A Future for Public Sector Appeal Systems Under New Managerialism?

This article examines the fate of public sector appeal systems under the managerialist reform agenda. Is new managerialism wedded to a particular shape of appeal system? Is it wedded to the dismantling of this traditionally distinctive feature of public sector employment in Australia? To explore these questions, this article examines the roles which public sector appeal systems play in human resource management and their implications for public sector reform. It then compares traditional appeal rights and processes with those currently operating in the state, Commonwealth and Northern Territory public services. The article also discusses the implications of the dramatic changes in some jurisdictions, including Victoria and Western Australia, for the effectiveness of appeal processes, and human resource management in the public sector.     

Two Models of Contemporary Public Service Wage Determination in Australia

There has been substantial change in industrial relations systems at federal and state level in Australia and this has had dramatic implications for public sector wage-fixing arrangements. This article outlines the main features of current systems for wage determination in the Australian public service and the public services of each state. While a complex and diverse set of regulations and wage-fixing mechanisms are in place in these seven jurisdictions, two models are emerging: one a collectivist two-tiered model and the other a de-collectivist model which includes provision for individual agreements. The authors discuss the implications of the current wage-fixing systems and the two emerging models.     

Accessibility of municipal services for ethnocultural populations in Toronto and Montreal

Abstract: The inmasing density and residential concentration of some ethnocultural groups in some Canadian cities raises challenges for the planning and delivery of municipal services. This study examines the accessibility and receptivity of municipal services for ethnocultural populations in Toronto and Montreal. The analysis centres principally on a comparison of the Toronto Multicultural Access Program (map) and the Bureau interculturel de Montréal (bim) and their relationships with selected municipal departments and political bodies. Results show that, as expected, Toronto, with a higher proportion of different ethnocultural populations, had greater accessibility and receptivity of municipal services than Montreal did: map was found to have a narrow mandate focused on improving accessibility of services, wheas bim was found to be responsible for a wider range of services affecting ethnocultural populations. Public relations work occupied a large proportion of bim resources. While map addressed the improvement of accessibility in a systematic and structured way that involved all departments in the administration, bim tended to intervene in a more varied manner based on the needs of particular groups, districts or departments. A discussion of the possible reasons for the different approaches and their implications for urban development and planning is presented along with suggestions for future study in this area. Sommaire: La densité missante et la concentration résidentielle de certains groupes ethnoculturels dam certaines villes canadiennes posent des défis à la planification et à la distribution des services municipaux. Cette étude se penche sur l'accessibilité et la réceptivité des services municipaux pour les populations ethnoculturelles de Toronto et de Montréal. L'analyse pork essentiellement sur une comparaison enhe le Programme d'accès multiculbrel (pam) de Toronto et le Bureau interculturel de Montréal (bim), ainsi que sur leurs rapports avec certains départements municipaux et organismes politiques. Tel que prévu, les résultats montrent que Toronto, ayant une proportion plus élevée de groupes ethnoculturels différents, a plus d'accessibilité et de réceptivité des services municipaux que Montréal. On a constaté que le pam avait un mandat restreint visant l'amélioration de l'accessibilité des services, tandis que le bim était chargé d'une plus vaste gamme de services concernant les populations ethnoculturelles. Une forte proportion des ressources du bim était consacrée au travail de relations publiques. Le pam procédait de manierr systematique et structurée à améliorer l'accessibilité, faisant participer tous les secteurs de 1'administration, tandis que le bim avait tendance à intervenir de façon plus variée, en fonction des besoins des groupes, districts ou services particuliers. L'article présente une discussion sur les raisons possibles qui justifient ces approches différentes ainsi que leurs répercussions sur le développement et la planification urbaine. Des suggestions d'études futures dans le domaine sont également proposées.     

Natural Mentors in the Lives of African American Adolescent Mothers: Tracking Relationships Over Time

In this study, we focused on the academic attainment of African American adolescents as they made the transition from pregnancy or recent delivery to 2 years postpartum. We examined the duration, characteristics, and effects of relationships that endured over 2 years postpartum, and the role of adolescents' mentor versus maternal support. Compared to participants who did not identify mentors at either time point, participants whose mentor relationships endured over the course of the 2-year study were more likely to have remained in school or graduated. Subsequent analyses revealed that long-term mentor relationships were characterized by weekly and, in many instances, daily interactions. Additionally, participants in long-term mentor relationships reported deriving more emotional support from their mentors than from their mothers, were more satisfied with mentor support, and indicated that this support was more important to them than maternal support.     

