Who Wants to Work for Japanese Companies? A Case in Malaysia

This study examined the factors associated with job‐pursuit intentions for Japanese companies among young, college‐educated Malaysian respondents. Building on the frameworks of Japanese‐style management and the organizational image theory, the study examined the perceived images of Japanese companies and their relations to the actual job‐pursuit intentions among potential job seekers in Malaysia. Using two types of surveys—one based on students (prospective new graduates), and the other based on mid‐career workers—we found that a positive image of Japanese companies’ human resource management was attractive to both types of potential job applicants. Images related to skill training and monetary compensation were more appealing to students, whereas the image of career development was more appealing to mid‐career workers. We also found that Japanese companies tend to attract members of the workforce who are talented in job‐specific skills and professional knowledge in the Malaysian context.     

“Otis”: A Case Study of an Online Attempt to Purchase Children for Sex

ABSTRACT

The researchers analyzed court documents to develop a case study of an individual convicted of buying sexual services from exploited children. Findings indicate that the subject deviates from preexisting victim selection processes and demonstrates characteristics inconsistent with existing sexual offender typologies that likens offender behaviors to the hunting techniques and behaviors of predatory animals. As evidenced in the case study, the individual perceived the victims solely as a means of deviant sexual satiation and did not participate in traditionally established victim acquisition techniques. In addition, the researchers propose adopting terminology that adheres to the term consumer rather than buyer as it better represents some offenders’ disconnect and lack of empathy in the victim acquisition process.     

A “Jewish Study Hall” Influenced Approach to Social Work Professional Identity Development: A Qualitative Study

The article presents the findings of a qualitative research study focused on the ancient “Jewish study hall” (Beit Midrash in Hebrew) approach. The research was conducted in the context of the Beit Midrash for Social Work and Judaism established at one school of social work in Israel. Twenty participants were included in the study. Content analysis of transcribed Beit Midrash sessions revealed four central themes: reflection on participant identities; expansion, stabilisation, and acceptance of one’s personal identity; clarification of professional identity; and convergence between Jewish and professional identity. Study results raise questions as to both the place and the space for exploration of religious and spiritual identity in social work education. Findings suggest that alternative learning spaces such as the Beit Midrash can enable social work students and practitioners to reflect honestly and profoundly on their religious and spiritual identity, helping them to integrate their different identities towards becoming “whole persons” better prepared to meet the challenges of the social work profession.     

The Pragmatic Case Study in Psychotherapy: A Mixed Methods Approach Informed by Psychology’s Striving for Methodological Quality

At least as far back as Plato and Aristotle, psychology began as a stepchild of philosophy. The establishment by Wilhelm Wundt in 1879 of the first formal psychological laboratory focused on studying psychophysiological phenomena was psychology’s declaration of independence as a discipline. By positioning itself as the application of natural-science-based, empirical methods involving quantitative, group-based approaches to psychological topics, the discipline consolidated its independence and its societal status and clout. This paper first summarizes these developments, to highlight the causes of psychology’s historical resistance to qualitative case studies, and to qualitative research generally. I then briefly review three movements that have stimulated psychology to slowly but surely embrace qualitative case study research, with the addition of complementary, quantitative data: the rise of postmodern philosophy, the related “cognitive revolution” in psychology, and the “mixed methods” model of research in the social sciences that synergistically combines qualitative and quantitative methods. The result of this embrace, in the context of psychology’s established science-oriented identity, has been for psychology to add quality-of-knowledge guidelines for elevating the yield of case study knowledge. This result is illustrated by three examples: Kazdin’s (J Consult Clin Psychol 49:183–192, 1981) strategies for reducing threats to the validity of conclusions from case studies; Elliott, Fischer, and Rennie’s (Br J Clin Psychol 38:215–229, 1999) development of methodological standards for both quantitative and qualitative research; and my own work in developing the Pragmatic Case Study (PCS), which particularly reflects three of the recent trends in psychology: pluralism, pragmatism, and the mixed methods approach. Comparisons between organized social work’s and organized psychology’s approach to psychotherapy training and research is noted, with the two fields starting off in opposite directions and recently coming together.     

