Are we there yet? Advancing women in Canada and Australia: Similar goals, different policies

Differences in opportunities and outcomes in the workplace are inherent in a free and competitive market. However when differences between individuals and groups are identified as resulting from particular policies, behaviours or attitudes, any resulting inequality may be identified as unfair. Increasingly, unfair disparities in societies and their workplaces are regularly challenged. Many of the unfair disparities are recognised as caused through unfair discrimination (Anker 1997). When defining discrimination, the International Labour Organization Convention (ILO) No. 111 defines it as “any distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction, or social origin, which has the effect of nullifying or impairing equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation” (ILO, 1958). Yet, the argument for addressing this ideal of ‘equality of opportunity’ is complex. Ekmekci (2013) identifies the difficulties as the determination of whether any process should be based on equality of opportunity or equality of outcome. In addition, there is the difficulty of determining what exactly constitutes a process for addressing unfair disparity due to the haziness of what constitutes discrimination and controversy in the meaning as well as policy implications of equality (Tomei, 2003).

Gauge theory of a group of diffeomorphisms. I. General principles

Any (N+M)-parameter Lie group G with an N-parameter subgroup H can be realized as a global group of diffeomorphisms on an M-dimensional base space B, with representations in terms of transformation laws of fields on B belonging to linear representations of H. The gauged generalization of the global diffeomorphisms consists of general diffeomorphisms (or coordinate transformations) on a base space together with a local action of H on the fields. The particular applications of the scheme to space-time symmetries is discussed in terms of Lagrangians, field equations, currents, and source identities. Journal of Mathematical Physics is copyrighted by The American Institute of Physics.

Sairaanhoitajaksi kasvattaminen : Sairaanhoitajakoulutus ja siinä käytetyt oppikirjat Suomessa vuoteen 1967 asti

The historical development of Finnish nursing textbooks from the late 1880s to 1967: the training of nurses in the Foucauldian perspective. This study aims, first, to analyse the historical development of Finnish nursing textbooks in the training of nurses and in nursing education: what Foucauldian power processes operate in the writing and publishing processes? What picture of nursing did early nursing books portray and who were the decision makers? Second, this study also aims to analyse the processes of power in nurse training processes. The time frame extends from the early stages of nurse training in the late 1880s to 1967. This present study is a part of textbook research and of the history of professional education in Finland. This study seeks to explain how, who or what contributed the power processes involved in the writing of nursing textbooks and through textbooks. Did someone use these books as a tool to influence nursing education? The third aim of this study is to define and analyse the purpose of nurse training. Michel Foucault´s concept of power served as an explanatory framework for this study. A very central part of power is the assembling of data, the supplying of information and messages, and the creation of discourses. When applied to the training of nurses, power dictates what information is taught in the training and contained in the books. Thus, the textbook holds an influential position as a power user in these processes. Other processes in which such power is exercised include school discipline and all other normalizing processes. One of most powerful ways of adapting is the hall of residence, where nursing pupils were required to live. Trained nurses desired to separate themselves from their untrained predecessors and from those with less training by wearing different uniforms and living in separate housing units. The state supported the registration of trained nurses by legislation. With this decision the state made it illegal to work as a nurse without an authorised education, and use these regulations to limit and confirm the professional knowledge and power of nurses. Nurses, physicians and government authorities used textbooks in nursing education as tools to achieve their own purposes and principles. With these books all three groups attempted to confirm their own professional power and knowledge while at the same time limit the power and expertise of others. Public authorities sought to unify the training of nurses and the basis of knowledge in all nursing schools in Finland with similar and obligatory textbooks. This standardisation started 20 years before the government unified nursing training in 1930. The textbooks also served as data assemblers in unifying nursing practices in Finnish hospitals, because the Medical Board required all training hospitals to attach the textbooks to units with nursing pupils. For the nurses, and especially for the associations of Finnish nurses, making and publishing their own textbooks for the training of nurses was a part of their professional projects. With these textbooks, the nursing elite and the teachers tended to prepare nursing pupils’ identities for nursing’s very special mission. From the 1960s, nursing was no longer understood as a mission, but as a normal vocation. Nurses and doctors disputed this view throughout the period studied, which was the optimal relationship between theory and practice in nursing textbooks and in nurse education. The discussion of medical knowledge in nursing textbooks took place in the 1930s and 1940s. Nurses were very confused about their own professional knowledge and expertise, which explains why they could not create a new nursing textbook despite the urgency. A brand new nursing textbook was published in 1967, about 30 years after the predecessor. Keyword: nurse, nurse training, nursing education, power, textbook, Michel Foucault