Le syndrome du SUrViVant et les fonctionnaires fédéraux du Quebec: vers une répudiation du discours managériel dominant

Sommaire: La littérature en études managérielles et en gestion des ressources humaines concemant la décroissance organisationnelle et la réduction des effectifs maintient depuis une quinzaine d'années que leur principal effet néfaste serait le syndrome du survivant. Menace très réelle A l'accroissement de l'efficacité et de I'effi‐cience recherché par la décroissance organisationnelle, le syndrome du survivant nécessiterait d'être combattu par des pratiques de gestion des ressources humaines stratégiques pouvant éliminer ou amoindrir les symptômes couramment associés à ce syndrome. Cette recherche s'intéresse aux variations du syndrome du survivant dans des organisations de I'administration publique fédérale au Québec suite à sa sévère réduction des effectifs durant les années quatre‐vingt‐dix. Construite à partir d'un questionnaire complété par 3 307 fonctionnaires de vingt‐trois (23) ministères et agences de la Fonction publique fédérale du Canada répartis dans les seize (16) régions administratives du Québec, cette recherche suggère que le syndrome du survivant est un phénomène de faible intensité dans le cas des fonctionnaires fédéraux du Québec. Elle suggère également, suite à l'analyse factorielle et la régression linéaire, que les pratiques de gestion des ressources humaines privilégiées dans ces organisations publiques n'expliquent que très faiblement la variation des symptômes couramment associés au syndrome du survivant. En ce sens, cette recherche dément le discours pratique dominant sur le syndrome du survivant et le guide d'action managériel qui le sous‐tend, sans pour autant suggérer que la réduction des effectifs soit une décision et un processus exempt de tout effet pervers ou de conséquence non voulue. Abstract: Mainstream literature in human resource management (hrm) and managerial studies have suggested repeatedly over the last fifteen years that the main unintended consequence of downsizing is the so‐called survivor syndrome, a potentially     

Interactive and Unique Risk Factors for Husbands' Emotional and Physical Abuse of Their Wives

Predisposing risk factors of husband to wife physical and emotional abusiveness were assessed in 175 community volunteer couples. Negative life events, marital dissatisfaction, attitudes regarding aggression, and employment status accounted for unique variance in the prediction of husbands' total abusiveness. Alcohol impairment, while not in itself a significant predictor, moderated the effects of life stress and marital dissatisfaction. Men reporting alcohol impairment, combined with high negative life events or with high marital dissatisfaction, exhibited greater abusiveness than predicted by the additive effects of these individual risk factors. Men exhibiting emotional abuse, compared to those without emotional abuse, scored higher on hostility and attitudes condoning aggression, whereas men exhibiting severe physical aggression, compared to those without severe physical aggression, reported more negative life events, more marital dissatisfaction, more hostility, and more exposure to abuse in their family of origin. The present data highlight the importance of variables that fluctuate over time, as well as the co-occurrence of such variables in understanding husband to wife abusiveness.     

The Law and the Desert: Alternative Methods of Delivering Justice

This article considers the way in which the Federal Court of Australia has adapted to the native title jurisdiction. Here we see how common law approaches to law and procedure challenge, and are challenged by, the culture of indigenous peoples and customary law. It conveys the risk of cultural violence in a balancing of legal and cultural norms and shows how access to justice debates reach beyond debates about funding and advice into more fundamental issues about legal process and the nature of substantive law. The Court's approach to facilitating access to justice goes deeper than essential procedural changes. Its approach suggests a cultural change within the Court.     

The link between recurrent maltreatment and offending behaviour

This article considers recurrent maltreatment and offending behaviour. The sample was 60 males and 19 females (11 to 18 years) resident within a secure institution in England and considered a risk to themselves and/or others. Overall, 20.8% had not experienced maltreatment, 6.5% had experienced a single incident, 11.7% were repeat victims (same perpetrator), 6.5% were revictimised (different perpetrators), and more than half (54.5%) had suffered both repeat and revictimisation. Of those who had committed a violent and/or sexual crime, 74% had experienced some form of revictimisation, compared to 33% of those who committed nonviolent offences. Those young people most likely to have committed violent and/or sexual crimes were those who had been victims of recurrent extrafamilial maltreatment (many of whom had also experienced recurrent intrafamilial maltreatment). Thus, in this sample, revictimisation was associated with serious crimes. However, these findings are preliminary, and prospective research with a larger sample is needed.