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Family Group Conferencing In Child Welfare: Responsive And Regulatory Interfaces, Joan Pennell

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A regulatory approach compels the child welfare worker to make decisions according to set procedures and prevents responding flexibly to families. Differential response is a way that child welfare is departing from legal formalism. One means is convening a family group conference (FGC) to develop a plan. John Braithwaite's regulatory pyramid assists in concep- tualizing differential response. This article reports a factor analysis of data on achievement of FGC objectives to elaborate three interfaces for fostering responsive regulation. Each interface keeps the family group at the center of planning while firmly maintaining their connections with community and government programs.

Sharing Power With The People: Family Group Conferencing As A Democratic Experiment, Lisa Merkel-Holguin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Can family group conferencing be leveraged to promote the democratic ideals of voice, freedom, justice, fairness, equality, and respect, and provide the citizenry with the opportunity to build a more just and civil society? This article reviews family group conferencing, and various model adaptations, from a democratic context and through the lens of responsive regulation.

Making Men Into Fathers. Men Masculinities, And The Social Policies Of Fatherhood. Barbara Hobson (Ed.).

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Hobson, B. (Ed.), Making Men into Fathers: Men, Masculinities, and the Social Policies of Fatherhood New York: Cambridge Univer- sity Press, 2002. $60.00 hardcover, $22.00 papercover.

Restorative Justice, Responsive Regulation, And Democratic Governance, Paul Adams

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Restorative justice has been a central tradition of justice in most, perhaps all societies prior to the emergence of the modern, central state power with its bureaucratic-professional systems and its emphasis on retribution, deterrence, and, sometimes, re- habilitation. Its revival as a new social movement in modern states offers a new paradigm for addressing the key questions in social work and social welfare of the relation of formal to informal systems of care and control, and of empowerment to coercion. Restorative justice may be defined in terms of process- one whereby all stakeholders come together to resolve how to deal …

Restorative Justice, Responsive Regulation And Social Work, Gale Burford, Paul Adams

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Two of the dichotomies or tensions at the heart of this profession are especially important for the themes of this special issue on restorative justice and responsive regulation. These are the relation between formal and informal helping and between care and control, or empowerment and coercion. In this article, we make a case for the importance of Braithwaite's work, especially his (2002) book, Restorative Justice and Responsive Regulation, for conceptualizing the nature of social work in relation to these dualities. Since Braithwaite's writings do not have social work or social welfare scholars and professionals as their primary audience and are …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 31, No. 1 (March 2004)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Special Issue on Restorative Justice and Responsive Regulation

• RESTORATIVE JUSTICE RESPONSIVE REGULATION, AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE: INTRODUCTION - Paul Adams, guest editor
• RESTORATIVE JUSTICE, RESPONSIVE REGULATION, AND SOCIAL WORK - Gale Burford & Paul Adams
• WORKING TOGETHER TO STOP DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: STATE-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS AND THE CHANGING MEANING OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE - Kristin A. Kelly
• MOVING BEYOND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PARADIGM: A RADICAL RESTORATIVE JUSTICE APPROACH TO INTIMATE ABUSE - Peggy Grauwiler & Linda G. Mills
• MANAGING SOCIAL CONFLICT-THE EVOLUTION OF A PRACTICAL THEORY - David B. Moore
• RESPONSIVE REGULATION IN CHILD WELFARE: SYSTEMIC CHALLENGES TO MAIN STREAMING …

Managing Social Conflict - The Evolution Of A Practical Theory, David B. Moore

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article describes the co-evolution of a process and a theory. Through the 1990s, the process known as "conferencing" moved beyond child welfare and youth justice, to applications in schools, neighbourhoods, and workplaces. In each of these applications, conferencing has assisted participants to acknowledge and transform interpersonal conflict, as a prelude to negotiating a plan of action. Much analysis of conferencing has been linked with social theorist John Braithwaite, whose work has influenced the development of a multidisciplinary theory of these process dynamics, and the development of guiding principles. Key links between theory and practice are described in chronological sequence.

Responsive Regulation In Child Welfare: Systemic Challenges To Mainstreaming The Family Group Conference, Paul Adams, Susan Chandler

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of this article is to examine the challenges inherent in trans- forming child welfare services. We apply Braithwaite's model of responsive regulation to the restorative practice of family group conferencing in child welfare. Shifting the role of the state away from controller of families in the child protective services system to one of regulatory partner with them is extraordinarily difficult. The paper looks at the complexities of reorienting child welfare services through the use of family group conferences on a large scale.

