Thomas Geisen

Introduction: The Importance of Qualitative Research to Social Change — Preliminary Considerations

In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of interest in countries across the world in the undertaking, findings, and application of social research, together with a groundswell of debate and discussion about methodology and methods applied in social research. The ‘paradigm wars’ (Halfpenny, 2001), especially those relying on the relative merits of quantitative and qualitative methodologies and methods for their focus, continue apparently unabated: it is also possible to identify a more pragmatic stance towards this debate. Here pluralism in methods and methodology is seen as the one-size-fits-all approach, referred to by some as triangulation (for example, Flick, 2002). At the same time, this ‘new’ acceptance of qualitative approaches as a valuable contribution to social research brings into question not only the reason for this acknowledgement but also the question of its strength. Flick (2002) identifies social change as an important issue in the rise in practice and interest in qualitative research: Rapid social change and the resulting diversification of life worlds are increasingly confronting social researchers with new social contexts and perspectives ... traditional deductive methodologies ...are failing... thus research is increasingly forced to make use of inductive strategies instead of starting from theories and testing them... knowledge and practice are studied as local knowledge and practice. (Flick, 2002, p. 2)

Migration und Familie im Kontext von Bildung, Gender und Care

Das Thema „Migration und Familie“ findet seit einigen Jahren verstarkt Beachtung in den medialen und politischen Debatten der westlichen Gesellschaften. Vielfach erfolgt dabei mittels Kulturalisierung und Ethnisierung eine binare Spaltung (Hall 2000, S. 13) in traditionelle und moderne Familien. Familien im Kontext von Migration, die nicht aus den westlichen Wohlstandsgesellschaften kommen, sondern aus den Landern des Sudens und Ostens, sind davon in besonderer Weise betroffen. Wahrend Modernitat fortschrittlich mit individueller Freiheit, demokratischer Partizipation und Geschlechtergerechtigkeit verbunden wird, werden in der traditionellen Perspektive unterschiedliche Formen sozialer und kultureller Ruckstandigkeit, patriarchale Strukturen, Herrschaft und Gewalt miteinander verbunden. Der Innenraum der Familie im Kontext von Migration wird aufgrund dieser ausschliesenden Gegensatzlichkeit zur Projektionsflache von Ressentiment und Rassismus. Familien im Kontext von Migration werden auf diese Weise als Raume des Ausschlusses und der Marginalisierung definiert. Die Problematisierung von Familie im Kontext von Migration korrespondiert mit allgemeinen gesellschaftlichen Prozessen der kulturellen Zuschreibung von Differenzen (vgl. u. a. Attia 2009; Geisen und Studer 2011).

Understanding Cultural Differences as Social Limits to Learning: Migration Theory, Culture and Young Migrants

Thomas Geisen analyses recent research studies on belonging, respect, and recognition, in order to address core concepts of young migrant peoples’ belonging, cultural positioning, and social mobility. He emphases young people’s agency and young migrant people as social actors. Feelings and experiences of young migrant peoples are located within recent research and theorising on migration, which moves away from monocausal or binary explanations for migration and centralises multiple causes and manifestations. He reveals the multiple positionings of migrant adolescents within and between their parents’ cultures of origin and the cultures and structures of the receiving societies; he argues both for moving away from ‘essentialising’ concepts of culture and for addressing culture and structure in analyses of migratory experiences.

Migration, Minorities, and Learning—Understanding Cultural and Social Differences in Education

