Wider Social Networks Research Articles

Sex Work, Office Work: Women Working Behind the Scenes in the US Adult Film Industry

Women currently working behind the scenes in the adult film industry both inform considerations of the contemporary experiences of sex work in the USA and shed some light on differential experiences of gendered workplace organizations. Based on ethnographic observations and informal interviews conducted at a typical adult film production company and on examining the industry's historical development, I have found that a diverse range of occupations and occupational opportunities are available for women in the adult film industry and women workers in the US adult film industry experience their gendered workplace in unique ways. I suggest that this is due in part to the adult film industry's wider social network, which has itself been shaped by the historical development of the adult film industry and the stigma of sex work.

Prevalence of Low Physical Activity and its Relation to Social Environment in Deprived Areas in the London Borough of Redbridge

Achieving adequate levels of physical activity (PA) is important to maintain health and prevent chronic disease. The costs of inadequate physical activity to the NHS have been estimated at over a billion pounds annually. While socio-demographic characteristics such as age, sex and ethnicity have been reported to be associated with different levels of PA, there is evidence that people’s social environments may also be important in encouraging a physically active lifestyle. The objective of this paper is to describe associations between the social environment and physical activity among the poorer communities in an outer London Borough, when other socio-demographic factors are controlled for. A household survey was carried out in six poorer neighbourhoods in Redbridge in 2008 as part of a wider health needs assessment. The questionnaire included questions allowing estimation of levels of physical activity as well as extent of social environment [social network score (SNS) and social support score (SSS)]. A random sample of households was taken and a total of 799 completed responses from over 16 year old were obtained. The association between physical activity and the social environment controlling for socio-demographic characteristics was estimated using a logistic nested model. Higher SNS was significantly associated with younger age, Black ethnicity, higher education level, higher household income and higher levels of PA in bivariate analyses. Higher SSS was positively associated with Indian ethnicity, higher household income and area of residence. In multivariate analyses higher levels of PA were significantly associated with wider social networks and stronger social support, educational level and marital status. Despite its limitations, our findings confirm that the relationship between low physical activity and weak social networks and low social support, observed in general population studies, also occurs in deprived communities in London. The relationship merits further exploration given the limited evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to promote physical activity.

The Effect of Recovery Locus Attributions and Service Failure Severity on Word-of-Mouth and Repurchase Behaviors in the Hospitality Industry

Based on a survey of 377 American hospitality customers, this study examines the effect of recovery locus attributions and service failure severity on customer word-of-mouth and repurchase behaviors. Findings indicate that for satisfactory recoveries attributed to a hospitality firm, relative to employee or customer attributions, the customer is more likely to discuss the encounter, share information with a wider social network, and both convince others to use the service provider and to have repatronized the firm. The results also suggest that the more severe the initial failure, the greater the likelihood that a critical incident had been discussed with a wider social network and the greater the likelihood of warning and convincing others to not patronize the hospitality organization. For unsuccessful (i.e., dissatisfactory) hospitality-based recovery attempts, the recovery locus attribution was not significantly associated with the word-of-mouth and repurchase behaviors investigated in this study.

El amor a la verdad según san Agustín de Hipona / The Love of Truth Sccording to Saint Augustine of Hippo

The love for the truth encompasses Augustine´s life. His yearning for truth is rooted in his concrete and personal existence. The desire to know worries him restlessly. He is deeply aware of the difficulties intelligence must face to find truth. Love is the path to truth for it is love that fosters the yearning for truth. On his own road to truth, Augustine meets several companions. Deeply in love with truth, he never finds himself alone. A wide social network will help him walk with unparalleled depth that inner road where his adventure to discover truth grows. It is not a thoroughly planned quest like in Scolasticism, but it builds and feeds itself on deeply authentic experiences, critical reflexion and an voracious desire to find truth. Augustine wants not to deceive nor to be deceived. Life and thought are entwined in this philosopher of truth. Embedded in the culture of his times —mostly literary and based on the study of the classics’ rhetoric and philosophy—, Saint Augustine redefines and widens the search for truth to include Christian wisdom. His quest for truth leads him to the Truth and to embrace it with love in order to pursue hiw own life´s journey anchored in Truth.

