Workplace friendships among social work,counseling, and human service educators: Exploring the impact of sexual orientation and friendships in workplace empowerment

Workplace friendships are deliberate bonds between people in the workplace in which various degrees of confidence, care, emotional support, solidarity, honesty, and trust are shared. For lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) academics in higher education, such friendships may be particularly important as sources of social and institutional support. In this study, the authors examine the relationship between workplace friendships and workplace empowerment among a sample (N?=?204) of LGB and non-LGB educators in social work, counseling, and human services. The findings, taken from this sample of university educators, indicate that sexual orientation and workplace friendship opportunities can predict workplace empowerment. Implications of the study are that workplace behavioral health practice and research that supports LGB and non-LGB workers in developing meaningful relationships at work can positively impact the higher education workplace.     

Teaching cultural humility for social workers serving LGBTQI Aboriginal communities in Australia

ABSTRACT

It is well documented that colonization and subsequent repressive policies have wrought devastating changes in the lives of Aboriginal people in Australia. Social workers are an essential group for improving social justice and self-determination for Australian Aboriginal people. The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) acknowledges that Aboriginal people make a unique contribution to the life of the nation and mandates that social work educational programs provide culturally responsive content that acknowledges the value and contributions of Aboriginal people. Social work educators need to embed this content without reinforcing stereotypes or being tokenistic. This is a challenge when teaching about intersecting identities, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and intersex (LGBTQI) Aboriginal people. We outline the terms used in this space and propose that cultural humility is an acceptable framework to consider. We introduce key conceptual terms used in LGBTQI Aboriginal communities. Finally, we provide recommendations for engaging with LGBTQI Aboriginal peoples.     

Volunteers work for lesbian,gay, bisexual,transgender, and queer rights: Motivations at a Rochester social justice organization

The reasons volunteers contribute to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) social justice organizations are multifaceted and need further exploration. This pilot study (N = 35) sought to understand volunteer motivations at a Rochester, New York social justice organization fighting for LGBTQ rights. Understanding motivations for volunteerism and volunteers' perceptions about the relative advantages and obstacles of current volunteer experiences at their agency were the primary goals of the study. The study found that these volunteers are motivated primarily by their personal values, mission of the organization, and desire to develop and maintain social relationships with the LGBTQ community. Implications for volunteer resource management and research are explored.     

State ownership and listed firm performance: a universally negative governance relationship?

Our analysis of more than 1,000 Chinese listed firms, 2003–2005, reveals a positive association between state ownership (SO) and firm performance. Arguably, if SO “causes” performance, it must be through the channel of agency cost. Therefore, our paper checks the robustness of this positive SO/performance finding by analyzing the role of agency cost as a mediator. It emerges that SO in the Chinese context may represent a strategic asset rather than an agency burden. However, it is not clear whether this is an outcome driven by efficiency or power.     

Rural population density: its impact on social and demographic aspects of rural communities

Using the settled areas of South Australia as a case study, this paper seeks to demonstrate the specific importance of rural population and settlement density as an important variable in understanding the social, population and settlement geography of sparsely settled rural regions, where sparse and falling density presents both practical and conceptual problems for rural planners. After a review of the literature on population density, the case is argued for the use of net rural rather than gross density in the analysis of settlement patterns. The paper then tests a series of hypotheses on the empirical relationship between rural density as independent variable and selected demographic and socio-economic indicators as dependent variables, at two specific points in time. For the same region, points in time and set of indicators, it goes on to compare the predictive power of rural density as an independent variable with that of three other important qualities of rural settlement patterns (remoteness, settlement size and urban concentration). Rural density is found to be a significant explanatory variable, both in its own right and in comparison with the three other variables tested. In conclusion, the findings are related to policy development measures for rural Australia.     

After the tax revolt: Why Medicare matters more to middle Australia than lower taxes

The Australian Survey of Social Attitudes 2003 gives new insights into the public's increasing preference for more social spending and their willingness to pay more taxes to fund services. This paper profiles the new electorate and discusses factors driving this trend in public opinion. Multivariate analysis allows us to identify the key demographic, political and policy variables that predict support for spending. All the usual factors matter: being older and more educated, and identifying as Labor, Green or Democrat all predict support for higher spending. But we find that policy perceptions matter as well: believing that health and Medicare and/or public education have declined in the past two years brings major support for increased spending. We also find that the Australian public supports modest tax increases to fund spending on health and education and that the Australian electorate is more open minded about tax rises than conventional wisdom holds. Our main conclusions are that support for social spending over reduced taxes has increased over the past two decades, and especially after the election of the Howard Government, and that dissatisfaction with health and Medicare, and public education, are reshaping the fiscal preferences of the Australian electorate.     

Accepting the unacceptable: the concept of acceptance in work with the perpetrators of hate crime

We consider the challenge presented to social workers in working with people who are the perpetrators of hate crime. We argue that in order to be able to bring about positive change in this group, as in any other, the work can only take place in the context of a constructive relationship between worker and client, a relationship which is underpinned by the acceptance of the client by the worker. We trace the development of the concept of acceptance from its early formulation in the work of Rogers, through other writers, to its contemporary manifestation, as is to be found in some examples of work with the perpetrators of hate crime and most explicitly in the work of Krafeld. We conclude that in this area of work the concept needs to be understood in terms of an active and dynamic rather than passive approach.     

Neutral umpires and leg before wicket decisions in test cricket

Summary.  The proportions of dismissals which were leg before wicket in test cricket matches during 1978–2004 are analysed by using generalized linear and mixed models to assess the effect of location, team and the presence or otherwise of neutral umpires. The location and the team batting are clearly significant. There is also clear evidence of an interaction showing that some teams' players are out leg before wicket less often at home but there is no further interaction with neutral umpires, suggesting that this is not caused simply by home umpires favouring the home team.     

Globalization and the Trade in Human Body Parts*

Depuis le début des années 1980, les greffes se sont multipliées tant en nombre qu'en variété, partout dans le monde. L'augmentation s'est accompagnée de l'émergence d'un marché pour les organes humains. Il est soumis dans le présent article que, bien que le marché des organes humains dépende de progrès technologiques, il convient de le considérer dans une perspective plus large, celle de la mondialisation, soit l'extension et l'intensification du mode d'échange capitaliste. De ce point de vue, il est avancé que le commerce des organes humains reflète le système normal d'échanges inégaux qui régit les autres formes de commerce entres régions développées du monde et régions sous-développées. Since the early 1980s, the number and variety of organ transplantations has increased enormously worldwide. Accompanying this increase has been the emergence of a market for human body parts. This paper argues that, while the trade in human body parts is conditioned by technological advances, it must be understood in the broader context of globalization, specifically the extension and intensification of a capitalist mode of exchange. In this regard, it is argued that the trade in human body parts mirrors the “normal” system of unequal exchanges that mark other forms of trade between the developed and undeveloped regions of the world. “If anything is sacred the human being is sacred.” Walt Whitman, “I Sing the Body Electric.” “Two dollars for an eyeball, and a buck and a half for an ear.” The Tragically Hip, “Little Bones.”