Thirty years ago, when compared to the U.S., England, France, and Sweden, Japan had the lowest life expectancy for males and females. Today, Japan has the highest life expectancy and is the world's most rapidly aging society. Public Policy and the Old Age Revolution in Japan captures the vitality of Japanese policymakers and the challenges they face in shaping a modern society responding to its changing needs. The rapid transition to an aging society poses a set of complex policy and resource dilemmas; the responses taken in Japan are of great value to policymakers, professionals, and students in the fields of gerontology, Asian and Japanese studies, sociology, public policy, administration and management, and anthropology in other industrial aging societies. Readers of Public Policy and the Old Age Revolution in Japan will discover the array of social and economic implications that comes with an increasingly aged society. Such a change in demographics affects pension expenditures and pension contributions, capital formation and savings rates, health costs, service systems, tax bases, labor pools, career counseling, training, advertising, and marketing. This book does not stop with these topics, however. Readers also learn about: how older Japanese workers are staying employed and employable policies in Japan for a smooth transition from work to retirement Japan's Silver Human Resource Centers the new direction of health services in Japan the Japanese financing system for elderly health care the expansion of formalized in-home services for Japan's aged Japanese housing policy and the concept of universal design the Gold Plan, a comprehensive ten-year plan to promote health care and welfare for the aged the concept of ikigai--promoting feelings of purpose and self-worth in the agedPublic Policy and the Old Age Revolution in Japan is one of only a handful of books prepared in English by American and Japanese authors for an international audience about aging and social policy in Japan. The book's recent collection of articles by leading scholars on the subject makes it a unique and timely source of information. Above all, Public Policy and the Old Age Revolution in Japan makes it clear that the rest of the world has many valuable lessons to learn by studying Japan's approach to its rapidly aging society.

This book explores what it means to be and become-at-home in theological perspective, located in the context of a youth club. Drawing on ethnographic research, Phoebe Hill presents an account of what an authentic Christian hospitality could look like in a youth setting, and the ways in which the young people - the strangers at the door - might enable the Christian youth worker to become more fully at home. Discourses around Christian hospitality often unwittingly perpetuate implicit power imbalances. The youth club offers a context for Christian hospitality that 'tips' the power in favour of the young people who attend, enabling the youth leaders to share and create home with young people in a distinctive way. As young people leave the Church in droves, the Church faces the urgent and daunting task of finding new ways of being with young people on their own terms; this book offers one solution. Hill argues that homecoming is an essential task of humanity. We are connected in this common pilgrimage and the need to find places and spaces where we can be at home. Becoming at home may be harder than ever before; numerous sociological, philosophical and theological factors are compromising our ability to dwell in the contemporary world.

It is becoming recognized that the multiple and complex problems of children with emotional and behavioral problems and their families exceed the capacity of any single service system. Emerging School-Based Approaches for Children With Emotional and Behavioral Problems presents educators and social service practitioners with innovative programs and practices for these children while in school with emphasis on inter-service collaboration. The book fulfills a growing need for an organized discussion of how the integrated service paradigm can be applied in the context of school settings. Special consideration is given to the issues and problems that are idiosyncratic to schools as institutions. Emerging School-Based Approaches for Children With Emotional and Behavioral Problems shows school administrators, teachers, and child service providers conceptual, practice, and research aspects of integrated service programs in school settings. Professionals gain insight for planning organizational change as prominent experts and practitioners share their work across a range of issues and geographic sites. They explore these topics: systems of care for children and families schools as health delivery sites parent involvement for students with emotional and behavioral disorders program planning and evaluation planned organizational changeChapters provide readers with general information about the features of an integrated approach, provide practical examples of exemplary programs, and consider organizational change issues that can facilitate or impede movement toward a more collaborative approach. Programs presented focus on the development of more broad-based community services, less restrictive child placement, prevention of hospitalization and out-of-home placement, interagency collaboration, flexible and individualized services, and cost containment and efficiency. The integrated service movement in children s services holds much promise as a means to create more comprehensive and coordinated school-based systems of care for children and families. Special education teachers and administrators, school and child clinical psychologists, and school counselors will find Emerging School-Based Approaches for Children With Emotional and Behavioral Problems fundamental to their understanding of the integrated systems approach and a helpful guide as they undergo their own organizational changes.