Valta kotikasvatuksessa

The aim of this research was to explore how issues of power manifest themselves in bringing up children at home. The starting point for the study was a phenomenon centered, power focused, and theoretically orientated view which also included an empirical part as well. The most common aim of the research was to find out and theoretize of power which is suitable for bringing up children at home. Power was defined and researched on the basis of existing power theories, mostly those presented in anglo-american research on power. For closer investigation I chose the most common categorizations and theories of power, namely, the nature of power, the four dimensions of power, and forms of power. The empirical part of the research consisted of 22 thematic interviews with mothers, fathers and 14 – 16-year-old teenagers from 11 different families. The interviewees were found through snowball sampling. The questions for the interviews were based on power theories. The result of the research was that the most common categorizations and theories of power were useful but not satisfactory in the study of power in bringing up children at home. The nature of authority in bringing up children at home appears to have same characteristics as the categorization of authority put forward by Weber but in addition it included extra categories called moral authority and ontological-existential authority. Theoretically the most challenging problem concerns the conflict between modern and postmodern views of power. None of them alone is able to describe power in bringing up children at home. The best solution appeared to be to add an assumption about the inner relation to the modern power view and an assumption about the Popperian three worlds to the postmodern view of power. The relationship between the parent and the child is necessary the inner power relation where the relation itself modifies the parties’ identities. In that case positive and productive elements are also included in the power relationship. Parents use many forms of power in bringing up children at home. Manipulative and violent forms of power are not justifiable but other forms of power and their open exercise is sometimes necessary. The important criteria to use in order to determine the most suitable forms of power and the most appropriate ways of exercising that power is to see how they improve the development of the identity and internalization of values of the child. An ethically justified exercise of power in bringing up children at home is based on a dialogical, pedagogical relationship between the parent and the child, focuses on the relationship between the parent and the child, orientates itself further than present, aspires to promote the good of the child, and comes true in a caring atmosphere.

Preservice early childhood teachers and designers partnering for change at The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary: An interdisciplinary education and design for sustainability project

This presentation discusses and critiques a current case study of a project in which Early Childhood preservice teachers are working in partnership with Design students to develop principles and concepts for the design and construction of an early childhood centre. This centre, to be built on the grounds of the iconic Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane , focuses on Education for Sustainability (EfS), sustainable design and sustainable business. Interdisciplinary initiatives between QUT staff and students from two Faculties (Education and Creative Industries) have been situated in the real –world context of this project. This practical, authentic project has seen stakeholders take an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability, opening up new ways of thinking about early childhood centre design, particularly with respect to operation and function. Interdisciplinarity and a commitment to genuine partnerships have created intellectual spaces to re-think the potential of the disciplines to be interwoven so that future professionals from different fields might come together to learn from each other and to address the sustainability imperative. The case study documents and explores the possibilities that the Lone Pine project offers for academics and students from Early Childhood and Design to collaboratively inform the Sanctuary’s vision for the Centre. The research examines how students benefit from practical, real world, community-integrated learning; how academic staff across two disciplines are able to work collaboratively within a real-world context; and how external stakeholders experience and benefit from the partnership with university staff and students. Data were collected via a series of focus group and individual interviews designed to explore how the various stakeholders (staff, students, business partners) experienced their involvement in the interdisciplinary project. Inductive and deductive thematic analysis of these data suggest many benefits for participants as well as a number of challenges. Findings suggest that the project has provided students with ‘real world’ partnerships that reposition early childhood students’ identities from ‘novice’ to ‘professional’, where their knowledge, expertise and perspectives are simultaneously validated and challenged in their work with designers. These partnerships are enabling preservice teachers to practice a new model of early childhood leadership in sustainability, one that is vital for leading for change in an increasingly complex world. This presentation celebrates, critiques and problematises this project, exploring wider implications for other contexts in which university staff and students may seek to work across traditional boundaries, thus building partnerships for change.

