Understanding access barriers to public services : lessons from a randomized domestic violence intervention

We study the effect of decreasing barriers to accessing non-police services on the demand for police services in cases of police-reported domestic violence. Variation comes from a large case-level randomised control trial designed to assist victims in accessing non-police services. Our data link information from local and national police administrative records, and a survey of victims. The intervention led to a robust 21% decrease in the demand for police services, as measured by the provision of a statement by victims. Despite a strong correlation between statements and criminal sanctions against perpetrators, we do not find a corresponding effect of the intervention on perpetrator arrest, charges or sentencing. This suggests that the victims who do not provide a statement because of treatment had a relatively low statement effectiveness. Consistent with this result, we find treatment group statements are significantly less likely to be withdrawn than are control group statements

The impact of improving access to support services for victims of domestic violence on demand for services and victim outcomes

We conducted a randomised controlled trial of an intervention designed to assist victims of domestic violence in accessing non-police support services. The intervention led to a 22% decrease in the fraction of victims providing a witness statement to police. Witness statements are an important piece of evidence and a key input in the prosecution of perpetrators. Despite this, we do not find a significant change in perpetrator arrest and convictions to in reported future violence. Survey reponses provide evidence of an increase in non-police service use, a reduction in future victimisation risk, but also a potential decrease in short-run well-being

Bevezetés: Norbert Elias és a folyamatszociológia'

Bevezetés: Norbert Elias és a folyamatszociológia

A New Industry on a Skewed Playing Field: Supply Chain Relations and Working Conditions in UK Garment Manufacturing

UK garment manufacturing is at a crossroads. It has seen the emergence of new business models that are competitive in a globalised industry, integrated into global supply chains and developed relevant management systems. In contrast, the regulatory environment is largely geared to a model that has gone out of business. The average size of a garment manufacturer has declined by more than 60% over the last two decades, with 82% of firms employing less than 10 employees in 2013. These two drivers – sourcing and purchasing practices as well as product and labour market regulations – have in many ways resulted in a new, very different, industry which is dominated by small firms, fragmented supply chains, a largely vulnerable workforce, and the absence of enterprise-level industrial relations and worker representation. Those drivers constitute pressures and opportunities that characterise the new garment manufacturing industry. In the process, however, they have skewed the playing field in the workplace as well as in product markets and have led to adverse outcomes. For example, extensive research within Leicester as a UK sourcing hub found that the majority of garment workers are paid way below the National Minimum Wage, do not have employment contracts, and are subject to intense and arbitrary work practices. Equally, a number of manufacturers have made considerable investments to meet rising demand, only to find themselves undercut by competitors that violate minimum work and employment standards. An important piece in the puzzle of the skewed playing field is that new industry structures have rendered existing forms of private and public regulation unfit for purpose. Selective monitoring is not able to address factory level practices in the context of the push of sourcing and purchasing practices, as well as the pull of a vulnerable labour supply and weakened labour market regulations. The avoidance of statutory regulations, however, is dysfunctional in many respects: it exposes lead firms and the local economy to considerable reputation risks, disadvantages compliant manufacturers, and thoroughly fails to protect workers. Nonetheless, garment manufacturing in the UK has good prospects, evidenced in increasing turnover and employment, if it can address the challenges that result from the avoidance of business and employment standards. These challenges pose fundamental questions for practices of supply chain management, related issues of transparency and accountability, as well as the public and private regulation of inter-firm relations and employment standards. This report has gathered sufficient evidence to suggest the highlighted practices are significant within the industry. A range of methods and data sources was used in order to triangulate and assess the validity of different data, from official statistics and news and Lead firms House databases to information from whistleblowers; from lead firms’ (retailers and brands), suppliers’ and manufacturers’ experiences to a small-scale survey of garment workers. This variety of methods allowed the research to assess and even out the disadvantages any single approach has when investigating hidden aspects of the supply chain, the employment relationship, or the production process. The research design aimed to optimise depth (a case study of apparel manufacturing in Leicester as a major hub) and access (investigating the supply chains of 10 lead brands). Against the background of industry and labour market statistics as well as stakeholders’ UK-wide experiences, the data can be considered valid and robust with regard to the UK’s dynamic Fast Fashion industry

The portrayal of the role and agency of students and higher education institutions in highly ranked business school discourses

Purpose This study aims to investigate how highly ranked business schools portray ideal students in terms of their attributes and their agency. Understanding how these higher education institutions (HEIs) discursively construct their present and prospective students also shed light on the institutions’ self-representation, the portrayal of the student–institution relationship and eventually the discursive construction of higher education’s (HE) role. Design/methodology/approach To understand this dynamic interrelationship, this study uses mixed methodological textual analysis first quantitatively identifying different modes of language use and then qualitatively analysing them. Findings With this approach, this study identified six language use groups. While the portrayal of the business schools and that of the students are always co-constructed, these groups differ in the extent of student and organisational agency displayed as well as the role and purpose of the institution. Business schools are always active agents in these discourses, but their roles and the students’ agency vary greatly across these six groups. Practical implications These findings can help practitioners determine how students are currently portrayed in their organisational texts, how their peers and competitors talk and where they want to position themselves in relation to them. Originality/value Previous studies discussed the ideal HE students from the perspective of the students or their educators. Other analyses on HE discourse focused on HEIs’ discursive construction and social role This study, however, unveils how the highly ranked business schools in their external organisational communication discursively construct their ideals and expectations for both their students and the general public.</p

Bevezetés: Norbert Elias és a folyamatszociológia

2014 júniusában fontos konferencia került megrendezésre a Leicesteri Egyetemen Elias munkásságáról, amelynek apropóját az életművet bemutató összkiadás (Th e Collected Works of Norbert Elias) kötetsorozatának befejezése szolgáltatta. Az összkiadást a University College Dublin Press adta ki Stephen Mennell szerkesztésében [az ezzel kapcsolatos információkat lásd a hasznos oldalak között a kötet végén]. A konferencia főszervezői John Goodwin és Jason Hughes voltak, a szervezésben aktívan részt vett Plugor Réka, és – a mintegy kéttucatnyi országból érkezett konferencia-résztvevő között – jelen volt Hadas Miklós is. Itt merült föl annak ötlete, hogy elkészüljön ez a különszám