1,721,115 research outputs found
Rituals of the past in the context of the present: The role of Remembrance Day and Liberation Day in Dutch society
No full textEvery society has its own commemorations and celebrations, the commemoration of the Second World War being perhaps the most widely recognised one due to its major impact worldwide. In her dissertation, Manja Coopmans gains more insight in the role of national commemorations in contemporary Western societies by empirically examining the determinants and consequences of Dutch citizens’ participation in the activities organised on May 4 and May 5, Dutch Liberation Day and Remembrance Day, in commemoration of the Second World War. In doing so, this dissertation contributes to the construction of a theoretical framework of mnemonic socialisation tailored for contemporary (Western) societies, paying specific attention to citizens further removed from the historical event that is commemorated, either in time (i.e. later generations) or in geographical distance (i.e. citizens with a migration background). Moreover, this dissertation answers questions on the consequences of commemorative participation by expanding existing theories on the broader function of commemorative rituals and empirically testing these theories at the level of the individual. A large number of mnemonic socialisation forms is identified as being effective in increasing chances of people participating in the commemorative activities organised on Dutch Remembrance Day and Liberation Day. A first example is communication. Throughout this dissertation, three types of communication can be distinguished that positively influence commemorative participation: war-specific communication with family members, war-specific communication with non-family members, and civic communication (e.g. talking with one’s parents about political or social issues). Another relevant determinant of commemorative participation is parental exemplar behaviour, especially in situations in which familial communication is absent. The relevance of previous familiarity with commemorative behaviours is also visible amongst citizens with a migration background, for whom participation in country-of-origin-specific holidays is found to be one of the key explanations of participation in national commemorations in the current country of residence. One of the main conclusions regarding the consequences of commemorative participation is that the potential of commemorative participation to positively impact citizens’ broader civic engagement depends upon the type of activity, the type of audience, and the type of outcome. An examination of Dutch Liberation festivals shows that young people’s festival attendance is positively associated with their voting intentions, even after considering several alternative explanations. Relationships between commemorative participation and feelings of national belonging, however, vary, depending upon both time and place of birth. Whilst earlier generations’ feelings of national belonging are associated most strongly with partaking in Remembrance Day activities, for later generations, the Liberation Day activities show a stronger connection with national feelings of belonging. Moreover, whilst originating from a non-Western country decreases chances of participating in the activities organised on Dutch Remembrance Day and Liberation Day, it seems to amplify the connection between commemorating and feelings of national belonging. These results highlight the importance of further research into the consequences of commemorative participation
Rituals of the past in the context of the present: The role of Remembrance Day and Liberation Day in Dutch society
No full textEvery society has its own commemorations and celebrations, the commemoration of the Second World War being perhaps the most widely recognised one due to its major impact worldwide. In her dissertation, Manja Coopmans gains more insight in the role of national commemorations in contemporary Western societies by empirically examining the determinants and consequences of Dutch citizens’ participation in the activities organised on May 4 and May 5, Dutch Liberation Day and Remembrance Day, in commemoration of the Second World War. In doing so, this dissertation contributes to the construction of a theoretical framework of mnemonic socialisation tailored for contemporary (Western) societies, paying specific attention to citizens further removed from the historical event that is commemorated, either in time (i.e. later generations) or in geographical distance (i.e. citizens with a migration background). Moreover, this dissertation answers questions on the consequences of commemorative participation by expanding existing theories on the broader function of commemorative rituals and empirically testing these theories at the level of the individual. A large number of mnemonic socialisation forms is identified as being effective in increasing chances of people participating in the commemorative activities organised on Dutch Remembrance Day and Liberation Day. A first example is communication. Throughout this dissertation, three types of communication can be distinguished that positively influence commemorative participation: war-specific communication with family members, war-specific communication with non-family members, and civic communication (e.g. talking with one’s parents about political or social issues). Another relevant determinant of commemorative participation is parental exemplar behaviour, especially in situations in which familial communication is absent. The relevance of previous familiarity with commemorative behaviours is also visible amongst citizens with a migration background, for whom participation in country-of-origin-specific holidays is found to be one of the key explanations of participation in national commemorations in the current country of residence. One of the main conclusions regarding the consequences of commemorative participation is that the potential of commemorative participation to positively impact citizens’ broader civic engagement depends upon the type of activity, the type of audience, and the type of outcome. An examination of Dutch Liberation festivals shows that young people’s festival attendance is positively associated with their voting intentions, even after considering several alternative explanations. Relationships between commemorative participation and feelings of national belonging, however, vary, depending upon both time and place of birth. Whilst earlier generations’ feelings of national belonging are associated most strongly with partaking in Remembrance Day activities, for later generations, the Liberation Day activities show a stronger connection with national feelings of belonging. Moreover, whilst originating from a non-Western country decreases chances of participating in the activities organised on Dutch Remembrance Day and Liberation Day, it seems to amplify the connection between commemorating and feelings of national belonging. These results highlight the importance of further research into the consequences of commemorative participation
