Community Elder-Care in Tasmania

SUMMARY

Adult caregivers (n = 184; M age = 43.9 years old) working at a non-profit, eldercare program at five geographically diverse sites located in the self-contained, island state of Tasmania, Australia, completed a set of self-report measures. Results across the five sites indicated that respondents experienced a relatively strong sense of self-efficacy toward making a difference in their local community. However, there were significant differences (controlling for social desirability) when comparing caregivers from rural northern (n = 45) with urban southern (n = 139) communities, with rural caregivers claiming stronger sense of common mission with others, reciprocal responsibility to help others, and caregiver satisfaction, plus lower disharmony with other members and caregiver stress in helping the elderly than urban caregivers. Implications suggest that community self-efficacy may be high among eldercare staff, but their sense of community and caregiving perceptions may reflect geographic differences, especially in Tasmania.     

Community elder-care in Tasmania: examining whether caregivers believe they "make-a-difference" in an urban and rural island

Adult caregivers (n = 184;Mage = 43.9 years old) working at a non-profit, eldercare program at five geographically diverse sites located in the self-contained, island state of Tasmania, Australia, completed a set of self-report measures. Results across the five sites indicated that respondents experienced a relatively strong sense of self-efficacy toward making a difference in their local community. However, there were significant differences (controlling for social desirability) when comparing caregivers from rural northern (n = 45) with urban southern (n = 139) communities, with rural caregivers claiming stronger sense of common mission with others, reciprocal responsibility to help others, and caregiver satisfaction, plus lower disharmony with other members and caregiver stress in helping the elderly than urban caregivers. Implications suggest that community self-efficacy may be high among eldercare staff, but their sense of community and caregiving perceptions may reflect geographic differences, especially in Tasmania.     

空间重构:老旧小区社区营造的治理逻辑

空间是理解城市诸问题的核心,近年来城市治理理论和实务方面的"空间转向"愈加明显。随着我国城市化程度不断加深,城市逐渐进入从外延式扩张转向以城市更新和精细化管理为代表的"内涵式治理"新阶段。社区营造作为一种新的治理模式逐渐兴起,并成为创新社区社会治理的重要途径。社区营造事实上是以居民需求为核心的生活逻辑主导,通过社区公共空间再造、公共交往再造、居民参与方式再造、社区治理模式再造等实现整个社区再造的一种新型城市社区治理模式。所体现的治理逻辑在于,通过社区空间的重构,破解以空间为基底而衍生的众多社区治理问题,实现社区的再造以及社区共同体精神的再生产。     

Mapping Urban Revitalization: Using GIS Spatial Analysis to Evaluate a New Housing Policy

This longitudinal, multimethod study uses geographical information system (GIS) software to evaluate the community-wide impact of a neighborhood revitalization project. Unsystematic visual examination and analysis of GIS maps are offered as a complementary tool to quantitative analysis and one that is much more compelling, meaningful, and effective in presentation to community and nonscientific professional audiences. The centerpiece of the intervention was the development of a new, middle-class housing subdivision in an area that was declining physically and economically. This represents three major urban/housing policy directions: (1) the emphasis on home ownership for working-class families, (2) the deconcentration of poverty through development of mixed-income neighborhoods, and (3) the clean up and redevelopment of contaminated, former industrial brownfields. Resident survey responses, objective environmental assessment observations, and building permit data were collected, geocoded at the address level, and aggregated to the block level on 60 street blocks in the older neighborhoods surrounding the new housing in two waves: during site clearing and housing construction (Time 1: 1993–95) and three years post-completion (Time 2: 1998–99). Variables mapped include (a) Time 1–2 change in self-reported home repairs and improvements, (b) change in the assessed physical condition of yards and exteriors of 925 individual residential properties, (c) change in residents' home pride, and (d) a city archive of building permits at Time 2. Physical conditions improved overall in the neighborhood, but spatial analysis of the maps suggest that the spillover effects, if any, of the new housing were geographically limited and included unintended negative psychological consequences. Results argue for greater use of GIS and the street block level in community research and of psychological and behavioral variables in planning research and decisions.     

