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This paper presents findings from an investigation of nature-based practices, from the perspectives of 10 academics/educators from six nations. Participants engaged in a focus group exploring the prevalence and inclusion of nature in social work practice and education. While the study focused on individual members' experiences and perspectives, the findings highlight important context-specific factors for including nature within social work to reconnect humans with nature for health, well-being, healing, and justice. An Integrative Environmental Model for social work is proposed to assist future practice and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving mental well-being is essential for social workers. Self-care services are often facilitated to enhance it, but there is limited research exploring their characteristics and effectiveness. We conducted a systematic review of self-care interventions targeting the mental well-being of social workers. A comprehensive search of four English and one Chinese databases yielded 2969 studies for initial screening. Fourteen eligible studies were finally included and reviewed. The results underscored mindfulness as prevalent and effective, with social work students being the main service recipients. Although with limitations, the findings inform future research and self-care services for social workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a total of 22 social workers in Mainland China were interviewed to explore the effectiveness and challenges of providing services to adolescents using digital tools. By addressing the problems like permeable boundaries, perfunctory efforts, threats to implementation fidelity, and inefficient service delivery, we accordingly propose pragmatic recommendations to enhance digital social work practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the main ideas of the Diversity Based approach to culturally sensitive practices in health and social care services.This approach is important in emphasizing the fluid nature of culture, the diversity in cultural groups and the impact of inegalitarian and racist power relations on their life. Chinese people in the UK are used as an example to demonstrate how exploration of the diversity of ethnic minority groups could strengthen cultural sensitivity. Some methods for the realization of the Diversity Based approach, such as the culturagram and user involvement, have also been highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents an introduction to the articles published in the April 01, 1976 issue of the periodical "International Social Work." One article deals with some general or even universal issues of welfare analysis and welfare practice. Another article addresses generic social work practice, emanating from the Australian experience but potentially useful in all parts of the world where the movement toward generic social work is increasing. One article deals with the world wide problem of the under-use of women in social development. An article reports on social welfare problems, practices and issues in several parts of Asia, India and Hong Kong. Finally, one article describes and compares abortion policies and practices in China and the Soviet Union. But there is still to discover about existing and emerging welfare policies, programs and practices in countries of Africa and Asia.

