Evidence in action: a Thompsonian perspective on evidence-based decision-making in social work

Evidence-based practice presupposes evidence-based decision-making. In the debate it is argued that a social work fashioned after evidence should be more rational, less authoritarian, and built on scientific knowledge, respect and ethics. Yet the empirical evidence that this idea works is weak. In fact, the difficulties met during efforts to implement evidence could be a sound reaction. Indeed, difficulties experienced could be a defensive organizational reaction to a new, disturbing technology. In this article, James D. Thompson's classical study Organizations in Action from 1967 is applied to evidence-based decision-making in social work. It shows, to date, that many problems have been given, at best, tenuous attention. It is argued that a focus on evidence will raise ambiguity and complexity levels within organizations, and that new professional specialists will emerge. Further, new constellations of power will appear, leading to a change of balance within the domains of social work.     

Exploding the Myth of the Symmetrical/Asymmetrical Dichotomy: Public Relations Models in the New South Africa

An empirical study of practitioners in the newSouth Africa found no evidence that respondents grouped public relations practices according to principles of symmetry or asymmetry, thus rejecting the notion of symmetry as a normative public relations approach in international settings. Instead, South African practitioners developed their ownculture-specific models of practice basedonthe economic, social, and political realities of their country. These included the conflict-based Western Dialogic model rooted in dissensus, the Activist model promoting change in organizations, theUbuntu model favoring harmony and reconciliation in theworkplace, and the Oral Communication model focusing on the use of oral media in the communication process. Practitioners' demographic characteristics did not influence their use of public relations models, most probably because of the similarity of their public relations education, which seemed to emphasize a focus on the characteristics of an organization's publics in the communication process rather than on practitioners' individual propensities.     

Gendered Congregations,Gendered Service: The Impact of Clergy Gender on Congregational Social Service Participation

Using data from the 1998 National Congregations Study, I present empirical evidence that shows that the gender of a congregation's leadership makes a difference in the likelihood that a congregation will participate in a social service programme. The results from binary logistic regression indicate that the odds of congregations with women head clergy participating in a social service programme are four times greater than those with men head clergy. In addition, as the percentage of women on a congregation's governing board increases the probability that a congregation will participate in a service project also increases. The specific types of social service programmes a congregation pursues also differ by gender of leadership, with women‐led congregations significantly more likely to pursue service projects that could be labelled feminine while avoiding programmes that are clearly feminist. To explain this gendered behaviour I incorporate Acker's (1990 ) theory of gendered organizations.     

Fair Trade Flowers: Global Certification,Environmental Sustainability,and Labor Standards

This article analyzes the organization of the fair trade flower industry, integration of Ecuadorian enterprises into these networks, and power of certification to address key environmental and social concerns on participating estates. Pursuing a social regulatory approach, I locate fair trade within the field of new institutions that establish and enforce production criteria in international markets. My research finds that while firm owners and managers support fair trade's environmental and social goals, these commitments are delimited by mainstream market expectations related to production efficiency and product quality. In environmental arenas, certification helps ensure that conditions exceed legal mandates and industry norms. In social arenas, certification helps ensure that labor standards exceed legal and industry expectations and funds important programs benefiting workers and their families. Where unions are absent, fair trade's greatest impact may be in the establishment of workers' committees that can build collective capacity. Although these new labor organizations face numerous challenges, they may strengthen the social regulation of global flower networks, making firms accountable to their workers as well as to nongovernmental organizations, retailers, and consumers.     

Polanyi's Double Movement and Neoliberalization in Korea and Japan

This paper reformulates and extends Polanyi's main insights in The Great Transformations (2001 [1944]) and attempts to theorize the societal countermovement against neoliberalism by illustrating the cases of Korea and Japan. Polanyi's main approach was to synthesize three critical domains: the state, market, and society, and his notion of double movement should be understood as such. Predicated on his double movement, I analytically decompose the mechanism of societal countermovement, emphasizing the importance of social organizations that aggregate people's insecurities and translate them into a political voice capable of acquiring social protection. Applying this analytical framework of the double movement to Korea and Japan reveals that the problem with the conventional understanding of the double movement is that it necessarily arrives at social compensation equilibrium. This paper implies that a highly contentious society, like Korea's, and a highly docile society, like Japan's, may both hinder social welfare provision.     

Social Work in the University

Abstract

This article asserts that social work is failing to fulfill its professional obligations to people in need, in part because its academic institutions are failing to perform their basic intellectual functions. The author presents evidence that false reports of the effectiveness of the nation's social welfare services exaggerate the degree to which social therapeutics and professional techniques have been successful, which has in turn prevented an accurate approach to resolving social problems and has diminished the claims of people in need. The author asserts that a reinvigorated role for academic social work requires credible research, a shift in curricular emphases, and a supportive constituency drawn from populations at risk and their organizations.     

