Journal of Sociology recent issues

Neoliberalism, New Public Management and the human service professions: Introduction to the Special Issue

Connell, R., Fawcett, B., Meagher, G. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:38 PST

Steering teachers: Working to control the feminized profession of education

Brennan, M. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:38 PST

Changes in public sector management need to be unpacked for different sectors to understand their impact in a particular country. This article focuses on the governance of the feminized profession of teaching in Australia, the single largest professional grouping in the country. Neoliberal assumptions have been built into teachers’ work through policy change in three related ‘waves’. The first wave in the 1980s installed managerialism in public education by recentralizing curriculum policy, establishing ‘self-managing’ schools, and downsizing infrastructure. The second wave in the 1990s steered teachers’ work through federal intervention into curriculum, and individualization of teachers’ work in contexts of marketization; this wave consolidated a national political role in education. The third wave in the 2000s emphasized the codification of knowledge through establishment of standards and criteria for teacher employment and promotion. The article concludes that the governance efforts to steer teachers’ work by neoliberal assumptions have been significantly, but not totally, effective.

Should the nurse change the light globe?: Human service professionals managing risk on the frontline

Sawyer, A.-M., Green, D., Moran, A., Brett, J. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:38 PST

Over the last two decades New Public Management, de-institutionalization and the growth of community care have radically altered the landscape of human service delivery in Australia. As a consequence of these changes, human service agencies have been compelled to develop mechanisms for regulating and managing the risks involved in frontline community care — and the management of risk is now pivotal to the practices of professional workers in this field. British research suggests that the emphasis on risk gives rise to greater monitoring and administrative supervision of workers and a focus on managerial rather than therapeutic skills. This article presents some early findings from an Australian study that finds a very different picture. Based on interviews with 24 social workers and nurses employed in community care, we found that these workers expressed a strong sense of agency when interpreting and negotiating the risk management policies of their respective organizations, and were focused primarily on the needs of their clients rather than bureaucratic procedures.

Gendered organizational dynamics: The elephant in the room for Australian allied health workforce policy and planning?

Schofield, T. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:38 PST

Australian governments have reported an impending ‘crisis’ with workforce shortages in the health sector expected to deepen over the next decade. The allied health professions, however, have barely rated a mention despite the fact their retention rates are low and they are expected to play an expanded and more preventive role in the future. This article examines current Australian public policy approaches to the allied health professions in relation to workforce shortages. It identifies the dominance of technocratic representations of the problem, noting that these have become more pervasive and robust with the New Public Management (NPM). Recent Australian sociological discussion suggests that technocratic ‘framing’ of allied health workforce shortages is limited by its failure to address the role of organizational and institutional dynamics. Such an analysis advances prevailing policy-based problematizations of allied health workforce shortages, but is itself constrained by the lack of acknowledgement of the gendered character of Australian health services organization and the role this may play in allied health workforce shortages.

A case of mistaken identity: The social welfare professions and New Public Management

Healy, K. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:38 PST

Social welfare professions have been highly exposed to the corrosive effects of New Public Management (NPM) on professional identity and influence. In this article, I argue that ambivalence from within the social welfare professions, and in society more generally, towards professional recognition of these occupations enables NPM to enact an agenda of de-professionalization. Further, gendered assumptions about professional identity, and particularly about the caring professions in which there is a high concentration of women workers, are pivotal to the destabilization of the professional social welfare workforce. I draw on examples from the Queensland Department of Child Safety workforce reforms to illustrate how NPM discourse intersects with, and is enabled by, well-established ambivalence towards professional recognition within and outside the social welfare professions. I suggest that a gender analysis can deepen our understanding of the substantial impact of NPM on social welfare professions and can enable these professions to develop effective responses to the substantial threats they now face.

