Karen Morgan

“But Sometimes I Think . . . They Put Themselves in the Situation”: Exploring Blame and Responsibility in Interpersonal Violence

This article draws on narratives of volunteers working with women who have experienced violence. It explores how institutional discourses nurture a culture of blame and responsibility. Using qualitative data, it examines the ways in which women victims are seen as complicit in their own victimization. An indirect consequence of the blame/responsibility dichotomy is that victims are depicted as deserving their fate. There is, therefore, a culture of resignation in which violence is normalized. It proposes that if institutional practices are embedded in a feminist tradition, they can provide a more sustainable framework for challenging sexual and domestic violence.

From pillar to post: homeless women's experiences of social care.

This paper reports findings from a longitudinal study of homeless women. Thirty-eight women were recruited with a retention rate of 58% over three rounds of interviews. Interviews explored specific events in womens lives, their current living arrangements and how their experiences and needs, including for social care, changed over time. Data were analysed thematically using a priori codes. Women reported a range of complex issues, consistent with experiences of deep social exclusion and received support from both statutory and voluntary agencies. Although women appreciated the support they received, many reported that services were fragmented and rarely personalised to their needs.

The determinants of public trust in English local government: how important is the ethical behaviour of elected councillors?

One of the most difficult and under-examined issues in integrity research is understanding whether regulatory interventions designed to improve the ethical conduct of public bodies actually have any effect on public trust. In this article, we present the results of research which has sought to unpack this issue. Drawing on a large-scale public survey and case study analysis of nine local councils in England, the research examined the relative importance of ethical conduct (whether elected councillors displayed good behaviour) on public trust in local government. We found that contextual factors (such as the size of the population and its social and ethnic diversity) and the ethical standards and behaviour of councillors were among the more important determinants of public trust. The most important variable in explaining levels of public trust was how a council performed. Points for practitioners One of the aims of ethics regulation is to improve levels of trust by promoting changes in behaviour and providing some reassurance for the public. Our results show that councils with low levels of councillor misconduct and good performance generally enjoy higher levels of public trust. The behaviour of councillors and whether they told the truth were important determinants of public trust, but ‘good conduct’ is not always narrowly ‘caused’ by ethics regulation; rather, it may reflect the culture of an organization. Public trust is also determined by a range of contextual variables which are difficult for public institutions to steer.

Trust, Distrust and Betrayal: A Social Housing Case Study

This paper discusses the importance of trust, distrust and betrayal in the context of relational contracts in the modern welfare state. We use a specific case study of the allocation of social housing. That context is one in which the local authority has statutory obligations towards households in housing need but limited ability to fulfil those obligations without reliance on other social housing providers, specifically registered social landlords. Relationships between providers are, in theory, negotiated through nominations agreements. In this paper, we draw on data from a research project concerned with ‘problematic nominations’ to illustrate the production of trust, distrust and betrayal. Our analysis is structured by reference to three frameworks for the production of trust: characteristic-based, process-based and institutional based trust.

Gender and humour: examining discourses of hegemony and resistance

Gender and humour: examining discourses of hegemony and resistance Simon Weaver , Raúl Alberto Mora and Karen Morgan Centre for Comedy Studies Research, Department of Social Sciences, Media and Communications, Brunel University London, London, UK; School of Education and Pedagogy, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Sede Central Medellín, Colombia; School for Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

What determines ethical behavior in public organizations

This publication contains reprint articles for which IEEE does not hold copyright. Full text is not available on IEEE Xplore for these articles.

Introduction. Gender and humour: Examining discourses of hegemony and resistance

Gender and humour: examining discourses of hegemony and resistance Simon Weaver , Raúl Alberto Mora and Karen Morgan Centre for Comedy Studies Research, Department of Social Sciences, Media and Communications, Brunel University London, London, UK; School of Education and Pedagogy, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Sede Central Medellín, Colombia; School for Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK