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This study reviews the literature published on job crafting using bibliometric techniques. It utilizes the papers published on the topic from 1990 to 2023, retrieved from the Scopus database. The purpose of the paper is to draw the intellectual, conceptual and social structure of the field of research on job crafting. It uses the bibliometric method to review the literature on "job crafting." The findings of the study reveal both the micro and macro aspect of the research published so far such as Europe is the epicenter of research on the topic, while experiments and questionnaires a popular choice in methods adopted. This review gives a unique view of the past and outlines a number of future directions for research on the topic and it will be of interest to existing scholars in the field as well as doctoral students who might be interested in the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with the logistic planning, the important focus of international student mobility programmes in social work is on the field supervision process and measuring its outcome. Without a social work council in India for setting uniform standards in field education, this paper proposes a framework for field supervision to support inbound mobility students in India. The study predominantly explores the qualitative experiences of field supervisors from India, Israel, and Australia on fieldwork supervision. The themes evolved from the study are focused on the supervision process, strategies followed, challenges faced, and outcome measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between an individual's financial behavior and financial satisfaction is well known. Less evidence is available about how these two constructs interplay within couples. This considered, the current paper aims to (a) examine whether individuals' financial satisfaction is influenced by their own financial behavior (actor effect) and their partner's financial behavior (partner effect); (b) examine whether these two effects vary between husbands and wives; and (c) verify how couples' bank account status (i.e., only joint bank accounts, only separate bank accounts, both joint and separate bank accounts) moderate these effects. The current study draws 1,475 heterosexual early married couples from Couple Relationships and Transition Experiences study and modeled dyadic data through an Actor Partner Interdependence Model. Results indicate that actor's financial behavior is associated only with one's own financial satisfaction (actor effect) and not one's partner's financial satisfaction (partner effect). This holds for both wives and husbands. Furthermore, individuals who hold only joint bank account(s) are more likely to have financial behaviors similar to their partner than individuals who hold only separate bank accounts or both joint and separate accounts. Couples who hold only separate accounts are more likely to engage in less positive financial behavior than their counterparts. Implications for relationship therapists and financial professionals are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feminism provides a worldview with innovative possibilities for scholarship and activism on behalf of families and intimate relationships. As a flexible framework capable of engaging with contentious theoretical ideas and the urgency of social change, feminism offers a simultaneous way to express an epistemology (knowledge), a methodology (the production of knowledge), an ontology (one's subjective way of being in the world), and a praxis (the translation of knowledge into actions that produce beneficial social change). Feminist family science, in particular, advances critical, intersectional, and queer approaches to examine the uses and abuses of power and the multiple axes upon which individuals and families are privileged, marginalized, and oppressed in diverse social contexts. In this paper, I embrace feminism as a personal, professional (academic), and political project and use stories from my own life to illuminate broader social-historical structures, processes, and contexts associated with gender, race, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, nationality, and other systems of social stratification. I provide a brief history and reflections on contemporary feminist theory and activism, particularly from the perspective of my disciplinary affiliation of feminist family science. I address feminism as an intersectional perspective through three themes: (a) theory: defining a critical feminist approach, (b) method: critical feminist autoethnographic research, and (c) praxis: transforming feminist theory into action. I conclude with takeaway messages for incorporating reflexivity and critical consciousness raising to provoke thought and action in the areas of personal, professional, and political change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented which discusses articles on topics including perspectives within relationship science and social psychology; and study of interpersonal violence, and maltreatment novel insights when approached from traditional perspectives within the violence and aggression field.

There is growing recognition that "human development" frameworks, such as the Capabilities Approach (CA) with its emphasis on the promotion of justice, offer promise for guiding efforts aimed at enhancing mental wellbeing. This article explores challenges that might arise when there is a need to arbitrate among the competing demands of different parties in their efforts to enhance capabilities. Particular tensions can arise when the efforts of particular individuals to enhance their capabilities exert pressure on scarce resources, or threaten the safety and security of people living in precarious environmental contexts. Consideration is given to the need for "an ethos of restraint" to balance the consumption of resources aimed at facilitating human development on the one hand, with the need to promote environmental justice on the other. The paper highlights research that has investigated how environmental factors can impact on mental wellbeing, including rapid urbanization, climate change related issues (such as weather systems, drought, food insecurity and rising sea-levels), and access to "green/blue spaces". As such, the paper explores the important links that can exist between people and the ecosystems in which they live (including the way in which particular cultural beliefs and practices of indigenous groups can be tethered to the land). Elinor Ostrom's "design principles", derived from her work investigating the sustainable use of pooled resources, are presented as a helpful means of assisting members of communities to negotiate and apply "functioning constraints", which can promote environmental justice whilst not compromising efforts aimed at promoting mental wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to map and analyse the conceptual and thematic structure of library and information science (LIS) research from the perspective of the co-word analysis. The bibliographical records consist of all the research papers published in the LIS core journals between 1990 and 2016 and indexed in Web of Science. 