Theoretical correspondence in social work: an analysis based on social workers in the field of mental health

Este artículo examina de qué manera los trabajadores y las trabajadoras sociales vinculados al ámbito de la salud mental establecen correspondencias entre la dimensión práctica y teórica. Para ello se confeccionan tres objetivos específicos. El primero se dirige a investigar el uso que se realiza de los modelos teóricos. Mediante el segundo, se investiga la valoración que se hace de la formación universitaria recibida antes del inicio profesional. El tercer objetivo se dirige a recoger la opinión acerca de la conveniencia de la especialización en el ámbito de la salud mental. El estudio se lleva a cabo en Cataluña, con representantes de las cuatro provincias. La perspectiva de investigación utilizada es cualitativa. Se realiza un análisis centrado en el enfoque narrativo. La muestra la integran 51 profesionales, habiéndose realizado 40 entrevistas semiestructuradas y 2 grupos focales. Los resultados obtenidos indican que se sirven de un enfoque teórico mayoritariamente ecléctico. Además, se apunta una dificultad de acomodación de la teoría a las situaciones profesionales cotidianas. Se destaca que las competencias asociadas al saber, desarrolladas durante la etapa de formación universitaria, no se corresponden con las demandas de orden práctico.This article examines how social workers connected to the field of mental health establish correspondence between theory and practice. Three specific aims are identified for this purpose. The first relates to investigating the use that is made of theoretical models. The second examines the assessment undertaken of university training received prior to professional practice. The third aim is to gather opinions regarding the suitability of specialization in the mental health field. The study was carried out in Catalonia, with representatives from the four provinces. The research was qualitative, with a narrative-focused analysis. The sample was made up of 51 professionals and involved 40 semi-structured interviews and two focus groups. The results indicate that a mainly eclectic theoretical approach is used. They also reveal a difficulty in adjusting theory to everyday professional situations. It is notable that knowledge-related skills developed during the university training phase do not correspond to the demands encountered in practice

Les acteurs de terrain en recherche de repères laïques

La deuxième partie du rapport du HCI sur “les défis de l’intégration à l’école” traite de “l’expression religieuse dans les espaces publics de la République”. Les douze recommandations qui y sont proposées portent sur la visibilité, la réglementation et l’enseignement de la laïcité, et, par voie de conséquence, conduit à une réaffirmation de son principe. Les fonctionnaires, les contractuels de l’État, les acteurs de terrain à la recherche de repères trouveront dans ce texte des éclairages sur le positionnement laïque

Formation and control of trajectory during multijoint arm movements in Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy

A number of neuropathologies such as Duchenneâs muscular dystrophy (DMD), cause disability in the upper extremity due to the loss of muscle strength. This will eventually prevent the individual from being able to move their arm in three-dimensional space so it has been proposed that a robotic orthosis could support and augment movement. This orthosis would need to accommodate the movement capabilities of the user. To accomplish this knowledge of how movements are formed and controlled in the presence of neuromuscular disease need to be determined. For this reason, the formation and control of pointing movements in the horizontal plane made by subjects with DMD are examined. While the arm was supported in a floatation device, DMD subjects were asked to make pointing movements to various targets from two start positions with trunk movement constrained and unconstrained. The trajectories formed in DMD had essentially straight hand paths that did not necessarily improve with the additional degrees of freedom trunk movement allowed. There is evidence that a hierarchy exists in the kinematic parameters based on the extent of degradation in each feature. The handpaths remain essentially straight at a cost to the other variables, hand velocity profiles improve in modality from constrained to unconstrained configuration, and there is little to no improvement in measures of hand path straightness or the linearity of the joint angular velocity ratio between configurations. The linearity of the joint angular velocity ratio was found to decay at a linear rate related to manual muscle tests.Ph.D., Biology & Biomedical Sciences -- Drexel University, 200

Structural considerations for intervention in mental health: poverty, inequality and social cohesion

La integración de la perspectiva social en el ámbito de la salud mental continúa siendo dificultosa. El análisis y la intervención en este campo se siguen caracterizando por un dominio de la biología y psicología, sustentado en un individualismo metodológico. Las disciplinas sociales que, como la educación y el trabajo social, intervienen bajo estas lógicas de organización asistencial, quedan frecuentemente constreñidas en el ejercicio de unas funciones excesivamente superficiales y burocráticas. Ante la necesidad que las actuaciones en este ámbito no se ciñan al tratamiento de aquellas personas ya diagnosticadas, sino que persigan también el objetivo de prevenir los problemas mentales y promover el mantenimiento de la salud, resulta imprescindible que los profesionales que ejercen la intervención social conozcan e interioricen las numerosas evidencias que señalan la influencia de las circunstancias estructurales en la prevalencia de los trastornos mentales. Este artículo trata precisamente de señalar parte de esas evidencias. Mediante ellas se pone de relieve la incidencia de la pobreza y la desigualdad como generadoras de riesgo en salud mental. En cambio, se apunta hacia el objetivo de la cohesión social como elemento de protección.The integration of the social perspective within the field of mental health continues to face difficulties. The analysis and intervention in this field are still characterized by a mastery of biology and psychology, based on a methodological individualism. The social disciplines, like education and social work, intervening under these logics of care organization, are frequently constrained in the exercise of excessively superficial and bureaucratic functions. Faced with the need for actions not being limited to the treatment of those already diagnosed, but also pursuing the goal of preventing mental problems thus promoting health maintenance, it is essential the professionals practising social intervention would know and internalise the numerous evidences suggesting the influence of structural circumstances on the prevalence of mental disorders. This article presents these evidences in a precise manner. It highlights the incidence of poverty and inequality as generators of risk in mental health. On the contrary, it emphasizes the important role of social cohesion as an element of protection.Departamento de Trabajo Social y Servicios Sociale

