Assessing poverty: some reflections on the literature

This paper examines the quantitative poverty measurement literature. After describing the literature a number of issues in poverty research are discussed. It can be concluded that the framework for poverty assessments is not always fixed. Much has been written about the poverty line but the issue of updating it seems to have attracted less attention than deserved. Substantial advancements in poverty research have been gained by fuller reports on the extent of poverty through the use of poverty indices and because of increased availability of panel data.Revised version of an invited lecture presented at the Eighth Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics, Tilburg, The Netherlands, 1994. 1 thank three referees for useful suggestions, Ludmila Nivorozhkina for supplying information on the development of poverty in Russia and Håkan Nyman for producing the figures. The content draws on research conducted with financial support from the Swedish Council of Social Research (SFR).     

Do Infants Recognize Engagement in Social Interactions? The Case of Face‐to‐Face Conversation

This study explores 12‐month‐olds' understanding of face‐to‐face conversation, a key contextual structure associated with engagement in a social interaction. Using a violation‐of‐expectations paradigm, we habituated infants to a “face‐to‐face” conversation, and in a test phase compared their looking times between “back‐to‐back” (conceptually novel) and “face‐to‐face” (conceptually familiar) conversations, while simultaneously manipulating perceptual familiarity in a 2 × 2 factorial design. We also analyzed dynamic changes in pupil dilation, which are considered a reliable measure of cognitive load that may index processing of social interactions. Infants looked relatively longer at perceptual changes (new speaker positions) but not at conceptual change (back‐to‐back conversation), suggesting that face‐to‐face conversation may not elicit particular expectations, and so may not carry any particular conceptual significance. Moreover, on the first test trial, larger pupil dilation was observed for familiar conditions, suggesting that familiarity with perceptual features could enhance processing of conversations. Thus, this study undermines assertions regarding infants' conceptual understanding of the social signals underlying engagement. Infants may rather recognize such signals through their perceptual familiarity and associated positive feelings. This may then increase their engagement when observing and participating in others' collaborative activities, in turn allowing for the development of knowledge regarding others' intentions.     

Women and Work in Family Soap Operas

The starting point of this article is the assumption that images of work and organizing produced by popular culture both reflect and shape actual practices. Among various genres of popular culture, soap operas deserve more attention. This article analyses three local soap operas: one Italian, one Swedish and one South African. All three focus on family life — a focus typical for the genre. We trace the side topic of women at work and women and work, on the assumption that its marginality renders it less likely to contain intentional messages from the creators of the series, and thus more likely to reflect the taken‐for‐granted beliefs underpinning everyday life and contributing to their reproduction and maintenance. We trace the series' connections to local contexts but also look for commonalities that may be characteristic of this genre of popular culture.     

Changing Policy Environments in Europe and the Resilience of the Third Sector

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - In the article, we analyse the impact of changing policy environments on the development of the third sector in Europe....     

Exploring work- and organization-based resources as moderators between work–family conflict,well-being,and job attitudes

Abstract

In modern Western life it is difficult to avoid work–family conflict. Therefore the resources that might reduce its negative outcomes on well-being and job attitudes come into focus. Our study contributes to the work–family conflict literature by exploring the indirect (moderator) and direct role of three work- and organization-related resources, i.e., job control, family supportive climate, organization-based self-esteem (OBSE), in the work-to-family conflict and well-being/job attitude relationship. Theoretically, the study tested the recently developed Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model in the Scandinavian context. Data for the study were gathered from three differing Finnish organizations (health care district, ICT company, Cardboard mill; n=1252). In line with the predictions of the JD-R model, job demands (time- and strain-based work-to-family conflict) were more robustly associated with strain-based outcomes (physical symptoms), whereas job resources (job control, family supportive climate, OBSE) were more strongly linked to motivational-based outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment). Both job control and family supportive climate moderated the relationships studied; high job control and family supportive climate buffered against the aversive effects of work-to-family conflict on well-being and job attitudes. These indirect effects also varied in relation to the independent, moderator, and dependent variables. However, OBSE did not operate as a buffering factor, although it showed significant direct effects. From a practical viewpoint, our findings suggest that job control and family supportive climate are resources that help employees to reduce the negative effects related to work–family conflict.     

