The possibilities of ethical behaviour in organisations: a study of managerial selves

This thesis is a study of managerial selves and their possibilities for ethical behaviour within organisations. It explores the risks to managerial ethical behaviour and also the possibilities for doing ethics within organisations. The research investigates managers' ethical reflexivity in their managerial roles and the nature of the ethic they deploy in their daily managerial responsibilities. It also investigates the value they attach to their personal ethical dimension as individuals and the origins of their ethical values or principles. The research adopts an interdisciplinary approach, with a broad range of literature pertaining to issues of managerial ethical and moral behaviour. A review of the literature revealed two significant gaps, which are addressed by this research. First, the need for more empirical research, which specifically focuses on individual managers within organisations rather than on organisations themselves; and secondly, the need to research and to understand the individual's "self' and its ethical dimension - the "ethical self' - as arguably a determining factor for guiding and upholding an individual's ethical stance within organisations. The research is underpinned by a subjectivist ontology, an interpretative epistemology, and a qualitative methodology. This methodology is based on a notion of reciprocity, which implies a "give and take" negotiation between participants and researcher for the generation of rich data. The research is exploratory and inductive with data gathered from two separate sets of semi-structured interviews with executive managers from across a variety of organisations. All the data provide a deeper understanding into the ways managers construct their "ethical selves" and provide an insight into their ethical reflection at their place of work. The data identify as well some of the values and principles managers resort to when seeking to resolve the complexities of their managerial ethical dilemmas. This research has resulted in a range of contributions, which primarily highlights the ethical awareness and sensitivity of managers in executing their daily responsibilities. The thesis provides evidence that ethics is an important dimension of a manager's job and that ethics ultimately emanates from an individual's "self' to reach out in response to a call from an "other". The research also shows the constant danger that managerial ethical behaviour faces by an organization's functional rationality, while on the other hand it also illustrates the possibilities of managers to do ethics. This research contributes to knowledge by providing conceptual and empirical insights into the notion of ethics, as the reflexivity of the "ethical self', and finds expression in the "practical wisdom" of the "good" manager, as a principled yet pragmatic individual, ever mindful not to forfeit ethical responsibility

The possibilities of ethical behaviour in organisations: a study of managerial selves

This thesis is a study of managerial selves and their possibilities for ethical behaviour within organisations. It explores the risks to managerial ethical behaviour and also the possibilities for doing ethics within organisations. The research investigates managers' ethical reflexivity in their managerial roles and the nature of the ethic they deploy in their daily managerial responsibilities. It also investigates the value they attach to their personal ethical dimension as individuals and the origins of their ethical values or principles. The research adopts an interdisciplinary approach, with a broad range of literature pertaining to issues of managerial ethical and moral behaviour. A review of the literature revealed two significant gaps, which are addressed by this research. First, the need for more empirical research, which specifically focuses on individual managers within organisations rather than on organisations themselves; and secondly, the need to research and to understand the individual's "self' and its ethical dimension - the "ethical self' - as arguably a determining factor for guiding and upholding an individual's ethical stance within organisations. The research is underpinned by a subjectivist ontology, an interpretative epistemology, and a qualitative methodology. This methodology is based on a notion of reciprocity, which implies a "give and take" negotiation between participants and researcher for the generation of rich data. The research is exploratory and inductive with data gathered from two separate sets of semi-structured interviews with executive managers from across a variety of organisations. All the data provide a deeper understanding into the ways managers construct their "ethical selves" and provide an insight into their ethical reflection at their place of work. The data identify as well some of the values and principles managers resort to when seeking to resolve the complexities of their managerial ethical dilemmas. This research has resulted in a range of contributions, which primarily highlights the ethical awareness and sensitivity of managers in executing their daily responsibilities. The thesis provides evidence that ethics is an important dimension of a manager's job and that ethics ultimately emanates from an individual's "self' to reach out in response to a call from an "other". The research also shows the constant danger that managerial ethical behaviour faces by an organization's functional rationality, while on the other hand it also illustrates the possibilities of managers to do ethics. This research contributes to knowledge by providing conceptual and empirical insights into the notion of ethics, as the reflexivity of the "ethical self', and finds expression in the "practical wisdom" of the "good" manager, as a principled yet pragmatic individual, ever mindful not to forfeit ethical responsibility

An arm swing enhances the proximal-to-distal delay in joint extension during a countermovement jump.