'CiteSpace' was used to visualise the co-word network of LIS studies. The frequency of co-occurrence and centrality scores in the overall structure of the field showed that the word 'Science' is the most significant and pivotal keyword among the nodes in the co-word network of LIS literature, and in this respect, the word 'Library' is in the second place. However, the results of the social network analysis uncovered that in spite of the high frequency of the word 'library', the pivotal role of the term has been exposed to decline over the time. The results of the analysis of co-word clusters showed that 'information seeking and retrieval' is the most important research focus in the intellectual structure of LIS literature during 1990-- 2016. Also, analysis of the hot spots of the LIS research based on Kleinberg algorithm indicated that the words 'Internet' and 'World Wide Web' have attracted the most attention by LIS scholars during the years under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labour market activation policies aimed at those with multiple barriers to employment require inter-agency collaboration between local organizations providing social and employment services. This local collaborative context is shaped by different institutional logics (state, markets, professions and community) that are crucial for policy implementation. Using case studies of nine German, UK and Swedish cities, it is argued that different institutional logics help shape the form and operation of local collaboration between different agencies and actors and thus the concrete support for service users at the local level. Although all three countries are characterized by centralized employment policies, each city shows a prevalence, but not exclusivity, of certain institutional logics over others. These differences, partly reflecting the local context, are likely to lead to local variations in understandings of solidarity, policy implementation, inter-agency collaboration and networks of actors and national–local tensions. The paper suggests that an institutional logics approach provides a useful framework for helping to understand local variations and potential national–local policy conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Country comparisons, often suffering from unobserved heterogeneity and obscuring subnational variation, dominate the social policy literature. However, the subnational level is better suited to reduce the omitted variable bias. This article distinguishes between social consumption and social investment policies and investigates their determinants at the subnational level. Following the literature across countries, we test the role of incumbent parties' ideology, but for within-country variation in social policy. Austria is a case in point because states have discretion in social policy (e.g., regarding public childcare and social assistance). Panel regressions covering all nine states in Austria for the years 1991 to 2019 reveal that the cabinet share of Social-Democrats increases social investment spending, while the Christian-Democratic party decreases it, and the populist radical right party reduces expenses for social consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The main aim of this study was to investigate the mutual relationship between perceptions of peer relationship quality and position in positive and negative peer networks among young people from late childhood to early adolescence. Method: A cross-lagged panel model of three waves of data was conducted using a large representative sample of Polish students from third grade to sixth grade (N = 4 673). Results: The results proved a reciprocal relationship between position in positive (Like) and negative (DisLike) peer networks and the perceived quality of peer relationships (PPI). The effect found of position on the perceived quality of peer relationships is in line with the existing state of knowledge. Since previous research has yielded divergent results, this demonstration of the prospective impact of perceived relationship quality on peer network position fills an important cognitive gap. The study also revealed the following: (1) in the first (W1→W2) and second period (W2→W3) the strength of the prospective effects of position in the peer network on its perceived quality (Like→PPI and DisLike→PPI), and the strength of the prospective effects of perceived quality on position (PPI→Like and PPI→DisLike), were not statistically significantly different; (2) the effect size of the cross-lagged coefficients ranged from small to medium; (3) all constructs showed greater stability in the second period than in the first; (4) in both periods stability of PPI was lower than the stability of sociometric indicators. Conclusion: This research confirms the presence of a self-reinforcing loop: a low position in peer networks→poor perceived quality of relations→decrease of position in peer networks. The findings are discussed in relation to the evolutionary theory of loneliness (ETL), which assumes a potentially active role of the perception of peer relationships in forming a position in a peer network. Practical implications of the results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aims: Missing patient-reported outcome data can lead to biased results, to loss of power to detect between-treatment differences, and to research waste. Awareness of factors may help researchers reduce missing patient-reported outcome data through study design and trial processes. The aim was to construct a Classification Framework of factors associated with missing patient-reported outcome data in the context of comparative studies. The first step in this process was informed by a systematic review. Methods: Two databases (MEDLINE and CINAHL) were searched from inception to March 2015 for English articles. Inclusion criteria were (a) relevant to patient-reported outcomes, (b) discussed missing data or compliance in prospective medical studies, and (c) examined predictors or causes of missing data, including reasons identified in actual trial datasets and reported on cover sheets. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts. Discrepancies were discussed with the research team prior to finalizing the list of eligible papers. In completing the systematic review, four particular challenges to synthesizing the extracted information were identified. To address these challenges, operational principles were established by consensus to guide the development of the Classification Framework. Results: A total of 6027 records were screened. In all, 100 papers were eligible and included in the review. Of these, 57% focused on cancer, 23% did not specify disease, and 20% reported for patients with a variety of non-cancer conditions. In total, 40% of the papers offered a descriptive analysis of possible factors associated with missing data, but some papers used other methods. In total, 663 excerpts of text (units), each describing a factor associated with missing patient-reported outcome data, were extracted verbatim. Redundant units were identified and sequestered. Similar units were grouped, and an iterative process of consensus among the investigators was used to reduce these units to a list of factors that met the guiding principles. The list was organized on a framework, using an iterative consensus-based process. The resultant Classification Framework is a summary of the factors associated with missing patient-reported outcome data described in the literature. It consists of 5 components (instrument, participant, centre, staff, and study) and 46 categories, each with one or more sub-categories or examples. Conclusion: A systematic review of the literature revealed 46 unique categories of factors associated with missing patient-reported outcome data, organized into 5 main component groups. The Classification Framework may assist researchers to improve the design of new randomized clinical trials and to implement procedures to reduce missing patient-reported outcome data. Further research using the Classification Framework to inform quantitative analyses of missing patient-reported outcome data in existing clinical trials and to inform qualitative inquiry of