Communicating social value: An experimental study on credible communication and social enterprises

The management of marketing and communication strategies involves a complex mix of different requirements, particularly for social enterprises, which try to fulfill both social and business aims while operating in a resource-constrained context. Although social enterprises are a rising phenomenon, the research on how these businesses communicate their activities remains in its infancy. This study builds on the theory of planned behavior and the source credibility theory, presenting a conceptual framework that distinguishes between high, moderate, and low credibility of a social enterprise's communication, to analyze its effects on potential customers' behavioral intentions. Through an online experiment with 260 subjects, the authors demonstrate that attitude toward a social enterprise, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and, ultimately, the intention to support a social enterprise by purchasing its products increases with the social enterprise's message credibility. The authors also present practical implications and avenues for future research on the communication of social enterprises based on the empirical findings.     

Dialogic communication in the health care context: A case study of Kaiser Permanente's social media practices

This case study examines how one of the largest not-for-profit health care organizations in the US, Kaiser Permanente, uses social media to communicate with its stakeholders. Through content analysis and interviews, this study identifies the communication models reflected in a sample of social media posts and examines the organization's approach to using social media. The study finds evidence of both one-way and two-way communication models, as well as principles of dialogic communication. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Disruptions in the Separation-Individuation Process of Domestically Violent Men

ABSTRACT

In the past twenty-five years, domestic violence has emerged as a significant social issue for research and theory development. This paper proposes an examination of domestic violence through the lens of Margaret Mahler's separation-individuation theory of development. This paper examines the existing empirical literature of domestically violent men using Mahler's theory of development. The paper then discusses the results from an empirical examination of the hypothesis that men who batter evidence disruptions in the separation-individuation process. This study has implications for treatment of domestically violent men, and suggests that interventions should include models that develop insight into the effects from developmental ruptures.     

Deviant Acts by Complex Organizations: Deviance and Social Control at the Organizational Level of Analysis1

The study of deviance and social control can be expanded to recognize that (1) organizations, not just individuals, commit deviant acts, and (2) other organizations have responsibilities for preventing or controlling that deviance. This paper focuses on these phenomena. It defines organizational deviance, applies Blau and Scot?s cui bono taxonomy to suggest types of organizational deviance, provides a categorization of controller organizations by the types of deviance they control, and considers the social control of organizational deviance. The paper concludes by suggesting that organizational deviance should be among the theoretical, empirical, and methodological interests of an increasing number of contemporary sociologists.     

How the State Shaped the Nonprofit Sector: Public Funding in British Columbia

This article examines how the state has used its spending power to shape the nonprofit sector in British Columbia since the 1960s. The province's thriving nonprofit sector and its polarized political culture provide an ideal case study for exploring the relationship between the state and nongovernmental organizations. The following study documents changes in state policy, the trajectory of funding, funding patterns, and organizations that have received state funding. Although public funding for nonprofits in Canada has been pervasive for decades, there is little empirical evidence on the nature and scope of this funding. This article is based on an innovative new database that provides a comprehensive list of grants from the provincial government to nonprofit organizations between 1960 and 2014. Despite concerns regarding cuts to public funding in recent years, this study finds that there has been an overall increase in funding. However, there has also been a significant shift in funding from women's issues to Aboriginal peoples since the early 2000s.     

Participatory action research (PAR) with children and youth: An integrative review of methodology and PAR outcomes for participants,organizations, and communities

Due to an increasing emphasis on children's rights, children's participation in studies about social issues has become a trend. The research community has been liberally utilizing the concept of participatory action research (PAR). Thus, oversimplification of children's involvement and misinterpretation of their voices has become a concern for many scholars. This review is an attempt to support the critical conversation about PAR, especially in regard to (1) its methodological features, as well as (2) outcomes of genuine children's participation in PAR for children and youth themselves, social service organizations, and communities. Forty-five articles were selected and coded for analysis in accordance with integrative review methodology. PAR with children and youth showed evidence of positive outcomes for children, organizations, and communities. However, PAR with children and youth still faces the challenges of involving very young participants, providing meaningful participation opportunities and addressing power differences between children and adults in diverse cultural contexts. Discussion of methodological challenges and review of critical outcomes of the PAR approach is provided.     

A Critical Analysis of Parental Alienation Syndrome and Its Admissibility in the Family Court

Abstract

Over the past three decades, parental alienation syndrome (PAS) has been proposed to explain behaviors by a child who refuses to spend time with a parent and actually denigrates that parent within the context of a child custody dispute. Although some mental health professionals and child custody evaluators, attorneys, and judges have been quick to accept and admit PAS as evidence in these disputes, there has been no consistent empirical or clinical evidence that PAS exists or that the alienator's behavior is the actual cause of the alienated child's behavior towards the target parent. This article attempts to help those working with custody issues understand how the PAS construct fails to meet scientific standards and should not be admissible in courts.     

