Work organization and health: a qualitative study of the perceptions of workers

Workplaces comprise a large component of life partcipation. The complexity of work organization makes it challenging to understand how the environment impacts the health of workers and who is responsible for creating a healthy workplace. This investigation sought to understand the views of workers about workplace health. A qualitative approach was used to gain understanding of workers' experiences of how work organization (WO) impacts their health and needs to change. Four individual interviews and 7 focus groups with workers were conducted. Data were thematically analyzed. Findings comprised two common themes: 1. The need for support and respect in the work place; and 2. The need for organizational commitment to safe work practices and healthy work environments. Findings suggest workers want and need to be involved in creating a healthy workplace. Opportunities to involve workers more in workplace health are discussed.     

The Impact of Parents’ Overseas Employment on Educational Outcomes of Filipino Children

Family structure, household resources, numbers of siblings competing for those resources, and parents’ own educational attainment are often important predictors of children’s education outcomes. Overseas migration of parents from the Philippines has resulted in increasing numbers of long-term separations of parents from each other and from their children. Western-based analyses might predict negative education outcomes for children as a result of parental absence. We find that separations caused by overseas migration often are either neutral or can have positive effects on schooling outcomes, at least among older children. Girls fare better in terms of educational attainment than do boys overall. Boys are often more affected by background variables, including parents’ international migration.     

Managing Quality in the E‐Service System: Development and Application of a Process Model

In this paper, we develop a process model for assessing and managing e‐service quality based on the underlying components of the e‐service system and, in turn, address the growing need to look in more detail at the system component level for sources of poor quality. The proposed process model is comprised of a set of entities representing the e‐service system, a network defining the linking between all pairs of entities via transactions and product flows, and a set of outcomes of the processes in terms of quality dimensions. The process model is developed using Unified Modeling Language (UML), a pictorial language for specifying service designs that has achieved widespread acceptance among e‐service designers. Examples of applications of the process model are presented to illustrate how the model can be use to identify operational levers for managing and improving e‐service quality.     

Behavioral Activation and Inhibition, Negative Affect, and Gambling Severity in a Sample of Young Adult College Students

The prevalence of pathological gambling among college students is increasing. Few studies have directly examined the relation between reward processing and gambling severity while concurrently examining the effects of co-occurring negative affect in this at risk population. This study used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques to analyze results from an online survey of 352 female and 96 male students age 18-25. Participants completed measures of past year gambling behavior and severity of gambling problems using the Canadian Problem Gambling Index and the Problem Gambling Severity Index. Negative affect and reward processing were measured by the 21-item version of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales and the Behavioral Inhibition System and Behavioral Activation System (BIS/BAS) scales, respectively. Thirty-five percent of participants reported gambling in the previous 12 months, and 11% had gambling severity scores indicative of "moderate-risk" or "problem gambling." Gambling severity was associated with negative affect. Negative affect, in turn, was correlated with the unitary BIS scale and inversely associated with the BAS reward responsiveness scale. Reward responsiveness was also inversely associated with gambling severity. In the SEM models, the association between reward responsiveness and gambling severity was mediated by negative affect among males but not among females. Potential explanations for these findings and their implications for addressing problem gambling are discussed.     

Early childhood education and care use: Differences by race/ethnicity and age

This article describes factors that predict the use of early childhood education and care among Latino families, as compared to non-Latino black and non-Latino white families in the United States in two age groups (0–2 and 3–5 years old). Using National Household Education Survey data, this study presents a framework and examines the association of numerous child and family characteristics with the number of hours children spend in care, the number of care arrangements, and the type of care used. Multinomial logit results show that once preexisting differences between Latino and black families and between Latino and white families are equalized, differences in the type of care are often eliminated. Findings suggest that the observed enrollment patterns of Latino children are due in part to their over-representation in families that are poorer, have lower levels of maternal education, and have lower levels of maternal employment.     

Expanding Systems Thinking: Incorporating Tools from Medical Sociology into MFT Education and Research

The field of marriage and family therapy has historically focused on dynamics within family systems, and at times the role of social and cultural factors external to the family. To date, however, little scholarship has examined how therapists themselves are embedded within a mental healthcare system. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how structural components of the mental healthcare system shape the practice of therapy. We draw from the field of medical sociology to illustrate how three dominant structures—managed care, diagnosis, and evidence‐based models—are intertwining and mutually reinforcing systems that have significant and long‐term implications for systemic therapists and researchers. We recommend incorporating a sociological understanding of such structures into MFT education and research.     

Sexual violence in serial form: Breaking Bad habits on TV

Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston) attempts to isolate, degrade, exploit, frighten, and control his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) are tactics that are well-documented in studies focusing on abuse. Yet, despite the representation of both implicit and explicit forms of domestic abuse and sexual violence throughout Breaking Bad (2008–2013), there is an apparent disconnect between how this behaviour is perceived on screen and how it is ostensibly regarded in society. It is here, at the intersection of audience reception and sociological theory that I argue Breaking Bad represents abuse as part of a broader negotiation of masculinity, one that contributes to the ongoing marginalization of women’s voices in both visual media narratives and, by extension, society. In particular, I argue that despite the series’ long-form structure, the lack of emphasis placed on instances of coercive control by the writers and directors is partly responsible for contributing towards a culture of misogyny and victim-blaming fostered by fans towards Skyler evident in numerous online blog posts, fan forums, social media platforms, and Anna Gunn’s own treatise on the portrayal of her character in the New York Times.     

Gender trouble in the workplace: applying Judith Butler’s theory of performativity to news organizations

Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, introduced in her 1990 book Gender Trouble, has significantly shaped individual and collective understandings of gender. This essay examines performativity as a framework for critically assessing gender performances in patriarchal workplace environments, including the institutional rules and norms that shape behaviors and interactions. Specifically, we suggest that performativity offers a valuable lens for critiquing women’s experiences in newsrooms, spaces where expectations for gender can significantly shape professional experiences and success. We provide an overview and evaluation of the development and existing applications of Butler’s performativity theory, including its use in organizational contexts. We also propose methodological and topical approaches through which performativity can be used to study newsrooms and the experiences of female journalists in particular.