Positive Social Outcomes Research Articles

The Samaritan bureaucracy in international transfers

AbstractConventional wisdom tells us that other-regarding sentiments are desirable as they yield positive social outcomes. However, the consequences of other-regarding behaviors are broadly ambiguous and may have unintended consequences, especially when they must pass through institutional filters. In this paper, we use the Samaritan’s Dilemma model to understand the perverse unintended consequences of institutionalized commitments to resource transfers expressed through international transfer organizations (ITOs), the collection of government and non-government international organizations involved in transferring foreign assistance. To do so, we maintain the core logic of the classic Samaritan’s Dilemma model but alter its assumptions to account for two features of international transfers. First, transfers are channeled through an ITO bureaucracy, which we call a “Samaritan Bureaucracy.” Second, the recipient effects that extend beyond a single person (the target recipient) to include various heterogeneous individuals. We illustrate these effects by analyzing two different harmful recipient effects—reinforcing a corrupt status quo and exacerbating social conflict.

An investigation of coach autonomy support, life skills acquisition, and the five Cs among junior and senior secondary school athletes in Botswana

ABSTRACT Guided by models of positive youth development (PYD), this study examined the associations among perceived coach autonomy support, life skills acquisition, and the Five Cs of PYD. Cross-sectional data were collected from a purposive sample of 300 youth athletes (M age = 17.16, SD = 1.28, male = 53.5%) recruited from public junior and secondary schools in Botswana. Participants completed measures of coach autonomy support, life skills acquisition, and the Five Cs. Results from regression analyses indicated that perceived coach autonomy support was significantly associated with the perceived acquisition of eight life skills through sport (e.g., teamwork, goal setting), as well as character (B = .10, p = .001), connection (B = .15, p < .001), and caring/compassion (B = .10, p = .006) dimensions of PYD. Of the eight sport-specific life skills examined, perceived acquisition of teamwork was significantly related to athletes’ perceptions of competence (B = 0.21, p = .023), confidence (B = 0.14, p = .009), and connection (B = 0.16, p = .012), while perceived acquisition of social skills was significantly related to athletes’ perception of character (B = 0.11, p = .022). These findings highlight perceived coach autonomy support as important to life skills acquisition and positive developmental outcomes among Botswana youth athletes. Importantly, in this African context, sport appears to be a compelling pathway through which youth can attain valuable competencies, such as teamwork and social skills, that promote positive personal (i.e., competence, confidence, character) and social outcomes (i.e., connection) external to sport.

Сетевая инновационная кластерная педагогическая лаборатория как инструмент повышения качества функционирования муниципальных образовательных комплексов и организаций

The article introduces a model developed in the Republic of Bashkortostan aimed at improving the functioning of educational organizations at the municipal level – the Network Innovative Cluster Pedagogical Laboratory, validated with direct involvement from the author. The necessity and effectiveness of the proposed management solution are substantiated. On one hand, numerous vectors of reform in Russian education converge on the common goal of implementing an individualized approach in modern schools. This approach aims to help each student develop their abilities and acquire skills for independent problem-solving in academic and life contexts. On the other hand, any changes in social institutions today occur within the contextual framework of an information society, altering the content and necessary set of knowledge, skills, and competencies. The structure of the Network Innovative Cluster Pedagogical Laboratory is examined, emphasizing the need for creating an information-educational environment, transitioning general education schools into a mode of innovative development, and focusing management efforts on positive social outcomes. This innovative educational complex contributes to the holistic development of student’s personality – intellectual, communicative, and emotional-moral, but requires ongoing monitoring of all elements from both objective and subjective perspectives.

Conceptualizing social risk in relation to climate change and assisted ecosystem adaptation.

Realizing positive social and environmental outcomes from assisted ecosystem adaptation requires the management of complex, uncertain, and ambiguous risks. Using assisted coral reef adaptation as a case study, this article presents a conceptual framework that defines social impacts as the physical and cognitive consequences for people of planned intervention and social risks as potential impacts transformed into objects of management through assessment and governance. Reflecting on its multiple uses in the literature, we consider "social risk" in relation to risks to individuals and communities, risks to First Peoples, risks to businesses or project implementation, possibilities for amplified social vulnerability, and risk perceptions. Although much of this article is devoted to bringing clarity to the different ways in which social risk manifests and to the multiple characters of risk and uncertainty, it is apparent that risk governance itself must be an inherently integrative and social process.

