Activist Mothers in Need of Public Housing and the Welfare Services: Negotiating Othering, Mothering and Resistance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamar Shwartz-Ziv ◽  
Edith Blit-Cohen ◽  
Mimi Ajzenstadt
Keyword(s):  
Public Housing ◽  
Reducing Power ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Women's Activism ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Public ◽  
Welfare Services ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
Welfare Agencies

Abstract Recent decades have witnessed an increasing trend towards the development of critical approaches to the study of poverty, which call upon social workers to perceive people living in poverty as active agents who resist their condition. Relatively few studies, however, have examined how women living in poverty, who embody collective-political agency, experience the encounter with the welfare services, and how their manner of organisation is shaped by this encounter. This study examines this issue based on fifteen semi-structured interviews with mothers in need of public housing in Israel who are activists in protest groups against the public housing policy. The findings reveal that the encounter with welfare services generated feelings of othering due to the meanings attributed to their homelessness and to the nature of their mothering. Conversely, activism was perceived as a practice for challenging, redesigning and reducing power relations with the welfare agencies. The findings also show that the encounter shaped the participants’ manners of activist mobilisation. The study contributes to the research literature on social work with women who live in poverty, by highlighting the important role of women’s activism within the encounter.

‘Communicide’: The destruction of a vibrant public housing community in inner Sydney through a forced displacement

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 270-289
Author(s):  
Alan Morris
Keyword(s):  
Public Housing ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Global City ◽  
Forced Displacement ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Late Modernity ◽  
The Public ◽  
South Wales

In 2014, the New South Wales government announced that all of the 465 public housing tenants in Millers Point in inner Sydney, are to be relocated and their homes sold. This article, drawing on 41 semi-structured interviews with tenants who were residents at the time of the announcement, has two main aims. First, to contribute to the debate as to the continuity or otherwise of community in a global city in late modernity by closely examining the sense of community among the public housing tenants in Millers Point at the time of the displacement announcement. The second aim is to examine what I have termed ‘communicide’. I argue that the displacement policy directed at Millers Point public housing tenants can be described as an act of communicide as it destroyed a vibrant community causing tremendous dislocation and stress. After the move, many tenants found themselves deeply isolated.

scholarly journals A Content Analysis of Public Policy Design and Implementation in Slovenia: Weighing Strategic and Normative Factors

2021 ◽  
pp. 70-88
Author(s):  
Žiga KOTNIK ◽  
Dalibor STANIMIROVIĆ
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Policy Cycle ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Public ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Strategic Factors ◽  
Normative Factors

"Policy processes are complex systems and require an in-depth and comprehensive analysis. Especially, factors that affect public policy design and implementation, as two important stages of the public policy cycle, have not been sufficiently explored. The aim of the paper is to analyze the relationship between two critical factors that influence the design and implementation of public policies in the case of Slovenia, namely strategic factors and normative factors, and offer a basis for comparison with similar countries. Based on twenty-two structured interviews with prominent public policy experts in Slovenia and content analysis of the responses, the findings reveal that, although strategic factors are identified by the interviewees as the most critical, the role of normative factors is also important and should not be underestimated. For various reasons, in practice, normative factors often turn out to be crucial."

scholarly journals Employee-driven Innovation in Welfare Services

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Wihlman ◽  
Magnus Hoppe ◽  
Ulla Wihlman ◽  
Hélène Sandmark
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Organizational Slack ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Public ◽  
Welfare Services ◽  
Qualitative Thematic Analysis ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Innovation Processes

There is a growing interest in both employee-driven innovation (EDI) and innovation in welfare services, but a lack of empirical studies addressing innovation from the employee perspective. Accordingly, this study was designed to contribute with well-grounded empirical knowledge, aiming to explore the barriers to and opportunities for participation in innovation experienced by employees of the Swedish welfare services. In order to reach the aim, a qualitative thematic analysis of 27 semi-structured interviews with employees in four municipalities was performed. The study identified three main themes, with a great impact on the innovative performance of the studied organizations: support, including leadership and innovation processes; development, including creativity and learning; and organizational culture, which includes attitudes and communication, all essential ingredients in EDI. Experienced barriers for innovation were unclear or non-existing innovation processes with ambiguous goals, insufficient learning, and deficient organizational slack, thus creating a tension between day-to-day work and innovation and hindering reflection and exploration. Attitudes of colleagues and lack of communication were also barriers to implementing innovation, suggesting the need for better management support for a communicative and open culture. Opportunities were found, including commitment to innovation and willingness to try new ideas, but the employees must be given the mandate and sufficient time to develop the potential that emerges from continuous learning, time for reflection, and user dialogue. The conclusion was that incremental innovations existed, but the full potential of these did not benefit the entire organization due to inadequate communication and lack of innovation processes. The study improves our understanding of how employees regard their involvement in innovation. It also discusses how to make better use of employees’ resources in innovation processes and contributes to important knowledge about EDI in the public sector. On the basis of our results, we suggest a model of EDI for use in practice.

Pemberitaan Media Tentang Transgender Perempuan di Madura

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-29
Author(s):  
Abdul Aziz ◽  
Mohammad Wardi
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Fundamental Issue ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
The Public ◽  
Marginal Groups ◽  
Marginal Group ◽  
Field Data Collection ◽  
The Public Sphere

This study focuses on the news about the existence of female transgender (transpuan) on the island of Madura, the news about transpuan Madura in different media, namely merdeka.com, okezone.com, suarajatimpost.com and suarapamekasan.com. The research method used in this research is the method of literature research, literature study on research dominated by non-field data collection. The results show first, the existence of transpuan in Madura in the public sphere is no longer seen as a marginal group. Secondly, Journalists from a number of media in charge of coverage in Madura, able to present objective values about the role of transpuan in the public sphere. Third, transpuan that was appointed to civil servants gives a picture to the public that gender is not a fundamental issue for the Maduranes as a minority and marginal groups that are considered outside the line of reasonableness.  

10. The role of media and public opinion

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piers Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
War On Terror ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Persuasive Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
The Media

This chapter examines the relevance of media and public opinion to our understanding of foreign policy and international politics. It first considers whether public opinion influences foreign policy formulation, as argued by the pluralist model, or whether the public are politically impotent, as argued by the elite model. It then explores whether the media can influence foreign policy formulation, as argued by the pluralist model, or whether the media are fundamentally subservient to the foreign policy process, as argued by the elite model. It also integrates these competing arguments with theoretical frames used in the study of international relations: namely, realism, liberalism, and critical approaches (including constructivism and post-structuralism). The chapter concludes by discussing contemporary debates concerning organized persuasive communication and the ‘war on terror’.

Investigating the Role of Big Data in Transportation Safety

2020 ◽  
Vol 2674 (6) ◽  
pp. 244-252
Author(s):  
Subasish Das ◽  
Greg P. Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Quality Analysis ◽  
Transportation Safety ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Public ◽  
Emerging Trends ◽  
Key Terms ◽  
Quantified Analysis ◽  
Population Representation

Big data may offer solutions for many challenges for transportation safety, providing more data faster, with higher spatial and temporal resolution. However, researchers and practitioners identify biases in big data that need to be explored and examined before performing data-driven decision-making. Leveraging semi-structured interviews of big data experts, this study includes a quantified analysis of topic frequency and an evaluation of the reliability of concepts through two independently trained coders. To identify the trends in the unstructured textual contents, the research team developed a text mining pipeline to identify trends, patterns, and biases. The study identifies key terms experts use when describing the role of big data in transportation safety, how the terms relate to the big data experts’ language through network plots, and clustering shows a need to focus on sources, quality, analysis, and implementation of big data. Results show value in maintaining the centrality of transportation experts and the public to determine the proper goals and metrics to evaluate transportation safety. Practitioners and researchers can develop new methods to improve population representation with big data, in addition to addressing difficult transportation safety problems. Working ahead of emerging trends and technologies of big data could support further advancements in transportation safety.

Dialogue and Coordination: How Hybrid Models Can Strengthen Labor Standards Enforcement

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 312-334
Author(s):  
Kelly Pike
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid Approach ◽  
National Development ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Hybrid Models ◽  
Labor Standards ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public And Private Enforcement

This article examines the factors that limit and support the capacity of developing states to regulate labor in the public and private spheres, as well as the role of international parties in strengthening that capacity. The purpose is to better understand the potential for a more coordinated approach informed by hybrid models of enforcement, which can contribute to closing regulatory gaps. Fieldwork was carried out in the garment sectors in South Africa and Lesotho during 2018, including 20 semi-structured interviews with industry stakeholders representing government, business, and labor. Findings indicate that the developing state has an important role to play in facilitating a more coordinated approach between systems of enforcement, including public and private enforcement agencies, national development agencies, manufacturers, buyers, and unions. The case studies indicate the potential of such an approach to, for example, improve inspection quality, accountability, and transparency. The state can play an active role in facilitating a hybrid approach to regulation that involves both state and non-state actors, with dialogue and coordination at the core of addressing broader challenges for enforcement.

The prevention of torture in Rio de Janeiro: A study on the role of public defenders

2018 ◽  
Vol 100 (907-909) ◽  
pp. 185-209
Author(s):  
Étienne Chénier-Laflèche
Keyword(s):  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Prison System ◽  
The State ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Public Defenders ◽  
The Public

AbstractThe attorneys of the Public Defender's Office of the State of Rio de Janeiro (PDORJ) are heavily present in the penitentiary system of Rio de Janeiro, individually meeting the vast majority of detainees and conducting monitoring visits. This article presents the work of the PDORJ in the prison system, focusing on its role in the prevention of torture. Based on semi-structured interviews with public defenders, the article explains the paradox between the extensive presence of the PDORJ in the prison system and the few instances of torture that are officially reported. It also presents recommendations aimed at better identifying and responding to accounts of torture.

scholarly journals Innovation or Stagnation – Social Work Organisations as Models of Behaviour for Clients

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 105-113
Author(s):  
Mannie Sher
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
The Public ◽  
Welfare Services ◽  
Work Strategies ◽  
The Government ◽  
Welfare Agencies ◽  
Prevailing View ◽  
Do So

Tavistock Institute of Human Relations1T: (+44) 020 7417 0407F: (+44) 020 7417 0566E: [email protected]:www.tavinstitute.orgW: www.grouprelations.comPresented at the conference:Reconstructing social work strategies in relation to authority and powerUniversity of Vilnius8th November 2013 SummaryThe profession of social work is fundamentally concerned about the persisting problems of socially alienated people and communities. Social work, by relying on its long heritage of practical experience, intelligent conceptual models and leading edge methodologies for change, works consistently to develop radically different approaches to helping clients. They do so by challenging the government, welfare agencies and charities to review their strategies and practices across society as a whole. The profession of social work also has to manage the tension between a prevailing view of welfare services as a burden on the public purse and one which views welfare services as being for the good of society as a whole. Social policies and good social work services are a wise form of endowment in the potential of individuals and communities whose considerable resources and strengths for their and society’s mutual benefit are otherwise wasted.Key words: welfare; social work; sustainability; alienation; autonomy and independence; power and authority.

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