Book Review: Theories of the Information Society,Second Edition. By Webster,Frank, New York: Routledge 2002. 304 pages,ISBN 0415282012

Qualitative Sociology -     

Facilitating interviews with children who may have been sexually abused

The introduction of the Memorandum of Good Practice on interviewing children who have been sexually abused has had an important unifying effect on professional practice. However, because of the traumatic nature of sexual abuse there will be a group of children about whom there are high levels of suspicion and where arrangements need to be made for their future care, protection and treatment. These include children who have learning disabilities or communication problems, have psychiatric disorders associated with abuse, or where there have been considerable delays since allegations were first made. Such children require a second-stage facilitative assessment interview. These include different forms of questioning, and the use of a wide range of prompting materials including art work, free and structured play context and the use of anatomically correct dolls. These approaches are reviewed and illustrated through case studies.     

Work-nonwork conflict among MBAs: Sex differences in role stressors and life satisfaction

Predictors of work-nonwork conflict (work role conflict, career salience, age, length of service, number of children living at home) and relationships between work-nonwork conflict and life satisfaction were investigated among 271 MBA students. There were no significant differences in the level of work-nonwork conflict due to sex or marital status, and work role conflict was the best independent predictor of work-nonwork conflict for both women and men. The number of children living at home was unrelated to work-nonwork conflict. Except for single women, work-nonwork conflict was significantly related to life satisfaction.     

Changing social responsibilities: the role of advocacy organisations in the construction of the Social Support Act in the Netherlands

This paper describes a study on civic participation in legislative processes. In January 2007 a new law on health and social care in the Netherlands was implemented: the Social Support Act (SSA). This law specifically aims at greater civic participation in the implementation of the law, in the provision of health and social care and in the social policy making process. This study focuses on civic participation in policy making, more specifically on civic participation in the legislative process of the Social Support Act. It examines whether national advocacy organisations were successful in their efforts to influence the legislative process and the final construction of the Social Support Act. The main conclusion is that the client and patient organisations were indeed successful in obtaining important changes in the law both through a well informed and professional individual lobby as well as by means of collective action. Yet questions concerning the justification of high expectations for successful local civic participation in the local policy-making process remain.     

品味璀璨冬日美馔莫尔顿海鲜牛排坊

第一次吃到牛排是小时候第一次去西餐厅吃的。当时的牛排还是西方的舶来品,稀罕吃食。服务员端上来的滋滋作响的黑色铁板上,除了一大块牛排,还堆放着满满的配菜和意面。后来年纪渐长,吃过的牛排也真真是数都数不过来了,除了文艺范十足的西式餐厅,也有市井巷尾的隐蔽小店,居然也混进过正统的米其林餐厅。不管是下里巴人还是阳春白雪,在我心中留下印象的牛排馆子居然是美式风格十足的莫尔顿海鲜牛排坊。     

Framing of information on the use of public finances, regulatory fit of recipients and tax compliance

Information campaigns to increase tax compliance could be framed in different ways. They can either highlight the potential gains when tax compliance is high, or the potential losses when compliance is low. According to regulatory focus theory, such framing should be most effective when it is congruent with the promotion or prevention focus of its recipients. Two studies confirmed the hypothesized interaction effects between recipients’ regulatory focus and framing of information campaigns, with tax compliance being highest under conditions of regulatory fit. To address taxpayers effectively, information campaigns by tax authorities should consider the positive and negative framing of information, and the moderating effect of recipients’ regulatory focus.     

The contribution of the psychosocial work environment to sickness absence in human service workers: Results of a 3-year follow-up study

Abstract

We investigated to what extent psychosocial work characteristics predict sickness absence in a cohort of 890 human service professionals (84% women), followed-up for 3 years. We measured 16 different psychosocial work characteristics at baseline and analysed their associations with number of sickness absence days at follow-up using multivariate Poisson regression. In addition, we computed a psychosocial work environment index, summarizing eight psychosocial scales. Participants with exposure to violence and threats, high emotional demands, high demands for hiding emotions, low influence at work, low meaning of work, low quality of management, and role conflicts had an increased number of sickness absence days at follow-up, after adjustment for numerous confounders. Adjusting for sickness absence history caused little change in most effect estimates. Scoring in the most adverse quartile of the psychosocial work environment index was associated with a 71% increase in sickness absence days. Improving the psychosocial work environment index and eliminating exposure to violence and threats would have prevented 32% of all sickness absence days in the study population. In particular we found that exposure to violence was a strong predictor of absence. This study shows that a wide range of psychosocial work characteristics contribute to sickness absence in human service workers. Improving the psychosocial work environment might help to reduce sickness absence in this population.     

Barrieren, Brücken und Balancen

The present paper discusses conceptions of appropriate distance relations in present day service jobs. We show how employees manage their emotions in order to comply with these largely ideological conceptions. In two comparative case studies of a call center and of community care for elderly people we demonstrate that the conceptions of appropriate distance are diametrically opposed to the objective spatial distance of the interactants. Thus, Customer Relations Management suggests an emotionalised relation between customers and call center agents who are located hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away from customers. This emotional closeness supposedly maximises the economic exploitation of the commercial interaction. In the service of elderly care which involves close body contact, however, the conception of a professional relation between carer and client is based on the carer’s ability to distance herself in order not to ‘burn out’. We show that the effects of rationalisation, bureaucratisation and new technologies in service jobs of both capitalist service economies and welfare states create dilemmas between the feeling rules and the working conditions. Service workers try to solve these dilemmas by more or less improvised practices of manipulating their feelings and sensations.