An evaluation of the effects of neighborhood mobilization on community problems

This research examines the outcomes of actions taken by members of a residential neighborhood association to revitalize a neighborhood and to make it a safer and more secure place to live. This urban neighborhood association initiated a major planning process in cooperation with city officials. Residents overwhelmingly adopted the plan that included the creation of mini-neighborhoods with a series of gates to moderate traffic flow, increase neighborliness, and reduce crime. An analysis of official data from police crime reports shows that crime was significantly reduced in the neighborhood after the street changes. This reduction in crime was maintained even five years later. Telephone interviews with neighborhood residents indicated that they perceived reductions in traffic, crime, noise and drug offenses for at least five years after the changes. Even though neighborhood cohesion did not increase, it appears that the actions instigated and promoted by neighborhood association members enhanced the quality of life for neighborhood residents.     

America in the Eyes of America Watchers: survey research in Beijing in 2012

Based on an original survey conducted in the summer of 2012 in Beijing, we examine how China's America watchers—IR scholars who work on US-China relations—have viewed China's power status in the international system, US-China relations and some specific US policies in Asia. Our survey shows that almost half of the survey participants thought that America would remain the global hegemon in the next ten years. Meanwhile, a large majority was also optimistic that China is a rising great power, especially in the economic sense, in the world. More than half of the respondents saw Asian military issues, such as the South China Sea issue, as the most difficult problem between China and the US.     

Children, women, and substance abuse: a look at recovery in a communal setting

This study explored the sense of community among women (n = 21) and women with children (n = 30) living in Oxford Houses, with emphasis on how the presence of children might affect the household. Sense of community did not vary between participants with more or less than three months residence. Residents reported very high levels of satisfaction with the home, possibly because of a ceiling effect of little room for increases in their sense of community over time. Participants reported that they were getting along with the children in the home, that mothers could count on babysitting help, and that the children had a positive effect on the household and their own recovery process. This effect did not differ between mothers and non-mothers, suggesting that non-mothers might view the children in the home with a sense of responsibility and sensitivity comparable to that of the mothers. Implications are discussed.     

The role of community in facilitating service utilization

Guided by an integrated theory of parent participation, this study examines the role community characteristics play in influencing a parent's decision to use voluntary child abuse prevention programs. Multiple regression techniques were used to determine if different community characteristics, such as neighborhood distress and the community's ratio of caregivers to those in need of care, predict service utilization levels in a widely available home visiting program. Our findings suggest that certain community characteristics are significant predictors of the extent to which families utilize voluntary family supports over and above the proportion of variance explained by personal characteristics and program experiences. Contrary to our initial assumptions, however, new parents living in the most disorganized communities received more home visits than program participants living in more organized communities. The article concludes with recommendations on how community capacity building might be used to improve participant retention.     

The Role of Community in Facilitating Service Utilization

SUMMARY

Guided by an integrated theory of parent participation, this study examines the role community characteristics play in influencing a parent's decision to use voluntary child abuse prevention programs. Multiple regression techniques were used to determine if different community characteristics, such as neighborhood distress and the community's ratio of caregivers to those in need of care, predict service utilization levels in a widely available home visiting program. Our findings suggest that certain community characteristics are significant predictors of the extent to which families utilize voluntary family supports over and above the proportion of variance explained by personal characteristics and program experiences. Contrary to our initial assumptions, however, new parents living in the most disorganized communities received more home visits than program participants living in more organized communities. The article concludes with recommendations on how community capacity building might be used to improve participant retention.     

心灵的开启与去蔽--例说侗民族的处境意识与以邻为善观

侗民族属百越民族后裔,在对待邻居(包括作为人的"邻居"、作为自然的"邻居",以及观念世界里作为"神鬼"、"精灵"的"邻居")的态度上,其特点是以一种自我显露和胸襟敞开的"无蔽"与"去蔽"方式去展开与"他者"的对话.本文主要以侗民族"如何和为何相信鬼魂"为例,对观念形态中的"宇宙五界"说及其"处境意识"和"以邻为善"观之形成,作价值维度与理论意义的描述与探究.     