Women's Role in Informal Support Systems: Supporting Families and Creating Communities in Parent and Baby Groups in Scotland

This article presents findings from two case studies examining the experiences of participants and volunteers in parent/carer and baby groups (playgroups) in Scotland. Through a detailed case study analysis – using participatory observation and a series of semi-structured interviews – this research finds that playgroups: 1) support the development of social capital through long-term connections and sense of belonging and wellbeing; 2) enhance community voluntarism and reciprocity, through capacity building; and 3) develop the skills and confidence of their members related to child development through knowledge exchange and storytelling. It is further contended that despite playgroups importance to the social fabric and contribution to other positive social outcomes, these groups, and the women that run them, have been marginalised as researchers focus attention on more formal early years’ education and child development. This research highlights an important gap in knowledge and focus from social scientists on informal settings and women’s invisible labour, which take place every day and in every community in Scotland. The research aims to inform policy and practice on perinatal support and early-years settings in Scotland and more widely.

Reimagining energy infrastructure for justice: Power, politics, and institutional work in India’s 2.05 GW Pavagada solar park

India has positioned itself as a leader in transitioning its energy sector to renewable sources, with ambitious targets and policies in place. Large-scale grid-integrated renewable energy plants have been identified as the most efficient option. Scholarly arguments differ regarding the impacts of renewables-led transitions, with some emphasizing positive environmental, economic, and social outcomes, while others highlight the potential for reinforcing asymmetrical power relations and unjust outcomes. Viewing the energy transition as a socio-technical process, we utilize a recent conceptualisation of the relationship between institutional work and infrastructures to analyze the unfolding power dynamics and its influence on socially just outcomes. Theoretically, we draw on the ‘Triple-Re’ framework, which distinguishes three interrelated domains of institutional work in socio-technical transitions: reimagining, recoding, and reconfiguring of infrastructures. Through a process tracing approach, we study the planning and realization of India's Pavagada Solar Park to understand the interactions among actors, institutions, policies, and material contexts at various spatial and temporal scales. Field observations, interviews, and archival research reveal how discursive dynamics and the recoding of rules and policies have facilitated land and resource mobilization, resulting in changes to ownership models, local infrastructure, land use, ecosystems, and occupational structures. We argue that recognizing and understanding these outcomes are crucial for achieving socially just outcomes in the context of renewable energy infrastructure.

The Aspire Social Impact Bond: How social impact bond financing can promote positive social and economic outcomes

AbstractFinancing human service delivery through social impact bonds (SIBs) is the subject of some critical commentary in the academic literature, but this tends to be largely theoretical rather than empirically based. This paper presents empirical evidence of how SIB financing can promote positive social and economic outcomes for governments, not‐for‐profit providers, individual service beneficiaries and society more broadly. The paper presents some of the results of an evaluation of the Aspire SIB, which financed an innovative intensive case management program providing housing and wraparound supports over a 3‐year period for people experiencing chronic homelessness. Aspire participants experienced significantly improved outcomes and decreased service needs, delivering downstream cost savings across several areas of government service delivery. This paper describes how the SIB financing mechanism underpinned the success of Aspire by promoting flexible, collaborative, outcome‐focussed and data‐informed responses to a challenging, multi‐faceted social problem.

The Role of Organisational Culture and Structure in Data-driven Green Policy and Decision-making

The study explores how organizational structure and culture in the South African property sector influence decision-making on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) challenges and Green Policy development. It hypothesized that traditional hierarchical structures and non-participative cultures hinder digitalization, impairing data collection essential for informed ESG decisions. In contrast, participative cultures and modern or matrix structures facilitate data-driven insights, expediting ESG and Green Policy advancements. Qualitative methods, including unstructured in-depth interviews with key decision-makers across various sectors (listed companies, commercial developers, financiers, real estate agencies), alongside interviews with digital application developers, provided perspectives on organizational impacts. A systematic literature review supplemented the data. Thematic content analysis of the data revealed traditional structures and cultures complicate decision-making, impede digital transformation, and delay ESG and Green Policy implementation. Conversely, participative cultures and modern structures streamline data-driven decision-making processes, promoting ESG and Green Policy progress. The findings highlight opportunities for traditional organizations to enhance structures and cultures, removing barriers to digitalization and accelerating ESG and Green Policy initiatives. This study underscores the critical role of organization dynamics in fostering sustainability within the built environment, emphasizing digital transformation's importance in driving positive environmental and social outcomes.