Managing health care under New Public Management: A Sisyphean challenge for nursing

Newman, S., Lawler, J. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:38 PST

The drive to reform the public health care system became a common feature of Australia’s political and economic landscape from the early 1980s. Health care reform in Australia has been underpinned by New Public Management (NPM) which was promoted as providing more transparent policy and empowering managers to manage service delivery. However, these claims are a fallacy and nursing and nursing care have been affected adversely and severely. General (generic) management structures have replaced established nursing management structures and the distance between politics (politicians) and health service managers has narrowed to the extent that there is now an unprecedented level of political interference in the daily management of health services, in direct contrast to the tenets of NPM. This article reports on the ‘reformed’ health care environment as experienced by nurse managers. They reported that their ability to manage nursing services and provide professional and clinical leadership has been seriously diminished, as has their work satisfaction, motivation and commitment. They also report uncertainty about their future as well as the future of nursing itself.

The 'return to community': Challenges to human service professionals

Fawcett, B., Hanlon, M. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:38 PST

In Australia and the United Kingdom over the past two decades, the way human service professionals have been involved in ‘communities’, whether defined by ‘place’, ‘interest’ or ‘exclusion’, has varied with the political complexion of the government in power. This has resulted in both opportunities for and constraints on human services practice and community participation. In this article, the terminology and the conceptual frames associated with work both in and with communities are critically scrutinized. However, it is also contended that spatial analysis and social entrepreneurship can enable those working in the field to respond productively to the New Public Management and ‘Third Way’ approaches that have shaped the policy context of human services practice. It is argued that a form of spatial analysis and of social entrepreneurship can be used to facilitate meaningful participation in decision-making processes in a variety of communities and to re-forge social connections at a range of levels.

When discourse defies belief: Anti-abortionists in contemporary Australia

Wyatt, D., Hughes, K. — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:52:20 PDT

This article considers the role of the Australian anti-abortion movement in the discursive practices of the worldwide pro-life franchise. It is based on in-depth interviews with key members of the moment located in four similar organizations. It examines the ways in which they perceive their cause and the ways in which they might influence both public conversations about abortion and individual pregnant women. It specifically focuses on the ways in which new medical imaging technologies are drawn upon to facilitate a renewed view of the separateness of a foetus, explores the participants’ views of motherhood and mothering, and the ways in which the abortion rate is seen as indicative of the fragmentation of contemporary society.

Positive ageing, neoliberalism and Australian sociology

Asquith, N. — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:52:20 PDT

Australian sociology has wrestled with most of the big issues facing this society; however, when it comes to one of the most significant changes to face Australia in the next 30 years, it has suddenly lost its capacity to engage with the nexus between demography, social processes and political structures. While governments have forged ahead with responsibilization agendas in health, welfare and unemployment, sociology has voiced its concern about the implications for Australia’s most disadvantaged. Yet, when it comes to population ageing, sociology has been, in large part, silent in the face of neoliberal policies of positive ageing, which have framed the ‘problem’ as a deficit that must be managed primarily by individuals and their families. This article maps the field of positive ageing, identifies key social concerns with this policy approach and asks, where is Australian sociology?

Casual employment in Australia: The influence of employment contract on financial well-being

Buchler, S., Haynes, M., Baxter, J. — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:52:20 PDT

This article uses data from Wave 1 of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) 2001 survey to examine whether there is a difference in financial well-being between casual and permanent employees. The study examines two measures of financial difficulty and one measure of financial satisfaction and finds that casual employees fare worse than permanent employees on all three measures. The results indicate that casual employees are less likely to afford basic costs of living, such as bills and mortgage/rent, and have higher levels of financial difficulty as well as lower levels of financial satisfaction. The article concludes that casual employment imposes significant financial strains on employees.

Playing with fire: Gender at work and the Australian female cultural experience within rural fire fighting

Maleta, Y. — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:52:20 PDT

This article considers the roles, identities and experiences of female emergency services volunteers, most of whom are active fire fighters, within a regional brigade of the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS). It is based on interviews and explores how women both adapt to and resist the culture and in the process are transforming it. RFS women were motivated by values of camaraderie, skill and community participation. Their experiences were informed by inclusion and exclusion, and the complex association of gender and competence with physical strength and leadership. Drawing upon the Foucauldian insight that power is never simply repressive but productive and relational, the findings demonstrate how women actively negotiate their position as a collective and as individuals within a mixed gender environment. This article concludes that the demonstrated prowess and agency of women within a non-traditional work context is changing and transforming the cultures and practices of rural fire fighting.