Ryhmäidentiteetin mittaaminen verkkoroolipelissä World of Warcraft

The objective of the study was to explore the dimensions of group identity in the guilds of World of Warcraft. Previous research shows that social interaction has an important role in playing games for many players. Social identities are an important aspect of self-concept and since group related cues are more salient than personal clues in computer-mediated communication, the social gaming experience was approached through group identity. In the study a new scale will be developed to measure the group identity in games. Secondary goal is to study how different guild attributes affect the group identity and third goal is to explore the connection between group identity and gaming experience and amount of play. Subjects were 1203 guild members and 106 players not in a guild. The data was gathered by an Internet survey which measured group identity with nine scales, gaming experience with three scales and guild attributes with four scales. Also various background data was gathered. The construct of group identity was analyzed with explorative factor analysis. The typical experiences of group identity was analyzed with cluster analysis and effects of guild attributes with multivariate analysis of covariance. As a result of the study a new scale was developed which measured group identity on six dimensions: self-stereotyping, public and private evaluation, importance, interconnection of self and others and awareness of content. Group identity was experienced strongest in elder middle-sized guilds that had formal rules and that emphasized social interaction. The players with strong group identity had more positive gaming experience and played World of Warcraft more per week than the players who were not in a guild or identified to guild weakly. This result encourages game developers to produce environments that enhance group identity as it seems to increase the enjoyment in games. As a whole this study proposes that group identity in guilds is constructed from the same elements as in traditional groups. If this is truly the case, guild membership may have similar positive effects on individual’s mental well-being as traditional positively evaluated group memberships have.

Pellon pientareelta akateemisiin sfääreihin : Opettajuuden rakentuminen ja muuttuminen sotienjälkeisessä Suomessa opettajien omaelämäkertojen valossa

From the field to the academic sphere how teachers professional identities and roles have changed in post-war Finland This study explores teacher autobiographies. The span of the writings extends mainly from the Second World War to the new millennium. The autobiographers are mostly elementary and secondary school teachers in Finland, although there are a few who have worked in vocational schools, polytechnic institutes or one of the various adult education centres. The researcher is aware of the diversity among those educational institutions and their teachers, but wanted to concentrate on similarities rather than differences. The autobiographers have been explored with four different research questions in view. The first was to identify professional and personal elements and themes mentioned by teachers in writing about themselves. The second was to identify the factors that have affected those elements and themes. The third was to examine the kinds of literary forms teachers used in their autobiographies. The fourth was the most crucial and an endeavour to connect the previous questions: how teachers professional identities and roles have changed during the period studied. In the first five chapters the teachers voices come through clearly. Two of these chapters are organized in chronological order. The first is about childhood, youth and the time spent in school, the second deals with the years studying in university or teachers college and finally being recruited to the teachers. In these chapters the rural background of many teachers stands out, an issue that also emerged symbolically or de facto in the autobiographies. The chronological scheme changes to a thematic order, in which social matters (students, parents, colleagues) and teachers working circumstances are dealt with. Four selected autobiographies are examined closely. In these autobiographies five different types of teacher narratives can be identified. To begin with, teachers stressed their vocation, which is quite a normal work orientation for those working in the educational field. Others emphasised how they were looking for professional development; a few wrote about personal advancement as well. There are also narratives by teachers who simply drifted into the profession of teaching, while a few teachers felt unwelcome in their own schools. As for the changes that teachers have witnessed, there are also some themes that are widely shared. Most pointed out how the teacher has become more foster parent than educator, as real parents have withdrawn from their responsibilities of raising children. This theme was frequently broached, although attitude towards it and ways of handling the phenomenon differed substantially. Teachers also stressed how their profession has lost the aura and prestige it once had. At the same time teachers are being expected to collaborate more with their colleagues, which is not in line with the centuries-old tradition of working alone. Teachers seem to be in a state of flux, buffeted by elements of stability and change interacting simultaneously. Many teachers are demanding a re-examination of their working reality. Teachers long and intimate relationship with society and the state may be at a crossroads. Key words: teachers professional identity and role, autobiographical study, post-war Finland

Personality in sport and exercise psychology: Integrating a whole person perspective

This paper draws on contemporary views in personality psychology as a means for understanding people participating in sport and physical activity. Specifically, we focus on McAdams’ integrative framework [McAdams (2013). The psychological self as actor, agent, and author. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8, 272–295; McAdams & Pals (2006). A new big five: Fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality. American Psychologist, 61, 204–217] and suggest this framework as potentially generative in the field of sport and exercise psychology. McAdams indicates that people can be defined through three layers of understanding, incorporating (a) dispositional traits, (b) characteristic adaptations, and (c) narrative identities. Together these layers provide a vision of the whole person – a perspective of personality rarely adopted by the sport and exercise community. The aim of this paper is to introduce scholars and practitioners to the potential benefits of embracing this whole person outlook, and to discuss the opportunities and challenges McAdams’ framework may have for advancing scholarship in sport and exercise psychology.

