Like many other Western democracies, the Nordic countries have vigorously debated whether it is necessary to find new ways of incorporating ethnic minorities into the larger society, leading to the need to decide whether to enter into experiments in multiculturalism or to resist such a prospect. This edited collection addresses the varied ways that four countries have addressed the issue of the inclusion of ethnic minorities - including both old minorities and recent immigrants. Because of their robust social democratic welfare policies, these nations constitute an important research site for exploring the ways in which the politics of identity and recognition play out in societies committed to redistributive politics. Put simply, can the goals of the welfare state and those of multiculturalism coexist in harmony? Are they capable of being mutually reinforcing? Or will they inevitably be at loggerheads, operating in what amounts to a zero-sum game: redistribution at the expense of recognition and vice versa?

Patricia Morgan's core assumption is that the family is an extremely effective vehicle for raising the welfare of its members. If this is correct it is quite possible that the state can best support the family by doing very little--by not taxing the family heavily and by minimizing the subsidization of those who choose alternatives to financially self-sustaining family life.

At one level, Morgan argues, the family can be seen as a unit within which there occurs enormous transfer of economic resources between husband and wife, parents and children, and, on a wider scale, within extended families. The family is the most important vehicle of welfare and the welfare vehicle of first resort. Within the family many services are provided by family members to each other, rarely for direct personal benefit. Basic economic analysis, Morgan asserts, suggests that the family could be seriously undermined if the state provided significant support for dependents who are not brought up within self-sustaining family units, and if it also provided services, such as childcare, that are generally provided within families. This work shows that this is precisely what has happened in the last twenty-five years.

The driving force of significantly reduced family formation is not economic but social. Perhaps social changes have led to a desire by individuals to bring up children in family circumstances different from those of a generation or two ago, but evidence does not support this hypothesis. Rather, tax and benefit systems seem to be important determinants of family structure worldwide. Patricia Morgan does not simply analyze the problem, she also suggests policy solutions. The author argues that divorce laws should be reformed to ensure that those who make commitments are held financially responsible. The author's argument is compelling because it is backed up with strong evidence and is argued from an unemotional economic perspective--individuals within families are rational agents who respond to incentives.

"Patricia Morgan" has published extensively on crime, the family, adoption, and welfare policy over more than twenty years. Her most recent books are "Family Structure and Economic Outcomes" (2004), for the Economic Research Council, "Family Matters: Family Breakdown and Its Consequences" (a study in the New Zealand context, 2004) and "Family Policies, Family Changes" (based on Sweden, Italy, and the UK, published in 2006). She is visiting fellow at the School of Humanities, Buckingham University.

Social Policy has been a key dimension of dynamic economic growth in East Asia's 'little tigers' and is also a prominent strand of their responses to the financial crisis of the latte 1990s. This systematic comparative analysis of social policy in the region focuses on the key sectors of education, health, housing and social security. It sets these sectoral analyses in wider contexts of debates about developmental states, the East Asian welfare model and globalization.

Domestic violence does not begin the day an adult heterosexual male decides to beat and batter an adult heterosexual female. Domestic violence is a complicated and multifaceted enigma that includes child, sibling, spousal, intimate partner, and elder abuse. Despite spending billions of dollars on domestic violence, the number of some categories of victims remains the same. The problem can be traced back to our very definitions of victim and abuse. Until we open our eyes to the blatant empirical evidence and come to some agreement on a basic platform, this pervasive crime will not diminish. Domestic Violence: Intervention, Prevention, Policies, and Solutions presents a rational and reasoned perspective that emphasizes evidence-based information rather than ideologically held beliefs. It challenges the effectiveness of existing policies and procedures and introduces 10 recommendations for change. The book summarizes many important federally sponsored reports and provides unique meta-analysis styled empirically based overviews of contemporary research and intervention efforts. It also supplies print and web-based national and state specific resources and references to studies and organizations that will be updated online. Topics addressed include historical and current explanations of battering behavior, the importance of the accurate and unbiased identification of victims, differences and the implications of those differences in reporting rape and sexual assault, and the understanding of risk factors. It considers the fallacy of ideological advocacy and presents legislation and policies in Colorado and California as cases in point. In particular the author explores the prevailing notion of the predominance of female victimization over male victimization. Injecting a voice of reason into a highly emotional debate, this outstanding volume clarifies our convenient delusions and allows us to re-appraise this sensitive issue and effect a positive and progressive outcome.

