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Volume 8 Number 5 of Women in Management Review contains three articles. In the first, entitled “Gender Effects in Salary Increases: A Shifting Pendulum?” by Kenneth W. Thornicroft, the author maintains that a large number of studies suggest that in experimental reward allocation scenarios, females tend to under‐reward themselves vis‐a‐vis similarly situated males. However, the principal studies date from the 1970s and early 1980s. In the past decade there has been a substantial public policy effort, reflected in employment equity legislation and organisation‐level initiatives, targeting direct and systemic gen‐der‐based discriminatory practices. There is some evidence that gender‐ based discriminatory employment practices are receding. In this study, involving 127 undergraduate business administration students, the student allocator's gender was not a significant predictor of reward allocation behaviour. Even more provocative, the results suggest that a reward allocation bias systematically operated in favour of women.

A large number of studies suggest that in experimental reward allocation scenarios, females tend to underreward themselves vis‐à‐vis similarly situated males. However, the principal studies date from the 1970s and early 1980s. In the past decade there has been a substantial public policy effort, reflected in employment equity legislation and organization‐level initiatives, targeting direct and systemic gender‐based discriminatory practices. There is some evidence that gender‐based discriminatory employment practices are receding. In this study, involving 127 undergraduate business administration students, the student allocator′s gender was not a significant predictor of reward allocation behaviour. Even more provocative, the results suggest that a reward allocation bias systematically operated in favour of women.

Productivity gainsharing plans may well experience a resurgence as firms attempt to meet the competitive challenges posed by the new global marketplace. This qualitative ethnographic research investigates the particular problems one US firm experienced when it implemented a Scanlon productivity gainsharing plan. It is argued that such plans should not be treated as simple quid pro quos for collective bargaining concessions because they necessarily pose significant impediments to the maintenance of the status quo. Successful implementation requires both a sound programme structure, especially concerning the bonus formula, and a change in the organisation′s culture whereby all employees are able to participate meaningfully in the decision‐making process.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the success of an initiative involving the transformation of a group of small substance use treatment only or mental health treatment only provider agencies serving uninsured adults into providers of co-occurring disorder treatment.

The paper uses a case study narrative to describe the initiative and the transformation of the participant agencies from being providers of mental health or substance use treatment to providers of co-occurring disorders.

Six agencies serving uninsured adults expanded their scope of patient treatment services to include the capacity to treat adults with co-occurring disorders. This was achieved with modest support funding from a local foundation. The initiative has been ongoing for five years.

The outcome of this initiative demonstrates the financial and practical feasibility of improving and expanding treatment services to low-resourced patient populations. The participating agencies were able to improve their capacity to treat patients with substance use or mental health issues that previously they were not prepared to treat and thus increased their ability to provide integrated care.

The initiative described here shows that the treatment of concomitant substance use and mental health disorders is within the range of many small-scale treatment providers, if provided the leadership and support. Delivery of effective treatments to populations experiencing co-occurring disorders that are underserved and undertreated are achievable in community-based clinical practices. This has implications for developing treatment capacity outside of hospital settings to enable treatment of co-occurring disorders to become more accessible.

Over 2.7 million workers are employed in the UK construction industry and with the fragmented nature of the construction sector; cases of poor mental health of workers are on the increase. This upsurge in the number of workers experiencing poor mental health could directly impact construction safety with significant financial adverse consequences on employers and the UK economy. Studies have identified lapses within the construction sector emphasising the lack of transparency regarding reporting of mental health and well-being of construction workers due to the inadequate engagement from employers and the lack of genuine leadership commitment to tackle mental health.

This study adopted a non-probability purposive sampling strategy, using a self-selected sample. A self-administered questionnaire benchmarked against the mental health core and enhanced standards tools by the “Stevenson/Farmer review of mental health and employers” served as the basis for the methodology. A total of 106 industry managers from highways, construction, maritime, utilities, home building, rail and haulage/fleet were involved in this study.

The findings indicate that the industry is making good strides towards addressing mental health issues; poor mental health have significant financial burdens on businesses and the economy; some contractors have mental health initiatives and programmes in place; there is inconsistency of support available to employees; some contractors now integrate leadership training; the level of engagement vary based on the strategy and action plan adopted by organisations; different mechanisms are adopted for monitoring mental health issues, and there are cross-industry initiatives.

A limitation of this study is the number of participants which is not representative of the entire UK construction workforce. Therefore, the findings from this study as much as it presents some understanding of employee mental health and well-being cannot be overtly generalised across multiple industries, different geographic regions or contexts.

Employers should have a clear representation of the mental health of their employees to help them understand what affects worker’s mental well-being and how they can support them. Disregarding the multifaceted causes of mental ill-health due to the perceived financial implications could be more devastating for the industry.

