1910 and the genesis of Social Security in the 1930s, while the second part examines the effect of the private benefit developments on policy choices between 1935 and 1965.     

Determinants of Social Expenditure in Sri Lanka

The study examines the determinants of social expenditure in Sri Lanka for the period 1970–2010. The data are from a new data set assembled by the authors. The social spending data are collected from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on education, health, and also on welfare spending. The study explains the determinants of social spending considering the demand‐side and the supply‐side driving forces and finds that inequality issues have been a major concern of social policy in Sri Lanka. Similarly, this study implies the influence of political behavior to satisfy voters as explained by the fiscal illusion theory. The globalization is not significant for social expenditure as commonly assumed in developed countries. Even the consequences of the self‐interested behavior of bureaucrats are not evident in the Sri Lankan welfare sector.     

经济社会地位、年龄与心理健康：一项基于上海的实证研究

本文从社会结构的角度出发,以“2008年中国家庭动态调查（上海卷）”的数据为基础,考察了心理健康在社会各阶层间的分布以及这些分布在年龄组间的变化。结果显示,教育、收入、职业地位、社会地位与心理健康正面相关,而经济困难和不公正待遇则与心理健康负面相关。年龄和心理健康的关系呈现出“∩”型发展趋势;职业类型及教育程度对心理健康的作用在不同年龄组中出现了不同程度的变化。失业者较好的心理状态及青年技术人员较差的心理健康状况则需要做进一步的研究。     

WTO框架下科学不确定性问题研究

WTO作为多边体制的支柱,不仅规定了货物、服务贸易,而且包括了动植物检验检疫、环境保护等涉及科学技术的领域,但WTO对这些领域的规定含混不清,导致各国对规则的解释往往采用了非统一的科学技术界定标准,这种技术标准成为贸易保护的正当性借口,在实践中许多国家以WTO之名行贸易保护之实。从某种意义上说,全球化肇始的标志是WTO体系,全球化的进一步发展则有赖于对WTO规则的进一步诠释,在环境保护、动植物检验检疫领域采取统一科学证据要件判定体系就成为了支撑WTO自由贸易精神的一个重要制度保障。     

人际交往团体辅导对体育专业大学生心理健康水平的促进

探索人际交往团体辅导对改善体育专业大学生心理健康水平的有效性,运用UPI问卷和面谈选取28名体育专业大学生进行8次以人际交往为主题的团体辅导,在团体辅导前后进行量表施测进行比较。前测量表包括：症状自评量表、社交回避及苦恼量表。后测量表包括：症状自评量表、社交回避及苦恼量表、团体活动成员自评量表（自编）。结果团体辅导活动干预后,团体成员在SCL-90总分、躯体化、强迫症状、人际关系敏感、抑郁、敌对的分数和辅导前比较有显著改善;社交苦恼与社交回避量表比较,差异显著;团体活动成员自评量表的自我评价均向着正性方向移动,10个项目均有较大的改善。人际交往团体辅导对改善体育专业大学生心理健康水平有显著效果,可进一步进行尝试推广。