Digital technologies and power dynamics in the organization: A conceptual review of remote working and wearable technologies at work

In this article, we examine the kinds of control practices that emerge with the introduction of digital technologies, and how these technologies are employed to shape power within workplaces. We present a comparative conceptual review of work practices by contrasting remote work and the use of workplace wearables. We trace forms of power and control that have been enacted with the adoption of these work‐related technologies and associated practices. We find that the prevailing literature focuses on the practices enacted by management in order to control workers and exert power over them, and we propose that a more comprehensive approach be taken. In support of this view, we show how the concept of appropriation emerges from science and technology studies, and we argue that such a concept would be useful for exploring how workers use and incorporate digital technologies into their daily lives, thus reshaping power in organizations.     

Social Justice as Concept and Practice in Australian Social Work: An Analysis of Norma Parker Addresses, 1969–2008

Abstract

Social justice is central to Australian social work. Principles of social justice underpin the definition of social work as a profession, its code of ethics, and its standards of practice and education. However, there is a dearth of empirical research regarding what social justice has meant to social work over time and how it has been enacted in practice, topical as social inequalities continue to escalate. As a first-stage study, this paper examines how social justice was represented within 19 Norma Parker Addresses delivered by Presidents of the Australian Association of Social Workers at national conferences between 1969 and 2008. Two key themes were evident: social justice as a concept and social justice as social work practice. Social justice was represented conceptually throughout the Addresses as an enduring guiding principle and moral responsibility for social work. How social justice was enacted in practice included themes of: standpoint; practices and strategies; educating social workers; and contested and constrained practice. The meanings and practices of social justice were embedded within the changing contexts within which the Addresses were delivered. Further historical studies can inform social work knowledge, practice, and critical reflection as the profession continues to evolve and confront persistent social justice challenges.     

Co-morbidity Between Gambling Problems and Depressive Symptoms: A Longitudinal Perspective of Risk and Protective Factors

In both adolescents and adults, gambling problems and depressive symptoms co-occur and share some common risk factors (e.g., impulsivity and socio-family risk). However, little is known about (1) the developmental course of the co-morbidity of these problems; (2) variables that may moderate the effect of these common risk factors on gambling problems and depressive symptoms. Of specific interest could be individuals’ social relationships with significant others such as parents and friends, because research shows that they moderate the effect of other risk factors on gambling problems and depressive symptoms. The goals of this study were to: (a) identify developmental pathways for gambling problems and depressive symptoms, with a focus on co-morbidity; (b) assess the moderating effect of relationship quality with parents and friends on the link between common risk factors and the trajectories of gambling problems and depressive symptoms. Study participants were 878 males. Predictors were assessed during childhood and adolescence and gambling problems and depressive symptoms were assessed in late adolescence and young adulthood. Latent class analysis revealed four distinct joint trajectories of gambling problems and depressive symptoms. Subsequent logistic regression revealed that impulsivity predicted membership in all pathogenic trajectories, and quality of the relationship with parents predicted membership in depressogenic trajectories. In addition, we found that the membership in the comorbid trajectory can be predicted by an interaction between friendship quality and socio-family risk.     

Corporate social responsibility and corporate governance in Italian SMEs: the experience of some “spirited businesses”

The study proposes to individuate the relationship between social engagement, social statements and governance of SMEs. Does an adhesion to the philosophy and to the practices of CSR, which are reflected in a firm’s mission and accountability, positively influences its governance? If so, is this influence more or less significant for SMEs with respect to large-sized firms? This paper winds itself around these questions and describes the principle findings that have emerged from a qualitative investigation focused on a selected group of “cohesive” Italian SMEs, in which their management complies with both economic and social issues. The empirical study finds that the diffusion of CSR is tied above all to the entrepreneur’s values and orientation and to the company embeddedness to the local socio-economic environment. The concluding reflections trace the features of a territorial model of socially responsible orientation centered on the best practices of SMEs who are excellent examples of “spirited businesses” and are part of a network (which includes institutions, trade associations, non-profit organizations, etc.) that contributes to the diffusion of an orientation towards CSR and to sustainability across the territory.     

Interplay between Friends' Aggression and Friendship Quality in the Development of Child Aggression during the Early School Years

The aim of this study was to investigate the unique and combined role of friendship quality and friends' aggression in regard to the persistence of young children's physical aggression from kindergarten to grade 2. The sample included 1555 children (808 girls) assessed annually using teacher ratings. Two theoretical perspectives (i.e., the social learning and the social bonding perspectives) served as frameworks to guide the analyses and interpret the results. In line with the social learning perspective, friends' aggression was related to a significant increase in children's physical aggression. However, in line with the social bonding perspective, good friendship quality played both a compensatory and a protective role, by, respectively, reducing children's initial level of physical aggression and by mitigating, albeit marginally, the associations between friends' and children's physical aggression. These results suggest that fostering a positive relationship between friends in the early school years may decrease physical aggression even if the friends are aggressive.     

Trajectories of Gambling During Adolescence

This study aimed at empirically identifying groups of adolescents with distinct longitudinal trajectories of gambling involvement and validating these groups by comparing them with respect to correlates. 903 low SES boys were followed annually from age 11 to 16 years. Three groups were found: an early-onset high-level chronic group, a late-onset high-level group, and a low gambler group. The Chronic group and the Low group consistently differed on teacher-rated inhibition (i.e., anxiety) during childhood and early adolescence. They also differed on concurrent teacher and self ratings of disinhibition (i.e., impulsivity), while the Late Onset group appeared to lie in between these groups. Compared to the Low group, both high groups subsequently had elevated scores on later gambling related problems.     

Contagion of Anxiety Symptoms Among Adolescent Siblings: A Twin Study

This study examined whether social contagion of anxiety symptoms is present between siblings during early adolescence and whether this process is moderated by sex, relationship quality, and zygosity. Based on 634 monozygotic and dizygotic twins (336 females) assessed in Grades 6 and 7, anxiety symptoms and sibling relationship quality were measured with self‐report questionnaires. The predictive association of the co‐twin's level of anxiety with adolescents' own increased anxiety 1 year later was only observed in same‐sex twin dyads (monozygotic and dizygotic) and was higher for those who perceived a higher level of relationship quality with their co‐twin. Raising awareness of a possible sibling contagion of anxiety may be useful for preventing the development of anxiety symptoms in youth.