Free-Standing Doctoral Programs in Community Psychology

We examined school sense of community (SSOC) between university students who are first-generation U.S. citizens (n = 936) or students who are non-first-generation U.S. citizens (n = 3,556), and between first-generation college students (n = 1,114) and students who are non-first-generation college students (n = 3,378), both attending an urban and diverse Roman Catholic university. Participants reported their SSOC and whether the school was innovative and inclusive, examining whether a higher sense of school community and positive notions of one's campus mission related to being a first-generation U.S. citizen or a first-generation college student. Results showed that a lack of belongingness may lead to lower academic achievement, school dropouts, and less school involvement. Future research should explore why there is a differing impact on school sense of community and campus mission perception for students who are first-generation U.S. citizens or first-generation college students.     

Child and Parent Perspectives on Routes to and from School in High Crime Neighborhoods

Abstract

This study examined children's understanding of the danger and potential harm they face while traveling to and from school in two urban neighborhoods with high crime and violence rates. A qualitative methodology was used to explore how students negotiate danger or potential harm within the context of their routes to and from school.Structured interviews with three hundred seventy-seven second, fourth, sixth, and eighth graders (and 106 of their parents) were analyzed utilizing an inductive coding process (emergent themes). When students were asked to discuss the safety of their school routes, emergent themes included student's fear/awareness of death, fear of violence/victimization, and fear of gangs. Students also mentioned getting driven to school and better monitoring as ways that their school routes could be made safer. Parents discussed similar fears and concerns as their children. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

公安机关居民安全感调查中存在的问题与对策

在社情民意调查手段中,居民安全感调查是利用定量和定性相结合的方法进行犯罪受害恐惧心理感受的调查研究工作。居民安全感调查有助于公安机关收集民意,使决策资源＂从群众中来＂,打造服务型公安机关,更好地执行群众路线。目前在居民安全感调查中仍然存在认识不清、重视不够、人才缺乏、经验不足和监控不力等方面的问题,严重影响了居民安全感。针对存在的主要问题,公安机关应从人才培养、健全监控机制等方面采取有效对策加以解决。     

Evolvement of Citizenship in Urban China or Authoritarian Communitarianism? Neighborhood development,community participation,and autonomy

Frequently, civil society is identified with an increase of associational life. Yet, in this article it is argued that the emerging of citizens and citizenship is a vital precondition for developing a civil society. Here I will focus on a concept of citizenship grounded in a local context. Accordingly, it focuses on both the public discourse on citizenship and the institutional effects with regard to citizenship generated by the establishment of urban neighborhood communities and the enhancement of participation. The author's hypothesis is that by virtue of newly established neighborhood communities in urban areas, a gradual transition from ‘masses’ to citizens seems to manifest itself. This transition process will be examined in four central fields: (a) community participation and grassroots elections; (b) self-administration (autonomy) and the attitudes of residents thereto; (c) the growth of individual autonomy; and (d) value engineering by the party state. As the institutional preconditions for a civil society in China are widely lacking, the party-state conceives its role in initiating them. It is precisely the combination of the top-down establishing of neighborhood communities and grassroots elections, mobilized participation and volunteers, which gives evidence of the party-state's intention to generate structures of an (illiberal and controlled) civil society. Citizen status has not yet been fully achieved in China; yet the state-led activation in urban neighborhood communities shows that the political leadership has decided to chart this course. Finally the article classifies the concept of neighborhood communities as a model of ‘authoritarian communitarianism’.     

