Efficient and effective learning for safety from incidents

Learning from incidents is important for improving safety. Many companies spend a great deal of time and money on such learning procedures. The objectives of this paper are to present some early results from a project aimed at revealing weaknesses in the procedures for learning from incidents and to discuss improvements in these procedures, especially in chemical process industries. The empirical base comes from a project assessing organizational learning and the effectiveness of the different steps of the learning cycle for safety and studying relations between safety-specific transformational leadership, safety climate, trust, safety-related behavior and learning from incidents. The results point at common weaknesses in the organizational learning, both in the horizontal learning (geographical spread) and in vertical learning (double-loop learning). Furthermore, the effectiveness in the different steps of the learning cycle is low due to insufficient information in incident reports, very shallow analyses of reports, decisions that focus at solving the problem only at the place where the incident took place, late implementations and weak solutions. Strong correlations with learning from incidents were found for all safety climate variables as well as for safety-related behaviors and trust. The relationships were very strong for trust, safety knowledge, safety participation and safety compliance.     

Defender, spokesperson, therapist: representing the true interest of the client in therapeutic law

The aim of this article is to analyse the role of the legal representative in therapeutic law, specifically in Swedish administrative court hearings relating to compulsory care. Data are collected from three types of cases where a health or social welfare authority argues that it is necessary to apply coercion to a citizen: the Care of Young Persons (Special Provisions) Act, the Care of Alcohol and Drug Abusers (Special Provisions) Act and the Compulsory Psychiatric Care Act. The data consist of audio-recordings from 39 hearings, supplemented by 28 interviews with participants in these hearings, and court documents. Three primary roles of the legal representatives are identified: defender, spokesperson and therapist. We show how the primary role of the attorney becomes that of the spokesperson, but also that the role of the therapist takes precedence over that of the defender.     

Discharge procedures for mentally ill people: The perspective of former psychiatric patients on their primary social network, quality of life and future life expectations

This article on literature about social networks and social support in order to integrate a number of key concepts and findings that must be considered in research about the social conditions of mentally ill people. Interviews with 53 former psychiatric patients were carried out to get their perspective on their social network, quality of life and future life expectations. The duration of and stigma attached to mental illness, being without work and gender seemed to have the most influence on the primary network. The same issues, except for gender, together with place of residence, financial difficulties and inability to exert influence over one's own situation influenced the respondents' quality of life and their expectations of the future. These findings are analysed and discussed from a social psychological perspective.     

Moral Reflexivity and Dramaturgical Action in Social Movement Activism: The Case of the Plowshares and Animal Rights Sweden

Drawing on Durkheim's sociology of morality, which identifies ideals and norms as the key components of morality, this article outlines a theoretical model for understanding how social movements can bring about legitimate social change. Social movement activists, we propose, can be conceptualized as followers and pursuers of sacred ideals. As such, they frequently come into conflict with existing norms in society. To manage this dilemma, activists must downplay their role as norm breakers while emphasizing their identity as followers of ideals. This in turn requires moral reflexivity in the staging of collective action. The article shows how dramaturgical control (Goffman) is exercised towards this end among activists engaged in two social movements in Sweden: the Plowshares peace movement and Animal Rights Sweden. The article further examines the internal stratification, or ‘moral hierarchies’, within the two activist groups in the light of the proposed model. The closer the activists were able to adhere to the sacred ideal, the higher the social status they enjoyed within the group.     

A Field of Contention: Evidence from Housing Struggles in Bucharest and Budapest

The article offers a study of housing movements in Budapest and Bucharest, with the main focus on the developments since the financial crisis of 2008, stressing the role that both structural and contingent factors play in shaping the dynamics of this “field of contention.” It is argued that a structural view is enlightening for understanding the factors that form the interactive field between activists, such as differences in social positionality as well as ideological conflicts. Moreover, conceiving of a structurally produced field of contention can help explain the differences in housing contention in the two cities. The analysis situates housing movements and their allied, parallel, or opposing actors within the long-term processes of urbanization and global dynamics of commodification, including housing financialization. It demonstrates that to understand how structural and political factors interact in a complex field of contention, attention to processes beyond short-term local movements is necessary.     

Struggling for One’s Name: Defense Narratives by those Accused of Small-Time Corruption

ABSTRACT

Under scrutiny (what we term a “bribery gaze”), many interpersonal exchanges in work contexts are perceived as bribes rather than gifts, tokens of appreciation, or mundane favors. Current Swedish bribery laws are strong, and the media keep a vigilant eye out for suspicious activities. From a wide set of qualitative data, we selected 13 interviews with formally-accused middle managers and low-level officials in Sweden who claimed to be innocent of small corruption. We discovered that they were more concerned with defending their honor than with job losses, material losses, or legal repercussions. The interviewees used a contrast structure: While they defined the humiliating accusations and disproportionate measures as turning points, they narrated their moral struggles and claimed their innocence by retelling significant events. These personal narratives from those accused of corruption showed that honor remains very important in contemporary society.     

After a Cycle of Contention: Post-Gothenburg Strategies of Left-Libertarian Activists in Sweden

This article considers the strategic choices that radical activists face when a cycle of contention ends. It investigates the reorientation of the autonomous anarchists or left-libertarian activist milieu in Sweden after the riots at the Gothenburg summit in 2001, which ended a cycle of anti-globalization protests in Sweden. The article identifies five strategies by which this activist milieu attempted to reconstruct collective agency, build a new alliance structure, and renew the repertoire of contention: (1) rescaling and targeting of micro-politics; (2) moving from secluded to open communities; (3) rethinking collective agency with the help of a new movement theory; (4) reversing dominant discourses and opening up discursive space; and (5) redefining militancy and shelving of violent confrontation. The study builds on activist interviews and ethnographic research in Stockholm and Malmö.