The effects of the outdoor experiential ropes course on perceived team performance

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to explore the perceived effects of the Ropes Course on the performance of intact work teams. The dependent variable, team performance, was measured by the Team Performance Assessment, a 20 question inventory. The Ropes Course, the independent variable, was an outdoor experiential training program presently marketed as a highly effective team building training program. Issues the team addressed in the highly emotional and physical environment were purported to transfer back to the work environment and act as a catalyst for change The Ropes Course in this study consisted of a day long series of outdoor mental, emotional and physical exercises addressing the issues of goal-setting, role expectations, accountability, trust, respect, communication, problem-solving and decision-making. The 68 subjects, 37 in the treatment group and 31 in the control were employees of a large international financial institution. They were not chosen by random selection. The work teams' managers recognized a need to improve team morale, performance and functioning due to corporate reengineering and downsizing resulting in team members' job losses. Control teams were partially matched to the treatment teams on the basis of professional composition and similar job descriptions. The pretest of the Team Performance Assessment was given the morning of the Ropes Course treatment and the posttest was given three to five weeks later. The control teams received the pretests and posttests at about the same time intervals at their work location but received no Ropes Course treatment. The treatment teams' scores and the control teams' scores were statistically compared using the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and the Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) at the .05 level of significance. The statistical analysis revealed a significant difference between the control and experimental teams after the team building Ropes Course training as measured by the Team Performance Assessment (Gilbert, 1996). ^

Predicting employee compliance with safety regulations, factoring risk perception

The purpose of this research was to develop a methodology that would evaluate employees' personality traits, demographic characteristics, and workplace parameters to predict safety compliance along with the moderating effect of risk perception. ^ One hundred and twenty five employees of a manufacturing facility were given questionnaires to gather their demographic and perception information. Surveys were also used to measure their personality characteristics, and periodic observations were recorded to document employee's safety compliance. A significant correlation was found between compliance and the worker's perception of management's commitment to safety (r = 0.27, p < 0.01), as well as with gender (r = −0.19, p < 0.05). Females showed a significantly higher average compliance (78%), than males (69%). These findings demonstrated the value of developing a model to predict safety behavior that would assist companies in maintaining a safe work environment, preventing accidents, ensuring compliance, and reducing associated costs. ^

Jurors' use of social framework evidence

Monahan and Walker (1988) delineated three uses of social science evidence within the courts: social authority, social fact, and social framework. Social authority evidence is social science evidence used in making policy or law. Social fact evidence is social science evidence that describes research undertaken expressly for the case at hand. Social framework evidence involves providing conclusions from previously conducted social science research to assist jurors in evaluating the other evidence in the case. Although this type of evidence has traditionally been presented via expert testimony, Monahan and Walker (1988) have suggested that, because the social science research involved comes from the extant literature and is not the province of any particular expert, it would be more economical to have the judge present this information as part of the judicial instructions to the jury. This study tested the implicit assumption that the presentation of the social framework evidence by the judge will have the same impact on juror verdicts as presentation of this evidence by an expert. ^ Two hundred mock jurors watched a videotaped hostile work environment sexual harassment trial. The social framework evidence consisted of the discussion of factors that have been found to increase the likelihood of sex stereotyping of women by men. The trial included either no social framework evidence, social framework evidence presented by the expert, or social framework evidence presented in judicial instructions. ^ Results indicated that men who heard the social framework evidence from the judge were more likely to vote for the defendant than men who heard no social framework evidence. Men who heard the judicial instruction with the social framework evidence also rated the plaintiff as less credible than the other men and women in the study. Thus, it appears that, for men, social framework evidence presented by the judge harms the plaintiff's case by reducing ratings of her credibility, but the same evidence presented by an expert does not affect men's verdicts. For women, however, social framework evidence, irrespective of who presents it, enhances the plaintiff's case. ^

Juror need for cognition and sensitivity to methodological flaws in expert evidence

