Engagement across three social media platforms: An exploratory study of a cause-related PR campaign

This study analyzed a social media campaign promoting child welfare to explore the associations among people's social media use, their engagement with different social media platforms (blog, Facebook page, Twitter account), and three intended behavioral outcomes (social media behavior, offline communication behavior, and helping behavior). An online survey of 73 participants shows that people's use of each social media platform was significantly related to their engagement with it at a bivariate level (when the other control variables were not considered). Social media use was also related to all three behavioral outcomes. Additionally, users’ engagement played a significant mediating role in the relationship between their social media use and their offline communication behavior.     

Social Behaviorism on Emotions: Mead and Modern Behaviorism Compared*

This paper presents George Herbert Mead's work on emotions from the perspective of social behaviorism and compares it with the modem behavioral analysis of emotions. The two positions are strikingly similar. The main difference between modern behaviorism and Mead's social behaviorism is that contemporary behaviorists have access to a larger empirical data base and more refined theoretical models than Mead had. The modern behavioral analysis of emotions confirms most of Mead's basic observations and expands upon them. Empirically oriented symbolic interactionists who identify with Mead's social behaviorism can benefit by drawing upon the extensive behavioral research and theories developed in the decades since Mead worked. In fact, there is an enormous potential for developing productive research and theory at the interface between Mead's social behaviorism and modem behaviorism in the study of emotions and most other social psychological topics.     

The role of corporate social responsibility in online identity construction: An analysis of Turkey's banking sector

This study focuses on Turkey's banking sector and investigates the role of public relations and corporate social responsibility practices in constructing organizational identities through a thematic content analysis of banks’ corporate websites. Based on social identity theory, the research reveals that regardless of its core business function, an organization must communicate non-economic social concerns to construct a public identity and gain legitimacy.     

Identifying a credible spokesperson for corporate social responsibility initiatives: Findings from a cross-national study

The aim of this study is to fill gaps in the literature related to perceptions of spokesperson credibility in a cross-cultural corporate social responsibility (CSR) context. After collecting data in two countries (Chile & U.S.) using two common forms of CSR disclosures (email/video), findings offer numerous insights for both theory and practice. Recent global trade literature found that employees are the best spokesperson for corporate communication messages (Beiser, 2017). Findings from the current study indicate that these perceptions are sensitive to cultural factors in a CSR context. Further, while scholars widely accept the need for transparent communication about CSR (Chaudhri & Wang, 2007), trade research indicates that organizational transparency falls short of consumer expectations (Edelman, 2016). Our research indicates that different dimensions of transparency (integrity, respect, openness) may be driving perceptions of spokesperson credibility and thus help to explain the variance in performance and perception.     

Pathways to sector selection: A conceptual framework for social enterprises

As hybrid organizations with financial and social objectives, social enterprises must balance competing logics for governance, stakeholders, and outcomes when considering organizational design and structure. The existing legal landscape for organizations exacerbates this dilemma by forcing social enterprises to incorporate as either a nonprofit or for‐profit organization. This research examines the entity formation process for social enterprises by presenting sector choice as an interaction among four factors: equity financing, organizational lineage, human capital, and funding environment. Using a qualitative comparative case analysis, this research demonstrates that contingent factors drive sector choice when legal incentives and institutional pressures are unclear. For those choosing nonprofit forms, the status of the parent organization—the organizational lineage—is determinative. For those operating in the for‐profit context, human capital is predictive. The resulting conceptual framework contributes to existing organizational theory on hybrid organizations by presenting the sector selection process as independent of the motives or legal incentives typically associated with sector choice. This research concludes with a discussion on the advantages of delaying the formal sector declaration process.     

The case for critical social gerontology in social work education and older women1

This article argues the case for the application of critical social gerontological theory and research to social work education and older women, both as a way of heightening student social workers' awareness and understanding of the complex and diverse experiences of older women who make use of personal social services AND to develop anti‐ageist and anti‐sexist practice. In presenting this ‘case for social gerontology’, the paper will draw on findings from the author's recent research with older widows.     

The Effects of Discriminate Message Interventions on Behavioral Intentions to Engage in Physical Activities

Objective: The authors attempt to show the usefulness of discriminate messages designed to increase college students' intentions to engage in physical activities. Participants: The authors selected a sample of undergraduate students enrolled in communication courses at a university in the southeastern United States for a baseline online survey (n = 683) and an experiment (n = 99). Methods: The authors selected discriminate beliefs with highest regression weights and sizable effect size with behavioral intention to build messages for classroom intervention. The authors used an analysis of covariance to test the intervention effect of discriminate messages on intention to do physical activities. Results: Students exposed to the discriminate messages were more likely to report positive changes in their self-efficacy and behavioral intentions related to physical activity. Conclusions: Further research on communication theories is required to help design the selected beliefs so that they will be comprehended and ultimately lead to behavioral changes.     

