This article traces the development of ideas and policies linked to the shifting definitions of crime reduction, prevention and community safety. The conceptual changes are often…
Abstract
This article traces the development of ideas and policies linked to the shifting definitions of crime reduction, prevention and community safety. The conceptual changes are often difficult to define due to imprecision and breadth. Community safety is sufficiently broad to be concerned with a range of harms and hazards beyond crime and disorder, which may become the focus of the emerging new forms of government.
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Chris Storey and Matthew Hughes
This research attempts to understand the operant resources required for new service development (NSD). It aims to construct a more intricate understanding of how operant resources…
Abstract
Purpose
This research attempts to understand the operant resources required for new service development (NSD). It aims to construct a more intricate understanding of how operant resources interact to drive NSD. Specifically, it aims to look at the impact of culture, strategic orientation and NSD capability for number of new services, the success rate of new services and the resulting financial contribution by NSD to overall firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
To investigate these relationships, data were collected from 105 leading UK‐based service firms via a key informant survey. Regression analysis was employed to test the model presented.
Findings
Analysis reveals that a different culture (entrepreneurial culture) is needed to drive the number of new services from that required for a higher success rate (learning culture). A NSD capability has an important role supporting both of these aspects of NSD performance. The quantity and quality of NSD go on to affect the financial contribution made by NSD. A firm's strategic orientation is also found to directly affect contribution. NSD performance is further enabled by the appropriate alignment of culture, capability and strategic orientation.
Research limitations/implications
The results demonstrate that existing research only partially explains NSD performance. The impact of culture, capability and strategic orientation is contingent on how performance is measured. Understanding how different operant resources interweave to deliver NSD will facilitate more informed decision making leading to the effective use of organizational resources.
Practical implications
The results show that there are different pathways to NSD performance depending on existing organizational conditions. Firms with an entrepreneurial culture should employ a Prospector orientation, whereas firms with a learning culture benefit from an Analyzer orientation. Defenders need to build on existing capabilities.
Originality/value
To date no study has assessed the relative effect of culture, strategic orientation and capability on NSD performance. The complex contingency model presented here offers a timely contribution to the theory base underpinning the development of operant resources for NSD.
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Some of the developments in teaching and learning aimed atcombining technical education and personal skills training aredescribed. A typical exercise from a student‐centred…
Abstract
Some of the developments in teaching and learning aimed at combining technical education and personal skills training are described. A typical exercise from a student‐centred learning module is described and related to the more conventional timetable and communication skills courses. The learning material has been developed in collaboration with industrial partners.
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Some of the developments in teaching and learning aimed at combining technical education and personal skills training are described. A typical exercise from a student‐centred…
Abstract
Some of the developments in teaching and learning aimed at combining technical education and personal skills training are described. A typical exercise from a student‐centred learning module is described and related to the more conventional timetable and communication skills courses. The learning material has been developed in collaboration with industrial partners.
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R. Michael (‘Mike’) Bourke, Shirley Tombenna, Owen Hughes, Matthew’wela B. Kanua, Agnes Siune and Barbara Pamphilon
The Papua New Guinea (PNG) LNG project had a direct impact on many rural villagers in the project area. A Livelihood Restoration (LR) program, and later a Community Livelihood…
Abstract
The Papua New Guinea (PNG) LNG project had a direct impact on many rural villagers in the project area. A Livelihood Restoration (LR) program, and later a Community Livelihood Improvement Program (CLIP), was established to assist displaced villagers with food supply and entry into the cash economy. Here we use a case study of the food processing component to focus on gender and social issues addressed through the action research process.
Over the period from 2015 to 2017, over 9000 women and men had received some training during the CLIP program, of whom 77 per cent were women. In the food processing component, women and men were trained to produce a variety of dishes. Training was also conducted in preparation of tasty and nutritious meals for the households, basic human nutrition and hygiene.
Using the action research process, we modified the program as the situation changed and as we learnt from the successes and failures in the program. Overall, the LR and CLIP programs were very successful. Several positive social outcomes occurred, including improved financial independence of many women, raised status of women in their community and a reduction in domestic violence.
Contributions to the program’s success include a gender-balanced team of agricultural, food processing and community engagement specialists; the team learnt from mistakes and modified the program using the action research process; the program was well funded by the PNG LNG Project; and success in the early stages of the program led to ongoing funding once the construction phase ended.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine contemporary sex worker labour unionism in a number of major western economies because it now faces an acute historical dilemma of being…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine contemporary sex worker labour unionism in a number of major western economies because it now faces an acute historical dilemma of being forced into acting as the antithesis of what it professes and aims to be, namely, elite pressure groups.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews and structured e‐mail dialogues with sex worker union activists were supplemented with an array of secondary sources and documentation, the authors of which are sex workers union activists themselves.