Microplanning is a community-based process which enables local people to prepare and implement programmes for settlement upgrading. Local participants contribute to both the content and structure of programmes. Case studies from Chile and Sri Lanka.

In this book the late Geoffrey Finlayson presents a searching analysis of social welfare in Britain from 1830 until the present day. He explores the changing relationship between voluntarism and the state throughout this period, unravelling the complex interactions of government, commerce, and individuals. He examines the provision of welfare and the attitudes and beliefs surrounding it, in all its many guises from Victorian private philanthropy and informal social networks to the collectivist ideals of the Welfare State and the convictions of Thatcherite individualism. Citizen, State, and Social Welfare in Britain is, in addition, an intellectual study of the concept of citizenship over the last two centuries, tracing developing notions of the duties and obligations implicit in the idea of the citizen, as well as the rights and entitlements.

Throughout the world, politicians from all the main parties are cutting back on state welfare provision, encouraging people to use the private sector instead and developing increasingly stringent techniques for the surveillance of the poor. Almost all experts agree that we are likely to see further constraints on state welfare in the 21st Century.

Gathering together the findings from up-to-date attitude surveys in Europe East and West, the US and Australasia, this revealing book shows that, contrary to the claims of many experts and policy-makers, the welfare state is still highly popular with the citizens of most countries. This evidence will add to controversy in an area of fundamental importance to public policy and to current social science debate.

Today most countries rely on formally organized welfare programs - in some cases to the extent that they are labeled "welfare states". These programs, which have been constructed over the last decades, make up a larger national and international system of good intentions. Overall, it appears inconceivable to imagine "civilized society" without a comprehensive organizational system of social welfare. Social welfare has become a "holy cow" in many societies; an institutionalized aspect of modern life. But how does the institutionalization of social welfare occur through the concrete activities it enacts; and why does the institutionalization of social welfare appear to be so particularly successful in relation to other institutionalizing phenomena? These are central problems for any sociological analysis of contemporary society's organization and are the main locus of attention of this book. Holmqvist explores how a social welfare organization becomes a self-evident phenomenon by "medicalizing" its environment: a way of "solving" social problems by viewing and treating them as medical problems. This study generates new understandings of how institutionalization of organizations comes about and contributes fresh insight to the area of social welfare policies.

Already I have found myself quoting Anne Bishop's wisdom: her simple advice is compelling. Right now in Australia she has the power to lead us as we struggle with questions of guilt, responsibility and patterns of oppression which are 'larger than ourselves'. Rev. Tim Costello, President, Baptist Union of Australia Becoming an Ally is must reading for anyone concerned with understanding and challenging the dynamics, forms, and sources of oppression-whether it is their own oppression, that of others, or both. Bob Mullaly is Head of Social Work at Victoria University, Melbourne Where does oppression come from? Has it always been with us, just 'human nature'? What can we do to change it? What does individual healing have to do with the struggles for social justice? What does social justice have to do with individual healing? Why do members of the same oppressed group fight each other, sometimes more viciously than their oppressor? Why do some who experience oppression develop a life-long commitment to fighting oppression, while others turn around and oppress others? Anne Bishop draws on her many years experience in community work to write this feisty and bestselling guide for activists, community workers and welfare workers.

