1,721,139 research outputs found
ANTICORPI ANTI-TH/TO NELLA SCLEROSI SISTEMICA (SSC): CORRELAZIONI CLINICHE E IMMUNOLOGICHE
No full textPreventing child maltreatment: a meta-analysis and systematic review of parenting programs
No full textChild maltreatment—a serious public health problem—is a global phenomenon. Parenting programs are considered effective approaches to preventing child maltreatment; however, comprehensive understanding is still lacking of the effectiveness of such programs in all areas of outcomes and the way parenting programs work. This thesis consists of two parts: a quantitative synthesis of high-level evidence about program effects and a qualitative integration of program process.
The thesis employs two research methods: meta-analytic review and systematic review. I searched 11 electronic databases to identify studies published between 2000 and 2012. Forty-two studies meeting the eligibility criteria were included in the systematic review, and 21 of these were included in the meta-analysis. The total random effect size was 0.338.
The research found that parenting programs successfully reduced substantiated child maltreatment reports. The programs also reduced risk factors and enhanced protective factors associated with child maltreatment. However, program effects began to decrease in the first year after program completion. Parenting programs function by remediating parental cognition, thus changing parenting behaviors and enhancing parent-child relationships. The successful program components include teaching child-rearing knowledge, improving parenting skills and changing parents’ inappropriate attitudes towards children.
Parenting programs are demonstrated to be effective public health approaches to avoiding child maltreatment. Parenting programs could produce positive effects in both low- and middle-income countries, as well as high-income countries. The study recommends a longer-term intervention beginning prenatally or at an early age of the children and involving more male caregivers. The evidence-based service of parenting programs could be widely adopted in future practices. The research also indicates that parenting programs could be applicable within the Chinese context, where such programs have not been widely used to date.published_or_final_versionSocial Work and Social AdministrationMasterMaster of Philosoph
跨境家庭 : 踰越與對話
No full text《跨境家庭：踰越與對話》顧名思義，是從跨專業的多元角度討論近年穿透香港及內地各論述的議題--「跨境家庭」。
回歸超過十年，由死硬堅持「河水不犯井水」到人人高喊「血濃於水」；內地香港已不單是雙生兒而是連續體。在這氛圍下，「跨境家庭」不可能再只是一千一百平方公里內的事情，而是十三億人口互動政治的一部份。「一國兩制」固然一方面成功(？)保留了香港特色，但另一方面又是否為「跨境家庭」設下更多更大的阻隔障礙？
「跨境家庭」不是任何個體的私人體驗，而是一個社會現象。它不只影響本地社福、醫療及法律政策發展，更滲透了房屋、教育、未成年人和社區規劃等措施建設。它亦不只是香港要討論的議程，亦是內地須處理的題目。「跨境家庭」是這麼重要明顯，卻不明所以的總是遭主流社會邊緣化視而不見。
本書作為起步，為免眼高手低，先由香港本土視點出發，讓關注團體持份者主導發聲，審視建構社福、醫療及法律等範疇在「跨境家庭」脈絡的對話；希望拋磚引玉，為將來更深入更廣泛的研究打好基礎
Migrant workers and informal economy in urban China: an ethnographic study of a migrant enclave inGuangzhou
No full textChina's internal migration has drawn extensive interest since the 1980s, and numerous studies have focused on migrant workers who are employed by the "world’s factories". However, less attention has been paid to migrant workers participating in the informal economy in urban China. In fact, the informal economy, which refers to income-generating activities that are not regulated by the state, has been estimated to have expanded dramatically over the past two decades, and migrant workers comprise the overwhelming majority of participants in the informal sector. These informals are mostly self-employed or paid employees working for informal factories hidden in the urban villages.
This study, taking an urban village known as Kangle village in Guangzhou as its research site, adopts an ethnographic method to understand the lives of China's migrant workers engaged in the informal economy. It attempts to (1) examine the institutional environment for the expansion of the informal economy in urban China, (2) understand the individual choices of migrant workers in terms of being formal or informal, (3) explore their economic performance and (4) discover whether the informal economy could represent an alternative for migrant workers to achieve upward mobility in receiving cities.