Findings
This loss of initial momentum for sex worker unionization projects concerned paucity of human resources, the limited spread of a “sex work” consciousness among sex workers, and ambivalence from potential allies. Consequently, sex worker unions concentrated on engaging in political lobbying on public policy, projects of legal reform of sex work, and helping provide individualized assistance to sex workers inside and outside their worksites on health issues, criminal offences and business matters. Thus, nascent or weakened labour unions in the sex industry acted as pressure groups concerned with work issues in a way in which other pressure groups operate on non‐work issues, thereby forsaking a key characteristic of labour unionism, namely, the focus of collective self‐activity in and on the workplace and from a basis on having a tangible presence in the workplace through membership among workers.
Practical implications
This research is of value to researchers, practitioners and policy makers, for it shows how workers seek collective interest representation through collective means in an environment of “atypical” work and employment.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to a growing body of work studying sex work and sex workers from what can be termed conventional, sociological and organizational behavioural approaches. The result of this is to be able to understand the processes and outcomes of their activities and exchanges as economic and social transactions rather than deviancy.
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David V. O’Sullivan, Corinna F. Grindle and J. Carl Hughes
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility, and effectiveness, of using Headsprout Early Reading (HER), an online computer program, to teach basic reading skills to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility, and effectiveness, of using Headsprout Early Reading (HER), an online computer program, to teach basic reading skills to adult offenders with mild intellectual disabilities (IDs) in a secure hospital.
Design/methodology/approach
A single subject pre-post-test design replicated across two participants was used. Two standardized literacy tests were completed at baseline, half way through the intervention, and at the end of the intervention period. A measure of reading self-concept was also completed. An additional component to this research design was the inclusion of two “treatment as usual” (TAU) control participants who did not complete the program.
Findings
Results are positive in terms of the feasibility of running the program, improved reading skills, and self-concept scores for both “intervention” participants compared to the “TAU” participants.
Originality/value
HER was originally developed for typically developing children, and has been found to be effective for children with IDs and developmental disabilities. This is the first study to evaluate this program with an adult population.
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Misbahu S. Zubair, David Brown, Thomas Hughes-Roberts and Matthew Bates
Personae are simple tools for describing users, their characteristics and their goals. They are valuable tools when designing for a specific group of users, such as children with…
Abstract
Purpose
Personae are simple tools for describing users, their characteristics and their goals. They are valuable tools when designing for a specific group of users, such as children with autism spectrum condition (ASC). The purpose of this paper is to propose, validate and revise a methodology for creating accurate, data grounded personae for children with ASC.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed method is based mainly on Cooper et al.’s (2007) persona construction method. It proposes gathering and analysing qualitative data from users and experts to either create a new persona or extend an existing one. The method is then applied to create personae for the design of a visual programming tool for children with ASC. Based on the results of the application, observations and lessons learnt, a revised version of the method is proposed.
Findings
The method’s combined use of user data and expert knowledge produced a set of personae that have been well reviewed by experts so far. The method’s use of a questionnaire to validate personae also produced relevant qualitative feedback. On review, possible downsides of extending existing personae were identified. Therefore, a revised method was introduced, eliminating the need to extend existing personae, and stressing the importance of utilising user data, expert knowledge and feedback.
Originality/value
This paper addresses the need for a well-defined method for creating data grounded personae that accurately describe the characteristics and goals of children with ASC. Such personae can be used to design and develop more accessible and usable products.
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In this chapter, the approach of radical interactionism is juxtaposed against symbolic interactionism, its older conservative turned rival cousin, to highlight primarily the major…
Abstract
In this chapter, the approach of radical interactionism is juxtaposed against symbolic interactionism, its older conservative turned rival cousin, to highlight primarily the major differences between them. The five key differences identified are as follows: (1) the major progenitors for symbolic interactionism are Mead and Blumer, while those for radical interactionism are Park and, by default, myself; (2) although radical interactionism presumes that domination and power are always of great importance for understanding human group life, symbolic interactionism assumes that they now have only limited importance for understanding it; (3) radical interactionism makes it mandatory for researchers to examine the role of dominance and power during social interaction, whereas symbolic interactionism makes it only discretionary; (4) while radical interactionism stresses the impact of individuals’ and groups’ unstated assumptions on their interaction with one another, symbolic interactionism de-emphasizes their impact on it; and finally (5) radical interactionism discourages, while symbolic interactionism encourages researchers falling into the trap of linguistic phenomenalism. Thus, unlike radical interactionism, symbolic interactionism facilitates sociologists not only falling prey to linguistic phenomenalism, but also conservative and idealistic biases, while allegedly conducting “value-free research.”