Associations among altruism, burnout dimensions, and organizational citizenship behaviour

Most studies of burnout have focused on lack of resources, prevalence of burnout, and negative outcomes. In contrast, this study examined the relationships among altruism, burnout and a positive outcome, namely, the engagement in organizational citizenship behaviour. Web questionnaires were distributed to employees in three professional organizations. The results from the 178 respondents indicated that altruism is related to organizational citizenship behaviour. Of the three dimensions of burnout, only reduced personal accomplishment was (negatively) associated with engagement in organizational citizenship behaviours. Implications of the results are discussed and directions for future research are offered.     

The Prison Industry: Carceral Expansion and Employment in U.S. Counties, 1969–1994*

Objectives. Despite the interest that social scientists have displayed in the rising rate of incarceration, little attention has been devoted to understanding its consequences for local areas. This is an important omission because prison construction has become a component of state and local economic development schemes. Indeed, there is a widespread belief that prison construction provides significant economic benefits to local areas. Methods. We analyze data on all existing and new prisons in the United States since 1960 and examine the impact of these prisons on the pace of growth (as measured by public, private, and total employment growth) in U.S. counties from 1969 to 1994. To our knowledge, our study is the first comprehensive and longitudinal assessment of the impact of prison construction on local areas. Results. We find no evidence that prison expansion has stimulated economic growth. In fact, we provide evidence that prison construction has impeded economic growth in rural counties that have been growing at a slow pace. Conclusion. Despite sharp ideological and intellectual differences, the critics and the advocates of the prison construction boom share the assumption that prisons can contribute to local growth, especially in hard‐pressed local areas. This belief flies in the face of mounting evidence that state and local initiatives rarely have a significant impact on growth; this belief is also contradicted by our analyses.     

Die Rolle des Luftverkehrsrechts und der Haftung bei Flugzeugkatastrophen: Eine Finanzmarktanalyse

Zusammenfassung  Rechtsansprüche gegen Fluggesellschaften und Flugzeughersteller in Folge einer Flugzeugkatastrophe richten sich nach einer Flut rechtlicher Bestimmungen, die aus internationalen Abkommen, Vereinbarungen zwischen Fluglinien sowie aus Bundes- und Landesrecht resultieren. Die jeweilige Rechtsgrundlage in einem spezifischen Fall h?ngt von verschiedenen Umst?nden ab, die mit einem Unfall verbunden sind. Es überrascht daher nicht, dass zugesprochene Schadensersatz- und Schmerzensgeldzahlungen an die Angeh?rigen der Opfer von Fall zu Fall erheblich divergieren. In unserer Studie mit U.S.-amerikanischen Daten untersuchen wir, inwieweit der kurz- und langfristige Erfolg von Fluggesellschaften und Flugzeugherstellern durch Flugzeugkatastrophen beeinflusst wird und wir eruieren diejenigen Determinanten, die Performanceunterschiede erkl?ren k?nnen. Verwandte Untersuchungen haben sich weitgehend auf Effekte für Markennamen oder steigende Versicherungspr?mien als Ursachen für Aktienkursverluste konzentriert. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen darüber hinaus, dass das regulatorische Umfeld einer spezifischen Unglückssituation erheblichen Einfluss darauf hat, wie Finanzm?rkte reagieren. Die Reaktionen der Marktteilnehmer weisen darauf hin, dass die unterschiedlichen Berechnungsgrundlagen für die Opferentsch?digung recht klar erkannt werden.

---

The role of aviation laws and legal liability in airplane accidents: A financial market perspective

Summary  Legal liability claims against airlines and airplane manufacturers following an aviation disaster are determined through a myriad of international treaties, intercarrier agreements, and federal and state laws. Which law applies in a specific situation depends on various circumstances surrounding the accident. As a result, pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage awards for the families of the accident victims may vary substantially from case to case. Using U.S. data, our study examines how aviation disasters affect the short and long-term performance of airlines and airplane manufacturers and explores the factors that drive the performance differences. While prior research has largely focused on brand name effects and rising insurance premiums as possible determinants of stock price losses, our results suggest that the regulatory environment that applies to a given aviation accident has a significant impact on how the market reacts to its announcement. Inequities in the valuation of a human life are clearly reflected in stock price reactions. While recent regime changes have helped eliminate some of these imbalances further reform may be necessary.

