The role of psychological detachment and empathy in the relationship between target and perpetrator in workplace bullying situations / El papel del distanciamiento psicológico y la empatía en la relación entre víctima y agresor en situaciones de acoso en el trabajo

Although previous research has shown a clear association between being a target and a perpetrator of bullying, there are no available studies exploring possible moderators of this relationship. The aim of this study is to examine the moderating role of psychological detachment and empathy on the relationship between target and perpetrator in workplace bullying situations. The sample was made up of 392 employees from a variety of organizations in the private security sector located in Madrid. Results revealed that psychological detachment and empathic concern moderated the relationship between the target and perpetrator of bullying, such that subjects with high levels of detachment and empathic concern reported lower rates of bullying as a perpetrator. These results are in line with the affect-regulation strategies model.     

To stay or to return? Return migration intentions of Moroccans in Italy

Using data from the Statistics on Income and living conditions of families with migrants carried out by ISTAT in 2009, we empirically examine the effect of micro level determinants on Moroccans’ return migration intentions. Although Moroccans living in Italy do not have a clear aspiration to return, the socio‐economic and work conditions in Italy determine their migration intentions. Furthermore, our research led us to argue that macro‐level determinants should also be considered. In particular, emigration, immigration and integration policies represent key elements in the analysis of the dilemma between to stay or to return. Therefore, the promotion of long‐term immigration policies, which allow the achievement of a permanent residence in the host country, combined with institutional reforms, which make the origin country socially, economically and politically more attractive for migrants are essential to complete the debate about to stay or to return.     

What would you learn to improve your work in child protection? Social workers’ continuing education requests

This article presents the results of a study of the continuing education requests of child protection social workers. The work presented is part of a larger research project realized in Lombardy (a region of Italy), conducted to gain knowledge and data about social workers’ opinions, activities, and workloads. Through the participation of 300 child protection social workers engaged in fieldwork, a specific part of the research was dedicated to continuing education requests. Starting with their perceptions about the competences and abilities required for practice, social workers were invited to express their opinions about educational needs. Using an online survey constructed ad hoc, the social workers’ continuing education needs were investigated first with multiple choice questions and subsequently using a priority scale. The interviewees expressed educational needs in 22 different areas. The data collected open perspectives to new child protection work and encourage the people responsible for education to support democratic and participatory approaches. The conclusions offer suggestions for social work education and practice.     

Women‐Centred but not Women‐Friendly: Understanding Student Attrition in the Ontario Midwifery Education Programme

In analysing the reasons for high attrition among midwifery students enrolled in the Ontario Midwifery Education Programme, we examined how the challenges of maintaining work‐life balance among practising midwives impacts students' decisions to stay or withdraw from the programme. The content analysis of the written responses from a self‐administered online delivered survey revealed that many students drawn to the profession become disillusioned during their studies. Observing the difficulties that practising midwives face in trying to combine care for their clients with care for their families, students perceive midwifery as a profession that is women‐friendly only in relation to clients and not in relation to the practising midwives themselves. We suggest that the caring dilemma of midwifery impacts the neophytes to the profession. We contend that a change in structural organization of work would likely improve retention among student midwives.     

Pre-college and college predictors of longitudinal changes in multiracial college students’ self-reported race

This longitudinal study of 1101 multiracial college students from 105 US institutions reveals the dynamic racial designation choices of participants as freshmen and as seniors, as 56% of the sample gave inconsistent responses about their race over time. Logistic regressions predicting a multiracial designation choice as seniors reveal the pre-college and college factors associated with developing or maintaining this choice over the span of college. Experiences such as living on campus, joining a racial or ethnic student organization, taking an ethnic studies course, participating in a racial awareness workshop, and discussing issues of political or personal importance were each significant predictors of the racial identification patterns examined in this study. The results of this study offer evidence of the need to consider longitudinal changes in students’ race and the ways in which students’ racial identification preferences change between the time they enter and leave college.     