Copyright of International Social Work is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article focuses on how international social work education can enable students to become culturally competent social workers. It follows the idea that the vital aspect of internationalizing social work education is not about structural prerequisites. Rather, it is in the specific role of intercultural perspectives and how these perspectives can be integrated into structural frameworks for internationalizing social work education. It is highlighted that the acceptance of not-knowing and not-understanding provides the basis of cultural awareness or global mindedness. Therefore, a model for the development of intercultural competence in social work is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on social work practice is essential for developing an indigenized base of knowledge. In China, while social work education has grown rapidly, much of what is taught – and many social work priorities in research and practice – is influenced by rapidly changing national government policies. This policy environment creates both opportunities and challenges to building an infrastructure to support research on social work practice. This article reviews the context and challenges related to developing research on social work practice in mainland China, and the important role for social work education to support this development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares the findings of two qualitative research studies on meanings of divorce endorsed by Chinese divorced women in Hong Kong conducted in 1998–2002 and 2016–2018, respectively. It is clearly shown that ideas about divorce have changed enormously in the past two decades. While the ideas that divorce is not acceptable and divorced women are failures were still prevalent, particularly in the divorce decision-making process, there has been a move towards a more dominant modern stance on divorce, although two powerful obstacles, the welfare of children and social stigmatisation, have persisted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Social Work is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A total of 31 Bachelor of Social Work Chinese graduates were interviewed in college exit interviews in Shanghai about their job search processes. Their responses generated an 87.1 percent major-to-employment mismatch rate between their study major and the postgraduation employment type. Five findings on employment decisions emerged, namely, causation, contextual factors, intervening conditions, job-seeking outcomes, and a positive-but-negative feeling about job searches. This mismatch phenomenon leads to the development of a values-based framework to explain how a combination of professional values and materialistic rewards can influence postgraduation employment decisions. It is connected to the graduates' motivation to apply social work values to match the employment they seek. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a comparative study of the relationship between cognitive social capital and self-rated health among Chinese elderly in rural areas. By quota sampling, a sample of 398 elderly adults was interviewed for data collection. Multi-group analysis was employed to analyze the data. No significant relationship between cognitive social capital and self-rated health existed in the young-old group, whereas only trust exhibited a significant correlation with self-rated health in the old-old group. Only social participation was significantly correlated with self-rated health in the oldest-old group. Different aspects of social capital weigh distinctively for distinctive age cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's social work supervision is highly administration focused; however, the approach to supervision in Mainland China is unusual. According to a study conducted in Shenzhen, a special economic region in the Pearl River Delta, a dual supervision approach has been created. Consistent with recent empirical studies by international scholars, supervision can exist in many forms that best fit the needs of professional social workers. The findings in this study remind us to reattach importance to the educational functions of today's social work supervision. The indigenized external supervision approach developed in Shenzhen can be used for reference in other cities in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the supervisor–intern relationship within social work practices in Shanghai. Recorded conversations between interns and field supervisors were analyzed using qualitative research methods to determine the key characteristics of the supervisory relationship and the factors that shape them. In a supervisory relationship, both parties co-establish a 'win-win', 'casual', and 'tactful' connection that not only has profound cultural effects, but is also affected by the current professional development of social work in China. Since social work supervision is a newly emerging practice in China, the findings of this analysis are pioneering and are discussed in relation to the future development of supervision in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the current human rights situation and discusses the dilemmas of adhering and promoting the human rights principle in social work in China. Based on the development of human rights and social work in other countries and areas, it is argued that China's social workers may strive with human rights activists, clients, and other stakeholders for human rights and be sensitive to the problems of illiberal democracy. It is also suggested that more research on human rights is critical in order to develop a better understanding of human rights and to promote the human rights principle in social work in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the myth of whether China's public assistance scheme is creating welfare dependency. It first analyses the benefit levels of the Urban Minimum Living Standard Guarantee (UMLSG) according to the international poverty measurements. Then it employs in-depth interviews to reveal the life experiences of 15 UMLSG beneficiaries and the views of 8 welfare officials in Guangzhou city. It concludes that the UMLSG assistance is actually too low to reduce the work motivation of beneficiaries. Instead, supplementary welfare associated with the UMLSG contributes to the staying of beneficiaries, to facilitate access to basic housing, health and educational services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While rural residents still comprise nearly 60 percent of the total population in China, little is known about the evolution of rural welfare. This article explores welfare services in rural China using a broad definition of social welfare: efforts by the entire country and society to promote personal or societal well-being. Diverse approaches have been implemented to provide social services for rural residents with complicated dynamics among different providers, which follows a path different from that in the West. Findings of this study have important policy and research implications for understanding and further developing social welfare services in rural China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current Chinese social work licensure program does not mandatorily require formal social work education. This compromised policy is contradictory to the mission of formal social work education and the trajectory of professionalization in other Western countries. This study examined whether social work graduates differ from those who do not have formal social work education in terms of competency, commitment, and turnover intention. Results described the struggles of social work graduates in their experiences in the field. The diminishing role of formal social education may affect the professional identity of social