Multinationals’ political activity for institutional change: Evidence from Spain during the international crisis of 2008

International crises generate uncoupling between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the institutional environment. In these settings, industry associations of MNEs have an incentive to engage in institutional change by taking a role as institutional entrepreneurs in order to generate change within the existing, unsuitable institutions. However, MNEs can also try to avoid such institutions or try to adapt to them. Because the antecedents and outcomes of these three forms of engagement in institutional change (institutional avoidance, adaptation, and entrepreneurship) have been scarcely studied in Europe, this reflection examines the case of Spain during the international crisis and analyses the coordinated action of MNEs through their associations in seven industries. The discussion of 30 pieces of evidence regarding the engagement in institutional change in Spain suggests a model that proposes relevant antecedents of different forms of engagement and the expected outcomes resulting from the chosen forms, among them: co-evolution and co-involution.     

What’s Your History? Methodological Prospects and Challenges of Using Life-History Narratives as an Alternative Method to Assess Nonprofits’ Impacts

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - To study the social impacts of third sector organizations seeking the integration of vulnerable populations, we explored...     

“Unexpected and Distressing”: Understanding and Improving the Experience of Transferring Palliative Care Inpatients to Residential Care

The survival of patients with advanced cancer, coupled with the increased presence of end-stage chronic illnesses in an aging population, is leading to a demand in palliative care. Due to the ongoing need for acute-pain and symptom control in hospice/palliative care units, few are able to offer long-stay admission for those whose symptoms have stabilized. When a patient no longer requires specialist palliative care services, transfer from an inpatient palliative care facility may then be necessary. A core component of the role of palliative-care social workers involves working with patients and their families/carers when the care pathway shifts and the option of residential aged care facility (RACF) needs to be considered. This research explored several issues, including the impact of this transition on the patient and their families and on the interdisciplinary health care team treating the patient. An investigation was undertaken to identify concerns and barriers regarding the transition from hospice care to RACF and opportunities were highlighted to improve clinical practice in this area. A tripartite approach was adopted conducting face-to-face interviews with patients, their families/carers, and health care professionals. Members of the interdisciplinary team were interviewed and social workers working in similar inpatient palliative-care facilities undertook telephone interviews to gauge their experiences. A thematic analysis discerned a number of themes highlighting the impact of this transition on key stakeholders and incorporated recommendations to improve or best manage this process. The research has highlighted the difficulties that patients/families encounter in this transition, as well as the emphases of protecting the integrity of the patient and family. This is achieved by holding open and ongoing dialogue, particularly through family meetings and working in collaboration with the patient, the family, and the team. Understanding the experience and impact of this transition on key stakeholders is helpful in building up a knowledge base and to ensure a more effective relationship occurs. This research incorporated the voices of terminally ill patients, families, and members of the health care team in order to understand their views and recommendations for best managing the transition from a hospice/inpatient palliative-care facility to a RACF. This enables their input to have some real impetus in clinical practice and service delivery.     

The Risk of Partner Violence Among Low‐Income Hispanic Subgroups

Women with few social resources are at elevated risk of partner abuse. Certain evidence suggests that African American and Hispanic women, who are overrepresented in the lower socioeconomic strata, are at particularly high risk. We compare women's risk of partner violence, defined as moderate and severe, among 2,400 low‐income African American, Hispanic, and non‐Hispanic Whites from “Welfare, Children and Families: A Three City Study” and find that these groups differ in their risk of degrees of violence. Specific nation‐of‐origin Hispanic subgroups also manifest important differences in their violence risk profiles. We argue that a better understanding of victimization requires more detailed ethnic categorization and a more refined understanding of the meaning of domestic violence for different groups.     

Are There Gender-based Effects for an Educational Program for Parents of Adolescents With Risk Behaviors?

The goals of this study were to evaluate the gender-based effectiveness of the parental intervention of the Suspertu (“recovery” in English) prevention program for adolescents with risk behaviors in Spain. The sample included 229 parents (105 fathers and 124 mothers). One open-label trial with repeated measures was used. Parents received a family therapy and a group education. The intervention improved parents’ authoritative parenting style, decreasing the degree of parental stress and reducing parent’s psychopathological symptoms and maladjustment. Improvement in both groups (fathers and mothers) was mainly observed from pre- to post-intervention assessment. According to the results, prevention programs for adolescents with risk behaviors may be a suitable context both to teach parents to deal appropriately with their children’s risk behaviors, and to improve parent’s psychological state.     

Social welfare grey zones: how and why subnational actors provide when nations do not?

In an era where even citizenship is not a guarantee of access to the welfare state, can non-citizens gain access to social protection? Using health care as a lens, and the United States and Spain as cases, we find that non-citizens do have access to social protection via what we call ‘grey zones’, namely points of disagreement between national and local governments that create opportunities for non-citizens. Grey zones are possible due to processes that are often seen as disenfranchising: the denationalisation of policy and the disaggregation of citizenship. In addition, they tend to open up regardless of the nature or intent of national reforms. That said, we find significant variation in the extent to which subnational governments take advantage of them. While differences are somewhat explained by partisanship, significant outliers warrant further investigation.     

Ethnic Identity and Offending Trajectories Among Mexican American Juvenile Offenders: Gang Membership and Psychosocial Maturity

We examined the association of joint trajectories of ethnic identity and criminal offending to psychosocial maturity, gang membership, and Mexican American affiliation among 300 Mexican American male juvenile offenders from ages 14 to 22. There were two low‐offending groups: one was the highest in ethnic identity and changing slightly with age and the other was the lowest in ethnic identity and stable with age. A third group displayed moderately declining offending and moderately stable ethnic identity. A fourth group displayed high‐offending individuals with moderate, but increasing, levels of ethnic identity, who were initially lower in psychosocial maturity and more likely to be gang members. The findings highlight the need to contextualize theories of ethnic identity development.     

Violent behaviour,victimization, self-esteem and physical activity of Spanish adolescents according to place of residence: a structural equation model / Conducta violenta,victimización,autoestima y actividad física de adolescentes españoles en función del lugar de residencia: un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales

This study aims to establish and verify an explanatory model for aggressive behaviour, self-esteem, victimization and physical activity in adolescents, and to use this explanatory model to analyse the association of place of residence with these variables. This research analysed 2,273 adolescents from the province of Granada (Spain) using the questionnaires Violent Behaviour at Schools, School Victimization Scale and Global Self-Esteem Scale. An analysis was carried out using structural equations. Results showed that relational and overt aggressiveness are related to self-esteem, victimization and physical activity. Furthermore, relational aggressiveness showed a stronger association with victimization and low self-esteem in adolescents who live in residential care. In addition, overt aggressiveness showed a stronger association with self-esteem in adolescents who live in family homes. Thus, exclusion and social rejection among peers have a greater impact on the victimization of young people who live outside of the family context.     

Ethnic Prejudice and Intergroup Contact in Prospective Adoptive Parents

While ethnic prejudice is considered a key factor in parental cultural socialization strategies, there is nonetheless a lack of research about this topic among prospective transracially adoptive parents and the extent of their contacts with members of minority ethnic groups. Participants in the current study were 175 couples: 102 prospective adoptive parents pursuing international adoption in Italy and 73 couples who at the time of the study neither had children nor were involved in the adoption process. Results showed, first, that prospective adoptive parents reported lower levels of ethnic prejudice and more positive intergroup contacts than the comparison group and, second, that adoptive status, together with a more positive intergroup contact, predicted lower levels of negative prejudice. Implications for pre- and post-adoption interventions are discussed.