Working paper
Kids, streets, and activities
The analysis of existential, social and instrumental approaches to understanding of construction of trajectory of life course by adolescents is presented; their key theses are compared; possibilities and restrictions from the point of view of understanding of meaning and developmental tasks in adolescence are studied. It has been shown that different aspects of life construction are emphasized in different approaches thus enabling to concentrate on everyday, notional aspects of life (existential approach); social representations about succession of stages, image of success, system of attitudes to adolescent’s construction of life (social approach); as well as on environmental and interpersonal resources for concrete tasks’ solution and tactics of their implementation (instrumental approach). Conclusions about strong and weak aspects of the examined approaches make it possible to specify programs for psychological and pedagogical support of adolescents in planning and realization of their life choices. Recommendations have been made; prospects of studies in the given field of psychological researches have been shown.
In the article it is considered a multidimensional estimation method designed to evaluate projects in the cultural sphere of the city life. The method's dimensions are: city administration's resources, inhabitants' public opinion and informational means accessible to city's dwellers.
The paper is focused on a subjective approach to the urban environment quality as an indicator of the quality of life. We look at the convenience of the city for the citizens, its friendliness and suitability for their activities and life plans realization. Infrastructure problems and limitations on basic services accessibility are also considered with special attention to families with dependent children and the elderly. We investigate the relationship between urban environment perceptions and social and demographic characteristics of Moscow dwellers. The research is based on a survey data.
Twenty-four papers examine the state of early childhood development among sub-Saharan Africa's children. Papers discuss the state of young children in sub-Saharan Africa; positioning early childhood development (ECD) nationally--trends in selected African countries; early childhood care and education in sub-Saharan Africa--what it would take to meet the Millennium Development Goals; brain development and ECD--a case for investment; new threats to ECD--children affected by HIV/AIDS; ECD in Africa--a historical perspective; (mis)understanding ECD in Africa--the force of local and global motives; fathering--the role of men in raising children in Africa--holding up the other half of the sky; ECD policy--a comparative analysis in Ghana, Mauritius, and Namibia; participatory ECD policy planning in Francophone West Africa; responding to the challenge of meeting the needs of children under three in Africa; introducing preprimary classes in Africa--opportunities and challenges; inclusive education--a Mauritian response to the "inherent rights of the child"; parenting challenges for the changing African family; ECD and HIV/AIDS--the newest programming and policy challenge; supporting young children in conflict and postconflict situations--child protection and psychosocial well-being in Angola; strategic communication in early childhood development programs--the case of Uganda; the synergy of nutrition and ECD interventions in sub-Saharan Africa; the impact of ECD programs on maternal employment and older children's school attendance in Kenya; the Madrasa ECD program--making a difference; linking policy discourse to everyday life in Kenya--impacts of neoliberal policies on early education and childrearing; community-based approaches that work in Eastern and Southern Africa; whether early childhood programs can be financially sustainable in Africa; and a tri-part approach to promoting ECD capacity in Africa--ECD seminars, international conferences, and the Early Childhood Development Virtual University. Garcia is Lead Human Development Economist in the World Bank's Human Development Department, Africa Region. Pence is Director of the Early Childhood Development Virtual University and Professor in the School of Child and Youth Care, Faculty of Human and Social Development, at the University of Victoria. Evans is Director Emeritus for the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development. Index.
The paper observes the main patterns of youth consumption and leisure in contemporary Russia. It relies on the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey of HSE, a set of nationally representative household-based surveys which includes data collected from 1994 to 2013. The data shows that by 2010 the level of youth consumption has risen along with the households’ overall income and expenditure. Since financial problems were alleviated, there was a redistribution of time between work and leisure, so youth turned to the active cultural consumption, including non-entertainment services. However, the total increase in products and services consumed went hand in hand with the rise of differentiation in the availability of durables, patterns of consumption and leisure practices.
"Children and society: social reality and innovation" is a collection of more than 170 papers by Russian sociologists from different regions of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Poland, Kazakhstan, Germany at the all-Russian scientific-practical conference with international participation "Children and society: social reality and innovation". The book presents studies of regional offices and the scientific committees of the Russian society of sociologists, research teams, supported by the Russian Foundation for Humanities, groups of educational institutions, which deal with the problems of education, health, family and childhood, ecological and ethnonational problems of childhood, culture and social life in terms of processes of transformation and modernization of the Russian society. The13 parts of the book-lit topical issues of implementation of National strategy of action for children for 2012-2017. That‘s presented actual wide field of contemporary assessment and examination of public policies and civil society efforts to improve the situation of children in the Russian Federation for sociologists, protection of children‘s rights, consideration of the ability of children as independent subjects of social life
The distractive effects on attentional task performance in different paradigms are analyzed in this paper. I demonstrate how distractors may negatively affect (interference effect), positively (redundancy effect) or neutrally (null effect). Distractor effects described in literature are classified in accordance with their hypothetical source. The general rule of the theory is also introduced. It contains the formal prediction of the particular distractor effect, based on entropy and redundancy measures from the mathematical theory of communication (Shannon, 1948). Single- vs dual-process frameworks are considered for hypothetical mechanisms which underpin the distractor effects. Distractor profiles (DPs) are also introduced for the formalization and simple visualization of experimental data concerning the distractor effects. Typical shapes of DPs and their interpretations are discussed with examples from three frequently cited experiments. Finally, the paper introduces hierarchical hypothesis that states the level-fashion modulating interrelations between distractor effects of different classes.
This article describes the expierence of studying factors influencing the social well-being of educational migrants as mesured by means of a psychological well-being scale (A. Perrudet-Badoux, G.A. Mendelsohn, J.Chiche, 1988) previously adapted for Russian by M.V. Sokolova. A statistical analysis of the scale's reliability is performed. Trends in dynamics of subjective well-being are indentified on the basis the correlations analysis between the condbtbions of adaptation and its success rate, and potential mechanisms for developing subjective well-being among student migrants living in student hostels are described. Particular attention is paid to commuting as a factor of adaptation.