"Crime et châtiment aux colonies" : poursuivre, juger, sanctionner au Dahomey de 1894 à 1945

Apprehending the criminal colonial project and placing it in its implementation, from the criminal act or tort to the sanction, throughout prosecution and trial, are the purposes of this research taking place in Dahomey, a French West African territory, between 1894 and 1945. The principle of discrimination between European citizens and Natives on which is built the judicial mechanism extends all along the criminal path, with the perception of a specifically native criminality or the differentiated execution of the penalty according to the convict status. However, this repressive segregated process is not fully considered in its continuity. Whereas native justice is increasingly taken hold of by the colonial government, both ends of the repressive system are not thought of in terms of integration into civil society. The Police and prisons depend on an evolutionary political and economic order. The criminal police and the prison operations are largely left in the hands of local leaders and African auxiliaries, which leads to adjusting the repressive regime into a system of “domination without hegemony”. The backbone of the native justice is at the heart of criticisms against the colonial order, but it is also the place where power relationships are renegotiated and where social conflicts related to the colonial situation are exposed. The criminal path followed by the natives of Dahomey during the first half of the twentieth century appears as the distorted or transformed reflection of a repressive project which is rather formless and dominated by the desire to maintain order.Saisir le projet pénal colonial et le dérouler dans sa mise en œuvre, depuis l’acte criminel ou délictuel jusqu’à la sanction, en passant par la poursuite et le jugement, tel est l’objet de cette recherche menée dans un territoire de l’Afrique occidentale française entre 1894 et 1945, le Dahomey. Le principe de séparation entre citoyen européen et sujet indigène sur lequel se construit le mécanisme judiciaire s’étend à tout le parcours pénal suivi par les Dahoméens, avec la perception d’une criminalité proprement indigène ou l’exécution différenciée de la sanction selon le statut du condamné. Mais ce processus répressif ségrégué reste peu réfléchi dans sa continuité. Alors que la justice indigène est de plus en plus investie par le gouvernement colonial, les extrémités de la chaîne pénale sont peu pensées en termes d’intégration à la société civile. Les polices et les prisons restent au service d’un ordre politique et économique évolutif. La police judiciaire et le fonctionnement carcéral sont donc largement laissés entre les mains des chefs locaux et des auxiliaires africains, ce qui conduit à aménager le régime répressif dans un système de « domination sans hégémonie ». La colonne vertébrale de ce système, la justice indigène, est quant à elle au cœur des critiques contre l’ordre colonial, mais elle est aussi le lieu où se renégocient les rapports de pouvoir et où s’exposent les conflits sociaux en situation coloniale. Le parcours pénal suivi par les Dahoméens au cours de la première partie du XXe siècle apparaît comme un reflet déformé, et même transformé d’un projet répressif dominé par le souci de maintien de l’ordre mais relativement informe

Dengue disease surveillance: an updated systematic literature review

Objectives To review the evidence for the application of tools for dengue outbreak prediction/detection and trend monitoring in passive and active disease surveillance systems in order to develop recommendations for endemic countries and identify important research needs. Methods This systematic literature review followed the protocol of a review from 2008, extending the systematic search from January 2007 to February 2013 on PubMed, EMBASE, CDSR, WHOLIS and Lilacs. Data reporting followed the PRISMA statement. The eligibility criteria comprised (i) population at risk of dengue, (ii) dengue disease surveillance, (iii) outcome of surveillance described and (iv) empirical data evaluated. The analysis classified studies based on the purpose of the surveillance programme. The main limitation of the review was expected publication bias. Results A total of 1116 papers were identified of which 36 articles were included in the review. Four cohort-based prospective studies calculated expansion factors demonstrating remarkable levels of underreporting in the surveillance systems. Several studies demonstrated that enhancement methods such as laboratory support, sentinel-based reporting and staff motivation contributed to improvements in dengue reporting. Additional improvements for passive surveillance systems are possible by incorporating simple data forms/entry/electronic-based reporting; defining clear system objectives; performing data analysis at the lowest possible level (e.g. district); seeking regular data feedback. Six studies showed that serotype changes were positively correlated with the number of reported cases or with dengue incidence, with lag times of up to 6 months. Three studies found that data on internet searches and event-based surveillance correlated well with the epidemic curve derived from surveillance data. Conclusions Passive surveillance providing the baseline for outbreak alert should be strengthened and appropriate threshold levels for outbreak alerts investigated. Additional enhancement tools such as syndromic surveillance, laboratory support and motivation strategies can be added. Appropriate alert signals need to be identified and integrated into a risk assessment tool. Shifts in dengue serotypes/genotype or electronic event-based surveillance have also considerable potential as indicator in dengue surveillance. Further research on evidence-based response strategies and cost-effectiveness is needed