The purpose of this paper is to explore the state of extinction accounting, and the motivations for its use in the UK public sector. Prior studies are mostly concerned with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the state of extinction accounting, and the motivations for its use in the UK public sector. Prior studies are mostly concerned with corporate attempts to account for species, despite studies in related areas calling for examinations of the public sector context.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyses the use of extinction accounting in three separate case organisations, conducting a total of 21 interviews across the three cases. Interviews were conducted with a range of organisational participants each having experience with extinction accounting.
Findings
Interviews reveal a number of common uses and applications of extinction accounting across the three councils. Practices are used to generate reports on species loss and recovery within each region, and to facilitate planning for species protection and recovery. However, in attempting to use this information, key trade-offs emerge between satisfying economic and ecological criteria, and even trade-offs are created regarding development of protection schemes. This leads to a subversion of extinction accounting.
Research limitations/implications
Commensurate with prior studies in the corporate context, the study finds the presence of an economic logic impinging upon ecological decision making, suggesting that practices of extinction accounting may be affected by the same acknowledged economic motivations that reside in corporate attempts to account for nature.
Originality/value
The paper makes an important contribution by evaluating the public sector context of extinction accounting, which is lacking in existing research. The findings relating to the public sector use of species and extinction information also provide a useful context to understand how relatively new social and environmental accounting practices are deployed in organisations, as well as some indication of their effectiveness and limitations.
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THE INTER‐RELATIONSHIPS between the flowering of the fourth estate and popular literature, the democratisation of the reading public, and the growth of radicalism in the first…
Abstract
THE INTER‐RELATIONSHIPS between the flowering of the fourth estate and popular literature, the democratisation of the reading public, and the growth of radicalism in the first half of the nineteenth century have been long recognised. Yet although literary and political historians have dug deeply and frequently in the periodical press of the time for evidence of contemporary attitudes, less attention has been paid to the journalists whose output is represented. It is unsafe to assume that they were typified by literary giants like Dickens (whose editorship of the Daily news was at best undistinguished) or by those who subsequently produced autobiographical accounts. Most were comparatively faceless men, whose social, educational, literary, and political backgrounds can be discovered only through extensive research. Until numerous bio‐bibliographies are compiled on an individual basis, generalisations about the profession as a whole will remain tenuous. William Weir, editor of the Daily news in 1854–58, was one of this powerful new group of substantially‐neglected communicators, but in his case a unique if scattered range of sources permits a reconstruction of the apprenticeship of a Victorian journalist and some interesting insights into the profession.
Michael Costelloe, Christine L. Arazan and Kenneth A. Cruz
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between athletic participation and the acceptance of rape myths in an effort to further identify cultural and social…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between athletic participation and the acceptance of rape myths in an effort to further identify cultural and social institutions that may contribute to adherence to and glorification of rape culture.
Design/methodology/approach
A random sample of 685 first semester, university freshmen were surveyed about their high school sports participation and levels of rape myth acceptance (RMA). Linear regression models were estimated to examine the relationships between participation in sports, the type of sport participation and the acceptance of rape myths.
Findings
Those involved in athletics, generally, and those involved in team sports are more accepting of rape myths than are their counterparts. These results hold true for the full sample and for males and females, when examined separately. Participation in contact sports was not significantly predictive of RMA.
Practical implications
Athletics may provide a culture that is particularly prone to a belief in rape myths, which jeopardizes the integrity of collegiate sports. Policies should focus on changing offender behavior not victim behavior to create safer and more inclusive communities. Educating youth about the nature of rape myths and providing them with skills to resist such thinking is paramount. Focused programs and training could reduce the likelihood of accepting rape myths and, in turn, may make high school and college campuses safer.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to prior research by examining a sample of first semester university freshmen about their high school athletic participation and RMA. This research not only minimizes the effects of college level influences but also distinguishes between different forms of athletic involvement.
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Interest in developing institutional explanations of political and economic behavior has blossomed among social scientists since the early 1980s. Three intellectual perspectives…
Abstract
Interest in developing institutional explanations of political and economic behavior has blossomed among social scientists since the early 1980s. Three intellectual perspectives are now prevalent: rational choice theory, historical institutionalism and a new school of organizational analysis. This paper summarizes, compares and contrasts these views and suggests ways in which cross‐fertilization may be achieved. Particular attention is paid to how the insights of organizational analysis and historical institutionalism can be blended to provide fruitful avenues of research and theorizing, especially with regard to the production, adoption, and mobilization of ideas by decision makers.
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Timothy C. Weiskel and Richard A. Gray
To provide a brief illustration of how the circumstances of economic underdevelopment and ecological decline are reciprocally linked, we can begin by tracing the post‐World War II…
Abstract
To provide a brief illustration of how the circumstances of economic underdevelopment and ecological decline are reciprocally linked, we can begin by tracing the post‐World War II history of Africa. Political histories of the post‐war period abound for almost all parts of the continent, since it was during this era that many African colonies struggled for and won political independence. Detailed ecological histories of colonialism and the post‐colonial states, however, are just beginning to be researched and written. Nevertheless, several broad patterns and general trends of this history are now becoming apparent, and they can be set forth in rough narrative form even though detailed histories have yet to be compiled.
David Elloy and Kenneth S. Anderson
The organisation may suffer whenindividuals face problems in meetingthe demands both of family andworkplace. A survey in a heavyindustry plant revealed differencesbetween married…
Abstract
The organisation may suffer when individuals face problems in meeting the demands both of family and workplace. A survey in a heavy industry plant revealed differences between married workers and non‐married workers in three components of burnout. The results are analysed.
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The intent here is to present a representative, though not exhaustive, review of some recent empirical and theoretical literature on stress and the management of stress in…
Abstract
The intent here is to present a representative, though not exhaustive, review of some recent empirical and theoretical literature on stress and the management of stress in occupational settings. The paper begins with a synopsis of the financial cost to the employer of unchecked excessive levels of employee stress. The next section reviews some examples of empirically‐based research supporting the clinical and cost effectiveness of current Occupational Stress Management (OSM) programmes. This is followed by a discussion of recent evidence showing that the “traditional” (corporate) approach to OSM is incomplete and insufficient. Towards the end of the article, an idealised, comprehensive, biopsychosocioecological transactional model of OSM is outlined. Finally, methodological limitations of traditional OSM programmes are discussed, and it is suggested that future studies might consider utilising a multilevel‐multimethod “triangulation” measurement approach.