Perceived equity in marine management and conservation: Exploring gender intersectionality in Fiji

Ensuring equitable decision-making and distribution of costs and benefits in conservation and natural resource management is morally right and instrumental to achieving positive social and ecological outcomes. Understanding perceived equity is key; equity is subjective, context-dependent and has implications for legitimacy, cooperation and wellbeing. Since gender, in combination with other social characteristics, influences how people benefit or participate in management, examining perceived fairness from an intersectional perspective is crucial. However, few studies have examined people's perceptions of equity and how those perceptions are related to intersecting identities. Using data from ten villages in Fiji, we assess how perceptions of distributional and procedural equity differ by gender and the intersection between gender and other social identity characteristics (migrant status, age, education, marital status and wealth). We found that the majority of respondents identified the broader community as benefiting the most from management, while women were the most negatively affected. Overall, respondents' perceptions of distributional and procedural fairness were high regardless of gender. The intersection between gender and other social identity characteristics was not significantly related to perceived fairness, except in relation to migrant status; migrant men were less likely to perceive distributional fairness. Our study provides new insights into patterns of perceived (un)fairness in marine management and conservation. It reveals a discrepancy between conservation costs (women are seen as more negatively affected by conservation) and fairness perceptions (women are not more likely to perceive unfairness). Our findings can inform conservation theory and practice aimed at fostering equity in conservation and management.

Understanding and optimising helmet-related and other health and social effects of the first North American university campus skatepark

ABSTRACT Skateboarding has growing societal uptake, as seen through its inclusion in 2021’s Summer Olympics. To promote positive health and social outcomes, skateparks are being developed around the world. A challenge in optimising skateparks’ benefits lies in reducing injury risk, particularly head trauma. This study occurred at the University of British Columbia Skatepark (July–September 2019) with the goal of identifying and theoretically contextualising facilitators and barriers to helmet use. Participants (total n = 54, 92.6% male) were interviewed (n = 54) and surveyed (n = 27). We performed thematic analysis on the transcripts, finding that barriers to helmet use included helmet discomfort, low perceived risk of injury, cultural norms, and style, and facilitators included a belief that helmets promote safety, higher-risk skating activities, older and younger ages, and role modelling. We propose a conceptual model showing multiple points of intervention to promote skatepark safety beyond helmet use alone, integrating theories of sociology, social psychology, and public health.

Relational community engagement within health interventions at varied outcome scales.

Relational community engagement may be a powerful approach with multiple health outcomes. Relational community engagement has the potential to promote health and involves collaborative efforts between multiple stakeholders. The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the centrality of community engagement in health crises. Challenges continue to persist, however, in genuinely engaging and empowering communities for better health outcomes. Understanding the multi-level and complex relational nature of community engagement is essential to comprehend its influence on health at micro, meso, and macro scales of influence. The purpose of this narrative review was to synthesize the literature on relational community engagement within varied health interventions at the three major system levels (micro, meso, and macro) to support the development of future research agendas. At the micro level, relational community engagement interventions demonstrated a range of positive outcomes including: increased sense of control, satisfaction, positive behavior, improved knowledge, behavior change, empowerment, and overall positive health and social outcomes. At the meso level, relational community engagement interventions resulted in increased trust between stakeholders and groups/teams, and increased community senses of ownership of interventions, decisions, structures. At the macro level, relational community engagement interventions influenced broader societal factors and had positive impacts on health policy and governance including collaboration between sectors and communities as well as increased access to services. The review highlights the potential versatility and effectiveness of interventions that prioritize relationships, health promotion, and social change while underscoring the significance of holistic and community-centered approaches in addressing diverse health and social challenges.

Are the Kids Alright? Helping Children Thrive Through Divorce Using Narrative Therapy

While there are negative stereotypes against children who have been through divorce, research indicates that there are a wide range of potential outcomes children can experience after their parents’ divorce. Research indicates that there are at least four protective factors that lead to positive mental health and social outcomes for children of divorce: (a) external social support, (b) self-reliance and grit, (c) positive relationships with parents, and (d) resilience and self-compassion. These protective factors are then illustrated through a narrative therapy framework, which focuses on multiple possible realities, meaning making, perception of the client as the expert of their own experience, and the role of dominant discourses in the client's life and clinical intervention. A clinical vignette is then presented, depicting a teenage girl whose parents have divorced after an especially turbulent marriage. Narrative therapy's strength is that it helps the client develop cognitive distance between their sense of self and the problems they are experiencing. However, some limitations to this presentation are that it is highly theoretical and requires further quantitative research to explore the effects of narrative therapy on clients whose parents are divorced. Further research is required to explore the wide spectrum of outcomes children can experience after divorce and how clinicians can help children reach more positive outcomes.

