非营利部门员工从业动机研究: 利他主义的反思

作为一个宗旨驱动型组织,非营利组织主要依靠其员工来提供服务并满足组织利益相关者的期望与需求。然而,基于何种动机个体才会选择到非营利组织而不是营利或公共组织从业呢？对此问题的理解要比非营利组织为了从数量和质量上招募到理想员工而采取何种竞争战略更为优先。与营利部门和公共部门不同,非营利部门有其独特的员工及其服务动机谱系,利他主义也只能代表非营利部门的其中一面。相对于诸多学者所使用的“内因-外因”传统两分法分析框架,从员工在非营利部门从业的服务约束性（积极性/被动性）和服务导向性（利他性/利己性）维度构建的非营利部门员工从业动机矩阵将员工从业动机分为四种类型,这将有助于我们理解员工显性从业选择行为下实际的隐性需求,并可成为未来实证分析的基础。     

Education,Training and Economic Performance: Evidence from Establishment Survival Data

We consider the links between training, the quality of labor and establishment performance, using an indicator of firm performance, commercial survival. We place our evidence in the framework of a model in which managers have varying beliefs about the efficacy of education and training, leading to potential variation in their provision. We find that training and education yield significant positive effects on firm performance. Moreover, education and training interact positively in their effect on survival.     

DO MERGERS REALLY REDUCE COSTS? EVIDENCE FROM HOSPITALS

In this paper, we compare potential and realized cost savings from hospital mergers. Our approach isolates changes in realized cost savings due to different output mixes from systematic changes due to time and also provides a measure of the potential cost savings due to scale economies. Our findings suggest that economies of scale are present for merging hospitals and they realize these cost savings immediately following a merger. However, we also show that over time, cost savings from the merger decrease and the proportion of hospitals experiencing positive cost savings declines.     

SOCIOECONOMIC RESOURCES AND SELF-RATED HEALTH: A STUDY IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA

Numerous factors influence health, including family background, individual behaviors, and community context. Access to care and insurance are critical, especially for people in lower socioeconomic groups who often face challenges beyond their immediate control. Building from a synthesis of theoretical frameworks, and using data from the Delta Rural Poll, this article utilizes logistic regression to explore the relationship between macro and micro socioeconomic resources and self-rated health among residents of the Mississippi Delta. Results demonstrate that these are important factors, although associations vary by racial group. Theory and policy considerations arising from the results are discussed.     

John Alcindor (1873–1924): A migrant's biography

A biographical approach to one Caribbean migrant in Britain in the early decades of this century shows something of the connections of the black minority in those years. Alcindor qualified as a medical doctor and filled several professional positions in London before and after the First World War. He was also active in the African Progress Union, speaking up for and representing black people. His life story is seen as an indication of the social and professional success which blacks could obtain in Britain at the height of imperialism.     

Sociology Hesitant: The Continuing Neglect of W.E.B. Du Bois

W.E.B. Du Bois’ early work as a sociologist from 1896 to 1914 represents a milestone in the development of modern sociology. His empirical studies often employed a triangular methodological approach, and by grounding The Philadelphia Negro in what is the earliest extensive social survey by an American sociologist, Du Bois set the stage for the growth of sociology as a legitimate science. In fact, his approach became the model that the discipline eventually followed. Had Du Bois been white, he would have been recognized as a leading founder of the field. Since Du Bois’ early sociological scholarship was completed during the height of the Jim Crow era, his brilliant landmark work was largely negated by the profession. His scholarly accomplishments clearly focused on establishing a scientific sociology. Based on his exemplary work, can sociology finally negate the sociological negation of W.E.B. Du Bois?     

Friendship and Conformity in Group Opinions: Juror Verdict Change in Mock Juries

Social psychological research on group processes has consistently shown that group members adjust their views to conform to dominant and/or socially desirable stances. Studies are less clear, though, on how friendships within groups impact this tendency. Some studies suggest greater group cohesion leads to more conformity; other studies suggest friendship lessens the pressure to agree on certain issues. In this study, we use mock juries to test the impact of varying levels of friendship on jurors’ propensities to change their verdicts to the dominant position (in this case acquittal, or a “not guilty” verdict). Our findings show that distant friendships among jurors increase the odds of conforming to acquittal; but close friendships decrease the odds of conformity. We discuss the implications of our findings for understanding group processes and conformity as well as for jury research.     

Managing Risk in Community Care of Older People: Perspectives from the Frontline

Abstract

Since the mid-1980s, Australian governments have focused on expanding community and home-based services for older people. This has led to increased levels of dependency, vulnerability, and complexity to be managed in the community. Consequently, aged care services have had to develop mechanisms for regulating and managing these increased risks, and risk management has become more central to the practices of professional workers in this field. This paper reports on some findings from a large-scale study that explores the way risk management policies have been translated into practice by community-based services in Victoria, Australia. Drawing on interviews with 18 frontline and management professionals employed in community aged care, we found that these workers were wrestling with a diverse and new range of institutional risks beyond those encountered in the actual delivery of frontline care. We found that these workers experienced “risk” in four different contexts, which often created demands for contradictory or conflicting responses. Here we examine these “contexts of risk practice”: professional workers' relationships with their clients, relationships with other service providers, the unregulated nature of the home as a work environment, and community expectations about the management of risk. Despite tensions that frequently arose, workers expressed strong professional commitments to their clients and were motivated to find positive resolutions amid competing interests. We conclude that tensions experienced by workers were embedded in the structural dimensions of institutional relationships and the systematic absence of shared understandings of “acceptable” risks in the community care of older people, rather than in the failure of professional agency.     

Associations Between Past Bullying Experiences and Psychosocial and Academic Functioning Among College Students

Abstract. Objectives: This study examined whether childhood bullying victimization was associated with psychosocial and academic functioning at college. Participants: The sample consisted of 413 first-year students from a large northeastern university. Methods: Students completed an online survey in February 2012 that included items assessing past bullying involvement, current psychosocial and academic functioning, and victimization experiences since arriving at college. Results: Regression analyses indicated that reports of past bullying and other peer victimization were associated with lower mental health functioning and perceptions of physical and mental health, but were not associated with perceptions of social life at college, overall college experience, or academic performance. Conclusions: Childhood bullying victimization is associated with poorer mental and physical health among first-year college students. Colleges should consider assessing histories of bullying victimization, along with other past victimization exposures, in their service provision to students.