Potential outcomes of work integration social enterprises for people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or transitioning out of homelessness

Purpose Social enterprise has the potential to serve as a mechanism of social and economic opportunity for persons experiencing homelessness. This paper aims to identify potential outcomes of work integration social enterprises (WISEs) for people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or transitioning out of homelessness. Design/methodology/approach Searches of 14 databases were completed using keywords and subject headings pertaining to homelessness, social enterprise and employment, respectively. These searches were then combined to identify literature concerning WISEs with homeless populations. The initial search yielded 784 unique articles. Through screening, 29 articles were selected and independently coded to establish themes. Findings The analysis identified the potential for WISEs to contribute positively to the lives of the target population in the areas of connection to the community, employment skill building, mental health, personal agency and empowerment, relationship-building, structure and time use, financial stability and housing. There were less positive and mixed findings regarding substance use, crime/delinquency, physical health and transition to mainstream employment. Future research should further explore causal relationships between WISE approaches and strategies and their potential implications for persons emerging from homelessness. Originality/value Prior to this research, there have not been any recent publications that synthesize the existing body of literature to evaluate the potential outcomes of WISE participation for homeless populations. This paper lays the groundwork for future empirical studies.

Sudden Obstacle Appearance Detection by Analyzing Flow Field Vector for Small-Sized UAV

Achieving a reliable obstacle detection and avoidance system that can provide an effective safe avoidance path for small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is very challenging due to its physical size and weight constraints. Prior works tend to employ the vision based-sensor as the main detection sensor but resulting to high dependency on texture appearance while not having a distance sensing capabilities. The previous system only focused on the detection of the static frontal obstacle without observing the environment which may have moving obstacles. On the other hand, most of the wide spectrum range sensors are heavy and expensive hence not suitable for small UAV. In this work, integration of different based sensors was proposed for a small UAV in detecting unpredictable obstacle appearance situation. The detection of the obstacle is accomplished by analysing the flow field vectors in the image frames sequence. The proposed system was evaluated by conducting the experiments in a real environment which consisted of different configuration of the obstacles. The results from the experiment show that the success rate for detecting unpredictable obstacle appearance is high which is 70% and above. Even though some of the introduced obstacles are considered to have poor texture appearances on their surface, the proposed obstacle detection system was still able to detect the correct appearance movement of the obstacles by detecting the edges.

García Márquez and Magical Realism

This article focuses on why Gabriel García Márquez’s novel One Hundred Years of Solitude is the ur-magical realist text, which put magical realism on the world literary map. Homi Bhabha’s statement that “ ‘[m]agical realism’ after the Latin American Boom, becomes the literary language of the emergent post-colonial world” confirms the prominence of magical realism in contemporary world fiction. However, during the nearly thirty years since Bhabha’s statement, it has spread beyond the postcolonial arena to encompass “First World” fiction as well, suggesting that García Márquez’s text, and magical realism in general, have revitalized international narrative. Investigating that idea enables discovering its essential characteristics, its lasting appeal, and its salient achievement: challenging (even uprooting) the dominant tradition of realism. While they are often intertwined, such characteristics fall under two basic rubrics: literary style—including magical images presented in meticulous detail as real, the use of hyperbole, distortions of chronological time—and cultural work—integration of ancient indigenous and contemporary culture, communal narrative, and liminality as vital cultural space, among others. In discussing these ideas, the article includes extensive citations from the texts, because the richness and ebullience of García Márquez’s prose is an essential factor in its influence on the growth of worldwide magical realism.

Development of a Combined Group and Individual Intervention to Promote Work Integration and Job Tenure for People With Borderline Personality Disorder

Date Presented 04/19/21 Work participation is a documented occupational challenge in people with borderline personality disorder (BPD; Dahl et al., 2017; Lariviére et al., 2010, Cramer et al., 2006). Currently, there is no comprehensive intervention for this clientele regarding work reintegration and job tenure. The goal of this project is to develop an original intervention combining a literature review, clinical expertise, and lived experiences of persons with BPD. Primary Author and Speaker: Nadine Larivière Contributing Authors: Kajsa Lidstroem Holmqvist, Afsaneh Roshanai, Patrik Arvidsson, Gunnel Janeslött, Suzanne Marie White, and Marie Holmefur

The role of social enterprises in facilitating labour market integration for people with disabilities: A convenient deflection from policy mainstreaming?

Policymakers have increasingly embraced social enterprises as a vehicle to create job opportunities for the disadvantaged. However, there is limited research on social enterprises in the context of disability in relation to labour market integration. Drawing on the perspectives of representatives of work integration social enterprises and people with disabilities employed in these enterprises (n=21), this study examines whether and how work integration social enterprises promote inclusion for people with disabilities, and also explores the role of WISEs in enabling people with disabilities to transition into open employment. Thematic analysis revealed three key emergent themes: Cocooned inclusion but not transition; Reinforced normative demarcation; and WISEs as a deflection from institutionalizing proactive disability policy measures. This article argues that, although WISEs were able to provide job opportunities for people with disabilities, their purported function in enabling disabled people to transition into open employment remains constrained by factors beyond their control including prevailing norms and the absence of proactive disability employment measures. This article cautions against the over-romanticisation of WISEs as the primary means to ensure the rights of people with disabilities to participate in the labour market. Implications on disability employment policies in relation to social enterprises are discussed.

“If I won the lottery…”: work orientations of low-qualified young adults in Albania and Switzerland

A qualitative study was carried out to portray the work orientations of 30 low-qualified working young adults in two contrasted economies: Albania and Switzerland. The analysis of their answers to the “lottery question” showed that most participants would continue to work, either to be busy, feed a passion, feel useful, or grow. In contrast to participants from Switzerland, Albanian participants would more easily modify some aspects of their work. Globally, findings reveal that participants’ current situations tend to differ from what they expect from work, which impacts the quality of their work integration and has critical implications for career counseling.

Exploring eudaimonia through meaningful work narratives within work integration social enterprises

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide new evidence on the different dimensions of well-being that can occur in work integration social enterprises (WISEs). This study aims to call for a future discussion on the role of meaningful work (MW) and its impact upon well-being beyond satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Explorative interviews were undertaken with professional workers and beneficiaries within a Spanish WISE. These interviews aimed to uncover similarities and differences across aspects of what makes work meaningful to them as workers. Both eudaimonic and hedonic dimensions of well-being were used to analyse the data. Findings Different groups of employees show that professional employees (those working in the WISE, not because of their disadvantages in the labour market) create their narratives based on MW experiences (eudaimonic well-being), whereas beneficiaries (those working in the WISE because of their disadvantages in the labour market) often describe how satisfied they are at work (hedonic). Originality/value The concept of MW within WISEs to achieve well-being for both beneficiaries and professional workers could be enhanced through discussion of the different types of well-being that are being realised in such settings. Engaging with the concept of “eudaimonia” helps the authors to achieve this aim.