Toward a normative social media theory for public relations

Social media might represent the greatest social innovation/revolution in the history of communication, fundamentally altering how humans communicate, and the practice of public relations, journalism, advertising, marketing, and business. Dozens of theories and concepts including dialogue, engagement, identification, social presence, uses and gratifications, conversational human voice, and many others inform social media. However, what has commonly taken place in social media contexts and public relations has been the importation and application of other theories and concepts, rather than exploring and clarifying the unique features and capabilities of social media per se. This essay argues that social media represent a new communication paradigm, and this essay takes up the challenge of building social media theory for public relations by identifying features of social media that have emerged from existing research as fundamental to understanding social media, and eventually developing a theory(s) of social media for public relations.     

Public diplomacy meets social media: A study of the U.S. Embassy's blogs and micro-blogs

With the evolution of communication technologies, traditional public diplomacy is transforming. This study examines the practice of the U.S. Embassy's public diplomatic communication via social media, namely Chinese mainstream blogging and micro-blogging, sites using Tencent for a case study. This study analyzes the embassy's blog and micro-blog entries and an interview with the embassy's public diplomacy officer. Based on the content analysis and interview, this study discerns the key features of the U.S. Embassy's public diplomatic communication using social media and further suggests that the common values and interests related to the global public as well as experience-sharing and relationship-building might become the focus of new public diplomacy research.     

From pillar to post: Women and social work studies in the 21st century

Abstract

A decade or so after the acknowledgement and inclusion of women's issues in mainstream social work courses, we find the circumstances in which such education occurs have changed. The 'third wave' of feminism has revisited the feminist agenda of the 1960s and 1970s; there has been a paradigm shift in what tertiary education is perceived to offer; and global theories have been replaced by post modern interpretations. This article discusses the impact of these changes for social work education drawing on the authors' experiences with the 'Women and Social Work' elective subject in the Bachelor of Social Work Degree at the University of New South Wales, Australia. This elective was popular until the mid 1990s when it failed to attract students. The authors reflect on their experience of teaching the subject and their understanding of current feminism to identify a way forward in the attempt to rekindle student enthusiasm for feminist understandings and provide education which will further the emancipatory project of social work.     

Racial identity attitudes and interracial communication: Implications for social work practice in Britain

This paper is written from a psychological perspective and explores the relationship between black people's stages of racial identity development and interracial communication. It describes Cross's model of psychological nigrescence for black people and Helms's model of white identity development–in which she describes how whites go through the process of defining themselves as racial beings. Since the majority of social workers in Britain are white, it is argued that white identity development and its implication for interracial communication are important aspects to consider. It is argued that one's stage of racial identity may have a stronger impact on the communication process between white social workers and black clients than 'race' per se.     

The social professions and social policy: Proactive or reactive?

This article considers the role of the social professions in influencing social policy in the new policy contexts at the turn of the century. Members of the social professions are often criticized for simply reacting to policy changes rather than proactively contributing to changing or making policy. This article argues that the simple distinction between reactive and proactive masks the important contribution that can be made by members of the social professions to influencing policy through engaging in and demonstrating new and innovative practice, supporting groups of service users to campaign for change, and undertaking research. The first part of the article considers what is meant by 'reactive' and 'proactive' and then looks at methods and tactics for influencing social policy. The second part includes three case studies from Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands and concludes that the social professions have a lot to offer but need to develop their credibility, networking, and influencing tactics so that their voices are heard.     

‘The whole is always smaller than its parts’ – a digital test of Gabriel Tardes' monads

In this paper we argue that the new availability of digital data sets allows one to revisit Gabriel Tarde's (1843–1904) social theory that entirely dispensed with using notions such as individual or society. Our argument is that when it was impossible, cumbersome or simply slow to assemble and to navigate through the masses of information on particular items, it made sense to treat data about social connections by defining two levels: one for the element, the other for the aggregates. But once we have the experience of following individuals through their connections (which is often the case with profiles) it might be more rewarding to begin navigating datasets without making the distinction between the level of individual component and that of aggregated structure. It becomes possible to give some credibility to Tarde's strange notion of ‘monads’. We claim that it is just this sort of navigational practice that is now made possible by digitally available databases and that such a practice could modify social theory if we could visualize this new type of exploration in a coherent way.     

Three levels of measurement of social skill and social anxiety

This study investigates the development and assessment of micro-level behavioral measures of social anxiety and social skill and compares these measures to both midi and global level assessments as well as to a measure of physiological arousal. All behavioral ratings were made on similar Likert scales, thus potentially enhancing their clinical utility. Intraclass correlations exceeded .80 for the judges' ratings. Results of correlational analyses indicate several significant correlates of global anxiety ratings and of physiological arousal. Constituent micro-level behaviors were correlated with five of nine midi-level behaviors. Correlation between any midi-level behavior and its highest correlated constituent micro-level behavior was similar to the multiple correlation between the midi-level behavior and all its constituent behaviors. Implications for the clinical utility of the different levels of measurement studies were discussed.This research was supported by a grant from the Veterans Administration.The authors are indebted to Donna Bicki, Pamela Downing, Kenneth Lander, and Mary Ann Paxson for their assistance in completing this study.     