research staff is planned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article presents empirical evidence regarding factors that explain the involvement of social workers from minority groups in policy practice based on data from an extensive survey of social workers from the Arab minority group in Israel (n = 218). The findings revealed that the sociopolitical context of an ethnic minority significantly affects their involvement in policy practice. In order to increase the involvement of minority social workers in policy arenas in multicultural societies, professional bodies and social work training frameworks should provide social workers with knowledge resources and professional skills, including tailored organizational support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transnational commercial surrogacy is a form of medical tourism undertaken by intended parents in an attempt to seek surrogates in other countries. Most intended parents are from developed countries and seek their surrogates from developing countries, predominantly from South and Southeast Asia. This arrangement led to the establishment of surrogacy businesses in South and Southeast Asia, in countries such as India and Thailand. Subsequently, the business was banned in these countries, which led to a trend of moving it to neighbouring countries where there were no regulations or restrictions. This paper maps the movement of the industry and calls for attention to re-consider or re-frame commercial surrogacy in an international framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on the extant research, the current work outlines a comprehensive model of post-dissolution distress (CMPDD). The model integrates the previous research and includes both distal (static; e.g., controllability of breakup, relational anxiety) and proximal (dynamic; e.g., desiring reconciliation, coping, quality of alternatives) factors in predicting both initial distress and change in distress over time. Potential mediating mechanisms are also proposed. We conclude with a discussion of several ways the model could be potentially refined with empirical research to generate a more specific and parsimonious theory of PDD. Ultimately, testing and refining the model will provide insights on identifying those who will be more distressed following a breakup and highlight the factors that could be altered (e.g., contact with the partners, coping strategies) to best alleviate distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family policies not only provide money, time and infrastructure to families, but also convey normative assumptions about what is considered desirable or acceptable in paid work and family care. This study conceptualises and empirically investigates how priming respondents with brief media report-like information on existing day care policy entitlements and economic consequences of maternal employment interruptions may change personal normative judgements about parental work–care arrangements. Furthermore, we analyse whether these effects differ between groups of respondents assumed to vary in their degree of affectedness by the information as well as previous knowledge. The theoretical framework builds on the concept of normative policy feedback effects combined with social norm theory and human cognition theories. The study is based on a fully randomized survey experiment combined with a vignette experiment in Wave 12 of the German Family Panel (pairfam). It applies linear and ordinal logistic regressions with cluster-robust standard errors to a sample of 5,783 respondents. Our results suggest that priming respondents with information on day care policy and long-term economic risks of maternal employment interruptions increases acceptance of intensive day care use across the full sample and especially for mothers with children below school entry age. It further increases support for longer maternal hours spent in paid work among childless women and mothers with school-aged children. Norms regarding paternal working hours are largely unaffected by the information given in this survey experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social investment has gained increasing prominence in family policy reform. It has also been widely criticised from a feminist and social justice perspective. This article examines how the meaning of the family changes when it is seen as a site of investment. Using a discourse-analytical approach and focusing on agenda setting policy documents of Germany's 'sustainable family policy' this is explored in four dimensions: the extension and simultaneous narrowing of the meaning of family; the articulation of new gendered subjectivities; a redefinition of the boundaries between the family and the state; and new modes of differentiation between families according to their ability to 'produce' human capital. I argue that the traditional family loses its role as a normative reference point and is increasingly framed as a production site of human capital. Hence, more critical engagement with social and racialized inequalities, which are implied in these discourses, is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current efforts in global mental health (GMH) aim to address the inequities in mental health between low-income and high-income countries, as well as vulnerable populations within wealthy nations (e.g., indigenous peoples, refugees, urban poor). The main strategies promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other allies have been focused on developing, implementing, and evaluating evidence-based practices that can be scaled up through task-shifting and other methods to improve access to services or interventions and reduce the global treatment gap for mental disorders. Recent debates on global mental health have raised questions about the goals and consequences of current approaches. Some of these critiques emphasize the difficulties and potential dangers of applying Western categories, concepts, and interventions given the ways that culture shapes illness experience. The concern is that in the urgency to address disparities in global health, interventions that are not locally relevant and culturally consonant will be exported with negative effects including inappropriate diagnoses and interventions, increased stigma, and poor health outcomes. More fundamentally, exclusive attention to mental disorders identified by psychiatric nosologies may shift attention from social structural determinants of health that are among the root causes of global health disparities. This paper addresses these critiques and suggests how the GMH movement can respond through appropriate modes of community-based practice and ongoing research, while continuing to work for greater equity and social justice in access to effective, socially relevant, culturally safe and appropriate mental health care on a global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

