Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-18T18:55:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Lucilene.pdf: 1225805 bytes, checksum: 1a67e1db3ed0d98923c3455d3280c986 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-05-23 / I study the work of the social worker within the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS) from the Social Assistance Reference Centers (CRAS), in São Luís, Maranhão. I talk about the expansion of the professional working market within the national policy for social assistance which nationally established the SUAS and the CRAS in which the incorporation of the social worker in the technical crew is a legal requirement in the policy effecting process. In the empirical data analysis, I consider the centrality of the working category and the assumption that the professional working conditions experience determinations of the working organization mode in the capitalist society and the configuration of social policies in responses of the State to the expressions of the social issues in the contemporaneity. I emphasize the policy for social assistance from its new rearrangement, through: the 1988 Federal Constitution, the Social Assistance Organic Law (LOAS) and the National Policy for Social Assistance (PNAS); I emphasize the centrality that this policy assumes in the last two decades in the set of policies for social protection in Brazil and the insertion of Social Service in the CRAS. I recall the historical process of this insertion in the social care service in São Luis, where I verify that the work of the social workers within the SUAS, through the CRAS, expresses a contradiction between the policy rules and the precariousness that challenges the profession Code of Ethics. In the final considerations, I point out that conservative elements in the professional practice are identified, persisting shortsighted practices that meet the provisions of the social assistance policy, which reinforces the maintenance of users in the state of need in relation to their subsistence. / Estudo sobre o trabalho do/da assistente social no âmbito do Sistema Único de Assistência Social (SUAS) a partir dos Centros de Referência de Assistência Social (CRAS) no município de São Luís do Maranhão. Trato da expansão do mercado de trabalho profissional no âmbito da Política Nacional de Assistência Social que institui nacionalmente o SUAS e os CRAS nos quais a inserção de assistentes sociais na equipe técnica é uma exigência legal no processo de efetivação da política. Na análise de dados empíricos, parto da centralidade da categoria trabalho e da premissa de que as condições de trabalho profissional sofrem determinações do modo de organização do trabalho na sociedade capitalista e da configuração das políticas sociais nas respostas do Estado às expressões da questão social na contemporaneidade. Enfatizo a política de assistência social a partir do seu novo reordenamento, através: da Constituição Federal de 1988, da Lei Orgânica da Assistência Social (LOAS) e da Política Nacional de Assistência Social (PNAS); ressalto a centralidade que essa política assume nas duas ultimas décadas no conjunto das políticas de proteção social no Brasil e a inserção do Serviço Social nos CRAS. Resgato o processo histórico dessa inserção na prestação da assistência social em São Luís onde verifico que o trabalho dos/das assistentes sociais no âmbito do SUAS, através dos CRAS, expressa uma contradição entre as normas da política e a precarização que desafia o Código de Ética da profissão. Nas considerações finais ressalto que elementos conservadores no exercício profissional são identificados, persistindo práticas de caráter imediatista que atendem as determinações da política de assistência social, as quais reforçam a manutenção dos usuários no estado de necessitados, em relação à sua subsistência.

This research provides a comparative study of the Japanese and German nursing home sectors. Faced with aging populations, both countries share similar long-term care policies based on social insurance. However, descriptive statistics indicate significant differences in the outcomes and costs in their respective nursing home sectors. This research aims to identify the reasons for this state of affairs by examining demographic and policy differences between the two countries. To shed light on the subject from multiple angles, we conduct three types of empirical analysis—regression, the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition, and data envelopment analysis—on regional data from the past decade. Our findings indicate that the different outcomes are driven by both demographic and policy differences where policy relates to long-term care as well as to additional welfare aid. In terms of policy, a key difference is found in the designs of the welfare programs for low-income elders. In Germany, our results are consistent with moral hazard due to the generous design of the welfare program, while in Japan, our results do not indicate moral hazard, which may be due to strict nursing home admission rules for welfare recipients.

The submitted text examines the relation between work-family balance policies and social construction of mothers with children under four years of age. The first part of the thesis outlines the context of work family balance. The research is positioned in the perspective of the theory of social construction of target population by Ingram and Schneider. The following chapter is devoted to the research methodology used throughout the analytical part of the thesis. The analytical part presents answers to questions regarding policy design, framing of the work family balance, stereotypes and social construction of mothers with children under the age of four.

