Putting the First Audience First: Conducting Useful Evaluation for a Risk-Related Government Agency

The risk communication practitioner in a government agency has two essential, interdependent tasks. One is to help develop and monitor effective communication programs with various external public audiences. The other task is to do the same thing for the senior government managers whose support is a prerequisite to addressing the first audience. Hence, the second audience–the manager–is really the first. This paper addresses ways in which communication practitioners can satisfy this crucial audience. A profile of these managers suggests that they would find it highly beneficial to have more control over the public problems they encounter, especially in view of the growing pressures to do more with less and demonstrate "customer satisfaction." They would rather avoid crises than manage them. And they would rather have their bosses praise their successes than challenge their budgets or punish their perceived difficulties or failures. Communication practitioners who can help them attain such benefits will find their efforts in great demand. They would be helpful team members who provide timely insights that can make and show agency success. We offer ten ways for communication practitioners to be more useful which focus their current strengths on satisfying senior managers'needs by becoming more valuable members of the program team. By becoming more useful to the senior manager they serve both the agency and its publics.     

Your picture is your bait: use and meaning of cyberspace among gay men

The Internet is seen by many as a form of cyberspace or environment in which to interact and socialise. This research project drew from the data of a quantitative and qualitative study of gay men in Perth, Western Australia. We examined gay men's usage patterns of chat rooms and other social aspects of the Internet to meet sexual partners. We then reviewed in detail the meanings gay men have for the various Internet environments, and the range of friendship, relationship, casual, or esoteric sex-seeking goals. We argue that gay men view and engage with the Internet differently from how they view and engage with other more traditional gay spaces. This different approach influences how interaction between the men, either online or face-to-face, progresses and how assumptions and expectations are built. This has implications for how sexual health promotion interventions determine the appropriate role and relationship they have with these online social spaces.     

New procreative technologies, donor gametes and the law's response: developments in Australia

The availability of artificial insemination by donor (AID) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) has generated considerable ethical, moral, social and legal discussion. Commonwealth and state government inquiries all recommend legislation regulating the experimental and clinical application of new procreative technologies and Victoria and South Australia have passed such laws, A central aspect of the debate regards donated gametes and the status of children. The paper argues that much of the concern over donated sperm and ova is premised on the assumption that ‘true’ parentage has a biological base and that a person's ‘true’ identity is determined genetically. This asocial conception of the family de-emphasizes both the social influences on personality formation and the relationships which constitute kinship as a social institution.     

Executive Turnover and the Legal Environment: The Case of California Hospitals, 1960–1995

Examinations of executive turnover have analyzed whether poor organizational performance predicts changing leadership. However, few have examined environmental factors affecting turnover. Applying event history analysis to a random sample of California hospitals, we find that poor performance prompts executive turnover and that the legal environment impacts turnover in three ways. First, the legal form of hospitals shapes evaluation and replacement of executives. Second, a shift in the legal definition of not-for-profit hospitals affects turnover. Finally, turnover increases when hospitals change from for-profit to not-for-profit and vice versa. These findings persist in the presence of numerous control variables.     

Challenges,Barriers, and Opportunities: Social Workers With Disabilities and Experiences in Field Education

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of social work students with disabilities in field education. This qualitative inquiry used semistructured interviews exploring inclusion and accommodations in field education. The 15 participants were graduates of accredited BSW or MSW programs and reported one to five disabilities each. Four themes emerged: different experiences with visible versus invisible disability, confusion about accommodation, field as a learning opportunity regarding disability, and a sense of isolation being a social worker with a disability. This study provides information valuable to social work educators and field instructors regarding strategies for improving opportunities for students with disabilities as future social workers, aligning with the mission and values of the social work profession.     

Chafee Educational and Training Voucher Programs: System Coordination in Rural New England

This paper explores service providers’ perspectives on a series of issues associated with systemic coordination in the implementation of the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher (ETV) Program in three relatively rural states. Findings derived from mail surveys (N = 105) and in-depth interviews (N = 17) with child welfare and educational service providers highlight challenges and innovations related to working with Chafee ETV eligible youth. Findings suggest that raising awareness of the Chafee ETV program’s provisions, improving access to concrete services, and facilitating collaboration among service providers may aid the transition to post secondary education for youth in out-of-home care.     

The victimization experiences of women in the workforce: moving beyond single categories of work or violence

The examination of the co-occurrence of different types of victimization in the lives of women in the workforce appears infrequently in the literature. We examine multiple types of victimization in women's lives across a range of employment and income levels. Our research indicates that more than two-thirds of women in the workplace experienced at least one type of violence against women (VAW). These women hold positions at various workforce levels, indicating that victims of VAW are not limited to the lower employment rungs. This research is a step toward highlighting the scope, prevalence, and interconnectedness of different forms of VAW in the lives of women in the workforce.     

Achieving pay equity: Strategic mobilization for substantive equality in Aotearoa New Zealand

In an unprecedented move the New Zealand Government in 2017 announced a $2 billion pay equity settlement for 55,000 healthcare workers in aged and disability residential care and home and community support services. The settlement reversed the Government's previous austerity stance that pay equity for carers was too expensive, and that pay parity in the sector was out of the question. The political concession followed five years of intensive equal pay feminist activism. While pay equity settlements overseas have generally used either legal opportunity structures or government intervention, this article argues it was the combination of complementary and intersecting elements of mobilization that led to the negotiated settlement. These elements include a statutory human rights inquiry; legal opportunity; civil society coalition building; increased women's voice; and a government‐led negotiated settlement. The novel theoretical contribution of this article is its empirical support for the concept of substantive equality.