Using Social Network Analysis to Explore Social Movements: A Relational Approach

This paper uses a ‘relational’ approach to network analysis to demonstrate the linkages between different types of environmental organizations in London. A ‘relational’ approach was used to avoid problems associated with ‘positional’ approaches such as structural determinism, subjectively defined and misleadingly labelled blocks of ‘approximately’ equivalent actors, and reification of the action/issue basis of networks. The paper also explores definitions of social/environmental movements. Whilst broadly agreeing with Diani's consensual definition of a social movement, it argues that we need to be much more precise about the type and intensity of networking required; it must be more than informal or cursory, and should bind individuals and organizations into collaborative networks. Evidence from a survey of 149 environmental organizations and qualitative interviews with key campaigners suggests that whilst many organizations might share information, it is often stockpiled or ignored, hardly creating the kinds of network links that might lead to shared movement identity. The kinds of links that do bind movements are collaborative. In practice, in the environmental movement in London, conservationists tend neither to share information nor to engage in the collective action events of reformist or radical organizations, suggesting that conservationists should perhaps not be considered part of the movement.     

In search of a happy medium: How the structure of interorganizational networks influence community economic development strategies

Routes to economic development attract considerable attention among social scientists, policy makers, and community activists. Increasingly, social scientists examine various attributes of communities, their members, and their natural surroundings that facilitate and inhibit economic development. However, few empirical analyses exist that analyze the impact of a community's network structure on different forms of economic development such as on industrial recruitment and self-development. Using data collected from six communities in Washington State, the impact of a community's interorganizational network structure on industrial recruitment and self-development is examined. Results suggest that different types of network structures are better suited for different economic development strategies. A certain level of cohesiveness among community organizations and institutions are favorable for implementing self-development projects. However for industrial recruitment, networks that are bridging facilitate more types of economic development. While bonding and bridging network structures appear to be at odds with one another, it is possible for communities to increase both forms of economic development by maintaining a certain level of cohesiveness among subcomponents and increasing the number of organizations that serve as cut-points connecting non-redundant sources of information. These findings illustrate the need for communities and local activists to consider a community's network structure when deciding on an economic development strategy.     

上海为农服务合作社的发展新路初探

上海为农服务合作社应根据上海经济发展的需要,结合各自的实际走发展新路。农业生产合作社应循专业合作社的道路加快发展,区（县）政府应积极帮助并给以政策扶持;信用合作社已改制为农村商业银行,应循商业银行的发展规律,对外拓展、对内做实,同时继续做好为农户和中小企业的服务;供销合作社则应在政府的有力支持下,尽快推进社企分离,下力气把社属企业做大、做强,从而在反哺农村时形成更有效的经济支撑。     

Street children in Moscow: using and creating social capital

The paper analyses the strategies of homeless street children in Moscow connected with the accumulation of social capital. Based on recent empirical research, it looks at the involvement of children in non‐criminal and criminal subcultures as a way to get access to important networks and resources, and shows how young people use their social skills and appropriate subcultural norms and values in order to build alternative careers. It demonstrates that children's social background plays an important role in their trajectories in the urban informal economy and society, and that they should not be viewed, as it is usually suggested in the social exclusion paradigm, as a single dispossessed mass which has fallen through support networks in various risk scenarios. Research data is reviewed to provide evidence that Moscow's homeless children are resourceful and deeply social agents who fmd surrogate families and ad hoc social memberships.     

Mapping the strategic thinking of public relations managers in a crisis situation: An illustrative example using conjoint analysis

A great deal of anecdotal and empirical evidence indicates that the public relations function is not well integrated into the strategic decision making of most organizations. Observers suggest that to be part of the strategic decision-making process, managers must demonstrate that they are strategic thinkers, i.e., show that they have “what it takes” to be part of the dominant coalition.However, research on strategic decision making has been dominated by the case study methodology, which has led to calls for quantitative approaches that might verify and supplement these qualitative-based findings. This article illustrates the operationalization of the conjoint analysis multivariate technique for the study of the public relations function within strategic decision making in a crisis situation. Implications for theory development and testing are also discussed.Peggy Simcic Brønn is an assistant professor and Erik Olson is an associate professor in the Department of Market-Oriented Management at the Norwegian School of Management.     

Empathy in Social Work

ABSTRACT

A dominant conceptualization of empathy in social work practice and education, provided by Karen Gerdes and Elizabeth Segal, relies heavily on the simulation theory adopted directly from the cognitive neurosciences. The aim was to critically challenge such a view by reporting on some recent empirical findings from the field in which professional social workers were interviewed about their experience of empathy in working with forced migrants. The findings support a phenomenological, critical account of simulation theory and provide evidence that empathy is constituted as a direct social perception of the other's experience. It was concluded that simulation theory is insufficient in providing an exhaustive approach for the professional use of empathy in social work practice and education.