Organizational climate and burnout in a New Zealand social service agency

Abstract

A two-phase study was conducted on the relationship between organizational climate variables and burnout among personnel in a multifunction community service agency. Initial interviews with a small pilot sample identified major sources of stress, which were then incorporated into a second-phase questionnaire to all staff. Multiple regression analyses illustrated that perceived interactions between head office administrators and sections of the agency contributed significantly to emotional exhaustion, whereas perceptions of within-section interactions and involvement in decision-making had a positive impact on personal accomplishment. Perceived communication levels, however, were negatively related to personal accomplishment. The findings suggest the importance of organizational variables and highlight strategies for burnout reduction and effective stress management in human service organizations.     

新科技革命对国际政治格局的影响

本世纪50年代兴起的新科技革命对整个世界格局发生了重大影响。文章阐述了新科技革命导致各国实力的不平衡，引起国际政治行为主体地位和角色发生变化，从而促使国际政治格局发生演变；新科技革命加快了国际政治格局的变革周期；并改变了国际政治格局转化的手段。     

我国转型期社会保障制度建设的国外借鉴

社会保障被誉为社会的安全网,其对于社会的发展、稳定具有至关重要的作用,作为社会主义国家,完善的社会保障更是展现社会制度优越性,实现社会公平的具体表现。分析了我国社会保障制度建设中存在的问题及主要原因,并通过对国外社会保障经验的借鉴,提出我国社会保障建设的可行性建议,力图寻求解决社会保障不和谐现象的有效途径。     

进一步有效地促进我国经济增长方式根本转变问题探讨

本文对新世纪、新阶段如何进一步有效地推进我国经济增长方式由粗放型向集约型转变作了分析和探讨。首先回顾了我国经济增长方式的演变,然后分析了我国经济增长方式转变的困难之处及其原因,最后有针对性地提出了加快促进经济增长方式的对策建议。     

基于旋转变换的多角度单人脸标准化算法新探

提出一种基于旋转变换的多角度单人脸标准化算法.首先计算出人脸的平面旋转角度,然后利用双线性插值的思想,推导出一种便于编程、速度快的插值方法进行旋转变换,将其矫正为正面端正人脸.     

Minority government and marginal members: new issues for political and policy legitimacy in Australia

A steady decline in major party support in Commonwealth nations has resulted in changing parliamentary compositions, including the growing prevalence of minority government. Such situations pose new questions for notions of government legitimacy within Westminster systems. For instance, is negotiation with cross-benchers an example of government illegitimacy? What is the legitimate role of non-ministerial members when the composition of parliament gives them the final say on the enabling legislation for public policy? What is the legitimate response of the public sector regarding policy-making in the context of minority government? In this paper, we reflect on how a ‘marginal member’ concept can provide new insights into such issues and their implications.     

Nurse safety: How is safety climate related to affect and attitude?

Occupational accidents and injuries continue to be a critical concern for nurses, given the hazardous healthcare environment. This study advances the research on workplace safety by studying the process variables (i.e. job-related negative affect (JRNA) and job satisfaction) in explaining the relationship between safety climate and various safety criteria in nurses. Based on survey data from 326 nurses, our findings suggest that psychological safety climate is negatively related to JRNA, turnover intentions, safety workarounds, and workplace hazards. In addition, structural equation modelling indicated general support for a model in which psychological safety climate influences employee strain through job attitudes, including JRNA and job satisfaction. More specifically, job attitudes were found to mediate the relationship between psychological safety climate and turnover intentions, experience of hazards, and injuries. Safety workarounds did not significantly relate to injuries. The present study contributes to the ongoing improvement of interventions aimed at mitigating nurses’ injuries by integrating job attitudes into the safety climate–safety outcome framework.     

What if gender became an essential,standard element of Vulnerability Assessments?

Vulnerability Assessments (VAs) can be useful tools for providing key insights for non-government organisations and other development actors, including governments. Not only can they provide an extensive, ‘landscape-wide’ understanding of vulnerability and its underlying causes in a specific context, but this understanding can be jointly owned by all participants. They can thus be used for designing risk reduction and resilience-building measures, programmes, or projects that affect specific groups within a community or the landscape. Beyond that, VAs can provide a platform that promotes interaction among otherwise disconnected stakeholders, as well as the evidence and argumentation for community groups to engage in advocacy with local and municipal/district authorities. This article draws on our combined experience as development practitioners, and considers what we have learnt about the importance of integrating gender issues into VAs.     

‘Your whole life depends on it’: academic stress and high-stakes testing in Ireland

International research consistently shows that high-stakes exams are a significant source of stress and worry for students within secondary education. Existing research focuses on individual variation in exam-related stress levels among students with very little attention given to the influence of school context on student stress. Using data from the Irish Post-Primary Longitudinal Study, a mixed methods study of secondary students, this paper examines both individual and school level factors influencing the levels of stress among students preparing for the nationally standardised Leaving Certificate examination. The paper presents new findings which highlight the potential role of schools in ameliorating student stress. Findings show that student stress is not only influenced by individual-level factors but that certain aspects of the schooling process impact on stress levels. In particular, the quality of student–teacher interaction and peer relations within the school are found to have a significant impact on student stress levels. Students with more positive interactions with their teachers have lower stress levels with higher stress levels among those who have experienced bullying from peers. Stress is also influenced by programme choice at upper secondary level and the extent to which students are facilitated in their choice of subjects.     

Disability and climate change: A critical realist model of climate justice

Existing literature on climate change as an issue of environmental justice documents the heightened vulnerability of people with disabilities to the effects of climate change. Additionally, there are numerous studies showing that access to information is a prerequisite for perceiving risk and taking action. Building on this work, our review seeks to understand how physical disability relates to perceptions of climate-related risk and adaptations to climate-related events. We introduce a critical realist model of climate justice to understand the relationships between the environmental features that disable, risk perception and information seeking, and adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change. In understanding the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of people with disabilities to climate change, this review synthesizes research on one of the U.S.’s largest minority communities with the goals of better understanding how vulnerable populations cope with climate change and integrating them into climate action and policy.