Serious Leisure and Work

This article looks at the complex relationship between serious leisure and work, with an eye to examining its implications for social life and practice. First, the serious leisure perspective (a theoretic framework that synthesizes three main forms: serious, casual, and project-based leisure) is described. Then, occupational devotion is examined. It consists of a strong, positive attachment to a form of self-enhancing work, where the sense of achievement is high and the core activity (set of basic tasks) is endowed with such intense appeal that the line between this work and leisure is virtually erased. Devotee work roots most immediately in amateur, hobbyist, and volunteer pursuits. Next some of the ways that people bridge devotee work and their leisure are considered. Careers are then discussed. These careers originate in serious leisure and, for some people, extend into work. After considering some others ways of bridging devotee work and serious leisure, two main implications of the link between these two are taken up.     

From Pong to Planet Quake: Post-Industrial Transitions from Leisure to Work

In the closing weeks of 2002, video games were featured in various popular American news publications and media outlets such as Wired, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek and Time Magazine. It is becoming increasingly apparent that video games are no longer child's play, but rather that they are poised to become a major entertainment form for the twenty-first century. Social analysts and media scholars must begin to formulate an understanding of this emerging mass-consumer phenomenon because it will increasingly impact social and economic structures of post-industrial societies. Part of the tremendous value generated by the American video-game industry is tied into broad global economic shifts that have created a space where services and ephemeral products, such as software, can be created and cheaply distributed. The predominance of " high-tech' production, the rise of the Internet, and the cultural capital associated with computerization all have contributed to the rise of hobbyist software developers that currently tinker with commercial video games and freely add to them increasing levels of sophistication. This paper sees video-game programmer hobbyists as a source of some of the significant value that the video-game industry generates, and understands the role of the programmer hobbyists through the lens of theories on post-industrial work. My analysis situates the work of hobbyists on the Internet within the context of post-Fordism and explores some of the motivations for this unwaged work. In the sections that follow, I will analyse the potential value of the work hobbyist do as well as analyse its transition to paid work as some commercial software developers experiment with incorporating these fan bases into the game design process.     

Work time. Leisure time. On women's temporal and economic well-being in Europe

In the study of work time, a wealth of influential ideas has emerged about the potentially damaging impact of too many hours in the labour market on the rest of peoples' lives, as well as about the negative economic ramifications of short hours working. The paper focuses on the temporal and economic well-being of female employees in Europe, stimulated by the importance of work time in debates over time poverty and work life integration. It asks whether women in shorter hours jobs are happiest with their time for paid work and leisure, but also what might the lower wages from reduced hours working mean for women, particularly those in low-level occupations. The paper shows first that although working fewer hours contributes to women's satisfaction with their time in many countries, it is long full-time hours that have the strongest (negative) relationship with women's temporal well-being across Europe. Second, the paper demonstrates the damaging impact of working in low-level occupations – both part-time and full-time – on the economic well-being of women's households. It stresses the importance of a combined work time and occupational class approach in the ongoing analysis of women's working lives.     

The Semiotic Self and Serious Leisure

Examinations of the self and leisure are uncommon, not to mention those bearing on leisure and the semiotic self. The goal of this article is to help correct this deficiency. To this end, the serious leisure perspective is presented, followed by a discussion of how it is related to the semiotic self as formulated by Norbert Wiley. The principal vehicle by which this is accomplished is by way of the meaning of leisure. Moreover participants in serious leisure find there a powerfully attractive leisure career, an experience that is unavailable in the other two forms: casual and project-based leisure. This career frames the development of the semiotic self through leisure.     

Leisure,School, and Work Activity Preferences and Their Role in Vocational Identity Development

Elements of an expanded construct of adolescent vocational identity were examined in terms of their interrelationships with each other, as well as relationships with preferences among leisure, school, and work activities, engagement in those activities, and identity status. Investigating a sample of 660 7th through 12th graders, we found that vocational interests, occupational self-efficacy, and occupational prestige were closely associated with each other, with school and leisure interests, and with actual engagement in corresponding (exploratory) activities. We also found that adolescents did not draw significant distinctions between leisure, school, and work activities. The role of school and vocational exploration in adolescents' self-chosen vocational identity is discussed.     