Two studies investigated the influence of juror need for cognition on the systematic and heuristic processing of expert evidence. U.S. citizens reporting for jury duty in South Florida read a 15-page summary of a hostile work environment case containing expert testimony. The expert described a study she had conducted on the effects of viewing sexualized materials on men's behavior toward women. Certain methodological features of the expert's research varied across experimental conditions. In Study 1 (N = 252), the expert's study was valid, contained a confound, or included the potential for experimenter bias (internal validity) and relied on a small or large sample (sample size) of college undergraduates or trucking employees (ecological validity). When the expert's study included trucking employees, high need for cognition jurors in Study 1 rated the expert more credible and trustworthy than did low need for cognition jurors. Jurors were insensitive to variations in the study's internal validity or sample size. Juror ratings of plaintiff credibility, plaintiff trustworthiness, and study quality were positively correlated with verdict. In Study 2 (N = 162), the expert's published or unpublished study (general acceptance) was either valid or lacked an appropriate control group (internal validity) and included a sample of college undergraduates or trucking employees (ecological validity). High need for cognition jurors in Study 2 found the defendant liable more often and evaluated the expert evidence more favorably when the expert's study was internally valid than when an appropriate control group was missing. Low need for cognition jurors did not differentiate between the internally valid and invalid study. Variations in the study's general acceptance and ecological validity did not affect juror judgments. Juror ratings of expert and plaintiff credibility, plaintiff trustworthiness, and study quality were positively correlated with verdict. The present research demonstrated that the need for cognition moderates juror sensitivity to expert evidence quality and that certain message-related heuristics influence juror judgments when ability or motivation to process systematically is low. ^

The boundaries of acceptance: Do expectations for the complainant's psychological injury affect legal decisions in a sexual harassment case

Research indicates that people engaged in legal decision-making use a host of biases and preconceptions to guide their decisions about whether the evidence presented to them is reasonable. However, few theories address how such expectations affect legal decision-makers. The present study attempted to determine if social judgment theory (SJT) can explain how and when legal decision-makers rely on expectations for the complainant's psychological injury in a hostile environment sexual harassment case. Two experiments provided undergraduate participants with a written summary of a hostile work environment allegation that first manipulated participants' expectations about reasonable psychological injuries (mild v. severe), and then presented them with actual severity levels of psychological injury (ranging from minimal to extreme). Experiment 1 (N = 295) hypothesized and found that participants who expected severe injuries perceived a greater range of psychological injuries to be reasonable than participants expecting mild injury. Experiment 2 ( N = 202) used similar methodology and investigated whether perceived reasonableness for the injury allegations affected legal decisions. Experiment 2 hypothesized that participants expecting severe psychological injury should render more pro-complainant decisions than participants expecting mild psychological injury. This result should be most pronounced when participants receive a moderate injury allegation, since this allegation was perceived as reasonable by participants expecting severe injury, but unreasonable by participants expecting mild injury. Consistent with SJT, participants who received a moderate injury but expected a severe injury found more liability than participants who received a moderate injury but expected a mild injury. Inconsistent with SJT, participants' expectations did not affect their compensatory damage decisions. In fact, more severe injury allegations increased damage awards regardless of participants' expectations. Although the results provide mixed support for applying SJT to legal decisions in sexual harassment cases, they emphasize the continuing role of oft-unstudied extra-legal factors (juror's expectations and psychological injury severity) on legal decisions.

Exploring Employee Engagement Among Three Non-Salaried Employees: A Phenomenological Study

This exploratory empirical phenomological study looks at employee engagement using Kahn (1990) and Maslow’s (1970) motivational theories to understand the experience of non-salaried employees. This study finds four themes that seem to affect employee engagement: work environment, employee’s supervisor, individual characteristics of the employee, and opportunity for learning.

