Families in multi-problem situations: Backgrounds,characteristics, and care services

The article reviews practical experiences and theoretical reflections from the Dutch child and youth care sector on the provision of care for families with multiple problems. Emphasis is laid upon the complex relations between socioeconomic and psychosocial problems, and subsequent issues that may arise in arranging child and youth care. Furthermore, the current state of discussion in program development for the target group in the Netherlands is introduced. The originally English concept of families with multiple problems has been used only modestly in German-speaking countries. This is remarkable from an international perspective, especially considering the re-emerging prominence of social policies that define families as a site of social work practice in English-speaking countries. We conclude that the themes, as derived from our review open up possibilities for further international comparisons, and can provide valuable reference for the transnational discourse about child and youth care services for families with multiple problems.     

Internal factors of intermunicipal cooperation: what matters most and why?

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the internal aspects of intermunicipal cooperation, providing a new and innovative approach to the cost effectiveness of municipal waste management. We examine a sample of 658 municipalities in the Czech Republic’s South Moravian Region and 205 cooperating municipalities separately during 2012–2014. The results, based on ordinary least-squares regression, show that cost reduction is significantly influenced by the institutional arrangement of intermunicipal cooperation, the participation of municipal representatives in management, and professional managers. The paper shows that a crucial role in cost reduction is played by internal factors that have been investigated only marginally so far. Cost increases are related to municipality sizes larger than 10,000 inhabitants and to profit-oriented behaviours of waste collection companies. The results differ in the size samples of municipalities; only the impact of institutional arrangement is significant in all groups of municipalities.     

Rediscovering corruption’s other side: bribing for peace in post-conflict Kosovo and Chechnya

Conventional approaches towards the impact of corruption on post-conflict stabilization suggest that corrupt practices impede a successful war to peace transition. When transparency and accountability are absent, the risk of corruption threatens to turn the state apparatus into a tool of enrichment for those in power and affect the “exit” from violence/insurgency towards demobilization and reintegration. However, corruption may have redeeming values by serving the function of a power-sharing arrangement between antagonistic parties, thereby, reinforcing peace. Radical anti-corruption programs in post-conflicts situations may bring adverse results such as a renewal of violence. Aimed to fill the void in research on corruption in post-conflict situations, the article inquires about the links between corruption, peacebuilding and violent non-state actors. By combining various disciplinary approaches, the article theorizes the outcomes of corruption in post-conflict situations and discusses them in the context of Kosovo and Chechnya.     

Police Involvement in Incidents of Physical Assault: Analysis of the Redesigned National Crime Victimization Survey

Police involvement in incidents of physical assaults against women has been the subject of considerable research. There is still some debate, however, about the relationship between the social structure of the incident and the level of involvement of the criminal justice system. Using the Redesigned National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS; U.S. Department of Justice, 1997), this paper looks at several different dimensions of the criminal justice system's involvement in physical assaults against women including calling the police, police response, and arrest. Results suggest that police were more likely to become involved in first time incidents of physical assaults against women and incidents that involved injury. Differences between models, however, suggested that the involvement of the criminal justice system is a multidimensional process.     

Mapping the consumption of government communication: a qualitative study in Germany

Successful communication between citizens and government is critical for the effective implementation of governance. Although government communication is highly relevant to society, few governments fully exploit the potential benefits of the direct communication instruments at their disposal. To establish foundations for encouraging various forms of government communication, this article starts by examining its reception among German focus groups and thus offering general implications for successful, citizen‐sensitive government communication. The results suggest the need for better articulation of interests in government communication, such that they appear more egalitarian, closer to the citizen, and online—that is, successful government communication demands considerable proximity to citizens, interactive feedback channels, and systematic participation by citizens in political processes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

THE MEANING OF DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

Prevailing paradigms of macro‐economic management and levels and distributions of poverty in some rich countries suggest that economic and strategic self‐interest rather than poverty reduction in poor countries are likely to be the primary objectives of much development assistance. The incommensurability of the paradigms of development discourse makes it unlikely that strongly held ideologically based positions on these matters will change quickly or easily. Moreover, non‐altruistic positions can be maintained more readily by virtue of the loose construction of international declarations such as the Paris Declaration. Based on different interpretations of the Paris Declaration, empirical evidence from Cambodia and Indonesia of donor opportunism that is designed to maximise aid control and aid distinctiveness for non‐altruistic purposes is presented. Recent sharp declines in donor legitimacy have made this more difficult to do, but even so, there have been no concomitant reductions in donor self‐assurance concerning their exclusive possession of the moral and technical high ground. Such behaviour is, however, increasingly resented particularly by government officials in lower middle‐income countries like Indonesia. Resulting relationships lack trust and are therefore unlikely to contribute optimally either to the realisation of non‐altruistic purposes or to poverty reduction. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Irrationality,Liminality and the Demand for Illicit Firearms in the Balkans and the North Caucasus

Most conventional approaches to the study of arms trafficking are grounded on the assumption that people are rational and always seek the most cost-effective means to achieve a goal. This article discusses the illicit firearms markets in the Balkans and the North Caucasus—the regions in which trafficking of illicit firearms has been flourishing since the early 1990s. By studying the demand side of this illicit market, it provides some possible explanations as to why numerous arms reduction measures have had limited results. It argues that cultural attitudes, socio-political complexity and emotions could explain much of the “irrational” behavior of those demanding weapons in these regions. The article contributes to the scholarly debate on the applicability of the rational choice theory-inspired arms reduction policies in highly textured sociocultural contexts. It is an effort to construct multifaceted conceptualization of human choice that focuses not only on the functionality of firearms but also on their symbolic and situational meaning.