Social Policy Studies Research Articles

LGBTQ+ AFFIRMING CARE AND UNDETECTABLE=UNTRANSMITTABLE: EVIDENCE FOR OLDER GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN IN THE US SOUTH

Abstract One of the most significant innovations in HIV prevention is the use of HIV treatment to prevent HIV transmission. This information has been disseminated as the “Undetectable = Untransmittable” (U=U) message. Despite evidence of effectiveness, U=U awareness, belief, and understanding remain limited in some communities. In this study we examine whether having an LGBTQ affirming healthcare provider increases U=U awareness, belief, and understanding among midlife and older gay and bisexual men in the US South, an understudied and underserved population and region where new HIV infections are increasing. We use data from the Vanderbilt University Social Networks Aging and Policy Study (VUSNAPS) on sexual minority men aged 50 to 76 from four Southern US states collected in 2020-2021. We find that only one in four men report prior awareness of U=U, but awareness is higher among HIV-negative and HIV-positive men who have an LGBTQ-affirming provider. Having an affirming provider significantly increases U=U belief and understanding, improves risk perception accuracy, and increases the likelihood of having ever tested for HIV among HIV-negative men. Improving access to LGBTQ affirming healthcare may improve U=U awareness, belief, and understanding, which could help to curb HIV transmission in the US South.

Towards a Global Social Policy Otherwise: Decoloniality, socialist worldmaking and an ethics of translation

In this text, we argue for critical reflexivity regarding ‘global social policy studies’, focusing on the pitfalls of forms of historical presentism and Eurocentrism, not least in terms of a profound silence about colonialism, culminating in a ‘view from above or from nowhere’. We explore the importance of historical legacies of historical socialist worldbuilding projects and the complexities of so-called ‘transition’ in liminal, peripheral, spaces. The text is structured around four interlinked dialogues and reflections: on the nature of our critique of Global Social Policy as an emergent field; on understanding the unfolding dynamics of social policy in the Global East; on the importance of decolonial histories and historiographies as a way of overcoming the profound ‘presentism’ of Global Social Policy and, finally, on the possibilities of articulating a Global Social Policy ‘otherwise’ and an ethics of translation.

Association of Affirming Care with Chronic Disease and Preventive Care Outcomes among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Older Adults

Experiences of discrimination and bias in healthcare contribute to health disparities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer populations. To avoid discrimination, many go to great lengths to find healthcare providers who they trust and who are knowledgeable about their health needs. This study examines whether access to an affirming provider improves health outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer populations across a range of preventive health and chronic disease management outcomes. This cross-sectional study uses Poisson regression models to examine original survey data (n=1,120) from Wave 1 of the Vanderbilt University Social Networks, Aging, and Policy Study, a panel study examining older (aged 50-76 years) lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer adults' health and aging, collected between April 2020 and September 2021. Overall, access to an affirming provider is associated with greater uptake of preventive health screenings and improved management of mental health conditions. Participants with an affirming provider are more likely to have ever and recently received several types of preventive care than participants reporting a usual source of care that is not affirming, including past year provider visit, influenza vaccination, colorectal cancer screening, and HIV test. Access to an affirming provider is also associated with better management of mental health conditions. Inclusive care is essential for reducing health disparities among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer populations. Health systems can reduce disparities by expanding continuing education opportunities; adopting nondiscrimination policies for patients and employees; and ensuring that necessary care is covered by health insurance.

