Gail Kinman, Andrew James Clements and Jacqui Hart
The purpose of this paper is to examine the well-being of UK prison officers by utilising a benchmarking approach.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the well-being of UK prison officers by utilising a benchmarking approach.
Design/methodology/approach
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Stress Indicator Tool is widely used in the UK to assess key psychosocial hazards in the workplace encompassing demands, control, support from managers and co-workers, relationship quality, role and change management. This study utilises this approach to examine the extent to which a sample of UK prison officers meets the HSE recommended minimum standards for the management of work-related well-being. Levels of mental health and job satisfaction in the sector are also assessed using measures with extensive occupational norms. The psychosocial hazards that make the strongest contribution to mental health and job satisfaction are also considered.
Findings
Respondents reported lower levels of well-being for all of the hazard categories than recommended. Moreover, mental health and job satisfaction were considerably poorer among prison officers than other occupational groups within the emergency and security services in the UK. Considerable variation was found in the psychosocial hazards that predicted mental health and job satisfaction.
Practical implications
The high levels of stressors and strains experienced by UK prison officers gives serious cause for concern. Priority areas for interventions to enhance well-being in the sector are considered and areas for future research discussed.
Originality/value
This study highlights the wide-ranging benefits of a benchmarking approach to investigate work-related stressors and strains at the sector level.
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Nicola S. Gray, Jacqui Tiller and Robert J. Snowden
Wales Applied Risk Research Network (WARRN) is a formulation-based technique for the assessment and management of serious risk (e.g. violence to others, suicide, etc.) for users…
Abstract
Purpose
Wales Applied Risk Research Network (WARRN) is a formulation-based technique for the assessment and management of serious risk (e.g. violence to others, suicide, etc.) for users of mental health services which has been adopted across most Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) across Wales. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was disseminated to National Health Service clinicians in CAMHS to evaluate their perceptions of the use and effectiveness of WARRN. Data from 88 clinicians were analysed with both quantitative and qualitative methods.
Findings
Clinicians reported increased clinical skills, increased confidence in their assessment and management of risk and in safety planning, the increased safety of service users and the general public, and a belief that WARRN had saved lives. The qualitative data showed that clinicians thought a common risk evaluation instrument across Wales and different agencies had created a common language and understanding that improved communication.
Practical implications
WARRN appears well accepted in CAMHS services with the view that it is having a very positive effect on service user well-being and safety and could be implemented in other services.
Originality/value
This is the first report of a formulation-based approach to the management of serious problem behaviours in CAMHS services.
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Asad Ul Lah and Jacqui Saradjian
Schema therapy has gone through various adaptations, including the identification of various schema modes. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that there may be a further…
Abstract
Purpose
Schema therapy has gone through various adaptations, including the identification of various schema modes. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that there may be a further dissociative mode, the “frozen child” mode, which is active for some patients, particularly those that have experienced extreme childhood trauma.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is participant observer case study which is based on the personal reflections of a forensic patient who completed a treatment programme which includes schema therapy.
Findings
The proposed mode, “frozen child”, is supported by theoretical indicators in the literature. It is proposed that patients develop this mode as a protective strategy and that unless recognised and worked with, can prevent successful completion of therapy.
Research limitations/implications
Based on a single case study, this concept is presented as a hypothesis that requires validation as the use of the case study makes generalisation difficult.
Practical implications
It is suggested that if validated, this may be one of the blocks therapists have previously encountered that has led to the view that people with severe personality disorder are “untreatable”. Suggestions are made as to how patients with this mode, if validated, can be treated with recommendations as to the most appropriate processes to potentiate such therapy.
Originality/value
The suggestion of this potential “new schema mode” is based on service user initiative, arising from a collaborative enterprise between service user and clinician, as recommended in recent government policies.
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Melissa Carlisle, Melanie I. Millar and Jacqueline Jarosz Wukich
This study examines shareholder and board motivations regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) to understand boards' stewardship approaches to environmental issues.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines shareholder and board motivations regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) to understand boards' stewardship approaches to environmental issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Using content analysis, the authors classify CSR motivations in all environmental shareholder proposals and board responses of Fortune 250 companies from 2013 to 2017 from do little (a shareholder primacy perspective) to do much (a stakeholder pluralism perspective). The authors calculate the motivational dissonance for each proposal-response pair (the Talk Gap) and use cluster analysis to observe evidence of board stewardship and subsequent environmental disclosure and performance (ED&P) changes.
Findings
Board interpretations of stewardship are not uniform, and they regularly extend to stakeholders beyond shareholders, most frequently including profit-oriented stakeholders (e.g. employees and customers). ED&P changes are highest when shareholders narrowly lead boards in CSR motivation and either request both action and information or information only. The authors observe weaker ED&P changes when shareholders request action and the dissonance between shareholders and boards is larger. When shareholders are motivated to do little for CSR, ED&P changes are weak, even when boards express more pluralistic motivations.
Research limitations/implications
The results show the important role that boards play in CSR and may aid activist shareholders in determining how best to generate change in corporate CSR actions.
Originality/value
This study provides the first evidence of board stewardship at the proposal-response level. It measures shareholder and board CSR motivations, introduces the Talk Gap, and examines relationships among proposal characteristics, the Talk Gap, and subsequent ED&P change to better understand board stewardship of environmental issues.
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This chapter is devoted to analysing the historical peculiarity of the contemporary British politics of policing.
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter is devoted to analysing the historical peculiarity of the contemporary British politics of policing.
Methodology/approach
Research is based on an analysis of policy statements and debates, news reports, and official statistics, in the light of historical studies of the earlier politics of policing.
Findings
The Conservative government’s police reform programme severely diminishes the resources, powers, status and independence of the police, reversing the Tory’s traditional unquestioning support of the police. The package is shown to reflect broader changes in political economy and culture under neoliberalism.