Keitä huonokuuloiset oikein ovat? : Lähtökohtia huonokuuloisten sosiaalisten identiteettien tutkimukselle

To be hard-of-hearing (HOH) isn t only a hearing-related phenomenon. Some HOH people identify themselves with the majority population, where as others identify themselves with culturally Deaf or with other HOH people. This results in three different kinds of groups. The original aim of this study was to interview HOH people in order to discover the social identities of these three groups. It turned out, however, that there are only few studies exploring this subject. It was therefore first necessary to develop sustainable and suitable starting points for the examination of the information produced by the interviews. In other words, the construction of the theoretical and conceptual frame of reference became the objective of this study. It is, on one hand, the personal experiences of the researcher s mingling with different kinds of HOH people and with culturally Deaf and, on the other, the literature concerning identities that lie in the background of this study. The analysis concentrated on the studies of identities in general and on the previous works dealing with the identities of the HOH people as well as on other studies with reference to HOH people. The choice between mainstream education and special education is one of the main factors affecting the development of the identity. Yet, it became apparent that identifying with the relevant reference group (majority population, culturally Deaf or other HOH people) had an even greater influence than the school. The hard of hearing define themselves differently and take different views on being HOH, depending on their social relations, their values and on their communicative and cultural features. The conclusion is that HOH people should be examined as different groups, not as one group, since they differ clearly from each other.

Mobility and security: the perceived benefits of citizenship for resettled young people from refugee backgrounds

In recent decades, the meaning and value of formal state citizenship has shifted dramatically. In the same period, scholarship on citizenship has drawn attention to the proliferation of alternative forms of sub-, supra- and transnational citizenship, at times obscuring the ongoing importance of formal state citizenship. For refugees, however, formal state citizenship remains a critical and widely shared goal. Drawing on interviews with 51 young people from refugee backgrounds in Melbourne, Australia, this article explores the intersecting themes of mobility and security that were identified by participants as the most important benefits of acquiring formal state citizenship in the country of resettlement. In contrast to the insecurity of forced migration, formal state citizenship provides a privileged mobility that enables refugee-background youth to maintain and create transnational identities and attachments and to be protected while doing so, while also granting a secure status within the nation state and insurance against further displacement in an uncertain future. In offering these forms of mobility and security, formal state citizenship contributes to a sense of ontological security among refugee-background youth, providing an important foundation for building national and transnational futures.

Musiikkioppilaitokset harrastajaksi kasvamisen näyttämönä

The Finnish instrumental education system is said to be one of the bests in the world. Finnish musicians have become famous and they have gained success all over the world. To produce professional musicians has been the main goal of the whole Finnish instrumental education system for a long time. This has meant that playing an instrument as a hobby has been neglected. The focus of this qualitative study is the culture of instrumental education from the view of amateuring. One of the goals is to describe the Finnish context where music lovers grow up and where they construct their identities. The other aim is to give answers to the question “How can we develop the culture of instrumental education to serve also the needs of amateurs?” The data of this study is narrative. It consists of the stories of five amateurs, who were in their thirties. In the analysis I’ve used two different types of analysis: the analysis of narratives and the content analysis. In the analysis of narratives the stories were seen as narrative identities. Because the main focus of this study is the culture of instrumental education, I used the qualitative content analysis to find out some themes or phenomena which should be improved from the view of amateuring. This study has shown that there are many ways to become a music lover. An essential factor in the construction of an identity of a music lover seems to be a society which values the amateuring. In this study music schools weren’t that kind of societies. The present study reveals that to construct the identities of music lovers should be one of the most important aims of the music education. This means for example that, in practice, instrumental studies could be more activating, there should be more music making in groups, and the evaluation should concentrate on the whole learning process.