workers in social work development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The approach to developing professional welfare services for families is considered in the light of both conflicting traditional and modern family values. Providing updated understanding of the social needs of families in contemporary China, this article also discusses today's challenges of welfare policies to recognize the changed necessities in order to identify appropriate policies and services to Chinese families, focusing on mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article concentrates on analyzing the health and social constraints of elderly Chinese parents who lose their only child. This newly developed vulnerable group of childless elderly has resulted from the Chinese one-child policy. Based on a qualitative study in Beijing, this article examines the psychological suffering, healthcare, and emotional support experienced by older people who lose their only child and who lack appropriate support from the government and society. The rapid increase in the number of childless elderly is producing profound health and social implications that require the development of appropriate policies in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Without an urban hukou, or registered residency status, migrant workers in China have experienced an urban–rural cultural divide. Rural workers who migrate to urban areas are socially excluded from the urban mainstream because of hukou national policy and region-specific regulations. In 2014, hukou policy was revised to gradually allow migrant children to receive public education in cities; however, migrants are still challenged by social exclusion and discrimination. This study discusses hukou policy that integrates migrant children into the mainstream educational system and analyzes the social welfare benefits of its policy reforms. It recommends policy to address China’s ‘returned children’ phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) in social welfare provision in addressing the developmental and material needs of orphans in rural China. Data from qualitative interviews with INGO representatives and state officials were combined with documentary analysis to investigate the ways in which the state and civil society respond to orphans' needs. It was found that while INGOs are actively contributing to the social provision of orphans, in part reflecting the pluralization of welfare, there is an urgent need for the Chinese government to play a more proactive role in safeguarding the care and protection of one of China's most vulnerable population groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work addresses the two questions of how China can respond to its rapidly aging population and whether China can learn from the experiences of Sweden when establishing a universal pension system. Two different demographic transitions are analysed: the slowly aging Swedish population, and the rapidly aging Chinese population. This work discusses adaptations and dilemmas in the labour market and in family structures in response to balances and imbalances in these demographic structures. Measuring instruments need to be adapted to a changing situation. Family care contributions must be recognized. What is considered a fair distribution of welfare must be further analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 12 May 2008, a huge earthquake struck Wenchuan county in Sichuan province, China. Since that time, we have worked together with the local community, implementing an alternative model of community reconstruction. Our ‘rural–urban alliance’ is an action research project devoted to post-disaster community rebuilding, which not only restores local livelihoods but also creates sustainable economic development. This article examines the role of social workers in disaster intervention, the theoretical background of our new model and the history of the intervention itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on the results of a survey of 540 Chinese school children’s adjustment in temporary school relocation after the Wenchuan earthquake. The overall results depicted a positive picture of functioning. The findings were contrary to expectations, as earlier observational reports suggested that pupils had adjustment difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Physical abuse, as well as other forms of child abuse, has become a serious social problem but remains understudied in mainland China. This study examined physically abused children and collected data on how they perceive and interpret their experiences of parental physical abuse, and what barriers impede their help-seeking. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine child victims of parental physical abuse in Nanjing, China. Findings focus on children’s views of legitimacy and effectiveness of physical abuse, and reasons for not seeking help. Research and policy implications are discussed at the end of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In response to the rapidly growing need for social services among China’s population, particularly for older people, the government has begun to explore the community-based service delivery model. Using the recent developments in China’s care of older people as a case study example, this article documents the progress of community-based service delivery for the aged living in the community, and explores the community’s evolving role in China’s social service delivery system. China’s model — a horizontal—vertical mixed model — presents a new perspective of defining service delivery and community practice, which has various implications and broadens the view of Western social work practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Living into older ages is changing from an exceptional to an expected part of the life course experience worldwide. Improvement in health and longevity across the lifespan also brings challenges for social work practice. At the same time, these changes are part of population aging trends that are not universal or inevitable. In addition, population aging discourse often reduces the complex dynamics of population aging to a problematic rise in older adults characterized as unproductive and dependent. Social workers can challenge the ageist construction of older adults by using our contextualized knowledge of how people age in their social environments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of International Social Work is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Social Work is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Social Work is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Social Work is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article presents information on a study to identify the patterns of violence against women in China. This was the first study of Chinese male batterers in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Not many welcomed help from social service. Recruitment of subjects was mainly through referrals from professionals like psychiatrists, social workers and clinical psychologists. The study was open to batterers of varied types. Those batterers who had acute psychotic symptoms were usually not referred by social workers or psychiatrists since they were put under psychiatric treatment. Batterers who had reported severe violence such as rape or homicide were unwilling to join the study. As a result, a total of 18 men who had used violence against their female partners were recruited for the study. There was no report of child abuse and the respondents were not antisocial and understood that wife abuse was socially undesirable behavior. The study found that an attitude of open listening and support can help bring about effective engagement, while at the same time the responsibility to avoid being violent can be emphasized.

