Children with disabilities in out-of-home care: Perspectives on organisational collaborations

Many contemporary support services for children and young people (CYP) in out-of-home-care have adopted a collaborative approach to service provision in order to best meet the complex needs of clients. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the perceptions of Evolve Behaviour Support Services (EBSS) frontline and managerial staff delivering services to CYP in out-of-home-care with disability and complex behaviours regarding interagency/stakeholder collaboration. Views about the number and nature of collaborative partnerships, factors which facilitate or hinder effective relationships and advantages (including unintended benefits) of collaboration were sought. Qualitative interviews with 21 participants highlighted issues around: (1) general and agency/stakeholder specific issues and barriers, and (2) benefits of collaboration. The collaborative approach to service provision was seen as greatly enhancing the effectiveness of EBSS' response and ability to meet the range of CYP's complex needs, as well as having benefits for carers and service providers. Nevertheless, difficulties with collaboration were also encountered. Frequently identified challenges included reduced stakeholder engagement, differences in professional backgrounds and practice frameworks, unequal initiation of contact and follow-up, organisational disparities, communication and information sharing problems, frequent stakeholder turnover and geographical barriers in rural/remote areas.     

Beyond Qualification: Experiences of Black Social Workers on a Post‐Qualifying Course

This article reports on the findings from a small‐scale qualitative study of the experiences of five black women studying on a Post‐Qualifying Child Care Award (PQCCA). The study considered the expectations of the women, their experiences of recruitment and selection, and support for the candidates from their agency and from the universities offering the programme. Also reported are the experiences of the course content, course completion and the specific experience of being a black candidate on the course. The article sets all this in the context of post‐qualifying education, current child care practice and the relevant literature. We make extensive use of the rich data provided by the five respondents in the study, and conclude with recommendations arising from the black women themselves and the researchers' reflections on their experiences.     

What is intersectional equality? A definition and goal of equality for organizations

Organizational research has come a long way in understanding and dealing with inequalities in the workplace. Despite this, there has not been enough progress toward equality. The reason for the stymied progress, we argue, is in large part due to the conceptual gaps in our understanding of equality. This has not been clear enough to prevent previous imbalances in power, interests and domination from re-manifesting themselves in new ways. Because organizations are complex, there needs to be a clear definition and goal of equality that can account for these mechanisms. In this article, we present a conceptual approach we call intersectional equality. To develop this approach, we build on Kimberlé Crenshaw's intersectionality and Joan Acker's inequality regimes that are useful for understanding the presence and persistency of inequality in organizations, but these do not define solutions for equality. At this point, we turn to equality and justice theory and examine Amartya Sen's capabilities approach for incorporating organizations and organizational responsibilities to pursue equality. In light of the conceptual gaps in intersectionality, the inequality regimes, and the capabilities approach, we present intersectional equality as a conclusive alternative concept and approach. Intersectional equality sharpens the feminist definition and vision of equality for organizations and provides a practical path forward for building coalitions and capabilities across four dimensions of organizational disparities (procedural, discursive, material, and affective).     

Little Magazine Interview Index 2006

Abstract

Portland State University collection development librarian Jill Emery talks with members of the Orbis Cascade Alliance demand driven acquisitions implementation team, EBL, and YBP Library Services about their participation in a pilot project to acquire e-books that are accessible to and jointly owned by the thirty-seven member libraries of the Orbis Cascade Alliance.     

The association between job skill discretion,decision authority and burnout

This paper reports on the relationship between dimensions of control (skill discretion and decision authority) and burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment) among 164 human service workers. It examines the differential influence of job demands, control (skill discretion and decision authority) and social support (supervisor, co-workers, others) on each burnout dimension. Then it examines the moderating effects of higher skill discretion, higher decision authority, and higher social support on burnout. Low skill discretion was found to be associated with high emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and low personal accomplishment. The effects of decision authority were not statistically significant. High job demands were associated with high emotional exhaustion only. Social support (supervisor, co-worker, and others) was not associated with burnout when demographic variables and job characteristics were controlled for. Neither dimension of control moderated the impact of high job demands on burnout. Social support did not moderate the impact of high demands, low skill discretion, or low decision authority on any burnout dimension. The full model explained 44% of the variance in emotional exhaustion, 25% in depersonalization, and 42% in personal accomplishment. Despite its limitations, the study suggests that the Job Demand-Control model may provide a useful theoretical foundation for the study of burnout, but that the control dimensions need to be evaluated independently since they appear to be differentially related to the burnout dimensions.     

Voluntary turnover among non-supervisory casino employees

As gaming is expanding nationally and internationally, existing gaming operations are facing increased competition for employees with gaming experience. This study investigates the factors related to employee turnover in the gaming industry. Workers of six casinos in Reno, Nevada were surveyed concerning their work attitudes and turnover intentions, resulting in a sample of 492 observations. The sample represents all non-supervisory job types typically found in casinos. Pearson correlations and multivariate regression analysis were employed to investigate the relationships among turnover intentions and job satisfaction, specific satisfaction dimensions, organizational commitment, worker perceptions, pay, and labor market conditions. The results show that job satisfaction and organizational commitment are most strongly related to turnover. In contrast to previous findings, labor market conditions and pay play only a minor role in an employee's decision to quit. Instead, perceived lack of job security, satisfaction with supervision, and perceived employer concern with employee well-being emerge among the most important factors. The results imply that employers in the gaming industry can manage employee turnover by providing effective supervision that is based on employee participation and fair treatment of employees. Training of supervisors, therefore, may be a relatively inexpensive method of controlling employee turnover in casinos.     

Six of One and Half a Dozen of the Other: The Gender Subtext of Taylorism and Team-based Work

This article analyses gendering processes in two distinct models of work organization. It is a widespread belief that, compared to hierarchical (Tayloristic) organizations, team-based work offers opportunities for a high quality of working life to a broader range of employees, both men and women. Our research, however, suggests that gender inequality is (re)produced in both settings and results from the so-called gender subtext. The gender subtext is the set of often concealed power-based processes (re)producing gender distinction in social practices through organizational and individual arrangements. We draw a comparison between the gender subtext of Tayloristic and team-based work organizations through a theoretical analysis, illustrated by empirical data concerning the functioning of the gender subtext in organizations in the Dutch banking sector. Taylorism and team-based work differ in their conceptualization of organization and job design, but, when it comes to the gender subtext, it is six of one and half a dozen of the other. We argue that in both approaches a gender subtext contributes to the emergence of different but gendered notions of the ‘disembodied worker’. In both cases the notion of the abstract worker is implicitly loaded with masculine connotations. This gender bias is supported by two factors influencing the gendering of jobs: the gender connotations of care responsibilities and of qualification profiles. These implicit connotations produce and reinforce unequal opportunities for men and women to get highly qualified or management jobs. Our research, therefore, questions the self-evidence of stating that team-based work will offer opportunities for a higher quality of working life for women.