World-wide research has shown that educators are suffering physical as well as psychological symptoms because of their experiences in their school environment. A large body of legislation, including the Bill of Rights, general and education legislation protect the rights of educators to working conditions which are safe and healthy. It seems clear from the literature that protecting the security of the educator implies the inclusion of psychological security. One of the aims of this research was to establish to what extent legislation succeeds in protecting the psychological security of educators at school. The study showed that although a large body of legislation exists, a lacuna exists in the application of this legislation. Furthermore, the research showed that educators are not experiencing this protection in actuality, are suffering several stress symptoms and are generally not aware of the rights which should protect them. The findings revealed that learner discipline and work overload were experienced as the main causes of psychological insecurity for participating educators. During the research it was investigated whether the development of creative skills could enhance the ability of educators to cope with the psychological insecurities in their workplace. Further aims of the study were to design a theoretical creativity development model and to determine the characteristics of an effective programme to enhance workplace psychological security in education. The literature and findings revealed that creativity programmes which could inter alia enhance attitude and general health should include aspects such as problem solving processes, the development of positive attitudes and the enhancement of the psychological work environment. The study also includes the design of a creativity programme which can be applied in the participating and similar schools in order to develop creativity skills which may be able to assist educators to cope more effectively in their work environment. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The reduction of workplace accidents and improvement of workplace safety is a concern for most mining houses. Pressure from the labour movement and legislative requirements do not make the burden any lighter. There are circumstances directly and indirectly relating to accidents and therefore a need to obtain an in-depth analysis of underlying causes of accidents in order to draw relevant conclusions exists. There are workplace environmental matters as well as individual attitudinal issues that need to be addressed. The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship of work stress and job insecurity with safety compliance, job satisfaction and commitment in a mine. A cross-sectional survey design was used with an availability sample (n=158). A survey booklet including a biographical questionnaire, scales on job insecurity, job satisfaction, affective organisational commitment, workplace accidents and safety compliance as well as a work stress measure comprising dimensions of role clarity, conflict and overload was administered. The results indicated that when miners experience work stress and job insecurity, their safety compliance is low. Job satisfaction was found to be a positive predictor of safety compliance among miners. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Canadian social scientist researchers have frequently pointed out the necessity of understanding food banks and the conceptualization of food insecurity as political in relation to the institutionalization of food banks and their collective interaction with federal, provincial, and corporate bodies. However, a comprehensive understanding of this role must additionally engage with discursive practices at the community level. Food banks, as the source to which hundreds of thousands of Canadians turn each month to receive temporary relief from hunger, offer a wealth of information in this regard. Through a discourse analysis of documentation produced and collected by a prominent British Columbia food bank, this research investigates how discourses, images, and constructions of poverty and food insecurity influence and are influenced by the policies and practices of providing food relief. Overall, 1391 documents were analyzed, totaling 3285 pages covering the time period from 1989 up to 2008. This thesis concludes that although various understandings of food insecurity exist within the food bank documents, certain understandings are more commonly produced, specifically in the external documentation, as well as in food bank policies and procedures. Commonly produced understandings included an individualized conceptualization of food insecurity and of those who are food insecure and discourses of differential deservedness among food bank users. Policies and procedures included a malleability of food distribution eligibility and a utilitarian guide to the framework of food bank operations. I argue that the reproduction of these discourses, along with the implementation of these particular policies and procedures within the food bank, are key processes through which the possibility of a conceptualization of food insecurity as political is diminished at the individual and community level.

Charitable food assistance programs such as food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens and community meals are the main food resource available to Canadians who are experiencing food insecurity. A survey was conducted with 48 agencies that operate food assistance programs in Greater Victoria, 30 of which were providing meals. In comparison to groceries or hampers, meals made up the majority of food relief available in the region. An exploration of the characteristics, resources and resource-related challenges of charitable meal programs provided insight as to how the food relief system operates, who is being served and the limitations facing agencies responding to food needs at the community-level. A comparison of meal provisioning in a selection of meal programs in 2011 to a similar survey conducted in 2008 found meal provisioning increased two-fold over this three year time span, all while agencies relied more on food donations and nearly half underwent major changes to their services mainly due to constrained resources. This study afforded the opportunity to discuss responsiveness of this system to food insecurity in Greater Victoria. / Graduate