Iniciação docente na educação infantil: cenários de uma cultura profissional

This paper focalizes the initial teacher socialization in the Infantile Education from the acknowledgement about that as a phase of a professional life cycle on distinguish of other steps in the teachers’ carrier. It is based on the studies of sociological and anthropological mark with the comprehension that the professional reality is equally constructed by daily practices of social interactions in the work environment. It aims understanding how the initial process of professional culture building of beginners in the infantile education occurs under a view toward to the organizational and dynamics aspects of the teacher activity (events, interactions, practices, wisdoms, tensions and dilemmas). This investigation assuming the orientations of an ethnographic type approach has been developed in a Municipal Center of Infantile Education (Centro Municipal de Educação Infantil) in the city of Natal, with daycare and pre-school. The participant subjects are four female teachers with less than five years in Infantile Education career. It has used a participant observation and a semi-structured interview in the data building that had interpreted through a content analysis and sources triangulation. It delineates three dimensions to the professional culture scenarios: the personal and formative profile of the subjects, the school daily and the teacher work management. The multiform character of the finds evidences that the professional culture of the novice teachers has been constituted from the confrontation with different situations of unpredictably in their emotions, routines and pedagogical and administrative difficulties, simultaneously to the dilemmas of child care and educate. The solitude feeling has been generating from the institutional and scholar organization, which offers no material and pedagogical conditions to the peers collaboration and discussion. Finally it means that teaching in the Infantile Education must been based on an expanding network relations, been indispensable to the beginners the support and orientation related to doubts, wistfulness and expectations as means of socializing and redefining their teaching practice

Assédio moral na administração pública e a responsabilidade civil do estado

The social and economic changes of the last decades have enhanced the dehumanization of labor relations and the deterioration of the work environment, by the adoption of management models that foster competitiveness and maximum productivity, making it susceptible to the practice of workplace bullying. Also called mobbing, bullying can occur through actions, omissions, gestures, words, writings, always with the intention of attacking the self-esteem of the victim and destroy it psychologically. In the public sector, where relations based on hierarchy prevail, and where the functional stability makes it difficult to punish the aggressor, bullying reaches more serious connotations, with severe consequences to the victim. The Federal Constitution of 1988, by inserting the Human Dignity as a fundamental principle of the Republic, the ruler of the entire legal system, sought the enforcement of fundamental rights, through the protection of honor and image of the individual, and ensuring reparation for moral and material damage resulting from its violation. Therefore, easy to conclude that the practice of moral violence violates fundamental rights of individuals, notably the employee's personality rights. This paper therefore seeked to analyze the phenomenon of bullying in the workplace, with emphasis on the harassment practiced in the public sector as well as the possibility of state liability for harassment committed by its agents. From a theoretical and descriptive methodology, this work intended to study the constitutional, infra and international rules that protect workers against this practice, emphasizing on the fundamental rights violated. With this research, it was found that doctrine and jurisprudence converge to the possibility of state objective liability for damage caused by its agents harassers, not forgetting the possibility of regressive action against the responsible agent, as well as its criminal and administrative accountability.

Cartografia do trabalho de agentes penitenciários: reflexão sobre o “dispositivo prisão”

The Brazilian prison system is going through a serious crisis, not only due to the growth in the number of prisoners and the consequent overcrowding of prisons, but also for the violation of human rights, institutionalization and difficulty in social rehabilitation of inmates. Furthermore, the harmful effects of the prison system affect their workers, who generally are not prioritized by researchers, health programs and government policies. The literature pointing to some consequences of work in prison, among them, the mental illness, stress, alcohol abuse, etc., but little is known about this profession, their problems, the difficulties of their work routine, so as subjective processes involved. So, what are the effects of this work in the prison in the lives of correctional officers? What strategies developed to address the work in prison? This research aims to analyze the effects of this work in the prison in the lives of correctional officers from the state prison in Parnamirim, located in the metropolitan region of Natal-RN. Within the theoretical and methodological perspective of institutional analysis and cartography were carried conversation circles, interviews, in addition to participant observation of the correctional officers work’s routine. The results point to a working routine marked by the performance of procedures that involve risk to the worker, generating situations of tension and stress. Besides, the culture of violence (which is implemented in jail everyday) as well as the training and initial learning of the profession, are responsible for the militarization process of the subjectivities of the correctional officers, producing hard subject, disciplined, stiff, likely to violent practices and other rights violations. Other mapped effects relate to the acquisition of knowledge about the human (“psy” knowledge) responsible for forging the conception of the criminal as "dangerous subject", which, in turn, acts as subjectivity vector in the daily life of prison guards by setting up a way of life crossed by fear and insecurity outside the work environment. Produces a control in the open about their lives and their families, limiting them with regard to family and community life and the realization of leisure activities in public spaces. In this sense, it appears that the arrest acts producing “bad meetings” (from Espinosa's perspective), once it produces sad affections responsible for weakening the conatus, limiting the possibilities of action of these subjects. Although agents develop some strategies to deal with the difficulties of working in prison (among which stand out the development of other professional or leisure activities, spirituality / religiosity and the ability to separate the labor moments from those of their the personal lives, is advocated that such strategies do not offer significant resistance, since they do not question the contemporary legal-criminal logic. The thesis presented supports the proposals of penal abolitionism to present other conceptions of crime and justice through the invention of other practical and conceptual strategies.

