Approaches used by employee assistance programs to address perpetration of intimate partner violence

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are workplace resources available to employees with problems impacting work performance. EAPs are well-positioned to address intimate partner violence (IPV), a major public health problem with workplace impacts. A purposeful sample of 28 EAPs across the United States was surveyed to identify policies and programs to address IPV, including perpetration. Most EAPs did not report having standardized approaches for addressing IPV perpetration. EAPs also described significant barriers to identifying IPV perpetrators, with the majority relying on self-disclosure on the part of the perpetrator when contacting the EAP. These results suggest that many EAPs--even when interacting with employees who present with issues known to correlate with IPV--are missing a potential opportunity to assess and intervene with IPV perpetrators.     

Tournaments and unfair treatment

This paper introduces the negative feelings associated with the perception of being unfairly treated into a tournament model and examines the impact of these perceptions on workers’ efforts and their willingness to work overtime. The effect of unfair treatment on workers’ behavior is ambiguous in the model in that two countervailing effects arise: a negative impulsive effect and a positive strategic effect. The impulsive effect implies that workers react to the perception of being unfairly treated by reducing their level of effort. The strategic effect implies that workers raise this level in order to improve their career opportunities and thereby avoid feeling even more unfairly treated in the future. An empirical test of the model using survey data from a Swedish municipal utility shows that the overall effect is negative. This suggests that employers should consider the negative impulsive effect of unfair treatment on effort and overtime when designing contracts and determining promotions.     

Conceptualizing international labor migration: a structuration perspective

"This article applies the theory of structuration to international labor migration using case study material from the Philippines. It first provides a brief review of the functional and structural approaches to understanding labor migration and the theoretical impasse that has been created between them. It then reviews several attempts to resolve this impasse, including systems and networks approaches; these solutions are rejected on theoretical and empirical grounds. We suggest that migrant institutions may be a more appropriate mid-level concept than households or social networks to articulate various levels of analysis. We develop this concept in the context of the structuration theory of Anthony Giddens and attempt to apply this to the Philippines, concluding that this framework is eminently suited for further research on international labor migration."     

To Join or Not to Join: Gay-Straight Student Alliances and the High School Experiences of Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Transgender Youths

This retrospective study investigates 79 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) college students’ experiences attending high schools with gay-straight student alliances (GSAs). Responses to two, open-ended survey questions were analyzed thematically to identify reasons that underlie GSA non-membership and to model facets of GSAs that may impact the GSA-related experiences of LGBT youths. Three frames of reference for understanding GSA non-membership and perceptions of GSAs emerged. Implications for predicting GSA membership and identifying protective mechanisms of GSAs are outlined. Suggestions to help GSA leaders and advisors enhance specific aspects of GSAs that appear to be associated with positive perceptions of GSAs are also provided.     

Disclosure of sexual assault experiences among undergraduate women at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs)

ABSTRACT

Objective: To document the sexual assault disclosure experiences of historically black college or university (HBCU) students. Participants: A total of 3,951 female, undergraduate students at 4 HBCUs. Methods: All women at the participating schools were recruited in November 2008 to participate in a Web-based survey including both closed- and open-ended questions. Survey data were weighted for nonresponse bias. Results: The majority of sexual assault survivors disclosed their experience to someone close to them, but disclosure to formal supports, particularly law enforcement agencies, was extremely rare. Nonreporters had concerns about the seriousness of the incident and their privacy. On the basis of qualitative data, strategies identified by students to increase reporting included more education and awareness about sexual assault, more survivor services and alternative mechanisms for reporting, and better strategies for protecting the confidentiality of survivors. Conclusions: Official sexual assault victimization data are of limited utility in conveying the extent of sexual assault among HBCU students, and efforts to increase reporting, such as peer education and enhanced confidentiality procedures, are needed.     

Million Dollar Maybe? The Effect of Female Presence in Movies on Box Office Returns

This study examines processes that contribute to the underrepresentation of women in film by linking the depiction of gender in film to its impact on domestic box office returns. Drawing on a sample of widely distributed movies from 2000 to 2009 (n = 974), we test whether the box office under‐performance of films with an independent female presence results primarily from “downstream” public rejection or from an gendered “upstream” division of resources that provides greater studio support to movies about men. Using a series of multivariate regression analyses and controlling for genre, critical appraisal, arthouse label, being a sequel, and including a popular star, films with a female presence earn less at the box office. This effect, however, appears to be largely the consequence of movies that feature women having smaller production budgets, suggesting that the underrepresentation of women in film stems from “upstream” routines of film industry gatekeepers, not a lesser interest in stories about women in the minds of the public.     

Acclimation Effects and Separate Opinion Writing in the U.S. Courts of Appeals*

Objective. This article investigates the existence of a freshman effect on separate opinion authorship on the U.S. Courts of Appeals. First, we evaluate the extent to which freshman judges demonstrate unique behavior with respect to writing concurring and dissenting opinions. Second, we examine the potential for background factors to condition any freshman effect. Methods. Individual judges' decisions to author separate opinions, drawn from the Courts of Appeals Database (1960 to 1988), are modeled as a function of a host of individual‐ and circuit‐level factors, including the freshman status of the judge. Results. After controlling for alternative explanations, we find that freshman judges on the courts of appeals are less likely to author concurring and dissenting opinions. Prior federal or appellate court experience, however, does not appear to condition the freshman effect. Conclusion. Freshman circuit court judges experience significant acclimation effects following their elevation to the federal appellate bench.