Welfare Associations Research Articles

Mandate of Compassion: Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Palestine, 1919–1939

ABSTRACTThis article reconstructs the history of animal protection organisations in Palestine from the British occupation to the beginning of World War II. Although Arab and Jewish mandate state subjects consistently rejected these organisations, animal protection remained an important part of the mandate government throughout the political upheavals of the interwar period. Despite their seemingly apolitical nature, animal welfare associations enjoyed unique legal privileges and drew support from the most prominent British personnel in Palestine. Managing cruelty and compassion towards animals, I argue, was a means of making Palestine part of the British Empire. Animal protection functioned both as a tool for direct financial control over agriculture, and as an educational project that promoted an emotional ‘civilizing mission.’ In the spirit of inter-war British imperial humanitarian networks, animal welfare created civilizational hierarchies through compassion, and revised the role of the human-animal divide in imperial culture.

Development of indicators to assure quality of disability evaluation based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health in Taiwan: a Delphi consensus

Purpose: To develop a set of quality indicators (QIs) for managing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health-based disability evaluation system in Taiwan.Method: Using a three-round Delphi exercise, 20 representatives from the social welfare associations for people with disability completed the consensus process. Questionnaire 1 comprised 52 potentially important factors relevant to good services for persons with disabilities in the system. An additional nine items were added to questionnaires 2 and 3. The responders rated the importance of each item using a 5-point Likert scale. The set of QIs for managing the system comprised items that obtained high consensus and a mean score ≥4.5 found in round 3.Results: Those QIs included a composite of measures about a comfortable and barrier-free assessment room, on-site assistance (being important for client access and safety), client’s privacy, rights protection, and satisfaction, convenient service, attitude of staff (towards client centeredness), accuracy of report (system effectiveness), and competent staff (system efficiency). Spearman’s rho (mean ± standard deviation) of round 3 was 0.79 ± 0.09, and Cronbach’s α = 0.90.Conclusions: This set of QIs is suitable for managing the system serving people with disabilities. It is feasible in practice and scientifically acceptable, but further validation is needed.Implications for rehabilitationWith this study, we were able to develop a set of quality indicators for managing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health-based disability evaluation system.The set of quality indicators included a composite of measures about a comfortable and barrier-free assessment room and on-site assistance; client’s privacy, rights protection, and satisfaction, convenient service, attitude of staff; accuracy of report, and competent staff.These quality indicators foster client-centeredness, access, safety, system effectiveness and efficiency, feasibility, and science; and are relevant to managing a system that is intended to serve people with disabilities.

L'engraissement spontané du foie ches les palmipèdes : état des lieux et perspectives de recherche

La production de foie gras, telle que pratiquée aujourd’hui, est remise en question par les associations de protection animale, mais aussi par le Conseil de l’Europe. Le Comité Permanent de la Convention Européenne pour la protection des animaux dans les élevages a ainsi recommandé que des études portant sur des méthodes alternatives à la prise forcée d’aliment chez les palmipèdes soient mises en place dans les pays européens producteurs de foie gras. Cette synthèse a pour objectif de présenter l’état d’avancement des recherches sur ces méthodes alternatives. Les voies de synthèse et de stockage de lipides chez les oiseaux seront abordées ainsi que le comportement alimentaire et le métabolisme hépatique des oiseaux migrateurs, ayant permis de définir les bases biologiques des recherches menées sur la stéatose spontanée chez les palmipèdes domestiques. Les résultats des recherches conduites sur l’engraissement hépatique spontané des palmipèdes, les effecteurs de celui-ci et l’impact en terme de durabilité du système seront discutés. Enfin, plusieurs perspectives de recherche sur des leviers possibles tels que l’alimentation, la conduite d’élevage, la sélection génétique et l’étude du microbiote intestinal, seront proposées.

