Social Workers’ Perceptions of Job Satisfaction,Interdisciplinary Collaboration,and Organizational Leadership

ABSTRACT

To address job satisfaction, and therefore employment retention, of hospice social workers, this study examined how relationships with other members of the interdisciplinary hospice team and perceptions of hospice leadership may be associated with job satisfaction of hospice social workers. The sample of 203 hospice social workers was recruited by e-mailing invitations to hospice social workers identified by hospice directors in three states, use of online social media sites accessed by hospice social workers, and snowball sampling. Study measures included professional experience, hospice characteristics, interdisciplinary collaboration, perception of servant leadership, and intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction. Variables significant in the model for intrinsic satisfaction were perception of servant leadership, interdisciplinary collaboration, and feeling valued by the hospice physician. Variables significant in the model for extrinsic satisfaction were perception of servant leadership, interdisciplinary collaboration, feeling valued by the hospice physician, and number of social workers at the hospice. Interdisciplinary collaboration was more important for intrinsic job satisfaction and leadership style was more important for extrinsic job satisfaction. Profit status of the hospice, experience of the social worker, caseload size, and other variables were not significant in either model. These results support previous findings that leadership style of the hospice director and relationships with hospice colleagues are important for hospice social workers’ job satisfaction. Such low-cost modifications to the hospice work environment, albeit not simple, may improve job satisfaction of hospice social workers.     

Compliance, Noncompliance Strategies, and the Correlates of Compliance in 5-year-old Japanese and American Children

The present study compared compliance, noncompliance strategies, and the correlates of compliance in 5-year old Japanese and American children. Forty-seven Japanese children and forty-six American children were observed during three standardized laboratory procedures. Compliance, noncompliance strategies, and negative affect were coded during a Toy Pick Up procedure. Maternal directiveness and mother-directed behaviors were coded during Mother-Child play and Free-play procedures, respectively. A baseline level of play was also obtained during the Free Play procedures to ensure that the childen's willingness to engage in the Toy Pick Up procedure would not be confounded with their level of involvement with the toys. Consistent with predictions derived from a review of cross-cultural research on socialization practices, Japanese children showed longer latencies to begin picking up toys in response to maternal requests and were also more likely to engage in the "less skilled" noncompliance strategies of direct defiance and passive noncompliance than American children. The two groups of children did not, however, differ in their level of negative affect during the Toy Pick Up procedure. Contrary to expectations, maternal directiveness was not associated with compliance in either group of children. However, approach behavior to mother during Free Play was inversely correlated with compliance in Japanese, but not American children.     

Individuals’ perception of others’ self-esteem,psychological well-being and attractiveness: Role of body size and peers’ comments among Japanese and Americans

From a cross-cultural perspective, this study investigates how individuals form impressions of others’ self-esteem, psychological well-being, and physical attractiveness as a function of others’ body size as well as messages these others receive from their peers. Mock-up Facebook profile pages in which the body size of the profile owner (thin vs. overweight) and peer-generated messages (accepting vs. thin-encouraging) were manipulated in the study. After viewing a Facebook profile page online, American and Japanese females completed a questionnaire. Japanese, but not Americans, (a) believed a profile owner who received thin-promoting messages to have higher psychological well-being than a profile owner who received accepting messages, (b) assumed an overweight profile owner to have lower self-esteem than a thin profile owner, and (c) perceived a thin profile owner as more physically attractive than an overweight profile owner.     

Parents' perceptions of contact with the Norwegian Child Welfare Services

Listening to the opinions of service users is important in research. This study explored how parents cognitively and emotionally perceive contact with the Norwegian Child Welfare Services (CWS). It also compared the reports of parents recently referred to the CWS with reports of more experienced users. A content analysis was conducted on open‐ended survey responses from parents (n = 697). This study fills a gap in the literature on how parents perceive contact with the CWS and what they see as important factors when judging this contact. The findings showed that 40.6% of the parents reported exclusively positive experiences, 30.7% of the parents reported solely negative experiences, while 24% of the parents described both positive and negative experiences. The content of the positive and negative experiences were related to characteristics of the child welfare workers, the quality of the relationship, the help offered and the parent's feelings of insecurity and fear. New CWS users tended to view the contact as more positive than the more experienced ones. Practical implications are presented.     