Rhetorical strategies of political parties and organized movements: Deliberative democracy and the Australian monarchy--republican debate

Nugus, P. — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:52:20 PDT

Research on the Australian monarchy—republican debate has considered arguments for and against the republic, the 1999 referendum and interpretations of the republic. Little attention has been paid to the debate’s discursive construction. Therefore, this article analyzes the rhetorical strategies with which political parties and organized movements sought to persuade the public to adopt their position in the debate in the 1990s. The article discerns and analyzes various rhetorical strategies in terms of the patterns in their use among these elites. In contrast to the cognitive bias of much research in political communication, the article accounts for the embeddedness of these strategies in their public political, national-cultural and popular democratic contexts. It shows that the use of such strategies is a function of the socio-political context of actors’ statuses as parties or movements. The article recommends combining deliberative democracy with discourse analysis to comprehend the dynamics of public political language.

The AUSEI06: A new socioeconomic index for Australia

McMillan, J., Beavis, A., Jones, F. L. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:38:33 PDT

This article provides an overview of the development of a new occupational status scale, the Australian Socioeconomic Index 2006 (AUSEI06). This is the latest in the series of ANU scales, which since 1965 have provided a means for researchers to convert data coded in accordance with official occupational classifications into occupational status scores. The ANU scales have been widely used in fields such as sociology, education, economics and health. The new scale has been developed in response to the introduction of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Recent changes in the structure of the labour market are taken into account through the use of 2006 Australian Census data for scale development. In addition, the naming convention of the scale has been revised in order to better reflect its nature: the Australian (AU) Socioeconomic Index (SEI) 2006 (06) or AUSEI06.

Analysing the politics of self-help books on depression

Philip, B. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:38:33 PDT

This article provides a Foucauldian analysis of the politics of self-help books on depression, via a case study of David Burns's top-selling and clinically recommended book Feeling Good — The New Mood Therapy. The article draws on the governmentality literature inspired by Foucault's work, particularly Nikolas Rose's analysis of psychological expertise as a technology of liberal government. The aim is to understand how and to what effects self-help texts construct truths about depression. The central argument is that psychological expertise is arranged in Feeling Good to confer truthfulness, technical authority and ethical legitimacy upon the self-help advice, and to encourage readers to regulate their conduct according to liberal virtues. This has the effect of stifling debate about depression, disavowing the socio-political context in which individuals become depressed, and promoting a model of `active citizenship' that limits how individuality can be expressed.

Conceptualizing otherness: An exploration of the cosmopolitan schema

Calcutt, L., Woodward, I., Skrbis, Z. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:38:33 PDT

The Australian cosmopolitan is an important symbolic figure in popular discourse and the political landscape. Regardless of the actual scope and scale of `cosmopolitanness' in Australia, the spectre of cosmopolitanism, and its close relatives such as tolerance of diversity or openness to difference, is a powerful figure in contemporary culture. The cosmopolitan willingness to accommodate otherness is perceived as a betrayal of Australian culture, yet continuing high levels of immigration from diverse sources demand cosmopolitan tolerance. Sociologists know that cosmopolitan people can accommodate diversity, but how this is achieved is the subject of much theoretical debate. It is reasonable to assume that cosmopolitans conceptualize otherness in ways that reduce or eliminate a sense of threat, but how can we reliably access individual conceptualizations? Informed by a cultural sociology approach, this project utilized the concept of cognitive schemas from psychology, and formal semantics from linguistics, to access cosmopolitan conceptualizations. Analysis of focus group data concluded that cosmopolitan schemas are constructed using a repertoire of strategies which compartmentalize categories of otherness into manageable portions. It is argued that, from the cosmopolitan perspective, Australian cultural integrity remains the intact and dominant host of smaller, harmless or manageable cultural fragments.

