Thesis advisor: Christina Matz-Costa / Despite the fact that older workers (50+) are much overrepresented among the long-term unemployed and often suffer from multiple mental health problems, the social work literature has rarely tackled this issue. In my dissertation, guided by Jahoda’s Latent Deprivation Theory and the productive aging framework, I examined the positive coping strategies of unemployed older workers. I set out to understand whether engaging in formal volunteering in an organization would buffer the negative impact of unemployment on older workers’ mental health. I also fill out the gap in the literature regarding the mechanism of the positive effect of volunteering on mental health by examining two latent benefits from working as mediators: purpose in life and perceived social status. I used fixed effects modeling for the moderation analysis. I analyzed six waves (12 years) of longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). I used structural equation modeling and analyzed two waves of HRS for the mediation analysis. I used full information maximum likelihood method to handle missing values. I found that there was a significant moderation between engaging in formal volunteering and unemployment status on older workers’ depressive symptoms. Unemployed older workers who engaged in volunteering fared better than those unemployed workers who did not volunteer. Consistent with previous studies using the HRS, I also found that those unemployed older workers who volunteered over 200 hours/year did not benefit from volunteering compared to those volunteered under 100 hours/year. Mediation analysis results showed that perceived social status and purpose in life mediate the protective effect of volunteering. Both the moderation and mediation results varied by race and ethnicity. Results from this dissertation have important implications for future intervention development. For example, interventions targeting the unemployed older workers may incorporate formal volunteering as one element for participants to gain social contact, purpose in life, and enhance perceived social status. Interventions can also create an environment that mirrors an office to enhance these latent benefits (mediators) in order to improve mental health. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

Syftet med denna studie är att förstå äldre långtidsarbetslösas situation utifrån deras upplevelser av arbetslöshet och hur detta påverkar hur de konstruerar sin identitet. Studien fokuserar på personer i åldersgruppen 50-64 år som har varit arbetslösa i sex månader eller längre och som är lågutbildade. En kvalitativ metod har använts och datamaterialet för studien samlades in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med sju individer. Resultatet analyserades med hjälp av Pierre Bourdieus teoretiska begrepp fält, habitus och symboliskt kapital. Studien visar bland annat att arbete är väldigt viktigt för respondenterna och inte främst av ekonomiska aspekter utan av sociala aspekter. Vidare visar resultatet att respondenterna hade olika strategier för att hantera långtidsarbetslöshet. Den mest framträdande strategin var att skapa en liknande struktur i deras vardag som de hade när de arbetade. Respondenterna ser också sig själva i de yrken som de arbetade inom innan de blev arbetslösa och de har svårigheter att söka arbeten i andra fält av arbetsmarknaden. / The aim of this study is to understand elderly long-term unemployed situation by their experiences of unemployment and how this affect how they construct their identity. The study focuses on people in the age group 50-64 which been out of work for sex months or longer and have a low education. A qualitative method was used and the data for the study was collected by semi-structured interviews with seven individuals. The result was analyzed using Pierre Bourdieus theoretical terms field, habitus and symbolic capital. The study shows, among other things, that work is really important for the respondents and it’s not primary because of the economic part but the social part. Furthermore the results showed that the respondents had different strategies to cope with long-term unemployment. The most prominent strategy was to create a similar structure in their weekday as they had when they were working. The respondents also see themselves as their old profession instead of being unemployed and have difficulties to search work in other fields of the labour market.