"Cnaan has reported an elegant story about religious congregations and their role in providing social welfare assistance. The book is emperically rich, narratively enhanced, and theoretically thick. It not only documents the role of congregations but also identifies their limitations as social welfare providers. The book is informative and catalyzes reflection on the issues. It is grounded in a large, national, multimethod research project spanning the United States, with a limited focus in Canada. The weaving together of these data is impressive. I particularly appreciate the use of case studies to explicate the array of congregational approaches to caring. For aficionados of case study method, of which I am one, these materials are rich, dense, and artfully constructed. The survey data are also well presented. Together, these data provide a story that resembles an artfully constructed mosaic."--"Non Profit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly"

""The Invisible Caring Hand" represents an excellent addition to studies focused in understanding the role of local churches in their community."
--"Sociology of Religion"

"This book provides some much needed insight into the way congregations function in the povision of social services."--"Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work"

"An important and timely contribution to our understanding. . . . Policy makers and church leaders alike will benefit from Cnaan's groundbreaking investigation of the facts."
--" The Social Policy Journal"

"The first systematic and comprehensive social science description of social service contributions of diverse religious congregations. . . . Could not be more timely or useful toacademic and religious community audiences which now seek credible 'handles' for accessing and understanding this newly exposed but surprisingly extensive faith based contribution to human welfare in the United States."
--Edward Newman, Temple University

"Cnaan's newest book should be required reading for anyone interestedin American congregational life and faith-based social service provision in the wake of the welfare reform. It makes many valuable contributions and will be a sourcebook on congregational service provisions for some time to come."
--"Social Forces"

"A significant new study . . . Cnaan's book is an encouragement for churches, many of whom face resistance to their building or expansion plans from municipalities that don't acknowledge their value to the community."
--"Leadership Quarterly"

Popular calls to transform our current welfare system and supplant it with effective and inexpensive faith-based providers are gaining political support and engendering heated debate about the separation of church and state. Yet we lack concrete information from which to anticipate how such initiatives might actually work if adopted.

Despite the assumption that congregations can help many needy people in our society, it remains to be seen how extensive they wish their involvement to be, or if they have the necessary tools to become significant providers in the social service arena. Moreover, how will such practices, which will move faith-based organizations towards professionalization, ultimately affect the spirit of volunteerism now prevalent in America's religious institutions?

We lack sufficient knowledge about congregational life and its ability to play a keyrole in social service provision. The Invisible Caring Hand attempts to fill that void. Based on in-depth interviews with clergy and lay leaders in 251 congregations nationwide, it reveals the many ways in which congregations are already working, beneath the radar, to care for people in need. This ground-breaking volume will provide much-sought empirical data to social scientists, religious studies scholars, and those involved in the debates over the role of faith-based organizations in faith-based services, as well as to clergy and congregation members themselves.

This authoritative text offers the first comprehensive analysis of intergenerational relations and social welfare. It examines both the micro-sociological relations within the family and the social contract which forms the backbone of the welfare state.; This book is intended to appeal to undergraduates and postgraduates in sociology, social policy and medicine and it will also be particularly useful for professional courses such as nursing, social work and gerontology.

With moves towards greater integration of health and social care services, there is a need for improved understanding of the importance and benefits of a person-centred, holistic approach to work in these fields. This accessible text, the product of a collaborative venture between older people's groups and academics, provides students, academics and practitioners across a wide range of health and social care professions with a guide to understanding the value of this approach. Health, well-being and older people: provides an overview of relevant research and service development literature; presents and discusses a range of issues that are important to the health of older people including attitudes and ageism, the body, the environment, family and community, sexuality and having fun; draws on material developed and, in some cases, written by older people themselves; integrates theory and empirical evidence with practice experience; offers models of best practice. Designed with the needs of students in mind, each chapter has helpful aids to understanding including: key learning points; models for case studies; summaries and exercises; glossaries and recommended texts. Throughout, readers are encouraged to think through the implications of the material in respect of their own service settings. Health, well-being and older people is essential reading for students and staff on qualifying and post-qualifying programmes in nursing, social work, social care, social policy, gerontology and related courses. It is also recommended reading for practitioners who will want to engage with the ideas for best practice presented in the book.

