Between Chaos and Diversity: Is Social Memory Studies a Field?

Is (or are) memory studies, social or otherwise, a field? If so, does anything hold it together beyond the mere use of the phrase “collective memory”? Memory studies is simultaneously still in its charismatic phase, though it no longer has a right to be, as well as highly resistant to efforts to escape from it, though it clearly needs to do so. To be a field, it needs a memory of its own.     

The Quality of Life from a Child's Perspective

Abstract

During the last decade, both in politics and research methodology there has been an increased interest in listening to children's experiences and viewpoints, as separate and different from their adult carers. In the line with these interests, this article discusses how the quality of life, from a child's perspective, can be sociologically framed, and the relevance this has for people in the social work field. The article begins by clarifying the meaning of talking about quality of life from a child's perspective by reference to the concept of generational order. Next, some methodological experiences and empirical findings regarding quality of life from a child's perspective are briefly reported. This is partly because these experiences and findings by themselves are regarded as relevant for administrative practices and social work regarding children, and partly because they support and have been a source of shaping the sociological frame. Then, on the basis of these experiences and findings, and by adopting a relational social constructionist approach, the quality of life from a child's perspective is framed sociologically. Finally, based on the findings and framing of children's quality of life from a child's perspective some recommendations for social work regarding children are suggested.     

The Polish Solidarity Movement in Retrospect: In Search of a Mnemonic Mirror

The legacy of the Solidarity movement of the 1980s, which was a leading force in the region’s 1989 revolutions, culminating most symbolically with the fall of the Berlin Wall, has yet to be institutionalized in Polish social memory. A spate of official commemorations marking the movement’s 25th anniversary in 2005 provided a palette on which Poles projected—or refused to project—their memories. The movement’s legacy continues to play out in current and contentious electoral politics, since the leaders of the top contending parties are former Solidarity activists. Despite and partly because of this active presence of Solidarity movement players, Polish civil society appears to be in a liminal state of active hesitation over the task of concretizing this movement’s past in commemorative forms. This article proposes six cultural and political explanations for this hesitation. It also recommends that social scientists disaggregate the concept of memory work into various manifestations on a continuum from hesitation to deliberation and agitation to institutionalization. As the article illustrates, hesitation can constitute action. At stake in this exercise is a larger discourse—over the direction of the post-1989 socio-political changes vis-à-vis the aims of the 1989 revolutions and the meaning of democracy and transitional justice in a posttotalitarian context.     

Examining Rates of Sexual Offenses from a Routine Activities Perspective

Recent policies enacted regarding sex offenders include the formation of a publicly accessible sex offender registry, community notification, and residential restrictions. Often the motivation behind these policies is to get information out about sex offenders to community members so that these communities can effectively guard against any revictimization by the sex offenders among them. Theoretically, the premise for this type of legislation corresponds to relationships specified by routine activities theory. The theory states that if guardians can interrupt potential offenders as they are preying on suitable targets, these crimes-in-the-making will not occur. The present study assesses routine activities theory via a study of the presence of potential offenders (as measured by the number of registered sex offenders in the area), as well as community and resident characteristics that measure the presence and types of suitable targets and the existence of guardians and guardianship structures. We find that only the presence of certain types of suitable targets has an influence on the variation in the rate of sex offenses across these communities. Policy implications are discussed.     

Satisfaction with and Success of Employee Training from a Public Service Motivation Perspective

New public management requires modernization processes, including modern human resource practices, to enhance public sector performance. According to human capital theory, well-qualified and highly motivated public sector employees improve institutional performance; this study investigates the extent to which employee training as human resource practice can enhance one component of employees’ public service motivation (PSM), namely public interest, and their competencies as employee outcome. We examine public interest as a mediator or a moderator of the relationship between satisfaction with employee training and the resulting competence gain. The findings indicate a positive direct effect of satisfaction with employee training on competence gains and a mediating effect of public interest.     

Integrating Policies,Plans and Programmes in Local Government: An Exploration from a Spatial Planning Perspective

Local government bodies are increasingly attempting to integrate different functions and departments in the production of policies, plans and programmes. Despite this interest, a general lack of conceptualisation around integration currently exists, presenting difficulties for local government practitioners to pursue such integration. This article reports findings of an ESRC PhD case study into integration in local government, and presents a conceptualisation which seeks to resolve these outstanding issues surrounding integration. These findings are particularly apt given the ongoing changes to local government in England.