Living on the margin: disabled Iranians in Belgian society

This paper explores the antecedents, experiences and consequences of marginalization as reported and dealt with by disabled Iranian immigrants in Belgium. This work extends the work of Gallie and colleagues and Siegrist demonstrating that the forces of marginalization applicable to all immigrants are particularly pertinent to disabled immigrants. The research is based on 26 in‐depth, face‐to‐face interviews, focus groups, interviews with government officials and immigration experts, ethnographic work and official government statistics. The findings detail how the combined forces of history, context and reasons for immigration; isolation, vulnerability and perceived loss of control; religion and rejection; lack of reciprocity in social exchanges; problems in obtaining jobs; and difficulties in negotiating an entry into Belgian society combine to sustain marginizalation. As a consequence, disabled immigrants in this group are generally excluded from society and discriminated against in terms of citizenship, education, jobs and general acceptance.     

Measuring Child Poverty in South Africa: Sensitivity to the Choice of Equivalence Scale and an Updated Profile

This paper offers evidence on the sensitivity of child poverty in South Africa to changes in the adult equivalence scale (AES) and updates the child poverty profile based on the Income and Expenditure Survey 2005/06. Setting the poverty line at the 40th percentile of households calculated with different AESs the scope and composition of child poverty are found to be relatively insensitive to the scale used. The rankings of children of different ages, girls versus boys, racial groupings and children living in rural versus urban areas are unaffected by choice of AES, although some provincial rankings on the poverty headcount measure are. The proportions of children and households ‘correctly’ identified as poor for the full range of scales is extremely high. These findings support the argument that it may be appropriate for profiling poverty in South Africa to use a poverty line based on a per capita welfare measure. For the construction of the child poverty profile, per capita income is used as the welfare indicator with the poverty line set at the 40th percentile of household. The profile suggests that poverty amongst children is more extensive than amongst the population or adults even after the massive injection of transfers into households with poor children through the child support grant. The child poverty headcount, depth and severity are all highest amongst children age 0–4 and lowest amongst those aged 15–17, who are not yet beneficiaries of the grants. They are also highest amongst African and Coloured children. Large variations across provinces remain. The analysis underlines the importance of prioritising children in the fight against poverty, particularly in their earliest years.     

Venture philanthropy and social entrepreneurship in community redevelopment

This article provides a case study of Tom Cousins, a social entrepreneur who used his own venture philanthropic investments and leveraged additional resources through extensive public‐private partnerships for the sole intent of redeveloping an area of disinvestment and poverty. In the process, Cousins also provided the visionary, strategic, and operational leadership often associated with the actions and responsibilities of a social entrepreneur. The limited research to date has investigated social entrepreneurship and venture philanthropy as separate and often unrelated concepts. In this study, we analyze the sustained and intensive involvement by Cousins and his foundations and the continued leadership provided in the creation of public‐private partnerships focused on the redevelopment of the East Lake area in Atlanta.     

The research pendulum: multiple roles and responsibilities as a researcher

Qualitative research on sexual identities has highlighted the use of oral narratives to understand the lives of lesbians and gay men. Feminist ethnographers, sociologists and queer theorists have further posed methodological inquiries to the issues of insider/outsider, the possibilities of an erotic subject and the matter of representation. Using interview data with Hong Kong lesbians, this paper discusses a researcher's multiple positionalities and its effects on both the researched and the researcher. Being self-reflexive requires a researcher to test her or his own boundaries and to take up social responsibilities as the interpreter of texts. This paper calls for further dialogue between a researcher's subject positions, research processes and the final presentation of findings. doi:10.1300/J155v10n03_02.     

Equality of Opportunity versus Equality of Opportunity Sets

We characterize two different approaches to the idea of equality of opportunity. Roemer’s social ordering is motivated by a concern to compensate for the effects of certain (non-responsibility) factors on outcomes. Van de gaer’s social ordering is concerned with the equalization of the opportunity sets to which people have access. We show how different invariance axioms open the possibility to go beyond the simple additive specification implied by both rules. This offers scope for a broader interpretation of responsibility-sensitive egalitarianism.     