While you were locked up: an empirical study on the characteristics, social surroundings and wellbeing of partners of prisoners in The Netherlands
No full textWhile it has been established that imprisonment can have unintended consequences for prisoners, the unintended consequences of imprisonment for others, e.g. their romantic partners, have been severely neglected in the academic discourse. Consequently, there is a lack of knowledge on prisoners’ partners and the ways that imprisonment may affect their lives. Using data from the Prison Project, this dissertation outlined a detailed profile of a population of female partners of male Dutch prisoners by studying their demographic, socioeconomic, behavioural and criminal characteristics. When we compared the characteristics of the prisoners and their partners, we found strong partner similarity. Prisoners and their partners are similarly educated and have a high similarity for a history of drug addiction and arrest. The largest partner resemblance was found for drug use and religion. This dissertation, moreover, examined the consequences of imprisonment for the social surroundings and wellbeing of partners of prisoners, using a longitudinal quantitative design. Firstly, it was found that most partners of prisoners experience negative reactions about the imprisonment and that they most often experience them from neighbours and family and least often from friends and family in law. Partners of prisoners experience more negative reactions if the prisoner was imprisoned for an offence from the least serious category, if the prisoner was previously imprisoned, and if the partner has a second stigmatising quality, such as receiving welfare or being in debt. Secondly, it was found that most partners of prisoners experience a change in social contacts after the start of the imprisonment. The changes in social contacts differ between network groups; while prisoners’ partners’ contact with their family most often increases, their contact with family in law, friends and neighbours most often decreases. These changes in social contact are related to the experienced negative reactions by partners of prisoners. If partners of prisoners experience negative reactions from family, family in law, friends or neighbours, their contact with these groups decreases. Moreover, cross-relationships were found; if partners of prisoners experience negative reactions from family, their contact with their friends increases and vice versa. This points to the importance of contact with family and friends in difficult times. Finally, this study identified factors that determine how imprisonment affects the development of the wellbeing of partners of prisoners. This dissertation examined the effects of factors from its previous empirical chapters, such as experiencing negative reactions, on the development of the wellbeing of prisoners’ partners. It was found that for partners of prisoners, experiencing a deterioration in their financial situation has a negative effect on the development of their wellbeing. Moreover, experiencing an improvement in their financial situation and experiencing more peace and quiet at home positively affect the change that partners of prisoners experience in their wellbeing. This study thereby shows that changes in the wellbeing of partners of prisoners are not only a matter of changes in economic circumstances
European top managers' support for work-life arrangements
No full textIn recent decades, work-life arrangements increasingly became an integral part of the organization of work. Arrangements such as telecommuting, flextime, part-time hours, and various types of leave arrangements are available to employees in many organizations. Top managers, such as CEOs, CFOs and members of boards of directors, are central to work-life arrangements, as they are the ones who decide whether or not their organization provides them. In addition, they are in the position to affect the acceptance of the use of work-life arrangements throughout the organization. Nevertheless, researchers have seldom included them directly in studies towards the provision of work-life arrangements. We therefore know little about why they decide to adopt or stimulate them in their organizations or refrain from doing so. This dissertation takes a first step to including the top managers’ perspective in the literature about work-life arrangements, aiming to understand top managers’ support for work-life arrangements in their organization. Based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, the studies presented reveal the factors that top managers consider when deciding whether or not to provide work-life arrangements and the conditions under which they are willing to support them in their own organizations. By focusing on various countries, specifically on Finland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and the U.K., differences in top managers’ considerations are related to the broader policy and societal context. Results show that top managers put the organization’s interests first and evaluate each policy separately against how they believe it will affect the organization. In general, they are most supportive of flextime and telecommuting, showing that this is where the current developments take place. They are least supportive of part-time working hours. However, their reluctance against part-time hours varies between countries and is related to the social acceptance of part-time work. When it is more accepted, top managers are more supportive. How willing top managers are to provide leave arrangements beyond what is statutory required and to provide on-site child care is related to government policies. In countries where the government provides extensive leave arrangements and public child care, top managers see leave arrangements and child care options as a government responsibility and therefor not theirs to provide. However, in these countries top managers do more often feel that it is their social responsibility to provide work-life arrangements. This shows that the degree to which top managers evaluate work-life arrangements in terms of a business case varies between countries. Finally, work-life arrangements seem to enjoy growing acceptance among top managers and are regarded as belonging to general terms of employment, suggesting that they are increasingly available to a larger part of the workers within an organization rather than the lucky few
