The state and use of municipal tree inventories in Swedish municipalities – results from a national survey

Urban trees are an essential component of urban ecosystems, and management of this resource constitutes an essential element of urban open space management. However, municipal tree inventories in Sweden and elsewhere have received limited attention. It is unknown how common municipal tree inventories are in Sweden, factors governing whether a municipality has an inventory and what the inventories are used for. This study therefore sought to: Create an overview of the state of Swedish municipal tree inventories and determine how municipality size, green space budget and management organisation affect the presence and scope of municipal tree inventories. The research questions examined were: What is the current state of Swedish municipal tree inventories? and what affects the status of these municipal tree inventories? A survey with questions related to strategic and operational perspectives of municipal tree inventories, e.g. how they are conducted and used, together with questions relating to budget and potential use of consultants, was sent to all 290 Swedish municipalities. The response rate was 55.5%. The main findings were that municipality size affects whether a municipality has an urban tree inventory and that the municipal organisation form affects how inventories are used. The existence of an inventory also increased the probability of the municipality having a tree management plan. Based on these results we recommend further research related to strategic management perspectives of tree inventories.     

An evaluation paradox in social work? An empirical study of evaluation use in connection with temporary programmes in Swedish social work

This article contributes to the debate on evaluation use by analysing temporary national programmes in Swedish social work. Previous empirical research shows a gloomy picture of evaluation use, thus supporting an evaluation paradox: evaluations are not used for learning and development, but are continually prioritised. The aim of this article is to study, through interviews and document analysis, how evaluations of temporary programmes in social work are designed and used. The results support the paradox and we found that it has two dimensions. First, evaluations are prioritised, but they function as a ritual, characterised by routine and unclear intentions, with limited relevance for professional learning and improvement. The second dimension is about limited use by those commissioning the evaluations, but the evaluators are using data for new purposes and in new contexts. This is, at best, a form of conceptual use, hopefully contributing indirectly to social work practice. The article ends in a discussion on how evaluations could be designed for learning and improvement by focusing on three normative models: utilisation-focused evaluation, responsive evaluation and evidence-based practice approach (EBP).     

The use of informal networks in Italy: Efficiency or favoritism?

A large body of literature considers the advantages of using informal networks to match workers to jobs. However, family ties may interfere with a genuine process of worker selection, favoring people with connections over more talented workers. We offer a simple model of favoritism to explain these risks and show firms’ trade-off in using informal channels. We then investigate empirically the determinants and consequences of using informal networks in Italy by using the Bank of Italy Survey. We find that informal networks tend to be used by low-educated individuals, in small firms, in low-productivity jobs and in less developed regions. Finally, we show that informal networks have a negative impact on wages, controlling for individual and firm characteristics.     

The fall and rise of ‘use of self’? An exploration of the positioning of use of self in social work education

‘Use of self’ was a central concept in social work in the middle of the twentieth century. Since then its emphasis in social work education has declined as more managerial, procedural and task-focused approaches have prevailed. A review of the degree and postgraduate diploma in social work in Scotland, initiated in 2014, incorporated a comparative content analysis of past and present UK National Occupational Standards (NOS) for social work. The analysis revealed many shifts in thinking and practice, including increased emphasis on ‘use of self’ in the 2013 Standards. This paper reports on this finding in the context of the fluctuating positioning of use of self in social work education, and the potential impact of these changes on qualified practice. It concludes that the changing standards reflect increasing interest in social workers’ ability to draw reflectively on ‘self’ in their day to day practice. Some of the drivers and challenges for a renewed focus on relationship-based practice and use of self are identified, as well as the opportunities presented by this review of the degree for evaluating the impact of changing educational policy on day to day social work practice.     

The use of ‘empowerment’ among organisations supporting victims of domestic violence in Sweden

The aim of this paper is to investigate the prevalence and character of ‘empowerment’ as an approach used by women's shelters, crime victim support groups and municipal crisis centres that provide support for battered women in Sweden. The study was based on a mail survey distributed among representatives of local crime victim support groups and women's shelters run by non-governmental organisations and the public sector (N = 207). The survey showed that empowerment was perceived as similar to the already established ‘help to self-help’ approach. Empowerment was described as a tool for individual change rather than collective action, although links to power-sensitivity and social change did appear in some answers. Contrary to expectations, the use of empowerment was not accompanied by comments on problematic power relations and difficulties in merging a non-directive approach with professional responsibilities. Using neo-institutional theory, results were interpreted in relation to established work-patterns and problems that empowerment was perceived to solve.     

