Search results
1 – 10 of over 1000The title of this chapter was inspired by Martin, a prisoner the author met while conducting fieldwork. Martin remarked that, despite the common rhetoric around prisoners…
Abstract
The title of this chapter was inspired by Martin, a prisoner the author met while conducting fieldwork. Martin remarked that, despite the common rhetoric around prisoners ‘maintaining’ their family ties, the reality was that during imprisonment it became more about trying to cling on to them. Imprisonment is perhaps one of the most brutal disruptions a family can undergo, leaving them little choice but to adapt to this enforced transition. Immediately, the spaces where family life can happen narrow severely and become dictated by the prison environment and the plethora of rules that regulate it. The immediate physical separation, onerous restrictions on physical contact and the heavily surveilled nature of family contact during imprisonment constricts space for emotional expression, often rendering romantic relationships clandestine and fatherhood attenuated. Further, the temporal space for family is reduced as limited opportunities for visits lead prisoners to eschew contact with wider family members and prioritise their ‘nuclear’ family. Drawing on empirical research conducted at two male prisons in England and Wales, this chapter then, will detail the complexities of how families navigate this transition and the limitations on what family can mean in the prison environment. The chapter will conclude with the implications of these restrictions for the ultimate transition when prisoners return ‘home’.
Details
Keywords
Charlotte V. Farewell, Priyanka Shreedar, Diane Brogden and Jini E. Puma
The early care and education (ECE) workforce plays a pivotal role in shaping early childhood developmental trajectories and simultaneously experiences significant mental health…
Abstract
Purpose
The early care and education (ECE) workforce plays a pivotal role in shaping early childhood developmental trajectories and simultaneously experiences significant mental health disparities. The purpose of this study is to investigate how social determinants of health and external stressors are associated with the mental health of ECE staff, which represent a low-resourced segment of the workforce; how psychological capital (psycap) can mitigate these associations.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors administered an 89-item survey to 332 ECE staff employed in 42 Head Start centers in the USA. The authors ran three hierarchical linear regression models to analyze associations between social determinants of health, external sources of stress, psycap and potential moderation effects and mental health outcomes.
Findings
Individuals experiencing greater finance-related stress reported 0.15 higher scores on the depression scale and 0.20 higher scores on the anxiety scale than those experiencing less finance-related stress (p < 0.05). Individuals experiencing greater work-related stress reported 1.26 more days of poorer mental health in the past month than those experiencing less work-related stress (p < 0.01). After controlling for all sociodemographic variables and sources of stress, psycap was significantly and negatively associated with depressive symptomology (b-weight = −0.02, p < 0.01) and the number of poor mental health days reported in the past month (b-weight = −0.13, p < 0.05). Moderation models suggest that higher levels of psycap may mitigate the association between work-related stress and the number of poor mental health days reported in the past month (b-weight = −0.06, p = 0.02).
Originality/value
The implications of these findings suggest a need for policy change to mitigate social determinants of health and promote pay equity and multi-level interventio ns that target workplace-related stressors and psycap to combat poor mental health of the ECE workforce.
Details
Keywords
Jörn Kobus, Markus Westner, Susanne Strahringer and Diane Strode
With the rise of digitization, IT organizations are challenged to provide efficient service delivery and offer innovative digital solutions while maintaining a constant resource…
Abstract
Purpose
With the rise of digitization, IT organizations are challenged to provide efficient service delivery and offer innovative digital solutions while maintaining a constant resource capacity. To address this challenge, some IT organizations have adopted Lean Management (LM). Although LM is a standard production mode in manufacturing, it is less familiar to IT organizations. The purpose of this paper is to identify 12 lessons learned from companies who implemented LM in their IT organization (Lean IT) to free up their IT resource capacity from existing day-to-day operations so they could use it to enable their digitization strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study of two major international companies from different industries. Data were collected from 25 structured interviews.
Findings
The lessons learned provide insights into how these companies implemented Lean IT, the potential outcomes they aimed for, what they did to achieve those outcomes, how they facilitated the implementation of Lean IT, and restrictions they encountered during the implementation.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are based on a limited range of IT organizations.
Practical implications
The lessons learned inform those implementing Lean IT because they explain how companies have implemented Lean IT to facilitate digitization and the benefits and pitfalls they encountered. A comparison of Lean IT and Lean Production shows that LM is transferable to IT organizations if domain specific requirements are respected.
Originality/value
This paper reports the unique experience of companies implementing Lean IT, which can inform other companies in a similar situation.
Details
Keywords
When in‐plant and college‐based courses are run for supervisors and managers, it is conventional to use a U‐shaped seating arrangement in the training room to promote…
Abstract
When in‐plant and college‐based courses are run for supervisors and managers, it is conventional to use a U‐shaped seating arrangement in the training room to promote participation and discussion. However, at each class session, people will tend to sit with the same companions habitually, which may be more comfortable, but less productive than if they sat with different people each time.
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are…
Abstract
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.
Tasseda Boukherroub, Lysane Ouellet, Guillaume Lemay, Nathalie Bibeau, Diane Thiffault and Nicole McNeil
This study aims to improve accessibility to frontline psychological services for youths in difficulty. In the province of Quebec, Canada, the first significant intervention must…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to improve accessibility to frontline psychological services for youths in difficulty. In the province of Quebec, Canada, the first significant intervention must take place within 30 days for at least 75% of the clients. Achieving this target is challenging. This was observed in the Youth Programme of a health-care network in Montreal (Centre Intégré (Universitaire) de la Santé et des Services Sociaux Centre-Sud-de-l’île-de-Montréal).
Design/methodology/approach
Lean Six Sigma (LSS) approach within the Action Research methodology was used. Define, Measure, Analyse, Innovate, Implement and Control structure combined with Lean techniques and a Kaizen event were implemented.
Findings
In total 69% of the clients have now had their first intervention within 30 days and 91% within 60 days. Improving accessibility to frontline services led to improving accessibility to second-line services. Communicating performance objectives to employees led to increasing their awareness about the importance of performance assessment and their willingness to contribute to improvement. The Kaizen event was a driving force that enabled more collaboration and trust. The participation of a partner-client in the Kaizen helped finding client-centred solutions. The large number of participants in the Kaizen added complexity.
Research limitations/implications
It was difficult to sort and rank a large number of solutions during the Kaizen. The impact of hiring additional employees has not been investigated. Despite the significant improvements, the targets were not achieved. More research is required to identify more accurately critical factors that have a major impact on the success of LSS projects involving complex processes.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the body of knowledge in Lean health care. It describes Lean tools/techniques used, solution implementation and improvements achieved in a real context. 10 success factors and 4 challenges were identified. The study provides a model for other organizations for developing their own roadmap to improve accessibility to their services, notably in large and complex processes.
Details
Keywords
Chyllis E. Scott and Diane M. Miller
The purpose of this paper is to narrate authors’ personal and professional experiences as doctoral graduate students, highlighting the personal and academic growth fostered…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to narrate authors’ personal and professional experiences as doctoral graduate students, highlighting the personal and academic growth fostered through an organic peer mentorship and advocating that these relationships be cultivated actively by faculty advisors.
Design/methodology/approach
The concepts of purpose, planning, and positivity are employed to organize the discussion, which is based on relevant literature and the authors’ lived experiences.
Findings
Like most students who pursue and complete doctoral degrees, the authors experienced transformative learning. The authors acknowledge myriad ways their informal peer mentoring relationship was a critical component of successful degree completion.
Originality/value
While their relationship remains unique and perhaps inimitable, the authors seek to extrapolate the universal qualities relevant to others seeking a deep and personal support system during their doctoral degree-seeking journey.
Details