Competencies and problem behaviors of children in family foster care: variations by kinship placement status and race

Formal kinship foster care is an increasingly common form of out-of-home placement, and several important distinctions between kinship care and non-relative foster care have been identified. The present study evaluated the behavior of kinship foster children in comparison to non-relative foster children and children in the general population. A geographically and ethnically diverse sample of foster children (N=240) was assessed for competence and problem behaviors using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL: Achenbach, 1991). Kinship foster children closely resembled children in the general population but differed significantly from their counterparts in non-relative foster care, who consistently scored lower on competence and higher on problem behaviors. Substantial proportions of non-relative foster children were in the clinical range on most CBCL measures, but kinship foster children were no more likely than children from the general population to score above clinical cut-offs. Differences between kinship and non-kinship foster children became less dramatic after accounting for child race and gender, which were both associated with kinship status. Child race had a strong main effect for almost all types of problem behaviors, with children of color showing significantly less problematic behavior. Discussion of these results centers on potential explanations for the observed variations in child behavior by kinship status and race.     

An empirical analysis of the time allocation of Italian couples: are they responsive?

The literature suggests that in Italy husbands contribute less to unpaid household work than in any other European country, while women have the lowest market employment rates. Here we examine the time allocation of Italian couples on which there are surprisingly few studies to date. We analyze simultaneously the time allocated by husband and wife to market work, childcare and housework, allowing for various interactions. We use data drawn from the Italian national Time Use Survey 2002–2003 for the analysis. We find that spousal time allocation is sensitive to personal and household characteristics, such as, in particular, education and children’s age. Evidence shows that men married to more highly educated women spend more time with their children. The husband’s own characteristics have less of an effect on women’s time allocation. We also find that patterns differ substantially between weekends and weekdays. The estimated correlations between the unobservable factors affecting the couple’s time allocation suggest that the time devoted by parents to childcare is complementary and that the time they devote to housework is substitutable across weekends and other weekdays.     

Russian labour culture: how it looks in comparison

Assuming that national culture should not be disregarded especially at a time of massive economic restructuring as having serious influence on labour relations and type of management, we make an attempt to reveal its features empirically and compare them with those of other national cultures, identifying whose cultural characteristics are closest to the Russian one. The article examines Russian labour culture by measuring it with the help of Hofstede's universal indices in an empirical study of employees of four industrial enterprises in different parts of Russia. The measuring tool allows a comparative perspective; we also offer interpretations of the obtained indices, enriching them by illustrations from informal interviews with the employees of those enterprises. The results brought Russia close to a number of European countries that had welfare-state orientation and strong institutional and historical connections with Russia, such as Finland, Germany, Austria and Israel. The article argues that experience in the field of labour relations and organizational models of these countries should not be discounted, although reformers often place their hopes mainly on the Anglo-Saxon or American models.     

Governmental anti-pandemic policies,vaccination, population mobility,Twitter narratives,and the spread of COVID-19: Evidence from the European Union countries

We provide large-scale empirical evidence on the effects of multiple governmental regulatory and health policies, vaccination, population mobility, and COVID-19-related Twitter narratives on the spread of a new coronavirus infection. Using multiple-level fixed effects panel data model with weekly data for 27 European Union countries in the period of March 2020–June 2021, we show that governmental response policies were effective both in reducing the number of COVID-19 infection cases and deaths from it, particularly, in the countries with higher level of rule of law. Vaccination expectedly helped to decrease the number of virus cases. Reductions in population mobility in public places and workplaces were also powerful in fighting the pandemic. Next, we identify four core pandemic-related Twitter narratives: governmental response policies, people's sad feelings during the pandemic, vaccination, and pandemic-related international politics. We find that sad feelings’ narrative helped to combat the virus spread in EU countries. Our findings also reveal that while in countries with high rule of law international politics’ narrative helped to reduce the virus spread, in countries with low rule of law the effect was strictly the opposite. The latter finding suggests that trust in politicians played an important role in confronting the pandemic.