Bauman, strangerhood and attitudes towards immigrants among the Australian population

Pietsch, J., Marotta, V. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:38:33 PDT

Through an investigation of the idea of the stranger, this article seeks to blend theory with empirical research. It does this in three ways. First, it engages with a social theory of the stranger articulated in the work of Zygmunt Bauman. Second, it examines data from the Australian Election Study surveys between 1996 and 2007 in order to explore attitudinal changes towards groups of immigrants. The findings from this survey suggests that attitudes towards immigrants in general have fluctuated in Australia, despite the negative effects of economic globalization, the growth in neoliberal economic reforms and terrorist attacks in the West. Third, drawing on Bauman's theory of the stranger we provide an interpretation of these fluctuating attitudes through the idea of the hybrid stranger. Finally, we argue that a more nuanced understanding of these attitudes towards immigrants in Australia is possible when a theory of the stranger is informed by a discussion on the constitution of host self, the influence of the media, the role of government policy, and the impact of class and geography.

Is homophobia inevitable?: Evidence that explores the constructed nature of homophobia, and the techniques through which men unlearn it

McCann, P. D., Minichiello, V., Plummer, D. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:38:33 PDT

The impact of homophobia on gay men and lesbians has been extensively studied, and shown to have profound, negative impacts on people. The current study examines how fear of being perceived as gay restrains the attitudes and behaviours of heterosexual Australian men. Choices of what subjects to study, sports to play, ways of interacting with other males and displays of emotion are shown to be influenced by homophobia. Homophobia is theorized as a social construct, not a phobia in the psychological sense, and as such is learnt through interaction and observation of which styles of male behaviour are valorized and which are devalued. The period of late childhood through to early adulthood is described as that most influenced by homophobia, and all -male environments during this period — single-sex schools and employment areas, team sports and other mono-gendered environments — are shown to elevate a narrow range of behaviours for boys and men . Participants described a loosening of ideas of what they felt was acceptable behaviour once they moved beyond these environs, allowing them to unlearn homophobia, and they describe impact that this has on how they feel they embodied masculinity.

Book Review: Edging Towards BioUtopia: a New Politics of Reordering Life and the Democratic Challenge: Richard Hindmarsh Crawley, W.A.: University of Western Australia Press, 2008, xix, 327 pp. AU $34.95 (paperback)

Walsh, A. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:38:33 PDT

Book Review: Histories of Australian Sociology: John Germov and Tara Renae McGee Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2006 (xxi, 448 pp., $49.95; print on demand book), $39.95 (e-book)

Wickham, G. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:38:33 PDT

Book Review: Cosmopolitan Europe: Ulrich Beck and Edgar Grande Cambridge: Polity, 2007, xiii, 311 pp. (paperback)

Kendall, G. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:38:33 PDT

Book Review: The Bachelors' Ball: Pierre Bourdieu Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007, 216 pp. (paperback)

van Krieken, R. — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:38:33 PDT

Trade globalization and national income inequality -- are they related?

Babones, S. J., Vonada, D. C. — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:53:36 PST

This article takes a comprehensive approach to examining the empirical relationship between trade globalization and national income inequality. We estimate the relationship between trade globalization on national income inequality for a wide panel of countries for the years 1975, 1985 and 1995, and the periods 1975—85 and 1985—95. We also study four subpanels of developed and developing countries and small- and large-population countries. Across a total of 210 permutations of panels, time periods, model specifications and variable operationalizations, we find that inequality is not robustly related to trade globalization, though scattered significant correlations can be detected. Excluding significant results due to one or two influential points, the number of significant correlations across all analyses is no better than chance. We conclude that the increasing levels of inequality recently experienced by the English-speaking countries are more likely caused by country-specific policies than by broad forces related to globalization.