An abundance of degrees of freedom (DOF) exist when executing a countermovement jump (CMJ). This research aims to simplify the understanding of this complex system by comparing jump performance and independent functional DOF (fDOF) present in CMJs without (CMJ ) and with (CMJ ) an arm swing. Principal component analysis was used on 39 muscle forces and 15 3-dimensional joint contact forces obtained from kinematic and kinetic data, analyzed in FreeBody (a segment-based musculoskeletal model). Jump performance was greater in CMJ with the increased ground contact time resulting in higher external (p = 0.012), hip (p < 0.001) and ankle (p = 0.009) vertical impulses, and slower hip extension enhancing the proximal-to-distal joint extension strategy. This allowed the hip muscles to generate higher forces and greater time-normalized hip vertical impulse (p = 0.006). Three fDOF were found for the muscle forces and 3-dimensional joint contact forces during CMJ , while four fDOF were present for CMJ . This suggests that the underlying anatomy provides mechanical constraints during a CMJ, reducing the demand on the control system. The additional fDOF present in CMJ suggests that the arms are not mechanically coupled with the lower extremity, resulting in additional variation within individual motor strategies

University lecturers' perspectives on initial teacher education for mental health promotion in schools

Copyright ©2017 Sense Publishers Reproduced with permission of the publisher

A healthy start : promoting mental health and well-being in the early primary school years

This study was in part funded by the University of Malta.Mental health problems in children represent a significant international health concern, with up to one in five children using mental health services during the course of any given year. Identifying the processes of what prevents social, emotional and behaviour difficulties (SEBD) and promotes healthy development from an early age can make a significant contribution to the promotion of positive mental health in children. This article describes a longitudinal study which sought to identify the risk and promotive factors as young children move from the early to junior years in primary school. Multilevel analysis was used to identify the individual, classroom, school, home and community factors that predict change in SEBD and in prosocial behaviour in the early school years. It also calculated the cumulative effect of the various risk and promotive factors on the pupils’ well-being and mental health. The article presents the windows of vulnerability and opportunity for young children’s healthy development, proposing a trajectory for healthy development in early and middle childhood.peer-reviewe

Cultural universality and specificity of student engagement in school: The results of an international study from 12 countries

postprin

Humiliation's Media Cultures: On the Power of the Social to Oblige Us

Humiliation, which Silvan Tomkins paired with shame (‘shame-humiliation’), has not received much attention in queer, feminist and cultural analysis. This article addresses this omission by putting forward an account of humiliation’s eventful ‘structure of feeling’. In line with Raymond Williams’ original conception, and in conversation with affect studies, my account links humiliation’s structure to the broader socio-political tensions it articulates: especially, the tension between individualisation and collective social experience within neoliberalism. The cultural economy of reputation in particular reveals how, from within the eventful structure of humiliation, we become attuned to the social as that which affectively obliges us. By mediating the affective obligation of the social, media cultures train us in an affective sociality. My analysis questions the deeper reasoning that subtends humiliation and the repercussions of the affective obligation of the social for how we think about culture, identity and power in the context of networked media

Quietly sharing the load? The role of school psychologists in enabling teacher resilience

Teacher resilience is associated with positive student outcomes and plays an important role in teacher retention and well-being. School ecologies can enable the resilience of teachers, with prior research illustrating the importance of supportive colleagues, strong leadership, and positive school culture. There is limited research, however, exploring the role of school psychologists in supporting or enabling teacher resilience. Using data from experienced Australian school psychologists and teachers, this exploratory qualitative study examines the role of school psychologists in enabling teacher resilience. Findings show that school psychologists directly and indirectly support teacher resilience, although teachers perceive school psychologists’ main role as work with individual students. Issues pertaining to variations in access and particular roles of school psychologists are discussed. Although further research is needed to clarify and promote the role of school psychologists, this study points to them potentially playing an important role in school ecologies that enable teacher resilience