Ensuring the right of social protection in the conditions of covid-19

Since 2020, numerous measures have been taken by governments to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, which have certainly had and continue to have a huge impact on economic and social life. This has significant implications for various socio-political spheres and has a significant impact on the health care system, the labor market, the economy, and so on. For social protection systems, the pandemic has become a challenge. In times of crisis, countries have had to find a balance for successful and effective governance, where on the one hand there is a threat to the life and health of the population, and on the other – the risk of negative social consequences caused by anti-epidemiological measures. One of the main response measures was the reorien-tation of the health care system to combat the epidemic, while the main risks were rising poverty, declining employment and income.
 The article is devoted to the study of social policy in Ukraine during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is noted that an important aspect is the implementation of social policy based on distributivity, ie the conduct of their activities by the competent authorities on the basis of redistributive processes aimed at overcoming socio-economic inequality among different segments of the population.
 The official appeal of the Statement on COVID-19 and social rights regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the social rights of the European Committee of Social Rights has been considered. The main directions of social policy implementation are outlined. A number of normative-legal acts on regulation of this issue have been researched and analyzed. Three forms of realization of social support in Ukraine and their realization are considered. Emphasis is placed on the introduction of a remote form of employee performance of their duties, which has led to the emergence of a new type of employment relationship, which differs in its implementation from the usual. The growing level of digitalization of public services, which was a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, is justified. The introduction of a set of measures to support the population and business in Ukraine since 2020 has been studied. It is proposed to consider social support of citizens in this period from two aspects, as direct and indirect

The Potential of Meta-ethnography in the Study of Public Administration: A Worked Example on Social Security Encounters in Advanced Liberal Democracies

Abstract The purpose of this article is to highlight meta-ethnography—the interpretive synthesis of ethnographic studies on a given theme—as a useful tool in the study of social policy and public administration. We claim this approach can maximize the impact of rich idiographic research to enable theory-refining and evidence-building efforts in the field. We illustrate these benefits through reference to a worked example focused on public encounters with social security in advanced liberal democracies. We show how we drew together 49 ethnographic studies from a variety of disciplines to identify repertoires of response that citizens exercise in their encounters with the contemporary welfare state. Through this analysis, we demonstrate how meta-ethnography can shed new light on topical contemporary debates about administrative burden. We conclude by reflecting on the prospects and limits of this technique for broader use in the field.

LGBTQ+ Affirming Care May Increase Awareness and Understanding of Undetectable = Untransmittable among Midlife and Older Gay and Bisexual Men in the US South.

One of the most significant innovations in HIV prevention is the use of HIV treatment to prevent HIV transmission. This information has been disseminated as the “Undetectable = Untransmittable” (U = U) message. Despite evidence of effectiveness, U = U awareness, belief, and understanding remains limited in some communities. In this study, we examine whether having an LGBTQ affirming healthcare provider increases U = U awareness, belief, and understanding among midlife and older gay and bisexual men in the US south, an understudied and underserved population and region where new HIV infections are increasing. We used data from the Vanderbilt University Social Networks Aging and Policy Study (VUSNAPS) on sexual minority men aged 50 to 76 from four southern US states collected in 2020–2021. We found that only one in four men reported prior awareness of U = U, but awareness was higher among men who have an LGBTQ affirming provider. Among HIV negative men, those with an affirming provider were more likely to believe and understand U = U, have more accurate risk perception, and have ever tested for HIV. Improving access to LGBTQ affirming healthcare may improve U = U awareness, belief, and understanding, which could help to curb HIV transmission in the US south.

From altruism to sociality: A switch in perception

AbstractThe article critically reviews concepts and uses of the term altruism in relation to the emergence of the capitalist welfare state. It argues that altruism may be regarded as a fetishized representation of ‘sociality’ and that notions of altruism tend to obscure or distort understandings of the essential social interdependence that characterises humanity as a species. The article reaches back to anthropological evidence, to religious and philosophical influences, and to insights from scientific inquiry and it makes a case for a humanistic switch in perspective within the study of social policy.