Dissatisfaction with a human services system that is unresponsive, stigmatizing, and ineffective has led to a ferment of experimentation in recent years. Reinventing Human Services examines the historical and economic context of current efforts to reinvent human services, showing the urgency and the difficulty of the task. It draws on successful examples in Britain, Canada, and the United States to develop a new paradigm for social work practice, one that integrates individual, family, and community levels of practice and reconceptualizes professional-community relations. The interdisciplinary team of authors includes scholars, researchers, and practitioners from the disciplines of economics, urban planning, communications, criminal justice, psychology, marriage and family therapy, education, and social work.

Contents:
An introduction to the profession; so you think you want a career in the human services; careers in school settings; student affairs and related careers in higher education; careers in business and industry; careers in private practice; careers in federal and state agencies; careers in health care facilities; careers in residential treatment and community- based support programmes; accreditation and credentialling; what next?.

Your hands-on guide to dealing with dementia within the UK healthcare system If a loved one has recently been diagnosed with dementia, Dementia For Dummies, UK Edition provides trusted, no-nonsense guidance on what this may mean for you and your family. You'll get an understanding of the symptoms of dementia, make sense of the stages of the illness and grasp the differences between the various types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Dementia is an increasingly common condition that can have a significant impact on family life. Each person diagnosed is unique, and your loved one's symptoms can range from loss of memory to mood changes to communication problems and beyond. This sensitive, authoritative guide walks you through the different scenarios you may encounter as a family member or carer and explains step-by-step how you can keep your loved one as safe and as comfortable as possible--no matter how severe their symptoms are. Gives you the straight facts on dementia Covers the symptoms, causes and risk factors of dementia Helps identify and address the fears as you face a diagnosis Provides carers and family members with the information needed to help manage the illness If you're looking for support as you adjust to caring for a loved one with dementia, Dementia For Dummies helps make it easier.

In-depth study of the origins and the trajectories of the law governing social policies in the Global South: Brazil, China, India, and South Africa. Adds a new dimension to the existing accounts on welfare state building which, so far, are dominated by European narratives and by scholars with a background in sociology, political science, and development studies. Will be of interest to scholars and students as well as political actors in the fields of comparative and international social security law, human rights law, comparative constitutional law, constitutional history, law and development studies, comparative social policies, global social policies, social work, and welfare state theory.

Children need more than just good schooling: they require safe lives, good health, and sufficient resources to live and grow successfully in their community. This book makes this vital connection, as society must promote a quality education, available health services, and financial equity and opportunity for all.

The majority of people, in cultures worldwide, seek fulfilment and happiness in marriage and couples relationships. Many mental health professionals now find they are increasingly consulted when such relationships encounter difficulties that threaten the wellbeing of the couples involved. The costs of such difficulties can be high, to society, to children and to other family members, in both emotional and economic terms. Psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, counsellors and social workers will find in this uniquely comprehensive handbook a critical review of knowledge in this wide field, as well as a guide to best practice in its many areas of intervention. The scope of the handbook includes an overview of healthy, normal marriage processes, the major influences on marital quality and stability, the interaction between individual adjustment, environmental events, and relationship satisfaction, and interventions designed to assist couples to enhance their relationship. The emphasis in the chapters which review research is on explicating the implications of current state-of-the-art knowledge for assessment and intervention with couples. Over half the book comprises detailed guidelines on how to conduct interventions for relationship problems. This includes work on different approaches to couples therapy, adapting couples therapy to the needs of couples in which one partner has significant individual psychopathology, working with just one partner, responding to crises initiated by extramarital affairs, mediating divorce, and working with families in which there are combined marital and parenting difficulties.

An examination of men and masculinity, which considers the issues involved with both the use of and provision of welfare services by men, and argues that there is a case for restricting their role. The book is intended for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in social work, social policy and gender studies, as well those interested in masculinity within sociology and psychology. It should also be useful to professionals in welfare, health, education and criminal justice.