Social enterprise as a bottom-up dynamic: part 1. The reaction of civil society to unmet social needs in Italy,Sweden and Japan

Over the past decades, social enterprises have been acknowledged as key welfare actors in several EU countries. In spite of the dramatic research devoted to exploring them, several issues concerning the definition, drivers and roles played by policies in sustaining social enterprise growth are still highly contested. Drawing on the papers published in this Monographic section, the introduction to this issue reconstructs the debate that has accompanied the emergence and development of social enterprises with a view to providing evidence of the advantages of collective participation for social enterprise emergence and growth. Next, the introduction pays attention to the factors that have led to the emergence and success of social enterprises as a form of self-organization of civil society; and briefly describes the papers included in this issue.     

Seven strategies for facilitating access of nontraditional students to graduate education in social work

Undergraduate academic performance as a principal criterion guiding admission to graduate social work education may result in the exclusion of otherwise strong candidates for involvement in graduate education. This paper presents seven strategies for strengthening the admission status of nontraditional students, that is, those students who do not possess adequate undergraduate grade point averages to justify admission. These strategies are particularly important in the United States given the elimination or substantial limitation of affirmative action policies in higher education. Schools of social work, like other educational institutions, must become more creative and proactive to ensure that candidates for graduate education who can make important and substantive contributions to the profession gain entry. Using adult learning theory, the authors offer a rationale that underscores the need to look at an individual's vocational background and professional experience as well as professional commitment to serving vulnerable populations in order to assess readiness for admission. And, the authors identify the importance of offering opportunities to these individuals to strengthen their post-undergraduate academic records in order to be more competitive in the applicant pool. Each of the seven strategies is discussed in terms of its key processes and outcomes in relationship to developing these individuals as viable candidates who can compete in the admission process. The strategies are based on the logic of empowerment theory and they underscore the necessity of building on the strengths and assets that these individuals bring to graduate social work education. The authors illustrate the inclusion of these strategies into the admissions process of a school of social work in the United States and suggest that the use of these strategies can facilitate 'affirmative access' to social work education.     

Discourse, social theory, and social research: The discourse ofwelfare reform

Recent social theory includes important insights into language which constitute a so far underdeveloped resource for sociolinguistics. But much of this theory stops short – theoretical frameworks and categories which socially locate language are not pushed in the direction of a theorisation of language itself, which limits their operational value in research. Sociolinguistics can draw upon social theory to produce more sophisticated theorisations of language which at the same time constitute contributions to social theory. My aim in this paper is to explore what it means to work in a 'transdisciplinary' way. I argue in particular for a transdisciplinary engagement with social theory in which the logic of one theory is put to work in the elaboration of another without the latter being simply reduced to the former. My focus is upon critical discourse analysis (CDA) which I here take to be a part of a broadly conceived sociolinguistics. I shall link this theoretical exploration to a concrete research focus by referring to a discourse analytical study of the current British ('New') Labour Government, with particular reference to its 'reform' of social welfare. I shall be drawing upon the theoretical framework developed in Chouliaraki and Fairclough (1999). I have referred to some of the social theory which I find it particularly fruitful to work with, but the paper is intended to suggest a way of working and is in no sense a closed list of theorists – on the contrary, I believe that we should be open to a wide range of theory.     

The Impact of Central-Place Theory on Wal-Mart

This study applies central-place theory to the Wal-Martization process. Central-place theory posits that there are laws determining the number, size, and distribution of cities. One of the theory's major premises is its emphasis on the size and spacing of towns that specialize in selling goods and services. The Wal-Mart blueprint has adopted the central-place model in that it follows an ordered region with snowflake-like proportion. For example, the geographic expansion of Wal-Mart stores has been one of diffusing up the urban or metropolitan hierarchy over the years. Overall, the authors of this study conclude that the effectiveness of such spatial/organizational communication has contributed to Wal-Mart's successful expansion worldwide.     

Engaging communities: Ostrom's economic commons,social capital and public relations

This article discusses the research of economics Nobelist Elinor Ostrom. It argues her analysis of long term community co-operation contains important insights for public relations, especially in the area of community engagement. Informed by Ostrom's focus on common pool resource management, the article highlights the importance of organisations adopting an attitude of mutuality to the external stakeholder environment. It also associates public relations practice with the promotion of a social commons. It then examines Ostrom's insights on the role that face-to-face communication plays in the generation of social capital and the norms of behaviour that promote co-operation. The article ends with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the practice of public relations in organisations and suggests areas for further research.     

The legitimacy of social enterprise

Social enterprise has emerged as a businesslike contrast to the traditional nonprofit organization. This article develops an explanatory direction for social enterprise based on institutional perspectives rather than more traditional rational economic concepts. Through Suchman's typology of legitimacy (1995), the article argues that the origin and evolution of social enterprise is put into dramatically different focus, particularly through the concept of moral legitimacy. Moral legitimacy not only connects the overall emergence of social enterprise with neoconservative, pro‐business, and promarket political and ideological values that have become central in many nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development but also explains the observation that social enterprise is being more frequently understood and practiced in more narrow commercial and revenue‐generation terms.