Different Year, Different Jurisdiction, but the Same Findings

For the last fifteen years, the Center for the Study of Social Policy (“CSSP”) partnered with local agencies to use an Institutional Analysis (“IA”), a method that identifies how local child welfare institutions are not working for families. We have particularly focused on the experiences of Black families.
 Through a comprehensive and varied qualitative data analyses, each IA strives to make the invisible and detrimental workings of systems more visible, that is, each IA reveals specific institutional features that contribute to poor outcomes for Black families. Findings from IAs have identified problematic policies, practices, protocols, resource distribution, and other features at the local, regional, state, and federal levels. From the twenty IAs conducted to date, we have substantial evidence of the insidious, pervasive, and mutating structural and institutional racism ingrained in child welfare systems. While the IAs have unique findings in each jurisdiction, there are also common findings, including: lack of meaningful and reasonable efforts to keep families together; policies that undermine existing networks of Black families; lack of due process and poor advocacy for Black families; inaccessible, inappropriate, and ineffective resources offered to families; coercive and punitive interventions; hyper surveillance of Black families; workforce fear of Black families, particularly Black fathers; and ineffective mechanisms of accountability that result in blaming families for the failures of workers, providers, and larger societal ills (lack of housing, lack of livable wages, etc.).
 This Piece presents evidence compiled over the years which leads us to conclude that reforms within the current system will only go so far and that radical investment in community supports and anti-poverty efforts are necessary.

Economic Abuse From Child and Youth Perspectives: A Review of the Literature

Research has established that the economic hardship caused by intimate partner violence (IPV), including economic abuse, is an important obstacle impeding women from leaving a violent partner. Furthermore, economic violence typically continues post‐separation, also when other forms of abuse have ended. IPV—typically, men’s violence against women—is an issue of direct concern for children, even if the violent behaviour is not directed towards the child. A growing body of research has documented detrimental effects on children’s health, well‐being, and cognitive development when exposed to IPV/domestic abuse. In recent decades, research has also explored children’s perspectives and strategies to cope with being exposed to violence in families. Economic abuse, however, is a form of violence that is seldom studied from a child’s perspective. This article aims to explore existing knowledge on economic abuse from child and youth perspectives, drawing from childhood studies, interdisciplinary violence studies, critical social work, and social policy studies. The research review is divided as follows: (a) findings on children’s direct and indirect victimisation of economic abuse; (b) findings on economic abuse in young people’s intimate relationships and the context of honour‐related violence; and (c) findings on economic abuse concerning parenting, with discussions on possible implications for dependent children. Suggestions for further research are put forward.

Social policy reform driven by crises: Promoting and reshaping social policy during the SARS and COVID-19 pandemics in China.

This article focuses on one particular and under‐investigated dimension in the study of social policy – crisis events and their special function in promoting and shaping social protection programs. Crises are usually regarded as negative social events that tempestuously challenge the pre‐existing socio‐economic order, triggering social conflicts and disruption, either temporarily or in a more enduring fashion. However, social crises may also foster new opportunities for social investment, public finance expansion and welfare state building after the outbreak of a crisis and even during the post‐crisis period. This article first examines the SARS pandemic and analyzes its developmental trajectory, reconstructing the national debates and discourses on the negative consequences and lessons learned in the SARS and post‐SARS period. I argue that this crisis event revealed many loopholes in the Chinese public health system, constituting a powerful driving force for rebuilding the medical insurance system and health governance in China, and strengthening public discourse on welfare state responsibility. Second, I explore how, during the COVID‐19 pandemic, scholars and experts have constructed the ‘short board’ of Chinese social policy, calling for further social policy reforms to narrow the gaps in health protection resources among social classes and to eliminate the fragmentation of health resource distribution.

THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF PROBLEMS OF SOCIAL POLICY

The paper analyzes the theoretical and methodological bases of scientific research on social policy, the theoretical and methodological approach to its implementation, the essence of this concept and the methods formed during its evolutionary development as well as the main directions of scientific research. There is also a discussion of national and international data, the criteria for scientific research based on the research of scientists, the theoretical and methodological basis for the scientific study of social policy in the life of a number of other developed countries.