Socially responsible investment: Ex-ante contracting or ex-post bargaining?

This paper shows how a socially and environmentally aware firm principal can motivate a profit-oriented manager to pursue positive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes. In the model, the manager produces a verifiable output that creates social costs but also engages in an unverifiable output that promotes ESG. The paper demonstrates that an ex-post bargaining contract is preferred to an ex-ante commitment contract if the unverifiable output substantially improves ESG or if there exist substantial social costs. The paper also examines how social impact bonds can be more effective than short-term debt when used to finance social programs.

Sustainable strategies, employee competencies and social outcomes: are they aligned?

PurposeThe present paper contributes to the development of sustainable strategies by focusing on the social perspective and the role played by HRM. Specifically, we identified and compared the employee competencies that supported the compliance strategy as well as the innovative/proactive sustainability strategies – and their impacts on social outcomes.Design/methodology/approachAfter formulating hypotheses, we tested them on a sample of 179 companies from the chemical and metallurgical industries using the bootstrap method.FindingsThe results revealed that both sustainability strategies were present in the sample. The compliance sustainable strategy showed to be negatively associated with employee competencies, whilst proactive sustainable strategy firms presented a positive relationship with employee competencies. We also found that compliance strategies failed to have any impact on social outcomes, but proactive strategies had a positive effect on social outcomes. Indeed, normative and foresighted thinking competencies acted as mediating variables in such a relationship.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper lies in three aspects hitherto unaddressed in the literature: first, the conceptualisation and assessment of sustainable strategies focused on a social dimension; second, the identification of individual competencies required developing sustainable strategies; and third, the demonstration that it is only the firms that adopt proactive sustainable strategies that obtain positive social outcomes.

Rajkumar and Venkataraman: Cross-Sectioning Sustainable Supply Chain Governance: A Bibliometric Analysis

Sustainable supply chain governance is pivotal in modern business, addressing global supply chains' profound environmental, social, and ethical impacts. It necessitates establishing and administering policies to guide sustainable practices, ensuring adherence to the supply chain's environmental, social, and ethical standards. Effective governance aligns and supports business operations with sustainability goals, fostering transparency, accountability, and responsible practices. This framework guides decision-making, mitigates risks, and enhances overall supply chain resilience, contributing to a more sustainable and ethically responsible business landscape. The corporate shift towards sustainable supply chain management(SSCM) is manifested by the emerging literature documenting comprehensive changes in governance. A bibliometric-based systematic review of 128 Scopus-indexed documents (2014-2023) reveals four interconnected themes: SSCM, Sustainable Business &amp; Operations Management, Global value chains, and Supply chain risk management. Analysis highlights the critical role of governance mechanisms in driving positive social, ecological, and economic outcomes. Governance achieves this by establishing clear policies and standards for social and environmental responsibility and ensuring robust mechanisms for compliance and accountability. Sustainable supply chain governance provides a blueprint for integrating sustainability. It ensures ongoing commitment and accountability, fostering significant and lasting positive effects on society, the environment, and overall supply chain resilience.

Designing specific tools to enhance the numeracy of adults with intellectual disabilities

AbstractNumeracy is important for everyday life. Being numerate has a positive impact on the quality of life of individuals, with positive economic, health, and social outcomes. Despite this, little is known about the role of numeracy in the lives of adults with intellectual disability (ID). Design research has been used to develop ways to support mathematical learning for typically developing students. This study investigates the use of design research to develop context-specific, physical tools to support adults with intellectual disability to improve their numeracy capabilities and engagement in daily tasks. Using observation and interview data, findings demonstrate increased engagement and participation in the numeracy demands of these tasks. Participants reported positive perceptions of improved competence and independence. This study demonstrates the application of design research to the field of numeracy for adults with intellectual disability, and the usefulness of designing context-specific tools to support their numeracy development and independence.

Women’s leadership in climate-resilient agrifood systems: defining a future research agenda

Women’s leadership is increasingly considered critical for achieving climate-resilient agrifood systems. Numerous initiatives and policies highlight the business case for women’s leadership to deliver a range of positive social, economic and environmental outcomes. In this Perspective, we examine the business case, finding uneven evidence linking women’s leadership to increased resilience to climate change. We problematize the ways women’s leadership is typically understood in this area and argue that, despite the value and utility of understanding the pathways through which women’s leadership can strengthen climate-resilient agrifood systems, support for increasing women’s leadership should not be contingent on proving the business case or its instrumental value. Rather, increasing the leadership of women in all their diversity in climate action is a moral imperative and non-negotiable due to women’s human right to have meaningful influence in the decisions that affect their lives. Finally, we propose ways to reframe the debate on women’s leadership in climate and agrifood systems and suggest priorities for future research in this area.