Family Involvement Interventions In Child Protection: Learning From Contextual Integrated Strategies, David Stuart Crampton

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The use of family group conferencing and related family involvement interventions in child protection is rapidly increasing in the United States and many other countries. There is some concern that the child welfare field will travel down the same road as it did with intensive family preservation services; that is, tremendous enthusiasm later derailed by rigidly designed evaluations that showed unimpressive effects. The work of John Braithwaite suggests an alternative path for finding justifiable excitement about these interventions. Drawing upon Braithwaite's writings and ongoing evaluation research, this article suggests a few steps we can take towards an integrative strategy for …

Families And The Republic, John Braithwaite

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Restorative and responsive justice can be a strategy of social work practice that builds democracy bottom-up by seeing families as building blocks of democracy and fonts of democratic sentiment. At the same time, because families are sites of the worst kinds of tyranny and the worst kinds of neglect, a rule of law is needed that imposes public human rights obligations on families. The republican ideal is that this rule of law that constrains people in families should come from the people. Restorative and responsive justice has a strategy for the justice of the people to bubble up into the …

Review Of Family Health Social Work Practice: A Macro Level Approach. John T. Pardeck (Ed.) Reviewed By Marsha Blachman, Marsha Blachman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of John T. Pardeck (Ed.), Family Health Social Work Practice: A Macro Level Approach. Westport, CT: Auburn House, 2002. $ 67.95 hardcover.

Review Of Growth And Convergence In Metropolitan America. Janet Rothenberg Pack. Reviewed By Joseph A. Deering., Joseph A. Deering

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Janet Rothenberg Pack, Growth and Convergence in Metropolitan America. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2002. $19.95 papercover.

Review Of Meds, Money, And Manners: The Case Management Of Severe Mental Illness. Jerry Floersch Reviewed By Rafael Herrera, Rafael Herrera

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Jerry Floersch, Meds, Money and Manners: The Case Management of Severe Mental Illness. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. $22.50 papercover, $49.50 hardcover.

Review Of Controversial Issues In Social Policy. Howard Jacob Karger, James Midgley, & C Brene Brown (Eds.). Reviewed By Mizanur R. Miah., Mizanur R. Miah

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Howard Jacob Karger, James Midgley and C. Brene Brown (Eds.), Controversial Issues in Social Policy. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2003. $ 24.67 papercover.

Review Of Addiction Treatment: A Strengths Perspective. Katherine Van Wormer & Diane Rae Davis. Reviewed By Mike Gorman., Mike Gorman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Van Wormer, Katherine and Davis, Diane Rae, Addiction Treatment A Strength's Perspective, Pacific Grove, CA: Thomson Brooks Cole, 2003. $ 51.92 papercover.

From Children's Services To Children's Spaces: Public Policy, Children, And Childhood. Peter Moss & Patt Petrie

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Peter Moss and Pat Petrie, From Children's Services to Children's Spaces: Public Policy, Children and Childhood. New York: Rout- ledgeFalmer, 2002. $25.95 papercover.

Restructuring The Welfare State: Political Institutions And Policy Change. Bo Rothstein & Sven Steinmo (Eds.).

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Bo Rothstein and Sven Steinmo (Eds.), Restructuring the Welfare State: Political Institutions and Policy Change. New York: Pal- grave, 2002. $ 75.00 hardcover, $ 24.95 papercover.

Rethinking Welfare: A Critical Perspective. Ian Ferguson, Michael Lavalette, & Gerry Mooney.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Ian Ferguson, Michael Lavalette and Gerry Mooney, Rethinking Welfare: A Critical Perspective. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Pub- lications, 2002. $92.00 hardcover, $27.00 papercover.

Reaching Higher: The Power Of Expectations In Schooling. Rhona Weinstein.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Rhona Weinstein, Reaching Higher: The Power of Expectations in Schooling. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. $39.95 hardcover.

The Quiet Hand Of God: Faith-Based Activism And The Public Role Of Mainline Protestantism. Robert Wunthrow & John Evans.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Robert Wuthnow and John H. Evans, The Quiet Hand of God: Faith- based Activism and the Public Role of Mainline Protestantism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2002. $60 hard- cover, $24.95 paper cover.

Moving Beyond The Criminal Justice Paradigm: A Radical Restorative Justice Approach To Intimate Abuse, Peggy Grauwiler, Linda G. Mills

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article traces the history of the development of the treatment of domestic violence as a crime in the United States and the conceptual and practical limitations of this approach in addressing this important social issue. An extensive body of research on restorative justice practice suggests that restorative approaches may contribute to reducing and preventing family violence. Drawing on restorative justice principles, an alternative or supplement to criminal justice approaches is outlined for working with all parties involved in abusive relationships.