日美企业文化之比较及对我国的启示

日美两国企业文化各具特点。进入上世纪80年代,美国的理性主义企业文化与日本的灵性主义企业文化融合的步伐日益加快,主要表现在价值观规范趋向互补;管理理念相互渗透;用人之道相互效仿;领导方式相互借鉴等。日美企业文化对我国企业文化建设的启示在于:要高度重视企业文化的融合;企业文化融合要在原有文化个性的基础上生成一种新的文化特质;人是企业的主体,是企业文化的载体,更是企业文化融合的核心;企业文化融合需要一个长期过程。     

Pretrial Predictors of Judgments in the O. J. Simpson Case

Five hundred seventy-eight community college and four-year state university students responded to questionnaires designed to assess judgments regarding O. J. Simpson's guilt, beliefs surrounding the case, general attitudes, and background information. Although African Americans were more likely to perceive Simpson as innocent than non–African Americans, correlation analyses revealed that, for the most part, the same predictors explained African Americans' and non–African American's judgments of guilt. Finally, set-wise hierarchical regression analyses indicated that case-related beliefs that Simpson abused Nicole Brown Simpson and that the system was biased against him accounted for more significant incremental variance than did demographic variables such as age and ethnicity, personal experiences, and general attitudes. The results suggested that the racial polarization emphasized in public polls does not reflect the diversity of beliefs that existed within both African American and European American populations.     

The effect of characteristics of human service workers on subsequent morale and turnover

The authors examine the relationship of sociopsychological characteristics of human services workers to their subsequent morale and continuance on the job. Eighty-two intensive case managers (half of them social workers) who had caseloads of clients with severe mental disorders were invited to participate in a four-wave panel study. Explored are the relationships between 16 predictors (general background, prior work experience and training, and social psychological variables) and worker outcomes (beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and turnover). The major finding was that better personal well-being at the time of hiring was the most consistent and significant predictor of lower burnout, higher job satisfaction, and generally higher worker morale at later points in time. Those from higher social class backgrounds and those with lower starting salaries were more likely to leave the job. Those workers with more experience had a tendency to perceive greater client improvement.     

The impact of job satisfaction on turnover intent: a test of a structural measurement model using a national sample of workers

For the past century, worker turnover has been of keen interest for both managers and researchers. Based upon the literature, a structural measurement model incorporating four core antecedents of turnover (i.e., demographic characteristics, work environment, job satisfaction, and turnover intent) was developed and tested using a national sample of American workers. The results indicate that the work environment is more important in shaping worker job satisfaction than are demographic characteristics, and that job satisfaction is a highly salient antecedent of turnover intent. Finally, job satisfaction is a key mediating variable between the work environment and turnover intent.     

How I wonder what you are: Children's songs as a source of mental and internal state information

This study investigated (1) whether children's songs could be potential sources of internal state information and (2) cross-cultural/linguistic differences in the availability of such information. We coded for expressions of mental states and other internal states in 255 English songs, likely accessed by children in the United States, and 255 Japanese songs, likely accessed by Japanese children. The majority of the songs in both samples contained at least one internal state expression, with songs containing four to five tokens and two types of internal state expressions on average. Japanese songs had more types of internal state expressions than English songs when comparing the two samples in proportion scores that controlled for the length of songs. However, differences between English and Japanese songs were negligible in the absolute frequency of tokens and types of internal state expressions, with the exception that Japanese songs were richer in ambiguous internal state expressions.     

How to use the vignette technique in cross-cultural social work research

The vignette technique was used in a cross-cultural comparative study of the delivery of personal social services in the United Kingdom and Sweden. In this article we discuss the major premises of using the vignette technique in cross-cultural comparative social research. In total, 247 vignettes were collected, 165 in Örebro. Sweden and 82 in the United Kingdom (73 in Leicester, England and 9 in the rural areas of Bangor, Wales). The vignettes were filled in by social workers working in the sector of child and family care. Since this technique is seldom used in cross-cultural comparative studies, it was necessary to develop a model for interpreting cross-cultural data. In this article we consider methodological and practical aspects of the method adapted for cross-cultural social work research. A preliminary survey of our empirical data demonstrates the usefulness of such a model in understanding cross-cultural data. However, the empirical data will be presented in a later article.     

The challenge of keeping Japanese older people economically active

Japanese society faces serious problems due to population ageing. Both the number and percentage of people aged 65 years old and over are increasing. The ratio of those aged 65+ was 17.3 per cent in 2000, but the estimate of the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research is that the ratio will become 28.7 per cent in 2025 and will reach 40 per cent in 2050. This article consists of four sections. In the first the characteristics of issues associated with population ageing in Japan are discussed. The actual situations of employment and lives of older workers are introduced. The second section analyses government policies to address the ageing of the population. The Japanese government is trying to address the issue through encouraging older people to work longer. The promotion of efforts to extend longer working lives is discussed. In the third section a rehiring system and two cases of Japanese firms are described. Those enterprises are effectively employing older workers. Their experiences would be interesting for those planning to hire older workers. The last section discusses how to resolve challenges associated with population ageing. It is shown that continuous training is one of the most important ways of keeping older people productive.     

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of the Academic Engagement of Students

Higher education around the world is undergoing serious transformations as a result of technological, social, and economic processes. Universities from various countries are trying to secure a competitive position for themselves on the international market for educational services. Currently thousands of universities from different countries are trying to enter the race to join the race for international rankings. In their quest to reach the top of the rankings some countries seek to follow the experience of other, more successful nations by adopting their “best” practices. It is not surprising that all countries wish to secure a prosperous future for themselves and take efforts to avoid remaining on the sidelines of world development. However, a factor such as culture or national mentality may undermine the strategies and transformation processes that are being developed.

The goal of this study is to conduct a cross-cultural analysis of the academic engagement of students from Russian, Chinese, Japanese, American, and British universities and determine the role that cultural differences play in existing educational systems. The study sample consisted of 26,648 Bachelor’s students who were enrolled at universities in the United States, United Kingdom, China, Japan, and Russia during the 2016–2017 academic year. We used data from the “Student Experience in the Research University” (SERU) international research project to construct an index of student class involvement on the basis of a factor analysis. The results of our univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that students from Japanese, Chinese, American, British, and Russian universities demonstrate qualitatively different levels of academic involvement, which depends on the organization of the educational process as well as the cultural traditions of these countries. Thus, the Chinese students turned out to be the least engaged, since they were not required to actively participate in class discussions or to discuss additional questions related to the course with the instructor. Russian and American students demonstrated the highest level of engagement compared with other students from countries in the survey.

The author emphasizes the need to take into account existing cultural aspects when developing educational strategies, interacting with foreign students in the classroom, as well as conducting comparative studies.     

XI. Neurotic children: Mandel clinic Michael Reese Hospital 1

Social workers who treat children of deployed servicemembers may feel poorly prepared to work competently with military families and will benefit from understanding the immediate and long-term effects of parental deployment upon children. This review consolidates a substantial, shifting knowledge base and establishes a coherent theoretical framework for social workers to learn about the effects of war-specific deployment cycles for servicemembers, and the relationship among family members' and children's experiences with deployment separation. The author considers important lessons learned during the Vietnam War and the unique experiences specific to current wars. This article compares the Vietnam War and the more recent wars' characteristics of military deployment, demographic characteristics of service members, servicemembers' family characteristics, and research findings about the psychosocial effects of deployment on children. A case vignette is presented to clarify how an understanding of deployment and reintegration is necessary for the treatment of servicemembers, families, and children by social workers.     

