Social Work and Disadvantage: Addressing the Roots of Stigma through Association

Abstract

This paper reports on a small-scale research study that explores the impact of climate change on rural women. Qualitative data were collected through interviews with 7 women, who came from a regional centre and were either employed by women's services or who had activist roles within the community pertaining to women's services. Outcomes of the study identified a range of areas of impact, including increased hardship for rural women, implications of household roles, and subsequent organisational responsibilities. A high level of concern, particularly for the vulnerability of women in crisis, was identified among participants. We contend that the effects of climate change are becoming increasingly relevant to the social work profession and that specific groups such as women are at risk of further disadvantage unless collective action is taken to circumvent the impact of climate change. Strategies for social work practice and policy initiatives are considered.     

Bayesian compartmental model for an infectious disease with dynamic states of infection

Population-level proportions of individuals that fall at different points in the spectrum [of disease severity], from asymptomatic infection to severe disease, are often difficult to observe, but estimating these quantities can provide information about the nature and severity of the disease in a particular population. Logistic and multinomial regression techniques are often applied to infectious disease modeling of large populations and are suited to identifying variables associated with a particular disease or disease state. However, they are less appropriate for estimating infection state prevalence over time because they do not naturally accommodate known disease dynamics like duration of time an individual is infectious, heterogeneity in the risk of acquiring infection, and patterns of seasonality. We propose a Bayesian compartmental model to estimate latent infection state prevalence over time that easily incorporates known disease dynamics. We demonstrate how and why a stochastic compartmental model is a better approach for determining infection state proportions than multinomial regression is by using a novel method for estimating Bayes factors for models with high-dimensional parameter spaces. We provide an example using visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil and present an empirically-adjusted reproductive number for the infection.     

The Social Production of Bullying: Expanding the Repertoire of Approaches to Group Dynamics

Bullying research has widely included group dynamics as contextual factors. However, explanations addressing the causes of bullying predominantly emphasise individual dysfunctions related to aggression and empathy. Analysing qualitative data from Norwegian schools, this article explores four different group dynamics that may produce bullying behaviours as well as deactivate empathy. Drawing on theories of social hierarchies and ingroups/outgroups, the article offers new approaches to understanding the ways in which the intense markings of social distinctions between positions and cliques in peer culture represent significant social driving forces in school bullying.     

Ridge estimator with correlated errors and two-stage ridge estimator under inequality restrictions

Liew (1976a Liew, C.K. (1976a). A two-stage least-squares estimation with inequality restrictions on parameters. Rev. Econ. Stat. LVIII(2):234–238.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) introduced generalized inequality constrained least squares (GICLS) estimator and inequality constrained two-stage and three-stage least squares estimators by reducing primal–dual relation to problem of Dantzig and Cottle (1967 Dantzig, G.B., Cottle, R.W. (1967). Positive (semi-) definite matrices and mathematical programming. In: Abadie, J., ed. Nonlinear Programming (pp. 55–73). Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Co. [Google Scholar]), Cottle and Dantzig (1974 Cottle, R.W., Dantzig, G.B. (1974). Complementary pivot of mathematical programming. In: Dantzig, G.B., Eaves, B.C., eds. Studies in OptimizationVol. 10. Washington: Mathematical Association of America. [Google Scholar]) and solving with Lemke (1962 Lemke, C.E. (1962). A method of solution for quadratic programs. Manage. Sci. 8(4):442–453.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) algorithm. The purpose of this article is to present inequality constrained ridge regression (ICRR) estimator with correlated errors and inequality constrained two-stage and three-stage ridge regression estimators in the presence of multicollinearity. Untruncated variance–covariance matrix and mean square error are derived for the ICRR estimator with correlated errors, and its superiority over the GICLS estimator is examined via Monte Carlo simulation.     

Preferences,constraints or schemas of devotion? Exploring Norwegian mothers' withdrawals from high‐commitment careers1

Despite decades of focus on gender equality and work–family balance, parenthood still affects mothers' and fathers' careers differently. Drawing on in‐depth interviews with Norwegian mothers who are relinquishing high‐commitment careers of law and consultancy, this paper questions the adequacy of established explanations emphasizing constraints vs. individual preferences. Our sample of female professionals living in a well‐developed welfare state is particularly apt to explore the processes and mechanisms upholding the statistically gendered pattern of women reducing their work commitment after childbirth. These doubly privileged mothers might be considered to have the best odds for combining career and work commitment with motherhood. Thus, we argue that the approach emphasizing practical constraints does not sufficiently account for the withdrawal from high‐commitment careers among these female professionals. Nevertheless, we are not content with the claim of Preference Theory that this shift in commitment is merely a matter of ‘not‐so‐dedicated’ women discovering their ‘genuine’ preferences. Rather, in order to understand why and how this shift occurs, we explore the culturally constructed rationalities and schemas of both work and family devotions. We specifically examine the circumstances, mechanisms and steps in a seemingly individual process of making the shift in commitment from a promising career to a family‐friendly job. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates how generous parental leave arrangements designed to enhance gender equality and work–family balance by simply reducing practical constraints may have limited – or even counterproductive – impact within high‐commitment occupations where the ‘irreplaceability’ of workers is taken for granted. Our findings indicate that unless the culturally (re)produced discourses, demands and expectations of both work and family are exposed and challenged, even intentionally gender neutral work–family policies will continue to facilitate mothers' career withdrawals, expressed as modified individual preferences.     

An application of the Impact Evaluation Process for designing a performance measurement and evaluation framework in K-12 environments

This article illustrates the application of the Impact Evaluation Process for the design of a performance measurement and evaluation framework for an urban high school. One of the key aims of this framework is to enhance decision-making by providing timely feedback about the effectiveness of various performance improvement interventions. The framework design process is guided by the Impact Evaluation Process, and included the participation of key stakeholders including administrative and teaching staff who all contributed to the performance measurement and evaluation framework design process. Key performance indicators at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels were derived from the school vision, and linked to specific interventions to facilitate the continuous evaluation and improvement process.