Challenges in donor–NPO relationships in the context of corporate social investment

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to highlight challenges in the relationship between corporate donors and recipient NPOs within the context of corporate social investment (CSI) in South Africa and to link the relational challenges to problems NPOs face in general. It is theoretically argued that CSI forms an important part of sustainable development and that NPOs, in turn, form an integral part of many organisations’ social investment. The challenges faced by them need addressing for the sake of NPOs, donors and society as a whole. It was found that although the stakeholder relationship generally shows both positive and negative perceptions of the parties involved, the challenges that exist can be traced to challenges in the everyday functioning of NPOs, including resource limitations and dependence; staffing problems; and strategy, management and environmental challenges. These challenges facing NPOs manifest in their relationship with donors and can be seen in the power imbalance in the relationship that favours donors, the lack of transparency by NPOs, divergent views on commitment, the questioned competence of NPOs, time constraints in the execution of activities, a perceived incomprehension by NPOs of the realities of the business world, and an unwillingness on the part of donors to allow NPOs some decision-making power.     

A follow-up study of sex offenders treated by Thames Valley Sex Offender Groupwork Programme, 1995–1999

The following paper is a reconviction study of 183 sex offenders treated by the Thames Valley Project between 1995 and 1999. Some demographic details are provided about the sample. Subjects were monitored for a mean of 3.9 years. A total of 10 subjects (5.4% of total) were reconvicted for a further sexual offence. A further 19 men (10.3%) either had allegations made against them or committed a behaviour that may have involved or been the preparation for further sexual offending, defined here as “recidivism”. Details about post-treatment behaviour were drawn from three sources: two national police databases which indicated any formal sexual reconviction and the files kept on each sex offender registered with Thames Valley Project (TVSOGP), a multi-funded community-based sex offender treatment programme. The pre-treatment re-conviction risk status of each man was calculated using part one of the Risk Matrix 2000 algorithm (static factors). Risk levels were compared for those where reconviction, re-offending or recidivism was identified and those where it was not and a correlation was found in the predicted direction although this was not statistically significant. The advantages and limitations of this kind of follow-up study are discussed, together with some recommendations for future research.     

Reviews

Politics of the Media Ian Ward, Macmillan Melbourne 1995

Art & Social Structure Robert W Witkin, Polity Press Cambridge 1995

On Meaning‐Making: Essays in Semiotics Mieke Bal, Polebridge Press Sonoma California 1994     

Life beyond big data: governing with little analytics

Abstract

The twenty-first-century rise of big data marks a significant break with statistical notions of what is of interest or concern. The vast expansion of digital data has been closely intertwined with the development of advanced analytical algorithms with which to make sense of the data. The advent of techniques of knowledge discovery affords some capacity for the analytics to derive the object or subject of interest from clusters and patterns in large volumes of data, otherwise imperceptible to human reading. Thus, the scale of the big in big data is of less significance to contemporary forms of knowing and governing than what we will call the little analytics. Following Henri Bergson's analysis of forms of perception which ‘cut out’ a series of figures detached from the whole, we propose that analytical algorithms are instruments of perception without which the extensity of big data would not be comprehensible. The technologies of analytics focus human attention and decision on particular persons and things of interest, whilst annulling or discarding much of the material context from which they are extracted. Following the algorithmic processes of ingestion, partitioning and memory, we illuminate how the use of analytics engines has transformed the nature of analysis and knowledge and, thus, the nature of the governing of economic, social and political life.     

Risk,reward and discipline at work

This paper argues that the manufacture of specific kinds of uncertainty and risk has become central to programmes of work flexibilization. The construction of a riskuncertainty relation has underpinned a raft of managerial doctrines on the worker as entrepreneur. I outline the dominant representation of risk as an unavoidable symptom of globalization. I then explore the relationship between human capital risk management, as defined by management consultants, and the working practices restructured in their name. In contrast to the rhetoric of worker-entrepreneurs, the making of contingency and uncertainty at work is revealed to be riven by tensions. I conclude by considering how we might begin to expose the myths of individual entrepreneurship, revealing the ordinary and everyday practices that make the displacement and reallocation of risk possible.     

Work and mental health: learning from return-to-work rehabilitation programs designed for workers with musculoskeletal disorders

Despite the high costs associated with mental health problems in the workplace, few studies have yet been published on the design and evaluation of return-to-work rehabilitation programs for workers with mental health problems. In fact, the best-documented return-to-work rehabilitation programs concern workers with musculoskeletal disorders (MSKD). For this clientele, a disability paradigm has been adopted which explains the multicausality of work disability. Long-term work disability is no longer seen simply as the consequence of impairment, but rather as the result of interactions between the worker and three main systems: the health care, work environment and financial compensation systems. A return to work is thus influenced by a complex set of interrelated factors that must be taken into account in any intervention. Parallels can inevitably be drawn in the field of mental health in the workplace, where individual and organizational factors are involved and must be taken into account in the return-to-work process. This paper presents the first results of an exploratory study aimed at determining the possible links between work rehabilitation programs for workers with MSKD and those for workers with mental health problems. To this end, the components of a work rehabilitation program for workers with MSKD, the Therapeutic Return to Work (TRW) program which addresses psychological factors, work environmental factors and factors related to the involvement of the various stakeholders in the rehabilitation process, are described through a multiple-case analysis and mapping of interventions. The results support the relevance of adopting the disability paradigm and considering the return-to-work clinical activities conducted with workers with MSKD (and their mechanisms of action) in the design of work rehabilitation programs for workers with mental health problems.     

Can Amnesties and International Justice be Reconciled?

When states are attempting to recover from periods of serioushuman rights abuse, they often must try to reconcile the competingdemands of different stakeholders. These demands may range fromclaims that complete impunity is a necessary sacrifice to achievepeace, to the belief that without justice no meaningful peacecan be reached. This paper will attempt to highlight the waysin which international courts and quasi-judicial bodies addressthe dilemma of peace versus justice, in relation to amnestylaws. The discussion will consider the main international standardson impunity, the international jurisprudence relating to amnestiesand whether international courts should recognize amnestiesthat are accompanied by alternative forms of justice. This paperwill argue that international courts should recognize amnestiesthat are introduced with democratic approval to promote peaceand reconciliation, provided that they are accompanied by mechanismsto fulfil the victims' rights.