Disclosure, discrimination and desire: experiences of Black and South Asian gay men in Britain

Using findings from a qualitative investigation based on in-depth email interviews with 47 Black and South Asian gay men in Britain, this paper explores the cross-cutting identities and discourses in relation to being both gay and from an ethnic minority background. Taking an intersectional approach, detailed accounts of identity negotiation, cultural pressures, experiences of discrimination and exclusion and the relationship between minority ethnic gay men and mainstream White gay culture are presented and explored. The major findings common to both groups were: cultural barriers limiting disclosure of sexuality to family and wider social networks; experiences of discrimination by White gay men that included exclusion as well as objectification; a lack of positive gay role models and imagery relating to men from minority ethnic backgrounds. Among South Asian gay men, a major theme was regret at being unable to fulfil family expectations regarding marriage and children, while among Black gay men, there was a strong belief that same-sex behaviour subverted cultural notions related to how masculinity is configured. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of social location, particularly education and income, when examining the intersection of ethnicity and sexuality in future research.

Free floating in the cosmopolis? Exploring the identity‐belonging of transnational knowledge workers

AbstractIn this article I explore what I call the ‘identity‐belonging’ of transnational knowledge workers, a diverse group of serially migrating career professionals who have spent extended periods of time in at least three countries, usually following career opportunities. Unlike most recent writing on transnationalism, which focuses on enduring connections of migrants with their ‘home’ countries/places, here I explore a transnationalism that may transcend the national, and generally the territorial, principle, with repercussions for identity‐belonging. In this context, how transnational knowledge workers position themselves towards belonging to a nation and towards the idea of cosmopolitanism is of particular interest. From data collected through in‐depth interviews in Australia and Indonesia, I conclude that their globally recognized profession forms the central axis of their identity‐belonging, alongside a weak identification with their nation of origin. The feeling of belonging to and identifying with particular locales and local communities was articulated flexibly and instrumentally in association with professional and wider social networks, while no primordial territorial attachments could be identified.

The role of support staff in promoting the social inclusion of persons with an intellectual disability

Past studies have found that people supported in more individualised housing options tend to have levels of community participation and wider social networks than those in other accommodation options. Yet, the contribution of support staff in facilitating social inclusion has received relatively scant attention. In all 245 staff working in either supported living schemes, or shared residential and group homes, or in day centres completed a written questionnaire in which they rated in terms of priority to their job, 16 tasks that were supportive of social inclusion and a further 16 tasks that related to the care of the person they supported. In addition staff identified those tasks that they considered were not appropriate to their job. Across all three service settings, staff rated more care tasks as having higher priority than they did the social inclusion tasks. However, staff in supported living schemes rated more social inclusion tasks as having high priority than did staff in the other two service settings. Equally the staff who were most inclined to rate social inclusion tasks as not being applicable to their job were those working day centres; female rather than male staff, those in front-line staff rather than senior staff, and those in part-time or relief positions rather than full-time posts. However, within each service settings, there were wide variations in how staff rated the social inclusion tasks. Staff working in more individualised support arrangements tend to give greater priority to promoting social inclusion although this can vary widely both across and within staff teams. Nonetheless, staff gave greater priority to care tasks especially in congregated service settings. Service managers may need to give more emphasis to social inclusion tasks and provide the leadership, training and resources to facilitate support staff to re-assess their priorities.