North-to-south migration has been a persistent trend in Ghana. Yet the migrating population has recently shifted to become predominantly female and younger, with a significant increase in rural adolescent girls seeking employment in urban and peri-urban areas. For adolescents without strong networks of social and financial support, this practice can jeopardize their physical and mental health, putting them at risk of sexual victimization and economic exploitation. Building upon the work of cumulative risk and ecological systems theorists, this article examines the case of female adolescent load bearers (Kayayei) in Ghana, highlighting the need to develop and evaluate multi-component prevention efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal caregivers provide critical support to the growing population of individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). To assist caregivers, researchers' dominant theoretical model has been a stress and coping approach for nearly four decades. Although the stress and coping approach is appropriate for many caregivers, it may be too narrow a lens for understanding caregivers who are primarily focused on maintaining their relationship with their loved one and providing the highest quality of care. This study was designed to empirically explore Shared Identity Theory, which emphasizes the inherent value of the relationship between care partners ("shared identity") and how their shared identity relates to caregiver burden and exemplary care. This exploratory study examined Shared Identity Theory using structural equation modeling in a national sample of 263 informal ADRD caregivers. Our analyses provided support for an overall factor of Shared Identity that explained its four component factors (Communal Orientation, Communal Strength, Collective Identity, and Shared Goals). We then found that shared identity had a substantial positive relationship with exemplary care and a substantial negative relationship with caregiver burden. Shared identity seems to benefit both care recipients and the caregiving relationship. This study suggests the importance of expanding the scope of the caregiving literature to include a primary focus on this powerful relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The highly fragmented, layered and complex regulatory policy framework of the European Union hides a wealth of resources for social Europe. This article aims at exploring the social opportunities offered in this intricate legal framework on the basis of the resource-based understanding identified in the first contribution of this Special Issue by Corti, Ferrera and Keune. Accordingly, it pinpoints and discusses several guaranteed subjective powers to obtain certain social benefits or services in each of the pre-identified tripod of power resources: normative, instrumental and enforcement power resources. The analysis contradicts, to some extent, the negligible role attributed to EU law in terms of social rights. Overall, it finds that there exist abundant power resources at the EU level. Whereas these certainly add to the plethora of resources available to reach a certain standard of living, this abundancy is paired with a heightened complexity. Consequently, it is not always clear how the power resources interact among each other. Moreover, there is a disproportionate use of the tripod. Binding normative resources are used rather marginally in comparison to instrumental and enforcement resources, which is not necessarily a consequence of the lack of competence at the EU level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haitian expressions of resilience also hold deep knowledge of human vulnerability. This longitudinal, qualitative study with young Haitians from urban shantytowns combines ethnographic and participatory methods to explore the complexities behind such idioms. Artistic and creative products made by or with the youth facilitated interviews, focus group discussions, and workshops. Through the life stories of participants and rich ethnographic material, this study presents locally situated idioms of resilience (and distress). By including local social ecology, the idioms were framed as historically and culturally rooted, thus shaping contextual, pragmatic, and gendered coping strategies grounded in embodied experiences of vulnerability and resistance. The study adds essential insights into Haitian resilience, revealing the local logics behind seemingly paradoxical statements. By drafting a conceptual framework for further studies on idioms of resilience, the study also makes a theoretical contribution to international resilience research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reintegration after a military service member returns home from deployment is a time of uncertainty that requires adjustment by all family members. Building on accounts (i.e., story-like constructions that help make sense of stressful events) scholarship, this study documents (a) turning points (TPs) and (b) patterns in partners' levels of concern about post-deployment adjustment and investigates (c) how romantic partners account for why changes in adjustment concern occurred. Findings from interviews with 26 military partners reveal that accounts (a) involve multifaceted explanations spanning many domains of life, (b) explain why certain TPs increased and/or decreased concern, and (c) engage the meaning of time in varied ways. The importance of integrating an account-making framework with the TP methodology, theoretical implications for relational turbulence theory, and practical suggestions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work has been involved with the interactions between human beings and their environment since its inception. Environmental social work can expand the profession beyond its boundaries. Similarly, Ubuntu is the philosophy that has the potential to provide global messaging for the interactions between human beings and their environment. Utilizing concept analysis, this article endeavours to expand Ubuntu philosophy to the concept of Environmental Social Work. Notably, Ubuntu is relevant in the components of human relations to nature, food security, climate change, natural disasters, sustainable development and ecospiritual social work. Unequivocally, Ubuntu is a philosophy relevant to Environmental Social Work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, this study investigates among Liberian couples whether partner phubbing predicts relationship satisfaction, both directly and indirectly via mobile phone conflict. Moreover, this study examines whether phubbing by men is less likely to lead to conflict than that by women given the differential power relations and income distributions in Liberian romantic couples. Using data from married, cohabiting, and couples living apart (N = 128) in Liberia, a direct link was found between the phubbing behavior of women and partner's (men) relationship satisfaction. Moreover, men and women's phubbing behavior predicted their own and their partner's experience of mobile phone conflict, which in turn predicted a decrease in relationship satisfaction. Power imbalance between men and women, as well as income disparity, were found to influence some of the relationships between partner phubbing, phone conflict, and relationship satisfaction, but did not give substantial support to the hypotheses that women would elicit more conflict than men in couples characterized by high power imbalance and income inequality. Overall, the study shows the importance of examining interdependence effects in phubbing research and supports that there is meaningful cross-cultural variation that warrants further scrutinizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the determinants of the growing political salience of minimum wages in European party manifestos. By using multilingual quantitative text analysis, I show that the electoral salience of minimum wages has increased in the past decades. Although left-wing parties emphasize minimum wages more than right-wing parties, I find that the electoral salience of this policy follows a U-shaped relationship: right-wing populist parties dedicate greater attention to minimum wages than centre-right parties do. A sentiment analysis finds that compared to other policies designed to supplement the income of low-wage workers, such as strengthening collective bargaining institutions and in-work benefits/wage subsidies, there do not seem to be specific party-political