A Multi‐method Approach to the Study of School Class Size Differences

This paper describes a multi‐method approach to data collection used in a large‐scale seven‐year longitudinal study of the effect of class size differences on classroom processes. There were five main types of process and the paper concentrates on the results from one of these: teaching interactions with pupils. It was felt that integration of results from quantitative and qualitative methods would help reconcile inconsistencies and limitations in previous research on this topic. Quantitative information was collected from systematic classroom observations and teacher completed time estimates to address relationships between class size and teacher time allocation, and teacher and pupil behaviour in class. But we also wanted a more qualitative assessment of relationships between class size and teaching through the use of methods that captured practitioners’ experiences, and through detailed case studies. Examples of integrated results from these four methods are given, along with some reflections on lessons learned.     

Renewal or Re-Entrenchment? A Case Study of 2011 Education Union Crisis

This case study provides insights into how a community of organizations communicates during a crisis by examining how challenges to collective bargaining laws in Wisconsin and Ohio provoked a dramatic response by education unions and the labor sector as a whole. Using the theoretical frameworks of reflective management and the discourse of renewal, this insider account of the response found that these pivotal events were a cause for change in how the education unions and their partners communicated. These events resulted in increased collaboration between partners, embracing an organic response of members, and the rearticulation of organization values. In addition to the presentation of crisis communication beyond the traditional narrow-focus of the response of a single organization, the results of this study also challenge the concept of what constitutes reflection and renewal after a crisis.     

Lessons for Academics for Grassroots Community Organizing: A Case Study—The Industrial Areas Foundation

This article describes and critically analyzes the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), the most significant community organizing endeavor in the nation. Examination of the IAF is valuable to academic social work because of the contradiction between social work's commitment to group change efforts and the limited amount of related social work employmeny. Social work can benefit from a fuller understanding of non-academic, community organizing activity. The IAF's strategic model, structure, underlying ideologies and organizing mechanics are detailed. Its training processes as well as transmitted concepts and skills are described. Lastly a critique of the IAF's methodology is presented.     

Would a Commodity‐based Trade Approach Improve Market Access for Africa? A Case Study of the Potential of Beef Exports from Communal Areas of Namibia

Market access for African livestock products has long been stymied by a variety of animal diseases endemic in the region. The concept of commodity‐based trade (CBT) has been advanced to make trade dependent on process‐related attributes of production that ensure freedom from disease rather than the geographical origin of the animals themselves. This article looks at the potential of CBT in improving market access for beef from communal areas of Namibia, which have historically been excluded from high‐value export markets. Model results suggest only modest gains from CBT, given the substantial costs of compliance with SPS and quality standards required for high‐value markets. Regional markets may still offer the best option for beef exports from these areas.     

How Good Are Networks for Migrant Job Seekers? Ethnographic Evidence from North Carolina Farm Labor* Camps

Migrant farmworker networks are vital components in their job seeking and underemployment minimization strategies. Yet, farmworker cultural, physical, and institutional isolation along with the itinerant and clandestine features of farmwork have become major obstacles in the development of robust lateral communitywide network ties that would otherwise favor reciprocity and resource sharing. Thus, contrary to the positive social capital assumption, we argue that the paucity and fragmented features of farmworkers’ lateral ties have increased their vulnerability and locked them in exploitative relationships in a hostile social environment that makes impractical or impossible the formation of alternative ties. Our study is based on participant observation through a 6‐week stay in three North Carolina farm labor camps. On‐site evidence shows that the two larger groups of solitary male farmworkers and farmworking families break up into smaller groups, each group in pursuit of its own short‐term goals. We conclude that, even though farmworker networks help them to find and ensure temporary jobs, their inability to use the networks to share resources is ultimately detrimental for participants’ long‐term socioeconomic prospects.     