It is found that institutional factors, including policy practices of the state, regulation enforcement by local government and the relative autonomy of the migrant enclave all contribute to the development of the informal economy in urban China. Individual choices in being formal or informal are based primarily on participants' rational calculations comparing costs and benefits; howbeit these choices have actually been largely affected by the social networks of migrant workers. Migrant workers engaged in the informal economy receive relatively higher incomes than their counterparts in the formal sector. However, the higher monthly incomes for the wage employees in the informal economy can also be viewed as compensation for their willingness to undertake the risky, dirty, long-hour informal jobs. Social networks have also played an essential role in the economic performance of migrant workers in the informal economy. For instance, the strong social ties of migrant workers largely facilitate the process of becoming self-employed or migrant entrepreneurs by providing market information, financial support and labor resources. Also, the use of social networks reduces the transaction costs between different business owners in the informal sector where formal contracts are absent. Economic stratification among the migrant workers in the urban village is obvious, and a small number of migrants have achieved economic success by becoming self-employed or migrant entrepreneurs. Nonetheless, migrant entrepreneurship cannot continue to be a sustainable alternative for the majority of migrant workers to achieve upward mobility due to the vulnerability of the informal economy and the absence of institutional inclusion for the participants in the informal economy. It is thus suggested that society and government rethink and adjust current institutional settings to improve work conditions, promote entrepreneurship, and facilitate the formalization of the informal economy on the one hand; meanwhile initiate top-down reforms for the integration of migrant workers in both the formal and informal sectors.published_or_final_versionSocial Work and Social AdministrationDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph
Prevalence and risk factors of child victimization in China
No full textChildren are among the most vulnerable to violence. A global problem, child
victimization has been extensively studied in the context of public health research.
As negative consequences of victimization are demonstrated, estimation of its
prevalence and identification of its risk factors are two major concerns of
researchers. Intimate partner violence (IPV), a worldwide prevalent family
problem in itself, is directly or indirectly demonstrated in association with risk of
different child victimizations. However, majority of previous studies on child
victimization were fragmented into clusters that center on specific forms of
victimization, primarily those involving conventional crime, maltreatment, peer
and sibling abuse, sexual violence, and witnessing of violence.
Efforts for assessing complete pattern of victimization in children emerged
only in recent years. Nevertheless, this initial development that has clear research
gaps is far from being enough. In such a context, the present study was conducted,
in a comprehensive perspective, to uncover pattern and prevalence, and to identify
risk factors of child victimization in the Chinese context. IPV was particularly
examined on its relationship with child victimization. The ecological theory and
family systems theory were integrated to build the conceptual research framework,
a family-based ecological model comprising levels of individual, family,
community, and social culture.
This study adopts a quantitative approach. Questionnaire survey was
successfully conducted among 953 parents of children aged 0-17 years old in
Wuhan, China. The respondents were identified through a four-stage stratified
sampling method. For the sake of ethical consideration and research requirement,
child victimization cases were reported by the parents. The Juvenile Victimization
Questionnaire (JVQ) was employed for measuring child victimization.
Approximately one in two children was reported having victimization. Of
these victims, the proportion of those who suffered from two or more types of
victimization was as high as half; children whose parents reported IPV accounted
for one-third. Through multiple logistic regression analyses, the hypothesis that
prior victimization can increase the risk of other victimizations was confirmed. A
series of factors in the ecological model, including IPV, were identified to have
association with child victimization. All the ecological factors were further
examined using a structured multiphase logistic regression analysis. The results of
two regression models were compared. The factors identified to be associated
with the risk of child victimization involve all four levels of the ecological model.
The finding suggests that occurrence of child victimization and IPV are associated
and share common risk factors in the family-based ecological system.
The findings emphasize the necessity of a comprehensive screening for child
victimization, and highlight cooperation between services for partners and for
children. The implications also include the application of family-based ecological
perspective in research, and the formulation of family-based systematic
prevention policies on child victimization and related family problems. In general,
the reexamination of the ecological theory with emphasis on family in this study
promotes the theoretical indigenization in China. The research findings contribute
to the scientific database on child victimization and provide valuable implications
for policies and practice of child protection.published_or_final_versionSocial Work and Social AdministrationDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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