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Social Trends (social + trend)
Selected AbstractsThe elderly and undue influence inter vivosLEGAL STUDIES, Issue 2 2003Fiona R Burns An important demographic and social trend is becoming indisputably evident in the UK. The population is ageing, and a clearly discernible group of elderly persons is growing. As this trend continues, it will be necessary to reconsider the effectiveness and application of the law from the perspective of the elderly claimant. While it has been recognised that there must be a legal scheme to oversee the care and protection of persons, including elders, who are unable to care for their interests due to severe disability, it is becoming evident that even elders who are apparently healthy and able may be vulnerable. Undue influence inter vivos is a significant legal doctrine upon which elderly people have relied in recent times to set aside gifs, contracts and guarantees which they (or their representatives) have considered in hindsight were not in their best interests. This paper seeks to provide an analysis of and contribute to an understanding of the doctrine of undue influence from the perspective of the elderly claimant in the UK. The paper considers actual and presumed undue influence and the impact of the House of Lords decision in Royal Bank of Scotland plc v Etridge (No2). It will be argued that the law of undue influence inter vivos is in transition from a nineteenth-century doctrine which did not confer a special legal status on the elderly to one which is applied in the context of an increasing recognition that the events leading up to the transaction and the circumstances of the case may indicate that elders need the relief which the doctrine affords. Nevertheless, the transition to a modem system of undue influence for the elderly is incomplete. There remain outstanding issues which need consideration before it can be said that there is a comprehensive or logically coherent approach to elders and undue influence. [source] Preliminary Development of a Model and Measure of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) CompetenceJOURNAL OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION, Issue 2 2006Brian H. Spitzberg The rationale for developing a theoretical model of computer-mediated communication (CMC) competence is established through review of social trends in the use of new media technologies. Special attention is paid to the role new media play in the formation and development of personal relationships. A model of CMC competence is then developed along the lines of motivation, knowledge, skills, context, and outcomes as a metaphorical typology for organizing existing CMC research. This research is reviewed as it informs, and is organized by, the model of CMC competence. A sampling of formal propositions resulting from the model is elaborated, and the results of preliminary pilot studies of the model are reviewed. The model is offered as a first step in examining individual differences in the domain of CMC relationships and media choice. [source] Language Choice Online: Globalization and Identity in EgyptJOURNAL OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION, Issue 4 2002Mark Warschauer The dominance of English on the Internet in the medium's early years caused great consternation about a possible threat to local languages and cultures. Though the hegemony of English online has since weakened, there is still concern about how English and other languages interact online, but there has been almost no research on this issue. This paper combines linguistic analysis, a survey, and interviews to examine English and Arabic language use in online communications by a group of young professionals in Egypt. The study indicates that, among this group, English is used overwhelmingly in Web use and in formal e-mail communication, but that a Romanized version of Egyptian Arabic is used extensively in informal e-mail messages and online chats. This online use of English and Arabic is analyzed in relation to broader social trends of language, technology, globalization, and identity. [source] A Global Review of New Social Risks and Responses for Children and their FamiliesASIAN SOCIAL WORK AND POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2009Shirley Gatenio Gabel Given global demographic and social trends, the need for new policy and program responses is essential. This article identifies and describes new and traditional social risks affecting children and their families in both industrialized and developing countries by region. Traditional risks continue in the developing as well as the industrialized countries but the extent and scale are very different and the problems are far more severe in developing countries. In addition, new risks are now evident and new policy responses are emerging. Attention to the new risks is increasing, with growing investment in services and policies facilitating the reconciliation of work and family life and non-traditional families. The citizens of many developing countries experience new risks as well, but their capacity to confront and address these risks is also more limited. [source] Inclusion or control? commissioning and contracting services for people with learning disabilitiesBRITISH JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES, Issue 4 2006Liam Concannon Accessible summary ,,The rise of new public management has seen the role of the social worker becoming increasingly administrative and less about face to face contact with service users. ,,When commissioning managers seek to help people with learning disabilities plan their services, who actually makes the decisions? ,,Direct payments are proposed as the answer for people with learning disabilities to take the lead, but is this a real shift in power from managers to service users? This paper examines what commissioning and contracting means for people with learning disabilities. It asks if the voices of service users are heard when it comes to planning their services and, more significantly, are their choices respected and acted upon by commissioners? The government believes the introduction of direct payments will change the way social care is administered, by placing both the decision-making and funding, firmly in the hands of people with learning disabilities. However, the question remains as to how far this can be successful, considering the complicated administration and financial processes involved. The paper explores new ground in terms of research by investigates the effects that new public management, in the form of commissioning and contracting, has on the lives of people with learning disabilities. It looks at the relationship between the service user, care manager and commissioner, and asks whether management structures help individuals or actually create further barriers to participation and inclusion. Summary This paper seeks to critically assess the impact made by the introduction of commissioning and contracting as a new culture of social care in learning disability services. It offers an evaluation of the growth in importance of the user as consumer. Does the commissioning and the contract process give users with learning disabilities a greater influence over their services and ultimately their lives? It is suggested that far from empowering people with learning disabilities to have a say in the services they want, the emerging culture of business contracts and new public management transfers power firmly back into the hands of professionals making the decisions. Social work practice is changing in response to major shifts in social trends and at the behest of market values. Traditional models are being rejected and the challenge for social work is to adapt itself to operate within a competency based paradigm. The paper argues that at the centre of this new culture is a government use of a system of performance management that successfully drives down cost. Thus there remain contradictions between the adoption of a mixed economy of care; services planning; consumerism; resource constraints; and the communication difficulties experienced by many people with learning disabilities. [source] Order and disorder: the contradictions of childhoodCHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 1 2000Roger Smith This article reviews the question of childhood in the context of conflicting social trends, namely the simultaneous globalisation and atomisation of social life. The experience of childhood is discussed in relation to three distinct ,levels'; children as consumers, children as interpreters, and children as actors. It is suggested that understanding the changing social context in relation to each of these levels helps to explain some of the tensions and disruptions that characterise the lives of some children, especially those at the margins. In conclusion, it is argued that this analysis is not only of theoretical interest, but indicates specific requirements for the formulation of coherent social policies to meet the needs of all children. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||