Equality Management – Towards a Materialist Approach

Attempts to redefine equality initiatives to fit squarely within the enterprise culture serve only to mask an ongoing conceptual confusion in the area of equality management. This theoretical article attempts to show that this conceptual confusion lies within the narrowness of approaches which address labour market inequalities from both an equality of opportunity and an equality of outcome perspective. The inability of these perspectives to satisfactorily address systemic causes of labour market inequalities pulls our attention towards a more materialist approach which may be found (this side of a capitalist/patriarchal society) within an equality of condition frame of reference. This widens the perspective from which equality management can be pursued so that measures to address the differential distribution of resources, rewards, opportunities and treatment in the workplace are informed by all three equalities: opportunity, outcome and conditions. Such a theoretical approach is inevitably limited in that it only provides a framework for addressing those who are in paid employment, i.e. seeks to reform the capitalist/patriarchal system. However, by posing questions of the crucial pillars of such systems notably status, reward and with that power, the ‘long’ and ‘radical’ agendas of the equality project may once again be picked up.     

环保清洗剂——二氧化碳的妙用

全球日益变暖的危机使二氧化碳成为众矢之的,大家正为如何减少二氧化碳的排放而大伤脑筋,但二氧化碳除了用来制造汽水等碳酸饮料、保存食物或舞台特效的干冰,或做为灭火材料之外,难道没有其它利用价值吗？     

Hormone profiles,body mass index and aging male symptoms: results of the Androx Vienna Municipality study

Aging in the male is accompanied by steroid hormonal decline, and men may develop symptoms associated with hypogonadism. Increased awareness of ‘andropause’ in recent years has led to greater demand for hormonal assessments, resulting in a rising burden for health economics. We conducted a cross-sectional study to define men at risk for hypogonadism, in whom further hormonal investigation should be performed.

We examined 664 blue-collar workers aged 40–60 years at their workplace and determined hormonal status and body mass index (BMI). Men with an abnormal urogenital status and those on medication that might affect endocrine status were excluded from the study. All participants completed the validated Aging Male Symptom (AMS) questionnaire and obtained scores for psychological symptoms, somatovegetative symptoms, and sexual symptoms.

Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed a significantly increased risk (represented by the odds ratio) of psychological symptoms for men with low levels of testosterone and/or bioavailable testosterone (BAT). Increased BMI as well as low testosterone levels and/or low BAT levels raised the risk of somatovegetative symptoms. Each decrease of BAT by 1?ng/ml caused an approximately 1.8-fold increase of the risk (odds ratio?=?1.832, p?=?0.005). Additional independent risk factors were increased age and low luteinizing hormone (LH) level. Men aged 55 years with BMI >?28?kg/m² and with somatovegetative symptoms and moderate or severe psychological symptoms had a 7.2-fold increase in the risk of a BAT level <?1.5?ng/ml compared to men without these risk factors (p <?0.001). Sensitivity and specificity were 75% and 71%, respectively.

The AMS score combined with age and BMI provides an easy and convenient method to identify men with probable androgen deficiency who require hormonal assessment.     

Organizational Uncertainty and Labor Contracts in China's Economic Transition

Lifetime employment was a cornerstone of the Chinese socialist system constructed under Mao. In this system, organizations served the function of social security, and as a result, many organizations were overburdened with bloated work forces and retirees that drew from organizational coffers well into old age. Labor contracts fundamentally alter this system, as they allow firms to end the socialist institution of lifetime employment. Yet there is significant variation on the institutionalization of labor contracts in organizations. Based on a sample of 81 firms in industrial Shanghai, I show that organizations that are experiencing uncertainty in the economic transition are more likely to institutionalize labor contracts on an organizationwide basis. There are two types of organizational uncertainty in the economic transition: economic uncertainty and administrative uncertainty. In cases of economic uncertainty, firms that lost money in 1990 and firms that are burdened by large forces of retired workers are more likely to place their workers on labor contracts. In the case of administrative uncertainty, firms that are at the highest levels of the industrial hierarchy are also significantly more likely to place their workers on labor contracts. Although these upper level firms were the most protected under the command economy, they are being forced to handle the greatest among the responsibilities in the economic transition, and as a result, they experience the greatest sense of being set adrift by the state.     

Meditation lowers stress and supports forgiveness among college students: a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE AND PARTICIPANTS: The authors evaluated the effects on stress, rumination, forgiveness, and hope of two 8-week, 90-min/wk training programs for college undergraduates in meditation-based stress-management tools. METHODS: After a pretest, the authors randomly allocated college undergraduates to training in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR; n = 15), Easwaran's Eight-Point Program (EPP; n = 14), or wait-list control (n = 15). The authors gathered pretest, posttest, and 8-week follow-up data on self-report outcome measures. RESULTS: The authors observed no post-treatment differences between MBSR and EPP or between posttest and 8-week follow-up (p > .10). Compared with controls, treated participants (n = 29) demonstrated significant benefits for stress (p < .05, Cohen's d = -.45) and forgiveness (p < .05, d = .34) and marginal benefits for rumination (p < .10, d = -.34). CONCLUSIONS: Evidence suggests that meditation-based stress-management practices reduce stress and enhance forgiveness among college undergraduates. Such programs merit further study as potential health-promotion tools for college populations.     

Patterns of abuse in male same-sex relationships

Previous studies of abuse in male same-sex relationships have been limited by convenience samples and/or by incomplete assessments of partner abuse. We examined patterns of same-sex partner abuse in a random sample of 284 gay and bisexual men. Respondents reported on perpetration and receipt of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse over multiple time frames, as well as injuries resulting from abuse. Almost all respondents reported psychological abuse, more than one-third reported physical abuse, and 10% reported having engaged in unwanted sexual activity because of partner force or threats of force. More than half of recipients of partner violence reported sustaining injury. We found strong associations between different forms of abuse, and between severity of abuse receipt and perpetration.