Author: Richard Benton

Assistant Professor of Labor and Employment Relations. University of Illinois. Researching social networks, corporate governance, and social stratification.

Call for Papers: A Proposal for a Special Section in the International Journal of Psychology.

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Youth and the Great Recession – are values, achievement orientation and health affected?

Ingrid Schoon and Jeylan Mortimer, Guest Editors

The recent global economic downturn has undermined employment prospects for young people and is likely to also undermine youth confidence, self perceptions, values, health, and outlook to the future. Increasing uncertainty about the future may especially affect young people who study towards or recently received an educational degree. How do young people navigate and respond to changing education and employment conditions, and how do they see their futures in times of economic instability? Initial evidence indicatesthat recessionary times undermine confidence in society and its institutions, yet the same effect is not necessarily apparent regarding achievement orientations, self concepts and health outcomes, at least in the immediate aftermath of the recession. Furthermore, there are great variations in adjustment between countries, suggesting that there might be country-specific pre-existing trends that have to be taken into account to understand the impact of the recession on young people. The question is whether confidence in societal institutionsis indeed more responsive to current events, while achievement orientations, health and other outcomes are more enduring, carrying over from more prosperous to more difficult times.

The Special Section aims to bring together contemporary evidence on how events at the macro level cascade down to individual level experiences, and to provide new insights into the impact of the recession on young people’s evaluation of their situation in different countries characterised by distinct welfare regimes and economic circumstances. Studies may comprise quantitative and qualitative empirical studies of data gathered before and after the 2008 Great Recession, including work and family values, career goals, self concepts, the perceived likelihood of realizing one’s goals in the future, mental health or physical health. The studies should address circumstances in the wider socio-economic context and include objective markers of economic hardship, information regarding concurrent welfare systems and assessment of individual level experiences. Bringing together evidence from different countries will facilitate a comparison of similarities and differences in the consequences of economic difficulties for young people. Identification of generalizable patterns across countries as well as differences in experiences due to country specific scenarios has the potential to inform ameliorative public policies.

Researchers interested in submitting an article to the Special Section should submit a letter of intent via email to Ingrid Schoon (I.Schoon@ioe.ac.uk) and Jeylan Mortimer (morti002@umn.edu) no later than September 1, 2015. The letter should include the tentative title and an abstract of 500 words maximum (including a short theoretical statement, sample description, preliminary results, and a sentence about the importance of the study for the field). The letters will be reviewed by the section editors and potential contributors will be selected based on the originality of the research, overall diversity of topics, and fit to the general theme of the Special Section. Successful authors will be notified within two weeks and invited to submit first drafts of manuscripts by January 1, 2016. Manuscripts should be no longer than 6,000 words (including footnotes, references, tables, and figures, but excluding the abstract), have no more than 30 references, and include a 200-word abstract. All manuscripts will be subject to an external review process. For further questions concerning the Special Section, please contact Ingrid Schoon, (I.Schoon@ioe.ac.uk) and Jeylan Mortimer (morti002@umn.edu)

For further information concerning the International Journal of Psychology, visit the website at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%291464-066X or contact the Editor-in-Chief, Rainer K. Silbereisen at rainer.silbereisen@uni-jena.de.

Call for Submissions: Research in the Sociology of Work

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Research in the Sociology of Work has been a widely respected research annual since 1988.

Beginning in 2016,  RSW will appear twice annually, the better to represent the best and most provocative sociological thinking being done on work, organizations, and the employment relationship. Submissions are invited for possible inclusion in RSW volume 28, no. 2 (Fall, 2016). All manuscripts will be subject to peer review, with timely feedback provided to authors. Articles can address any of a wide range of topics and themes, including but not limited to the following:

  •  Control and Resistance at Work
  •  Precarious employment
  • “Dirty” Work
  • Work and Family
  • Knowledge Work
  •  “Diversity” Management
  • Intersectionality at Work
  • Work and Social Movements
  • Gender, Work, and Neo-liberalism
  • Work and the State
  • Emotional labor and Service Work
  • Sex work
  • Professional work
  • Immigrants at Work
  • Globalization and Work
  • New meanings of work

Articles intended for v. 28, no. 2 should be submitted no later than November 1, 2015. Queries and submissions should be sent to Steven Vallas at s.vallas@neu.edu

Conferences: Upcoming Global STS Conference in Leuven

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Don’t Forget the Global STS Conference in Leuven!

Registration is waiting for you! Click here to register!