characteristics, which determine the sentiment with which discussions on minimum wages are framed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aims: Sparse literature exists on the challenges and ethical considerations of including people with limited access to healthcare, such as the uninsured and low-income, in clinical research in high-income countries. However, many ethical issues should be considered with respect to working with uninsured and low-income participants in clinical research, including enrollment and retention, ancillary care, and post-trial responsibilities. Attention to the uninsured and low-income is particularly salient in the United States due to the high rates of uninsurance and underinsurance. Thus, we conducted a scoping review on the ethical considerations of biomedical clinical research with uninsured and low-income participants in high-income countries in order to describe what is known and to pinpoint areas of needed research on this issue. Methods: MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched using terms that described main concepts of interest (e.g., uninsured, underinsured, access to healthcare, poverty, ethics, compensation, clinical research). Articles were included if they met four inclusion criteria: (1) English, (2) high-income countries context, (3) about research participants who are uninsured or low-income, which limits their access to healthcare, and in biomedical clinical research that either had a prospect of direct medical benefit or was offered to them on the basis of their ill health, and (4) recognizes and/or addresses challenges or ethical considerations of uninsured or low-income participants in biomedical clinical research. Results: The searches generated a total of 974 results. Ultimately, 23 papers were included in the scoping review. Of 23 articles, the majority (n = 19) discussed enrollment and retention of uninsured or low-income participants. Several barriers to enrolling uninsured and low-income groups were identified, including limited access to primary or preventive care; lack of access to institutions conducting trials or physicians with enough time or knowledge about trials; overall lack of trust in the government, research, or medical system; and logistical issues. Considerably fewer articles discussed treatment of these participants during the course of research (n = 5) or post-trial responsibilities owed to them (n = 4). Thus, we propose a research agenda that builds upon the existing literature by addressing three broad questions: (1) What is the current status of uninsured research participants in biomedical clinical research in high-income countries? (2) How should uninsured research participants be treated during and after clinical research? (3) How, if at all, should additional protections for uninsured research participants affect their enrollment? Conclusions: This review reveals significant gaps in both data and thoughtful analysis on how to ethically involve uninsured research participants. To address these gaps, we propose a research agenda to gather needed data and theoretical analysis that addresses three broad research questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on how international social work education can enable students to become culturally competent social workers. It follows the idea that the vital aspect of internationalizing social work education is not about structural prerequisites. Rather, it is in the specific role of intercultural perspectives and how these perspectives can be integrated into structural frameworks for internationalizing social work education. It is highlighted that the acceptance of not-knowing and not-understanding provides the basis of cultural awareness or global mindedness. Therefore, a model for the development of intercultural competence in social work is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to address gaps in understanding of the lived experiences of caregivers of persons with mental illness in low-income countries. It was conducted among caregivers of persons with mental illness making use of a free non-governmental clinic in and around Chennai, India. The study adopted a qualitative methodology, with semi-structured interviews and life history exercises (n = 29) and six focus group discussions with caregivers (n = 21) and mental health professionals and community-based workers (n = 39). The experiences of caregivers were analyzed in the framework of "The Banyan model of caregiving," which identifies six phases. Major themes in caregivers' experience were: embarrassment and losing honor; fear; awareness; stigma and social exclusion; and reduced social interaction and loneliness. Posttraumatic growth considered as the result of caregiver experiences was found to consist mainly of personal growth and focusing on positive life experiences. Lost opportunities particular to the context of Tamil Nadu were described as the inability to get married, obtaining less education than desired, and loss of employment. Siblings faced lower levels of burden, while elderly mothers experienced especially high levels of burden and lack of happiness in life. Caregiver gains were identified as greater compassion for other people with disabilities, resulting in a desire to help others, as well as increased personal strength and confidence. Understanding the nuances of the caregiving experiences over time can provide a framework to devise more fine-tuned support structures that aim to prevent reductions in social interaction and lost opportunities, and improve a sense of meaning, in order to assist caregivers to continue providing care for their relatives with mental illness in a context with scarce mental health resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infidelity is a common experience within romantic relationships and is closely linked with relationship dissolution and well-being. Using an intersectionality theoretical framework, we undertook a systematic review of the infidelity literature in flagship journals associated with the disciplines of the International Association for Relationship Research. Our review includes findings from 162 published empirical articles. We identified several themes within the infidelity literature, including: individual, interpersonal, and contextual predictors; outcomes and reactions; beliefs and attitudes; prevalence; and conceptualization. We also found that the infidelity literature primarily utilizes participants who are White, heterosexual, cisgender individuals who reside in the United States or Canada. Moreover, researchers were limited in information they provided about participants' identities so in most articles it was difficult to assess many dimensions of identity. Ultimately, these findings limit our ability to apply an intersectional framework. We argue that researchers should extend the research they cite, collect richer demographic data, expand their samples (especially beyond White heterosexual cisgender American college students), and consider the sociohistorical context of their participants (e.g., the particular social circumstances and historical forces which shape individuals' lived experiences). For example, scholars using an intersectional framework would explain their participants' relationship experiences through a lens which includes systems of sexism, racism, heterosexism, cissexism, classism, etc., in conjunction with individual and interpersonal factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A burgeoning body of research on the relationship maintenance of military couples over the past two decades suggests the time is right to organize, assimilate, and critique the literature. We conducted a systematic review informed by