Promoting positive mental health is increasingly being encouraged as the focus of research and policies on the mental health of construction personnel. Most measures of mental health, however, typically use negative indicators such as depression and anxiety and are not specifically developed for the construction workforce, especially those with a Global South background. These limitations have made it challenging to measure construction personnel’s positive mental health. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to develop a scale for measuring the positive mental health of construction personnel with a Global South background.

Guided by Keyes’ two-continua model of mental health, the study objectives were addressed through a mixed-methods study using the case of Ghana. Qualitative data collected from eight key stakeholder groups using 16 interviews and two rounds of focus group discussions were analysed thematically. Quantitative data were obtained through a survey of 425 construction personnel and analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and correlation analysis.

Thematic analysis revealed a four-dimensional structure of positive mental health, namely, emotional, psychological, social and spiritual. Confirmatory factor analysis and correlation analysis of the results indicated good instrument validity and reliability.

Existing measures of positive mental health are based on a three-dimensional model, i.e. emotional, social and psychological well-being. By including spiritual well-being, this study proposes a four-dimensional measurement model as a more comprehensive and promising measure to use in surveys of positive mental health among the construction workforce, especially those with a Global South background, and to develop suitable interventions for them.

This underscores individual and social implications for how mental disorders and mental well-being are constructed, conceived of and treated. Further, this paper aims to examine positive psychology’s role in supporting the advancement of a broader systemic and contextual approach to mental health. With that aim, this paper connects data on mental health and well-being with peace studies to describe the systems of value and social ecologies underpinning mental disorders, using public happiness/Felicitas Publica as a possible framework to enhance public mental health while intervening at the local level (Bruni and Zamagni, 2007; Marujo and Neto, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2021; Marujo et al., 2019).

Theoretical foundations and data on positive peace and mental well-being are described with the intention to propose a systemic, contextual, relational, communitarian, economic and sociopolitical perspective of well-being that goes beyond individual bodies and/or brains and, instead, views mental disorder and mental health as social currency (Beck, 2020).

The interventions using dialogic, conversational and community approaches are a possible path to promote peace, mental health and public happiness.

Examining the interplay between the fields of positive psychology, mental health and cultures of peace, this work contributes to the broadening of research and subsequent intervention topics through transdisciplinary approaches while reinforcing the role of systemic and social determinants and complementing the prevalent medical model and intraindividual perspective of mental health and well-being.

Adopting positive psychology to address mental health through public happiness concepts and interventions opens opportunities to respond to the ebb and flow of social challenges and life-giving opportunities. Therefore, the paper intends to articulate actor-related, relational, structural and cultural dimensions while moving away from discrete technocratic and individual models and pays attention to the way their implementations are aligned with both individual and social needs.

The work offers an inclusive, equalitarian, politically sensitive approach to positive mental health and positive psychology, bringing forward a structural transformation and human rights-based approach perspective while rethinking the type of social and political solutions to mental health issues.

Creating a critically constructive debate vis-à-vis the fluidity and complexity of the social world, the paper examines mental health and positive psychology simultaneously from a “hardware” (institutions, infrastructures, services, systems, etc.) and a “software” (i.e. individuals and community/societal relations).

There is a general consensus that healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities should be provided by multi-disciplinary teams. Within a forensic setting, recommendations are often made for separate or “parallel” forensic teams, operating independently of generic mental health or intellectual disability teams. An alternative to this model is an “integrated” service, where specialist forensic clinicians work within the general intellectual disability service, to provide support for clients with forensic needs. For clients with intellectual disabilities and forensic needs, there may be advantages to providing access to a wider multi-disciplinary team, through the application of an integrated model. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the working of an integrated forensic service within a learning disability team, to identify positive aspects of this model, and how potential shortcomings may be overcome.

Literature review, description of service outline with case example.

Although some studies have compared parallel and integrated forensic models within mental health services, there are no evaluations that compare models of forensic services for individuals with intellectual disabilities. However, specific advantages of an integrated model may include availability of multi-disciplinary clinicians, development of forensic skills across wider groups of clinicians, reduction in stigma and avoidance of delay in transfer of care between services. In addition, in areas with smaller populations, parallel services may not be feasible due to low case numbers.

There has been no formal evaluation of parallel vs integrated forensic services within an intellectual disability setting. However, the authors describe a fully integrated service and suggest means by which the potential shortcomings of an integrated model may be overcome.

The chapter examines the ways in which qualitative and quantitative methods support each other in research on occupational stress. Qualitative methods include eliciting from workers unconstrained descriptions of work experiences, careful first-hand observations of the workplace, and participant-observers describing “from the inside” a particular work experience. The chapter shows how qualitative research plays a role in (a) stimulating theory development, (b) generating hypotheses, (c) identifying heretofore researcher-neglected job stressors and coping responses, (d) explaining difficult-to-interpret quantitative findings, and (e) providing rich descriptions of stressful transactions. Extensive examples from research on job stress in teachers are used. The limitations of qualitative research, particularly in the area of verification, are also described.