Tyrimo objektas – bedarbių, augusių ilgalaikių bedarbių šeimose, gyvenimo siekiai. Tyrimo aktualumą atspindi probleminiai klausimai: 1) kaip tėvų ilgalaikė bedarbystė įtakoja vaikų gyvenimo siekius? 2) kokiais gyvenimiškais siekiais pasižymi bedarbiai, augę ilgalaikių bedarbių šeimose. Probleminiai klausimai suponavo tyrimo tikslą: ištirti tėvų ilgalaikio nedarbo įtaką vaikų gyvenimo siekiams. Iškelti tyrimo uždaviniai: 1) aptarti asmenybės gyvenimo siekių formavimosi turinį; 2) atskleisti ilgalaikio nedarbo poveikį šeimos funkcionavimui; 3) išryškinti tėvų ilgalaikės bedarbystės poveikį vaikų gyvenimo siekiams; 4) atskleisti bedarbių, augusių ilgalaikių bedarbių šeimose, gyvenimo siekių ypatumus. Iškelta tyrimo hipotezė: ilgalaikių bedarbių šeimose augę bedarbiai pasižymi žemesniais gyvenimo siekiais lyginant su bedarbiais, augusiais šeimose, nepriskirtinose ilgalaikių bedarbių kategorijai. Darbe panaudoti teoriniai (mokslinės literatūros ir dokumentų analizė), empiriniai (kiekybinis ir kokybinis) ir statistiniai tyrimo metodai. Mokslinės literatūros analizė atskleidė, kad ilgalaikė bedarbystė kaip būklė ir statusas neišvengiamai įtakoja asmens ir jo artimiausios aplinkos socialinį ir asmeninį gyvenimą bei savimonę. Ši įtaka pasireiškia negalėjimu pilnavertiškai tenkinti asmeninių ir socialinių poreikių bei dalyvauti visuomenės gyvenime, o tuo pačiu iškreipia moralinių normų ir bendrabūvio taisyklių suvokimą. Ilgalaikių bedarbių šeimose stipriai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The influence of parent‘s long-term unemployment towards the children‘s life aspirations is analysed in this paper. The paper is based on the doctrin that the jobless who has lived within the family of long-term unemployed are distinquished for the lower life aspirations on comparison to the jobless who has lived within the family of parents who weren’t unemployed. The problematic questions have reflected the topicality of this research: 1) what influence the parent‘s long-term unemployment has towards the children‘s life aspirations? 2) what kind are the life aspirations of the jobless who has lived within the family of long-term unemployed? The aim of the research is to explore the influence of parent‘s long-term unemployment toward the children‘s life aspirations. The next tasks have been realized in the work: 1) to discuss the content of the pesonal development of the life aspirations; 2) to reveal the influence of long-term unemployment towards the families function; 3) to show the influence of parent‘s long-term unemployment towards the children‘s life aspirations; 4) to reveal the peculiarities of the life aspirations of the jobless who has lived within the family of long-term unemployed. The methods of the research has been used: theoretical (analysis of the academic literature), empirical (the quantitative and the qualitative analysis), statistical. The theoretical analysis of the research problem show that the long-term unemployed as the state... [to full text]

Young unemployed individuals have often been struggling from an early age with disabilities or unfortunate circumstances, which makes their journey to employability unique. It is crucial that the individuals stay motivated to change and overcome hardship on their road to self-sufficiency. This thesis aims to understand how to motivate young long-term unemployed individuals through the lens of Self-Determination Theory and propose digital gamification concepts that can increase the users’ employability. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with long-term unemployed individuals and occupational therapists. The analysis of the interviews pointed to several behavioral and motivational needs which gamification can fulfill by increasing the sense of autonomy, competence, and belonging for the individual. Three design concepts exemplifying this application were created and show that there are several motivational needs of the young long-term unemployed, that potentially can be met in a digital context.

Magistro darbe nagrinėjami ilgalaikių bedarbių integravimo į darbo rinką aspektai, iš kurių pagrindinis – ilgalaikių bedarbių integravimas per aktyvias darbo rinkos politikos priemones. Pirmojoje darbo dalyje nagrinėjami teoriniai darbo rinkos aspektai: darbo rinkos sampratos ir jos mechanizmo interpretacijos, taip pat daug dėmesio skiriama nedarbui ir jo rodikliams aptarti, analizuojamos nedarbo struktūrinės dalys ir tipai. Kiek plačiau nei kiti skyriai yra išanalizuotos ilgalaikio nedarbo ir ilgalaikių bedarbių sąvokos, šių reiškinių priežastys bei nedarbo mažinimo būdai, kur nukreipimas i aktyvias darbo rinkos priemones – esminis. Antrojoje darbo dalyje pateikiama ilgalaikio nedarbo analizė Klaipėdos apskrityje trimis koncentrais: pirmajame analizuojama ilgalaikių bedarbių dalyvavimo aktyviose darbo rinkos politikos priemonėse dinamika 2005 - 2007m. Apskaičiuoti kitimo ir pokyčio tempai, įvertinti ilgalaikio nedarbo socialiniai nuostoliai. Antrasis analizės koncentras yra plačiausias, nes čia pateikiama giluminė kiekvienos aktyvios darbo rinkos politikos priemonės analizė nagrinėjamu laikotarpiu: pagrindinis analizės komponentas – pokyčio įvertinimas ilgalaikių bedarbių dalyvavimo priemonėje požiūriu ir dviejų grupių – visų papildomai remiamų bedarbių ir ilgalaikių bedarbių – palyginimas apskrityje. Galiausiai pateikiami apibendrinti sociologinio tyrimo, kuris buvo atliktas Klaipėdos ir Palangos teritorinėse darbo biržose, rezultatai. Trečiojoje darbo dalyje kalbama apie... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This work is about integration of long term unemployed persons back to the job market using various job market measures. It consist out of three main parts. The first part talks about the theory of jobs market and it‘s components, how they relates to and affects each other. Significant attention is allotted to unemployment and it‘s indicators, structural parts and types. The emphasis is put on long term unemployment explaining those terms, reasons why it exists and what are the ways of reducing it using various active job market measures. In the second part analysis of long term unemployment in Klaipeda region is done in three major aspects: how long term unemployed persons participate in various programs of reducing unemployment in 2005-2007. Second aspect is the most detailed because it talks about each active job market mean in details, about how it changes. Comparison between all and long term unemployment is done. Last chapter summarizes the results of survey made in labour exchange of Klaip da and Palanga. Third part talks about directions of reducing long term unemployment and measures which are used at national, private and non-governmental levels. The work done confirms the hypothesis that long term unemployment is stipulated by objective and subjective reasons, that integration of long term unemployed persons back to the job market can be effectively done by using active jobs market means.