     

AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF COUPLE AND THERAPIST EXPERIENCES IN REFLECTING TEAM PRACTICE

Couple and therapist perspectives about the use and process of reflecting team practice were analyzed using ethnographic research. A domain analysis was performed on postession interviews from both couples and therapists, and on field notes from each therapist. Seven couples and five therapists were interviewed at least twice over a 4-month period concerning their reactions to and perceptions of reflecting team practice. Six domains concerning reflecting team practice emerged from the analysis: (a)benefits of its use, (b) effects of gender, (c)recommended use, (d) contraindicated use, (e) the importance of creating spatial separateness between couple and team members, and (f) sequences of communication between the couple and team members that elicit change. The latter two domains described the process of reflecting team practice (i.e., steps in how it is used and how it is implemented). The role of ethnog rahy in reflecting team practice and in family therapy research is discussed.     

Talking about trees: Environment and society in forest workers' culture*

Ce texte se base sur des données tirées des interviews ouverts et de reserche ethnographique avec des travailleurs(euses) des forêts du nord-ouest de l'Ontario. II tente a analyser les relations entre ces travailleurs(euses) et l'environnement aussi bien que leurs images des environnementalistes. L'argument fait est que les interprétations des travailleurs(euses) des forets sur les sujets environnementaux et les environnementalistes ne sont pas seulement déterminées par les intérêts étroitement économiques. L'environnementalisme et les environnementalistes sont connotativement liés à des oppositions de classe et de région et done, deviennent des symboles métaphoriques et métonymiques d'autres conflits de classe et de région. La compréhension de quoi les sujets environnementaux signifient dans la culture des travailleurs(euses) des forêts demande une analyse de la manière par laquelle cette signification est surdéterminée par les discours existants à propos les divisions sociales enracinées en classe et en espace, dans le procès que les travailleurs(euses) des forêts constituent leur identité. This paper draws on data from open-ended interviews and ethnographic research with forest workers in northwestern Ontario to analyse their relationship to the environment and their representations of environmentalists. It argues that forest workers' interpretations of environmental issues and environmentalists are not solely determined by narrow economic concerns. Environmentalism and environmentalists are connotatively linked to class and regional oppositions so that they become metaphoric and metonymic symbols of other class and regional conflicts. Understanding the specific meaning of environmental issues in forest workers' culture requires an analysis of the way in which their meaning is overdetermined by existing narratives about social divisions rooted in class and space in the process by which forest workers constitute their identity.     

Child Welfare Services in Russia

SUMMARY: This is an account of a visit to Moscow in May 1994 to assess the possibilities for collaboration in developing child welfare services in Russia. The authors argue that the present situation is a critical one for millions of children, and that there is an urgent need for practical and theoretical assistance from Britain.     

On the Utility of Robust and Resampling Procedures1

Abstract Kassab (1990) makes an important methodological contribution by urging the use of robust regression methods in the study of community economic impacts and by indicating the utility of the bootstrap in assessing standard errors in robust regression. By introducing the notion of a contaminating distribution, we reconcile differences between her claim that ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is biased when outliers are present and standard linear model theory that does not make assumptions about the shape of the residual distribution in proving OLS an unbiased estimator. The contaminating distribution provides a framework for rural sociologists to link their statistical assumptions to a substantive understanding of the phenomena being studied. We suggest an alternative regression estimation strategy that may be more robust than the technique she uses. We also discuss an approach to bootstrapping that is more appropriate for macro-level social indicator data than the one she describes. An appendix discusses the software available for implementing these methods.