In this thesis I conduct a comparative analysis of the influence of socioeconomic actors, business and labor, on public policy in Germany and the United States, specifically public policy that has an impact on economic inequality. The objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of how institutional constructs may determine the level of influence by different socioeconomic actors on public policy. In particular, I examine the link between institutional design and economic inequality, specifically the relative influence of business interests in varying types of capitalist economies and democratic systems, and assess those facets of institutional design that may facilitate the channeling of business influence in policy making. I explore institutional changes in the German political and economic system beginning in the late 1980s to determine whether these changes have altered the policy making process over time, and analyze similarities with institutional changes that have taken place in the United States beginning in the late 1970s to present. Further, I examine whether shifts in institutional design indicate that the German system is transitioning towards a more liberal model similar to that of the United States, and consider what effects this may have on the level of economic inequality in Germany. To conduct my analysis I use the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework; based on the IAD framework I create a conceptual map of the channels by which socioeconomic actors are involved in the policy making process. I evaluate the policy-making process in both formal and informal policy arenas. The policy areas analyzed include corporate governance, industrial relations, and tax, welfare and minimum wage policy during the selected time periods. The analysis shows that the institutional designs that produced the selected policies benefit business interests and may contribute towards economic inequality. The larger goal is to develop research that will build a theoretical foundation to help us identify how these systems may be improved to produce a more equitable allocation of economic resources.

No description available.

In this study, the researchers explored child welfare workers’ perceptions on placement changes for youth in foster care and the impact these changes had on youths’ overall outcomes. Using a Post Positivist paradigm, qualitative research was completed using snowball-sampling procedures. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with sixteen members from their personal networks of child welfare social workers that have direct contact with foster youth. The research participants included current child welfare social workers from two counties in Southern California. The study’s findings suggest that children’s behaviors and foster parents’ reactions to those behaviors impacted placement changes. Further, participants felt that these changes significantly impacted youths’ educational outcomes. Participants identified a variety of interventions they used to try to mitigate placement changes, some with more or less success. Finally, workers identified barriers within the child welfare system, including communications and compensation, that might have an impact on placement changes. Implications for social work practice, policy and research are discussed.

有鑑於過去人口結構的變化，台灣已成為人口老化速度最快的國家，人口老 齡化已成為一個重大議題。而老年人比例最高的日本，卻出現廣泛的老年貧窮 （下流老人）現象。因此，本研究以日本的情況為依據，對台灣老年貧窮的整體 概況和未來趨勢的發展進行資料整合與分析。主要探討台灣“老年貧窮”問題的 出現，並找出其影響的程度及其未來的發展，後續並深入分析其造成台灣“老年 貧窮”問題之關鍵指標因素，以及政府解決老年貧窮問題的政策與措施。研究發 現，超過五成老年人口落在最低收入、最貧窮層級的家戶中，顯示台灣社會的“老 年貧窮”現象有所增加。而造成台灣老年貧窮的原因為：一、退休養老金不足（低 於基本生活開銷）; 二、就業（低薪的工作環境）; 三、家庭養老功能下降（老 人獨居比率不斷上升）; 四、太早離開勞動力市場（儲蓄不足）。研究結果顯示，弱化的社會保障制度是老年貧窮比率升高的主要原因，而老年貧窮的現象亦廣泛存在於台灣社會，因此建議需提升公眾意識，提早準備充足的退休養老金、並加 強社區老人關懷功能、以及持續關注老年貧窮的問題。本研究結果可提供未來探 討台灣老年貧窮議題之參考，相關研究值得後續做進一步的探討分析。 / In view of the change in demographic structure in the past few years, Taiwan has become the country with the fastest speed of population aging. The aging population has become a major issue. Japan has the highest ratio of aged citizens, and the widely discussed phenomena of elderly poverty (The low-living elderly). Thus, this study based on Japan's case, has systematically reviewed, analyzed, and secondary data, in order to provide the overall and future trends of elderly poverty situation in Taiwan. The study probes into the emergence of the “elderly poverty” problem and try to find out the extent of this problem and its future outlook, to explore the causes of the “elderly poverty” problem in Taiwan and the official measures for alleviating elderly poverty. The research found that more than 50% of the elderly was the poorest households with the lowest income, nearly half of the elderly population falls to the lowest and poorest level, shows “the low-living elderly” phenomenon has increasing in Taiwan’s society. The causes of the elderly poverty in Taiwan: 1. the labor pension is too low (less than the necessary living expenses); 2. unstable employment (low income work); 3. family care function are decline (the elders living alone has keep rising); 4. early to exit from the labor market (lack of deposits). The weakened social security system are the main causes for the rising old-age poverty. The elderly poverty exists widely and need to promote public awareness for prepare adequate deposit in retirement, strengthen care function of community and focus on the elderly poor issues. For overall pictures of elderly poverty in Taiwan is worthy of further investigation and discussion.

