Agency and Accountability in (Un)Employment-Related Discourse in the Era of “Crisis”

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-218
Author(s):  
Lia Figgou

This study explores the ways in which young people orient to and manage their agency in (un)employment-related discourse in “crisis ridden” Greece. It focuses on data elicited by semistructured interviews with 40 people, aged between 18 and 29 years. Interviews were analyzed by the principles of critical discursive social psychology. Analysis indicated that, in the context of accounting for job loss, participants mobilized the rhetoric of “crisis,” managing to negotiate complaints, without directly identifying a blame-worthy party. In the context of discussing effective job seeking, however, interviewees were concerned to depict themselves as active agents. Paradoxically, success in job seeking was depicted as the result of accepting unfavorable job opportunities. Finally, when participants unfolded their plans to emigrate, unemployment was related to structural flaws of the Greek labor market and “crisis” narratives were contested. Different constructions of agency are seen to reflect the contingencies of both local (interactional) and broader (historical) contexts.

2021 ◽  
pp. 074355842110078
Author(s):  
Anna L. Brichacek ◽  
Kristen Murray ◽  
James T. Neill ◽  
Elizabeth Rieger

Adolescence involves significant developmental changes and challenges including heightened body image concerns. However, there is limited research on adaptive ways of responding to perceived threats to body image. This study uses body image flexibility, derived from contextual behavioral perspectives, and coping theories to explore young people’s responses to body image threats. High school and university students (12 male, 15 female) aged 12 to 24 years were recruited from educational institutions in a metropolitan area of Australia. Thematic analysis of semistructured interviews identified themes related to body image threats from internal and external sources. In response to these threats, young people reported coping by changing the content of, and how they related to, perceived threats, and seeking social support. In addition, young people viewed coping as a dynamic process that changed over time and across situations. Reported processes of attending to, and allowing, momentary negative experiences and connecting with other important life domains were consistent with body image flexibility. The coping context affected the selection of coping strategies, with body image flexibility facilitating more adaptive coping for some participants. Further investigation of contextual behavioral approaches, such as body image flexibility, could help to better understand and promote adaptive body image coping in youth.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002218562110022
Author(s):  
Elisa Birch ◽  
Alison Preston

This article provides a review of the Australian labour market in 2020. It outlines the monetary and fiscal responses to COVID-19 (including JobKeeper, JobSeeker and JobMaker policies), describes trends in employment, unemployment and underemployment and summarises the Fair Work Commission’s 2020 minimum wage decision. Data show that in the year to September 2020, total monthly hours worked fell by 5.9% for males and 3.8% for females. Job loss was proportionately larger amongst young people (aged 20–29) and older people. It was also disproportionately higher in female-dominated sectors such as Accommodation and Food Services. Unlike the earlier recession (1991), when more than 90% of jobs lost were previously held by males, a significant share (around 40%) of the job loss in the 2020 recession (year to August 2020) were jobs previously held by females. Notwithstanding a pick-up in employment towards year’s end, the future remains uncertain.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 2055-2081 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Myles-Wright ◽  
Claire Nee

This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of youth justice practitioners supervising young people (below 18 years old) displaying sexually harmful behavior within the Youth Justice System (YJS) in the United Kingdom, as little is currently known about the challenges faced when working with this vulnerable group. Five practitioners from two Youth Offending Services (YOS) participated in individual semistructured interviews, which were subjected to thematic analysis while also analyzing the performative function of language used. The analysis identified an overarching theme of “systemic unease,” which contained two subthemes surrounding “unease with the self, and wider YOS personnel” and “unease working with partner agencies.” The findings illuminate critical issues regarding future practice with this underresearched group of young people within the broader context of youth justice, which require further exploration and investigation. The “dual relationship problem” involving tension between risk management and therapeutic alliance is explored in relation to this group. The moral acquaintance model and the model of dynamic adaptation are suggested as helpful approaches to support practitioners and multi-agency professionals going forward in this area.


