Nonprofit organisations face a restructuring state : the case of local social services in the Hunter region of New South Wales

This paper is concerned with certain of the characteristics of local social services, and their role in a restructuring Australian welfare state. I am particularly concerned with the distinctive gender characteristics of these organisations, because in comparison with most other organisations they have a feminised quality. This partly mirrors women's traditional role of undertaking the major part of the caring labour of society. However, simultaneously work in these organisation deviates from more traditional patterns where employed women occupy subordinate positions. In many community organisations, women occupy leadership roles. The analysis here is concerned with the apparently paradoxical nature of these organisations in their capacity to entrench traditional gender roles and to challenge these by allowing women to fill management positions. It is also concerned to examine whether changes that have been occurring in the community services sector over the last two decades are likely to enhance women's general position in the society, or diminish the power exercised by women. The paper draws in a preliminary way on a study of local services in the Hunter Region of NSW undertaken in the latter half of 1992. These preliminary findings are set against the broader picture of developments in the contemporary welfare state.

The social car : new interactive vehicular applications derived from social media and urban informatics

Digital information that is place- and time-specific, is increasingly becoming available on all aspects of the urban landscape. People (cf. the Social Web), places (cf. the Geo Web), and physical objects (cf. ubiquitous computing, the Internet of Things) are increasingly infused with sensors, actuators, and tagged with a wealth of digital information. Urban informatics research explores these emerging digital layers of the city at the intersection of people, place and technology. However, little is known about the challenges and new opportunities that these digital layers may offer to road users driving through today’s mega cities. We argue that this aspect is worth exploring in particular with regards to Auto-UI’s overarching goal of making cars both safer and more enjoyable. This paper presents the findings of a pilot study, which included 14 urban informatics research experts participating in a guided ideation (idea creation) workshop within a simulated environment. They were immersed into different driving scenarios to imagine novel urban informatics type of applications specific to the driving context.

Postpositivist research in education : theorising social structure in critical and institutional ethnography

This chapter charts the theories and methods being adopted in an investigation of the 'micro-politics' of teacher education policy reception at a site of higher education in Queensland from 1980 to 1990. The paper combines insights and methods from critical ethnography with those from the institutional ethnography of feminist sociologist Dorothy Smith to link local policy activity at the institutional site to broader social structures and processes. In this way, enquiry begins with--and takes into account--the experiences of those groups normally excluded from mainstream and even critical policy analysis.

Coteaching social education : an oasis in changing times

With the introduction and continued steady roll-out of the Australian Curriculum, teaching Social Education in 21st Century Australia has become increasingly challenging. This article explores how two teacher-educators tackled the challenge when developing a new Social Education course at a Queensland university using the strategy of coteaching. During the case study, data were collated from cogenerative dialogues, pre-service teacher questionnaires, and reflective journals. The data were subsequently explored using concepts from cultural sociology such as capital (Bourdieu, 1977) and agency and structure (Sewell, 1992). This paper examines how coteaching afforded the teacher-educators a vehicle to develop innovative curriculum and model ways to create a productive learning environment that reflected the philosophy of Social Education. It therefore speaks to higher-education institutions and schools about ways for navigating the present educational milieu through the adoption of collaborative strategies based on ethical relations that promote shared decision-making and reflexive practices.

The future shape of digital cars

Background. Digital information is increasingly becoming available on all aspects of the urban landscape, anywhere and any time. Physical objects (c.f. the Internet of Things) and people (c.f. the Social Web) are increasingly infused with actuators, sensors and tagged with a wealth of digital information. Urban Informatics explores these emerging digital layers of the city. However, very little is known about the challenges and new opportunities that these developments may offer to road users. As we gradually spend more time using our mobile devices as well as our car, the tension between appeasing our craving for connectedness and road safety requirements grow farther apart. Objective. The aims of this paper are to identify (a) new opportunities that Urban Informatics research can offer to our future cars and (b) potential benefits to road safety. Methods. 14 Urban Informatics research experts were grouped into seven teams of two to participate in a guided ideation (idea creation) workshop in a driving simulator. They were immersed into different driving scenarios to brainstorm innovative Urban Informatics applications in different driving contexts. This qualitative study was then evaluated in the context of road safety. Outcomes. There is a lack of articulation between Urban Informatics and Road Safety research. Several Urban Informatics applications (e.g., to enhance social interaction between people in urban environments) may provide benefits, rather than threats, towards road safety, provided they are implemented ergonomically and safely. Conclusions. This research initiates a much-needed dialogue between Urban Informatics and Road Safety disciplines, in the context of Intelligent Transport Systems, before the fast approaching digital wave invades our cars. The dialogue will help to avoid driver distraction issues similar to mobile phones use in cars. As such, it provides valuable information for future regulators and policy makers in charge of shaping our future road transport landscape.