Inclusão social de catadores de materiais recicláveis: estudo da política nacional de resíduos sólidos e da efetivação do trabalho decente em Natal/RN

The integrated management of municipal solid waste in Brazil is held legally responsible by the city council administration. This is done since the year 2010 with the publication of the National Solid Waste Policy term. According to the policy and law, each city must encourage the implementation of selective collection and the participation of waste picker´s entities aiming social inclusion. However, these actions haven’t yet reached its legal aims. These workers are considered regarding collection actions but are stripped of certain basic labor rights not in conformation with the Decent Work concept. This type of work, according to International Labour Organization, must be seen as work that is properly paid for and must be done regarding conditions of freedom, equity, security and able to provide workers with a dignified life conditions. Thus, this work aims to investigate the implementation process regarding the Solid Waste National Policy in Natal-Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil. This is done considering socio-productive insertion of recyclable material collectors. The research is substantiated by a qualitative approach as well as documental and bibliographical research. A field research considering the cooperatives as well “in locco" observation and semi-structured interviews were carried out between the time span of 2013 and 2014. In order to investigate decent daily working conditions the research emphasized municipal management actions in Natal towards social inclusion that aim to reflect on the progress and difficulties experimented. It is seen that even when these cooperatives receive government support there are still important struggles that need to be overcome. The worker´s tasks are risky, the work environment in not safe or is adequate in terms of health issues. There is the stigma of it being considered an occupational task, the low individual income distancing the activity regarding parameters of the Green Employment and Decent Work concept. On the other hand, the survey showed potential as the relentless pursuit on behalf of the cooperatives that still search better work condition improvement.

Da voz que cala ao corpo que fala: o assédio moral no ambiente de trabalho como desafio para o serviço social

The changes ocurred in the world of capitalist labor, especially from the last decades of the 20th century, accentuated the process of manipulation and domination of the working class, materialized mainly through naturalization and / or trivialization of violence, conducted in the work environment. From this process, emerge the elements of bullying, that is, the embarrassing and humiliating practices which extend through time, degrading human race, and becoming fruitful object for study, debate and the intervention of the professionals of the Social Service area. Thus, we assume the perspective of analyzing the concepts and the work of social workers, whom work at people management area before the bullying in the workplace. We propose the following objectives: apprehend the settings of bullying, in the contemporary context of competitiveness and flexibility of work, as well as its implications for workers' health; characterize the background of this expression of violence at work in the municipality of Natal- RN; and analyze the powers and duties of the social worker in the process of prevention, identification and addressing of bullying in the context of work. This study consisted of a qualitative approach, based on the dialectical-critical method as soon as we adopt methodological procedures such as: theoretical knowledge, documental and field research, and performed using semi-structured interviews. The subjects of this research were nine (09) the Social Service professionals working in personnel management area, in five (5) institutions with legal and branches of different activities, located in Natal-RN. Even interviewed one (01) representative of the Public Ministry of Rio Grande do Norte Office (MPT-RN). The findings of this analysis indicate that bullying is a contemporary expression of "social question", which is presented as a demand for the Social-assistants – covered up and / or camuflage – under the guise of problems related to workers' health or mere conflicts of interpersonal relationships, that is, without any causal connection with the organization of work. The fear of losing job, not to be inserted in the labor market, and / or suffering reprisals, deepens the subject levels of the victims of bullying. Hence the importance of Social Workers are capable to understand the social reality, by preventing and combating the elements of bullying.