Religion and attitudes concerning euthanasia: Australia in the 1990s

Sikora, J. — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:53:36 PST

What was the influence of religious identity, beliefs and practices on attitudes to euthanasia in Australia during the 1990s? To address this question I analyse data from national representative surveys and find that denomination, church attendance and beliefs in personal God all made a difference to attitudes to voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia in unique ways. Moreover, the acceptance of a scientific outlook, comprising elements of Darwinism and modern cosmology, enhanced support for the right to `easy death' amongst the non-religious. Formal education did not directly polarize attitudes to this issue, but it raised the likelihood of accepting a scientific cosmology. A scientific outlook, in turn, strengthened the belief that, in some circumstances, the deliberate taking of life should be allowed. But even as levels of education increased and both church attendance and the intensity of religious beliefs declined, Australian churchgoers and worshippers maintained their fervent opposition to euthanasia.

Be wealthy to stay healthy: An analysis of older Australians using the HILDA survey

Lixin Cai, — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:53:36 PST

Using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey data, this study examines the effect of wealth on health transitions of older Australians. By focusing on health transitions instead of health status itself, the study avoids potential endogeneity of wealth arising from the reverse effect of health on wealth. Two health indicators are used to define health transitions: self-reported general health status and the existence of long-term health conditions. The results show that, for both health indicators, wealthy people are less likely to experience a transition from good to poor health, suggesting that wealth might have a causal effect on health.

`I'd forgotten about me in all of this': Discourses of self-healing, positivity and vulnerability in cancer patients' experiences of complementary and alternative medicine

Broom, A. — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:53:36 PST

Drawing on in-depth interviews with Australian cancer patients, this article examines their experiences of utilizing complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) within disease and treatment processes. Results illustrate the complex and often contradictory roles played by CAM within patients' therapeutic trajectories. On the one hand, their accounts illustrate the liberating and positive impacts of CAM engagement, including perceived increases in feelings of control, power and individual autonomy within therapeutic processes. However, the interviews also revealed problematic notions of self-healing and hyper-positivity engendered in much CAM practice, involving the imposition of restrictive notions of self-discipline on these cancer patients. On the basis of the results it is argued that CAM sociology must refocus on the grassroots experiences of different patient groups, rather than grandiose notions of wider socio-cultural shifts in therapeutic practice.

Generation X-pendable: The social exclusion of rural and remote young people

Alston, M., Kent, J. — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:53:36 PST

Many small communities across the vast interior of Australia are under pressure from ongoing rural restructuring and a long-running drought. Socioeconomic indicators suggest that rural people are significantly disadvantaged by comparison with their urban counterparts. While these factors are evident, less well understood are the circumstances of rural and remote young people. In this article we draw on research conducted in 2001 and 2004 on the employment and educational experiences of young people in these communities. Using Reimer's typology of relations associated with social exclusion — market, bureaucratic, associative and communal — we indicate that rural and remote young people are experiencing rising levels of social exclusion. Their access to education and employment is restricted through no fault of their own, and is in fact, obstructed by government policy. The need for sensitive policy to increase the social inclusion of young people in rural and remote areas is evident.

Book Review: Ruling Class Men: Money, Sex, Power Mike Donaldson and Scott Poynting Bern: Peter Lang, 2007, 274 pp. (paperback)

Leahy, T. — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:53:36 PST

Book Review: The Social Science Jargon-Buster: The Key Terms You Need to Know Zina O'Leary London: SAGE, 2007, 331 pp. (paperback)

Murugiah, S. — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:53:36 PST

Book Review: Crime in Rural Australia Elaine Barclay, Joseph F. Donnermeyer, John Scott and Russell Hogg (eds) Sydney: Federation Press, 2007. ix, 214 pp., $45.00 (paperback)

Palmer, D. — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:53:36 PST

Book Review: What is Gender? Sociological Approaches Mary Holmes Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore: SAGE Publications, 2007, vi + 209 pp

Reiger, K. — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:53:36 PST

Book Review: Australian Social Attitudes 2: Citizenship, Work and Aspirations David Denemark, Gabrielle Meagher, Shaun Wilson, Mark Western and Timothy Phillips (eds) Sydney: UNSW Press, 2007, 320 pp,. $59.95 (paperback)

Rolfe, M. — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:53:36 PST