Heterogeneous treatment effects in social policy studies: An assessment of contemporary articles in the health and social sciences

Social policies are important determinants of population health but may have varying effects on subgroups of people. Evaluating heterogeneous treatment effects (HTEs) of social policies is critical to determine how social policies will affect health inequities. Methods for evaluating HTEs are not standardized. Little is known about how often and by what methods HTEs are assessed in social policy and health research. A sample of 55 articles from 2019 on the health effects of social policies were evaluated for frequency of reporting HTEs; for what subgroupings HTEs were reported; frequency of a priori specification of intent to assess HTEs; and methods used for assessing HTEs. A total of 24 (44%) studies described some form of HTE assessment, including by age, gender, education, race/ethnicity, and/or geography. Among studies assessing HTEs, 63% specified HTE assessment a priori, and most (71%) used descriptive methods such as stratification; 21% used statistical tests (e.g., interaction terms in a regression); and no studies used data-driven algorithms. Although understanding HTEs could enhance policy and practice-based efforts to reduce inequities, it is not routine research practice. Increased evaluation of HTEs across relevant subgroups is needed.

ПРИКЛАДНАЯ И ПРАКТИЧЕСКАЯ ФИЛОСОФИЯ ЧЕЛОВЕКОЛЮБИЯ В ВИЗАНТИЙСКОЙ ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЙ МЫСЛИ

Byzantine political philosophy developed under the influence of the Christian ethics and Hellenistic monarchism. Byzantine theology is well studied both in Russian and foreign science, while political philosophy is less known. The purpose of the present article is to study the attitude of the Byzantine political philosophy to charity. Methodology of the research: the study is based on historic and comparative approach, analysis of institutions, analysis of texts and speeches by thinkers and politicians, and shows origins and development of ideas on charity in Byzantium. As a result, it was revealed that the values and institutions formed in the first centuries of the existence of the Eastern Empire worked throughout the history of Byzantium and influenced European and Rus-sian practices of charity. The collected information about the history of political philosophy in Byzantium is of value in the study of charity and social policy.

Lysias’s Speech On the Refusal of a Pension and Athenian Citizens with Disabilities

The article examines speech XXIV by Athenian orator Lysias “On the Refusal of a Pension” (V–IV c. BCE) This text provides not only an excellent example of a legal speech written by a renowned Attic orator but also invaluable material for the study of social policy of Athenian democracy, namely — adaptation and survival of people with disabilities in the ancient Greek polis. The author of the article agrees with those researchers who have no doubts concerning the authorship of the speech and its intention to be delivered during the litigation on dokimasia of “infirm” people in the Council 500. The article considers the information about the disabled people in Athens and the allowance granted to them, and analyses topoi frequently used by litigants in legal speeches. Similarly to other Athenian trials, the outcome of this is not known, nor is the fate of the disabled person and whether he managed to assert his position. The analysis of the strategies of litigants indicates that appealing to pathos, enhancing the image of a good citizen, and discrediting the opponent in combination with irony, humor, and dramatization of the trial, to a certain extent, often made an impact on judges and resulted in a favorable decision The whole repertoire of these tactics was effectively utilized by the orator in speech XXIV, therefore is reasonable to suggest that the success was almost guaranteed. It is also noteworthy that the Athenian law that granted the allowance to adynatoi was unique for the Ancient Greece and, in all probability, was connected with the development of Athenian democracy.

Qualitative Research and Aging in Context: Implications to Social Study in China

This article begins with a review of methods that gerontologists use in social and behavioral research. The value and focus of qualitative research are highlighted with their epistemological roots. Qualitative approaches and their uses are summarized in terms of “interpretive” and “critical” social sciences that draw the insights of sociological paradigms. With a further review of qualitative research on aging and gerontological studies in China, the article focuses on an integrated micro-macro model by illuminating the ideas of clinical sociology and the general public policy framework of an “economic state in transition.” Implications to social policy study (particularly on aging in China) are discussed.