Näppärien mummojen muistelukirjonta - yhteisöllistä ja voimauttavaa käsityöilmaisua

The aim of the study was to get acquainted with the activity of Näppärät Mummot, a Lahti-based crafts society, and its importance to the wellness of the members of the group. The selected aim, i.e., analyzing the wellness, largely affected the whole research process and its results. According to earlier studies in the field, different forms of craft and expressional activity promote one's wellness as well as support the work for one's identity. Based on my theoretical knowledge, my research was set out to: 1) form a general view of crafts culture within Näppärät Mummot and 2) find out how recollective craft that promotes wellness is perceived through communality, experiential activity, work for one's identity, and divided as well as undivided craft. Qualitative field work was governed by ethnographic research strategy, according to which I set out to get thoroughly familiar with the society I was studying. The methods I used to collect data were participant observation and thematic interview. I used a field diary for writing down all data I acquired through the observation. The interviewee group was formed by seven members of Näppärät Mummot. An mp3 recorder was used to record the interviews, which I transcribed later. The method for data analysis was qualitative content analysis, for which I used Weft QDA, a qualitative analysis software application. I formed themes that shed light on research tasks from the data using coding and theory-driven analysis. I kept literature and data I collected in cooperation through the whole analysis process. Lastly, drawing from the classes of meaning of therapeutic craft that I sketched by means of summarizing and classifying, I presented the central concepts that describe the main results of the study. The main results were six concepts that describe Näppärät Mummot's crafts culture and recollective craft with its wellness-beneficial effect: 1) autobiographical craft, 2) shared work for one's identity, 3) shared intention for craft, 4) craft as a partner, 5) individual manner of craft, and 6) shared improvement. Craft promoted wellness in many ways. It was used to promote inner life management in difficult times and it also provided sensations of empowerment through pleasure from craft. Expressional, shared craft also served as means of reinforcing one's identity in various ways. Expressional work for one's identity through autobiographical themes of craft represented rearranging one's life through holistic craft. A personal way of doing things also served as expressional action and work for one's identity even with divided craft. Shared work for identities meant reinforcing the identities of the members through discources of craft and interaction with their close ones. What proves the interconnection between communality and craft as well as their shared meaning is that communality motivated the members to work on their craft projects, while craft served as the means of communication between the members: communication through craft was easier than lingual communication. The results can not be generalized to apply to other groups: they are used to describe the versatile means of recollective craft to promote the well-being among the crafts society Näppärät Mummot. However, the results do introduce a new perspective to the social discussion on how cultural activities promote well-being.

Ei oo kahta samanlaista siskoo: Yksilöllisyys Suomessa asuvien musliminaisten pukeutumisessa

Tutkimuksessa etsittiin vastauksia kysymyksiin, mistä yksilöllisyys muodostuu ja miten se ilmenee musliminaisten pukeutumisessa. Vastauksia tutkimuskysymyksiin haettiin teorian ja aineiston vuoropuheluun perustuvalla fenomenologisesti orientoituneella sisällönanalyysilla. Analysoitava aineisto on hankittu haastattelemalla yhdeksää Suomessa asuvaa musliminaista. Tutkimuksessa yksilöllisyyttä pukeutumisessa on tarkasteltu prosessina. Prosessiin vaikuttavina tekijöinä on tarkasteltu yksilön olemusta, personallisuutta, minuutta, identiteettejä, uskontoa, kulttuuria ja sosiaalisia suhteita. Prosessissa keskeistä aineiston perusteella oli positiivisen minuuden kokemuksen tavoittelu, joka tarkoitti naisille intuitiivista oman itsensä tunnistamista ja tyytyväisyyttä peilin heijastamaan kuvaan. Yksilöllisen pukeutumisen voikin sanoa olevan seurausta positiivisen minuuden kokemuksen tavoittelusta, koska jokaiselle naiselle erilainen pukeutuminen antoi tunteen sopivuudesta itselle. Esimerkiksi uskonnolliselle musliminaisille pään peittäminen merkitsee oman minuuden toteutumista, koska hän kokee tuon pukeutumisen olevan uskon mukainen pukeutumistapa. Toiselle musliminaiselle pään peittäminen voi merkitä positiivisen minuuden kokemuksen menettämistä. Yksilöllisyys pukeutumisessa ilmeni monin tavoin. Osa naisista peittää julkisuudessa koko päänsä ja vartalonsa, osa ei peitä päätään ja jotkut pukeutuvat jopa tiukkoihin tai paljastaviin vaatteisiin. Suomessa on myös kasvonsa peittäviä musliminaisia, joita ei kuitenkaan ole mukana tässä tutkimuksessa. Yksilöllisyyttä ilmeni kuitenkin myös samalla tavalla pukeutuvien musliminaisten ryhmässä. Yksilöllisyys pukeutumisessa ilmeni erilaisina vaatekappaleina, hiustyyleinä, valintoina, yksityiskohtina ja väreinä. Yksilöllisyydessä ei kuitenkaan ole kyse vain havaittavasta pukeutumisen erilaisuudesta, vaan siitä, miten kukin musliminainen kuuluu tähän maailmaan ja toteuttaa omaa minuuttaan pukeutumisella. Tämä tarkoittaa sitä, että tutkimuksessa yksilöllisenä pukeutumisena voidaan pitää sitäkin, mikä monen suomalaisen mielestä ei näytä yksilölliseltä. Avainsanat: Yksilöllisyys, minuus, pukeutuminen, islam, naiset, prosessi, kokemus

