Elaine James, Chris Hatton and Rob Mitchell
Participation of people with learning disabilities in the United Kingdom (UK) Parliamentary Elections has previously been found to be lower than that of non-learning disabled…
Abstract
Purpose
Participation of people with learning disabilities in the United Kingdom (UK) Parliamentary Elections has previously been found to be lower than that of non-learning disabled peers. This paper aims to consider whether an intervention to support the right to take part in democratic and political life may result in increased participation rates.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered by social workers from 135 learning disabled people about their voter registration and voting in the May 2019 UK local government election. Social workers subsequently ran a promote the vote campaign with this cohort and gathered the same data in respect of the December 2019 UK Parliamentary Election.
Findings
Following the campaign, there were statistically significant increases in both the proportion of people who registered to vote and in the proportion who voted.
Originality/value
People with learning disabilities are more likely to vote if made aware of their rights and supported to do so.
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Andrew Corbett, Rob Mitchell, Lois Marie Shelton and Matthew Wood
Katherine Runswick-Cole and Rebecca Wood
In this chapter, we consider how the character of Rob Titchener has been developed in The Archers, moving him from hero of the hour to villain of the piece. We draw on a critical…
Abstract
In this chapter, we consider how the character of Rob Titchener has been developed in The Archers, moving him from hero of the hour to villain of the piece. We draw on a critical disability studies’ perspective to argue that ability and disability have been crucial in turning the character of Rob from the desirable and attractive man who first arrived in the village into a national hate figure, despised by all. We begin this analysis by introducing critical disability studies and studies of ableism as fields of academic inquiry. We then draw on these resources to offer an analysis of the ways in which ability and disability were used as a narrative device to develop Rob’s character. We question the ways in which ability and disability are used to denote ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in the development of characters in cultural texts like The Archers, and end with a plea to scriptwriters to engage differently with dis/ability and to consider the impact of the stories we tell on the everyday lives of disabled people.
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Holly Ventura Miller, J. Mitchell Miller, Rob Tillyer and Kristina M. Lopez
Purpose – Treatment for alcohol and drug addiction in correctional settings has become commonplace throughout much of the United States. The delivery of treatment services in…
Abstract
Purpose – Treatment for alcohol and drug addiction in correctional settings has become commonplace throughout much of the United States. The delivery of treatment services in prisons is a promising approach and has certain advantages relative to outpatient and voluntary treatment, including (i) certainty of program enrollment and participation by individuals who would not likely seek treatment on their own (i.e., coerced participation/guaranteed delivery of treatment); (ii) program modalities specific to residential settings as treatment options – in effect, more intensive treatment; and (iii) the parole process ensures participation in post-release aftercare services. During this era wherein reentry is a pronounced theme throughout American corrections, substance abuse treatment is fundamental in terms of rehabilitating offenders, increasing public safety, and lowering recidivism rates and, ultimately, the overall prison population.
Methodology – Using data from a process evaluation of an in-prison alcohol treatment program in Texas, this study examines the environmental barriers to effective recovery present in correctional settings and considers the strengths and weaknesses of coercive treatment, generally.
Findings – Findings indicate that offenders can indeed become motivated to change through coerced treatment. However, study findings also suggested that a certain number of offenders will not become engaged in treatment and fail to develop any internal motivation, which can be problematic for a number of reasons.
Practical implications – The highly coercive and restrictive nature of correctional facilities may negate the overall rehabilitative intent of treatment programs.
Randal S. Franz and Henry L. Petersen
The purpose of this paper is to explain people's divergent perceptions of companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in order to help organizations strategically…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explain people's divergent perceptions of companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in order to help organizations strategically manage their global responsibilities.
Design/methodology/approach
Combining institutional theory and role‐theory, the authors examine how people's expectations for the role of business (RoB) in society define the standard by which corporate activities are judged. Where conformity to institutional models confers “legitimacy” and compliance to social scripts constitutes “appropriate” behavior, the authors contend that congruence with RoB expectations is what defines corporate responsibility. This research utilized a quasi‐experimental method to explore the effects of stakeholder status and individuals' RoB expectations on their assessments of CSR activities.