Here is a comprehensive review of adolescent substance abuse issues and an expansive, empirically based curriculum for school-based programs to teach adolescents about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. The abuse of alcohol and other drugs among young people is a problem of alarming scope and gravity. Adolescent Substance Abuse explores the multiple forces which impact adolescents and can push them toward drug and alcohol abuse.Adolescent Substance Abuse proposes means by which to effect macro-level change in societal norms and values regarding substance abuse. The authors describes in detail an effective means of teaching adolescents about drugs and alcohol using an empirically based teaching method called Teams-Games-Tournaments (TGT). TGT was developed through extensive research on games used as teaching devices. It uses small groups as classroom work units and capitalizes on peer influence by using peers as teachers and supporters. The book explains an effective curriculum which utilizes the TGT approach and provides a program for parents. The curriculum is unique in that it is anchored in empirical data and delivered via adolescent peer groups. Adolescent Substance Abuse addresses other issues pertinent to the reduction of adolescent substance abuse by exploring subsystems of change, including school and peer group environments, home and family, the media, community movements, and business and industry. The book is a great source of innovative ideas for beginning and expert counselors, social workers, mental health professionals, school psychologists, and others who want to prevent adolescent abuse of drugs and alcohol.

Through the analysis of institutional dynamics, this book argues that social policy development in Korea is not due to common exogenous factors such as international or union pressure but to the desire of the weakly legitimated government to have itself legitimized. Such political rationale is deeply embedded in the structure of social policy institutions and particularly in the way that the state has played a part in financing social welfare programmes. The author seeks to show that the role of the Korean state is characterized as essentially that of regulator type rather than provider.

Asset-based policies are becoming an increasingly important form of public and social policy globally. This sees individual assets - such as savings or housing--as crucial aspects of a new form of welfare provision emerging in countries such as the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. In this book, the first of its kind, Rajiv Prabhakar provides a theoretical perspective on the emerging asset agenda as well as examining specific policies, including the British Child Trust Fund.

This comprehensive and carefully organized collection provides an overview of the relationship between gender and economic stratification in seven industrialized countries. Everywhere, as a Polish commentator notes, `men have too much power, and women too much work.' Nevertheless, these studies reveal large differences in the circumstances of women in different countries and help to illuminate the several developments in the labor market, the family, and public policy which explain the extreme feminization of poverty in the United States. Frances Fox Piven, City University of New York Lucid, careful, and systematic, the book builds a compelling explanation for the needless impoverishment experienced by millions of American women and offers a sensible, realistic agenda for its reduction. Michael B. Katz, University of Pennsylvania This study asks whether the feminization of poverty, the tendency of women and their families to become the majority of the poor, is unique to the United States, where the phenomenon was first discovered. Seven industrialized nations, both capitalist and socialist, with different degrees of commitment to social welfare are compared: Canada, Japan, France, Sweden, Poland, the Soviet Union, and the United States. In each of the countries the authors analyze information about women, labor market conditions, equalization policies, social welfare programs, and demographic variables such as the rates of divorce and single parenthood. According to Goldberg and Kremen, it is possible to predict the feminization of poverty when three conditions are present: (1) insufficient efforts to reduce work place and wage inequities for women; (2) the absence or ineffectiveness of social welfare programs which can redress the cost, both economic and personal, of the dual role that women have assumed in industrialized societies; and (3) the presence of increasing rates of divorce and single motherhood. An array of labor market and social welfare programs in use in the six other industrialized nations are then reviewed by the authors for possible adaptation in the United States. This important work will be a valuable resource for scholars across the academic and professional disciplines of political science, sociology, economics, social work, and women's studies.

In Licensing Parents, Michael McFall argues that political structures, economics, education, racism, and sexism are secondary in importance to the inequality caused by families, and that the family plays the primary role in a child's acquisition of a sense of justice. He demonstrates that examination of the family is necessary in political philosophy and that informal structures (families) and considerations (character formation) must be taken seriously. McFall advocates a threshold that should be accepted by all political philosophers: children should not be severely abused or neglected because child maltreatment often causes deep and irreparable individual and societal harm. The implications of this threshold are revolutionary, but this is not recognized fully because no philosophical book has systematically considered the ethical or political ramifications of child maltreatment. By exposing a tension between the rights of children and adults, McFall reveals pervasive ageism; parental rights usually trump children's rights, and this is often justified because children are not fully autonomous. Yet parental rights should not always trump children's rights. Ethics and political philosophy are not only about rights, but also about duties especially when considering potential parents who are unable or unwilling to provide minimally decent nurturance. While contemporary political philosophy focuses on adult rights, McFall examines systems whereby the interests and rights of children and parents are better balanced. This entails exploring when parental rights are defeasible and defending the ethics of licensing parents, whereby some people are precluded from rearing children. He argues that, if a sense of justice is largely developed in childhood, parents directly influence the character of future generations of adults in political society. A completely stable and well-ordered society needs stable and psychologically healthy citizens in addition to just laws, and McFall demonstrates how parental love"

