A Case Study Using Photovoice to Explore Racial and Social Identity Among Young Black Men: Implications for Social Work Research and Practice

This article describes an exploratory qualitative case study using a research method novel to social work known as Photovoice. This case study of the Photovoice process assesses its value as a community-based participatory research (CBPR) method with marginalized communities within social work research. Photovoice was used to engage young Black men as researchers into their own lived experience. Through a photographic and group participatory project, participants discussed how intersections of race, gender, and sexuality affect their lives and health. While this methodology has proliferated within public health literature, little research exists within social work. Photovoice represents a research well-aligned with core social work values of empowerment and social justice. This method offers our profession a participatory, action-oriented tool to inform practice and policy and does so in the voices of communities who often go unheard.     

The impact of touch-tone data entry on reports of HIV and STD risk behaviors in telephone interviews

Respondents concerns about privacy can decrease reporting of HIV and STD risk behaviors in general population telephone surveys. The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of an experimental study evaluating whether one method for increasing privacy, touch-tone data entry (TTDE), is effective in increasing estimates of sexual behaviors from a population-based survey. We conducted a random-digit-dial telephone survey of adults in New Jersey (n = 405), with half the respondents using TTDE for answering sexual behavior questions. TTDE led to increased reports of same-sex sexual behavior, certain HIV and STD risk factors, and concern about one s risk for HIV and STD transmission. TTDE also narrowed the difference between men s and women s reports of the number of different sexual partners over the past 10 years. The feasibility and limitations of TTDE are discussed, as well as possible alternative interpretations that consider the impact of TTDE on the dynamics of the interaction between the respondent and the interviewer.     

From Mastery to Accountability: Cultural Humility as an Alternative to Cultural Competence

Cultural competency has been a long held ideal for social work educators and practitioners. However, definitions and approaches to cultural competency vary widely depending on worldview, discipline, and practice context. Within social work and beyond, cultural competency has been challenged for its failure to account for the structural forces that shape individuals' experiences and opportunities. In contrast, the concept ofcultural humility takes into account the fluidity of culture and challenges both individuals and institutions to address inequalities. This article takes a critical look at cultural competence as a concept, examining its explicit and implicit assumptions, and the impact these assumptions have on practitioners. It suggests that cultural humility may offer social work an alternative framework as it acknowledges power differentials between provider and client and challenges institutional-level barriers. The authors advocate a move from a focus on mastery in understanding ‘others’ to a framework that requires personal accountability in challenging institutional barriers that impact marginalized communities. Cultural humility, while a promising concept, has not been fully explored in social work. Therefore, the authors present a conceptual model of cultural competency along with strategic questions for providers and organizations to integrate into social work practice and education.     

Work‐life policies and programs: Comparing the responsiveness of nonprofit and for‐profit organizations

Analysis of the data from the 1998 Business Work‐Life Study, one of the first comprehensive studies of how U.S. organizations are responding to the work‐life needs of the nation's changing workforce, indicates that nonprofits with one hundred or more employees are more likely than for‐profits to offer particular types of work‐life policies and programs (such as extended leaves following birth or adoption) and to pay for at least some of the costs of health insurance for part‐time employees. In contrast, nonprofits are less likely to offer other work‐life supports (such as paid maternity leave). Despite the resource constraints that can restrict the compensation and benefits packages offered by some nonprofits, the overall scope of the work‐life initiatives established by nonprofits is similar to those initiatives at for‐profit organizations. Regression analyses find that although organizations' profit status does not explain variance in the scope of their work‐life initiatives, three of the variables measured by this study (indicators of workplace commitment to diversity and work‐life issues, percentage of women in executive positions, and the size of the workforce) do.     

Workplace Characteristics and Work-to-Family Conflict: Does Caregiving Frequency Matter?

Many workers can expect to provide care to an elder relative at some point during their tenure in the workforce. This study extends previous research by exploring whether caregiving frequency (providing care on a regular, weekly basis vs. intermittently) moderates the relationship between certain workplace characteristics and work-to-family conflict. Utilizing a sample of 465 respondents from the National Study of the Changing Workforce (Families and Work Institute, 2008 Families and Work Institute. (2008). National Study of the Changing Workforce [data file and code book]. https://store.familiesandwork.org (http://https://store.familiesandwork.org)  [Google Scholar]), results indicate that access to workplace flexibility has a stronger effect on reducing work-to-family conflict among intermittent caregivers than among those who provide care regularly.     

Are women less career centric than men? Structure,culture, and identity investments

Some work/family scholars assume that gender differences in career centrality (i.e. the importance of career to one's identity) are a result of differential job characteristics and family demands; others trace these differences to pre-existing cultural orientations. Using the 2010 Generations of Talent data from 9210 employees working in 11 countries for 7 multinational companies, this study verifies the existence of gender differences in career centrality and explores structural and cultural explanations. Gender disparities in career centrality are modest, indicating that women's and men's identification with careers is more similar than is commonly asserted; the most pronounced (but still relatively small) disparities are observed in Japan and China. A large portion of the gender gap is explained by job characteristics, supporting structural explanations. Family demands contribute to explaining the gap as well, but the findings are unexpected: having minor children is associated with higher career centrality for both women and men. In support of cultural explanations, however, traditional gender beliefs are associated with lower career centrality, especially for women, while two job characteristics (job variety and peer relations) have distinct links to career centrality for women and men. Findings challenge the common assumption that family identities compete against work identities.     

A mediational model of workplace flexibility,work–family conflict,and perceived stress among caregivers of older adults

As an increasing number of employees become caregivers, the role of workplace resources in supporting caregivers has attracted the attention of researchers, employers, and policy-makers. Workplace flexibility is one type of resource that has attracted particular interest, with research exploring whether flexibility (that is, giving employees some control over when and/or where work gets done) is related to important outcomes for both employees and employers. This investigation develops and tests a mediational model explicating the process through which workplace flexibility – operationalized in three distinct ways – impacts caregiver stress among US employees. Using a sample of 211 caregivers from the National Study of the Changing Workforce (2008), results show that work-to-family conflict mediates the relationship between perceived workplace flexibility and caregiver stress as well as the relationship between access to flexible work options and caregivers stress. However, the mediational model is not supported when flexibility is operationalized as respondents’ formal use of flexible work options. Implications for employers and future research are discussed.     

Gender variation in the antecedents of task advice network size: Organizational tenure and core self-evaluations

Research finds gender differences in the size, quality, and consequences of social networks in the workplace. Building on these studies, we focus on one type of social network: task advice networks, which we define as the networks that act as conduits for information and knowledge directly related to work task completion. Using data on over 1300 employees, we test the relationships between task advice network size and two variables – organizational tenure and core self-evaluations, examining differences by gender. We find a larger positive association between core self-evaluations and task advice network size for men than for women. Additionally, we find that men, but not women, have larger networks when lower in tenure.     

Workplace Flexibility as an Organizational Response to the Aging of the Workforce: A Comparison of Nonprofit and For-Profit Organizations

ABSTRACT

The degree to which flexible work options are available to employees has been used as an indicator of the extent to which organizations have responded to workforce needs, including those related to the aging of the workforce. This article uses an organizational adaptation framework to determine factors that explain variation in the degree to which flexible work options are offered in for-profit and non-profit organizations. Findings indicate that while the scope of flexible work options offered was similar among for-profits and non-profits, the factors that predicted variance in the scope of these options differed somewhat between the two sectors.