the integrative model of relationship maintenance that considered issues of intersectionality. Our literature search identified 81 relevant journal articles representing 62 unique samples. With respect to theory, 59.3% of the journal articles employed one or more formal theoretical frameworks. In terms of research design, 88.7% of the studies focused on the U.S. military, 83.9% of the studies recruited convenience samples, 54.8% of the studies utilized quantitative methods, and 30.6% of the studies collected longitudinal data. Among the studies reporting sample demographics, 96.8% of participants were married, 77.2% of participants identified as non-Hispanic White, and only one same-sex relationship was represented. Our narrative synthesis integrated findings about relationship maintenance from studies examining (a) relationship maintenance overtly, (b) communicating to stay connected across the deployment cycle, (c) disclosure and protective buffering, (d) support from a partner, (e) dyadic coping, and (f) caregiving and accommodating a partner's symptoms. We interpret our results with an eye toward advancing theory, research, and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harm is a recurring theme in the social sciences. Scholars in a range of empirical areas have documented the deleterious outcomes that at times emerge from social structures, institutions and systems of governance. Yet these harms have often been presented under the rubric of 'unintended consequences'. The outcomes of systems are designed to appear devoid of intentionality, in motion without any clear agency involved, and are thus particularly adept at evading accountability structures and forms of responsibility. Drawing insights from decades of social theory – as well as three illustrative examples from Australia's health, welfare and immigration systems – this article argues that many social structures are in fact intended to cause harm, but designed not to appear so. In presenting this argument, we offer a theoretical framework for conceptualising harm as actively administered. We also challenge scholars from across the social sciences to reconsider the partially depoliticising narrative of 'unintended consequences', and to be bolder in naming the intended harms that permeate social life, often serving powerful political and economic interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The philosophy of Ubuntu has gained momentum in the social work fraternity to the extent that the theme for the World Social Work Day, 2021 celebrations read, 'Ubuntu: I am Because We are – Strengthening Social Solidarity and Global Connectedness'. Through the use of a qualitative research approach, underpinned by a document analysis method, the article initiates a discourse which expounds on the philosophy through the lenses of the IFSW and IASSW 2014 Global Definition of Social Work. Substantially, it proffers justifications that cement the relevance of the Ubuntu philosophy in both the practice and theoretical frameworks of social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Similar to the trajectory in many countries, social work education in Turkey developed in the aftermath of World War II, the foundations of which were shaped along international dynamics rather than local context. In this regard, there has been an ongoing debate on localization of social work education. This article discusses the historical trajectory of social work education in Turkey through a systematic review of literature and analysis of data collected by semi-structured interviews with key informants. The implications of neoliberalism for the social work profession in Turkey reflect a dual framework where the human rights perspective co-exists with a faith-based approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pensions at the European level have been, since the sovereign debt crisis, affected by several decision-making innovations. Retirement policy has been embedded in the European Semester, which strengthened the hitherto inadequate European socioeconomic policy coordination mechanisms. Given that the additional powers bestowed upon the Commission were qualified, a supranational response followed. With the effect of strengthening its rational-legal authority, in line with neo-functionalist spillover assumptions, evidence-based standards have been progressively applied to EU retirement policy formation. This innovative turn warrants the employment of a policy analysis theoretical framework. In particular, the article applies the concepts underpinning policy evaluation to the study of pensions within the Semester. Using a mixed-methods approach, which combines case study with statistical analysis, and following a novel in-depth coding of country-specific recommendations and Country Reports, this article argues that member states' pensions are now assessed within a structured, formal and polycentric evaluation cycle. This has been gradually constructed by increasing the coherence between the yearly interim ex post evaluations of pension policy output (the Country Reports) and the final ex post evaluations of pension policy outcomes (the Ageing and Pension Adequacy Reports) that are published every 3 years. The result is a streamlined, technocratic, knowledge-based approach to retirement policy at the supranational level. Even though the generation of technical knowledge is no substitute for toothless conditionality, greater reliance on evidence is aimed at socializing national decision-makers and may eventually influence their policy choices. The unconventional pension evaluation cycle that sprung up around the Semester may, hence, serve as a model applicable to other socioeconomic policy domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on social work practice is essential for developing an indigenized base of knowledge. In China, while social work education has grown rapidly, much of what is taught – and many social work priorities in research and practice – is influenced by rapidly changing national government policies. This policy environment creates both opportunities and challenges to building an infrastructure to support research on social work practice. This article reviews the context and challenges related to developing research on social work practice in mainland China, and the important role for social work education to support this development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the wealth of research calling for meaningful engagement of men and boys in preventing violence against women, this study examined whether current government-endorsed violence prevention plans in countries of the Global North included men and boys as a target for primary prevention. One hundred and fourteen plans from 14 countries were analysed, and findings revealed that engaging men and boys as primary prevention advocates is still in its infancy and mostly focused on individual change. The article concludes that governments should invest in comprehensive prevention strategies and whole-of-population approaches that target social structures and norms that reinforce violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to strengthen the urban rights and quality of life of vulnerable groups by contributing to the development of a new approach and standards in urban social services. Toward this goal, we present the socially innovative service model (SISM) which ensures a framework of daytime care and support centers for disabled individuals established in the Eyüp district, wherein generally the lower and lower-middle classes of Istanbul reside. SISM provides an important perspective on rights-based social policies as well as community and city interaction, thereby enabling