Letter

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article LetterFull AccessLetterKathleen C. Thomas Ph.D.Alan R. Ellis M.S.W.Joseph P. Morrissey Ph.D.Kathleen C. Thomas Ph.D.Search for more papers by this authorAlan R. Ellis M.S.W.Search for more papers by this authorJoseph P. Morrissey Ph.D.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Jan 2010https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2010.61.1.95aAboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail Where Are the Psychiatric Physician Assistants? ReplyIn Reply: Grace and Christensen make an interesting contribution to the discussion of shortages by suggesting that physician assistants may be well positioned to provide needed additional mental health services. Their letter provides an opportunity to clarify the take-away messages presented in our recent workforce articles. First, to clarify the role of physician assistants in our analyses, our estimates of mental health need were based on estimates of actual service use, which included any visits with physician assistants that could be identified as mental health visits. Our supply estimates excluded psychiatric physician assistants because, as Grace and Christensen point out, very few exist. Our shortage estimates were adjusted for the availability of primary care providers, including physician assistants, to account for the fact that some mental health services are provided in primary care settings.Second, we do not argue for or against "demedicalizing psychiatric practice." We mentioned a variety of ways in which states have expanded services to meet mental health needs, including the extension of prescriptive authority to new professional groups. Our intention was to generate discussion about workforce shortages rather than to endorse any particular solution. Further, we agree that the safety of consumers is important. Any professional group taking on the role of mental health prescriber would require additional training and appropriate supervision.Third, this discussion raises a broader set of issues that need to be considered in addressing mental health needs. Grace and Christensen touch on some of these issues. A key point is that training alone will not solve the problem, and there is no guarantee that new providers will practice in the public sector or in rural areas where the greatest shortages exist. We need to learn how to make practice in these areas both feasible and attractive to mental health professionals. Another point is that legal or political resistance to policy changes will surely come into play. However, maximizing the well-being of consumers should be an overriding concern in determining new mental health policies.Finally, we want to emphasize that our recent workforce studies were based on current treatment patterns. The ways in which mental health services are currently organized and delivered in the United States, however, are not necessarily the best ways. What's needed, then, is a deeper discussion about financial organization, service system structure, and the appropriate balance among treatment modalities, including individual treatments such as medication, counseling, diet, and exercise as well as systemic interventions with families, wider social networks, and communities. Long-term mental health workforce development depends not only on producing sufficient numbers of qualified professionals but also on building satisfying work environments and using the best available strategies to help create meaningful outcomes for consumers. FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited byNone Volume 61Issue 1 January, 2010Pages 95-96PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES January 2010 Volume 61 Number 1 Metrics PDF download History Published online 1 January 2010 Published in print 1 January 2010

Can we count on each other? Reciprocity and conflicts in financial support in Sweden

Espvall M, Dellgran P. Can we count on each other? Reciprocity and conflicts in financial support in Sweden Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 84–94 © 2008 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare.This article explores the experiences of reciprocity and conflicts in social relationships, and how these experiences are related to financial support (loans and gifts) in the wider social network. The balance of exchange within the social network as a whole is considered in relation to socio‐demographic features, financial conditions and the availability of social relationships. The data are drawn from a study of financial support exchange in Sweden based on a representative survey among Swedish citizens (n= 500). The results reveal that people living in economic hardship and who have more problematic life circumstances appear to be at risk of receiving more limited informal financial support and experience more feelings of conflict and nonreciprocal social relations.

Features of successful entrepreneurs in Estonia and changing organisational development challenges

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reveal the implications of changing success factors of entrepreneurs for the role of organisational development (OD) programmes in facilitating organisational learning and change in Estonian enterprises.Design/methodology/approachThis explorative research is conducted as part of the Entrepreneurship Work in Organizations Requiring Leadership Development research programme focusing on international perspectives of entrepreneurship. Participants of Estonian focus groups at first filled individual work sheets by answering questions about traits of successful entrepreneurs in Estonia. Second, participants compared successful entrepreneurs in Estonia in the 1990s and in 2007 in focus groups of four to five members and presented their common position, but also differences are revealed in group discussions.FindingsCourage to risk, openness to new information, flexibility, creativity and determination were the features of successful entrepreneurs in Estonia most often pointed out by all categories of respondents. Focus groups stressed that some success factors of an entrepreneur operating in Estonia in 2007 were more important than in the 1990s: broad world view, wide social network, innovativeness and creativity, lobbying in European Union (EU)‐related structures.Research limitations/implicationsThe research uses focus groups that highlight perceptions of changing success factors of entrepreneurs but does not involve a representative sample of Estonian entrepreneurs. Research results can be used as an input for entrepreneurship training and OD programmes.Originality/valueThe results of the research explain why organisation development tools in the present environment of organisational changes in a new EU member state have to stress creativity and support inter‐organisational networking. In the 1990s “selling” the vision of an entrepreneur that was driven by best practices from advanced market economies was often the main focus of OD programmes.