Do High School Students in India Gamble? A Study of Problem Gambling and Its Correlates

Studies from the West suggest that significant numbers of high school students gamble, despite it being illegal in this age group. To date, there have been no studies on the prevalence of gambling among senior high school and higher secondary school students in India. This study reports point prevalence of gambling and its psychosocial correlates among high school students in the State of Kerala, India. 5043 high school students in the age group 15–19 years, from 73 schools, were selected by cluster random sampling from the district of Ernakulam, Kerala, South India. They completed questionnaires that assessed gambling, substance use, psychological distress, suicidality, and symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Of a total of 4989 completed questionnaires, 1400 (27.9 %) high school students reported to have ever gambled and 353 (7.1 %) were problem gamblers. Of those who had ever gambled, 25.2 % were problem gamblers. Sports betting (betting on cricket and football) was the most popular form of gambling followed by the lottery. Problem gamblers when compared with non-problem gamblers and non-gamblers were significantly more likely to be male, have academic failures, have higher rates of lifetime alcohol and tobacco use, psychological distress, suicidality, history of sexual abuse and higher ADHD symptom scores. Gambling among adolescents in India deserves greater attention, as one in four students who ever gambled was a problem gambler and because of its association with a range of psychosocial variables.     

Thinking ‘Outside the Box’: A New Approach to Integration of Learning for Practice

The integration of learning is a central goal for all professions. The question of how to bridge the gap between theory and practice, and between the classroom and the field, is one which has preoccupied social work education since its very beginnings in universities in the United Kingdom and the United States in the early twentieth century. Between 2003 and 2005, the Scottish Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education funded a project which piloted a new approach to the integration of learning for practice. This paper reports on the findings of that project, and suggests ways of taking its findings forward in the future.     

Have You Had Your Lunch Yet? A Case Study on Teaching International Social Work Students

The literature relating to university education is rife with commentary about internationalisation. The rhetoric of positing themselves in the international context appears to have entered the lexicon of most universities. However, the drivers for internationalisation appear largely economic and less has been said about some of the realities involved in moving to an internationalised position. Internationalisation raises many tensions for the university and for academic staff. This discussion reflects on the experience of one Australian university programme offering social work education in a non-Australian context. It seeks to highlight some of the learning from the experience and suggests opportunities for the adoption of a more transformative approach to internationalisation of social work education.     

Client-centred Case Management: How Much Makes a Difference to Outcomes for Homeless Jobseekers?

Case management has become the predominant model for attempting to improve outcomes for young adults experiencing both homelessness and unemployment. However, there is little evidence-based knowledge about how young adults respond to case management, and how much intervention is needed to be effective. This Australian study utilised quantitative government data to investigate the effects of the amount of case management on key outcomes. With a purposive sample of 224 people aged 18–35, this study compared four different amounts of YP⁴ case management service received over a three-year period. Participants were categorised into four groupings depending on the number of case management contacts they received: 0–5, 6–20, 21–40, and 41–156. The findings show some significant group variations over the course of the trial in the areas of employment and accommodation. Participants who received 20 or more contacts had significantly better accommodation and employment outcomes than those who received fewer contacts.     

What Accounts for the Variations in Nonprofit Growth? A Cross-National Panel Study

Previous studies of nonprofit growth have lamented the lack of cross-national longitudinal data measuring the size of the nonprofit sector across countries, which has made it difficult to assess the current state of knowledge about the nonprofit sector beyond national boundaries. Recent progress in measuring nonprofit growth using panel studies or cross-national data has compensated for the limitations of the existing research, but even the recent data are either country specific or cross sectional in nature. This study takes on the challenge of supplementing the current research by measuring nonprofit growth using internationally comparable longitudinal data. Specifically, this study focuses on whether certain key indicators of the overall state of the economy can be used to predict and explain the size of nonprofit sectors cross-nationally. The overall state of the economy has considerable relevance for nonprofit growth, as it influences the levels of government funding and private philanthropy that benefit the nonprofit sector. The results indicate that the existing theories about the nonprofit sector account for variations in nonprofit growth but are limited in their explanations of the underlying dynamics of such variations beyond national boundaries. Social origins theory is a useful addition that helps to explain cross-national variations in nonprofit growth. Importantly, the interplay among the government, private philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector is dynamic, and its effect on economic indicators varies across nonprofit regime types when sociodemographic variables are controlled.     

