Joris Michielsen

The Reconstruction of a Social Network Abroad. An Analysis of the Interaction Patterns of Erasmus Students

Abstract Most studies of interaction patterns of international students focus on ‘degree mobility’ and flows from ‘non-Western’ towards ‘Western’ countries. Nevertheless, in Europe, the shorter alternative of ‘credit mobility’ is more prevalent. However, empirical evidence on social network formation within this specific group of international students remains limited. Therefore, in this article, we study the formation of interaction patterns of students who study for a delineated period in another European country, based on a research project conducted in Austria, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Poland and the UK. The results show that specific interaction patterns can be explained from a flow perspective. Moreover, our study shows that students’ networks abroad are already formed before actual departure. In addition, we provide empirical evidence that institutional as well as group practices encourage or impede interaction between exchange and local students. Two transversal dimensions are especially relevant in the explanation of how groups are formed abroad: language proficiency and shared social spaces.

Social protection in health: the need for a transformative dimension

1 Research Centre for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, University of Antwerp, Belgium2 Unit of Health Policy and Financing, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium3 Institute of Public Health, Bangaluru, India4 Institute of Development Policy and Management, University of Antwerp, Belgium5 Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp, Belgium

NGOs, health and the urban poor

individuals, families and communities through to engagement in multi-level and multi-sectoral initiatives and policy development; from ‘downstream’ interventions in response to immediate needs to ‘upstream’ initiatives to address some of the underlying factors contributing to inequalities and injustice. Inevitably this might leave the reader hungry for more detail in some areas, but this can only be an advantage. There are also regions of the world that are not represented. Whilst not a criticism of this book, it is to be hoped that further work in this area will continue to develop the knowledge base and increase our understanding, commitment and action in this area in terms of policy and practice, research and education, as well as including a truly global perspective. In the words of the Commission for the Social Determinants of Health, ‘Social Justice is a matter of life and death’ (CSDH, 2008). In line with this, Social Work and Global Health Inequalities offers a compelling and inspiring rationale for health inequalities as a primary focus for social work and deserves to be widely read by social workers, students, educators, researchers and policy makers.

Involving Roma parents: analysing the good practice of a primary school in Ghent

Recently, societal and academic attention toward the topic of Roma integration has been increasing. With this article we aim to make a contribution to the domain of educational research. We explore strategies that schools can adopt to improve the involvement of Roma parents. Using a theory-based stakeholder evaluation, we more specifically analyse how the organizational model of a primary school contributes to the establishment of trust between both parties. The results show that the theoretical principles guiding the daily school practices and interventions are aligned with the needs and specificity of the target audience, but are also broadly supported by the school staff. As such, the organizational structure of the school contributes to the support of the school staff for the global school vision and to the overall success of the approach. Nevertheless, some tension remains between team members working on the ‘care’ aspect and teachers working solely within the classroom.