Injunctive Norms and Problem Gambling among College Students

Two studies examined the relationships among injunctive norms and college student gambling. In study 1 we evaluated the accuracy of perceptions of other students’ approval of gambling and the relationship between perceived approval and gambling behavior. In study 2 we evaluated gambling behavior as a function of perceptions of approval of other students, friends, and family. In study 1, which included 2524 college students, perceptions of other students’ approval of gambling were found to be overestimated and were negatively associated with gambling behavior. The results of study 2, which included 565 college students, replicated the findings of study 1 and revealed positive associations between gambling behavior and perceived approval of friends and family. Results highlight the complexity of injunctive norms and the importance of considering the reference group (e.g., peers, friends, family members) in their evaluation. Results also encourage caution in considering the incorporation of injunctive norms in prevention and intervention approaches.     

Staying safe while consuming alcohol: a qualitative study of the protective strategies and informational needs of college freshmen

OBJECTIVE: In this qualitative study, the authors examined how students attempt to minimize harm to themselves and others when drinking. PARTICIPANTS: The authors recruited freshmen at a large, mid-Atlantic US public university during the fall semester of 2005 to participate in 8 focus groups. METHODS: The moderator's guide was developed through an iterative process that included input from experts and pilot testing. The researchers audiotaped focus group conversations, transcribed them, and subjected them to an interrater reliability check. Analysis was based on the framework of Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model and a phenomenological approach. RESULTS: College students have a repertoire of coping strategies they use in an attempt to safeguard themselves and their friends from harm when drinking. Strategies encompass planning a safe context for drinking, using safety measures to minimize harm when drinking, and taking care of someone who has consumed too much alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: A harm-reduction focus that acknowledges and builds on existing protective strategies may be a promising avenue for alcohol interventions.     

How human resource outsourcing affects organizational learning in the knowledge economy

Adaptability and knowledge management, key elements of organizational learn-ing, are critical to organizational success as a result of a fundamental shift towards a knowledge economy. HR outsourcing and the growth in contingent work can result in a significant loss in learning capital through a breakdown in the psychological contract. We explore how to preserve HR's strategic role in facilitating organizational learning in the new outsourcing and offshoring con-text. The problem is compounded if outsourcing is introduced for cost control rather than strategic refocusing reasons. We suggest that managers can posi-tively influence the relationship between outsourcing and organizational learn-ing through internal marketing tactics and enriched psychological contracts. A previous version of this paper was presented at the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC) Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada, June 2005.     

Expressing Induced Emotions Through Free Dance Movement

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of two basic emotions, happiness and sadness, on dance movement. A total of 32 adult participants were induced to feel emotional states of either happiness or sadness and then danced intuitively to an emotionally ‘neutral’ piece of music, composed specifically for the experiment. Based on an Effort-Shape analysis of body movement, full body movement was captured and seven different movement cues were examined, in order to explore whether differences in corporeal articulations between the happy and sad condition existed. Results revealed that in the happy condition, participants moved faster, with more acceleration, and made more expanded and more impulsive movements than in the sad condition. Results are discussed with respect to possible consequences for future research on human movement.     

Problem Gambling Inside and Out: The Assessment of Community and Institutional Problem Gambling in the Canadian Correctional System

This paper reports on the results of a multi-site survey of gambling behaviour and gambling problems amongst offenders in correctional institutions in Ontario, Canada, conducted between 2008 and 2011. A total of 422 (completion rate 61.5 %) incarcerated offenders (381 male and 41 female) took part in the study including 301 federal offenders and 121 provincial offenders. Based on the Problem Gambling Severity Index of the Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI/PGSI) the prevalence rate of severe problem gambling was 8.9 prior to incarceration and 4.4 % during incarceration. These numbers are substantially higher than rates found among the general public. Thirty-four percent of the sample reported gambling in prison. Half of those who suffered from gambling problems before incarceration continued to have gambling problems during incarceration. People with problems related to slot machines prior to incarceration reported fewer gambling problems during incarceration compared to other problem gamblers.