Cath Sullivan

Home-based Telework, Gender, and the Synchronization of Work and Family: Perspectives of Teleworkers and their Co-residents

This article explores the relationship between work–family roles and boundaries, and gender, among home-based teleworkers and their families. Previous literature suggests two alternative models of the implications of home-based work for gendered experiences of work and family: the new opportunities for flexibility model and the exploitation model. Drawing on the findings of a qualitative study of home-based workers and their co-residents, we argue that these models are not mutually exclusive. We explore the gendered processes whereby teleworking can simultaneously enhance work–life balance while perpetuating traditional work and family roles.

What's in a name? Definitions and conceptualisations of teleworking and homeworking

Interest in paid work performed in the home increasingly focuses on the concept of telework but debate over definitions continues. This paper discusses aspects of this debate and argues that project-specific definitions are useful and inevitable. The assertion that a single definition should be used by all research in this area is challenged.

Perspectives of homeworkers and their partners on working flexibility and gender equity

Changes in the nature of paid work challenge existing knowledge about the work–family interface (Kossek and Lambert, 2005). One such change is paid work being increasingly performed at home – over one-quarter of the UK workforce now perform some work at home (Felstead et al., 2000). Developments in information and communication technologies (ICTs), the increasing flexibility of work and organizations (Hardhill et al., 1997) and increasing expectations of self-management potentially facilitate and make more attractive the temporal and spatial dispersion of paid work (Standen et al., 1999; Valcour and Hunter, 2005). Family and work–life balance (WLB) are commonly occurring themes in discussions of telework and homeworking, which have been conceptualized as part of a growing demand for flexibility and work–life integration (Sullivan and Lewis, 2006) and increasingly appear in lists of ‘family-friendly policies’ (e.g. Budd and Mumford, 2004). However, research into the efficacy of homeworking in facilitating the combination of paid work, family and other aspects of people’s lives is still relatively scarce. In this paper we seek to address one aspect of this by examining homeworkers’ and coresidents’ perspectives on temporal flexibility and work at home in relation to gender contracts and the division of domestic labour.

Doing your qualitative psychology project

Introduction and Aims of the Book - Cath Sullivan, Stephen Gibson and Sarah Riley Coming up with a Research Question - Kathryn Kinmond Planning and Ethics - Cath Sullivan and Sarah C.E Riley Managing the Project - Sarah C.E Riley and Nigel King Doing a Literature Review - Michael Forrester Collecting Your Data - Siobhan Hugh-Jones and Stephen Gibson Analysing Your Data - Stephen Gibson and Siobhan Hugh-Jones Evaluating Qualitative Research - Nollaig Frost and Kathryn Kinmond Writing up a Qualitative Project - Sarah C.E Riley What Next? - Cath Sullivan Overview and Conclusions: Be a Scholar - Stephen Gibson, Cath Sullivan and Sarah C.E Riley

Experiences of Mindfulness Training in Living with Rheumatic Disease: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis:

Introduction: This study examined the experiences of mindfulness training for five adults living with rheumatic disease. Method: Focus group data were used to explore the experience and impact of mindfulness training in participants aged between 46 and 69 years diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, fibromyalgia or rheumatoid arthritis. All participants had completed an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme 6 months prior to the study. Findings: Interpretative phenomenological analysis produced two themes: ‘responding to pain’ and ‘psychological wellbeing’. All participants spoke similarly and with enthusiasm, reflecting the strength of the impact of mindfulness upon the daily lives of these individuals. Methodological limitations are considered along with clinical applications and suggestions for future research. Conclusion: The findings from this study reinforce the outcomes of previous research and indicate that mindfulness has the potential to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals living with rheumatic disease.