This research is concerned with how in/security is understood and the implications of contested meanings of in/security. The basic premise of this thesis is that in/security in itself has no meaning and thus cannot exist in isolation. Instead, in/security is always defined in relation to something or someone. How we understand in/security derives from the contexts we navigate and the identities we construct. An inquiry into in/security therefore demands incorporating a multiplicity of narratives and discussing these in relation to each other. While scholars have called for a greater emphasis on exploring in/security in marginal sites, I argue that accounts from the margins must not be at the exclusion of other more dominant narratives. Such analysis – placing the elite/margin, included/excluded, powerful/weak – in the same framework in order to produce a relational account of in/security is largely missing. This thesis sets out to provide a rich and detailed understanding of the everyday complexities of in/security. I propose a framework for capturing relational and contextual dimensions of in/security, and the implication of contested meanings of in/security understandings. Through an in-depth case study in the context of the transitions towards a post-conflict period in Colombia, following five decades of armed conflict, I inquired into in/security understandings at the margins in relation to the centre. The margins were represented by conflict-affected communities whereas the centre was represented by the Colombian government and key security sector institutions. The research found several relational dimensions of in/security understandings between the state- and the marginalized community-levels. Moreover, contextual and identity factors had a significant impact on how in/security was spoken about and what was spoken of. Through the framework, it was possible to see in continuum the way deeply ingrained understandings of in/security reproduce violence as the government seeks to transition the country into a post-conflict period following five decades of armed conflict. The research, through a detailed empirical case study, supports the view that in/security is relational and derivative of context and with ties to identity. It contributes to further our understandings of in/security at three distinct levels. At the theoretical level, the research builds upon existing literature in the field of security studies to advance an enhanced understanding of the relational and contextual dimensions of in/security, the contested meanings of in/security and the implications thereof. Methodologically, it proposes an alternative framework to capture the relational dimensions through shifting the problem formulation from a traditional focus on who is to be secured from what threats to how in/security is understood by different people/communities in different contexts. Empirically, it contributes to an off-centred understanding of in/security dynamics in the official transitions into the post-conflict period in Colombia. Through its empirical evidence it has the potential to offer an important contribution to the analysis of post-conflict transitions more generally.

Tidsbegränsade anställningar har ökat i Sverige sedan 90-talet och fortsätter ännu att öka. Dessa anställningar diskuteras flitigt i media och den negativa påverkan på de anställda är mest framträdande. De som i högst utsträckning är tidsbegränsat anställda är unga personer i åldrarna 16–24 år, där hälften har den typen av anställning. Pajala är en kommun i Norrbotten som varit väldigt aktuell i media i och med gruvan som startade och sen kort därefter gick i konkurs. Enligt statistik från SCB har Pajala en markant högre ungdomsarbetslöshet än i riket och länet med 15 procent mot rikets 8 procent. Föreliggande studie har utförts i Pajala kommun med syftet att undersöka vad unga Pajalabor har för upplevelser av otrygga anställningar och vilka strategier som används för att hantera situationen. Samt hur detta påverkas av den varierande tillgången på arbete som kommunen erfarit. Sju semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med kvinnor i åldrarna 20–31 år. I analysen av materialet har Standings teori om prekariatet och Jahodas deprivationsteori används. Resultatet av studien visar att otrygghet och oro är centralt i respondenternas upplevelser framförallt oro för sin ekonomi. Även stress över att alltid behöva vara tillgänglig och hur anställningen gör det svårt att planera återkommer. Respondenterna har även upplevt bristande arbetsmiljö, kompetensutveckling och möjligheter att utvecklas i arbetet. De strategier som främst används för att hantera situationen är att anpassa sin livsstil efter den varierande inkomsten samt att planera för hur de ska hantera en eventuell uppsägning. Samtliga respondenter har påverkats på ett eller annat sätt av arbetsmarknaden i kommunen och turerna med gruvan. Resultatet visar även på ett upplevt tvång att studera för att komma ur de otrygga anställningarna, annars får man nöja sig med det man får eller flytta. / Precarious employment has increased in Sweden since the 90's and continues to increase. These jobs are widely discussed in the media and the negative impact on employees is most prominent. Those who to a large extent are temporary employees are young people aged 16-24, where half have this type of employment. Pajala is a municipality in the north of Sweden that has been very relevant in the media, with the mine that started and soon became bankrupt. According to statistics from SCB, Pajala has a significantly higher youth unemployment than in the country and the county with 15 percent against the country's 8 percent. This study has been conducted in Pajala municipality with the purpose of investigating how young residents in Pajala has experienced insecure employment and what strategies are used to handle the situation. And how this is affected by the varied supply of work that the municipality has experienced. Seven semi- structured interviews have been conducted with women between the ages of 20 and 31 years. In the analysis of the material, Standing's theory of precariat and Jahoda's deprivation theory has been used. The result of the study shows that insecurity and concern are central to the respondents' experiences, especially concern for their finances. Also stress about always having to be available and how the job makes it difficult to plan returns. The respondents have also experienced insufficient work environment, skills development and opportunities to develop at work. The strategies used primarily to deal with the situation are to adjust their lifestyles according to the varying income and to plan how to deal with a possible termination. All respondents have been affected in one way or another by the labor market in the municipality and the bankruptcy of the mine. The result also shows an experienced compulsion to study to get out of the precarious jobs, otherwise you will have to settle for what you get or move.