Exploiting Social Networks to Mitigate the Obesity Epidemic

Despite significant efforts, obesity continues to be a major public health problem, and there are surprisingly few effective strategies for its prevention and treatment. We now realize that healthy diet and activity patterns are difficult to maintain in the current physical environment. Recently, it was suggested that the social environment also contributes to obesity. Therefore, using network-based interaction models, we simulate how obesity spreads along social networks and predict the effectiveness of large-scale weight management interventions. For a wide variety of conditions and networks, we show that individuals with similar BMIs will cluster together into groups, and if left unchecked, current social forces will drive these groups toward increasing obesity. Our simulations show that many traditional weight management interventions fail because they target overweight and obese individuals without consideration of their surrounding cluster and wider social network. The popular strategy for dieting with friends is shown to be an ineffective long-term weight loss strategy, whereas dieting with friends of friends can be somewhat more effective by forcing a shift in cluster boundaries. Fortunately, our simulations also show that interventions targeting well-connected and/or normal weight individuals at the edges of a cluster may quickly halt the spread of obesity. Furthermore, by changing social forces and altering the behavior of a small but random assortment of both obese and normal weight individuals, highly effective network-driven strategies can reverse current trends and return large segments of the population to a healthier weight.

The Voting Paradox and Social Networks: An Empirical Analysis

The level of abstention in elections has been increasing over the years in the majority of democratic countries, whether compulsory voting exists or not. We provide empirical evidence for the role of social networks as a main factor of influence in the turnout of an election. More intense social networks and wider social networks are associated with a lower abstention rate.

Resuming previously valued activities post-stroke: who or what helps?

Purpose. In this article, we aim to develop the understanding of what helps or hinders resumption of valued activities up to 12-months post-stroke.Method. As part of a longitudinal study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 people with stroke and eight informal carers 12-months post-stroke. Interviews covered ongoing effects of stroke, experience of trying to resume activities highlighted as important pre-stroke and factors that influenced progress. Interviews were transcribed, coded and analysed in depth to explore this aspect of the experience of living with stroke.Results. Valued activities discussed related to employment; domestic and social roles including driving; hobbies, sports and socialising. Outcomes for individuals were influenced by: aspects of physical or cognitive disability; environmental factors; the adaptability of the individual; support from others and professional help. Inability to resume activities impacted on people's sense of self and quality of life, but some tolerated change and presented themselves as adaptable.Conclusions. This study indicates a long-term role for rehabilitation services such as: identifying the significance of different types of activities; providing access to support and treatment for debilitating symptoms such as fatigue and dizziness; addressing patients' emotional and behavioural responses to their condition; working with patients' wider social networks and where appropriate, supporting adaptation to a changed way of life.

The relationship between prenatal care, personal alcohol abuse and alcohol abuse in the home environment

Aims: Nearly one-fourth of African-American women receive no prenatal care during the first trimester of pregnancy. The aim of the current study is to identify factors that underlie inadequate prenatal care among African-American women. Maternal alcohol abuse has been examined as one risk factor for inadequate prenatal care, but findings have been inconsistent, perhaps because (a) alcohol use during pregnancy is substantially under-reported and (b) studies have not considered the wider social network in which maternal alcohol use takes place. The current study attempts to clarify relationships between personal alcohol use, alcohol use in the home environment, and prenatal care in a sample of post-partum women.Methods: Participants were 107 low-income, primarily African-American women. All participants completed a computer-based screening which assessed personal and environmental alcohol use, prenatal care and mental health.Findings: Environmental alcohol use was related to delayed prenatal care while personal alcohol use was not. More specifically, after controlling for demographic variables, the presence of more than three person-episodes of binge drinking in a woman's home environment increased the odds of seriously compromized prenatal care by a factor of seven.Conclusions: Findings suggest the need to further assess environmental alcohol use and to examine the reliability of personal alcohol use measures.