The neglected dimension of community liveability : impact on social connectedness and active ageing in higher density accommodation

Purpose This thesis is about liveability, place and ageing in the high density urban landscape of Brisbane, Australia. As with other major developed cities around the globe, Brisbane has adopted policies to increase urban residential densities to meet the main liveability and sustainability aim of decreasing car dependence and therefore pollution, as well as to minimise the loss of greenfield areas and habitats to developers. This objective hinges on urban neighbourhoods/communities being liveable places, which residents do not have to leave for everyday living. Community/neighbourhood liveability is an essential ingredient in healthy ageing in place and has a substantial impact upon the safety, independence and well-being of older adults. It is generally accepted that ageing in place is optimal for both older people and the state. The optimality of ageing in place generally assumes that there is a particular quality to environments or standard of liveability in which people successfully age in place. The aim of this thesis was to examine if there are particular environmental qualities or aspects of liveability that test optimality and to better understand the key liveability factors that contribute to successful ageing in place. Method A strength of this thesis is that it draws on two separate studies to address the research question of what makes high density liveable for older people. In Chapter 3, the two methods are identified and differentiated as Method 1 (used in Paper 1) and Method 2 (used in Papers 2, 3, 4 and 5). Method 1 involved qualitative interviews with 24 inner city high density Brisbane residents. The major strength of this thesis is the innovative methodology outlined in the thesis as Method 2. Method 2 involved a case study approach employing qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative data was collected using semi-structured, in-depth interviews and time-use diaries completed by participants during the week of tracking. The quantitative data was gathered using Global Positioning Systems for tracking and Geographical Information Systems for mapping and analysis of participants’ activities. The combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis captured both participants’ subjective perceptions of their neighbourhoods and their patterns of movement. This enhanced understanding of how neighbourhoods and communities function and of the various liveability dimensions that contribute to active ageing and ageing in place for older people living in high density environments. Both studies’ participants were inner-city high density residents of Brisbane. The study based on Method 1 drew on a wider age demographic than the study based on Method 2. Findings The five papers presented in this thesis by publication indicate a complex inter-relationship of the factors that make a place liveable. The first three papers identify what is comparable and different between the physical and social factors of high density communities/neighbourhoods. The last two papers explore relationships between social engagement and broader community variables such as infrastructure and the physical built environments that are risk or protective factors relevant to community liveability, active ageing and ageing in place in high density. The research highlights the importance of creating and/or maintaining a barrier-free environment and liveable community for ageing adults. Together, the papers promote liveability, social engagement and active ageing in high density neighbourhoods by identifying factors that constitute liveability and strategies that foster active ageing and ageing in place, social connections and well-being. Recommendations There is a strong need to offer more support for active ageing and ageing in place. While the data analyses of this research provide insight into the lived experience of high density residents, further research is warranted. Further qualitative and quantitative research is needed to explore in more depth, the urban experience and opinions of older people living in urban environments. In particular, more empirical research and theory-building is needed in order to expand understanding of the particular environmental qualities that enable successful ageing in place in our cities and to guide efforts aimed at meeting this objective. The results suggest that encouraging the presence of more inner city retail outlets, particularly services that are utilised frequently in people’s daily lives such as supermarkets, medical services and pharmacies, would potentially help ensure residents fully engage in their local community. The connectivity of streets, footpaths and their role in facilitating the reaching of destinations are well understood as an important dimension of liveability. To encourage uptake of sustainable transport, the built environment must provide easy, accessible connections between buildings, walkways, cycle paths and public transport nodes. Wider streets, given that they take more time to cross than narrow streets, tend to .compromise safety - especially for older people. Similarly, the width of footpaths, the level of buffering, the presence of trees, lighting, seating and design of and distance between pedestrian crossings significantly affects the pedestrian experience for older people and impacts upon their choice of transportation. High density neighbourhoods also require greater levels of street fixtures and furniture for everyday life to make places more useable and comfortable for regular use. The importance of making the public realm useful and habitable for older people cannot be over-emphasised. Originality/value While older people are attracted to high density settings, there has been little empirical evidence linking liveability satisfaction with older people’s use of urban neighbourhoods. The current study examined the relationships between community/neighbourhood liveability, place and ageing to better understand the implications for those adults who age in place. The five papers presented in this thesis add to the understanding of what high density liveable age-friendly communities/ neighbourhoods are and what makes them so for older Australians. Neighbourhood liveability for older people is about being able to age in place and remain active. Issues of ageing in Australia and other areas of the developed world will become more critical in the coming decades. Creating livable communities for all ages calls for partnerships across all levels of government agencies and among different sectors within communities. The increasing percentage of older people in the community will have increasing political influence and it will be a foolish government who ignores the needs of an older society.

