Punitive benefit sanctions,welfare conditionality,and the social abuse of unemployed people in Britain: Transforming claimants into offenders?

A defining feature of U.K. welfare reform since 2010 has been the concerted move towards greater compulsion and sanctioning, which has been interpreted by some social policy scholars as punitive and cruel. In this article, we borrow concepts from criminology and sociology to develop new interpretations of welfare conditionality. Based on data from a major Economic and Social Research Council-funded qualitative longitudinal study (2014–2019), we document the suffering that unemployed claimants experienced because of harsh conditionality. We find that punitive welfare conditionality often caused symbolic and material suffering and sometimes had life-threatening effects. We argue that a wide range of suffering induced by welfare conditionality can be understood as ‘social abuse’, including the demoralisation of the futile job-search treadwheel and the self-administered surveillance of the Universal Jobmatch panopticon. We identify a range of active claimant responses to state perpetrated harm, including acquiescence, adaptation, resistance, and disengagement. We conclude that punitive post-2010 unemployment correction can be seen as a reinvention of failed historic forms of punishment for offenders.     

Homophobic Bullying and Cyberbullying: Study of a Silenced Problem

Bullying and cyberbullying have been studied extensively. In lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) students, these phenomena seem to be overrepresented so that, although they share some common elements, homophobic bullying and cyberbullying could be considered as specific phenomena. This study analyzed homophobic bullying and cyberbullying, with the participation of 533 Spanish secondary school students aged from 12 to 20 (M = 14.9, SD = 1.7). The results showed that students identified as non-heterosexual experienced a higher level of being targeted with bullying and cyberbullying, almost one half of them declaring that they had been victimized and more than 20% cybervictimized. Many stated they had suffered both kinds of harassment. In addition, the prevalence of all kinds of bullying was higher among non-heterosexual students. Regression analyses showed that sexual orientation could be considered a risk factor for suffering these aggressions. We discuss results in relation to previous research and look at their practical implications.     

There’s a cream for that: A textual analysis of beauty and body-related advertisements aimed at middle-aged women

This article explores the magazine advertising strategies and tactics used by health and beauty products to target middle-aged women. Advertisements found in the April 2013 issues of Shape, Fitness, and Women’s Health were analyzed using intersectionality to determine how these advertisements are presenting messages pertaining to age, gender, and sexuality and how these messages can “other” and marginalize certain identities. The findings suggest that advertisement strategies implement pseudoscience, heteronormativity, hegemonic beauty, and body ideals to establish an idealized version of middle-aged womanhood.     

Postural analysis of workers in a typical meat processing company in Brazil

Companies have increasingly sought strategies that will ensure a more competitive position in the marketplace. Among these strategies adopted by companies include the health and welfare of the worker, factors currently valued by consumers, especially those of most demanding market. Thus, the postural analysis is of great importance and interest because it is the study of positioning related to body parts like head, torso and limbs, capable of producing loads that may be excessive or insufficient causing disturbances in the muscle skeletal system worker. The aim of this study was to perform a postural analysis of the main sectors of workers (slaughter, cutting room, special cuts, packaging and dispatch) of a typical refrigerator pig industry in Brazil during the execution of their daily activities as well as developing proposals to minimize and/or eliminate the diseases and accidents. The study followed the safety norms of Brazilian Ministry of Labor and Employment. The posture analysis used the OWAS (Ovako Working Posture Analyzing System) methodology. The postures assumed by workers in the sector of packaging were as the most in need of emergency and quick action.     

Mapping of noise impact provoked by the execution of foundation piles at high rise building sites

