Hidden Youth and the Virtual World examines the phenomenon of ‘hidden youth’ or hikikomori, as it is better known in Japan as well as Hong Kong. Exposure to the Internet has allowed these young persons to develop a high level of capability within the virtual world, however these are skills that are not highly valued by society. This book uncovers the truth about hidden youth, the causes, coping strategies, power relations between them and adults in society, and their relationship with the virtual world. Key topics surrounding the phenomenon of hidden youth are explored in detail, including: The framework of Social Censure Theory The theoretical concepts of hegemony and the impact that labelling by the Government, the media and institutions has had on hidden youth The willingness of the hidden youth to remain hidden within the virtual world Subcultures as a platform for hidden youth empowerment This is a particularly useful volume to researchers in child and adolescent psychology, clinical psychology, counselling and psychotherapy, school psychology, sociology, social work, and youth policy; as well as youth workers, school counsellors and mental health professionals, and will appeal to the interest of both academics and practitioners alike.

Examples of the value that can be created and captured through crowdsourcing go back to at least 1714 when the UK used crowdsourcing to solve the Longitude Problem, obtaining a solution that would enable the UK to become the dominant maritime force of its time. Today, Wikipedia uses crowds to provide entries for the world's largest and free encyclopedia. Partly fueled by the value that can be created and captured through crowdsourcing, interest in researching the phenomenon has been remarkable. Despite this - or perhaps because of it - research into crowdsourcing has been conducted in different research silos, within the fields of management (from strategy to finance to operations to information systems), biology, communications, computer science, economics, political science, among others. In these silos, crowdsourcing takes names such as broadcast search, innovation tournaments, crowdfunding, community innovation, distributed innovation, collective intelligence, open source, crowdpower, and even open innovation. This book aims to assemble chapters from many of these silos, since the ultimate potential of crowdsourcing research is likely to be attained only by bridging them. Chapters provide a systematic overview of the research on crowdsourcing from different fields based on a more encompassing definition of the concept, its difference for innovation, and its value for both private and public sector.

This book explores national and transnational companies' Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in times and settings in which they are confronted with economic and social challenges and analyzes these situations, ranging from the financial crisis to fourth generation sustainability. Presenting a number of different cases from various parts of Europe, North America and Africa, it showcases how companies respond to the challenges of the development, consultation, implementation, integration, measurement and consolidation of CSR. Further it specifies how these corporations deal with uncertainties over corporate and financial resources, global financial stability and growing evidence for climate change. The book describes CSR adaptation under challenging circumstances and argues for the strategic and operative legitimation of Corporate Social Responsibility in times of crisis.

Today’s practitioners and researchers are looking, now more than ever, at the ethical issues that are raised through the practice of social work and social services. As such, it is crucial that they are up-to-date on the latest data on how to address, manage, and overcome ethical issues in their practice. Ethical Issues in Social Work Practice is a pivotal reference source for the latest research on the role of moral values within social work and the ethical dilemmas that arise in the profession. Highlighting extensive coverage among a variety of applicable perspectives and themes, such as governing principles of social work practice, ethical analysis of social work cases, and individual and social responsibility in social services, this book is ideally designed for professionals and researchers working in the field of social work and social services as well as academics and upper-level students seeking cutting-edge research on ethics in the practice of social work.

This book proposes a new approach to mindfulness-based interventions, presenting them not as individual, but as relational practices. In the last decades, mindfulness has exerted a growing influence on many fields of research and activity, but always as an individual practice. The authors in this volume believe that the strong development of mindfulness today implies considering a dialogue between this individualistic approach and the perspective of relational mindfulness based on social constructionism. The volume is organized in two parts. The first part focuses on the theoretical foundations of relational mindfulness. The second part presents possibilities of applications of relational mindfulness in clinical and organizational settings to promote mental health and personal development. Relational Mindfulness: Fundamentals and Applications will be of interest to a wide range of professionals interested in applying mindfulness-based interventions in mental health care and productive organizations, such as clinical and health psychologists, public health professionals and human resources analysts and consultants, among others. "It is true that the metaphor of mindfulness has been enormously fruitful in its invitation to innovate. By removing meditative practices from their ancient roots, practitioners were free to create practices especially relevant to context. (...) At the same time, there was also a recognizable loss in the profoundly rich heritage that was left behind. For many of us, the greatest loss resulted from the absorption of such practices into Western individualism. What had once been an orientation to practice emphasizing our fundamental inter-being, had become a gateway to silent separation. It is in this context that the present volume bursts into significance. With special appreciation to the editors of this book, we are treated to a multi-dimensional exploration into the relational dimensions of mindfulness practices. Bringing ideas, experience, and wisdom from across professions, and across continents the contributors open an exciting path to the future." - Excerpt from the Foreword by Kenneth J. Gergen