Qualitative undergraduate project supervision in psychology: Current practices and support needs of supervisors across North East England and Scotland

ABSTRACT The dissertation is a core component of a psychology undergraduate degree, though very little research has been conducted into supervision processes at undergraduate level. This study examined the accounts of supervisors of qualitative dissertations in order to identify current practices of supervision and possible resources that might support supervision. Seventeen supervisors from psychology departments in North East England and Scotland were interviewed, and three main themes were identified using thematic analysis: the quantitative culture in psychology teaching, supervisors’ expertise, and the supervision process. Supervisors noted that students were typically constrained in their choice of methodology due to limited qualitative methods teaching, lack of training and guidance for supervisors, and concerns about the risks of demanding qualitative projects. Supervisors therefore often reported staying within their comfort zone, electing where possible to supervise only the methods that they themselves use. Recommendations for practical resources are provided to help support students and supervisors in the process of undertaking qualitative psychology dissertations.

‘Bad Mum Guilt’: the representation of ‘work-life balance’ in UK women’s magazines

The social policy climate, labour market trends and gendered arrangements for paid and family work mean that ‘work-life balance’ remains a key social issue in the UK. Media representations of ‘work-life balance’ are a key source for the construction of gender and working motherhood. Despite evidence of gendered representations in media coverage of other social issues, little attention has been paid to the construction of work-life balance in UK womens magazines. Articles from the highest circulating UK womens magazines are analysed using a discursive approach to explicate constructions of work-life balance and working motherhood. The analysis reveals that multiple roles are constructed as a problematic choice leading to stress and guilt. Problems associated with multiple roles are constructed as individual problems, in a way that decontextualises and depoliticises them and normalises gendered assumptions and a gendered division of labour. Parallels can be drawn between this and wider discourses about womens daily lives and to the UK social policy context.

Critical incidents in a forensic psychiatric population: an exploratory study of motivational factors

This exploratory study examined the motivations for forensic clients’ engagement in critical incidents, specifically hostage-taking, barricades and roof-top protests. Using thematic analysis, a range of themes were identified. These included engaging in such incidents to seek deliberate isolation from others, gaining control, getting their needs meet, a need to communicate and being influenced by their peers. Selection of potential hostages appeared linked to feeling of grievance towards them. Yet the distress of a hostage, along with consideration as to the longer term consequences of their actions both for themselves and morally, appeared to reduce the risk of engagement in such incidents. The results are discussed in terms of Individualism, Self-Determination Theory of Motivation and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs.

A Changing Culture? Qualitative Methods Teaching in UK Psychology.

This paper surveys the landscape of qualitative methods teaching in U.K. psychology. First, we provide an overview of the administrative framework for this teaching and highlight the positive development that is the stipulation by key national bodies that undergraduate psychology programs should teach qualitative methods. Second, we discuss an attempt to meet the needs for training and resources that resulted from these stipulations and note how recent changes in the higher education funding landscape have made it more difficult to meet these needs. Third, we review literature on the teaching of qualitative methods in U.K. psychology departments and note the relative paucity of studies addressing this issue. In conclusion, we suggest that the key issue remains the stubbornness of the “quantitative culture” in many departments. The official bureaucratic infrastructure of U.K. psychology teaching may now mandate that qualitative methods be taught, but the tentative conclusions that can be drawn from what literature there is suggest that this obscures various practices at the departmental level, with many programs still providing little more than tokenistic engagement with qualitative methods.

IFAS paper: a qualitative investigation into beliefs about aggression in an Indian sample

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate Western studies on beliefs about aggression which have found that men typically hold instrumental beliefs and women hold expressive beliefs.Design/methodology/approach – To investigate whether beliefs about aggression are qualitatively different in an Indian sample, interviews were undertaken with focus groups of 16 and 26‐year‐olds from north‐east India.Findings – IPA analysis indicated that respondents viewed their aggression in terms of: how they might appear; honour or shame; gender roles; and as a loss of self‐control. These findings indicate that beliefs about aggression held in this Indian sample are more complex than can be characterised by the instrumental/expressive dimension.Practical implications – Implications of these findings for developing more culture‐specific measures of beliefs about aggression are discussed.