Achieving Justice In Child Protection, Rob Neff

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As formal systems for the protection of children have evolved in this country, certain barriers to achieving justice within the child protection system have emerged concomitantly. Specifically, these barriers involve ambiguous definitions of abuse and the appearance of social inequality and bias within the child protection system. One means of surmounting these barriers to justice is family group conferencing (FGC). Support for this assertion comes from the integration of the restorative justice model and procedural justice theory. When applied to the practice of FGCs in child protection, the integration of these theoretical perspectives provides a strong rationale for the use …

Review Of Engendering International Health: The Challenge Of Equity. Gita Sen, Asha George And Piroska Osltin (Eds.). Reviewed By Deborah Schild Wilkinson., Deborah Schild Wilkinson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Gita Sen, Asha George and Piroska Osltin (Eds.) Engendering International Health: The Challenge of Equity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002 $24.95 papercover.

Presidents, Profits, Productivity, & Poverty: A Great Divide Between The Pre- & Post-Reagan U.S. Economy?, Richard K. Caputo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper examined profits, productivity, and poverty in the United States from 1961 through 2002. Results indicated that the "great divide" thesis regarding the U.S. economy before and after the Reagan administration depends on which measure of the economy is the focus of attention. In addition, on some measures where before and after differences were detected, the nature of those differences was paradoxical. Corporate profits as a share of national income, for example, were highest in Democratic rather than Republican administrations and despite the increased income inequality of the post-Reagan years, individual and family poverty rates remained relatively constant after …

Financialization Of Daily Life. Randy Martin.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Randy Martin, Financialization of Daily Life. Philadelpia, PA: Temple University Press, 2002. $59.50 hardcover, $19.95 papercover.

Organizational Factors Contributing To Worker Frustration: The Precursor To Burnout, Cathleen A. Lewandowski

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study examined the organizationalf actors that contribute to workers' frustration with their work situation. The sample included 141 service professionals who attended workshops on burnout in 2001. The purpose of the workshops was to increase awareness regarding the organizational factors that could contribute to burnout. Findings indicate that factors most directly affecting clients were predictive of frustration, rather than factors that may indirectly support service quality or factors impacting workers' professional autonomy. A sense of powerlessness and isolation was also predictive of frustration, suggesting that participants viewed workplace problems as a private rather than an organizational concern. To address …

Participants' Perceptions Of The Childcare Subsidy System, Sue Pearlmutter, Elizabeth E. Bartle

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper presents a focus group study of perceptions of cash assistance participants in Cuyahoga County, Ohio and the San Fernando Valley in California regarding childcare subsidy use, choices of care, and perceptions of quality. TANF participants discuss experiences in the subsidy system and indicate needs and preferences for childcare. Advocates, policy makers, and parents recognize the need for suitable childcare so that TANF recipients can go to work. However, discussants' comments demonstrate one result of a changing, but not yet changed, social safety net. The authors explore strategies to address participants' concerns-childcare systems that neither function as promised, nor …

Because A Better World Is Possible: Women Casino Workers, Union Activism And The Creation Of A Just Workplace, Susan Chandler

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Based on a re-analysis of data from a qualitative study of the work experience of 36 women casino workers, this article examines the contributions and personal characteristics of the 13 women in the sample who described themselves as committed union activists. These women, all leaders in the Hotel Employees, Restaurant Employees Union, were proud that collectively they had improved wages, benefits, and the conditions of work in Nevada casinos, and had created an environment that reinforced pride in a job well-done, provided job security, and promoted strong families and communities. These women's workplace experience serves as a reminder to the …

Review Of A Sealed And Sacred Kinship: The Culture Of Policies And Practices In American Adoption. Judith S. Modell. Reviewed By Dorinda N. Noble., Dorinda N. Noble

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Judith S. Modell, A Sealed and Sacred Kinship: The Culture of Policies and Practices in American Adoption. New York: Berghahn, 2002. $49.95 hardcover.

Shift Work And Negative Work-To-Family Spillover, Blanche Grosswald

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A representative sample of the U.S. workforce from 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce data (Families & Work Institute, 1999) was examined to study the relationship between shift work and negative workto- family spillover. Negative spillover was measured by Likert-scale frequency responses to questions concerning mood, energy, and time for family as functions of one's job. Statistical analyses comprised t-tests, ANOVAs, and multiple regressions. Among wage earners with families (n = 2,429), shift work showed a significant, strong, positive relationship to high negative work-to-family spillover when controlling for standard demographic characteristics as well as education and occupation. Distinctions among …