The STS Roundtable invites you to join us on September 9 -11th during the Festival of Connections and the STS Global Conference. The European Learning Network on Workplace Innovation (EUWIN) is holding its third large scale event in Leuven (Belgium). We have public sessions, panel sessions, smaller and larger discussions, and we are even planning bus trips to some remarkable companies in Leuven. Remember, Leuven not only has one of the oldest (and most vibrant!) universities in the world, it is home to the largest (and best?) beer producing company of the world ANBEV (better known as Stella Artois). EUWIN would not be a truly learning experience if it did not learn from its previous conferences. Our Brussels event (2013) in the European Parliament was overbooked; some people at our London event (2013) at the Microsoft building could not find a chair to sit on; our regional event in Rouen (2014) was supposed to inform 60 persons, but 400 eager workplace innovators visited the event. So, we now welcome all of you. Our Belgian partner network, with Flanders Synergy and the University of Leuven, have major experience in making you feel welcome. They even organised two spin-off events to give you even more insight into what workplace innovation can do for you and make your trip to Belgium even more worthwhile. Look at the Festival of Connection!

Please click here and register for the event!

Another reminder, if you haven’t renewed your membership or desire to start a membership to STS Roundtable please click here. If you experience any problems with either page for registration please don’t hesitate to contact one of the stewards. We look forward to seeing you all in Leuven come September!

Bert Painter (President): gpainter@telus.net
Jose Martinez (Secretary): jmartinez@ufw.org
Joe Norton (Treasurer): docsnorton@bellsouth.net
Jean Fuller: jeanfuller@workdesign.ca
Pierre van Amelsvoort: pierrevanamelsvoort@ziggo.nl

Announcement: New Publication from OOW Member Tania Jenkins

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A new publication from Tania Jenkins that may be of interest to OOW members.

Jenkins, T. M. (2015). ‘It’s time she stopped torturing herself’: Structural constraints to decision-making about life-sustaining treatment by medical trainees. Social Science & Medicine, 132, 132-140. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.03.039

Abstract: This article explores how structural factors associated with the profession and organization of medicine
can constrain internal medicine residents, leading them to sometimes limit or terminate treatment in
end-of-life care in ways that do not always embrace patient autonomy. Specifically, it examines the
opportunities and motivations that explain why residents sometimes arrogate decision-making for
themselves about life-sustaining treatment. Using ethnographic data drawn from over two years at an
American community hospital, I contend that unlike previous studies which aggregate junior and senior
physicians’ perspectives, medical trainees face unique constraints that can lead them to intentionally or
unintentionally overlook patient preferences. This is especially salient in cases where they misunderstand
their patients’ wishes, disagree about what is in their best interest, and/or lack the standing to
pursue alternative ethical approaches to resolving these tensions. The study concludes with recommendations
that take into account the structural underpinnings of arrogance in decision-making about
life-sustaining treatment.

Announcements: Recent Publications by OOW Members, Robert Perrucci and Carolyn C. Perrucci

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Several recent publications from Robert Perrucci and Carolyn C. Perrucci may be of interest to OOW members.

Robert Perrucci and Carolyn C. Perrucci, “The Good Society: Core Social Values, Social Norms, and Public Policy.” Sociological Forum, V. 29, March, 2014.

Robert Perrucci and Carolyn C. Perrrucci, “Economic Crisis and Its Effects on Hope, Trust, and Caring.” In C. Renzetti and R. K. Bergren, (Eds.) Understanding Diversity,Pearson Publishers, 2015.

Robert Perrucci and Carolyn c. Perrucci, “The Triple Revolution, 1965-2015: Revisiting Institutional Social Problems.” International Journal of Contemporary Sociology, forthcoming October 2015.

Announcement: New Book from OOW Member, Melissa E. Wooten.

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Wooten, Melissa E. 2015. In the Face of Inequality: How Black Colleges Adapt. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Description:
A quarter of black Americans earn college degrees from black colleges, yet questions about the necessity of black colleges abound. In the Face of Inequality dissects the ways in which race and racism combined to shape the experiences of America?s black colleges in the mid-twentieth century. In a novel approach to this topic, Melissa E. Wooten combines historical data with a sociological approach. Drawing on extensive quantitative and qualitative historical data, Wooten argues that for much of America?s history, educational and social policy was explicitly designed to limit black colleges? organizational development. As an alternative to questioning the modern day relevance of these schools, Wooten asks readers to consider how race and racism precludes black colleges from acquiring the resources and respect worthy of them.

In the Face of Inequality - Cover