大都市における「地区社協」の必然性の考察

大都市における「地区社協」の必然性の考察

The Role of Resident Welfare Associations in Neighbourhood-Level Solid Waste Management and Composting : New Delhi, India

The Role of Resident Welfare Associations in Neighbourhood-Level Solid Waste Management and Composting : New Delhi, India

Legal framework on the protection, health and welfare of animals used for experimental and educational purposes

The use of animals for experimental and educational purposes is regulated by a national legal framework in accordance to the European Directive 86/609 and the European Convention ETS 123 of the Council of Europe. Main issues regulated by the above legislation are the license procedure for the use of laboratory animals, the registration of breeding, supplying and experimental establishments, the implementation of guidelines for the appropriate care and use of the animals, the collection of statistical information and the promotion of alternative to animal experimentation methods. The veterinarian plays an important role for the protection, the health and the welfare of laboratory animals. This role is well defined within the existing legislation. The supervision of the veterinarian guarantees also the quality of the obtained results from animal experimentations. After twenty years, the scientific community and the animal welfare associations recognized the need for the revision of the existing European legal framework under the new obtained scientific knowledge. The Council of Europe has recently revised the Appendix A of the European Convention ETS 123 and the Commission of the European Union initiated the process for the revision of the European Directive 86/609. Ethical evaluation, authorization procedures and registration of establishments are, also, expected to be revised.

“Their Pets Are Loved Members of Their Family”: Animal Ownership, Food Insecurity, and the Value of Having Pet Food Available in Food Banks

ABSTRACTNational estimates of household food security fail to take into account the animals in the household, and studies conducted by animal welfare, veterinary, and pet product associations have not estimated the extent to which pets experience food insecurity. Yet the proliferation of dedicated pet food pantries and the addition of pet food to existing food banks suggest that many pet owners are challenged to keep food on the table and in the food bowl. This descriptive study evaluated the pet food distribution program “Chow Wagon” by surveying the staff of participating food pantries and banks. The respondents provided their perception of the value of having pet food available in their food banks, as well as what additional animal services were needed. In addition, the study utilized Geographic Mapping Information (GIS) with United States Census data on poverty to assess the greater community need. The survey was mailed to 29 Chow Wagon participating food banks and 19 respondents completed a survey for a 61% response rate. According to the respondents, pet food availability in the food bank was highly valued by the clients, and when they did not have pet food, approximately three-fourths believed that their clients were likely to share human food with their pets. The findings were inconclusive about whether having pet food available prevents owners from surrendering their animals. Finally, GIS mapping of the region to identify areas of high poverty with limited access to pet food in pantries suggests further expansion of the pet food service into suburban and rural parts of Western Pennsylvania. Further research is needed to better understand the relationship between animal and human food insecurity as well as the wellbeing and mental and physical health benefits afforded by pet ownership for low-income owners.

Changing Practices of Water and Waste Management by the New Middle Classes Within Gated Communities in Bangalore

The expansion of the new middle classes in Bangalore, particularly in conjunction with global labour flows in the services sector, has led to the development of gated communities, especially in the new areas in the south and south-eastern parts of the city. How are the responsibilities that citizens have towards the environment perceived by the residents of gated communities? This paper explores this issue on the basis of empirical data collected in five housing complexes. It suggests that changing practices of water and waste management are not limited to the institutions of Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) but go beyond them to encompass various forms of individual and community engagement. We explore how ‘communities’ of residents within gated enclaves are framing their responsibility towards environmental sustainability and how they are adopting more sustainable practices of water and waste management in their own daily lives.

A Matter of Context? Understanding Social Enterprises in Changing Environments: The Case of Germany

Questioning the popular point-blank juxtaposition of “new social enterprises” and “old providers” of social services, the paper argues that contingency is an important feature of any organizational setting. Drawing on the case of Germany, it suggests a time-contingent typology of social enterprises covering the roots of social entrepreneurship in the nineteenth century over the rise of the Free Welfare Associations up to the often highlighted “new generation” of social entrepreneurs. Against this background, today’s social enterprises appear to be less novel and unique but again a time-contingent outcome of an adjustment to a zeitgeist-specific governance arrangement.