A uniquely hybrid approach to welfare state policy, ecological sustainability and social transformation, this book explores transformative models of welfare change. Using Ireland as a case study, it addresses the institutional adaptations needed to move towards a sustainable welfare state, and the policy of making such transformation happen. It takes a theoretical and practical approach to implementing an alternative paradigm for welfare in the context of globalisation, climate change, social cohesion, automation, economic and power inequalities, intersectionality, and environmental sustainability, as well as perpetual crisis, including the pandemic.

Stepfamilies represent an increasing number of American households and shape the upbringing of countless stepchildren. Despite their prominence in society, our knowledge about these families is very limited. To address this deficit, the editors have drawn together the work of 16 nationally known scholars to deal with four questions:
* Marriages that create stepfamilies: Why do they occur? Fail? Succeed?
* How do stepfamilies function as child rearing environments?
* How do stepfamilies function as sources of support in later life?
* Building research and policy agendas: What is needed?
In seeking answers to these questions, the book bridges the disciplines of psychology, sociology, social psychology, child development, demography, law and policy. Readers will gain an understanding of the current knowledge about stepfamilies, obtain an appreciation of the diverse views on a variety of stepfamily issues, learn about existing and anticipated laws and policies that affect stepfamilies, and acquire ideas on needed research and policy agendas. Chapter authors are leading figures in psychology, sociology, demography, human development, and family law; their contributions are valuable to researchers, teachers, and students as well as policymakers and legislatures.

In recent years child protection issues have dominated media and public discourse in the UK. This book offers a unique perspective by giving voice to those social workers working within a profession which has become increasingly embedded in a culture of blame. Exploring how statutory child protection agencies function, Leigh also reveals how 'organisational culture' can significantly affect the way in which social work is practised. Providing a comparative analysis between the UK and Belgium, Leigh uses ethnography to illuminate the differences between the settings by examining how interactions and affected atmospheres impact on their identities. This book reveals how practitioners perceive themselves differently in such environments and explores the impact this has on their identity as well as the work they carry out with children and families. Leigh's enquiry and compelling critique into social work, identity and organisations calls for mutual understanding and respect, rather than a culture of blame.

Here is an informative guide to help directors and staff of residential treatment centers (RTCs) cope with the financial and administrative problems resulting from today's financially turbulent times. Financial problems have closed some centers and managed care or other health care changes will soon reach others. Managing the Residential Treatment Center in Troubled Times deals directly with current difficult financial and management problems in RTCs and presents practical advice, discussions of current problems, and possible solutions. Authors explore a wide range of topics from dealing with community hostility to planning for the future. Specifically, chapters discuss: the application of total quality management to RTCs reasons and rationale for the decline of residential establishments in England how changes in an RTC affect the youngsters who live there privatization and purchase of service contracting profit vs. nonprofit organizations one agency's experience in establishing an RTC in a resistant neighborhoodManaging the Residential Treatment Center in Troubled Times offers fresh perspectives and alternatives for professionals involved with RTCs, including directors, government regulators, social and child care workers, and psychiatrists and psychologists.

This edited collection presents a comprehensive examination of women's relationships to housing--both as consumers of housing services and managers of these services. The book begins with a discussion of women's experience of housing as buyers of property and users of housing services, examining in detail income differentials, the dominance of the needs of the nuclear family in housing forms and the ways in which housing allocations policies often discriminate against women. Subsequent discussion looks at women as producers of housing and assesses the structures within which they have to work.
While much of the literature to date has portrayed women as passive recipients of services and victims of discrimination, this volume shows the very active role women have played, for example in housing protest movements. Throughout, the book is forward looking, considering the possibility of new housing forms which would challenge gender assumptions and be more attractive to women. The contributors make policy recommendations necessary to the creation of affordable housing and employment and training agencies to ensure better equal opportunity policies.

This text is concerned with social issues and problems that affect women throughout the world, the policies and practices that impinge on their human rights, and the programmes around the globe that are successfully changing their conditions. The book links discrimination and violence against women to family law, sex roles to sex industries, and sexual oppression to politics, education, employment, health and mental health.