Attitudes of a community members as a function of participatory research with Oxford Houses

Citizen participation in research may include involvement in generating original ideas, planning appropriate designs, collecting data, and helping to implement interventions. Unfortunately, little is known about the attitudes of the community members who participate in such research processes. In the present exploratory study, a team of community members (4 men, 3 women; age > 30 years old) who were employed as investigator research associates to evaluate an innovative substance abuse recovery home were asked for their perspectives about their involvement in the research effort. Findings indicated that these community members felt their participation was a positive experience. Moreover, while their understanding and sense of participation in the research process increased, their identification and affiliation with their support organization was not reduced. Results imply that there is a need to better understand how citizen members of community organizations are affected by their involvement in the research process.     

The Evolution of Civil Society in Yunnan Province: contending models of civil society management in China

This article examines the evolution of the Yunnan model of civil society management, and through a pretest–posttest research design, finds that new regulations in 2010 create a larger role for the local state in developing civil society. These changes bring the Yunnan model closer to the more supervised model of social management pioneered by Beijing and away from the more autonomous model exemplified by Guangdong. This has important implications for the future regulation and development of civil society as the central government debates adopting one of these models as a national system of social management. While both the Guangdong and Beijing models encourage relaxing registration requirements, the social management model in Yunnan develops new channels for state guidance of civil society such as government training, funding, and project collaboration or supervision.     

Empowerment in a Religious Setting

Abstract

This study examines the correlates and contexts of empowerment among members of a Christian, nondenominational religious setting. The research approach combines participant-observation and measurement development methodology to capture the empowering aspects of religious experience in a form which lends itself to quantitative analysis, without excessive loss of the phenomenological meaning ofthat experience. The criterion of empowerment is progress toward a salient goal of members-interpersonal behavior change in the direction of group ideals (i.e., in the direction of becoming more like Jesus). Present and retrospective past measurement of perceived interpersonal behavior yielded eight predictor variables from member peer, self-report, and interviewer sources. These variables include religious orientation, locus of control. spiritual experience, group involvement, and religious history. The relationship of the predictors to interpersonal behavior change was assessed in canonical correlation analyses. Results from multiple data sources find that those seen by themselves and by others as empowered are committed to a relationship with God and with others in the setting. They may be described, in part, as experiencing a “psychological sense of community.” In addition, they report a life crisis prior to joining the setting and a sense that God is in control of the events of their life. Follow-up data, three years later, finds a relationship between commitment and life satisfaction. Two years of participant-observation provide hypotheses, consistent with several psychological theories, for suggesting salient setting variables which provide a context for understanding the results.     

Creating a home to promote recovery: the physical environments of Oxford House

The interior and exterior physical characteristics of substance abuse recovery program dwellings (11 woman, 44 men) from three geographic sections of the United States were assessed at creating a "house-as-home" for residents. Although each house was independently governed and operated by residents, results indicated vast similarities among the interior characteristics, amenities, and structural aspects. These rented dwellings also had similar well-maintained exterior characteristics, despite their geographic locations. Follow-up interviews of former residents indicated that these house characteristics and amenities helped create a sense of home not found in traditional institutional facilities. Results suggested that residents of self-governed independently operated recovery houses may create and maintain safe and sober settings that elicit a sense of home among residents.     

Social Justice and the University Community: Does Campus Involvement Make a Difference?

We examined perceptions on school sense of community and social justice attitudes among undergraduates (N = 427; 308 women, 115 men; M age = 19.72, SD = 1.91), and how year in school and club membership affected these constructs. Results demonstrated that involvement with a greater number of clubs was associated with having a stronger school sense of community and more positive social justice attitudes. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that year in school did not significantly predict social justice attitudes. Results suggested that greater involvement and sense of school belonging might be linked to social justice attitudes.     

农村人居环境改善与妇女发展的关系思考--基于对河北农村妇女参与文明生态村建设的考察

本文认为,落后的农村人居环境是制约农民生活质量的改善和和持续发展的重要因素,而文明生态村建设为发挥农村妇女潜能,参与改善农村人居环境提供了很好的平台,她们既是积极的建设者,也是主要的受益者。但基层农村社会男性领导者对女性作用的忽视,在很大程度上限制了妇女潜能的发挥。因此,在改善妇女居住的生态环境的同时,更重要的是改善性别平等的人文社会环境。