Unemployment and long term unemployment is a reality for a large number of people in Sweden. This may be the result of structural changes in the labor market, but involves a wide range of issues. Along with other actors, the social services are obliged to support the long term unemployed to find a job. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the work done by social workers towards the long term unemployed, 25-49 years old, in two municipalities. We performed altogether six qualitative interviews. In each municipality we selected two social workers and the head of the work unit. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. We used a social constructionist perspective and organizational theory for the analysis. Results show that the social workers believe that they have almost twice as many clients as they can handle with a good quality in social work. We also present, in the study that a considerable coordination with other units of the social services and other authorities is taking place, but that the social workers are partly negative towards its functioning.

Bakgrund: Inom politik och media beskrivs unga arbetslösa som oengagerade, lågutbildade och socialt inkompetenta. Denna uppfattning förstärks när allt fler unga inte lyckats komma in på arbetsmarknaden och blir långvarigt arbetslösa. För att åtgärda problemet att ta sig in på arbetsmarknad, sätts de in på arbetsmarknadsåtgärder. Stämmer medias bild över verkligheten? Hur ser åtgärderna egentligen ut och hur påverkas de unga vuxna över tid som arbetslös? Ligger ansvaret för arbetslösheten på personerna själva eller finns det andra bakomliggande faktorer? Hur kan systemet eventuellt förbättras? Metod: För att ta reda på svaren har vi gjort en systematisk litteraturstudie där vi använt oss av 29 artiklar. Resultat: Ju längre arbetslöshet, desto svårare förutsättningar att komma ut på arbetsmarknaden. I takt med tiden försämras dessutom den fysiska, psykiska och sociala hälsan hos individen, vilket medför dubbla negativa konsekvenser. Om man är utan fullständigt gymnasiebetyg eller körkort, är chanserna för jobb bland de minsta. Dagens satsningar ligger framför allt på aktiveringsinsatser. Trots detta avslutar 25 procent gymnasiet utan fullständigt betyg. Slutsats: Arbetslöshet måste åtgärdas så tidigt som möjligt. Ett av de bästa alternativen för både individ och samhälle, är satsningar på kompletta gymnasiebetyg och billigare körkortskostnader. Detta skulle medföra att fler får grundförutsättningar och kvalifikationer för de flesta arbeten som saknar krav på eftergymnasial utbildning.

