When is a Child not a Child and Other Questions—A Commonwealth-wide Overview

Abstract

Although international human rights instruments assume a universalism of application and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is one of the most ratified instruments in the world and therefore most likely to have global if not universal application, in fact understandings of childhood and definitions of ‘child’ or ‘children’ are very variable not just in different social and cultural contexts but in laws as well. This creates a number of challenges for formulating cross-boundary policies and programmes, because on the one hand these differences cannot be ignored, but on the other hand they should not be seen as insurmountable barriers to the advocacy and promotion of children’s rights. This paper presents an overview of difference and similarity in the Commonwealth and considers some of the challenges that these may present in formulating strategies for international organisations such as the Commonwealth.     

Collective action and social contagion: Community gardens as a case study

Institutions for collective action (ICAs), comprising individuals that informally organize to manage collective resources, have gained recognition as a significant means of informal governance of common resources alongside the more formal schemes of privatization and top-down regulation. Using the case study of community gardens, this article locates ICAs within the broader phenomenon of self-organization in complex systems, and inquires whether ICAs exhibit dynamics of social contagion and diffuse in accordance with patterns that prevail in self-organized complex systems. Applying quantitative methods derived from the field of complexity, we measure the temporal, spatial, and spatiotemporal diffusion of community gardens in the city of Jerusalem. The results suggest that the spread of community gardens in the urban space displays patterns of self-organization and social contagion. More generally, these findings suggest that ICAs may scale from the micro to the macro level in a bottom-up, self-expanding manner, while maintaining the advantages of local, commons-based arrangements. This perspective carries significant policy implications, and highlights the potential use of ICAs as a means for the governance of public resources, not only on a local, micro scale but also on a more global scale.     

巴西乡村发展政策法规特征研究

巴西是拉丁美洲面积最大的国家,近年来经济发展迅猛,已经成为“金砖四国”之一,其国内的政治、经济、法律制度日益引起国际社会的广泛关注。巴西在乡村发展方面所制定的政策和法规,为巴西乡村社会的发展起到了指引和规范作用。我国的乡村发展模式与巴西有所不同,我国在乡村发展法制建设方面应特别关注农村地区土地兼并问题,应通过集约化经营和统分结合的双层经营体制,来保证我国乡村地区社会和经济发展的稳定性。     

转型期农村青年人生价值观的分化与整合

社会转型时期,农村社会发生了翻天覆地的变化,农村青年作为农村中思想解放而有活力的群体,其人生价值观出现了明显的分化。为准确把握农村青年人生价值观的现状及存在问题,笔者于近期开展了相关调查。通过分析农村青年人生价值观的分化现状和深层次原因,提出以社会主义核心价值观为引领,采取系列措施来整合农村青年价值观的建议。     

青年志愿服务之“品牌服务链”的构建与反思

青年志愿服务符合社会发展的内在要求,而具有市场运作性、最大程度的参与性、资源整合性、助人自助性等特点的“品牌服务链”适应着青年志愿服务的发展需求,其建构模式包括社会需求及市场成效评估、品牌创建与管理、品牌扩张与服务链形成三个部分。培养庞大的社会工作队伍,建立“品牌服务链”社会支持网,争取国家财政与政策支持,能更有效地促进“服务链”的建构与青年志愿服务的长效发展。     

浅议网络成瘾对青少年社会化的影响

要了解网络成瘾对青少年社会化的影响,首先必须了解造成青少年网络成瘾的社会背景和原因。在信息时代,青少年在学习、交友、家庭教育等方面不可避免地会遇到大量的问题和冲突,这也大大增加了他们惠上网络成瘾的可能性。青少年一旦成为网络成瘾者,他们的正常社会化进程将受到严重影响,具体表现在社会权威的树立、社会角色的形成、社会交往的模式三个方面。     

Can Cohort Replacement Explain Changes in the Relationship Between Age and Homicide Offending?

This paper focuses on shifts in the age distribution of homicide offending in the United States. This distribution remained remarkably stable with small but significant changes over a long period of time. Then between 1985 and 1990 the rates of homicide offending doubled for 15-to-19 year olds and increased nearly 40% for 20-to-24 year olds, while the homicide offending rates decreased for those over 30. In addition to this “epidemic of youth homicide,” which lasted through the mid-1990s, there have been systematic changes in the age distribution of homicide in the United States associated with cohort replacement over the past 40 years. We introduce an estimable function approach for estimating the effects of age, period, and cohort. The method allows us to assess simultaneously the impacts of periods and cohorts on the age distribution of homicide offending. We find that although the age curve remains relatively stable, there are shifts in it associated systematically with cohort replacement. Cohort replacement accounts for nearly half of the upturn in youth homicides during the epidemic of youth homicides, but a significant fraction of that upturn is not associated with cohort replacement.

社会保障普通法权利初探

社会保障普通法权利是指宪法以外的其他普通法所规范的具体的社会保障权.从世界社会保障立法的历史溯源来看,社会保障普通法权利的种类趋于全面、综合,覆盖范围逐渐扩展到全体社会成员.社会保障普通法权利具有自身的特征与规范效力,因此,有必要加强和完善社会保障普通法的制度建设.然而,我国社会保障普通法权利在法律渊源、权利范围、资金来源、规范效力等方面存在着城乡不公,确立社会保障普通法权利制度的城乡一体化目标与方向将是我国构建和谐社会,发挥社会保障民生保障作用的必然要求.     

青年文化建设的内涵和视域

当代中国青年文化是现代与传统的对话与互融,是青年文化内涵的重构与创新,是青年时代精神、价值观念的重构。内容上既要坚持教育性又要体现传统与时尚相结合。     

论城镇文化广场的价值

近年来,许多城镇纷纷兴建文化广场。城镇文化广场可以传承地域历史文化,有利于整合地域文化资源,构建城镇文化生态,优化城镇土地资源配置,可以探索文化产业发展的道路,有利于促进、繁荣地域文化市场,为城镇居民提供休闲娱乐场所,有利于构建和谐社会,能够增强城镇地域凝聚力与向心力。我们必须重视和大力进行城镇文化广场建设。