The purpose of the study was to explore the process and structure of developing a collaborative working relationship between parents and the Child Guidance Center. The results of two previous studies that analyzed the parents’ as well as the social workers interviews using Graser’s Grounded Theory Approach were integrated to discuss the structure of the working relationship. The core concept that was derived from the parents’ study was “Accommodation” and that derived from the study of the social workers was ‘Linking’. Comparison suggested that what led to development of the collaborative working relationship was the transaction between the parents’ ‘Accommodation’ and social workers’ ‘Linking’. The parents’ ‘Accommodation’ was constructed of 6 factors, namely, “outlook”, “being supported”, “relationship with the worker (s)”, “setting for meetings”, “thoughts and wishes toward children”, and “expectations” and these were enacted accordingly by the social workers’ ‘Linking’ support. This substantive result was named the “Transactional Theory of Social Worker’s ‘Linking’ and the Parents’ ‘Accommodation’.”

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the positioning of and policy responses to fee-based homes for the elderly by examining the way the Act on Social Welfare for the Elderly impacts such facilities. The enactment process involved claims that fee-based homes for the elderly are necessary, and, in doing so, it established low-cost homes for the elderly as care facilities treated as Type 1 social welfare services under the Social Welfare Services Act. As a result, these fee-based homes were positioned outside the frame of social welfare services, and policy responses included regulations. However, such policy responses did not consider the provision of care services by for-profit corporations as an issue. That is to say, those involved in managing facilities for the elderly, led by the Elderly Care Provider Association, advocated the necessity of fee-based homes for the elderly; for-profit corporations did not play a lead role at the outset.

With the objective of obtaining materials for developing helpful social work practices to meet the needs of visiting care facility users, we clarified the state of social work practices of consultation staff at visiting care facilities.

We conducted an unsigned, self-administered paper-based questionnaire survey for consultation staff employed at 1,557 visiting care facilities in the Shikoku region. The questionnaire was composed of questions about the status of social work practices that consultation staff engage in. First, we had a condensed section of questions about social work practices and second, we conducted a latent class analysis to reveal the characteristics of social work practices.

We extracted four classes as a result of classification based on the status of social work. Of these, the share of the class thought to be conducting the most social work was 25.2%. Going forward, a study is needed on the primary factors impacting social work practices.

The purpose of the present study is to clarify the structure of assessment practice for individuals with psychiatric disabilities in the Employment and Life Support Centers for People with Disabilities. Factor analysis identified the following seven significant factors : 1) Information analysis based on self-monitoring of workers ; 2) Information collection about the conditions of working life ; 3) Information collection about the work environment ; 4) Information collection about the various aspects of personal life ; 5) Appropriate analysis and decision-making based on information in assessment ; 6) Information collection about the symptoms and coping skills in adverse conditions ; and 7) Focusing on the client’s strengths. By confirming the construct validity of the structure, we were able to show an assessment practice scale. After we examined the relationships between the seven factors and individual attributes, we found that it was important for workers to have social work perspectives in the assessment process. Finally, we suggested the following points in order to improve the quality of assessment practice : 1) Utilization of the assessment practice scale as a practice guide and evaluation tool ; and 2) Implementation of training programs by emphasis of social work perspectives and specification and development of the programs within the sense of assessment.

The purposes of this study were to examine the difficulties (specifically, the psychological stresses) faced by probation officers in the Probation Office of the Ministry of Justice and to organize the actual situations in a systematic manner, and to determine the differences in stresses faced by probation officers and social workers in rehabilitation facilities. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted for 17 probation officers, and then the data were analyzed verbatim using a modified grounded-theory approach. From the analysis results, 13 difficult concepts were established and from the relationships between them, the concepts were collected into four categories : stresses towards institutional and organizational limits, stresses caused by client behavior, stresses caused by adjusting to the living environment, and stresses caused by support deadlock. In this research, predictions were made about the difficulties that could be faced in rehabilitation of criminal offenders, and the characteristics of support in their rehabilitation were determined.

This paper uses qualitative research to analyze the logic of arguments by advocacy groups which resist the constraint policy of personal assistance by the Swedish government. At first the Advocacy groups insisted that 1) the content of “Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (LSS)” should keep its original mission and the needs of individuals should be recognized from the perspective of citizenship, and 2) LSS should be modernized based upon the social model. Secondly, advocacy groups insisted that 1) assessment by the Social Insurance Agency invades the privacy of users and the self-control that users can exert and 2) personal assistance allowance should be paid flexibly according to the lifestyle of the individuals. Thirdly, regarding providers of personal assistance, the advocacy groups insisted that 1) profit-oriented companies can be controlled and selected by decisions of the individuals using personal assistance and 2) the system that allows family members to become personal assistants should be sustained even though it is necessary to take into consideration the risk that families might prevent the independence of individuals. Finally, the advocacy groups said that the cost of personal assistance should be considered from the perspective of 1) raising the awareness for human rights and their relationship to the quality of assistance provided, 2) cost-effectiveness, 3) outcome on the labor market and domestic demand, 4) human rights and gender equality, and 5) national responsibility.

This paper examines forms of social exclusion and inclusion that influence educational opportunities among poor children in contemporary India. The paper focuses on the processes that connect the educational aspirations of the poor with schools. Parents who do not have the ability to fulfill their aspirations for their children’s education depend on various stakeholders such as school teachers, neighbors and so on. To examine this, the author collected data through fieldwork in Delhi slums. This case study reveals that the initial aspirations of parents are transformed by the un-unified responses of various stakeholders, such as rejecting their wishes or accepting and supporting them. As a result, the possibilities for approaching school principals, or participating in school admission procedures, have increased for slum dwellers. In this way, the “cooperation” between the poor and different stakeholders, which has transformed educational aspirations, is an important factor in the realization of connecting the poor with schools. This “cooperation” has brought about new forms of social exclusion and inclusion that influence educational opportunities among poor children who face restrictions to take advantage of such opportunities because of their parents’ lack of ability.

The environment surrounding foreign long-term care (LTC) workers in Japan recently changed drastically due to changes in employment immigration laws. This study examined factors that affect administrators’ views of accepting foreign LTC workers. A nationwide survey was conducted from August to September of 2014. Structured questionnaires were mailed to 3,932 randomly selected institutions. A total of 722 responses were obtained, a response rate of 18.7%. Multiple regression analyses revealed statistically significant factors affecting administrators’ views of accepting foreign LTC workers, including the proportion of older people in the prefectures where the LTC institutions were located (p<0.05), administrators’ ages (p<0.05), whether or not administrators had had experience accepting Economic Partnerships Agreement (EPA) LTC worker candidates (p<0.01), degree of concerns about foreign LTC workers’ language and communication skills (p<0.01), and administrators’ views toward accepting foreign workers (p<0.001). It was found that administrators at institutions located in prefectures that were demographically younger, administrators who were younger, administrators who had had previous experience accepting EPA LTC workers and fewer worries regarding foreign workers’ languages and communication abilities, and those who had agreed to accept foreign workers were more likely to say that they would agree to accept foreign LTC workers in the future.