The objective of this work is to map, in a limited area inside and outside of the worksite, the environmental impact generated by sound pollution coming from the driving of foundation piles for high rise buildings, as well as to observe and check if the noise levels produced by the emitting source are tolerable in the urban environment. The methodology of the work includes a survey of technical references about the subject; measurement of noises surrounding the worksite during the foundation phase for four distinct buildings, with different types of piles: prefabricated piles, continuous helical displacement piles , traditional compaction piles and Terra Probe compaction piles. A grid of points was built due to the time of driving and after that the measurements of environmental noises were performed emitted by the execution of each type of pile using a sound level meter. The interpretation of the measurements and their impacts on the neighborhood of the building were performed using the computational tool Suffer for creating noise level contours. The X and Y axes of the grid represent the distances in meters of the area studied and the Z axis represents the noise measured in dB. The contours developed represent the mapping of the noise at the worksites and their surroundings. The mapping of the urban impact of noise, the measurement of its dimensions, and the examination of its propagation around the building are important subsides to adequate individual and collective protection procedures. Seventy one points were measured at four building sites with different types of piles, and the results showed that at only three points was the noise within the limits of the Municipal Law of Recife of 70 dB, which proves the relevance of the research. Finally, the comparative analysis between the four types of piles shows that the continuous helical displacement pile emits the lowest noise level among the four pile types studied.     

Transformational leadership in context: Face-to-face and virtual teams

This experimental study examined transformational leadership in the context of traditional teams using face-to-face communication and virtual teams using computer-mediated communication. Thirty-nine leaders led both face-to-face and virtual teams. Repeated-measures analyses revealed similar mean levels of transformational leadership in both team types; however, leader rank order varied across team type. Post hoc analyses revealed that the most effective leaders where those who increased their transformational leadership in virtual teams. Furthermore, analyses at the team level revealed that the effect of transformational leadership on team performance was stronger in virtual than in face-to-face teams. Team-member ratings of transformational leadership were equally linked to project satisfaction in face-to-face and virtual teams. Considered as a whole, our results suggest that transformational leadership has a stronger effect in teams that use only computer-mediated communication, and that leaders who increase their transformational leadership behaviors in such teams achieve higher levels of team performance.     

GENDER AND THE CONSULTING ACADEMIC ECONOMIST

We surveyed academic economists on their experiences and perceptions of legal consulting. Nearly two-thirds have consulting experience and 40% have consulted within the last 5 years. Base hourly rates average $244, with a median of $200. Women are less likely than men to have served as consultants and charge lower rates than comparable men, but there are few differences by gender in willingness to consult. Women report substantially more negative bias and are less likely to consult in complex cases or to have a high profile role in litigation. (JEL J44, J71, K41)     

Adult-Adult and Adult-Child/Adolescent Online Sexual Interactions: An Exploratory Self-Report Study on the Role of Situational Factors

Alcohol intoxication, sexual arousal, and negative emotional states have been found to precede certain sexual behaviors. Using data from an online self-report survey distributed to adults (N = 717; 423 men and 304 women), we compared adults with adult online sexual interactions (n = 640; 89.3%) to adults with interactions with a child or an adolescent (n = 77; 10.7%) on how much they reported being affected by the following factors surrounding the time of the interactions: alcohol intoxication, sexual arousal, sadness, boredom, stress, and shame. We found that those with a child or adolescent contact reported higher sexual arousal and more shame before the interaction, compared with those with an adult contact. In addition, the levels of negative emotional states varied when levels before the interactions were compared with levels after the interactions, suggesting that engaging in online sexual interactions alleviated negative emotional states, at least temporarily. The alleviatory effects, however, were accompanied by higher levels of shame after the interactions. Overall, adults that engage in online sexual interactions have remarkably similar perceptions of the situation surrounding these activities, independent of the age of their online contacts. Limitations of the study are discussed.     

Moving away from globalization and the “flattening” of Social Work: Preserving Context in International Efforts

Contextual awareness has been a professional trademark and has differentiated social work intervention from other professions. Context in social work has traditionally included tangible and intangible factors such as an intimate understanding of the cultural milieu, familiarity with local history, languages, traditions, and sensibilities. The current concern is that given the forces of globalization and managerialism, social work practice and education in many countries have distanced themselves from addressing context in curriculum building and have become mechanistic in program design and delivery. This paper contrasts the concepts of internationalization and globalization. The authors concur with the perspective that the movement to globalize society was the result of economic forces and unfortunately spread into culturally embedded fields such as social work. They propose that globalization in social work has changed the direction of former efforts at internationalization, which were designed primarily to develop cross-national perspectives on human experiences. After a review of current trends in globalization, the authors offer cautionary words about well-intended efforts that can easily become educational frameworks imposed from the outside, with the power of disrupting cultures.