Servicios Sociales: reflexiones para después de una década.

Sin resume

El bienestar social de la infancia y los derechos de los niños

Children’s welfare and well-being is taken for granted. Nevertheless, the children’s «best interest» is an adultist definition and interpretation, also influenced by social conventions determining the suitable space and roles for children in the society. Childhood well-being and welfare must be something more than an illusion, neither a «gracious grant» from adults, since it constitutes a right for children as human beings. In this article the welfare notion and the welfare states development are analysed in one hand, and the sociological dimension of childhood as a social phenomenon and children as a minority group and as social actors, in the other hand. Then, both concepts are related to, and different ways for social policies with a view to children’s welfare are suggested, in order to treat children fairly.El deseo de alcanzar el mayor bienestar para los niños es algo que se da por hecho, sin embargo la definición de lo que supone actuar «en su superior interés» queda al arbitrio de la interpretación adulta y está influida por las convenciones sociales que determinan el lugar y el papel adecuado para los niños en la sociedad. El bienestar en la infancia debe ser más que una ilusión lejana, o una concesión graciosa de los adultos, puesto que constituye un derecho de los niños como seres humanos. En este artículo se analiza la noción y el desarrollo del bienestar social, por un lado, y la dimensión sociológica de la infancia como fenómeno social y de los niños como grupo minoritario y como actores sociales, por otro. Después se relacionan ambos conceptos y se señalan caminos alternativos para las políticas sociales de infancia orientadas a tratar con mayor justicia a los niños

Analysis and Comparisons of some Solution Concepts for Stochastic Programming Problems

The aim of this study is to analyse the resolution of Stochastic Programming Problems in which the objective function depends on parameters which are continuous random variables with a known distribution probability. In the literature on these questions different solution concepts have been defined for problems of these characteristics. These concepts are obtained by applying a transformation criterion to the stochastic objective which contains a statistical feature of the objective, implying that for the same stochastic problem there are different optimal solutions available which, in principle, are not comparable. Our study analyses and establishes some relations between these solution concepts.Stochastic Programming, Optimal solution concepts.

Stochastic Approach versus Multiobjective Approach for Obtaining Efficient Solutions in Stochastic Multiobjective Programming Problems

In this work, we deal with obtaining efficient solutions for stochastic multiobjective programming problems. In general, these solutions are obtained in two stages: in one of them, the stochastic problem is transformed into its equivalent deterministic problem, and in the other one, some of the existing generating techniques in multiobjective programming are applied to obtain efficient solutions, which involves transforming the multiobjective problem into a problem with only one objective function. Our aim is to determine whether the order in which these two transformations are carried out influences, in any way, the efficient solution obtained. Our results show that depending on the type of stochastic criterion followed and the statistical characteristics of the initial problem, the order can have an influence on the final set of efficient solutions obtained for a given problem.Stochastic Multiobjective Programming, Efficiency, Stochastic Approach, Multiobjective Approach.

Influence of limiting beliefs in soft employability skills: An analysis for the hospitality sector

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main soft skills demanded by the hospitality industry, under the perception of master´s degree students and the influence of limiting beliefs in skills development. After a literature review, we lead a fieldwork based on workshops in which we conducted two questionnaires and we analyze the behaviour of students through the method of tutor observation. The results show a relationship between their soft-skills, and a significative negative correlation between perceived skills and the limiting beliefs. With this exploratory paper, we try to contribute to the better knowledge of new factors that may be hindering the development of the soft skills demanded in postgraduate students in the hospitality sector. These preliminary conclusions can be useful for both postgraduate schools and companies in their selection and training processes

Mary Richmond en la perspectiva del Trabajo Social en España

Our personal experience has shown that, although nobody questions that Mary Richmond received a Ph.D. Honoris Causa «for having set the scientific bases of a new profession», (ours) such scientific bases still remain unknown, due to never having been taught as such and due to the lack of theoretical production aimed at refuting, developing or, at least, transmitting them without tergiversation.In this article, we try to present just some quick brush strokes of those scientific bases, mainly because we are conscious of the fact that, in our country, our profession is being rapidly devaluated from many standpoints, identifying it only with resource management and social control and, in the current situation in which social theory finds itself, appearing to have no possibility of modifying that trend.It would be easy to state that the solution would be simply to recover Mary Richmond’s works, but it is not as simple as that since conceptions, ideology, perspectives and finally, the ways of conceiving the present social reality are opposed to those underlying those works. So, we believe that we need an unencumbered view, independent of social sciences, to rediscover our origins, in which we really were a profession, a social discipline with its own know-how and its own way of working, and not just an office to receive those who request an appointment. On the contrary, we aim to influence other sciences, enrich them and demonstrate that social work is a profession necessary to humanity.Nuestra propia experiencia nos ha demostrado que aunque nadie duda de que a Mary Richmond le dieron un Doctorado Honoris Causa «por sentar las bases científicas de una nueva profesión» (la nuestra), tales bases científicas nos son desconocidas, puesto que nunca se han enseñado como tales y menos se ha producido teóricamente para refutarlas, desarrollarlas o, por lo menos, difundirlas sin tergiversación.En este artículo pretendemos mostrar unas pinceladas de esas bases científicas porque somos conscientes de que en nuestro país se está desvalorizando la profesión a marchas forzadas desde todos los ámbitos, identificándola solo con la gestión de recursos y el control social y no parece que exista, en la situación de la teoría social actual, una posibilidad de modificar esa tendencia.Sería fácil decir que la solución solo está en recobrar la obra de Mary Richmond, pero no es tan simple, puesto que la concepción, la ideología, la perspectiva, y en definitiva, la manera de concebir la realidad social actual es opuesta a la que subyace a esa obra, creemos que es necesaria una mirada libre, independiente a las ciencias sociales para reencontrarnos con nuestros orígenes, en los que verdaderamente fuimos una profesión y disciplina con un saber y hacer propio capaz, no sólo de tener un despacho para atender a quien lo solicitaba, sino de influir en otras ciencias, enriquecerlas y demostrar que es una profesión necesaria a la humanidad