Meso level multi-disciplinary approach for reduction of pre-treatment loss to follow-up in Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program, Delhi, India

BackgroundUniversal access to tuberculosis (TB) care services emphasizes early detection and initiation of treatment for all pulmonary TB patients. Pre-treatment loss to follow-up patients needs to be actively tracked and treated to break the chain of transmission in the community. Objectives1)To examine the various reasons for pre-treatment loss to follow-up among new sputum positive cases diagnosed under the Revised National TB Control Program in Delhi.2)To propose an intervention model to reduce pre-treatment loss to follow-up based on provider's feedback and health seeking behavior of patients. Materials and methodsA questionnaire based cross sectional study of a sample of 340 patients who were pre-treatment loss to follow-up was conducted from November 2011 to March 2012 in Delhi. Qualitative study involved focused group discussions with paramedical providers using a topic outline guide, patients were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaire and brainstorming of program managers to elicit reasons, suggestions and health seeking behavior among those who were pre-treatment loss to follow-up. ResultsPreference for private practitioners (64.4%), lack of trust in government health system (26.7%), inconvenient time of Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) centre (18.5%) and wrong patient address (14%) were the main reasons for pre-treatment loss to follow-up. Paramedical provider's opinion elicited in focused group discussion was that there is an increased tendency of pre-treatment loss to follow-up in drug addicts and home-less patients. Brainstorming with program managers revealed that a lack of trust in allopathic system of medicine and human resource constraints were the leading causes of pre-treatment loss to follow-up.A Meso level multi disciplinary model with community participation through Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) has been designed based on the above findings. The model suggests mutual collaboration between government and non government agencies for promotion of International Standards of TB care in private clinics, de addiction services and social welfare schemes through RWAs. ConclusionThere is a need for Advocacy Communication and Social Mobilization on a large scale. Collaboration with Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and with practitioners from alternate systems of medicine should be encouraged.

Social cooperatives, social welfare associations and social networks

We use an original data-set to study how participation in two types of non-profit organizations – i.e. social welfare associations and social cooperatives – affects individual social capital, understood as a network of cooperative relationships. Participation in both the types of organization allows members to start new social relations. However, social welfare associations seem to play a significantly greater role in the development of volunteers’ social capital, favouring the creation of weak ties that are used to exchange information and advice, and offering the opportunity to establish stronger ties entailing concrete mutual support. Within social cooperatives, workers appear to develop their individual social capital to a greater extent than volunteers. Our results suggest that the composition of the workforce, the depth of members’ involvement in the organization’s activities and the human resources strategies adopted by the management influence the creation of cooperative relations through on-the-job interactions.