From obligations to negotiations: reciprocity and reflexivity in informal financial support

This article examines the processes of informal support exchange in wider social network relationships with a particular focus on conditions that are of significance for financial support. The intention, with a point of departure in 24 qualitative interviews with single adults in Sweden, is to present an interactionist model to explain how such support is formed and how it can be analysed and understood. The article shows that such support is by no means purely dependent on financial considerations and resources. The types of relationship and the specific situations in which individuals are placed in positions that demand reflection upon, and communication about, their need for support, can be likened to a negotiation and are of equal importance. Furthermore, the provision of informal support is also influenced by moral and social norms relating to responsibility, care obligations, self-sufficiency and independence, which are, amongst other things, embedded in our social political system.

Elephant cognition

Elephant cognition

Attitudes towards suicide among Kurdish people in Iran

Attitudes towards suicide represent a key stage in the pathway leading to suicide. A deeper understanding of the social, psychological and treatment-related factors influencing the development of attitudes towards suicide could guide suicide prevention strategies especially in a neglected population like Kurds. In a cross-sectional study in Iranian Kurdistan, 1,000 households participated in the investigation from April to May 2006 selected by a cluster random sampling process. A questionnaire on attitudes towards suicide (ATTS) was used to measure suicide related attitudes and thoughts. Suicide related experiences were more often reported from the wider social network (relative, friends, acquaintances) than from family members. There is a significant accumulation of suicide related experiences when a related event was reported in the close family. The level of suicide related attitudes is related to age, gender, marital status, level of education and employment status. Openness towards the topic of suicide as well as abilities to communicate about it should be improved by educating the public and additionally be promoted by changing conservative value systems.

Paying the price: The cost and consequences of emergency obstetric care in Burkina Faso

Substantial healthcare expenses can impoverish households or push them further into poverty. In this paper, we examine the cost of obstetric care and the social and economic consequences associated with exposure to economic shocks up to a year following the end of pregnancy in Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is a low-income country with poor health outcomes and a poorly functioning health system. We present an inter-disciplinary analysis of an ethnographic study of 82 women nested in a prospective cohort study of 1013 women. We compare the experiences of women who survived life-threatening obstetric complications (‘near-miss’ events) with women who delivered without complications in hospitals. The cost of emergency obstetric care was significantly higher than the cost of care for uncomplicated delivery. Compared with women who had uncomplicated deliveries, women who survived near-miss events experienced substantial difficulties meeting the costs of care, reflecting the high cost of emergency obstetric care and the low socioeconomic status of their households. They reported more frequent sale of assets, borrowing and slower repayment of debt in the year following the expenditure. Healthcare costs consumed a large part of households’ resources and women who survived near-miss events continued to spend significantly more on healthcare in the year following the event, while at the same time experiencing continued cost barriers to accessing healthcare. In-depth interviews confirm that the economic burden of emergency obstetric care contributed to severe and long-lasting consequences for women and their households. The necessity of meeting unexpectedly high costs challenged social expectations and patterns of reciprocity between husbands, wives and wider social networks, placed enormous strain on everyday survival and shaped physical, social and economic well-being in the year that followed the event. In conclusion, we consider the implications of our findings for financing mechanisms for maternity care in low-income settings.