Kaleidoscopes and contradictions : the legitimacy of social media for public relations

If the current discourses of progress are to be believed, the new or social media promise a kaleidoscope of opportunity for connecting and informing citizens. This is by allegedly revitalizing the fading legitimacy and practice of institutions and providing an agent for social interaction. However, as social media adoption has increased, it has revealed a wealth of contradictions both of its own making and reproduction of past action. This has created a crisis for traditional media as well as for public relations. For example, social media such as WikiLeaks have bypassed official channels about government information. In other cases, social media such as Facebook and Twitter informed BBC coverage of the Rio Olympics. Although old media are unlikely to go away, social media have had an impact with several large familybased media companies collapsing or being reintegrated into the new paradigm. To use Walter Lippman’s analogy of the phantom public, the social media contradictorily serve to both disparate the phantom in part and reinforce it...

Corporate social responsibility and the parameters of dialogue with vulnerable others

This article presents a case study of corporate dialogue with vulnerable others. Dialogue with marginalized external groups is increasingly presented in the business literature as the key to making corporate social responsibility possible in particular through corporate learning. Corporate public communications at the same time promote community engagement as a core aspect of corporate social responsibility. This article examines the possibilities for and conditions underpinning corporate dialogue with marginalized stakeholders as occurred around the unexpected and sudden closure in January 2009 of the AU$2.2 billion BHP Billiton Ravensthorpe Nickel mine in rural Western Australia. In doing so we draw on John Roberts’ notion of dialogue with vulnerable others, and apply a discourse analysis approach to data spanning corporate public communications and interviews with residents affected by the decision to close the mine. In presenting this case study we contribute to the as yet limited organizational research concerned directly with marginalized stakeholders and argue that corporate social responsibility discourse and vulnerable other dialogue not only affirms the primacy of business interests but also co-opts vulnerable others in the pursuit of these interests. In conclusion we consider case study implications for critical understandings of corporate dialogue with vulnerable others.

Service convenience and social servicescape : retail vs hedonic setting

Purpose – While there have been numerous studies on the antecedents and consequences of service quality, there has been little investigation of the moderators of service quality. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the effects of two moderators: service convenience and the social servicescape. The moderating effects are tested in two service settings: retail and hedonic (concert). Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 270 customers at kitchen display showrooms and 320 concert-goers was undertaken. The results were analysed using regression analysis. Findings – The results show support for ten of the 12 hypotheses. Service convenience moderated the relationships between perceived service quality and its three sub-dimensions (interaction, environment, and outcome quality), differently in different settings (retail vs hedonic). This supports the authors' general argument that the outcome dimension tends to be more important to customers in a retail setting, while interaction and environment quality dimensions tend to be more important in hedonic service consumption. Practical implications – These findings suggest that managers need to use different service management tactics in retail and hedonic service settings. Specifically managers in retail settings need to pay more attention to service convenience to achieve service quality and managers in hedonic settings should concentrate on the social servicescape. Originality/value – This paper is the first to test the moderating factors of service convenience and social servicescape on service quality.