Pre-service early childhood teachers and designers partnering for change at The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary: An interdisciplinary education and design for sustainability project

This presentation discusses and critiques a current case study of a project in which Early Childhood preservice teachers are working in partnership with Design students to develop principles and concepts for the design and construction of an early childhood centre. This centre, to be built on the grounds of the iconic Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane , focuses on Education for Sustainability (EfS), sustainable design and sustainable business. Interdisciplinary initiatives between QUT staff and students from two Faculties (Education and Creative Industries) have been situated in the real –world context of this project. This practical, authentic project has seen stakeholders take an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability, opening up new ways of thinking about early childhood centre design, particularly with respect to operation and function. Interdisciplinarity and a commitment to genuine partnerships have created intellectual spaces to re-think the potential of the disciplines to be interwoven so that future professionals from different fields might come together to learn from each other and to address the sustainability imperative. The case study documents and explores the possibilities that the Lone Pine project offers for academics and students from Early Childhood and Design to collaboratively inform the Sanctuary’s vision for the Centre. The research examines how students benefit from practical, real world, community-integrated learning; how academic staff across two disciplines are able to work collaboratively within a real-world context; and how external stakeholders experience and benefit from the partnership with university staff and students. Data were collected via a series of focus group and individual interviews designed to explore how the various stakeholders (staff, students, business partners) experienced their involvement in the interdisciplinary project. Inductive and deductive thematic analysis of these data suggest many benefits for participants as well as a number of challenges. Findings suggest that the project has provided students with ‘real world’ partnerships that reposition early childhood students’ identities from ‘novice’ to ‘professional’, where their knowledge, expertise and perspectives are simultaneously validated and challenged in their work with designers. These partnerships are enabling preservice teachers to practice a new model of early childhood leadership in sustainability, one that is vital for leading for change in an increasingly complex world. This presentation celebrates, critiques and problematises this project, exploring wider implications for other contexts in which university staff and students may seek to work across traditional boundaries, thus building partnerships for change.

A Story of Organized Crime: Constructing Criminality and Building Institutions

This is a narrative about the way in which a category of crime-to-be-combated is constructed through the discipline of criminology and the agents of discipline in criminal justice. The aim was to examine organized crime through the eyes of those whose job it is to fight it (and define it), and in doing so investigate the ways social problems surface as sites for state intervention. A genealogy of organized crime within criminological thought was completed, demonstrating that there are a range of different ways organized crime has been constructed within the social scientific discipline, and each of these were influenced by the social context, political winds and intellectual climate of the time. Following this first finding, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with individuals who had worked at the apex of the policing of organized crime in Australia, in order to trace their understandings of organized crime across recent history. It was found that organized crime can be understood as an object of the discourse of the politics of law and order, the discourse of international securitization, new public management in policing business, and involves the forging of outlaw identities. Therefore, there are multiple meanings of organized crime that have arisen from an interconnected set of social, political, moral and bureaucratic discourses. The institutional response to organized crime, including law and policing, was subsequently examined. An extensive legislative framework has been enacted at multiple jurisdictional levels, and the problem of organized crime was found to be deserving of unique institutional powers and configurations to deal with it. The social problem of organized crime, as constituted by the discourses mapped out in this research, has led to a new generation of increasingly preemptive and punitive laws, and the creation of new state agencies with amplified powers. That is, the response to organized crime, with a focus on criminalization and enforcement, has been driven and shaped by the four discourses and the way in which the phenomenon is constructed within them. An appreciation of the nexus between the emergence of the social problem, and the formation of institutions in response to it, is important in developing a more complete understanding of the various dimensions of organized crime.