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Justifying gender discrimination in the workplace

Justifying gender discrimination in the workplace

The issue of gender equality in employment has given rise to numerous policies in advanced industrial countries, all aimed at tackling gender discrimination regarding recruitment, salary and promotion. Yet gender inequalities in the workplace persist. The purpose of this research is to document the psychosocial process involved in the persistence of gender discrimination against working women. Drawing on the literature on the justification of discrimination, we hypothesized that the myths according to which women’s work threatens children and family life mediates the relationship between sexism and opposition to a mother’s career. We tested this hypothesis using the Family and Changing Gender Roles module of the International Social Survey Programme. The dataset contained data collected in 1994 and 2012 from 51632…
Dr Neil Thompson
February 8, 2018
Challenging disadvantage and marginalisation

Challenging disadvantage and marginalisation

Our latest book Social Work with Disadvantaged and Marginalised People (Prof Jonathan Parker & Prof Sara Ashencaen Crabtree)is published by Sage. The work offers theoretical and practice based perspectives and insights into the complexities and importance of working with people at the margins of societies. Everyone who works with people and especially social and community workers need to understand the powers and processes that lead to disadvantage and marginalisation and to develop the knowledge, skills and values necessary to bringing about positive change and upholding social justice and human rights. This need is reinforced in our present uncertain and insecure times. When the idea of writing this book was first mooted by our publishers we wondered what new approach could be brought…
Dr Neil Thompson
February 8, 2018
After Carillion, social enterprises must take charge of public services

After Carillion, social enterprises must take charge of public services

It will not be a shock to those working in a charity or social enterprise that Carillion is in liquidation. Nor is it a surprise that the board and senior management of this juggernaut appear to have rabidly pursued short term profit, paying themselves hefty salaries and bonuses in the process. It is no great revelation that the nation’s public services, and the often vulnerable people who depend upon them, have been put in jeopardy by the greedy feckless few. But the government is complicit in this mess and must now take responsibility for sorting it out. Advocates in business, charity and social enterprise have argued for years that the seedy Carillion model of price-obsessed, public service outsourcing – which was near…
Dr Neil Thompson
February 8, 2018
Arts based practice in bereavement care masterclasses

Arts based practice in bereavement care masterclasses

Playing in the Ruins: Developing an Arts Based Practice in Bereavement Care This Cruse Masterclass will enable participants to exercise their creative imagination and enhance their bereavement support skills through an understanding of the relatively new field of Expressive Arts Therapy (EXA).  An arts based approach to practice not only helps clients to heal the wounds of loss but also helps the practitioner to develop more effective self-care strategies. All people have an innate ability to be creative and the creative process has a healing power. Experiences of loss and bereavement can be shattering in many different ways and the expressive arts therapies have a vital role in the restoration of capacity and meaning construction. Whilst art making ability is not required, an…
Dr Neil Thompson
February 8, 2018
Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – Reframing negatives as positives

Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – Reframing negatives as positives

Every cloud has a silver lining may well be a cliché, but that does not mean that the idea does not contain more than an element of truth. Of course, it would be an exaggeration to argue that every negative (cloud) has within it a positive (a silver lining) of some description, but it is certainly the case that negative events will often also bring some degree of positivity. In a sense, this is a reflection of the complexity of life. There is a very common tendency to want to simplify things as much as possible, and that often leads to an oversimplification, a distortion of reality – a situation has to be either good or bad; it can’t be a mixture…
Dr Neil Thompson
January 25, 2018
Loneliness and older people from BME groups

Loneliness and older people from BME groups

If we’re to understand the causes of loneliness among older people, we have to challenge misconceptions and stereotypes. When it comes to older people from black and minority ethnic (BME) groups, there’s often an assumption they live in ‘traditional’ family structures, with young relations looking after or living with older generations. Though there is some truth in this, the fact remains that for many older BME people, life in later age can be a lonely experience. Research indicates a problem of ‘hidden loneliness’ among older BME people – because even when you live in a busy household, it’s possible to feel alone... Click here to read more
Dr Neil Thompson
January 25, 2018
Seth Godin’s blog – Stuck on what’s next

Seth Godin’s blog – Stuck on what’s next

When confronted with too many good options, it's easy to get paralyzed. The complaint is that we don't know what to do next, because we're pulled in many good directions--and doing one thing with focus means not doing something else. This is a common way to get stuck. After all, if you're at this crossroads, where more consideration means more possibility, while more action merely means walking away from a potentially better choice, it's easy to settle for the apparently safe path, which is more study. No one can blame you for careful consideration. More careful consideration seems to insulate you from the criticism that follows taking action. But getting stuck helps no one... Click here to read more
Dr Neil Thompson
January 25, 2018
500 shared sites needed to end ‘age apartheid’, think tank says

500 shared sites needed to end ‘age apartheid’, think tank says

A think tank has called for the creation of hundreds of shared sites across the country designed to bring young and old people together and end Britain’s ‘age apartheid’. A new report from United for All Ages insists 500 shared sites must be created by 2022 in order to overcome the age divide that was revealed in the Brexit vote and the 2017 election. The 2016 vote to leave the European Union (EU) revealed a clear divide between young and old. An estimated 73% of 18-24 year olds voted to remain in the union while 60% of those who were 65 and older voted to leave. Click here to read more  
Dr Neil Thompson
January 25, 2018