‘I can still swing a spade’: a qualitative exploratory study of gardening groups for people with dementia

Abstract This exploratory qualitative study aimed to evidence how community-based gardening groups can be used to support the psychological, physical and social health of those living with dementia. The views of people living with dementia in the community, care partners and group leaders were sought to better understand the benefits gained from gardening groups, as well as the features of gardening groups that are cited as enabling positive outcomes. Going beyond the existing single-group studies in this area, this research aimed to identify common themes across multiple gardening groups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six group leaders, three people living with dementia and ten care partners from seven gardening groups, either in person or remotely. Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts highlighted broad enablers – ‘the garden setting’, ‘features of activities’ and ‘organisational components’ – that were cited as facilitating a range of positive wellbeing outcomes, creating an environment that provides ‘physical and cognitive benefits’, ‘affirmation of identity’, ‘social connection’ and ‘benefits for care partners and others’. The wide-ranging benefits and enablers cited by participants within this research support the use of gardening groups as community-based interventions to reinforce positive psychological, physical and social outcomes for people with dementia. Themes also provide a clear framework for the design, implementation and evaluation of future gardening groups.

Nature-based solution enhances resilience to flooding and catalyzes multi-benefits in coastal cities in the Global South

Coastal cities are facing a rise in groundwater levels induced by sea level rise, further triggering saturation excess flooding where groundwater levels reach the topographic surface or reduce the storage capacity of the soil, thus stressing the existing infrastructure. Lowering groundwater levels is a priority for sustaining the long-term livelihood of coastal cities. In the absence of studies assessing the possibility of using tree-planting as a measure of alleviating saturation excess flooding in the context of rising groundwater levels, the multi-benefit nature of tree-planting programs as sustainable Nature-based solutions (NBSs) in coastal cities in the Global South is discussed. In environments where groundwater is shallow, trees uptake groundwater or reduce groundwater recharge, thereby contributing to lower groundwater levels and increasing the unsaturated zone thickness, further reducing the risk of saturation excess flooding. Tree-planting programs represent long-term solutions sustained by environmental factors that are complementary to conventional engineering solutions. The multi-benefit nature of such NBSs and the expected positive environmental, economic, and social outcomes make them particularly promising. Wide social acceptance was identified as crucial for the long-term success of any tree-planting program, as the social factor plays a major role in addressing most weaknesses and threats of the solution. In the case of Nouakchott City (Mauritania), where a rise in groundwater levels has led to permanent saturation excess flooding, a tree-planting program has the potential to lower the groundwater levels, thereby reducing flooding during the rainy season.

Agroecological innovation to scale livestock agriculture for positive economic, environmental, and social outcomes

Livestock agriculture must change to meet demand for food production while building soil, reducing flooding, retaining nutrients, enhancing biodiversity, and supporting thriving communities. Technological innovations, including those in digital and precision agriculture, are unlikely by themselves to create the magnitude and directionality of transformation of livestock production systems that are needed. We begin by comparing technological, ecological and social innovations in feedlot-finished and pasture-finished cattle production and propose that what is required is a more integrative ‘agroecological innovation’ process that intentionally weaves these three forms of innovation to transition livestock agriculture to be genuinely regenerative and multifunctional. This integrated system emphasizes social innovations as essential components of the innovation system because of their capacity to address and influence the social context into which technological and ecological innovations occur. In particular, regional place-making can be especially useful as an interactive process of designing regional identities as people engage with one another and their environments to define landscape futures and the related social standards that normalize particular land management practices. Intentionally developing innovations can help communities engage in relational place-making processes to define desired outcomes for agricultural landscapes and develop ways to collaborate towards achieving them, including the creation of novel supply chains that support regenerative livestock systems. As social norms evolve through place-making they influence individual behaviors and agricultural practices on the ground and offer a pathway for more rapid scaling of regenerative practices in livestock agriculture. Regional place-making also can influence the ‘meta’ context of agricultural systems by engaging with public and private institutions responsible for management of natural resources, food systems, and the public good, further accelerating the scaling process. Emerging agroecological innovation systems for livestock agriculture must be designed and governed in ways that ensure responsible and diverse outcomes compatible with their social and ecological contexts, and with management approaches and technologies consistent with the values and goals of communities in a region.