Philanthropy and "Muslim Citizenship" in Post-Suharto Indonesia

IntroductionWelfare provision in a nation-state era has become an interesting issue to investigate. In many developing countries, economic growth is often hindered by an inadequacy of a reliable welfare system to benefit society at large. Indonesia, the largest country in Southeast Asia, which is inhabited by more than 250 million people, seems to have suffered from such an inadequacy. After the fall of Suharto in the late 1990s, Indonesia recovered from the financial and political crises and then started experiencing considerable economic growth and democratization. Nevertheless, an adequate welfare system that can reach all parts of society remains hard to find, despite the increased economic growth in the past 10 years. The public does not easily accept Indonesian government statistics showing a decrease in the number of people living below the poverty line. As such, statistical reports do not stop civic organizations from acting as non-state welfare providers by trying to provide aid for particular segments of society unreachable by state welfare agencies.In this increasingly democratic country, civic organizations with different social, religious, and political orientations have flourished. In post-New Order Indonesia, civil society organizations have appeared publicly in different ways: as NGOs focusing on community development projects (Sinaga 1995; Hadiwinata 2003), as ethnic-based mass organizations supporting political institutions (Aspinall 2011), and as religion-based paramilitary groups focusing on the imposition of religiously inspired public norms (Hasan 2002; Jahroni 2004). Others have appeared as voluntary welfare associations attempting to offer an alternative to the state's role in fulfilling social needs. These types of groups have had a massive presence in the public sphere. One may argue that such a lively civic engagement in the public sphere can lead society to the achievement of democratic values, in a way comparable to what happened in the New Order era. While this assumption may be true in a certain context, the increasing participation of society in Indonesia's political sphere may also lead to other consequences that are not necessarily suitable for democratic values. Corruption, collusion, clientelism, new authoritarian culture, predatory political groupings, social disparity, and economic inequality are examples of how civil society in a democratic era is still burdened by undemocratic behavior (Aspinall and Van Klinken 2011).This paper examines the roles of Muslim volunteer organizations-which are referred to as Islamic philanthropic associations-in shaping the nature of democratic culture in Indonesia and analyzes their contribution to the creation of a just society. Studies suggest that in the past three decades Islamic philanthropic associations in Indonesia have had a vibrant public presence, more than ever before. They have actively engaged in various types of social projects to cater for the poor, as well as had a profound impact on Muslim discourse on welfare issues (Fauzia 2013; Latief 2014; Retsikas 2014). The objectives of Islamic philanthropic organizations, as reflected in their organizational mission, include fostering social justice and bettering the welfare of society. In practice, Islamic philanthropic organizations provide aid for those in need, including low-income families, orphans, disaster victims, and refugees in city slums and disaster-affected areas. Given the wide range of Islamic philanthropic activism in Indonesia, this paper examines Muslims' understanding of citizenship and how they interpret people's rights and the state's responsibility by analyzing two cases. The first case concerns the role of Islamic philanthropic organizations in validating the rights of the poor. The second is about how Islamic philanthropic organizations define the rights of underprivileged minority groups, including Shi'a and Ahmadiyya communities, and whether or not these groups deserve assistance from their fellow Muslims. …

The Assessment of Self-Esteem in Addicted Women

Background: Self-esteem is the level of respect which an individual pays to himself and his identity. Having healthy self-esteem is a fundamental need for human beings and lack of it may have some consequences. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine and compare the level of self-esteem among female addicts with normal control group. Patients and Methods: The study is an analytical cross-sectional study. The present study was conducted on three groups: impris- oned addicted women, addicted women in the society visiting welfare associations who did not have a background of imprison- ment, and a control group including non-addicts who did not have the records of imprisonment and visiting health care centers to receive consultation services. Validated Persian version of the Rosenbergs self-esteem scale was used in this study. The Chi-square test, ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used. Results: The mean age of participants was not statistically dierent in three groups (P = 0.75) but the other variables (i.e. level of education, job, location of living, and marital status) show significant statistical dierence (P = 0.001).The mean score of self-esteem in the group of imprisoned addicts, addicts and control groups were respectively 14.87 4.70, 15.16 4.71, and 22.90 5.06. The mean score in the control group is significantly higher than addict group (Chi-square = 74.97, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Lower level of self-steem should be considered as an important factor for tendency for drug abuse.

Από την κοινωνική πρόνοια στην κοινωνική επιχειρηματικότητα: ο εμπλουτισμός των παραδοσιακών κοινωνικών υπηρεσιών με σύγχρονα μοντέλα κοινωνικής ανάπτυξης: μελέτη περίπτωσης η Ναυπακτία

&lt;p&gt;The paper examines the impact of “social&lt;br /&gt;entrepreneurship” on local development. The&lt;br /&gt;cases presented below have been selected&lt;br /&gt;among social enterprises in the area of&lt;br /&gt;Nafpaktia. Municipalities, cooperatives,&lt;br /&gt;welfare associations as well as private&lt;br /&gt;investors are actively involved in the operation&lt;br /&gt;of those fi rms. Besides economic returns,&lt;br /&gt;the operation of such institutions is expected&lt;br /&gt;to enhance employment and contribute to&lt;br /&gt;the overall community development.&lt;/p&gt;

Financing the Cost of Death: The Role of Cremation Welfare Associations in Thailand