This new study assesses the welfare state to ask key questions and draw new conclusions about its place in modern society. It shows how the welfare states that we have inherited from the early post-war years had one main objective: to protect the income of the male breadwinner. Today, however, massive social change, in particular the shift from industrial to post-industrial societies and economies, have resulted in new demands being put on welfare states. These demands originate from situations that are typical of the new family and labour market structures that have become widespread in western countries since the 1970s and 1980s, characterised by the clear prevalence of service employment and by the massive entry of women in the labour market. Against this background, this book: * presents a precise and clear definition of 'new social risks'. A concept being increasingly used in welfare state literature. * focuses on the groups that are mostly exposed to new social risks (women, the young, the low-skilled) in order to study their political behaviour. * assesses policymaking processes that can lead to successful adaptation. It covers key areas such as child care, care for elderly people, adapting pensions to atypical career patterns, active labour market policies, and policy making at the EU level. This book will be of great interest for all students and scholars of politics, sociology and the welfare state in particular.

Relevant to all undergraduate and postgraduate modules on social theory for social work and sociology for social work. Will help a social work students to recognise and examine the importance of critical theory to understanding the structural forces shaping their lives and the lives of those with whom they work and provide services. Addresses complex ideas in a lively, entertaining and accessible way. Provides reflection and talk boxes will feature at the end of each chapter to assist students to critically reflect (individually and in class/seminar and fieldwork/workplace discussions) on key facets of the preceding chapter.

Giving victims of crime a greater role in the criminal justice system is a relatively recent development, a trend likely to continue and increase in the foreseeable future. In many jurisdictions it has led to compensation schemes funded by the state, support for victims of crime to help them recover from their ordeal, and involvement of victims in decisions as to how offenders should be dealt with. This book examines developments in support for victims of crime in Asia. It shows how, contrary to the widely-held belief that Asian jurisdictions shy away from a rights based approach, there has been considerable progress in support for victims of crime in Asia, especially in Thailand and Korea, where rights for victims of crime are entrenched in constitutional provisions, and in Taiwan and Japan. Support for Victims of Crime in Asia discusses international developments, the degree to which support for victims of crime is an import into Asia from the west, and developments in a range of countries, including Thailand, Korea, Taiwan and Japan, India, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Between 1990 and 2006, more than 76,000 children born in Eastern Europe were adopted into American families. Almost two-thirds of these children came from Russia. And in contrast to children adopted from Korea, China, Central America, and South America, most of the Russian children were not infants, but between one and four years old. This volume addresses adoption policies and practices as they pertain to adopted children from Eastern Europe, children who have histories of "pre-adoption adversity." Drawing on her decade-long experience as an adoptive parent of siblings born in Russia and her expertise as an applied sociologist, Josephine Ruggiero examines the central issues involved in international adoptions, focusing on older children as well as siblings, and suggesting needed changes in policy and practice.

Regardless of whether children are adopted domestically or internationally, age is a significant factor in their ability to adjust to and function well in their new families. Only about three in ten Russian adoptees joined their new families as infants. Pre-adoption experiences are also significant factors in a child's ability to adjust and function well in a new family. Countries differ in risk factors that may figure into the likelihood of adoptees adapting to life in a new family. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, serious medical conditions, emotional problems, behavioral problems, attachment issues, learning disabilities, and exposure to family violence must be considered as potential risk factors in adoptions. Pre-adoption adversity is less likely when children come from birth families that are economically poor but have bonded with them.

At a time when adoption has finally "come out of the closet" and the definition of the family is changing dramatically, "Eastern European Adoption" takes a much-needed look at current adoption policies and practices and how well they do or do not work. Ruggiero draws on the literature on older-child and sibling adoption, and data from a questionnaire survey she designed and conducted with 121 adoptive parents. Ruggiero's examples from real adoptive families give a human face to the issues, needs, and strategies she discusses.