Copyright of International Social Work is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Social Work is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Social Work is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Social Work is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Social Work is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents information on controversies in psychiatric services in Hong Kong, China and the complexes of the social workers involved in that profession. The controversies of psychotherapy still prevail in the psychiatric services. First, there is the controversy of whether psychotherapy is effective or not for people with mental illness. Studies have shown that various types of psychotherapy can reduce the number of consultations and the medication dosage, change the psychological diagnosis, shorten the time in psychiatric and medical treatment and increase patients' satisfaction. Second, there is always a problem in defining psychotherapy. The controversies are concerned with topics ranging from helping, casework-oriented activities to psychoanalytical description. The findings showed that the controversies over defining and perceiving psychotherapy were complicated by social workers inferiority and superiority complexes. Some tended to have specialized definition and others had general definition of psychotherapy.

The development of social work in China has a history of only 15 years. The term 'social work' is a foreign concept to the Chinese, since it originated in a western context that is completely different from the social, economic and religious background of China. Some even go as far as arguing that it is impossible to apply the principles and theories of social work to social life in China. Up to today, Chinese academia has not made a systematic attempt to analyze the experiences of other developing countries in transferring social work knowledge. Neither has any empirical study been conducted to explore an indigenous model of social work. In this article, social work with women as an example has been taken so as to examine the necessity and possibility of developing indigenous social work. The two authors draw upon their empirical findings on the self-concept of Chinese women from two respective studies in China and Canada to discuss the implication of the indigenization of social work knowledge in working with women in China. It discusses the western ideological basis of social work and feminism, a literature review of the principles in developing indigenous social work, the need for developing indigenous social work in working with women in China.

Copyright of International Social Work is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Social work education was first developed in China in the early 1920s in the most prestigious universities, and the social work curricula of these schools were largely modeled on those of the West, especially those of North America. The result is a unique pattern of social work education which, though still in its formative stage, is reflective of and congruent with the social and cultural milieu of contemporary Chinese society. Social work in China, in the form of philanthropy, dates back to much earlier times. It has included all kinds of social relief and social services provided by governments and private and religious organizations and had a strong flavor paternalism. However, shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), all sociology and social work-related courses were eliminated from the universities during the restructuring of institutions of higher learning' in 1952. When social work was reintroduced to the universities in the late 1980s, China had neither the professional expertise nor the experience to develop this newly introduced discipline and had to search for its own direction through trial and error. In the 1990s, social work education in China was confronted with a host of issues and problems, and social work educators in China had to constantly struggle to find their positioning in the midst of conflicting options.

The article explores the extent and nature of help-seeking behavior among a sample of social work students in Hong Kong. Different societies have different ways of legitimizing their help-seeking behaviors. They perceive differently the costs and benefits of help seeking and the relationship of give-and-take when receiving or giving help. Previous studies on help seeking focused primarily on the recipients' attitudes and little attention has been paid to professional helpers' attitudes towards help seeking. The main objectives of the study were: to describe help-seeking problems or situations; to identify help seeking supports; and to examine feelings and contexts, both individually and culturally, occurring in help-seeking situations. The study presents a conceptual framework of help seeking and uses this framework to generate exploratory questions and hypotheses related to help-seeking behaviors. It is hoped that this initial effort in documenting help-seeking patterns among Hong Kong social work students will serve to encourage further studies in this area, across different cultural settings, to cast more light on the role of culture as a determinant of help-seeking behavior.

This study indicates that Chinese couples in Hong Kong do not have a clear understanding of or put appropriate emphasis on premarital preparation. It is necessary to have a premarital preparation. Findings revealed that the divorced had the least awareness of differences before marriage, the unhappily married were the next and the happily married had the most awareness of whatever differences existed. The number of divorce cases has risen from 5893 in 1988 to 8067 in 1992 and further to 9272 in 1994. Increasing numbers of divorces, extramarital relationships and marital conflicts reflect that premarital couples need assistance and support to make good preparation for their marriages. A happy marriage is possible only if there is an awareness of the importance of enriching marital relationships. Therefore, establishing a family requires learning and preparation. Also, findings in the study illustrate that Chinese people are not against premarital marriages.