Trabalho e seus sentidos: estudo com servidores com deficiências numa IES

The objective of this study was to understand the relationship between people with disabilities and their labor. Senses and meanings related to work were specifically identified; also describing the impediments of concrete activities, as well the strategies developed for overcoming them. This objective is inspired on the social historic cultural theoretical perspective as well as on the activity's theory. The research has been made possible through the interview of 16 workers from a IES, it categorizes as a multi-method sequential and transversal study of qualitative orientation, making use the technics of narrative interviews and photographic creation. The results indicate that work was described as a necessity, a source of pleasure, recognition and socialization; with emphasis on the importance of working in pairs in order to accomplish good quality work. Senses were obtained from each participant, identified by the way that each of them expressed themselves. Impediments were more deeply related to the physical conditions of the work environment than to the person's disabilities. Conclusion points out that the access to work, acts as a social inclusion tool for peoples with disabilities, and showing that, the laws regarding quota reservations fulfill their objective.

La place de la relation conjugale dans la réinsertion sociale des délinquants sous l’autorité des Services correctionnels du Québec

Rapport de stage présenté à la Faculté des arts et des sciences en vue de l’obtention du grade de Maître ès sciences (M.Sc.) en criminologie, option intervention

Team reflexivity and innovation:the moderating role of team context

We developed and tested a team level contingency model of innovation, integrating theories regarding work demands, team reflexivity - the extent to which teams collectively reflect upon their working methods and functioning -, and team innovation. We argued that highly reflexive teams will be more innovative than teams low in reflexivity when facing a demanding work environment. The relationships between team reflexivity, a demanding work environment (i.e. quality of the physical work environment and work load) and team innovation was examined among 98 primary health care teams (PHCTs) in the UK, comprised of 1137 individuals. Results showed that team reflexivity is positively related to team innovation, and that there is an interaction between team reflexivity, team level workload, and team innovation, such that when team level workload is high, combined with a high level of team reflexivity, team innovation is also higher. The complementary interaction between team reflexivity, quality of physical work environment, and team innovation, showed that when the quality of the work environment is low, combined with a high level of team reflexivity, team innovation was also higher. These results are discussed in the context of the need for team reflexivity and team innovation among teams at work facing high work demands.

Caring and anxiety among registered nurses in an acute hospital setting

Background: Even though caring remains the essence of nursing it is still an ambiguous concept as the lens through which each nurse perceives caring differs. The differences are due to multiple factors including the setting in which the nurse works. Nurses experience high levels of anxiety when caring for patients in acute settings. Despite an abundance of published studies on caring there is a dearth of research available that focuses on the relationship between caring and anxiety. Aim: The aim of this research study was to investigate caring and anxiety in a sample of registered nurses working in an acute hospital and to determine the relationship between these and other variables. Method: A quantitative descriptive study using a correlational design was employed, with a sample of 280 registered nurses. The Caring Behaviours Inventory-24 was used to measure caring and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory to measure Anxiety. The study was guided by the Theory of Human Caring (Watson 2008). Findings: Nurses reported high levels of caring and low levels of anxiety. A statistical significant relationship was found between caring and anxiety and between caring and supportive work environment and job satisfaction. A statistical significant relationship was found between anxiety and work environment, job satisfaction gender, age, relationship status and education. Conclusion: This is the first study to investigate the relationship between caring and anxiety in an acute hospital setting. This research contributes to advancing nursing knowledge by providing evidence of the relationship between caring and anxiety among nurses in an acute hospital setting. Despite nurses reporting high levels of caring and low levels of anxiety, it is important to further enhance caring and reduce anxiety levels among all nurses. Thus, educators and managers need to explore strategies for the alleviation of anxiety among nurses, practising in acute care settings.