Біоекономіка як сучасна парадигма економічного розвитку

One of the most relevant scientific studies of social economic policy of countries around the world is the development of bio-oriented economy. Many countries are creating new models of innovative development, one of which is bioeconomy. The purpose of the study is to determine the priorities of implementation bioeconomics model of innovative development in Ukraine. The main task of the study is to outline the possibilities use of new innovative methods of production on the basis of development of a bio-oriented economy. General scientific and special research methods: method of theoretical generalization for the formation of their own approach to understanding of the new paradigm of economic development on a bioeconomics basis; morphological analysis to clarify the conceptual and categorical apparatus regarding the researched problem; method of system analysis for the study of scientific and legal principles bioeconomy development. The article describes a new direction of economic development at which is reused and recycled, conditions are created for multiple, cyclical use of resources that creates a basis for the formation of the bioeconomy. The necessity of using modern knowledge in economics is considered human activities to restore the environment on the basis of the latest production technologies and biological resources. Characterized State bioeconomics strategies of the EU and Ukraine for development bioeconomy. One should notice that the bioeconomy is considered a key basis of modern innovative areas of economic development. It is based on extensive use of biotechnology and the use of biological renewable resources for production and energy production. Attention is drawn to the fact that the priority areas of the bioeconomy are creating preconditions for the economical use of natural resources, minimization of environmental risks and integration of biotechnological knowledge in different sectors of the economy and the establishment of economic ties between industries that were not previously the subject of the study. It is concluded that the role of the core of the bioeconomy is performed by the rural economy, as it is the main raw material base. Bioeconomy based on biomass and biotechnology where the main components are renewable biomass sources, in particular of agricultural origin.

Emotions, affect and social policy: austerity and Children’s Centers in the UK

ABSTRACT This paper considers the ‘affective turn’ within social sciences, alongside the shift to a more emotional public and political sphere, and the implications of these shifts for the study of social policy. A context of austerity cuts and reforms to welfare services contributes to heightened and unstable emotions surrounding services. A case study of Sure Start Children’s Centers in the UK is presented, in two areas where centers were threatened with closure. Interview and ethnographic material with both staff and service users is presented to show how emotions became heightened and politicized in this context. Both staff and service users articulated the values of the centers in new ways, drawing on intimate and emotional registers of experience. Overall, the material shows how in this context, emotions can be understood as place-based, relational and politicized, potentially producing different values and visions of welfare services.

#IamMetiria: A qualitative case study of agonistic welfare policy debates on Twitter

#IAmMetiria began on Twitter in July 2017, after a speech by New Zealand Green Party co-leader, Metiria Turei, challenging political consensus on welfare policy. Turei confessed she lied to authorities in the 1990s, prompting a flood of supportive posts. Soon after, right-wing oppositional tweets were posted ( n = 288) contesting the arguments of Turei and her supporters, and left-wing responses to those arguments ( n = 214). Drawing on Mouffe’s dissensual model, this article undertakes a close, qualitative analysis of those 502 tweets, in order to move towards a method for empirically distinguishing between antagonistic and agonistic tweets, identifying the latter as putting forward arguments which can be identified by the researcher and potentially engaged with by ideologically opposed adversaries. The results show a majority of the tweets were agonistic, with implications for the future study of social media policy debates and for the online practices of scholars.

State of the Art: ‘The People’ and Their Social Rights: What Is Distinctive About the Populism-Religion-Social Policy Nexus?

The aims of this review article are two-fold: (1) to set out the key theoretical trends in the study of religion, populism and social policy as antithetical concepts that also share common concerns; (2) to re-assert the relevance of social policy to the social and political sciences by making the case for studying outlier or indeed rival topics together – in this case populism and religion. Social policy scholars do not necessarily associate these two topics with modern social policy, yet they have a long history of influence on societies all over the world; populism is also especially timely in our current era. The article contributes to the literature by: (a) helping social policy better understand its diverse and at times contradictory constituencies; (b) contributing to a more complex and inclusive understanding of social policy and, therefore, social welfare. In setting out the state-of-the-art, the article also draws upon research on social policy which spans various continents (North America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and Latin America) and a preceding paper collaboration by the authors on religion and social policy (Pavolini et al., 2017).

Sequence of Social Policies in Latin America: An Exploratory Exercise between Brazil and Uruguay

The study of social policies in Latin America has analyzed the institutional continuity-discontinuity process along the political-economic changes between models of international insertion. In this article, we examine the applicability of historical institutionalist analysis as a tool to understand the social sector policy sequence format in the Brazilian and Uruguayan cases between its beginnings and the 2010s. Keywords: social policies; Latin America; policy sequence; Brazil; Uruguay