Findings
Significant differences were found between stakeholder groups on all but one of the CSR activities scales. Of substantially more impact, subjects' RoB expectations were found to significantly shape their assessment on all CSR activities scales. A factor analysis of the RoB items identified five dimensions to the role business plays in society, which together define a holistic model for global responsibility.
Research limitations/implications
Subjects were recruited by convenience and randomly assigned to the four experimental conditions, so they are not representative of the general population. Future research would benefit from cross‐cultural, longitudinal and qualitative explorations into people's RoB expectations.
Practical implications
The five RoB components provide managers with a tool to strategically manage a multi‐dimensional portfolio of corporate CSR activities.
Originality/value
This research applies role‐theory concepts to the study of CSR, thereby introducing some emergent, situational, negotiated and idiosyncratic dynamics to our understanding of global responsibility.
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To extend the work of Rob Kling, whose research interests, and advocacy were at the center of a movement in analytical inquiry and empirical research now known as “social…
Abstract
Purpose
To extend the work of Rob Kling, whose research interests, and advocacy were at the center of a movement in analytical inquiry and empirical research now known as “social informatics”.
Design/methodology/approach
Reviews the work of those who engage in social informatics research to strengthen and further the conceptual perspective, analytical approaches, and intellectual contributions of social informatics.
Findings
The vibrant and growing international community of active social informatics scholars has assembled a social informatics resource kit that includes: perspective lenses through which research data can be viewed critically; techniques for building theory and developing models from socially rich empirical data; and a common body of knowledge regarding the uses and effects of ICTs.
Originality/value
The paper identifies opportunities to engage new scholars in social informatics discussions, and suggests new venues for promoting and extending the work of scholars already enrolled in the social informatics movement.
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Alan Chan and Shu-Kam Lee
This paper aims to characterize those who take part in three different type religious activities (prayers, monetary donations and worship attendances) in the USA using 1972-2010…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to characterize those who take part in three different type religious activities (prayers, monetary donations and worship attendances) in the USA using 1972-2010 General Social Survey pooled data.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have identified factors that affect each activity using Tobit analysis.
Findings
There are only three common factors (marriage, race and parental background) that influence all of these three activities and the directions of impacts are not the same. Black churchgoers are more engaging in all of these three activities, the same is true for those whose parents attend church regularly. However, marriage has positive impacts on both worship attendances and monetary donations, but has negative impacts on prayers.
Originality/value
This paper contributes by breaking down giving into three categories and using 38 years of pooled data in the US General Social Survey.
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Rob Kitchin, Paolo Cardullo and Cesare Di Feliciantonio
This chapter provides an introduction to the smart city and engages with its idea and ideals from a critical social science perspective. After setting out in brief the emergence…
Abstract
This chapter provides an introduction to the smart city and engages with its idea and ideals from a critical social science perspective. After setting out in brief the emergence of smart cities and current key debates, we note a number of practical, political, and normative questions relating to citizenship, social justice, and the public good that warrant examination. The remainder of the chapter provides an initial framing for engaging with these questions. The first section details the dominant neoliberal conception and enactment of smart cities and how this works to promote the interests of capital and state power and reshape governmentality. We then detail some of the more troubling ethical issues associated with smart city technologies and initiatives. Having set out some of the more troubling aspects of how social relations are produced within smart cities, we then examine how citizens and citizenship have been conceived and operationalized in the smart city to date. We then follow this with a discussion of social justice and the smart city. In the fifth section, we explore the notion of the “right to the smart city” and how this might be used to recast the smart city in emancipatory and empowering ways. Finally, we set out how the book seeks to answer our questions and extend our initial framing, exploring the extent to which the “right to the city” should be a fundamental principle of smart city endeavors.