The experience of returning to work

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore from an environmental perspective the experiences of returning to work of former unemployed sickness absentees. Five separate focus-group interviews were carried out with themes concerning different environmental areas. The findings showed that the participants in their process of being off work and then attempting returning to work experienced a personal transition manifesting itself as a negative self-image, change of life-rhythm and restrictions in their roles and activities. In their progression, the participants experienced a need for reorientation and expressed feelings of alienation, and for that reason felt need of support from a network, especially a professional one. Regarding attitudes in society, the participants reported experiences of social stigmatization, both in mass media and in their immediate social environment, and an increasing egocentricity among their fellow-workers. They perceived their progression back to work as a 'time quarantine' and as a long and destructive wait for support. The findings indicate that the phenomenon of 'returning to work' after unemployment and sick leave could not be reduced to a single issue. It should rather be seen as a dynamic problem with individual and structural, environmental aspects.     

Multi-professional vocational rehabilitation group meetings with female clients: a qualitative study

Many women require vocational rehabilitation before they can return to work. The objective with the present study was to describe female clients' situation during the rehabilitation process, as it became apparent during the rehabilitation meetings with the various actors involved. The clients' diagnoses varied, but the majority was affected with musculoskeletal disorders. The meetings were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim, after which they were analysed by qualitative content analysis. The following themes emerged: Adaptation to the rehabilitation group; client's health status; the workplace's significance for rehabilitation; and the client's decision-point. Conflict between health and work was immensely important for rehabilitation. Differences in attitude were apparent during the rehabilitation meetings, as some clients were passive and exercised less influence on the planning, than the other more active clients did.     

Imagining the ecosocial within social work

Aiming to explore how the ecosocial is imagined within social work research, this article engages with understandings of the relationship between the social and ecological realms when responding to the call for sustainability. A theoretical framework offering five possible imaginations of the ecosocial was developed: the holistic; the anthropocentric conflictual; the anthropocentric compatible; the ‘ecocentric’ conflictual; and the ‘ecocentric’ compatible. The material consists of international peer-reviewed articles referring to the ecosocial. The result reveals that the imagination of the ecosocial is heterogeneous. However, the holistic and anthropocentric compatible imaginations are common, while ‘ecocentric’ and conflictual understandings are rare, which confirms that nurturing social and ecological sustainability does not entail conflicting interests or rivalry but rather the opposite. This implies not only an ongoing widening of the notion of sustainability, in which the idea of limitations is re-installed, but also a possible re-definition of ‘the social’ so as to include the non-human.     

Sexual Violence Against Children in Sports and Exercise: A Systematic Literature Review

Sexual violence against children in sports receives little research attention. The aim of this Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-based systematic literature review was to synthesize the up-to-date knowledge and identify the already known and the still unknown information in this area. The literature search yielded seven eligible studies for inclusion. Their key outcomes suggest that sexual violence against children in sports is prevalent. Girls are more often the victims than boys, but gender appears to mediate the disclosure. Minority groups are at higher risk for sexual violence, and athletes at higher levels of competition seem to be more vulnerable for grooming. While the coach is often seen as the perpetrator, new research suggests that peer-athletes may precede the coach. Disclosure is a problem, due to personal and interpersonal concerns, which deters scholastic research in this area. In the final section of the review, a “what we know” and “what we need to know” list of highlights is offered as the concluding summary of the review. These factual points could raise the awareness of parents and/or guardians about the vulnerability of their children to sexual abuse if they are involved in sports. They could also attract the attention of the policy makers to the urgent need of developing and implementing preventive measures to make sports and exercise environments pleasurable and safe for children.     

Leaks,legislation and freedom of speech: How can the law effectively promote public‐interest whistleblowing?

Attention is increasingly being focused on leaking, whistleblowing and associated compliance and incentives questions. The authors outline the differences between leaking and whistleblowing, notably on protection of the disclosers. They review provisions of international conventions on human rights and corruption, and compare approaches to protecting freedom of speech in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Their findings highlight the complex, sometimes conflicting issues involved: public, individual, commercial and financial interests; abuse of power; security; confidentiality; the individual as law enforcer; and the employment relationship.     

Secular Trends in Alcohol Drinking Among Danish 15‐Year‐Olds: Comparable Representative Samples From 1988 to 2010

This study describes the secular trends in weekly intake of beer, wine, liquor, and drunkenness among 15‐year‐olds 1988–2010 (total N = 8,701), a period with several policy initiatives regarding alcohol in Denmark. Data from seven comparative and representative school surveys conducted in 1988, 1991, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2010 were used. The proportion of 15‐year‐olds in Denmark who drank alcohol and were drunk increased from 1988 to 2002, but decreased substantially to 2010; for example, the proportion of 15‐year‐old girls who drank beer at least weekly increased from 15% in 1988 to 31% in 2002 and decreased to 7% in 2010. We hypothesize that age limits for purchasing alcohol may have resulted in a decrease in young people's alcohol use.     

Public Social Services’ encounters with irregular migrants in Sweden: amid values of social work and control of migration

This article outlines Public Social Services’ encounters with irregular migrants in Sweden from the perspectives of institutional and street-level bureaucrats. Staff and executive considerations are influenced by a de jure exclusion of irregular migrants, which is an element of the control of migration. Staff face contradictory demands concerning international and national regulations, which leads to legal ambiguities open to discretionary powers. The aim is to explore the handling of such cases, experiences and considerations with an interest in the values that are invoked when enacting discretion and to discuss implications of the unclear legal situation. The material was obtained using web-based questionnaires. A tentative analysis confirms that the Public Social Services encounter irregular migrants and that handling differs greatly. It suggests that different approaches and the contradictory legal framework endanger the rule of law. Differing reference points appear to be invoked when enacting discretion: some related to social work and others to controlled migration. The social work values invoked by some respondents might imply an appreciation of a right to services and control of migration as independent processes and jurisdiction related to human rights that are applicable beyond the nationally framed legal status and not subordinated to policies of migration.