Social Work with West Indian Families

SUMMARY

This conceptual analysis explores the psychosocial and cultural experiences of English-speaking West Indians in the United States. Relevant factors include family role changes; parent/child conflicts; prolonged separation from and reunification with parents; finding suitable employment and education-related issues. The challenge for social work is to develop programs for these families that contribute to their social and economic integration. Given the extent to which social, economic and related policies impact on the needs of this population, the author suggests that a multilevel approach which utilizes the micro skills associated with individual intervention and the macro strategies of intervening at the societal and institutional levels is needed. This approach necessarily includes activities such as advocacy and empowerment.     

Rights and Advocacy in Research with East Timorese Asylum Seekers in Australia

Abstract

This paper aims to derive lessons from a retrospective and comparative analysis of two previously unconnected projects that assessed the well-being of East Timorese asylum seekers residing in Australia. Despite disciplinary differences between psychiatry and social science research, overlapping philosophies and approaches emphasizing human rights and well-being paradigms were adopted. Drawing on these experiences, we explore the unique circumstances of East Timorese asylum seekers in Australia, and the applicability and positive effects of human rights-focused research and related methodologies including researcher-advocacy research amongst minority groups exposed to trauma and ongoing political pressures. Key issues examined include the complexities of adopting multi-method frameworks of investigation; individual and collective benefits in responding to a need for direct intervention, challenges in engaging an alienated community, and the need to frame the research and the intervention in an historical and political context. In addition, the process allowed us to confront some key challenges in the field, especially the relevance of traumatic stress and its treatment in assisting marginalized asylum seekers.     

European‐Chinese relations in the Nineties

In recent decades, there have been many international campaigns on numerous issues. In turn, scholars have analysed the activist networks promoting human rights, environmental quality and global justice, developing theories of transnational advocacy, strategies and outcomes. However, analysts have seldom noted that the ‘progressive’ networks on which these theories have been based seldom act unopposed. Instead, on numerous global issues leftwing groups face fierce opposition from networks of rightwing activists. This article provides examples of such clashes, focusing on these understudied conservative networks. In addition, it outlines a theory for understanding the conflict of networks over many policy issues.     

Who Advocates? Determinants of Political Advocacy in Presidential Election Years

Political discussion research often focuses on general discussion without analyzing interesting subsets of interpersonal communication, such as political advocacy. Political advocacy is crucial to study because it is where citizens make clear statements of their beliefs when trying to influence others, which democratic theorists cite as valuable in spreading information in discussion networks. In this project, we test theoretically relevant determinants of political advocacy, focusing on campaign spending. Using multilevel logistic regression models of American National Election Study survey data from presidential elections between 1976 and 2008, we find that campaign spending correlates with an increase in the likelihood of advocating. We also find that the likelihood of being an advocate correlates with greater political discussion, television usage, interest in politics, partisanship, efficacy, and socioeconomic status. Additionally, we break these results down by party spending and party identification, and find differentiated results by party. Generally, these results show how the electoral environment shapes interpersonal communication.     

论消费者的责任

近年来,西方一些国家的消费者政策发生了转换,消费者的知情权、消费者教育以及消费者的义务得以强化。国际社会还兴起了"消费者社会责任行动"。消费者责任实际上指的是消费者的义务,它分为消费者对自己的责任、对经营者的责任和对社会的责任三个方面。消费者保护法中应规定消费者的责任,但应仅限于消费者对自己和社会的责任,而不是对经营者的责任。作为消费者中的一个类别,金融消费者也应负相应的责任。     

金融消费者的法律定义

对"金融消费者"进行法律定义,应充分挖掘概念与制度之间的理论逻辑,根据制度内容来推导概念的内涵与外延。"金融消费者"概念的提出以及相关倾斜性保护制度的构建,是基于其与金融经营者之间"实力不对等、信息不对称"的理论预设。根据这一制度逻辑,顺应金融消费者保护的国际立法和监管趋势,并考虑我国国情,我国金融消费者应该是指"已经、正在或正打算购买、接受金融机构提供的金融商品或服务的自然人、法人和其他组织,但专业投资者除外"。     

分期付款购车保证保险基本法律问题探析

保证保险不同于信用保险和保证担保,它在分期付款购车中的应用值得认真探讨。     

SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH AND SOCIAL POLICY: BRIDGING THE GAP1

Clinical examples of misapplications of social science research are reviewed with an emphasis on what can be learned with regard to dealing with and preventing such misuse of this type of knowledge. The differences in language and culture that characterize scientific research as separate from advocacy and social policy are also examined, with recommendations for improved cross‐cultural communication.     

E‐campaigning: what it is and how to do it

Building community support for a candidate or a cause has traditionally been the essence of grass roots advocacy within the issues management process. And while political decisions in democracies are still made by the establishment, increasingly voters are expressing their views between elections on how an issue should be settled—and those who seek to retain political power are listening and responding. Corporations now need to adopt these tactics to show community support and to gain a legitimate seat at the table when decisions are made. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications     

消费文化语境下的女性主体书写——半夏小说论

半夏是云南当代本土女作家,其小说文本具有"都市""时尚""物恋"等特点,体现出现代女性独立自足的主体意识。这些特点与作家的心理结构相关联,更是1990年代以来我国消费社会文化语境的产物。