Relationships between work-family culture and work attitudes at both the individual and the departmental level

There is a need to better understand the nature of work-family culture and its relationships with job-related outcomes. The main objective of this study was to investigate the associations between a supportive work-family culture and work attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction, work engagement, turnover intentions) at both the individual and work departmental level. Survey-based data were gathered from 52 Finnish work departments (1219 individuals) in the domains of health care, ICT, and the paper industry. Data were analysed via multilevel structural equation modelling. Work-family culture was assessed via managers’ supportiveness, organizational time demands, and the expected career consequences of taking up work-family-related benefits. The results showed, first, that employees in the same work department shared similar perceptions of the department's work-family culture and work attitudes; second, the perceptions of the work-family culture shared within the work department as well as employees’ individual perceptions of it were associated with work attitudes. Thus, the positive effects of a supportive work-family culture on work attitudes were established at both the individual and work departmental levels.     

Patterns of conflict and enrichment in work-family balance: A three-dimensional typology

Abstract

A four-dimensional typology of work-family balance (WFB) that has previously been reported was tested in four samples: Finnish nurses (n=662), Slovenian nurses (n=667), Finnish health and social care workers (n=1493) and Finnish service sector employees (n=827). Latent profile analyses identified three rather than four types of WFB in each sample. In line with the four-dimensional typology, a Beneficial type (56% to 70% of the participants), experiencing high work-to-family and family-to-work enrichment (WFE and FWE) and low work-to-family and family-to-work conflict (WFC and FWC), and an Active type (15% to 20%), experiencing high WFC, FWC, WFE and FWE, emerged; however, the Harmful and Passive types were not identified. Instead, a Contradictory type (16% to 53%), experiencing high WFC and low WFE in combination with low FWC and high FWE, was found. The Beneficial type showed higher subjective well-being than the Contradictory and Active types, the latter showing higher vigour at work but also higher psychological strain and lower life satisfaction than the Contradictory type. These findings support the view that WFB is not a single state or continuum, but manifests itself in diverse combinations of WFC, FWC, WFE and FWE.     

Antecedents and Outcomes of Work Family Conflict Among Employed Women and Men in Finland

The aim of this study was to examine theprevalence, antecedents, and consequences of work familyconflict among employed women and men in Finland. Thedata were obtained by questionnaire from a sample of 501 employees working in four organizations.The results showed that work family conflict was moreprevalent than family work conflict among both sexes,but that there were no gender differences inexperiencing either work family or family work conflict.Family work conflict was best explained by family domainvariables (e.g., number of children living at home) forboth sexes, and work family conflict by work domain variables (e.g., full-time job, poorleadership relations) among the women, and by higheducation and high number of children living at homeamong the men. Family work conflict had negativeconsequences on family well-being, and work family conflict,in particular, on occupational well-being. The findingssuggest that in particular improvements in working lifeare needed to prevent problems in the work family interface.     

Recognizing But Not Acknowledging: On Using Research Information in Social Work with Elderly People Suffering from Dementia

The gap between theory and practice in social work continuesto be great, and research results seem to live a life of theirown, far from the field they were intended to improve. Thisarticle considers research information as a useful contributionto the practice of social work with elderly demented peopleand to qualitative methods used in the area of social scientificresearch. Arising out of a project aimed at studying the usefulnessof research information through an interactive exercise withinfocus groups, the author discusses how the results of researchcan be used to improve practice. When the researchers’theoretical- oriented perspectives meet with the practitioners’action-oriented perspectives, two different models enrich eachother in the process of developing integrated knowledge.