Empowerment as a Framework for Indigenous Workforce Development and Organisational Change

Abstract

Relative powerlessness resulting from colonial dispossession and associated passive welfare policies has long been recognised as a critical factor influencing the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians, yet it is hard to find well-evaluated health and social interventions that take an explicit empowerment approach. This paper presents the findings of a Family Wellbeing Empowerment programme pilot delivered to Cairns Region Department of Families Indigenous youth workers and family and community workers in 2003/2004. The aim of the pilot was to build the capacity of these workers to address personal and professional issues as a basis for providing better support for their clients. The pilot demonstrated the effectiveness of the programme as a tool for worker empowerment and, to a lesser degree, organisational change.     

The Power of Imagination in Transnational Mobilities

At the roots of many travels to distant destinations, whether in the context of tourism or migration, are historically laden and socioculturally constructed imaginaries. People worldwide rely on such imaginaries, from the most spectacular fantasies to the most mundane reveries, to shape identities of themselves and others. These unspoken representational assemblages are powerful because they enact and construct peoples and places, implying multiple, often conflicting, representations of Otherness, and questioning several core values multicultural societies hold, by blurring as well as enforcing traditional territorial, social, and cultural boundaries. What are the contours of power, agency, and subjectivity in imaginaries of transnational mobility and the intersecting social categories those visions both reify and dissolve? Ethnographic studies of human (im)mobility provide an innovative means to grasp the complexity of the global circulation of people and the world-making images and ideas surrounding these movements. As a polymorphic concept, mobility invites us to renew our theorizing, especially regarding conventional themes such as culture, identity, and transnational relationships. This article critically analyzes some preliminary findings of an ongoing multisited research project that traces how prevalent imaginaries of transnational tourism to and migration from the “global South” are (dis)connected. I suggest anthropology has unique contributions to make to the current debate in the social sciences by ethnographically detailing how mobility is a contested ideological construct involving so much more than mere movement.     

Examining Organizational Functioning Through the Lens of Complexity Theory Using System Dynamics Modeling

ABSTRACT

The methodologies associated with complexity theory might serve as an adjunct to some of our more traditional behavioral social science research methods. While the latter has a well-established history in social work, the approaches related to complexity theory are just now gaining a foothold. One such approach is system dynamics modeling. This article will describe the application of system dynamics modeling to a well-known early intervention program. The manner in which it complements traditional research approaches will be discussed, and its unique contribution to understanding the organizational aspects of complexity theory will be highlighted.     

Educational objectives and measurement of outcomes

Correlation and regression analysis are often used to infer causal relationships in dynamic systems, even though computed on cross-sectional static data. In education these analytic techniques have been used to support assertions that school-controlled variables make little contribution to student learning. Critics of these assertions point to the low quality of the data, but it may be that the techniques themselves are inappropriate for the development of inferences of causality. This study simulated four possible models of dynamic relationships between family and school inputs and achievement outcomes. The models were run for five periods. Data generated were submitted to correlation and regression analysis. Both unique variance and regression coefficient indicators failed to describe reliably causal relationships built into the models. Conclusion: complex systems resist simplistic analyses.     

Successful strategies in French high technology companies

This paper is based on an exploratory study of six major French firms in four new high technology industries, the objective is to identify logics, strategies, organization and culture of some of the best competitors in ‘middle-level’ nations like France, in this kind of risky business.     

Alternate intimacy,marriage, and family lifestyles among low-income Black Americans

This article describes nontraditional intimacy, marriage and family structures, and patterns of interaction among low-income Black Americans. Census data are reported to document trends in the development of alternative and alternate family structures for American Blacks. An explanation of why these lifestyles have heretofore been neglected in alternative lifestyle research is suggested. The relation between social structure and ethnic preferences in determining familial lifetyle choices and options is explored. An attempt is made to delineate the social, cultural, and economic forces associated with their emergence. Finally, a theoretical approach to analyzing the genesis of diverse ethnic family structures is explored. Author's Note: The author expresses his gratitude to Teresa Donati Marciano of Fairleigh Dickinson University, Roger W. Libby of the University of Massachusetts, and the Philadelphia Regional office of the U.S. Census Bureau for their comments and assistance.     

Social norms theory-based interventions: testing the feasibility of a purported mechanism of action

Social norms-based interventions targeting college student drinking behaviors have become increasingly popular. Such interventions purportedly modify student misperceptions of fellow student drinking behaviors, which leads to changes in individual drinking behavior. Despite claims of successful interventions, research demonstrating that social norms-based interventions modify student perceptions is lacking. OBJECTIVE: The authors conducted a laboratory experiment examining the feasibility of this mechanism of action and aimed to determine the validity of the campus-specific drinking norms hypothesis. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: The authors randomly assigned 60 students to 1 of 3 research conditions: Alcohol 101 (national drinking norms), a didactic presentation of campus specific drinking norms, or a control condition. RESULTS: Both intervention groups modified student misperceptions regarding peer alcohol use, and these changes were sustained 1 week later. CONCLUSIONS: Social norms-based interventions can contribute to more accurate drinking perceptions among college students.     

REGULATED AND UNREGULATED SUBSTITUTES: AVERSION EFFECTS OF AN ETHANOL MANDATE

One approach for handling more aggressive goals under an ethanol mandate is to use a “dual blend” mandate in which both the preferred new ethanol blend and the old (possibly ethanol‐free) blend of gasoline coexist. Highlighting the case of New South Wales, Australia, we show the dual nature of such a mandate can potentially lead to significant costs when consumers are averse. We show consumers en masse rejected the new blend and paid 43 cents per gallon more to avoid it. Not even the second of the mandate's four targets could be reached, and the consumer cost was substantial. (JEL L51, Q41, Q42, Q51)