Segmented Labor Markets in Alabama's Pulp and Paper Industry1

Abstract Alabama's forest products industry plays a dominant role in the state's rural economy. Examination of how access to employment opportunities is distributed provides insight into how the benefits of this industry are distributed. Based on a combination of available secondary data and semi-structured interviews with management and workers in the pulp and paper sector of Alabama's forest products industry, a clear picture of segmented labor markets emerges in which structural and cultural factors determine access to certain jobs. The evolution of these highly segmented labor markets is traced from deep roots in racial discrimination to contemporary efforts in support of affirmative action. Increased use of sub-contracting in logging, hauling, and mill work represents the most recent change affecting the structure of labor markets associated with the production of pulp and paper.     

A Kind of Loving: A Model of Effective Foster Care

Correspondence to Professor Kate Wilson, Centre of Social Work, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD. E-mail: kate.wilson{at}nottingham.ac.uk Summary The article builds on a companion statistical paper, which drewon the findings of a large sample of foster placements and analysedfactors leading to a successful placement and the avoidanceof disruption. A model of successful foster care was developedwhich suggested that outcomes depend on three aspects of thefoster placement, those that relate to the child, the fostercarer and the interaction between the two. Here, a concreteexample in the form of a case study drawn from interviews undertakenas part of the study is used to illustrate the relevance ofthe model to practice. The qualities that make up the interactionbetween the carer and the child are elaborated through the conceptof ‘responsive parenting’. The analysis is takenfurther by identifying the processes involved in a way thatis detailed and precise and has relevance to theory. The paperargues that the case study provides material that could informboth training and the theories that underpin practice.     

Schemes and social workers: Issues of time pressure and training

This article is based on data from almost 400 questionnaires completed by social workers and social work assistants from six Social Services Departments. It addresses three questions:— what time did staff spend on schemes compared with other social work activities; did schemes or other forms of social work contribute to ‘felt pressure’; and were qualifying and post qualifying courses seen as helpful for undertaking schemes or community based projects. We found that staff spent a significant amount of time on schemes and other non-casework activities. A high proportion of staff felt under pressure which was associated both with working out of office hours and with working in their ‘own time’. A high caseload and involvement in non-casework activities were also both associated with ‘pressure’. Basic training was seen as less useful than previous occupational experience for undertaking community based projects. These findings, when considered with a low staff turnover, suggest that introducing a community approach requires a staff and management development programme together with a workload management system as part of a comprehensive policy.     

A temporal investigation of the direct,interactive, and reverse relations between demand and control and affective strain

Abstract

Few studies have tested how stressors affect outcomes over time. We sought to extend the literature by means of a longitudinal study testing for direct, interactive, and causal relations between demands and control and affective strain. We extended prior work testing causal relationships for Karasek's (1979 Karasek, R.A. Jr. 1979. Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: Implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24: 285–307. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) Job Demand-Control (JDC) model by examining both the effects of demands and control on strain and in turn the effects of strain on demand and control. We tested our hypotheses using hierarchical linear modelling with a military sample of 1539 soldiers who completed six waves of survey data at 3-month time lags. The results replicate earlier cross-sectional studies reporting effects of work characteristics on strain; however, in our study these effects did not persist past three months. The results also provide evidence for reverse causal effects such that higher strain was associated with higher subsequent work overload and lower control over a six month time period. Similar to past research, we did not find support for the interactive effects of work overload and control on strain. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory and practice (such as the optimum time for applying interventions during the management of change), especially in terms of understanding the specific time lags for different stress–strain associations and the need for additional theories to explain reverse relationships.     

Ethnic and University Identities across the College Years: A Common In-Group Identity Perspective

The common in-group identity model advocates the creation of a superordinate group identity in order to reduce conflict between members of different ethnic subgroups. This study demonstrates that a university identity can serve as an effective common in-group identity for students from different ethnic groups. Longitudinal data were collected from an ethnically diverse sample of university students at the end of each year of college. Although ethnic identification tended to be correlated with status-legitimizing orientations and ideologies in a way that reinforces ethnic-status differences (i.e., these variables tended to be positively related for Whites but less so for ethnic minorities), the status-legitimizing variables were largely unrelated to university identification during each year in college. The longitudinal data also allowed us to examine these relationships over time. The relationships between ethnic and university identification and status-legitimizing orientations and ideologies did not change. Ethnic and university identities are discussed in terms of the common in-group identity model.     

What They Really Want Is a Caliphate! British Salafi Reactions to the Arab Spring

This contribution discusses the lack of references to the success of Salafi parties in the Middle East after the Arab Spring, in Egypt especially, by groups who self-identify as Salafi outside the Middle East. In their interpretation of the uprisings known as the Arab Spring, British Salafis have emphasised that Arab Muslim populations in the Middle East want an Islamic Caliphate despite cries for liberal rights and democracy. The aim of this contribution is to provide a theoretical frame for analysing a type of European Salafism on the rise preoccupied with establishing “Sharia Zones” and controlling fellow Muslims’ observance of Islamic principles in British cities but with little interest in political developments in Muslim majority countries. Rather than working for political influence, the British so-called Salafis in al-Muhajiroun are preoccupied with defining a place of their own in their European context. Thus, the argument is that in order to understand current Salafi-inspired movements in the Middle East and Europe, it is necessary to analyse practice, rhetorical expressions and political context rather than how various groups self-identify.     

Consequences of decriminalization of homosexuality: a study of two Australian states

A comparison between homosexual males in two Australian states, Victoria (prior to decriminalization of homosexuality) and South Australia (eight years after decriminalization), indicated that the consequences of decriminalization did not include an increase in the negative aspects of homosexuality, such as public solicitation or sexually transmitted disease. Findings suggest that as a consequence of decriminalization, the psychological adjustment of homosexual men will increase and sexually transmitted diseases and public solicitation will decrease. These data are tentatively interpreted as indicating that there are few if any negative consequences of decriminalizing homosexuality, and a number of positive consequences.