interdisciplinary study of social sciences and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work in Israel's indigenous Arab society developed late relative to its Jewish counterpart. Based on primary and secondary sources and semi-structured interviews with Arab social workers who were employed in social welfare bureaus during the years under review, the article describes and explains the development of social work in Israel's Arab society in its formative years. The findings indicate this social work developed under government policies that recognized the needs of Arab society but allocated its welfare bureaus fewer resources than to the country's Jewish society. These policies also failed to recognize the Arab narrative in welfare delivery and to incorporate Arab representation in decision-making. The relevant bodies in Israel that dealt with social work, primarily the Ministry of Welfare, used various strategies to maintain a dual system of welfare services – one for Jewish citizens and a poorer one for Arabs citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current study we explore how Rwandan youth negotiate, within the family setting, a myriad of social and interpersonal dilemmas around silence and disclosure of genocide-related experiences of their parents. The study draws primarily on individual interviews and focus group discussions with 20 children of genocide survivor and perpetrator parents in the western and eastern provinces of Rwanda. Using the conceptual framework of social navigation which theorizes agency in a fluid, often unpredictable, and constantly moving social environment, we focus specifically on the difficult and often contradictory complex of factors that drive the communication strategies and tactics of the children as they seek information to understand the past of their parents. This includes the children's urge to get to know the specific stories of their family but fearing the emotional disruption it may cause in the parent–child relationship; the push–pull dynamics of the parents wanting to disclose some experiences but admonishing silence on others; and the often ambiguous divergences between the public and private discourses. Our findings show that the steadiest navigational point guiding communication choices, made by both parents and their offspring, was a desire to contribute to a peaceful social environment, and to reduce the risk of future violence. We present emerging evidence suggesting that community-based sociotherapy, a program that includes healing the social space and not only intrapsychic wounds, may contribute to a steadier navigation of the tricky communication issues, enhancing psychosocial wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although child sexual abuse has been a prominent topic for more than four decades, its multidimensional causal factors remain inconclusive. The purpose of the study was to understand triggering factors leading to committing child sexual abuse. The study employed a quantitative survey design. We collected data from 21 perpetrators and 203 police officers. Delayed marriage, cultural norms and excessive alcohol consumption were triggers to committing child sexual abuse. Perpetrators knew their acts would have moral and punitive consequences. To stop child sexual abuse, community participation, strengthening community policing and automation of crime reporting were suggested actions. The study suggests that more comprehensive research should be conducted in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a Foucauldian perspective, we explicate the systems of power which shape the lives of women in or at risk of 'food poverty'. We develop a theoretical framework of power for analyses of contemporary food poverty, which we apply to data from focus groups with women on low incomes in two cities in the north of England. Our data underlines the repressive power of the state as well as the broader chronicity of state surveillance. We argue that, while disciplinary and pastoral power may characterise the majority of food banks, alternative logics of mutual aid are evident within some food aid providers. We underline the power of governmental discourse in constituting gendered subjectivities and find that the most potent form of coercion is derived from self-regulation. The article closes by exploring possibilities for praxis via discursive resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the focus on emotions has been associated with the rise of psychosocial welfare and has promised a gateway to accommodate individually diversified needs of citizens in policies, the article shows that the role of emotions needs to be better understood. Highlighting emotions can serve both to empower and to patronize those who experience them. Referring to emotions can thus strengthen hierarchies and downplay individual requests to initiate a change. The analysis of professional discourses on birth care in Czechia shows the value of contextualising emotions. While midwifery discourses apply the emotional context of birth to support women in their specific birth choices, medical discourses use the emotional context to patronize them and to limit their requirements. As a result, policy demands are seen as illegitimate when coming from midwives, who want to see women's choices more respected in care. We analyse this dynamic through intimacy. As a conceptual framework used in sociology of care, 'intimacy' ties individual emotional experiences to collective discourses on care, the body and related feelings. Viewing professional discourses on birth care through intimacy reveals the role of emotions in the collective recognition of the personal struggle for the right to give birth in conditions that respect bodily and emotional integrity, which informs how we think of the role of emotions in policies in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social support plays an integral role in health and well-being. Behind bars, support from peers on the inside is also beneficial, facilitating prosocial behavior, sobriety, coping mechanisms, and re-entry success. Social support frequently is delivered through supportive communication. However, it is not clear how such communication is enacted, as the majority of studies relies upon participants' recollections of supportive communication during a past crisis. The current study analyzed conversation among women participating in a jail support group to determine how supportive communication was enacted. Working with an abductive framework, the analysis found six forms of supportive communication: 1) legitimizing problems, behaviors, and perceptions; 2) advising on practical and logistical issues; 3) soothing and reassuring; 4) clarifying the problem; 5) esteem-building; and 6) emotion-expressing. Findings are novel in that they broaden our understanding of how communicative support is delivered while an individual is experiencing distress; while receivers and givers of supportive communication are both experiencing distress; and in the context of a jail. This study suggests efforts to enhance jailed women's support of one another should be undertaken, largely by implementing peer support groups and training facilitators in effective communication techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article highlights how older people in Uganda experience discrimination and injustice. It discusses the legal framework for their protection, while acknowledging that not all professionals are aware of or have access to the legal mechanisms meant to safeguard older people's interests. It also discusses the role social work can play in protecting older people's rights. It further recommends that social workers work to