Material Culture and the Living Room

This article draws on findings of qualitative research that considers the importance and meanings people attach to domestic decoration and surroundings via an exploration of the material culture of living rooms. In attending to issues and debates concerning everyday consumption practices within the domestic sphere, the following discussion suggests an approach that firmly places an understanding on how `goods' and `things' are used, lived with and appropriated into everyday life. Drawing on in-depth interviews carried out in the homes of 50 respondents in Greater Manchester, UK, the article develops and complements existing ideas and research in cultural anthropology, consumer studies and, more recently, sociology of consumption, which focus on understanding aspects of the complex relationships that exist between subjects and objects, and how these operate within the boundaries of ordinary, mundane and routine consumption practices. It will be shown that one aspect of this relationship relates to the ways in which `things' act as the embodiment of meaningful social relations and significant connections between family members, friends and even wider social networks, and offers one way of understanding material culture consumption within the home. This is explored via three observed processes of display, acquisition and appropriation within the home: gift objects as familial obligation; objects as markers of memory; and the commemorative potential of objects.

Armaggedon on Tour

In 1953, the Cold War was entering its sixth year. The USSR, the United States, and their allies sparred over the future of a divided Germany. A hot war still raged in Korea, where Canadians were patrolling, fighting, and dying to defend South Korea from Chinese volunteers. Canadian defence expenditures had skyrocketed to meet the global challenge of a divided world. Behind all of this was the stunning power of the atomic bomb and the growing fears that local conflicts in Germany and Korea would spiral outwards into a suicidal nuclear war. In response to political and military insecurity, many countries developed civil defence programs to prepare their populations for the very worst.During the fall and winter of 1953, the On Guard, Canada! civil defence convoy traveled to major cities across Canada. The exhibit, originally designed and displayed in the United States, was the first nationwide publicity campaign launched by the federal government to convince Canadians of the need to adopt civil defence measures. The federal civil defence agency, in cooperation with its provincial and municipal counterparts, employed the exhibit to make the case that the long, watery distances separating Canadians from Cold War conflicts in Europe and Asia no longer protected them. The enemy, at a moment, could reduce their cities to rubble with atomic bombs, salt the earth with volatile biological agents, and poison their air with suffocating chemicals. To meet the horrors of modern warfare, 100,000 young and old visitors were shown how to support civil defence in their homes and in their community. The high number of visitors to the exhibit did not lead to any significant increase in the number of volunteers for civil defence services.Civil defence authorities advertised more than just protective measures. They also promoted civil defence as a vital and permanent component of good during the Cold War. In the immediate postwar years, the Canadian government strove to highlight the rights enjoyed by Canadians as citizens by developing a citizenship education program. Both the Canadian and American versions of the convoy attempted to depict civil defence as part of the core obligations of citizenship. Preparing a basement shelter and saluting the flag were equated visually with the defence of cherished values such as freedom of speech. The exhibition displays, and the way in which attendance was promoted and organized, depicted a hierarchical order of citizenship that emphasized patriotic voluntarism and prescribed strict gender divisions suggesting how men and women could best fulfill their obligations to their community.The study of citizenship is a varied field, and in Canada scholars have investigated the process by which the individual immigrant or immigrant communities seek, find, or are granted membership in the host community.1 Citizenship may be described as a set of core obligations (military service, taxation, and obedience to the law) and individual rights (freedom of speech, religion, assembly) as defined by law. Citizenship may also be interpreted as a mark of pride and membership in a wider social network, traditionally linked to the confines of the nation-state. The trouble with studying citizenship in Canada is that it cannot be considered to have equal application/attraction to a society riven by so many competing ethnic, cultural, and linguistic communities, a fact that has disappointed some and excited others. The federal government began to consider these divisions in terms of support for the war effort, and officials in the Department of National War Services took steps to promote loyalty to a single Canadian identity through adult education.2 Citizenship during wartime was defined in terms of Canadian judicial institutions, and by contrasting the relative freedoms of Canadian society to Nazi or fascist dictatorships.After victory was assured, Paul Martin, the secretary of state, drafted the Canadian citizenship act with the aid of senior civil servants. …