The role of usability in the evaluation of accidents: human error or design flaw?

This article aims to highlight the role of consumer products companies in the heart and the extent of accidents involving these types of products, and as such undesired events take part as an agent in influencing decision making for the purchase of a product that nature on the part of consumers and users. The article demonstrates, by reference, interviews and case studies such as the development of poorly designed products and design errors of design can influence the usage behavior of users, thus leading to accidents, and also negatively affect the next image of a company. The full explanation of these types of questions aims to raise awareness, plan on a reliable usability, users and consumers in general about the safe use of consumer products, and also safeguard their rights before a legal system of consumer protection, even far away by the CDC--Code of Consumer Protection.     

The Role of Hadramis in Post-Second World War Singapore – A Reinterpretation

Past scholarship has tended to portray the history of Hadramis in Singapore with that of the political, economic, social and religious prominence of the diasporic community in the pre-Second World War period, followed by declining significance and disenfranchisement. This article is a revisionist attempt at documenting the crucial roles played by members of a prominent Hadrami family, the Alsagoff, in shaping the course of Malay activism from 1945 to 1965. By employing previously untapped sources, three key areas in which the Alsagoff (s) played crucial roles are unravelled: the propagation and reassertion of Islam (da' wah), Malay politics and Malay literary movement. Through such an exposition, this study hopes to provide new inroads into the study of Hadramis in Singapore.     

The use of political motherhood in Egypt’s Arab Spring uprising and aftermath

ABSTRACT

Political motherhood, which uses traditional motherhood to mobilize and sustain women’s political participation, is understudied in political science. Women played a significant role in Egypt’s Arab Spring and its aftermath by “bargaining with patriarchy” and strategically using traditional motherhood to access the political sphere. In this article, we develop a theoretical argument based on the work of Gentry, Carreon and Moghadam and Amar. We illustrate it with examples drawn from news articles on women’s political activism and social media posts by Egyptian activists. Our argument explores how women’s agency and the larger political context in which women operate reveals how political motherhood takes the particular shape that it does. In the context of Egypt, we examine how the state’s choice to highlight women as “hypervisible” citizens, worthy of protection, backfired. Through a bottom-up political motherhood, women used their respectability as mothers in need of state protection against the state, thereby legitimizing anti-Mubarak and anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstrations and challenging these governments.     

Appeasing yourself or others? – The use of self-punishment and compensation and how it influences punishment

This paper analyzes experimental data to better understand self-punishment and compensation as potential means for making amends for having caused distributional harm and inefficiency. Our design allows for and disentangles intended harm and unintended harm. In our data, subjects infrequently self-punish, whereas they frequently offer compensation. Appeasement tactics are used particularly when the harmed party can punish the harm doer. Compensation is an informative signal for the harm doer’s benign intent, which does not similarly apply to self-punishment. Both self-punishment and compensation lower the punishment level imposed by the harmed party on the harm doer, whereas results regarding the probability of punishment are less clear.     

The EU youth guarantee – a critical analysis of its implementation in Spain

The significant increase in youth unemployment in different parts of Europe caused by the economic crisis has led to the European Council Recommendation on Establishing a Youth Guarantee (2013). This Guarantee addresses the so-called ‘NEET’ (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) younger than 25 years of age and stipulates that employment, education or training shall be provided within a period of 4 months. As the initiative is relatively recent, in-depth analyses of its contents and implantation in the Member States are still missing. This paper analyses the European Recommendation and its implementation in Spain, evaluating its potential to improve the situation of the young people and society as a whole and its risks in provoking undesired side-effects. Our results question if the whole target group will be reached and highlight the measures’ low potential to promote a real and durable change. Increasing precariousness and insecurity and the tendency to only redistribute existing labour make it conceivable that the Guarantee may contribute to converting precariousness into a new labour paradigm for the whole population. The insufficient and retroactive funding of the Youth Guarantee can provoke negative side-effects for other social policies and the country's development. We conclude with several recommendations on how to improve the Youth Guarantee and its implementation.     