No description available.

Background: Access to safe and nutritious food is a universal right, which is essential for well-being. Food security exists when “all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious foods to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. Despite a call by global leaders to ensure food security and eradicate food insecurity, food insecurity remains a serious public health concern in Canada. While public health nurses are ideally situated to advance this public health priority, they have been conspicuously absent from important research and decision-making tables where work to address these inequities take place. This is the impetus for this study. Purpose: To explore how public health nurses engage in work to address food insecurity. The study uncovers the dynamic interplay of structures, processes, and agency that enable and constrain public health nurses work. An understanding of the sociopolitical contexts of public health helps to strengthen public health nurses’ engagement in food insecurity thereby contributing to health equity in Canada. Methodology: A holistic qualitative case study approach informed by the tenets of critical realism was used to guide this study in Nova Scotia. Primary data sources were 19 individual interviews and a review of 33 documents. Data were transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was guided by Framework Analysis and matrix construction. The trustworthiness of data was ensured through Lincoln and Guba’s criteria for qualitative studies. Findings: Four major themes include: 1) Framing Food (In)Security, 2) The Role of Public Health Nurses; 3) Navigating the Terrain of Food Insecurity; and 4) Resources to Advance Food Insecurity Work in Public Health Nursing Practice. Discussion and Implications: The dynamic interplay among leaders with differing ideologies and organizational culture has an impact on health equity agendas and subsequently on public health nursing engagement in work to address food insecurity. Capitalizing on a “clash of cultures” is associated with effective community food security outcomes. We must continue to illuminate the tensions among public health nurses and other stakeholders as well as address issues of power relations both within and external to the public health system. Conclusion: Public health may benefit greatly from building capacity of public health nurses’ to engage in both upstream and downstream food insecurity work.

Using life-history theory within a biocultural perspective, this research explores whether household food insecurity correlates with early or delayed menarche among adolescent females in Tampa Bay, Florida. Early onset of puberty and menstruation is connected with numerous health consequences including growth stunting, obesity, type-2 diabetes, adult-onset asthma, reproductive cancers, increased risk for depression, behavioral problems, and early sexual activity which increases the risk for STIs and ovarian cancer. Early menarche also seems to disproportionally impact disadvantaged and minority groups. While there are many known factors that influence age at menarche (e.g.: genetics, diet), little is understood regarding the effect of food insecurity on menstrual timing. When considering food insecurity as an environmental adversity, long-term exposure may result in biological trade-offs within growth and development. Using a mixed-methods approach, 40 girls and 36 parents or guardians from Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Manatee counties participated in household dyadic interviews that included the assessment of household food security, girls’ dietary analysis, and anthropometry. Using quantitative analyses, the associations of diet, food security, and body size/composition to menarche were evaluated. A Cox hazards model and regression further analyzed the association of food insecurity and the timing of menarche. The research concludes that adolescents and their families are vulnerable to food insecurity for both biological and social reasons. Qualitative results examine the prevalence, experiences, and perpetrators of food insecurity, as well as strategies used by families to mitigate food insecurity. Food insecurity in this study refers to the inconsistent or limited access to adequate amounts of safe and nutritious foods to sustain health and wellbeing. Food insecurity does not necessarily result in hunger. Once can have access to enough calories and not feel hungry but may still be food insecure if their access does not include enough high-quality, nutritious foods. Quantitative analyses showed that iliac height, waist-hip ratio, snack consumption, and household food insecurity is associated with age at menarche among this sample. Spearman’s Rho confirms that height, leg length (p = 0.032, rs = 0.407), and snack consumption (p = 0.042, rs = 0.464) significantly positively correlate with age at menarche. Waist-hip ratio significantly negatively correlates with age at menarche (p = 0.032, rs = -0.518). Cox Hazard Regression analysis interprets that for every one unit increase in household food security survey score, the risk of experiencing menarche increases by 25% (p = 0.023, OR = 1.25). However, when adding leg length, waist-hip ratio, and snack consumption to the Cox Hazard Regression equation, no variables significantly predict menarche. These findings provide a better understanding of the biocultural influences within the timing of menarche. The research provides new insights and further stresses the importance of improving food assistance programs for adolescents and families with older children.