Originality/value
There has been no previous academic analysis bringing together the various aspects of the reform programme, contrasting it with previous historical understanding of the politics of policing, and linking it to broader contemporary change.
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Cathy Nutbrown, Julia Bishop and Helen Wheeler
– The purpose of this paper is to report on how early years practitioners worked with the ORIM Framework to support work with parents to promote early literacy experiences.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on how early years practitioners worked with the ORIM Framework to support work with parents to promote early literacy experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
Co-produced Knowledge Exchange (KE) was used to develop and evaluate work with parents to facilitate their young children’s literacy. Information was gathered in discussion groups, interviews with parents and practitioners and feedback from all the parties involved.
Findings
Practitioners and families engaged with each other in the further development of an established literacy programme, and families demonstrated “ownership” of the co-produced knowledge after the end of the project.
Research limitations/implications
Project design in co-produced research and KE is necessarily flexible. The focus is on practitioners’ knowledge and ownership of the process, sharing knowledge with parents and enhancing children’s experiences.
Practical implications
Practices that can enhance parental engagement in their children’s early literacy are varied and multiple and ORIM can be used flexibly to plan, develop and evaluate innovative and community – (and family –) specific practices.
Social implications
Where parents have more knowledge of children’s early literacy development they are in a better position to support them; for learning communities there are implications in terms of future development of work with families to support early literacy development.
Originality/value
This paper contributes an original approach to the co-production of research with early years practitioners. It also identifies specific issues around the ethics of ownership in co-produced research.
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Maitreyee Das, K. Rangarajan and Gautam Dutta
The purpose of this paper is to do a thorough literature review to assess the current status of corporate sustainability practices, issues and challenges in small and medium-sized…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to do a thorough literature review to assess the current status of corporate sustainability practices, issues and challenges in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and, based on literature, suggest a model that can improve and strategically manage their sustainability practices in the emerging market context of Asia.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors did a meta-analysis of the reviewed literature taken from peer-reviewed scholarly journals in the time frame of 1985-2016. Methodology used by the authors is through preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis.
Findings
Corporate sustainability is a well-practiced area in big organisations. However, literature suggests that in case of SMEs, the situation is different. Social and environmental practices are grossly neglected in SMEs, more specifically in emerging markets. Existing literature mentions that collaborative mode of operation, government policy and facilitation and supporting organisation culture can positively influence SME’s sustainability performance and hence improve their financial performance.
Research limitations/implications
Most of the papers in corporate sustainability literature are qualitative in nature and there is no empirical evidence of establishing this relationship in SME context. This paper tries to conceptualise the existence of a possible framework relating factors of sustainability and their role in improving business performance of the SMEs. However, the findings are purely literature-based and piloting of the questionnaire is also done on 20 SMEs in a specific geography. This is a very small and also a biased sample. Future research studies based on this paper are expected to verify the proposed relationship with larger data set catering to different industry clusters and countries.
Practical implications
The proposed model is only directional in nature. With the content analysis, the authors have tried to answer the research questions relating to factors of sustainability and its impact on business performance. To address the research questions in a more generalised way, an empirical research needs to be conducted to establish the research propositions. The proposed model needs to be validated and optimised with further research and data analysis. Once such a model is established, this can be proved beneficial for providing guidance to SMEs to enhance the sustainability of their business operations.
Social implications
The SME sector has made a significant contribution to the economic development in countries, and this sector has huge potential for growth, and their geographic spread and penetration is much higher than large organisations. Sustainable growth of this industry sector can reasonably be expected to lead to stable and sustainable development of the nation. Moreover, environmental and social best practices adopted by SMEs will also have a positive influence on society and environment in the long run.
Originality/value
This paper had done a geography wise analysis of sustainable practices in SMEs, and based on the recommendations and suggestions of different analyses, the authors developed few research propositions and also presented a conceptual model. Finally, to address the gap, it mentions some future research possibilities to test and validate the proposed model in the context of SMEs in emerging markets of Asia.
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Holly Blake, Basharat Hussain, Jenny Hand, David Rowlands, Amdani Juma and Catrin Evans
There is a need to increase access to HIV testing in the UK in male migrant communities. The purpose of this paper is to assess the uptake and acceptability of a workplace HIV…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a need to increase access to HIV testing in the UK in male migrant communities. The purpose of this paper is to assess the uptake and acceptability of a workplace HIV testing intervention aimed at increasing access to testing in non-clinical settings.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 20 health check events were delivered at 11 UK organisations employing male migrant workers. Intervention included HIV testing, cholesterol, BMI, blood glucose, blood pressure; tailored health advice; take-away resources; optional post-event text reminders about HIV and general health. Mixed-methods evaluation included exit questionnaires (n=771), follow-up text messages (n=465) and qualitative interviews (n=35) to assess event acceptability. Qualitative data were analysed thematically.
Findings
Attendees were 776 employees from 50 countries (51 per cent male; 30 per cent migrant workers). A total of 52 per cent of attendees undertook an HIV test (75 per cent were first-time testers). In total, 96 per cent considered HIV testing to be an acceptable element of workplace health checks; 79 per cent reported new health-related knowledge; 60 per cent of attendees opted for follow-up text messaging; 26 per cent of text respondents reported independently taking HIV test post-event. High acceptability and uptake of HIV testing was associated with convenience, opportunity taking (through removal of deliberation and intentional test-seeking), and normalisation of HIV testing within a general health check.
Originality/value
This study is the first to demonstrate that opt-in HIV testing can be successfully delivered in the workplace within a multi-component health check. The workplace is an effective means of increasing access to HIV testing in groups at risk for HIV, including male migrant workers.