A Statistical Profile of the Irish Community in Gateshead – The Evidence of the 1851 Census

By the mid-nineteenth century, the north east of England was home to the fourth largest Irish settlement in England. The 1851 census makes it possible to identify key features of this post-famine community and provides a basis for the exploration of non-quantitative sources. The Gateshead Irish community was the third largest in the north east, behind Newcastle and Sunderland. The census data can establish such key features as the spatial distribution of the Gateshead Irish, their occupational profile, age distribution, household size, marital status and the extent of intermarriage between the Irish and the host community. It will be shown that the concept of the ghetto does not apply to the Irish; that they were overwhelmingly employed in unskilled work; that they were, in general, older than the host community; and that there were a significant number of cases of intermarriage between the Irish and English.     

Gender attitudes in the Arab region – The role of framing and priming effects

Most evidence on survey response effects is based in the Western world. We use data from two randomized experiments built into a nation-wide representative household survey in Tunisia to analyze the effects of framing and priming on responses to gender attitudes in the Arab context. Our first experiment shows that questions on attitudes towards decision-making power when framed in an equality frame reduce responses in favor of gender inequality. In our second experiment we find that responses to attitudes towards domestic violence are susceptible to an audio primer. Oral statistical information about the incidence of domestic violence in Tunisia increases disapproval of domestic violence among the male subsample further, but does not affect women. In terms of impact heterogeneity, we find mixed results for treatment interventions interacting with the gender of the interviewer and the interviewer’s perceived religiosity.     

The effect of interviewer evaluation of respondents’ attitudes and understanding on future survey participation in a panel study

This study explored whether the interviewers’ judgments of respondents’ performances in an initial survey can predict survey participation for a second survey among the same group of respondents in a panel study. Specifically, this study examined two interviewer variables: the interviewers’ judgments of (1) the respondents’ understanding of survey questions and (2) the respondents’ attitudes toward the survey. The analyses revealed that respondents who were rated to have an excellent understanding of the survey questions and friendly attitudes were more likely to respond to the second interview request than those with a poor understanding and unfriendly attitudes, after controlling for the characteristics of the respondents. Of these two, the judgment of the respondents’ attitudes was a stronger predictor. However, interviewer’s judgments are not correlated with the primary survey outcome or the data quality. This suggests limited value of the interviewer observation.     

The reform of the welfare services in Norway: one office – one way of thinking?

This paper discusses the professional role of social workers in the new Norwegian Nav system. The Nav reform merged the state social insurance office, the state employment office and components of municipal social services. The aim is to include clients in the work force by making the services more holistic and efficient. The paper presents a discussion of the introduction of the ‘Nav reform’, drawing on a qualitative multi-method study. The material sheds light on a social worker's role under pressure to work in a more standardised and ‘simplified’ way. Social workers at the Nav offices must adjust to expectations that require a general, basic and common competence for all employees, as one type of comprehensive, but simplified and non-specialised, approach. The study describes the dilemma of how to combine one-stop service and specialist principles. The paper attempts to criticise ‘the flexible system’ related to Whole of Government perspectives and one-stop service principles as a generalist ‘light’ approach, as opposed to the generalist approach in social work. The findings provide a basis for raising questions about the development of the social worker's role in light of the post-New Public Management (NPM) reforms and the potential threat to the professional basis of social work.     

Examining the differences between the use of wearable cameras and traditional cameras in research – a research note

Abstract

Photographic images allow data to be captured from an alternative perspective. Traditional, manual cameras are the most common method of recording photographic data, however, innovative technology is changing the way in which photographs can be collected. Wearable cameras enable a vast amount of photographic images to be captured, automatically, without user interaction. It is often assumed that photographic research methods are used for a similar purpose, engage participants in a similar way and yield a similar outcome, however, there are various differences between the use of traditional, manual cameras and innovative, wearable cameras. This research note offers a unique contribution to the literature by highlighting the differences between the use of traditional, manual cameras and wearable, automatic cameras within research.