Giving victims of crime a greater role in the criminal justice system is a relatively recent development, a trend likely to continue and increase in the foreseeable future. In many jurisdictions it has led to compensation schemes funded by the state, support for victims of crime to help them recover from their ordeal, and involvement of victims in decisions as to how offenders should be dealt with. This book examines developments in support for victims of crime in Asia. It shows how, contrary to the widely-held belief that Asian jurisdictions shy away from a rights based approach, there has been considerable progress in support for victims of crime in Asia, especially in Thailand and Korea, where rights for victims of crime are entrenched in constitutional provisions, and in Taiwan and Japan. Support for Victims of Crime in Asia discusses international developments, the degree to which support for victims of crime is an import into Asia from the west, and developments in a range of countries, including Thailand, Korea, Taiwan and Japan, India, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

One of the most celebrated women of her time, a spellbinding speaker dubbed the Queen of the Lyceum and America's Joan of Arc, Anna Elizabeth Dickinson was a charismatic orator, writer, and actress, who rose to fame during the Civil War and remained in the public eye for the next three decades. In America's Joan of Arc, J. Matthew Gallman offers the first full-length biography of Dickinson to appear in over half a century. Gallman describes how Dickinson's passionate patriotism and fiery style, coupled with her unabashed abolitionism and biting critiques of antiwar Democrats-known as Copperheads-struck a nerve with her audiences. In barely two years, she rose from an unknown young Philadelphia radical, to a successful New England stump speaker, to a true national celebrity. At the height of her fame, Dickinson counted many of the nation's leading reformers, authors, politicians, and actors among her friends. Among the dozens of famous figures who populate the narrative are Susan B. Anthony, Whitelaw Reid, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Gallman explores her many public triumphs, but also discloses how, as her public career waned, she battled with her managers, her critics, her audiences, and her family (in 1891, her sister had her committed briefly to an insane asylum). Equally important, the author highlights how Dickinson's life illuminates the possibilities and barriers faced by nineteenth-century women, revealing how their behavior could at once be seen as worthy, highly valued, shocking, and deviant. A vivid portrait of a remarkable nineteenth-century woman, this book captures Dickinson's amazing public career and the untold stories that shaped her stormy private life.

This is the first work that systematically applies the comparative method to the study of social policy and administration. After a full discussion of this approach in the introduction, the book offers three authoritative national studies--France, Norway, Canada--each giving a rounded picture of social policy and administration in the particular country. Social needs, resources, and forms of social administration are related to the most significant social, demographic, economic, and political factors of the area in question. The authors trace the development of social policies and indicate the direction these policies are likely to take in the future. Comparisons between problems and solutions in all three countries, as well as in Great Britain and the United States, are made throughout.

Part II contains comparative analyses of particular problems and of the different forms of social administration designed to deal with them. The problem approach is applied to five areas of social administration: social policy and social planning, social security, coordination, social policies and care for the aged and family policies. Examples are taken not only from the countries previously under study, but also from other Western nations with well-developed social service systems. A concluding chapter delineates the benefits of the comparative method as demonstrated in this volume, and outlines how the goals set forth in the introduction have been fulfilled.

This unique and fascinating book will be of interest to a wide range of readers, especially those concerned with the study, the making, or the implementation and administration of social policy. It will serve as a stimulus for fresh interpretation and the re-evaluation of major social institutions here and abroad.

"Barbara N. Rodgers" was a reader in social administration at the University of Manchester, England. She has been teaching comparative studies there for more than twenty years and has studied and published widely on the social services of Britain, Canada, France, and the USA. "John Greve" was Senior Lecturer in Social Administration at the University of Southampton, England. "John S. Morgan" was Dean of the School of Social Work, University of Pennsylvania. His books include Welfare and Wisdom.

