Becoming Job-Ready? Narratives of Local Welfare-to-Work Programs and Client Experiences Across Differing Economic Contexts in California

Previous research on welfare-to-work exits has focused on individual client characteristics rather than local economic contexts. Drawing on a qualitative comparative case study design, this study enhances our understanding on how welfare-to-work organizational narratives and client experiences of becoming job-ready are shaped across two different economic contexts. In the disadvantaged economic context, a punitive welfare-to-work narrative is operational resulting in clients accepting precarious work. In the more privileged economic context, the individual responsibility narrative dominates as clients struggle to make ends meet. Our findings highlight how regional economic factors shape organizational narratives and impel clients to accept precarious low wage working conditions and unstable housing. Thus, there is a need for alternatives to welfare-to-work, such as unconditional, Universal Basic Income.

Batalhando com Espadas e Escudos: uma Análise Semântica do Paradoxo entre Pertencimento e Desempenho em uma Cooperativa

This study aimed to understand how the semantic analysis of the process of (re)construction of organizational narratives can help a cooperative to manage paradoxical goals. We performed a single case study based on in-depth interviews with 47 employees, non-participant observations, and document analysis in a Brazilian credit cooperative. Our results showed that individuals may tell stories to influence others’ sensemaking of “what is going on here.” When such stories show semantic fit with the linguistic organizational context, they become able to shape others’ sensemaking. As different and competitive stories can coexist, they can reflect both polarized (e. g., “we are financial-centered” versus “we are social-centered”) and paradoxical self-definitions (“we are financial-and-social-centered”). Thus, the semantic element of organizational narratives not only highlights the dialogical nature of organizations but also their paradoxical nature.

Battling with Swords and Shields: a Semantic Analysis of the Paradox of Belonging and Performing in a Cooperative

This study aimed to understand how the semantic analysis of the process of (re)construction of organizational narratives can help a cooperative to manage paradoxical goals. We performed a single case study based on in-depth interviews with 47 employees, non-participant observations, and document analysis in a Brazilian credit cooperative. Our results showed that individuals may tell stories to influence others’ sensemaking of “what is going on here.” When such stories show semantic fit with the linguistic organizational context, they become able to shape others’ sensemaking. As different and competitive stories can coexist, they can reflect both polarized (e. g., “we are financial-centered” versus “we are social-centered”) and paradoxical self-definitions (“we are financial-and-social-centered”). Thus, the semantic element of organizational narratives not only highlights the dialogical nature of organizations but also their paradoxical nature.

Questioned parents and the professional gaze. Negotiating the organizational narratives of the at-risk parent

Purpose This study aims at a better understanding of parents’ identity work when their parenting skills are questioned, in an organizational setting. The parents in this study were assessed as at risk of unsatisfactory parental functioning because of problems related to drugs, mental health and/or psychosocial functioning, and they were observed and offered guidance at an extended health centre in Norway. The study explores how individual self-presentations are interwoven with and dependent on organizational narratives of identity. Design/methodology/approach Based on an analysis of 16 qualitative interviews, three exemplary cases are analyzed in detail. Narrative identity and professional gaze constitute the theoretical framework. Findings Parents and service providers negotiate which organizational narratives of identity are available, and the narratives are integrated in parents’ self-presentations in different ways. The most common strategy is to accept the organizational narratives offered, but they are also transformed and rejected. The experience of being seen by an empathic professional gaze contributes to the creation of an acceptable self-narrative. Practical implications Tending to parents’ identity needs should be an integral part of services provided. If parents are to cooperate with state services and engage in interventions, their needs for preserving an acceptable and coherent self-narrative must be considered. Originality/value This paper adds to the understanding of how identity work is a central feature of service provision. It also adds to the literature on relationships between identity narratives at different levels of society.