Financing the Cost of Death: The Role of Cremation Welfare Associations in Thailand

Decentralized governance or passing the buck: the case of resident welfare associations at resettlement sites, Ahmedabad, India

This paper describes the very large numbers of low-income households displaced by development or infrastructure projects in Ahmedabad and their relocation by city government to housing on resettlement sites. It discusses the involvement of the Mahila Housing SEWA Trust (MHT) in setting up the required resident welfare associations (RWAs) in eight of these resettlement sites and the difficulties MHT faced in getting residents to follow the many time-consuming procedures that were necessary. Constraints included distrust by residents of the government agencies and the lack of social networks or leadership structures in the resettlement sites resulting from the housing allocation process, which did not keep neighbours or communities together. The city government’s objective for the RWAs was not to support participatory governance or facilitate improvements in the lives of resettled dwellers but to pass on the costs, maintenance and management responsibilities of the resettlement sites to these associations.

The (dis)Entanglements of the Design(ed)?

In 2006, the Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) along with the Lt. Governor of Delhi and the Government of Delhi instituted a “task-force” comprising “experts” (architects, urban designers, and municipal bodies) and “lay-folk” (local resident welfare associations and residents) to present a proposal for redeveloping Khirki “Urban Village.” For all actors involved, the stakes in this project were rather high - the State, the Residents of Khirki and the experts. Using ethnographic vignettes this paper unpacks this politics of the designs, to elaborate a “praxical present” within which expertise, experts, the State and the citizens all get (dis)entangled with each other through idioms that far exceed those of the Modern State, citizenship, individual and communitarian rights.

Korea, South: Solvay – silica

In 2006, the Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) along with the Lt. Governor of Delhi and the Government of Delhi instituted a “task-force” comprising “experts” (architects, urban designers, and municipal bodies) and “lay-folk” (local resident welfare associations and residents) to present a proposal for redeveloping Khirki “Urban Village.” For all actors involved, the stakes in this project were rather high - the State, the Residents of Khirki and the experts. Using ethnographic vignettes this paper unpacks this politics of the designs, to elaborate a “praxical present” within which expertise, experts, the State and the citizens all get (dis)entangled with each other through idioms that far exceed those of the Modern State, citizenship, individual and communitarian rights.

The relationship between environmental information disclosure and firm valuation: the role of corporate governance

Hopwood argued that accounting has become associated with environmental concerns, and that environmental concerns will be further integrated into accounting practices in the near future. The McKinsey Company discovered that environmental information affects a firm’s value, and that investors in firms with good corporate governance in Asian countries are willing to pay a price premium of 20 % or greater. The increasing need for environmental protection and responsibility to the community on the part of firms have led to environmental protection becoming a critical focal concern of governments, public welfare associations, and the public. Effective implementation of corporate governance has been reported to enhance operating performance and increase firm value. This study applies the Ohlson valuation model to examine the value relevance of environmental information disclosure and corporate governance, and investigate their on firms in Taiwan. The results indicate relationships between total disclosure of environmental information, mandatory disclosure of environmental information, and voluntary disclosure of environmental information and firm value. Corporate governance is positively correlated with the valuation of total disclosure of environmental information and mandatory disclosure of environmental information.

Representaciones y beneficencia. Mujeres alemanas y judías en Argentina, siglo XX

Recently, historical and migration studies have started to pick up the multiple contributionsof native and immigrant women to the construction of the Argentinian nation, especially bytheir participation in welfare, political and union associations. In this paper, we look intotwo groups of women, Jewish and German women in Argentina. We focus on three textsabout German immigration to Argentina, with the aim to find out which is the discursiverepresentation of women in these texts, which properties and activities are predicated aboutthem, and to which extend they appear with independence of other (male) family members.We detect that two texts support a 'traditional' representation, where women stay in thebackground and have hardly any function with independence of their husbands or teachers.The third text partly presents the same traits, whereas in other opportunities it highlightsfemale achievements.