In today's information society, to make a real and lasting impact on human welfare takes applications of information technology aimed at enhancing access to all. HUSITA7-The 7th International Conference of Human Services Information Technology Applications: Digital Inclusion-Building a Digital Inclusive Society presents diverse viewpoints from around the globe, examining the latest applications of digital technology for social work education and practice. These conference presentations from respected international authorities discuss the application of ICT (information and communication technology) in various facets of human service to achieve the goal of a digital inclusive society where all have access to education and informational resources. HUSITA7-The 7th International Conference of Human Services Information Technology Applications examines the development and use of information technology in professional training, including the strengths and limitations of e-learning in social work curriculums along with the rationale behind a learning object approach. Research includes findings from educators in Canada describing the development and implementation of e-learning in social work programs and the qualitative study of technological content in an MSW curriculum. Various types of Web-based learning approaches are explored with an eye toward providing more effective teaching strategies. Various technological advances and approaches toward individual empowerment are described to facilitate greater societal inclusiveness. The book is well referenced and includes several helpful tables and figures. Topics in HUSITA7-The 7th International Conference of Human Services Information Technology Applications include: the learning object approach of e-learning for social work education challenges implementing e-learning in social work education a research study of the relationship between technology content in social work education and technology use in social work practice international partnerships in Web-based teaching effective integration of emotion into the content of Web-based learning the use of indigenous knowledge in content the use of Web CT for effective address of issues such as quality of teaching and communication bringing about social inclusion through effective digital government how technological advances impact assistive technology research on the Internet self-efficacy in older person's learning of ICT a communication tool for the speech impaired improving social work service effectiveness through knowledge management (KM) the "SenSui" disability information resource in Japan HUSITA7-The 7th International Conference of Human Services Information Technology Applications is enlightening reading for librarians, social educators, social work students, researchers interested in ICT, and human service professionals.

In recent times, educational reformers have proposed ways of using education to reduce inequality, overcome discriminatory values and attitudes, and alleviate social problems. An increasing number of language theorists and practitioners contends that in order to reduce inequality it is essential to address the personal, cultural, and political implications of language teaching. Awareness of these factors activate the need to gain deeper insight into the personal and professional nuances of teachers' lives. The gap between sociolinguistic theory and educational practice points to the fact that linguists and educationists themselves carry the prejudices of particular social, ideological, cultural and geographical backgrounds. Who teaches what to whom, why and how affects curricular decisions which can thus become fraught with political allegiances; in this way the non-neutrality of language pedagogy is confirmed. Drawing from a suite of data sources the book explores the following questions: Do teachers' autobiographical experiences shape their professional identities? Does subscription to counter-hegemonic ideologies impact teachers' personal and professional positionality and authority? What contributions can feminist theorising make to language teaching in socially diverse classrooms? Through an exploration of these questions, the book gestures towards an imperative to re-think educative and pedagogic relationships and the politics of difference and dialogue in demographically diverse classrooms that subscribe to social redress agendas.

Prescriptions for rural development abound, but 'what is frequently lacking is not so much ideas or techniques as the will and the commitment' to improve conditions. The author describes how, in the complex case of Ethiopia, man can be held responsible for famine -and suggests how he can act to prevent it. This book sets out to demonstrate that the subsistence production system, with the disincentives of oppression and exploitation which keeps peasants and their families permanently at barely subsistence level without any means of averting or coping with the consequences of crop failure, is the system that creates famine in time of peace. A subsistence production system impoverishes peasants and pastoralists as well as the physical environment. It is this fact that occasionally disturbs the delicate balance between the activities and expectations of the peasants and the pastoralists, on one hand, and the process of the physical environment, on the other. When this delicate balance is disturbed famine does not occur automatically, but instead takes several months to mature into a mass killer. The author urges positive and rational action - for example, the accumulation of data, programmes of research and development, and reform, especially of taxation, can create the conditions necessary for improvement. 'The world of under development is a world of faith as opposed to critical reason...The pain of thinking can replace the pain of famine.'

Are Welfare States in crisis? Forty years after Gunnar Myrdal's seminal Beyond the Welfare State it is still little grasped in the 'reform' debate that the whole structure and economies of our societies are being transformed. This book reasserts the importance of a new employment and productive model - that of the 'associative economy' - which integrates social solidarity with economic planning.