Why Do Women Want Children? The Case of Hong Kong,China: A Lowest-Low Fertility Context

ABSTRACT

Governments in low fertility countries tend to tackle low birth rates by addressing macro-level factors rather than the meaning that having a child holds for men and women. Yet whether or not an individual decides to have a child depends in part on what they think having a child will mean for their lives. This study examines the meanings that constitute reasons for wanting a child among a sample of middle-class, married, Hong Kong Chinese women who wanted children. These women were living in Hong Kong when it had one of the lowest total fertility rates in the world and the lowest in its history. Using semi-structured, in-depth interviews, it finds that for these women, to have a child makes one’s family complete; is the next stage of life; provides happiness, fun, and enjoyment; brings care and company in old age; and children are “lovely” and “cute.” Governments concerned about low birth rates can use research on what having a child means for women to improve policy so as to make having a child more attractive, and to create messages that hold greater appeal to women.     

“Why Don’t You Just Tell Me How You Feel?”: A Case Study of a Young Mother in an Attachment-Based Group Intervention

This paper describes an attachment-based parenting intervention, the Circle of Security, and presents a case study of one participant’s experience as a member of it. The Circle of Security is a group intervention for parents of young children ages 1–5 that teaches parents to recognize and respond to their children’s alternating needs for attachment and exploration. The intervention content in group sessions relies to a great extent on discussions of videotaped vignettes of each parent–child dyad. Ultimately, the intervention focuses on strengthening parents’ capacities for empathic responsiveness to their children’s needs for them. In the second part of the paper, the case study illustrates one mother’s experience in a Circle of Security group designed for parents involved with the child welfare system as a result of substantiated maltreatment. Observations of this parent indicate that her capacity for empathic understanding was greatly strengthened, which appears to be related to important behavior change.     

How Do Heterosexual Undergraduate Students Define Having Sex? A New Approach to an Old Question

This study examined how people define having sex utilizing a new approach to this area of research. A total of 267 men and 327 women rated their degree of confidence that engaging in each of 21 physically intimate behaviors (e.g., penile-vaginal intercourse) counted as “having sex” and then qualitatively explained their reasoning. Separate ratings were made for each behavior when engaged in by the respondent and by his or her partner with someone else. Results showed that, as in previous studies, for both sexes, some behaviors (e.g., penile-vaginal intercourse) were far more confidently rated (i.e., “definitely sex”) than were others (e.g., oral-genital stimulation). Further, both men and women were significantly more certain that a behavior counted as “having sex” when considering their partner's behavior outside the relationship than when they considered their own behavior. Finally, the order in which the two scenarios (i.e., self versus partner) was presented significantly affected participants’ certainty. Qualitative results, paired with quantitative findings, suggest that individuals consider a variety of contextual factors when making these definitional decisions. The methodological and sexual health implications of these results are discussed.     

Should NPOs Follow International Standards for Financial Reporting? A Multinational Study of Views

Financial reporting is an important aspect of not-for-profit organisations’ (NPOs’) accountability. Globally, numerous and varying regimes exist by which jurisdictions regulate NPO financial reporting. This article explores whether NPOs should be required or expected to follow sector-specific international financial reporting standards. We investigate stakeholder perceptions on the nature and scope of any such developed standards, interpreting our findings through the lens of moral legitimacy. Using an international online survey of stakeholders involved in NPO financial reporting, we analyse 605 responses from 179 countries. Based on our findings, we argue that diverse stakeholder groups, especially those who are involved with NPO financial reporting in developing countries, are likely to grant moral legitimacy to developed NPO international accounting standards if the consequences are to enhance NPO accounting and accountability information, subject to agreement as to whether all or only NPOs of a certain size should comply and whether any such standards should be mandatory.     

Pathological Gambling,Comorbidities and Treatment Outcome: Is the Bronze Standard Good Enough? A Case Study

The paper presents a case study of our attempt to design an outcome package for a program including pathological gamblers and their comorbidities. The clinical intricacies involved highlight the limitations of the clinical trial and the need for alternate designs aimed at assessing effectiveness.the critical contributions of Dr. David Hodgins in developing our programs outcome monitoring is hereby gratefully acknowledged.