The Economy's Impact on Welfare Reform Participants' Employment Opportunities In Ramsey County, Minnesota: A Mixed Effects Regression Analysis

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. November 2017. Major: Social Work. Advisor: James Reinardy. 1 computer file (PDF); xi, 138 pages.Like its predecessor Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the most recent program for means-tested public assistance at the federal level, emphasizes work over welfare as a means to decrease dependency on government assistance. TANF began at a time when the United States was experiencing a robust economy; caseloads decreased and welfare participants seemed to be moving from welfare into employment. Now that two decades and one Great Recession have passed since TANF’s inception, it is time to examine the economy’s role in facilitating welfare participants’ employment prospects. This research poses the following question: to what extent do economic conditions (particularly during economic recessions), and person-level differences (race, Latino ethnicity, gender, age, and education) influence welfare participants’ employment opportunities in terms of earnings and work hours? It utilizes secondary data from the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) in Ramsey County, Minnesota, and provides an example of one county’s experiences with welfare reform and fluctuating economic conditions. A two-level, mixed effects linear regression analysis was done, with time nested in individuals, to examine the effects of local and national economic indicators on MFIP participants’ employment opportunities. Results indicate that the condition of the local economy plays a much greater role in providing such opportunities, than does a national recession. Economic indicators used to measure local economic conditions (real GDP for the metropolitan area of Minneapolis-St.Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI, and county-level data for median income, unemployment rate, and poverty rate) lag behind indicators used to measure national recessions; this indicates a need for proactive programming at the state and local levels as the United States enters recessions such that highly economically vulnerable members of the community experience the effects of a shrinking economy to a much lesser extent

"hon var en han, hon var ingen hon" - En undersøkelse av ulike former for maskulinitet i Cornelis Vreeswijks sangtekster

I denne masteroppgaven studeres ulike former for maskulinitet i et utvalg av Cornelis Vreeswijks sanger. Tekstene er hentet fra den Jan-Erik Vold-redigerte Samlade sånger (2000), og er utelukkende basert på materiale som er innspilt som del av et album i Vreeswijks levetid. Hensikten med prosjektet har vært å undersøke ulike former for maskulinitet i Vreeswijks sanger, og dermed utfordre etablerte sannheter om hans syn på kjønnsroller og kjønnsidentiteter, som i stor grad virker å være basert på biografiske opplysninger. I oppgaven benyttes teori fra maskulinitetsforskningen primært, men det er også brukt teorier om trubadurtradisjonens utvikling og om visesang som musikalsk uttrykksform. Arbeidet mitt plasserer seg som et nytt bidrag til Vreeswijkforskningen, da større kjønnsteoretiske analyser av Vreeswijks sanger ikke har blitt gjort tidligere. De funnene jeg gjør i analysene peker på at den biografiske oppfattelsen av Vreeswijk ikke er nyansert nok, og at kjønnsteoretiske tekstanalyser kan være et godt verktøy for å se flere av nyansene i hans kunstnerskap. Spesielt gjelder dette synet på forholdet mellom kvinne og mann, men også hvilke egenskaper som menn er forventet å ha

The Relationship between Newcomer Proactive Behaviors and Socialization Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Perceived Motivational Climate

Although a growing body of literature acknowledges the importance of engaging in newcomer proactive behaviors to obtain desirable socialization outcomes, researchers call for further research on the factors that may influence the strength of such a relationship. Thus, we sought to extend the current literature by examining the moderating role of perceived motivational climate on the relationship between newcomer proactive behaviors and socialization outcomes. Prior to this, we first investigated the direct relationship between newcomer proactive behaviors and socialization outcomes, as well as the association between perceived motivational climate and newcomer proactive behaviors. Our target group was newcomers who had been in their current job position (within the same company) for two years or less. Participants were gathered through educational institutions, BI Alumni and social media accounts, yielding a total of 185 respondents. Drawing on a cross-sectional research design, participants were asked to fill out a self-completion questionnaire which contained items regarding proactive behaviors, perceived motivational climate and socialization outcomes. The collected data were analyzed using multiple regressions. The results of the current study demonstrated a significant positive relationship between jobchange negotiation and both intention to remain and role clarity. Further, mastery climate and performance climate were positively related to all three proactive behaviors, however, the relationship between performance climate and job-change negotiation was non-significant. Finally, the findings did not provide any evidence for a moderating role of motivational climate. Nevertheless, mastery climate was positively associated with intention to remain and role clarity. Overall, due to its positive association with each of the newcomer proactive behaviors and two of the socialization outcomes, we advise organizations to facilitate a mastery climate for their newcomers. However, considering the limitations of the present study, we suggest that future research should further examine the role and importance of perceived motivational climate, as well as other potential moderators to such a relationship