The paradox of parental participation and legal representation in ‘edge of care’ meetings

This paper assesses the nature of parental participation and legal representation in pre‐proceedings meetings in England and Wales. These are called when a local authority is considering care proceedings on a child. The parent(s) are invited to a meeting to discuss the concerns, and are entitled to attend with a lawyer. The paper draws on findings from a study of the process which included a file survey of over 200 cases, observations of 36 meetings and interviews with more than 90 key informants, including parents. The aim of the process is (usually) to reach an agreement to prevent the case going to court, but the families are usually well known to children's services, and have been through many meetings and agreements before. What then are the possibilities for parental participation and legal representation in the meetings? The study shows that they may help bring a greater degree of clarity to the local authority's proposals, but are not expected to challenge them. Paradoxically, they serve to reinforce the authority's position. The meetings can help divert cases, but it is important to be realistic about the chances of change in these often long‐standing ‘edge of care’ cases.     

Collective empowerment: A comparative study of community work in Mumbai and Stockholm

Mumbai and Stockholm are worlds apart in terms of public services, infrastructures and standard of living. However, both cities have known common problems of social exclusion and marginalisation related to neo‐liberal globalisation. Social workers are facing similar challenges regarding collective empowerment as a strategy for community work. This comparative study explored how collective empowerment is undertaken by community workers. The research participants were 13 informants from community‐work organisations in the two settings. Semi‐structured interviews were used and were analysed with the help of Atlas‐ti 6.2 (ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH D‐10623 Berlin Germany). Social work in Mumbai is in a context of extreme poverty and mainly within the informal sector, whereas in Stockholm most social work is done in relation to a public welfare model. In Stockholm, interventions are aimed towards strengthening social networks, without direct aim at social change. In Mumbai, community workers organise people for collective empowerment to strengthen marginalised groups and achieve social change.     

Children taken into care and custody and the ‘troubled families’ agenda in England

Children taken into care and custody are arguably the most vulnerable and problematic groups within the wider debate and responses developing to the ‘troubled families’ agenda in England. They represent what the state most wants to avoid when it intervenes in the life of a family. This paper is based on an analysis of the service involvement and needs of the 196 children taken into care or custody over a 3‐year period (2008–2011) in one city local authority in England. The research was undertaken to inform the response to prevention of entry into care and custody which was the original focus of the most intensive part of the troubled families programme in the city. Interviews with 10 senior professionals from a range of agencies involved in setting up this local programme, explored the way the emerging troubled families agenda was shaping ideas about the understanding of and response to the needs of these children and their families. Key findings of the study illustrate the range and complexity of need as well as the sequence and amount of agency involvement. Professionals were often critical of the thinking behind the troubled families agenda, but were positive and creative about new ways of working with these families.     

我国商业银行流动性风险压力测试

商业银行流动性风险在2007年金融危机之后越来越受国际银行业的重视。我国自2009年3月正式加入巴塞尔银行监管委员会后,积极推进新的风险监管标准。流动性风险压力测试是一种前瞻性的定量分析方法,它能预测极端经济情景下,商业银行的流动性风险承受能力,并做出针对性的经营政策调整,预防流动性风险。虽然众多金融机构在金融危机后开始重视此测试,由于起步太晚,测试中在因子选择,模型构建和数据的完整性上与国际水平有一定差距。通过商业银行流动性风险压力测试的实证分析,提出了相应的政策建议。     

Capitalizing the Crisis? Explanatory Factors for the Design of Short‐time Work across Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development Countries

This article looks at the financial and economic crisis 2008–10 in 18 Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development states and seeks to investigate explanatory paths for the subsidization of further education within short‐time work programmes. Several hypotheses are put to the test: first, a classical partisan difference argument; second, a varieties of capitalism approach proposing a successful joint rallying of employers and employees for subsidization in coordinated market economies; and, lastly, the merged hypothesis that right‐wing parties in a coordinated economic context might subsidize feeling the pressure to overcompensate an ‘issue ownership’ of left parties in the field of employee‐friendly policies. We identify four explanatory paths: coordinated economies in the sample subsidized when they were economically closed or highly indebted. The results also support our combined hypothesis, that New Zealand – a left‐governed liberal market economy – and right‐governed coordinated market economies of the non‐Scandinavian type subsidized.     

Religion and parenting: ignored relationship?

Even though the social work profession has been increasingly sensitized to the spiritual needs of those that they are working with, recent history has demonstrated that professionals lack the knowledge and skills needed for understanding those who are subscribing to strong religious beliefs. The research reported in this paper draws on a qualitative study that examined the perceived caregiving practice of parents from the Seventh‐day Adventist faith community associated with the conservative Protestant sub‐culture. Twenty‐five participants aged 20–50 were invited to recall their experiences of being reared by practicing Adventist parents in the UK. An integrative phenomenological analysis yielded a number of themes that shed light on the relationship between religion and parenting. This paper will focus on the three key ideas that emerged: parenting was influenced by beliefs that parents held; a combination of warm and strict parenting was found with some evidence of stricter upbringing amongst black respondents; responses to parenting reported varied between acceptance and discomfort. The study gave valuable insight into individuals' experiences of a religious upbringing received within a secular environment.     

The development and management of social workers in Ethiopia: A situational analysis

Social protection has become a policy of choice to address rising vulnerabilities and inequalities in Africa. Successful implementation of social protection polices requires proliferation of competent social workers. This article first abstracts elements of an emerging international norm in a comprehensive system for the development and management of social workers and then reviews the extent to which Ethiopia has introduced these elements. It reveals that Ethiopia is in a very early stage in putting in place almost all identified elements of such a system. Recent measures that the Ethiopian government is taking to address this gap are highlighted by way of conclusion.     

Challenges of social workers' involvement in the recovery of the 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake in China

This article explores the challenges of social workers' involvement in recovery work of the 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake (12 May 2008). Six social workers working in three social work stations in Sichuan, China, were asked to report the challenges they faced in working with disaster survivors. Findings reveal that the social workers faced many challenges. These include lack of government support, low professional status of social work, rapid changes in the social environment in disaster‐affected areas, lack of supervision, lack of cooperation and coordination among social service agencies, and lack of experience and knowledge in working with disaster survivors. The practical, educational and policy implications of the findings are addressed.     

Living Close to a Person With Cancer: A Review of the International Literature and Implications for Social Work Practice

To help family caregivers (FCs), social workers need to understand the complexity of FC’s experiences and challenges. For this systematic review, several relevant, multidisciplinary electronic databases were searched. Of 1,643 titles identified, 108 articles met the inclusion criteria and are included in this review. Various experiences, symptoms, and burden related to caregiving responsibilities are described and discussed. The understanding evolving from this study about the FC’s own health risk, caregiver burden, and experiences over time can enhance a social worker’s awareness of an FC’s challenging situation and the potential impact this has on the FC’s ability to provide care to the patient.     

Virtual Communities of Practice in Social Group Work Education

Virtual communities of practice are an international phenomenon in social work around the world. However, they are rare in social work in the United States. This article describes an online community, the Social Group Work Commons, designed to complement courses in social group work. Using Web 2.0 Internet tools, such as blogs, discussion boards, and chats, the developers employed group work skills to help students establish a vehicle for mutual support as students struggled to integrate course content in their field placements. Examples from course blogs indicate students became increasingly intimate in their online exchanges over time and readily provided each other support in applying course content in their practice.