The debate over the relevance of culture and its potential influence on the learning processes of minority and migrant groups is a long-standing tradition: On the one hand culture is seen as crucial for an understanding of migration and minority issues, while on the other, the focus on culture is seen as a hindrance which leads to processes of ‘culturalization’ and ‘ethnization’ through which social inequalities are made invisible. Most prominent is the high relevance which ‘culture’ is awarded in discussions of the so-called ‘clash of cultures’ thesis (Huntington 1997) or the ‘war of civilizations’ (Tibi 1995), which has been highly influential in social and political debates on migration and minorities, especially after the events of 9/11 in the USA. The relevance of culture for an understanding of migration and minority issues is under review because when critically approached it is shown to support essentializing processes. A call has also been made to instead focus upon ‘cultural’ differences, and to turn our attention towards structures of social inequality (cf. Dittrich and Radtke 1990; Juhasz and Mey 2003). Within this line of research ‘culture’ has been predominantly understood as being less relevant in the social sphere; an impression or result of social inequality but not its cause. Such perspectives promote an understanding of culture from a structuralist perspective, which is also directed against the politics and practices of multiculturalism as established since the late 1970s (Bekerman 2003) in different Western countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands (cf. Guiberneau and Rex 1999). This critique focuses on the essentializing effects of multiculturalism on so-called cultural groups, which are perceived as fixed and unchangeable. Anne Phillips, in her critic on multiculturalism, recommends avoiding the term ‘culture’ and suggests instead a ‘Multiculturalism without Culture’ (Phillips 2007). “When multiculturalism is represented as the accommodation of or negotiation with cultural communities or groups, this encourages us to view the world through the prism of separate and distinct cultures. (…) The individuals, in all their complexity, disappear from view” (Phillips 2007, p. 179). Instead, Phillips argues for a multiculturalism which does not support processes of reification and homogenization while being able to address cultural inequalities (Phillips 2007, p. 179).

The Notion of Ambivalence: Human Action and Social Change beyond Analytical Individualism

There has been much debate in social research about the understanding of social change. At first glance it seems that conflicting positions are dominant, which define social change as that which is determined by societal development and seen as a process upon which the influence of human action is very limited. The determining aspect of the social was profoundly expressed by Karl Marx, who emphasized that while human beings make history they do not exist in free and chosen conditions and so the tradition of all ‘death generations’ is like a nightmare on the brain of the living (Marx, 1960, p. 115). An alternative to this perspective of the human being bound by social conditions brought into being by previous generations is the notion that social change is the result of human action. Indeed, the longing for a better life and for a better world becomes efficacious. Accordingly, human action is seen as a thriving force through which social change is propelled. Walter Benjamin argued that such actions could be detected and identified in history. Past events show the capacity of human beings to achieve social change and improve social conditions but can fail — this was seen by Benjamin as a weak messianic force which is passed from previous generations to the current one (Benjamin, 1977, pp. 251–252).

Disability management and organizational culture in Australia and Canada

BACKGROUND Organizational culture has received increasing attention in terms of its influence on workplace health and productivity, yet there has been little research on its relationship with employer-based disability programs. OBJECTIVE This study explored the relationship between disability management and organizational culture in Australian and Canadian organizations. METHODS Thematic analysis was conducted on data from semi-structured interviews with 16 employees, including injured workers, human resource managers and disability managers in two Australian and two Canadian large organizations. RESULTS Seven themes were identified: 1. Consistency between espoused beliefs and artifacts in organization; 2. Genuineness of interest in well-being of injured worker; 3. Level of ongoing support of worker following injury; 4. Communication with injured workers; 5. Level of support from supervisors and co-workers; 6. Promptness in claims processing and covering medical costs and; 7. Focus on wellness and injury prevention. It was found that organizational culture may impact the delivery and perceived value of employer-based disability management programs. CONCLUSIONS Given the potential relationship between organizational culture and disability management, employers should facilitate a positive workplace culture by ensuring consistency among underlying values, espoused values and actual treatment of employees, including injured workers.

Workplace Integration Through Disability Management

Disability management is a complex and systematic approach for counselling and intervention to secure labour market participation and to support labour market integration. The chapter argues that the participation into the labour market is crucial for social and individual well-being. Comprehensive disability management does not only focus on supporting the individual in its process of workplace and health integration. It does also contribute to organisational learning and development. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is an important instrument in disability management to identify the capabilities of an employee. In doing that, ICF contributes essentially to the success in disability management. Starting with some theoretical arguments on the relevance of labour in modernity, the chapter examines the development of disability management and identifies different types of disability management and discusses methods applied in disability management and requirements for disability management practitioners. Finally, new challenges in disability management are discussed.