城镇化、农民工就业与经济政策选择

受全球经济危机和国内市场行业不景气的影响,农民工失业问题表现得越来越突出。基于农民工失业的表现与成因,中国发展阶段、城镇化与农民工就业的关系,我国应该实行替代性的发展战略,以解决经济增长与农民工就业的问题。为此,应采取积极措施促进农民工就业。     

Social Workers' Understanding of Autistic Spectrum Disorders: An Exploratory Investigation

How social workers perceive autistic spectrum disorders (ASD)will inevitably impact upon how they assess the needs of childrenwith ASD and their families, and upon the types of service orinterventions they seek to provide to meet those needs. However,little is known of social workers’ understanding of thecondition. Using a research instrument devised by Mavropoulou and Padeliadu (2000),a study was carried out of all social workers working with disabledchildren in an English local authority. The results showed thatthough many workers had a good understanding of some aspectsof the condition, there was also confusion about some key factsconcerning ASD, the characteristics of ASD and scientific terminology,an inaccurate understanding of intervention approaches, anda more positive attitude towards the ability of generic servicesto meet need than was supported by the literature. Implicationsare discussed in terms of the provision of services to familiesof children with ASD in the UK, and the limitations of thisstudy are recognized.     

Cross-cultural research on euthanasia and abortion

Based on cross-cultural studies of euthanasia and abortion, we hypothesized that attitudes toward euthanasia and abortion were socioculturally determined. Using a 2 x 2 factorial design, we examined the effects of culture (America and China) and type of death (infanticide and geronticide). We found that students from the American culture were less likely to favor infanticide than those from the Chinese culture, and that students from the People's Republic of China believed infanticide to be more common and more prevalent than geronticide in Chinese society. Finally, we found that education, judgment of population density, and traditional family values were related to attitudes toward euthanasia, abortion, and female infanticide in the Chinese, but not in the American, culture.     

Linking macro‐level mechanisms to street‐level accountability practices. A cross‐national case study of street‐level accountability of social workers in government funded homeless shelters

Available studies on the accountability relation between social work and the government are mainly conducted in Anglo‐Saxion countries. This limits the generalizability of these findings to other countries. Moreover, these studies hardly descent to the street‐level, making the perceptions and actions of social workers barely visible. To address this gap, this article explores how three elements of governance interact with street‐level accountability of social workers in homeless care in three country cases (the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany). The data (N26) was gathered by means of a mixed method design (interviews, focus groups and document analysis). By combining a street‐level bureaucracy research approach with a relational definition of accountability, we opened up the black box of what happens in these organizations and bridged the gap between macro‐level mechanisms and street‐level accountability. Our study adds three important insights to street‐level research of accountability in social work. First, elements of governance cannot be studied in isolation. Mechanisms should always be explained in relation to the context in which they are embedded. Second, the social workers in our cases do not perceive their accountability to the government as a professional obligation. They see it as a strategic mechanism to secure funding. Third, interaction is an important condition for the engagement of the social workers in their accountability relation with the government. More research is needed to develop a multi‐level theory that identifies which mechanisms play a role in the accountability relation between the government and social workers.     

日华学会与留日教育(1918-1945)

文化教育侵略是日本侵华第二战场,在其侵华过程中扮演着重要角色.日华学会从1918年成立至1945年解散,经营留日教育管理事务20余年,客观上为中国人留学日本教育事业做出一定成绩.然该会被纳入日本"对支文化事业"体系之后,逐渐嬗变为日本与欧美抢夺中国留学教育话语权、怀柔中国留学生的重要工具.抗战全面爆发以后,日本当局利用经费补给不断强化对其监管,日华学会文化渗透与怀柔色彩更加明显,妄图培养"大东亚新秩序和大东亚共荣圈的协力者".     

Retired Israeli Social Workers:

A survey of retired professional Israeli social workers found gradual withdrawal from paid work and increased participation in social welfare volunteer work. Their satisfaction with retirement in general was related to their income and health status; their satisfaction with their retirement activities as a retired social worker was also related to their income and health, plus related to their work status. Further cross-cultural comparisons of retired professionals and other workers are urged.