Para a mensuração da insegurança alimentar freqüentemente são feitas estimativas a partir da definição de linhas de pobreza ou indigência, associando o grau de carência alimentar ao nível de rendimentos do domicílio, intuindo que famílias pobres (baixa renda) vivam em condição de insegurança alimentar. Entretanto, é possível encontrar unidades domiciliares com rendimentos situados abaixo da linha de pobreza e que vivem em segurança alimentar, do mesmo modo que existem aquelas com rendimentos acima do corte da pobreza que passa por restrição alimentar quantitativa. O exercício teórico desenvolvido por Amartya Sen, abrange uma série de conceitos que permitem a análise de realidades sociais, como a insegurança alimentar no Rio Grande do Sul, de maneira multidimensional, incorporando variáveis quantitativas e indo além delas. Um desses conceitos que pode auxiliar na compreensão das dificuldades de acesso digno a alimentos adequados, quantitativamente e qualitativamente, é a noção de intitulamento (entitlement), termo que foi originalmente desenvolvido por Sen para tratar do problema da fome na Ásia e na África. Através da abordagem das capacitações, o objetivo deste trabalho é analisar os intitulamentos que se relacionam com a insegurança alimentar no Rio Grande do Sul, e avaliar os impactos dessa situação para a expansão das capacitações das famílias rurais gaúchas. Os resultados da análise realizada, através do Coeficiente de Contingência, Teste Qui-Quadrado e do modelo de regressão Probit, que permitiram diferenciar e tecer comentários entre os espaços rural e urbano do Rio Grande do Sul, evidenciam a necessidade de um tratamento multidimensional para a caracterização das situações de insegurança alimentar no estado gaúcho, sugerindo a inclusão de novas percepções que permitam melhor caracterizar as dificuldades de acesso à alimentação adequada, propondo uma alternativa à perspectiva tradicional. / Frequently, estimates to measure food insecurity are made based on the definition of poverty lines or indigence, associating the degree of lack of food considering the household productivity, and having in mind that poor families (low income) live in a condition of nutrition insecurity. However, it is possible to find household units with income considered below the poverty line and that live in a nutritional stability, as well as those ones with income above poverty line that have quantitative food restriction. The theoretical exercise developed by Amartya Sen encloses a series of concepts which allows the analysis of social reality, like food insecurity in Rio Grande do Sul, in a multidimensional way, including quantitative analysis and venturing beyond them. One of these concepts which can help the understanding of those difficulties of reaching dignified access to adequate nutritional levels, quantitatively and qualitatively, is the notion of entitlements, terminology which was originally developed by Sen to deal with the problem of hunger in Asia and Africa. By means of the capability approach, the objective of this work is to analyze the entitlements which are intertwined with food insecurity in Rio Grande do Sul, and evaluate the impacts of this situation to expand the condition of rural families in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The results of this analysis which was performed through contingency coefficient, chi-square tests and a probit regression model, which allow to differentiate between rural and urban spaces in Rio Grande do Sul, show clearly the necessity of a multidimensional treatment in the Gaucho State, suggesting an inclusion of new concepts which allow better characterize the difficulties of access to adequate alimentation, proposing an alternative to traditional perspective.