Investigating Unpaid Overtime Working among the Part‐time Workforce

This paper considers whether unpaid overtime working relates to contracted working hours (i.e. whether an employee works part‐time or full‐time) in Britain. It uses the authoritative 2004 British data set Workplace Employment Relations Survey to derive a sample of 4,530 workers, from 735 workplace establishments, who worked unpaid overtime. It tests hypotheses linking contracted working hours to unpaid overtime, and whether this link is moderated by gender, occupational group and the availability of flexible working arrangements. Part‐time workers were found to work significantly more unpaid overtime hours compared with their full‐time counterparts. Gender, occupation and flexible working practices moderated this relationship, where the extent to which part‐timers work more unpaid overtime than their full‐time counterparts was greater for men than for women, was greater for professional/managerial part‐time workers compared with other occupations, and was more evident in establishments less likely to offer flexible working arrangements. The findings raise concerns about the exploitation of part‐time workers.     

"My spirit in my heart": identity experiences and challenges among American Indian two-spirit women

Many Native women embrace the term two-spirit to capture their sexuality and gender expression. By analyzing the narratives of five two-spirit women who are Native activists, we explored contemporary understandings of the concept and what it means for Native communities. The incorporation of the identity within indigenous worldviews, its manifestation in terms of (be)coming out, and the triple stressors of heterosexism, racism, and sexism emerged as key themes.     

Equity and sexual satisfaction in recently married couples

This study was designed to determine whether or not equity considerations are important in couples' sexual relations. To answer this question, 53 newlywed couples were interviewed about their sexual relationships. Two main hypotheses were tested: (a) Men and women who feel their relationships are equitable will be more content (less distressed) than people who feel either overbenefited or underbenefited. (b) Men and women who feel equitably treated will have more satisfying sexual relations than those who feel either underbenefited or overbenefited. Some support for both hypotheses was obtained. Specifically, couples in equitable relationships were more content with their relationships and with their lives in general than other couples. In addition, equitably treated men and women were more satisfied with their sexual relationships overall than were other couples. They felt most loving and close after sex and assumed their partner felt that way too. While equitable couples did not say they felt more satisfied immediately after a sexual encounter than did other couples, they believed their partners were unusually satisfied. Reasons why these findings, though providing some support for the equity paradigm, must be interpreted with caution are discussed.     

Diseased and Damaged

In recent publications, Reiss has proposed three sexual ideologies that he believes represent major belief patterns of U.S. sexual attitudes: Traditional Romantic, Modern Naturalistic, and Abstinence. Reiss claims that adherents of each ideology would have predictable beliefs in the following four areas of public controversy: (a) abortion, (b) genetic differences between the sexes, (c) pornography, and (d) sexual normality. A 92‐item Likert format questionnaire, containing 16 scales constructed to measure both ideology and substantive beliefs, was administered to a sample of 259 students and 136 nonstudents. Using measures of ideology tenet belief as the clustering variables, four patterns of tenet and substantive area belief were identified. Two of these patterns corresponded to Reiss' Modern Naturalistic and Abstinence ideologies. The remaining two patterns, one popular with women and one with men, appear to be either separate ideologies or transitional patterns leading to acceptance of the Modern Naturalistic Ideology.     

Problems of research on a delicate topic: A personal view

Research into sexuality has been severely handicapped because of public ambivalence about sex. This ambivalence has often led to the stigmatizing of those individuals who have engaged in sex research. This paper briefly surveys such stigmatization in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries and then gives a personal example     

The use of sociograms to explore collaboration in child protection conferences

The Strengthening Families child protection conference model attempts to empower parents' participation in conferences and to enhance collaboration between conference participants. This paper, which is part of a broader study looking at the implementation of the Strengthening Families model across a county council in England, UK, explored the use of ‘power’ and ‘mutual interaction’ in both traditional and Strengthening Families child protection conferences. Data was collected using sociograms which were recorded during observations of the two types of conferences. Sociograms were analysed in order to identify patterns in terms of ‘power’ and ‘communication’ together with the use of the ‘group cohesion index’ which enabled us to draw conclusions about the degree of interaction between conference participants.Findings indicated a difference between the use of power in traditional and Strengthening Families conferences. In traditional conferences the power was mostly static (held by the chair), and in the Strengthening Families conferences power was shifted from the leader of the collaboration (chair) to the people who administer the collaboration (conference participants). Also, in the Strengthening Families model more interaction between conference participants and better group coherence were evident; however, in both types of conference communication was limited between the professionals. Sociograms proved a useful method for exploring group dynamics in the context of child protection conferences. It is suggested that a broader understanding of the underpinning principles of the Strengthening Families model is needed to successfully empower parents' participation in conferences and to enhance collaboration between conference participants.     

A Tale of Two Programmes: Developing Communities of Learning with Practice Partners in Social Work and Humanitarian Studies at Charles Darwin University,Northern Territory,Australia

Online engagement is difficult when teaching complex clinical reasoning skills which are central to developing professionalism in the health and welfare workforce. This paper explores how our team has engaged students in online discussion by introducing research projects brought by our practice partners to the mix of activities completed by students. At Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory, Australia, the social work and humanitarian studies degree-level programmes are delivered in blended mode involving a combination of face-to-face and online learning. Within these modes of delivery students are presented with questions and activities drawn from our practice partners to bring ‘real world relevance’ to learning. Drawing from examples provided by the practice settings in which the students wish to work after they graduate, we have found that this relationship between the academy and practice agency effectively bridges the gap between the worlds of theory and practice for our students. In a community of learning model, students elect to work on local practice partners' projects throughout the semester. This mix of academia working in partnership with frontline social and humanitarian workers brings immediacy to the learning. Opportunities for ‘deep learning’ are facilitated by this partnership approach. The implications for using communities of learning models for engaging students from two professions in online activities are discussed.     

Putting old heads on young shoulders: helping social work students uncover the neoliberal hegemony

This paper explores the suggestion that younger students and social workers are more accepting of neoliberal social work practices than their older counterparts, understanding social problems more readily as failings of individual behaviour rather than as produced by societal forces such as inequality, poverty, and punitive social policy. The suggestion is made that the acceptance of a hegemonic view of people in poverty and other difficulties, which is simple and reductionist, and therefore, easy to grasp, can only be challenged by sophisticated critical thinking. Assignment results from two modules within one social work programme which significantly correlate marks attained and student age are considered in the light of the suggestion that younger students are struggling with critical thinking, and therefore, with deconstructing the neoliberal hegemony.     

Using On-line Delivery to Support Students during Practicum Placements

Abstract

Finding ways to effectively support students while on placement remains a continuing endeavour for those who teach in professional education programmes. In The present paper, the multiple challenges and learning opportunities that social work students encounter during practicum learning will be discussed. Next, drawing from constructivist pedagogy and using authentic examples from an online discussion board, ways to supplement the support and educational input provided to students on placement will be demonstrated. Finally, some of the risks and limitations in engaging with on-line delivery are examined with the view to understanding how e-learning can be facilitated most effectively for students during the practicum.