The Accord,Wages Policy and Social Security

The Accord remains the key policy commitment of the Government. Whilst the operation of the Accord encompasses many policy areas, in practice the Accord has been fundamentally a wages policy. As such, other policy commitments of the Accord, such as those in the area of social security, have become secondary to the maintenance of a sustainable wages policy which produces the ‘correct’ macroeconomic outcomes. In this context two ‘objective’ social security objectives of the Accord are assessed — the indexation of benefits, and the targetting of single benefits to 25 per cent of average weekly male earnings. Both objectives have been compromised by the trade-offs and deals carried out to sustain the wages regulation component of the Accord. Alternative criteria for indexing benefits and for adjusting benefits relative to other income claims are outlined.     

The Identification of Behaviour Disorder within the Community

In the absence of a clinical definition of Behaviour Disorder, those termed ‘Behaviourally Disordered’ are often considered unsuitable for psychiatric servicing and many end up inappropriately contained by the correctional system. The working definitions of 213 South Australian health and welfare professionals from six client areas (child/adolescent, psychiatric, intellectually disabled, brain-damaged, correctional and general) were surveyed. Respondents generally saw Behaviour Disorder as a recognisable disorder, involving both aggressive, disruptive behaviour and deficits in social adaptation. Perceptions of its presentation varied across client groups and across professional roles. The results highlighted a need for specialised community servicing for this group.     

Sinking,swimming and sailing: experiences of job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion in child welfare employees

The authors conducted a mixed‐method study after a previous study of child welfare employees revealed a subgroup exhibiting surprisingly high levels of both emotional exhaustion (EE) and job satisfaction (JS). This subgroup included direct service workers, supervisors and managers. As these findings appeared to conflict with previous studies, we re‐reviewed the literature and undertook the current study to account for the co‐existence of EE and JS. We explored and compared this subgroup with two others: workers who found their work satisfying without experiencing high levels of EE and those whose high levels of EE were associated with low JS. Using a survey that included several standardized measures with 226 employees and semi‐structured interviews with a criteria‐based subsample of 25, we explored the role that personality, career expectations, coping styles, stage of life, education, gender and social networks play in outcomes for individual employees. Analyses of quantitative and qualitative data yielded a profile for each subgroup, offering insights into the subjective experiences of workers within individual, social and organizational contexts. These findings have implications for recruitment, training and support of child welfare workers.     

Does Attitudinal Consensus Lead to Neighborhood Collaboration? An Exploratory Analysis of an Urban Community

This article examines whether high levels of attitudinal consensus on community needs and civic responsibilities among a community's residents are associated with effective collaborative efforts among that community's neighborhood associations. Drawing upon both quantitative and qualitative data from an evaluation of an umbrella organization in an urban community, the authors found only a weak connection between attitudinal consensus, which was strong to moderate on most issues, and effective neighborhood association collaboration. The authors conclude that attitudinal consensus may be a necessary first step toward building effective collaboration but is far from sufficient to foster meaningful and stable partnerships. The authors explore the reasons for the lack of effective collaboration, offer suggestions for addressing barriers to collaboration, and discuss the implications of the findings for community building initiatives that aim to build social capital, particularly across “difference,” in distressed and diverse urban communities.     

Missing siblings: seeking more adequate social responses

Little is known about the experience of family and friends when a young adult goes missing, less is known about how siblings make sense of the experience. Police assistance to locate the missing person may be sought but there is little recognition of going missing or missingness as a social issue, and there is little or no adequate social response to the needs of those left behind. This paper links knowledge of siblings, loss and grief to an understanding of this phenomenon. It presents the methodology and findings of an exploratory, qualitative study into the experiences of nine adult siblings of long-term missing people in Australia and presents the themes drawn from their accounts. The themes are briefly elaborated using direct quotations from participants in the study and represented in a diagram. The paper seeks to develop greater understanding of the inter-relationship between missingness and other social issues, to give voice to the views of participants and to encourage practitioners to engage more purposefully in work with family and friends affected by this issue. Some implications for social work practice are presented.     

The meaning of empowerment: the interdisciplinary etymology of a new management concept

Empowerment has become a widely used management term in the last decade or so, though, in practical terms, it shares the ambiguity of its predecessors in the HRM tradition. This paper sets out to unravel the web of meaning surrounding empowerment to show what a contested concept it is, and hence why its application in organizational settings is fraught with misunderstanding and tension. It does so by taking an approach that contributes to the examination of HRM discourse and management rhetoric. To demonstrate the ambiguity of empowerment as a concept, the paper reviews the various ways in which the term has been used across non-management disciplines (women, minority groups, education, community care, politics), culminating with a review of the use of empowerment in contemporary management theory. The paper concludes that organizations and managers have chosen to coin a phrase which is open to different, sometimes contradictory, meanings and which, when applied, evokes both subjective attitudes and objective behaviour, means different things in varying contexts, and is affected fundamentally by individual differences in perception and experience. Unless organizations offer clear operational definitions when using empowerment, instead of purely acquiescing to a vague and seductive version of the concept, they are abdicating responsibility for the unpredictable consequences that result.     

A preliminary investigation of post-traumatic stress symptoms among firefighters

Emergency service personnel are at high risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there is little in-depth information on the psychological responses of firefighters to the daily incidents that they attend. This preliminary study aimed to investigate the PTSD symptoms of firefighters in relation to traumatic events experienced by them, and the availability of social support. Thirty-one UK fire service workers completed an adapted version of the Post-traumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS; Foa, 1995) to investigate the existence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They were also individually interviewed to explore the symptoms they had experienced, what events these were related to, types of social support and coping strategies. Two participants reached the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. Rumination and sleep disturbance were the most commonly reported PTSD symptoms. Participants reported high levels of social support from within the service and outside. The results suggest that fire service personnel are at risk of developing some symptoms of PTSD; however most had not experienced severe enough symptoms for PTSD to be diagnosed. The study suggests that high levels of social support may play a role in buffering firefighters from the development of PTSD.