“There Aren't Any Gays Here”: Encountering Heteroprofessionalism in an International Development Workplace

Western-oriented workplaces use professionalism as a normative value to sustain and promote a cohesive work environment. Yet, through this qualitative study, the author points out some implications of using professionalism to manage staff relationships and behaviors. Using post-conflict Kosovo as the context, the author examined (a) the work experiences of 8 gay male aid workers and (b) the attitudes toward homosexuality of foreign staff members in 2 international aid agencies. The author introduces and suggests heteroprofessionalism as a root to homophobic and heterosexist behaviors present in the study. Heteroprofessionalism is defined as a professional value that screens out homosexuality.     

体制化“空转”： 发展悖境中社区工作站运行的组织行为分析——以S市X社区为例

社区工作站作为承接政府社区公共服务职能的新型社会组织，似乎并未真正摒弃行政化积弊及普遍性怠政现象，凸显出事实与价值背离的发展悖境态势。在当前新工作情境下，社区工作站无论是窗口、街头还是社区,其实都呈现出无工作负荷的“空转”状态，并彰显惯习性运作的体制化印记，而体制化“空转”的致因逻辑又在于情境暗示效应下的规章制度软性约束、街道办“示范效应”及社区工作“应付法则”。对此，有必要由情境反思予以解悖，从“干净的石板（clean slate）”出发，在政策原点上破解社区工作站的运行困境，尝试社区工作站的机构撤并及职能删减,以摒除社区公共服务工作中本不该有的体制化“空转”状态，力促基层组织体制改革去行政化的不二取向。     

Psychological Mediators of the Sport Injury—Perceived Risk Relationship

Drawing upon both heuristic‐ and threat‐based approaches, we sought to examine whether perceived similarity with injury‐prone people and perceived control over injury occurrence would directly contribute to perceived risk and whether these variables would mediate the previous injury–perceived risk relationship. Judokas (n = 207) reported the number of injuries experienced in the past year and then completed measures of perceived similarity, perceived control, and injury risk perception. Analyses revealed that perceived similarity and perceived control directly contributed to perceived risk of injury; only perceived similarity acted as a partial mediator of the injury–perceived risk relationship. These findings are discussed in relation to the potential influence of the sport context, which universally involves the acceptance of a high risk of injury.     

Unraveling quantity discounts

We consider the situation in which a buying organization deals with a discrete quantity discount schedule offered by a selling organization. Furthermore, the buying organization can negotiate with the selling organization about the lot size and purchase price, but does not know the underlying function that was used by the selling organization to determine the quantity discount schedule. In this paper, we provide an analytical and empirical basis for one general quantity discount function (QDF) that can be used to describe the underlying function of almost all different quantity discount types. We first develop such a QDF analytically. Among other things, this QDF enables buying organizations to calculate detailed prices for a large number of quantities. We subsequently show that the QDF fits very well with 66 discount schedules found in practice. We discuss that the QDF and related indicators can be a useful tool in supplier selection and negotiation processes. It can also be used for competitive analyses, multiple sourcing decisions, and allocating savings for purchasing groups. Additionally, the QDF can be included in research models incorporating quantity discounts. We conclude the paper with an outlook on further QDF research regarding the characterization of commodity markets from a demand elasticity point of view.     

Predictive factors of acculturation attitudes and social support among Asian immigrants in the USA

This study examines acculturation attitude and its relation to social support among Asian immigrants. The data were collected from 242 Korean, Indian and Filipino immigrants in the USA using the Acculturation Attitude Scale and the Social Support Index. Findings showed that Koreans had a less positive attitude toward acculturation than did Indian and Filipino participants. Acculturation attitude was positively correlated with educational level and English fluency. This study also found a negative correlation between acculturation attitude and social support. Social support from friends and English fluency were identified as significant predictor variables in determining the level of acculturation attitude. These findings not only contribute to social work education and practice, but also increase cultural sensitivity and awareness in working with these populations.     

The Continuum of Care System

Abstract

The Continuum of Care System is a Decision Support System designed to assist social workers responsible for identifying and selecting alternative living arrangements for children unable to remain in their own families. The Continuum of Care System consists of two software packages called MATCH and PROFILE. MATCH produces a rank-ordered list of prospective placement alternatives by statistically comparing an individual child to groups of children previously admitted into different residential facilities. PROFILE summarizes the characteristics and problems of children at each facility in the system.     

Practicing What We Preach: Creating Groups for Ourselves

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the professional isolation faced by social group work practitioners and educators. It identifies the need for peer support and connection in an environment of limited opportunities for professional development. The paper describes and assesses long-term peer support groups initiated and developed by each of the authors, one for group work educators and the other for practitioners. It discusses the potential for expanding the development of such groups, which could benefit individual group workers as well as strengthen efforts to ensure the survival of group work.     

A Different Kind of Holding Environment: A Case Study of Group Work with Pediatric Staff

ABSTRACT

This paper reports a nearly two-year intervention with staff at a major urban pediatric facility. The authors worked as trainers and consultants for two groups–the Emergency Department (ED) and Chronic Care units (CC). Following two days of training about grief and loss, highlighting skill building for work with traumatized and grieving children and parents, the consultants worked to develop teams which could provide a Winnicottian holding environment for staff. The efficacy of this staff training is analyzed and support needs of staff members are identified. Findings include varied willingness to make use of group support. Chronic care participants are more likely to express willingness to engage in on-going support for one another, while ED staff members seem to prefer structured, educational training and episodic support. The holding environment of the processing groups must be adapted to fit the needs of the medical sub-culture.     

A long way from home: On black identity in Britain

This article sets out to challenge much of the current literature on the self‐identity of blacks in British society. By looking at the long‐term historical background, the colonial heritage of cultural, political and economic oppression, a series of more subtle analyses emerges. Among the stereotypes challenged is that of the generational gap; evidence is cited to indicate a far greater common awareness and identity of aims and attitudes than previous writers have suggested. Hie conclusion examines some strategies for fighting racism within British society.     

Black men teaching: toward a theory of social isolation in organizations

ABSTRACT

While there continues to be increasing research about Black male teachers’ school-based experiences, there is less empirical evidence on the variation in these experiences for this subgroup. Drawing on Kanter’s Theory of Numbers and Group Composition, the researcher used the qualitative method to compare the perceptions of Black male teachers in schools that employ just one Black male teacher versus schools with larger numbers of Black male teachers. A theory of social isolation in organizations is proposed to explain differences in the variation of school-based experiences for Black male teachers. When compared to Black men in schools with larger percentages of Black male teachers on the faculty, those Black men who were the only Black male teachers on their faculty were more likely to describe feeling socially isolated and disconnected from their colleagues.