increase solidarity between generations and bring about social justice and respect for diversity. It concludes by highlighting the need to bring anti-discriminatory social work into mainstream social work education and the professional regulation of social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes the aerodynamic efficiency of a forebody–inlet configuration and computational investigation of a drone system, capable of sustainable supersonic cruising at Mach 1.60. Because the whole drone configuration is formed around the induction system and the design is highly interrelated to the flow structure of forebody and inlet efficiency, analysis of this section and understanding its flow pattern is necessary before any progress in design phases. The compression surface is designed analytically using oblique shock patterns, which results in a low drag forebody. To study the concept, two inlet–forebody geometries are considered for Computational Fluid Dynamic simulation using ANSYS Fluent code. The supersonic and subsonic performance, effects of angle of attack, sideslip, and duct geometries on the propulsive efficiency of the concept are studied by solving the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations in structured cell domains. Comparing the results with the available data from other sources indicates that the aerodynamic efficiency of the concept is acceptable at supersonic and transonic regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article contributes to understanding the political economy of implementation of social protection programmes at local level. Current debates are dominated by technocratic arguments, emphasizing the lack of financial resources, technology or skills as major barriers for effective implementation. Describing how chiefs, assistant-chiefs and community elders are routinely at the centre stage of core implementation processes, including targeting, enrolment, delivery, monitoring, awareness and information, data collection or grievance and redress, this study on Kenya argues for the need to look more closely into the local political economy as an important mediating arena for implementing social policies. Implementation is heavily contingent upon the local social, political and institutional context that influences and shapes its outcomes. These processes are ambivalent involving multiple forms of interactions between 'formal' and 'informal' institutional structures, which may support initial policy objectives or induce policy outcomes substantially diverging from intended policy objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using policy frameworks and author expertise to identify relevant literature, four academics and two student-activist-authors, critically review literature upon student activist responses to sexual violence on campus. We conclude, student activism is pivotal to campus cultural change. In the UK, we review how student activism challenges outdated policy; in the US, how this has elevated the issue to national policy agendas. We apply theoretical frameworks of policy windows, policy entrepreneurs, campus readiness models and embodied intersectional citizenship. This article recommends universities work collaboratively with student activists, rather than viewing collaboration as a reputational risk. Further, we recommend developing Campus Community Readiness Models to include measures of collaboration. We contend, student activism can incur costs. Connecting activists online may help manage the transience of student activism. Collaboration and connection with and between student activists may represent a cultural shift toward sustainability stages of readiness characterised by community ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review focuses on the concept of care, a concept that has never been more popular as a focus of study. It undertakes a critical review, motivated by the breadth of the field and the lack of coherence and linkages across a diverse literature. The review concentrates first on organizing and reviewing the literature in terms of key focus and, second, drawing out the strengths and weaknesses of existing work and making suggestions for how future work might proceed in COVID-19 times. While the existing literature offers many insights, some quite basic things need to be reconsidered, not least definition and conceptualization. Defining care as based on the meeting of perceived welfare-related need, I develop it as comprising need, relations/actors, resources and ideas and values. Each of these dimensions has an inherent disposition towards the study of inequality and it is possible, either by looking at them individually or all together, to identify care as situated in relations of relative power and inequality. The framework allows a set of critical questions to be posed in relation to COVID-19 and the policies and resources that have been mustered in response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the continuing interest in multi-dimensional approaches to poverty, the article considers ways in which Senian capability indicators can be used to assess and understand poverty and deprivation. More specifically, we develop novel capability data on 29 dimensions for adults from the US, UK and Italy to explore three core research questions. First, we show that when poverty is seen as capability deprivation, different individuals are identified as poor compared with approaches based on low income or subjective wellbeing. However, we also observe that what the poor report being able to do or otherwise is, nonetheless, it is relatively robust to the use of these three different approaches. Second, we employ latent class analysis to identify poverty and deprivation profiles for groups within society and suggest that such profiles help to identify groups who are deprived or socially excluded with respect to some but not all areas of life. Third, and finally, we examine the association between individual capability deprivation and local area deprivation in the UK. We find that individual capabilities are associated with local area deprivation in some cases but that the connections vary significantly depending on the dimension under consideration. We discuss the results and conclude by suggesting that capability indicators can provide insights into poverty which do not emerge from a more traditional approach focusing on income alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural adaptation of evidence-based treatments is a pressing priority for global health, and previous research has informed recommendations for guiding the process of translation and adaptation. As research in the domain of cultural adaptation and evaluation of evidence-based treatments progresses, it is critical that researchers communicate key lessons learned, so that models of adaptation can be continuously refined and reconsidered. The work described in this article aimed to translate and culturally adapt an online intervention to address symptoms of posttraumatic stress—the PTSD Coach Online—for use with young adults in Egypt. The cultural adaptation framework proposed by Bernal and colleagues (1995) was used, and focus groups and interviews with members of the target population, mental health professionals, and service users were conducted. The authors encountered a number of challenges in treatment adaptation that generated important insights for future work. Specifically, this case study highlights the importance of translation teams with diverse backgrounds and experiences, the critical nature of iterative feedback throughout the adaptation process, and the importance of a long time-horizon for optimal adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]