A qualitative study on the social support networks of Chinese working mothers in a Beijing neighborhood by using the grounded theory method during the research process was conducted by the author. In-depth interviews, supplemented with participants' observation and focus groups were used during the research process and altogether 27 Chinese women from various social and economic backgrounds were interviewed. The author started the research process with an interest in discovering the patterns of social support among Chinese mothers and the ways in which they perceive and attach meanings to social support. Through a process of rigorous data analysis and reflective discovery, a grounded theory on Chinese communal support networks was gradually evolved from the data depicting the Chinese conception of social support. It was found that the social support networks of the Chinese are basically communal in nature and that their distinctive features are very different from the "egocentric" or personal networks more often found in the West.

The article presents ways to strengthen the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW). ICSW has in recent years taken a number of steps to strengthen and develop its effectiveness in the international social development arena. Probably the best known and most dramatic, of these steps was the adoption of the Report of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Future of ICSW, by the ICSW Committee of Representatives meeting in Hong Kong, China in 1980. Acceptance of the Working Group Report will mean far-reaching changes in ICSW program development, global budgeting, national membership subscriptions, admission of new countries to membership and other aspects of ICSW operations. Agreed in principle, their implementation is now being planned and prepared. Essentially, these changes should result in a significant expansion of ICSW resources, capacity, programs and membership, within a unified global strategy for the achievement of its objectives. After several years in planning and seeking financial support, the Strengthening Project formally commenced in September 1980.

[Welfare in China is a topic which deserves considerable discussion. I think we in the West are generally cynical about welfare in Communist states on the assumption that they are largely oriented towards the manipulation of power for political or military ends.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on social welfare in the People's Republic of China. One problem, of course, is deciding just what comes under the heading of social welfare and how far into tangential fields; one is willing to go to look for it. One can find a paragraph or two dealing with some aspect of social welfare in almost any article or book dealing with the PRC, but for those with specialized interests wading through such masses of materials would be an inefficient use of time. Most problems are tackled on a local regional basis; central planning is not only rigid, but virtually absent in the sense of controlled quotas. The population is organized to look after the welfare of family members and neighbors without contribution from the central government, although the ideological direction comes through government channels. Household registration is a major means of social control, as proper registration is necessary for jobs, school, housing, marriage, and receipt of rationed goods. Although household registration has existed for thousands of years it was never before so efficiently enforced.

The article discusses youth involvement in community development with special reference to the Shek Lei Estate lighting improvement project. It relates an example of how social work students in a field placement carried out a survey on public opinion and organized a letter writing campaign to focus attention on the need for public lighting on playgrounds and pathways in Shek Lei Estate in North Kwai Chung. The purpose of this article is in sharing it is to illustrate an example of how local problems and situations influence the social work process. Hong Kong residents are not the only people to worry about the safety of their homes and children in cities where the crime rate all over the world continues to rise. If first goal of community development strategy in Hong Kong is to find ways of securing favourable public opinion, the second goal must be to involve and get organized persons with the problem-to-be-worked. The third goal of strategy is to find friendly allies who will carry on the ideas and recommendations proposed by the change agent.

This article presents information on China's approach to development. One common feature of life in developing nations of the world is the stark imbalance between basic human needs and resources. Hunger and poverty are ever present. While some effort, under such circumstances, is logically directed to population control, there is some evidence that in subsistence economies, even with birth control information and technology readily available, it continues to make good sense for poor families dependent upon their own labour, and without other sources of security against life's hazards, to have as many children as possible, despite governmental effects to encourage them to do otherwise. Increasing economic productivity is everywhere associated with the generation of a concommitment set of social problems. The utilization of new technology requires a change in the scale of economic activity. The increasing urban-centeredness of the world's population has required massive transfers from private to public provision.