No description available.

A distressing consequence of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and of the increasing numbers of orphans and decreasing numbers of caregivers is the emergence in ever larger numbers of child-headed households (CHHs). The complexity of issues affecting CHHs and the lack of research on this subject means that CHHs are not well understood. This sometimes prompts support agencies to provide emotionally driven recommendations suggesting that it is better for a child to be in an orphanage than to live in a CHH. This exploratory study, involving heads of 105 CHHs over a 12 month period and 142 participants in various focus group discussions (FGD) and interviews, suggests the need for a change in perspective. It addresses the question of CHH quality of life, coping strategies and household functioning and attempts to bring this into a productive dialogue with community child care activities, NGO and statutory support and child care and protection policies. Research data suggests that the key determining factor contributing towards the creation of a CHH is `pre-parental illness' family conflict. Another contributing factor is that siblings want to stay together after parental death. Quality of life assessments indicate that despite significant adversities, over 69% of CHHs reported a 'medium' to 'satisfactory' quality of life and demonstrate high levels of resilience. As regards vulnerability to abuse, it is found that while CHH members are more vulnerable to external abuse, they experience little within their household. Contrary to public perceptions about CHHs lacking moral values, CHH behaviour might actually be more responsible than non-CHH peer behaviour as their negative experiences appear to galvanize them into adopting responsible behaviour. Community care and neighbourhood support in older townships are better established compared with newer suburbs. Sufficient community care capacity enables CHHs to function, thus avoiding a situation where households disintegrate and household members end up as street children. CHH coping responses seem to be mainly influenced by individual and community factors, and by social, spiritual and material support. The interplay between these and the CHH's ability to engage in the required coping task impacts on the coping outcome at household level. National and international government and non-governmental child service providers in Southern Africa need to recognize that an adequately supported CHH is an acceptable alternative care arrangement for certain children in communities with high adult AIDS mortality and where adult HIV-prevalence exceeds 10%. / Development Studies / D. Ltt. et Phil. (Development Studies)

A distressing consequence of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and of the increasing numbers of orphans and decreasing numbers of caregivers is the emergence in ever larger numbers of child-headed households (CHHs). The complexity of issues affecting CHHs and the lack of research on this subject means that CHHs are not well understood. This sometimes prompts support agencies to provide emotionally driven recommendations suggesting that it is better for a child to be in an orphanage than to live in a CHH. This exploratory study, involving heads of 105 CHHs over a 12 month period and 142 participants in various focus group discussions (FGD) and interviews, suggests the need for a change in perspective. It addresses the question of CHH quality of life, coping strategies and household functioning and attempts to bring this into a productive dialogue with community child care activities, NGO and statutory support and child care and protection policies. Research data suggests that the key determining factor contributing towards the creation of a CHH is `pre-parental illness' family conflict. Another contributing factor is that siblings want to stay together after parental death. Quality of life assessments indicate that despite significant adversities, over 69% of CHHs reported a 'medium' to 'satisfactory' quality of life and demonstrate high levels of resilience. As regards vulnerability to abuse, it is found that while CHH members are more vulnerable to external abuse, they experience little within their household. Contrary to public perceptions about CHHs lacking moral values, CHH behaviour might actually be more responsible than non-CHH peer behaviour as their negative experiences appear to galvanize them into adopting responsible behaviour. Community care and neighbourhood support in older townships are better established compared with newer suburbs. Sufficient community care capacity enables CHHs to function, thus avoiding a situation where households disintegrate and household members end up as street children. CHH coping responses seem to be mainly influenced by individual and community factors, and by social, spiritual and material support. The interplay between these and the CHH's ability to engage in the required coping task impacts on the coping outcome at household level. National and international government and non-governmental child service providers in Southern Africa need to recognize that an adequately supported CHH is an acceptable alternative care arrangement for certain children in communities with high adult AIDS mortality and where adult HIV-prevalence exceeds 10%. / Development Studies / D. Ltt. et Phil. (Development Studies)