Domestic Violence and Women’s Employment: Fixed Effects Models of Three Waves of Women’s Employment Study Data

Domestic violence can interfere with women’s ability to work, and may result in loss of welfare benefits and poorer economic outcomes. Previous studies showing no effect of domestic violence on employment could be a result of the failure to control for some individual characteristics; therefore we use fixed-effects models with three waves of Women’s Employment Study (WES) data to control for unobservable time-invariant individual-specific characteristics. Included in our analyses were 598 women, from an urban county in Michigan who were on the welfare rolls in February of 1997, all of whom completed 3 waves of interviews. Our fixed effects regression results show that domestic violence significantly reduced the annual work hours of a respondent. Mental and physical health problems do not completely mediate this relationship. Our results support efforts to address domestic violence within the welfare system.     

Underemployment in America: Measurement and Evidence

An important way in which employment hardship has come to be conceptualized and measured is as underemployment. Underemployment goes beyond mere unemployment (being out of a job and looking for work), to include those who have given up looking for work, part-time workers whose employer(s) cannot give them full-time work, and the working poor. To provide needed background for the other articles in this special issue, we trace the history of the concept of underemployment, review existing empirical literature, offer a critique of the measurement of underemployment as conventionally operationalized, and provide up-to-date evidence on the trends and correlates of underemployment in the United States.     

Unemployment, Underemployment, and Mental Health: Conceptualizing Employment Status as a Continuum

The economy is one of the most important social environments that affect well-being, and community psychologists have long studied the social costs of one key economic stressor—job loss. But economically inadequate employment has received much less research attention than unemployment in regard to mental health effects. This paper contrasts these two literatures and considers factors that might account for their differential growth including actual rates of unemployment and underemployment. Recent panel studies offer no support for another possible basis for this differential growth—the assumption that inadequate employment is more like adequate employment than unemployment. Implications of a paradigm shift from a dichotomous perspective (employment vs. unemployment) to a continuum perspective with variations of both unemployment and employment are discussed for research and prevention. Another implication is the need to expand standard labor force statistics to reflect better the degree of underemployment.     

心理资本对大学生就业成功率的影响

心理资本近年已成为研究大学生就业状况相关问题的热点之一.研究采用问卷调查法探讨了性别、生源地、专业、实习经验等因素对大学生心理资本的影响,以及两者对大学生就业成功率的影响.具体采用列联表分析、￡检验、方差分析以及二元logistic回归分析分析了心理资本各维度与各因素对大学生就业成功率的影响,发现专业和实习经历对心理资本有显著影响,心理资本中的乐观维度对大学生就业成功率有显著影响;建议为了提高大学生就业成功率,学校应努力为大学生提供更多的实践机会,重视大学生的人文教育,营造乐观的文化氛围.     

Why theatre-based research works? Psychological theories from behind the curtain

While many scholars have demonstrated the effectiveness of theatre-based knowledge mobilization, fewer studies have examined its psychological dimensions. This article examines some psychological theories that may account for the success behind theatre-based knowledge mobilization. Drawing from the Canadian Experience Project, a study about the labor market challenges of skilled immigrant workers, we show how theatre-based research dissemination efforts attempt to achieve optimal stress by using aesthetic distance processes. We maintain that this psychological capacity to attune to audience members, especially evident in forum theatre, makes theatre a particularly effective means for knowledge mobilization.     

The Individual Career Counseling Needs and Experiences of Female Survivors of Partner Violence

The impact of partner violence on women's employment and career development is profound. Career counselors may contribute substantially to these women's rehabilitation. This study examined employment and career counseling needs, barriers experienced, and counseling satisfaction of female survivors of partner violence (N = 71). The women participated in community‐ and research‐based individual career counseling services designed to promote their short‐ and long‐term career development. The authors conducted correlational, t‐test, and logistic regression analyses and found that barriers differed by race/ethnicity, age, number of children, and career service needs. Results provide important information about survivors' career counseling service access and needs.     

Chapter 7. Workfare

SUMMARY

In this chapter, I present the participants' experiences in the work setting from their own perspective.     

Voices from the Street: How Structural and Individual Factors Influence Homelessness

This study compared structural and individual factors related to persons who are homeless and how these factors affected their ability to utilize and benefit from available services. A qualitative case study design was used to conduct in-depth interviews with two participants receiving hospice care in a residence for the homeless. Results support previous findings that chronic homelessness is the result of multiple structural and individual factors that occur over time. Contrary to the literature on chronic homelessness, however, both participants were unique in their history of employment and strong desire to work, despite having limited work skills. Responses from both participants underscored the value of daily structure and meaningful occupation in residential addiction treatment.