Joined-up practice : five areas of exemplary practice for social workers and educators to re-engage homeless youth

Young people seen as ‘at risk’ are a substantial focus across a wide range of policy and practice fields in national and international contexts. This article addresses two of those fields, youth homelessness and youth failing to obtain a basic education that will give them access to employment and full community participation as active citizens. By comparing solutions to the problems of youth homelessness and youth educationally at risk, the article distils key meta-characteristics useful for both social workers and educators in mutually supporting some of the most at risk young people in our communities today. This is what the authors term ‘a joined-up practice’.

The social and political underpinnings of the inclusive education movement

In this chapter we look at inclusive education as part of a number of wider social movements for social justice. Inclusive education is thus understood as a transformation of education systems, rather than simply the addition of new groups of students to schools, or the development of new techniques (Slee, 2006). We illustrate the ways movements for social change can occur at many levels. Resistance to social change also occurs at many levels. Movements for social justice often include a goal of changing what happens in education. This is because education is often seen as one of the important social institutions that can reinforce the status quo. Education is also seen as an important means of changing the status quo, giving more people access to a more meaningful education. It’s not uncommon to hear various political parties criticising each other’s educational policies as ‘social engineering.’ Movements for social justice in education understand that education has always been about social engineering. The questions of interest are thus: Social engineering for what?; Who benefits; and At whose expense?

Assessing occupational stress in psychiatric nurses using the full job strain model the value of social support to nurses

The present research examined the effects of occupational stress in psychiatric nursing on employee well!being using the full Job Strain Model.The Job Strain Model was assessed for its ability to predict employee well!being in terms of job satisfaction and mental health. The original Job Strain Model was expanded to include social support based on previous research concerning the impact of social support on well!being[ In the present study\ both work support and non-work were assessed for their contribution to wellbeing.The results of this study indicate that the full Job Strain Model can be used to significantly predict job satisfaction and mental health in this sample of Australian psychiatric nurses. Furthermore social support was shown to be an important component of the Job Strain Model.

Impact of physical, psychological, and sexual violence on social adjustment of school children in India

and sexual violence on the social adjustment of Grade 8 and 9 school children in the state of Tripura, India. The study participants, 160 boys and 160 girls, were randomly selected from classes in eight English and Bengali medium schools in Agartala city, Tripura. Data were collected using a self-administered Semi-structured Questionnaire for Children/Students and a Social Adjustment Inventory which were custom-made for the study based on measures in the extant research adapted for the Indian context. Findings revealed that students experienced physical (21.9%), psychological (20.9%), and sexual (18.1%) violence at home, and 29.7% of the children had witnessed family violence. Boys were more often victims of physical and psychological violence while girls were more often victims of sexual violence. The social adjustment scores of school children who experienced violence, regardless of the nature of the violence, was significantly lower when compared with scores of those who had not experienced violence (p<0.001). Social adjustment was poorer for girls than boys (p<0.001). The study speaks in favour of early detection and intervention for all child maltreatment subtypes and for children exposed to interparental violence, and highlights the crucial role of schools and school psychology in addressing the problem.

Compact arrays for mobile platforms : trade-off between size and performance for SDMA and MIMO applications

Smart antenna receiver and transmitter systems consist of multi-port arrays with an individual receiver channel (including ADC) and an individual transmitter channel (including DAC)at every of the M antenna ports, respectively. By means of digital beamforming, an unlimited number of simultaneous complex-valued vector radiation patterns with M-1 degrees of freedom can be formed. Applications of smart antennas in communication systems include space-division multiple access. If both stations of a communication link are equipped with smart antennas (multiple-input-multiple-output, MIMO). multiple independent channels can be formed in a "multi-path-rich" environment. In this article, it will be shown that under certain circumstances, the correlation between signals from adjacent ports of a dense array (M + ΔM elements) can be kept as low as the correlation between signals from adjacent ports of a conventional array (M elements and half-wavelength pacing). This attractive feature is attained by means of a novel approach which employs a RF decoupling network at the array ports in order to form new ports which are decoupled and associated with mutually orthogonal (de-correlated) radiation patterns.