我国城市休闲化发展质量的评价研究

城市休闲化是当代城市发展中的一个新课题。本文结合我国城市休闲化发展的实际状况,通过构建由公共基础、消费能力、产业能力和特色资源等4方面指标组成的城市休闲化质量测评体系,对我国27个省会城市、4个直辖市和5个计划单列市的发展质量进行比较全面和客观的质量测度与数据分析。研究表明,我国城市休闲化质量在整体上处于较低的发展程度。     

Leisure:

No abstract available for this article.     

The Impact of Structural Integration into the Profession on Work Commitment,Potential for Disengagement,and Leisure Preferences among Social Workers

Abstract

Factor analyses of socioeconomic, racial, family lifecycle and other characteristics of American suburbs by distance zone (distance from the central city) for 1960 and 1970 are carried out. It was hypothesized and found that the degree of within zone differentiation varies with increasing distance from the central city and also that within zone differentiation increases across time. The need for testing the significance of a correlation matrix as a necessary first step in calculating a factor solution is discussed.     

Time Is of the Essence: An Analytic Autoethnography of Family,Work, and Serious Leisure

While leisure is often represented in public discourse as a realm of freedom and self‐actualization, for most adults the pursuit of serious leisure activities involves negotiating familial and professional constraints. Based on the author's autoethnographic experiences with sport skydiving, this article examines the familial and professional constraints that he has experienced, as well as the challenges to recreational skydivers posed by current trends in the sport. The author describes various only partly successful strategies he has used to manage the tensions between his skydiving pursuits, work, and family. Proposing his analysis as an example of “analytic autoethnography” the author concludes by considering the implications of his research for better understanding serious leisure pursuits more generally, as well as for answering the personal question, should I continue to jump out of planes?     

农村青年的闲暇生活现状

本文以湖北省一行政村为例,采取参与式观察法和无结构式访谈相结合的方式,经过近一个月的研究,归纳出当地农村青年的闲暇生活的五种主要类型,以及闲暇生活的主要特点,并着重探讨了闲暇生活结构的不合理及其表现。     

The Pet Connection: An Attachment Perspective

Using the ethological-evolutionary framework of attachment, and including how the theory has been updated and expanded by findings from attachment-based research, neuroscience and animal studies, this paper proposes that a relationship with a family pet, especially a dog or cat, reflects certain dynamics of attachment which may account for the sense of comfort and connection they provide to individuals at all stages of the life cycle. There is now convincing scientific evidence that companion animals have positive effects on psychological and physical well-being, helping shape how people regulate their emotions, deal with stress or trauma, and relate to others. Discussion considers the implications of these benefits for social work, in particular for policy, prevention, and psychotherapy. An illustration of treatment for pet loss, as well as a framework for promoting attachment in pets adopted from rescue shelters, is also presented. It is recommended that both social work professionals and social work students be educated about the human-animal bond and the significance of pets to so many of our clients.     

Newlywed Couple Leisure: Couple Identity Formation Through Leisure Time

An interpretative phenomenological study of newlywed couple leisure was conducted to understand the role of leisure in the development of relationship dynamics and couple identity. Nine couples were interviewed twice, using open-ended questions that explored the role of leisure in their relationship development. Data were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological processes. Couples viewed leisure as a crucial part of their relationships, helping them develop their identities as couples through creating shared meaning and opportunities to improve communication and conflict management skills. Findings can be used to encourage couple exploration of positive leisure experiences during courtship and early marriage, including therapeutic interventions and relationship education programs that teach couples to incorporate joint leisure strategically into their relationships.     

Family Social Work/Family Therapy

The author responds to Witkin's (1993) comparison of family social work and family therapy. The author argues that family social work and family therapy share important commonalities. He challenges Witkin's characterization of family therapy as outdated. Instead, family therapy is characterized as having contributed important writings about gender and culture to its practitioners. The paper ends with reflections on the implications of social justice for clinicians.     

The Work of Halida

28The Work of Halida