The professionalism debate in South African public relations

Professionalism is a contentious topic in journals serving a wide range of disciplines, both internationally and in South Africa. However, there is seldom concrete empirical research into professionalism—which limits the usefulness of this debate. In response, the present study empirically investigates the perceptions of South African public relations (PR) practitioners regarding professionalism. The questionnaire-based survey shows that the professionalism problem for PR practitioners in South Africa is twofold. Firstly, the South African PR governing body has not taken ownership of the issues regarding professionalism amongst its members. Secondly, practitioners themselves are making little effort to professionalize their activities. Both parties agree on the importance of professionalization, but claim that the onus is on the other party to promote it. This situation is untenable: professionalization should be actively encouraged so as to maximize the impact of the PR profession in South Africa.     

Social and Material Deprivation among Unemployed Youth in Northern Europe

This article examines deprivation among unemployed young people. It draws on a comparative survey of 8,654 young unemployed in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Scotland. In spite of an increased knowledge of the relationship between unemployment and poverty,our understanding of deprivation among young unemployed people remains inadequate. How do young people deal with unemployment? Are transitional factors the only explanation for the prevalence of deprivation or should we also consider intergenerational factors? The six countries represent two different welfare strategies, the Nordic universalistic model and the Scottish liberal/ minimalist approaches. The research findings showed diverging tendencies within the Nordic countries. Converging trends between the different systems could also be found, as family support plays the main role in preventing deprivation in all of the countries.     

Scrutinising the double disadvantage: knowledge production in the messy field of migrant smuggling

Human smuggling is a global phenomenon which has been difficult to research. Even though there is a large and growing literature on human smuggling, it lacks a systematic review of the major theoretical and conceptual approaches. Besides the lack of conceptual cohesion, there is fundamental lack of hard evidence to substantiate most aspects of the smuggling process because of methodological challenges. This ‘double disadvantage’ is an important explanation for theoretical as well as conceptual discrepancies in existing smuggling studies. In order to clarify and understand the diversity of theoretical approaches within the field of smuggling this article provides an overview of various readings of the literature. We identify a need to better understand how our knowledge about smuggling is constructed in this messy field. Furthermore, we question why we are producing particular types of knowledge and argue for more critical work in the field of human smuggling.     

Crimmigration and militarization: Policing borders in the era of social control profitability

As no other time in U.S. history, policing involves a wide variety of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, with a unified mission of patrolling the 2,000‐mile U.S.‐Mexico border in the name of national security. As a culturally and socially diverse geographic setting, the U.S.‐Mexico border has intertwined notions of ethnicity, race, and skin color with citizenship, community safety, and national security. Invariably, this geographic, economic, political, and social boundary has the power to shape the experience of not only law enforcement officers, but also border communities. The multiple issues that exist along the U.S.‐Mexico border provide a more nuanced view of the challenges involved in patrolling the border and policing communities, while seeking to respect privacy and honor international treaties and human rights. Subsequently, with pressing shifts in demographics, police tactics, border security, and social control profitability, in the midst of globalization, the central objective of this article is to further delineate, through analysis of existing data, the dynamics of border policing in the twenty‐first century.     

Resilient and Self‐reliant Life: South Sudanese Refugees Imagining Futures in the Adjumani Refugee Setting,Uganda

Resilience and self‐reliance have become central in humanitarian responses to refugee situations. Based on a two‐year longitudinal qualitative study, this article explores how South Sudanese refugee youngsters in Uganda imagine and act towards their futures, and questions what resilience and self‐reliance can mean in the temporary space of the refugee camp. Youngsters need to become accustomed to a future without substantial progress, or be ready to play the game of chance. As such, a resilience and self‐reliance policy not only reveals the powerlessness of refugee youth, but also the limits of a humanitarian project to seek actual solutions to refugee situations.     

Families on hold: How the context of an asylum centre affects parenting experiences

Migration, especially under stressful circumstances, places pressure on parental capacities. At the same time, being part of a supportive family is of prime importance for the well‐being of migrating children and parents. In this paper, we highlight the impact of the living conditions in a collective asylum centre on asylum applicants' parenting experiences through in‐depth interviews with and participant observations among parents in a Belgian asylum centre. Differentiating between the influences of the organizational and physical environments of the centre, our results reveal that various organizational aspects limit parental agency and well‐being and often render parents powerless in raising and protecting their children. Their physical environment, consisting of a dilapidated building, is experienced as a nonwelcoming, dangerous environment that leaves insufficient opportunity to establish a safe and stable home. We conclude that there is almost no attention paid to asylum applicants' parental role within the collective reception facilities. Further, their individual parental responsibility is emphasized, whereas the difficult environment of the asylum centre in which they have to raise their children is not criticized.     

An integrated communication implementation model for the post-2000 business environment

Strategic integrated communication in the relationship between an organization, its stakeholders, and the post-2000 business environment is fundamental to ensure that the organization is viewed as unified in its intent. Literature proposes various implementation models of strategic integrated communication but most literature is pertinent to the last century. Consequently there is a need for an integrated communication implementation model for the post-2000 business landscape with its specific challenges and opportunities. The primary objective of this article is to present the model for implementing strategic integrated communication post-2000. This model was developed in a study consisting of three phases: a critical review of existing literature; in-depth qualitative interviews in and phase 3 where the authentic model was conceptualized. As a result, the integration of three levels to promote a united effort in relationship building constitutes the organization itself, its stakeholders, and the environment as a whole.     

Understanding the Positive Effects of Graphical Risk Information on Comprehension: Measuring Attention Directed to Written,Tabular, and Graphical Risk Information

Risk communications are an integral aspect of health education and promotion. However, the commonly used textual risk information is relatively difficult to understand for the average recipient. Consequently, researchers and health promoters have started to focus on so‐called decision aids, such as tables and graphs. Although tabular and graphical risk information more effectively communicate risks than textual risk information, the cognitive mechanisms responsible for this enhancement are unclear. This study aimed to examine two possible mechanisms (i.e., cognitive workload and attention). Cognitive workload (mean pupil size and peak pupil dilation) and attention directed to the risk information (viewing time, number of eye fixations, and eye fixation durations) were both measured in a between‐subjects experimental design. The results suggest that graphical risk information facilitates comprehension of that information because it attracts and holds attention for a longer period of time than textual risk information. Graphs are thus a valuable asset to risk communication practice for two reasons: first, they tend to attract attention and, second, when attended to, they elicit information extraction with relatively little cognitive effort, and finally result in better comprehension.