Abstract Unemployed are known to be in poorer health and to use less health care services compared to those employed. However, evidence on the work ability of the unemployed remains scarce. The methods of assessing work ability are very divergent, not least because a shared understanding on the concept of work ability is lacking. Furthermore, the aspect of marginalization gives rise to further challenges when assessing work ability among the unemployed. This study explored the work ability of long-term unemployed, their needs for medical care and rehabilitation as well as the methods of assessing work ability. The aims were to find out to which amount and how the work ability was restricted among the unemployed and to clarify the needs for medical care and rehabilitation among them. Additionally, differences between the methods for assessing the disease-oriented and multidimensional work ability, as well as the need for rehabilitation were analysed. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this multi-method research in three different studies. The multidimensional work ability assessments were conducted among long term unemployed individuals in three Labour Force Service Centres (Oulu, Raahe region and Kainuu) and in one municipality (Paltamo). Furthermore, an illustrated case study was conducted to compare the materials and background theories of disease-oriented and multidimensional work ability assessment methods. The work ability was significantly decreased for a great proportion of long term unemployed, mostly because of mental disorders. In one municipality, 27% of the long term unemployed were found disabled for open labour market, in addition 20% of them were considered to need medical care and rehabilitation to enable return to work. By using multidimensional work ability assessment method, restrictions in work ability as well as the needs for rehabilitation appeared to get identified more accurately than by using the disease-oriented method. The latter had missed potential rehabilitation avenues and had led to under-rehabilitation, misrehabilitation and over-rehabilitation. The results indicate that the practices of assessing work ability should be based on biopsychosocial and not only on biomedical approach of health and therefore existing information from the multidisciplinary network concerning the clients’ functioning should be routinely collected and used. The health care services as well as the work ability assessment procedures should be tailored to meet the special needs of the long term unemployed to support their work ability and potential of returning to work. / Tiivistelmä Työttömien terveydentila on heikompi ja he käyttävät vähemmän terveyspalveluja kuin muu samanikäinen väestö. Sen sijaan työttömien työkyvystä ei ole olemassa kattavaa tutkimustietoa. Toisaalta työkyvyn arvioinnin menetelmät ovat epäyhtenäiset, koska työkyvyn käsitteestäkään ei ole yhtenäistä ymmärrystä. Syrjäytymiseen liittyvät ilmiöt aiheuttavat työttömien työkyvyn arviointiin omat erityishaasteensa. Tämän tutkimuksen kohteena olivat pitkäaikaistyöttömien työkyky, sairauksien hoitoon ja kuntoutukseen liittyvät tarpeet sekä työkyvyn arvioinnin menetelmät. Tavoitteena oli selvittää, kuinka suurella osalla ja millä tavoin pitkäaikaistyöttömien työkyky on heikentynyt sekä minkälaista hoidon ja kuntoutuksen tarvetta heillä on. Lisäksi selvitettiin sairauslähtöisen ja monialaisen työkyvyn ja kuntoutustarpeen arvioinnin eroja. Monimenetelmätutkimuksen kolmessa osatutkimuksessa käytettiin sekä laadullisia että määrällisiä menetelmiä. Aineistoina olivat kolmen työvoiman palvelukeskuksen (Oulu, Raahen seutukunta ja Kainuu) ja yhden kunnan (Paltamo) alueella asuville vaikeasti työllistyville henkilöille monialaisesti toteutetut työkyvyn arvioinnit. Lisäksi aineistona analysoitiin sairauslähtöisessä ja monialaisessa työkyvyn arvioinnissa käytettävät tietoaineistot ja tulokset yhdellä esimerkkiasiakkaalla havainnollistaen. Suurella osalla pitkäaikaistyöttömistä työkyky oli merkittävästi heikentynyt, sairausluokista eniten mielenterveyden häiriöiden takia. Yhden kunnan kaikista pitkäaikaistyöttömistä todettiin avoimille työmarkkinoille työkyvyttömiksi 27 % ja näiden lisäksi 20 %:lla todettiin työkykyä kohentavan hoidon ja kuntoutuksen tarvetta. Monialaisen arviointimallin avulla tunnistettiin työkyvyn heikkeneminen ja kuntoutustarve osuvammin kuin perinteisellä sairauslähtöisellä toimintatavalla, joka hukkaa kuntoutuksen potentiaalia ja johtaa alikuntoutukseen, väärinkuntoutukseen tai ylikuntoutukseen. Tulosten perusteella työkyvyn arvioinnin käytännöt tulisi perustaa biopsykososiaaliseen eikä vain biomedikaaliseen terveyskäsitykseen ja niissä tulisi nykyistä enemmän hyödyntää monialaisessa verkostossa olevaa informaatiota tutkittavan toimintakyvystä. Työkyvyn tukemiseksi työttömien terveyspalvelut sekä työkyvyn ja kuntoutustarpeen arvioinnit tulisi aiempaa enemmän suunnitella ja kohdentaa pitkäaikaistyöttömien erityistarpeet huomioiden.

This diploma thesis deals with the topic of social enterpreneurship in the Czech Republic and is specifically focused on the work integration of particular needy groups (such as ex-convicts, long- term unemployed, disabled persons and former alcohol or drug addicts etc.). The aim of the thesis is to identify patterns and regularities between specific groups and types of social enterprises they work for. The secondary data analysis explores social enterprises registered at czech social enterpreneurship website as well as the groups they employ and compares different approches of the enterprises. The qualitative empirical research uncovers enterpreneurs' motives and furthermore explores connections between the types of social enterprises and the target groups they employ.