Soziale Arbeit und Demokratie: Zur notwendigen Bestimmung eines weitgehend unbestimmten Zusammenhangs

Soziale Arbeit ist in den westeuropaischen Staaten nicht allein als Konsequenz der Industrialisierung entstanden. Ihre Etablierung und Entwicklung fand auch im Kontext von demokratischen bzw. sich demokratisierenden Gesellschaften statt. Die national- wie wohlfahrtsstaatlich verfasste Instanz Soziale Arbeit vor diesem Hintergrund aber als eine demokratische Instanz zur Unterstutzung von Menschen in modernen Gesellschaften per se aufzufassen, wurde zu kurz greifen.

International employee perspectives on disability management

Abstract Purpose: To provide an international analysis of employees’ views of the influence of disability management (DM) on the workplace. Methodology: An international research team with representation from Australia, Canada, China, and Switzerland collected survey data from employees in public and private companies in their respective regions. Due to lack of availability of current measures, a research team-created survey was used and a total of 1201 respondents were collected across the four countries. Analysis: Multiple linear (enter) regression was also employed to predict DM’s influence on job satisfaction, physical health, mental health, workplace morale and reduced sickness absence, from respondents’ perceptions of whether their company provided disability prevention, stay-at-work, and return-to-work initiatives within their organization. One-way ANOVA comparisons were used to examine differences on demographic variables including company status (public versus private), union status (union versus nonunion), and gender. Results: The perceived influence of DM programs was related to perceptions of job satisfaction; whereas, relationships with mental health, physical health, morale, and sickness absence were variable according to type of DM program and whether the response was related to self or others. Difference analyses (ANOVA) revealed significantly more positive perceptions for private and nonunion organizations; no gender effects were found. Conclusions: There is perceived value of DM from the perspective of employees, especially with respect to its value for coworkers. Implications for Rehabilitation Rehabilitation efforts should continue to focus attention on the value of disability management (DM). In particular, DM that is fully committed to the biopsychosocial model would be supported by this research. Employees reported the most value in the psychosocial variables addressed by DM, such that rehabilitation professionals could focus on these valued aspects to improve buy-in from employees. The interest in coworker value may provide another avenue for rehabilitation efforts to increase uptake, by highlighting the value of intervention efforts for employee coworkers. Rehabilitation professionals in union environments may need to be particularly cognizant of the need for encouraging psychosocial and coworker value potentially seen by employees in order to increase acceptance and participation for organizational DM efforts.

„Arbeiten, solange der Körper mitmacht“: Betriebliche Herausforderungen im Zusammenhang mit Einfacharbeit und alternden Belegschaften

Zusammenfassung In der Debatte um demografischen Wandel und Fachkräftemangel wurden die mit Einfacharbeit und alternden Belegschaften verbundenen Herausforderungen bislang kaum in den Blick genommen. Hinweise in der Forschungsliteratur zeigen jedoch, dass in diesem bislang vernachlässigten Themenfeld sowohl auf Seiten der Unternehmen als auch auf Seiten der Forschung Handlungsbedarf besteht. Der vorliegende Beitrag legt den aktuellen Stand der Forschung zu Einfacharbeit und alternden Belegschaften dar und diskutiert auf der Grundlage einer qualitativen empirischen Studie unter Personalverantwortlichen in Unternehmen und Expertinnen und Experten in der Schweiz die Belastungen für die Beschäftigten, die betrieblichen Herausforderungen und deren Reaktion darauf. In der Studie hat sich gezeigt, dass die Personalverantwortlichen in Unternehmen insbesondere physische Belastungen als Herausforderungen in Bezug auf Einfacharbeit und alternde Belegschaften identifizieren. Die betrieblichen Maßnahmen, mit denen darauf reagiert wird, sind meist reaktiv und individuell. Systematische Aktivitäten in Bezug auf den Umgang mit altersbedingten Herausforderungen in Einfacharbeit, insbesondere bezüglich Qualifikation und Alter, wurden hingegen kaum identifiziert.