Search results
1 – 10 of 36Nikoletta Theodorou, Sarah Johnsen, Beth Watts and Adam Burley
This study aims to examine the emotional and cognitive responses of frontline homelessness service support staff to the highly insecure attachment styles (AS) exhibited by people…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the emotional and cognitive responses of frontline homelessness service support staff to the highly insecure attachment styles (AS) exhibited by people experiencing multiple exclusion homelessness (MEH), that is, a combination of homelessness and other forms of deep social exclusion.
Design/methodology/approach
Focus groups were conducted with frontline staff (N = 19) in four homelessness support services in Scotland. Hypothetical case vignettes depicting four insecure AS (enmeshed, fearful, withdrawn and angry-dismissive) were used to facilitate discussions. Data is analysed thematically.
Findings
Service users with AS characterised by high anxiety (enmeshed or fearful) often evoked feelings of compassion in staff. Their openness to accepting help led to more effective interactions between staff and service users. However, the high ambivalence and at times overdependence associated with these AS placed staff at risk of study-related stress and exhaustion. Avoidant service users (withdrawn or angry-dismissive) evoked feelings of frustration in staff. Their high need for self-reliance and defensive attitudes were experienced as hostile and dismissing. This often led to job dissatisfaction and acted as a barrier to staff engagement, leaving this group more likely to “fall through the net” of support.
Originality/value
Existing literature describes challenges that support staff encounter when attempting to engage with people experiencing MEH, but provides little insight into the causes or consequences of “difficult” interactions. This study suggests that an attachment-informed approach to care can promote more constructive engagement between staff and service users in the homelessness sector.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to critique the role of homeless hostels in contemporary society, examining their role and legitimacy as sites of discipline and regulation of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to critique the role of homeless hostels in contemporary society, examining their role and legitimacy as sites of discipline and regulation of behaviors, ideas and aspirations.
Design/methodology/approach
The research draws upon in-depth qualitative interviews and supplementary observations undertaken in two homeless hostels in Stoke-on-Trent.
Findings
The research finds that even the most benign interventions enacted in homeless hostels are infused with disciplinary and regulatory techniques and suggests that the author needs to consider the legitimacy and efficacy of such approaches when seeking to understand the role of the hostel in assisting residents in (re)developing their autonomy.
Research limitations/implications
While there are legitimate reasons for the deployment of such techniques in some cases, legitimacy can be undermined where expectations go unmet or where developing residents’ and service user’s needs are not necessarily the main object of the interventions.
Practical implications
Hostel providers need to consider the ethicality and legitimacy of the interventions in place when seeking to help service users and residents to (re)develop their autonomy and ensure that efforts are focused in an effective and meaningful way.
Social implications
Homeless people are among the most vulnerable and excluded in society. The paper seeks to draw attention to the disciplinary and regulatory techniques to which they are subject in order to ensure that approaches employed to support homeless individuals have a clear, ethical and legitimate basis.
Originality/value
The research draws upon original data collected as part of a doctoral research project into wider experiences of unemployment.
Details
Keywords
Paula Jach, Jiju Antony, Scott Paul Thomson, Beth Cudney and Sandra Furterer
The purpose of this paper is to explore the voice of the customer (VOC) of public transport (PT) users and non-users and to identify the role VOC plays in PT service quality…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the voice of the customer (VOC) of public transport (PT) users and non-users and to identify the role VOC plays in PT service quality analysis and improvement practices.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is based on quantitative and qualitative data collection. Quantitative data were collected through two questionnaires; the first is based on ranking data: 192 responses and the second on the Kano model: 46 responses. The qualitative data was obtained through 10 semi-structured interviews with senior management from seven bus companies in the UK.
Findings
Findings indicate that VOC differs between PT users and non-users and compared with the perspectives of PT Providers. The research also revealed that VOC plays a crucial role in PT service quality improvement (QI).
Practical implications
The findings can be used by PT service providers to better understand the VOC of PT users and non-users, which will assist in strategic and QI decision-making. Furthermore, an in-depth study of VOC in PT is provided, which progresses the academic field on this topic and advances research in this area.
Originality/value
This research brings new insight into the most important quality attributes for PT users and non-users. Moreover, the paper fundamentally contributes to the literature, which until now had severely limited input pertaining to the role of VOC in PT and little knowledge of service QI tools and practices in this sector.
Details
Keywords
Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).
Beth Macleod and David Ginsburg
Although none of the new music reference books of the past year totally replaces the old stand‐bys, some significant works did appear, especially in the areas of contemporary…
Abstract
Although none of the new music reference books of the past year totally replaces the old stand‐bys, some significant works did appear, especially in the areas of contemporary music, opera, and classical music discography.
Margaret Latshaw, Beth Harmon‐Vaughan and Bob Radford
With corporations reinventing and changing themselves with increasing frequency and speed, what is the real estate industry doing to enable that change? This paper presents the…
Abstract
With corporations reinventing and changing themselves with increasing frequency and speed, what is the real estate industry doing to enable that change? This paper presents the perspectives of a corporate tenant, a developer and an interior designer to answer the question of what some companies are doing to make workspace more flexible and to shorten the cycle time for the processes by which workspace is constructed, procured and fitted‐out for new occupancy. The following questions will be answered ‐ In the low vacancy market prevalent in so many parts of the United States, what strategies are corporate real estate executives in high‐growth companies using to acquire space fast? ‐ What trends are emerging in the industry to streamline the processes to build, acquire, fit‐out and manage space? ‐ How is the industry changing its product to ensure that the space that is delivered can meet a variety of users and uses as occupants churn through the space in unforeseen ways?
Details
Keywords
Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American…
Abstract
Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.
Details
Keywords
Susan C. Cooper and Susan E. Hillyard
The winter 1987 issue of Reference Services Review featured a bibliography of AIDS‐related materials prepared by Edmund SantaVicca, former head of Collection Management Services…
Abstract
The winter 1987 issue of Reference Services Review featured a bibliography of AIDS‐related materials prepared by Edmund SantaVicca, former head of Collection Management Services at Cleveland State University.