Author(s):  
Munira Saeed Al-Qahtani

This research has aimed to highlight the role of small and medium projects in sustainable development according to the Kingdom's Vision 2030 by identifying the role and outcome of these projects in sustainable development. 150 sample sizes were taken to study within Al Quwaiiyah KSA, Descriptive analytical method has been used and constructed questionnaire. The total agreeing of the study participants reached (80.8%) for the items "the role of small and medium projects in sustainable development", the most item was a contribution to product development and the emergence of new services on the market, providing society with new creative products; The total agreeing of the study participants reached (73.4%) for the item of axis " The role of the General Authority for Small and Medium institutions and the National Transformation Program in sustainable development " the most item was granting the authority incentives and offers for owners of small and medium institutions; The total agreeing of the study participants reached (73.4%) for the item of axis "the role of Vision 2030 in supporting small and medium institutions in development" " the most item was Vision 2030 provides many job opportunities for young people in small and medium institutions. Most significant study recommendations are workers, employees in the field of small and medium projects should increase their capacity building to avoid shortage of experiences and encouraging national experiences from various projects to support and train beginners in the field of small and medium projects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 504-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hande Inanc

Precarious Lives addresses one of the most important developments in employment relations in the neoliberal era: increase in labor precarity and the subsequent decline in employee well-being. Drawing on data on social welfare institutions and labor market policies in six rich democracies, the author shows that work is less precarious, and workers are happier, when institutions and policies provide job protection, and put in place support systems to buffer job loss.


Author(s):  
Gabriel Brătucu ◽  
Dana Boşcor ◽  
Bianca Axenia Boitor ◽  
Alexandra Tălpău
Keyword(s):  

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Gándara

Millions of young people receive part of their education in the U.S. and part in Mexico. However, neither the U.S. nor Mexican schools are prepared to educate students from “the other side.” This commonly results in loss of school credit, poor academic preparation and dropping out, which leads to very limited job opportunities and wasted human talent. This article suggests several ways in which this problem can be addressed. Millones de jóvenes reciben parte de su educación en los Estados Unidos y parte en México. Sin embargo, ni las escuelas de los Estados Unidos ni las de México están preparadas para educar a los estudiantes “del otro lado”. Esta situación comúnmente resulta en la pérdida de créditos escolares, la mala preparación académica y en el abandono de los estudios, lo que conduce a muy limitadas oportunidades de empleo y al desperdicio de talento humano. Este artículo sugiere varias maneras en las cuales se puede abordar este problema.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (87) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ksenia Bondarevskaya ◽  
◽  
Mariia Kalinina ◽  
Mariia Septa ◽  
◽  
...  

The article considers the main trends of youth employment in the labor market in modern realities. As a result of the study, a statistic alanalysis of economic and social indicators for young people in Ukraine and the relationship with world indicators was conducted. The main recommendations for an effective national policy on this issue were also made. The most important factors influencing youth employment are the state, education and labor market conditions. It is the balance of these factors that will solve the problem of youth employment. Among the main causes of youth unemployment are the following: the growth in the total number of unemployed; the bankruptcy of a significant part of public and private enterprises; the focus of industrial enterprises on self-preservation and survival, rather than the development and expansion of production; the lack of young people with sufficient experience, in connection with which they are finally hired in the presence of vacancies, and the first to reduce when production is reduced; insufficient development of career guidance work with young people in the senior classes of the school; the increase in the structure of labor supply of the share of persons who do not have professions (foreign citizens) and decrease in the prestige of working professions; weak interest of employers in advanced training and retraining of working professionals. The ways of effectively solving this issue are: reforming the education system, encouraging young people to find employment at the educational stage, and providing benefits to enterprises that employ young people. Attention should also be paid to student internships. The other possible way to overcome the problem is studying the experience of other countries. The problem of youth employment is becoming a challenge for the economies of many countries. It is common not only in Eastern Europe, but also in many developing countries. Young people are a vulnerable category of the workforce due to a large set of factors, including: incorrectly chosen specialty, lack of work experience, inflated demands of young people for the future workplace. If you do not pay enough attention to this problem, it can cause many negative consequences. It should be noted that the UN Sustainable Development Goals include the promotion of progressive, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all, including young people.


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