Mediation and the Social Work profession: particularly in the community context

In 2008, the European Union published its Directive on mediation in civil and commercial matters, offering general regulation of this conflict resolution system, its principles, and its objectives. Social workers have for some time defended their role as mediators, but this reality has changed and mediation appears to have taken shape as an independent profession due to existing regulation, its introduction to universities and the implementation of training courses. This article analyses the differences between the two professions: mediator and social worker. It also considers the mediation that is carried out in the community context. Community mediation is a perfect tool for achieving a changed understanding of public social services, seeking to encourage citizens to participate in and take responsibility for community life and thereby to become active citizens as envisaged by the 2012 Global Agenda for Social Work. However, mediation in this context has certain peculiarities, and at times confusion may arise between the figures of social worker and mediator.

Uguaglianza e differenza di genere nella riforma del diritto di famiglia: una lettura luhmanniana

La igualdad ante la ley es uno de los derechos fundamentales de las Constituciones modernas. Sin embargo, hay algo más. De hecho podría decirse que los modernos sistemas jurídicos se han ido formando alrededor de la idea de igualdad. El valor de la igualdad parece expresar una manera común de entender las relaciones humanas, especialmente en el caso de la igualdad de género, expresamente mencionado por el artículo de las Constituciones democráticas modernas que se refiere al principio de igualdad ante la ley. El presente estudio trata esa forma específica de igualdad que se caracteriza por la paradoja de querer tratar como igual lo que es diferente, o sea, de hacer distinciones sin discriminar. Con este fin nos referimos al enfoque jurídico y al enfoque político del tema como se encuentran en la reforma del derecho de familia. No es un problema de una específica legislación nacional, sino más bien una versión específica de un problema de nivel general. Se trata de la imposibilidad de construir como indistinguible lo que es diferente. El intento político de reformar el derecho de familia para implementar el principio constitucional de igualdad no consigue resolver el problema. Éste vuelve a aparecer por la imposibilidad que el derecho funcione sin crear diferencias. Al mismo tiempo, surgen problemas nuevos relacionado con formas nuevas de organizar la vida familiar.

Enigmas monetarios en el derecho local. Los mencales y maravedís en los fueros castellanos

La historia de la moneda en la Castilla medieval ha estado siempre mediatizada por la convivencia no siempre armónica entre dos sistemas monetarios muy diferentes. Uno basado en la plata, de origen europeo, otro centrado en el oro, de raíces árabes. La necesidad de conectar y de establecer unas equivalencias entre ellos se convirtió pronto en una necesidad, máxime cuando las monedas de oro incrementaron sus variantes. En esta compleja situación aparecen mencales y maravedís citados conjuntamente en muchos fueros: Zorita, Uclés, Cuenca,... sin que su naturaleza quede del todo clara. Este artículo compara estas referencias y analiza las equivalencias que los unen. Como colofón al trabajo podemos afirmar que los maravedís citados en cada texto corresponden a monedas áureas de distinto peso y valor mientras el mencal es identificado con un ponderal de oro que los relaciona.

The consequences of child-parent violence reflected in a life story

A process of social transformation allied with ongoing changes to the family has made possible the existence of a relatively little-known phenomenon: that of child-parent violence, which is raised as one of the most commonly experienced forms of violence in the family environment. Based on the study of this phenomenon, in our research we have used the qualitative technique of a life story, making use of a field diary in which we have taken notes on our daily work in the therapeutic context, for the purposes of mitigating the effects of such a process. The following research objectives were set: establishing the connection existing between family education style and the use of violence by the minor; and evaluating the extent to which family therapy mitigates the use of violence by the minor. The family education model, together with other dimensions, results in situations of child-parent violence occurring repeatedly, with continuing negative reinforcement from both parties in order to maintain a recurrent cycle of conduct, from which it is difficult to «escape» other than through a process of ongoing psychological therapy.

La justificación del Derecho de Resistencia en el Estado Constitucional Democrático de Derecho: algunas reflexiones iusfilosóficas

This paper aims to demonstrate how in the constitutional rule of law the right of resistance plays a key role in its development, its adaptation to the changing reality of society and the satisfaction of the interests of all the people involved in this common project. Firstly, we will analyze how individuals or social groups must act when they suffer injustices due to state acts or laws that violate their most basic rights. In some cases, we believe that they have the right to exercise any form of weak resistance that they deem appropriate to present at the public scene a cause that must be socially and politically recognized. Secondly, we will see what happens when the rule of law itself is in danger. In that case, we believe that society will have not only the right but the duty to exercise the resistance in its most extreme form to defend the existing constitutional order of any illegitimate authority that seeks to impose itself on it and the sovereignty of the people.

Bolsa Familia Program and school enrolment: An analysis of the 2010 Brazilian demographic census

The Bolsa Família Program goal is to promote social development and poverty reduction, through the direct transfer of conditional cash, in association with other social programs. This study aims to analyze whether Bolsa Família had an association with children’s school attendance, which is one of the educational conditions of the program. Our main hypothesis is that children living in households receiving Bolsa Família had greater chances of attending school. Data from the Ministry of Social Development and Combating Famine indicated that children living in households with Bolsa Família had greater school enrolment levels. By using data from the 2010 Demographic Census, collected by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), some descriptive analyzes and binary logistic regression models were performed for different thresholds of household per capita income. These estimates were made by comparing children who lived in households receiving Bolsa Família to those children not receiving the program. We took into consideration characteristics about the household, mothers, and children. The results were clustered by the municipality of residence of the child. In all income thresholds, children benefi ting from Bolsa Família were more likely to be enrolled in school, compared to children not receiving the benefi t.

The influence of gender in the direction of Spanish cooperative societies on profitability and indebtedness: an empirical analysis

In this paper the claim for the market for a new business management to ensure the presence of women in decision -making to respond to new social needs addressed. Thus, this paper analyzes the influence of gender diversity of the directors on the profitability and the level of debt for a sample of 5,199 Spanish cooperatives. Unlike capitalist societies, these organizations have a number of peculiarities in their government, and that the partners are themselves major time, agents and customers. The study focuses on the Spanish context, where there is an open debate on the importance of women's business management, as in other countries, driven by the proliferation of legislation on gender equality, being, in addition, Spain, the pioneer in having specific legislation on Social Economy. The results show that cooperatives with greater female representation in theirs Boards have higher profitability. On the other hand, those Boards with a higher percentage of women show a lower level of indebtedness.