This thoroughly researched volume surveys the nature and extent of 'informal' work in Asia, which is a powerful and under-studied force in the region. After over half a century of development, even in the fast growing economies of Asia, the formal sector, and industrial jobs have grown rather slowly, and most non-agricultural employment growth has occurred in the informal economy. At the same time as this, there has been a feminization of informal workers and growth in subcontracted homework. Drawing on detailed case studies carried out in five Asian countries - two low income (India and Pakistan) and three middle income (Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines) - where subcontracted production, usually by women and children working out of home, is now widespread, this insightful book acknowledges that home-based work is the source of income diversification for poor families, but is also the source of exploitation of vulnerable workers and child labour as firms attempt to contain costs. This wide-ranging and accessible survey, edited by key specialists in this field, along with an impressive team of contributors, examines the social protection needs of these workers arguing convincingly for public action to promote such work and protect these workers as a possible new labour intensive growth strategy in developing countries.

This is a sharp analysis of the unique Nordic welfare system with urgent lessons for governments and societies across the globe. Welfare programs and institutions tend to be analyzed as instrumental arrangements, overlooking the fact that welfare programs are essentially expressions of moral conceptions and values. This book recognises this distinction and offers analyses, perspectives and interpretations of the normative foundation of the 'Nordic welfare state model'. These authors examine the main normative principles in this model, exploring their origins and the relationship between them. Paying particular attention to the principles of 'universalism', 'public responsibility for welfare', and 'work for all', they consider their significance for current welfare policy and question whether external economic and ideological pressures are threatening these principles. The book is divided into three clear parts: *Part I considers the historical trajectories behind the Nordic welfare model *Part II looks more specifically on normative tensions and dilemmas in current welfare policies with a focus on women friendly welfare, attitudes to basic income and alcohol and drug misuse *Part III focuses on the possible change in the normative foundation of the Nordic welfare states This book will be essential reading for researchers and students of the welfare state and also to those in the fields of social policy, comparative politics and political economy.

Written in consultation with a range of experts, clinicians and practitioners as well as adoptive children, families and birth relatives, this book gives helpful guidance on making evidence-based assessments and planning successful adoption support. Key features include: a discussion of the main themes of adoption and pointers for practice in relation to the Assessment Framework a guide to the use of evidence-based approaches to assessment, including the tools commissioned by the Department of Health and the Department for Education a model for analysis and planning, and planning support and interventions an investigation of the source, range and value of support services and interventions that can promote the wellbeing of adopted children, their adoptive families and birth relatives. Packed with practical advice, case examples and models of good practice, this book is invaluable for social workers and managers involved with the adoption process and the well-being of children and families. It is also essential reading for social work students learning about working with children and families.

In this timely and unique work, Calum Paton assesses the political economy and politics of current health policy in order to explain the underlying causes of problems in the National Health Service. Debates from political theory, political economy and public administration are used to examine health policy made and implemented by New Labour since their election victory in 1997. The author argues that the fundamental nature of health policy is dependent upon the prevailing regime in political economy and also that 'policy overload', contradictions and confusion have rendered the task of coherent implementation very difficult. Although there is implicit comparison, the primary focus is England within the UK (post-devolution), and the book provides a detailed examination of contemporary health policy. Written by an established scholar in the field, it will particularly interest academics, post-graduate students and professionals in health policy, social policy and politics.

Newly available in paperback, this original and informative volume outlines a new, well-designed reflective teaching and learning model that can be used with single- or multi-disciplinary groups of students and professionals. It offers an overview of the origins of the different theories of reflection and explains how different levels of reflection can be understood and incorporated into everyday teaching and training. Outlining specific teaching and learning techniques to be used in training situations, it also includes examples of how these techniques have been successfully used with groups of professionals from health and social care areas. This edition features a substantive new preface, bringing the book up to date with recent developments in the field. It is a well-researched guide to both the theory and the practice of reflection, and it also offers those who teach and train professionals a clearly delineated reflective model for use in the classroom or professional training environment.