Typification in a neuro-rehabilitation centre: Scheff revisited?

This paper presents data on the admissions process in a Regional neuro-rehabilitation centre, using the framework proposed in Thomas Scheff's classic paper on typification in the diagnostic process as a starting point for analysis. We argue that typification is a more complex and diffuse process than Scheff's ‘diagnostic stereotype’ concept suggests, and that this may be linked to the particular work imperatives and relevancies that are important in this setting.     

The Origins of Children's Career Aspirations: IV. Testing Hypotheses from Four Theories

In a study of 949 elementary students, mixed support was found for four theoretical positions concerning the role of childhood in career development. For Ginzberg's theory, support was found for his observation that interests play the major role in both the selection and rejection of careers throughout the period of childhood. For Roe's theory, the authors found evidence that family configuration influenced occupational choice/no choice. From Havighurst's theory, support was found for the idea that identification with a parent's work is particularly strong among younger children. A number of aspects of each of the theories failed to be confirmed.     

Reducing health care costs: a case for quality

Today, it is not quality or access but cost that has become the primary motivator for change in the U.S. health care delivery system. Cost, as the driver, has created a frenzy of nationwide activity, searching, examining, and testing any and all ways that offer promise of financial health care stability. And cost, not quality or access, is the principal motivator for the ever accelerating national health care policy debate. But there is a relationship between costs and quality that has to be addressed if quality is to be maintained.     

CAN A HIGH SENSE OF CONTROL AND JOHN HENRYISM BE BAD FOR MENTAL HEALTH?

Social stratification profoundly affects mental health. Specifically, substantial empirical evidence finds that higher status promotes mental health via a higher sense of control and a propensity to cope actively with problems. An unresolved issue, though, is whether the effects of sense of control and active coping on mental health are uniformly beneficial across levels of socioeconomic status. Perceived control and John Henryism, an active coping style, may undermine mental health, especially for lower-status persons, who lack resources. Using data from the National Comorbidity Survey for African Americans, Hispanics, and whites, we find that both sense of control and John Henryism tend to be monotonically related to positive mental health regardless of socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity.     

Analysis of Australian Research Council Grants Awarded for Social Work Projects 2008–2017

ABSTRACT

The quantity and quality of social work research is central to creating knowledge for the profession and maintaining social work’s presence and status in universities. This study examines Australian Research Council grants awarded for social work projects for the 10-year period 2008–2107. It investigates the quantum of grants and the topics addressed, and compares social work to related social sciences. The field of social work was awarded 84 research grants over the 10-year period, a total of $23 million and an average of 8.4 grants per year. However, this did not match the grant successes of the two comparator fields of criminology and social policy and administration. Having a clear picture of research achievements, including grants, is necessary to enable the discipline to plot a strategic way forward, addressing gaps and deficits, and building on strengths.

IMPLICATIONS

• Increasing research grant success is vital to the ongoing development of the social work knowledge base, and bolsters the standing of social work in universities.

• Maximising the use of social work Field of Research codes will increase the visibility of social work research, especially in multidisciplinary projects.

• Social work researchers should publicise competitive grant successes

     

Mapping IS failure factors on PRINCE2® stages: an application of Interpretive Ranking Process (IRP)

The social, political and cultural issues faced by organisations and their senior management team in the delivery and adoption of strategic projects, is highly complex and problematic. Despite a mature body of literature, increasing levels of practitioner certification, application of standards and numerous government initiatives, improvements in success have been minimal. In this study, we analyse the key underlying factors surrounding the failure of Information Systems (IS) projects and explore the merits of articulating a narrative that focuses on senior management embracing practical pessimism. Specifically, we develop a hypothesis supported by empirical study that leverages expert’s views on the dominance and interrelationships between failure factors within PRINCE2® project stages using an Interpretive Ranking Process. Our findings establish how the concept of dominance between individual failure factors can necessitate senior management to make key informed and timely decisions that could potentially influence project outcomes based on an empirical derived, interpretive predictive framework.     

Re-approaching interview data through qualitative secondary analysis: interviews with internet gamblers

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses two interrelated questions concerning what interview data are and how researchers might use them. The first considers the value of a shift from a predominant or exclusive focus upon how data are constructed and produced at interview, and towards how such data might be apprehended through different forms of engagement. The second question relates to how and what qualitative secondary analysis (QSA) might be used to tell about the social world. In exploring this, we advance a critique of the divide between primary and secondary analysis, recasting the debate in terms of different degrees and qualities of ‘proximity’ and ‘distance’ from the formative contexts of data generation, and the distinctive analytical affordances that relate to these. Using QSA of interview data from a study of problem internet gambling as an empirical crucible, we consider the kinds of participation that interviewees develop through reciprocal engagement with interviewers. We illustrate how participants reflexively negotiate the affordances and limits to the narratives through which they frame and recount their experiences. Finally, we show how interview data can be used both to speak of the temporal, relational, spatial, epistemic contexts of their production, and also to contexts and questions beyond these.     

The inherent tensions within sustainable supply chains: a case study from Bangladesh

Abstract

The complexities surrounding the supply chain logistics for perishable commodities within Bangladesh are extensive. Poor infrastructure, fragmented transportation and corruption compound the operational complexities within this emerging market. This case study analyses many of the day-to-day operational challenges and tensions inherent within Micro-Small-Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) forming the backbone of the Bangladesh socio-economic structure. The drive for transition toward greater levels of sustainability and corporate responsibility is problematic, affecting many levels within an extended and fragmented supply chain. The selected case study highlights the ‘lived in’ geographical, environmental, economic and cultural factors that impact the ability of emerging market enterprises to remain profitable within emergency scenarios whilst transitioning toward a more sustainable model. This study, whilst detailing many of the tensions and critical issues facing MSMEs, highlights the benefits of direct Government intervention, criticality of a leaner and more efficient supply chain and reassessment of financial incentives to drive the transition to a more efficient and sustainable economy.     

The Intuitive Detection Theorist (IDT) Model of Trust in Hazard Managers

The intuitive detection theorist (IDT) model of trust posits that trust in hazard managers stems from judgments about their performance on three criteria: their ability to discriminate safe from dangerous situations (discrimination ability); their tendency under uncertainty to assume danger is present (response bias); and their propensity to be open and honest with the public about events (communication bias). The current article tests the model's robustness using findings from three experiments and four surveys conducted by two different research teams. Study‐specific analyses and an overall analysis of the seven studies combined confirm that all three of the IDT model's dimensions are important for trust, explaining on average 43% of trust variance. These effects occurred largely independently of hazard topic, research method, or investigator. Hypothesized interaction effects among the dimensions, based upon earlier studies, were weak and contradictory; this is the first known study of interactions among trust model variables.     

The Role of Migration and Single Motherhood in Upper Secondary Education in Mexico

We investigated the link between migration, family structure, and the risk of dropping out of upper secondary school in Mexico. Using two waves of the Mexican Family Life Survey, which includes 1,080 upper secondary students, we longitudinally modeled the role of family structure in the subsequent risk of dropping out, focusing on the role of migration in single motherhood. We found that children living without a father because of international migration or divorce or separation are at a greater risk relative to children in 2‐parent households. Economic characteristics of the household provide a partial explanation for children living in single‐mother households because of divorce or separation but do not explain the greater risk of dropping out for children with fathers in the United States.