Jennifer Cowman and Mary A. Keating
The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of industrial relations (IR), and IR conflict in the Irish healthcare sector.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of industrial relations (IR), and IR conflict in the Irish healthcare sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a thematic analysis of Labour Court cases concerning hospitals over a ten‐year period.
Findings
The findings of the paper indicate that the nature of IR conflict is changing in healthcare. The paper suggests that alternative manifestations of IR conflict evident in the Irish healthcare sector include: absenteeism as a form of temporary exit; and resistance. The key groups in the sector are discussed in the context of their contrasting disputes. The themes which characterise negotiations are identified as precedent, procedure and partnership.
Research limitations/implications
The research was conducted in the healthcare sector, and thus its transferability is limited. Caution is also required as the research pertains to one national setting, which despite sharing some structural similarities with other health and IR systems, is a unique context. The paper highlights the importance of recognising IR conflict in its various forms. It is further suggested that managing the process of IR conflict may be significant in furthering change agendas.
Originality/value
The value of the paper centres on the investigation of alternative manifestations of IR conflict in the healthcare sector.
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Louise Gillies and Helen M. Burrows
Families conduct their affairs through processes that are built upon those of previous generations and also social capacities such as culture, class, oppression and poverty. The…
Abstract
Families conduct their affairs through processes that are built upon those of previous generations and also social capacities such as culture, class, oppression and poverty. The media has played a part in stereotyping the lower classes through their portrayal on the television programmes such as Benefits Street and Jeremy Kyle and tabloid newspaper stories. This chapter is a case study of two families who are at the opposing ends of the social scale, the Horrobin/Carter and Aldridge families. The two families were chosen due to them being linked by marriage in the younger generation. Through the use of genograms, we explore how the families differ in their attitudes towards relationships within their individual families, and also how they relate to each other as separate family groups. Despite the many differences, there are also a number of key similarities, particularly regarding the key females in the families, in terms of family background and snobbery. We also show that there is little family loyalty in the more privileged family and a power differential between the two families (oppressors vs. oppressed) in terms of the crimes committed.
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Katja M. Guenther, Natasha Radojcic and Kerry Mulligan
In this paper, we demonstrate the linkages between humor and political and cultural opportunities and present an analysis of the importance of humor for collective identity and…
Abstract
In this paper, we demonstrate the linkages between humor and political and cultural opportunities and present an analysis of the importance of humor for collective identity and framing in the New Atheist Movement, a social movement focused on reducing the social stigma of atheism and enforcing the separation of church and state. Drawing on a qualitative analysis of interview, ethnographic, and web-based data, we show why the New Atheist Movement is able to use humor effectively in the political and cultural environment. We further demonstrate that humor is central to the development and maintenance of collective identity and to the framing strategies used by the New Atheist Movement. Through a diverse range of forms, including jokes, mockery, and satire, humor is a form of resistance and also can be harnessed to support the goals of social movements. We use this case study as a basic for advocating for greater attention to humor within social movement studies, and greater attention to social movements in humor studies.
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Gemma Vickers, Helen Combes and Jennie Lonsdale
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a controversial psychiatric diagnosis. Despite an increasing amount of research looking at the BPD diagnosis when applied to young people…
Abstract
Purpose
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a controversial psychiatric diagnosis. Despite an increasing amount of research looking at the BPD diagnosis when applied to young people, there is limited understanding of the key viewpoints of mental health professionals working with young people in the UK. This research aims to use Q-methodology to contribute to understanding the multiple views of the diagnosis.
Design/methodology/approach
Q-statements about views of the BPD diagnosis were selected from relevant journals, internet sites and social media platforms and were validated by a Q-methodology research group, the research supervisors and an online group of individuals with BPD. Q-sorts were then used to explore the viewpoints of 27 mental health professionals in the UK working with children and adolescents. Analysis of the data was completed using Q-methodology analysis software.
Findings
Three main factors emerged from the data, explaining 66% of the variance. Of the 27 participants, 24 loaded onto these three factors, defined as: harmful not helpful; language and optimism; and caution and specialist services. Three Q-sorts did not load significantly onto any one factor.
Originality/value
There appears to be at least three ways of understanding the BPD diagnosis for young people. It may be useful for clinicians to consider and share their own viewpoint, be open to difference and formulate difficulties from an individual perspective.
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Much to the relief of everyone, the general election has come and gone and with it the boring television drivel; the result a foregone conclusion. The Labour/Trade Union movement…
Abstract
Much to the relief of everyone, the general election has come and gone and with it the boring television drivel; the result a foregone conclusion. The Labour/Trade Union movement with a severe beating, the worst for half a century, a disaster they have certainly been asking for. Taking a line from the backwoods wisdom of Abraham Lincoln — “You can't fool all the people all the time!” Now, all that most people desire is not to live easy — life is never that and by the nature of things, it cannot be — but to have a reasonably settled, peaceful existence, to work out what they would consider to be their destiny; to be spared the attentions of the planners, the plotters, provocateurs, down to the wilful spoilers and wreckers. They have a right to expect Government protection. We cannot help recalling the memory of a brilliant Saturday, but one of the darkest days of the War, when the earth beneath our feet trembled at the destructive might of fleets of massive bombers overhead, the small silvery Messerschmits weaving above them. Believing all to be lost, we heaped curses on successive Governments which had wrangled over rearmament, especially the “Butter before Guns” brigade, who at the word conscription almost had apoplexy, and left its people exposed to destruction. Now, as then, the question is “Have they learned anything?” With all the countless millions Government costs, its people have the right to claim something for their money, not the least of which is the right to industrial and domestic peace.
John Donaldson, President, F.J. Fielding and F.H. Lawder
May 22, 1973 Industrial Relations — Unfair dismissal — Jurisdiction — Employee dismissed — Four employees at termination of employment — Three employed for more than 13 weeks �…
Abstract
May 22, 1973 Industrial Relations — Unfair dismissal — Jurisdiction — Employee dismissed — Four employees at termination of employment — Three employed for more than 13 weeks — Fourth employed for less than 13 weeks — Whether less than four employees “who” had been continuously employed — Industrial Relations Act, 1971(c.72), s.27( l )(a).