Work schedules, childcare and well-being: Essays on the associations between modern-day job characteristics, childcare arrangements and the well-being of parents and children
No full textArranging care for children can be challenging for working parents, especially when parents do not work a nine-to-five weekday schedule. With the recent increase in the proportion of parents who work during evenings, nights and weekends, so-called nonstandard hours, the timing of parental work has become increasingly relevant when arranging care for children. Correspondingly, flexible working arrangements, allowing employees to determine their own working hours or workplace, have also become more common. Although some insights into how parental work affects childcare have already have been provided, studies have seldom included the work schedules of both parents or focused on both parental and nonparental childcare. Knowledge on how modern-day job characteristics are related to parental childcare arrangements is therefore limited. Moreover, the debate on how childcare affects children is still ongoing, indicating that it is desirable to obtain more knowledge on how childcare arrangements relate to child well-being. In addition, most previous research on the consequences of childcare arrangements has focused on children, whereas parents are also likely to be affected. Taken together, this dissertation therefore examines the following research question: To what extent are modern-day job characteristics associated with childcare arrangements, and how does the combination of parental work and childcare arrangements affect parental and child well-being? Results showed first that when parents worked during evenings, nights and weekends the opportunities to care for their children themselves increased, whereas these working hours decreased their likelihood of using formal and informal childcare. Although these parents were less likely to use these types of care, using nonparental childcare was beneficial for the mental health of fathers. In contrast, foregoing the use of nonparental childcare was harmful for the mental health of mothers in couples who worked during nonstandard hours. This dissertation also informs the debate on how formal childcare affects children by demonstrating that a more positive relationship between parents and caregivers was beneficial for children’s socioemotional well-being. This relationship was equally important for children whose parents worked standard hours and for those whose parents worked nonstandard hours. By contrasting the Netherlands with Finland and the United Kingdom, this dissertation demonstrated that that these countries differ with regard to associations between work schedules, childcare arrangements and well-being. For instance, parents who worked during nonstandard hours in the Netherlands were less likely to use formal childcare than those in Finland. This dissertation also showed country differences in the association between formal care characteristics and child well-being, revealing that Dutch children showed more internalising problem behaviour when they spent longer hours in formal care than British children did. To understand how the country context affects associations between work schedules, childcare arrangements and well-being, knowledge on both family policies and societal norms on childcare use is needed
Who dominates when? Asymmetrical patterns of influence among Dutch husbands and wives / Michel van Berkel
No full textWho dominates when? Asymmetrical patterns of influence among Dutch husbands and wives / Michel van Berke
HR investments in an employable workforce
Get PDFThis chapter examines the extent to which different sets of HR investments in employability impact employee performance and well-being. Most of the findings indicate that HR investments enhance both well-being and performance; performance was usually boosted through the construct of well-being (indirect effect). This corroborates the mutual gains perspective according to which both employer and employee benefit from HR investments. However, the study also shows that HR investments in workers’ employability can have trade-off effects as well, meaning that either performance or well-being was non-significantly or even negatively affected. Overall, the study shows a mutual gains dominance, but also suggests that mutual gains effects should not be overestimated
Which older workers participate in which personnel policies?
Get PDFIn response to the aging of the European labor market population, organizations have implemented various personnel policies that potentially contribute to older workers’ prolonged and productive working lives. Little is known, however, about who uses which of these policies. This chapter studies which older workers (within organizations offering them) are most likely to participate in two of the most frequently implemented policies: flexibility and phasing-out policies. It relies on both the employee’s and the employer’s perspective to investigate two cost–benefit related arguments: older workers’ age and their job compatibility with certain personnel policies. The study also tests the importance of two attitudinal considerations: gender roles and managerial agism. The results indicate that cost–benefit considerations are important drivers of policy uptake among older workers. Among workers aged 50+, older age still increases the likelihood of participating in phasing-out policies. High status workers’ jobs are more compatible with flexibility policies, and workers in physical jobs are more likely to use phasing-out policies. The expectations for attitudinal considerations were not confirmed. Managerial agism does not influence participation in either measure and, surprisingly, older women show lower use of flexibility policies than older men, which may point to a selection effect
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