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In the last decade the Italian authorities have tried to adapt themselves to a united European asylum system, in the European Union, through the adoption of legal reforms, intended to improve the conditions of asylum seekers in Italy. Despite these reforms, asylum seekers and refugee’s living conditions are far from covered. The aim of this study is to explore the different functions of social work in the Italian reception process regarding unaccompanied minors and their implications on the wellbeing of the unaccompanied minors. This study was conducted through several interviews with both social workers, which in some way worked with unaccompanied minors, and the unaccompanied minors themselves. This study shows that social workers emphasize the lack of resources, knowledge and the incompleteness of the asylum laws in Italy. This causes great problems that jeopardize the quality and possibilities of social work. The unaccompanied minors on the other hand emphasized the importance of school and the existence of sports in their life as primary means of integration to the new society. From the social workers accounts it becomes clear that large parts of the Italian migration system needs improvement and that the current laws and regulations are not applied all over Italy due to the lack of economic resources and overall knowledge in the matter, all over the country. Even if there is lot to desire, both workers and minors we have interviewed have expressed that there are many aspects that do work.

Lean production prescribes training workers on all tasks within the cell to adapt to changes in customer demand. Multi-skilling of workers can be achieved by cross-training. Cross-training can be improved and reinforced by implementing job rotation. Lean production also prescribes using job rotation to improve worker flexibility, worker satisfaction, and to increase worker knowledge in how their work affects the rest of the cell. Currently, there is minimal research on how to assign multi-skilled workers to tasks within a lean production cell while considering multi-skilling and job rotation. In this research, a new mathematical model was developed that assigns workers to tasks, while ensuring job rotation, and determines the levels of skill, and thus training, necessary to meet customer demand, quality requirements, and training objectives. The model is solved using sequential goal programming to incorporate three objectives: overproduction, cost of poor quality, and cost of training. The results of the model include an assignment of workers to tasks, a determination of the training necessary for the workers, and a job rotation schedule. To evaluate the results on a cost basis, the costs associated with overproduction, defects, and training were used to calculate the net present cost for one year. The solutions from the model were further analyzed using a simulation model of the cell to determine the impact of job rotation and multi-skilling levels on production line performance. The measures of performance include average flowtime, work-in-process (WIP) level, and monthly shipments (number produced). Using the model, the impact of alternative levels of multi-skilling and job rotation on the performance of cellular manufacturing systems is investigated. Understanding the effect of multi-skilling and job rotation can aid both production managers and human resources managers in determining which workers need training and how often workers should be rotated to improve the performance of the cell. The lean production literature prescribes training workers on all tasks within a cell and developing a rotation schedule to reinforce the cross-training. Four levels of multi-skilling and three levels of job rotation frequency are evaluated for both a hypothetical cell and a case application in a relatively mature actual production cell. The results of this investigation provide insight on how multi-skilling and job rotation frequency influence production line performance and provide guidance on training policies. The results show that there is an interaction effect between multi-skilling and job rotation for flowtime, work-in-process, in both the hypothetical cell and the case application and monthly shipments in the case application. Therefore, the effect of job rotation on performance measures is not the same at all levels of multi-skilling thus indicating that inferences about the effect of changing multi-skilling, for example, should not be made without considering the job rotation level. The results also indicate that the net present cost is heavily influenced by the cost of poor quality. The results for the case application indicated that the maturity level of the cell influences the benefits derived from increased multi-skilling and affects several key characteristics of the cell. As a cell becomes more mature, it is expected that the quality levels increase and that the skill levels on tasks normally performed increase. Because workers in the case application already have a high skill level on some tasks, the return on training is not as significant. Additionally, the mature cell has relatively high quality levels from the beginning and any improvements in quality would be in small increments rather than in large breakthroughs. The primary contribution of this research is the development of a sequential goal programming worker assignment model that addresses overproduction, poor quality, cross-training, and job rotation in order to meet the prescription in the lean production literature of only producing to customer demand while utilizing multi-skilled workers. Further contributions are analysis of how multi-skilling level and job rotation frequency impact the performance of the cell. Lastly, a contribution is the application of optimization and simulation methods for comprehensively analyzing the impact of worker assignment on performance measures. / Ph. D.

The present study examined how cultural values impacted the job satisfaction of 75 Caucasian-American and 80 African-American students currently working while attending college. Past research examining racial differences between Caucasian-Americans and African- Americans show the latter tend to measure significantly lower on reported measures of job satisfaction. The dispositional perspective argues that one explanation for this occurrence is that each group (because of their distinct cultural background) enters the workplace with specific needs and values. Because of this, the work experience will vary for each group. To date, the cause of the distinctive needs of each group has been attributed to race. Recently, researchers have begun to examine the possibility of such racial differences being partially due to cultural differences that exist between these two groups. The present study examines the impact of cultural values on worker satisfaction to help explain observed racial differences in job between Caucasians and African-Americans. Using communalism and spirituality as cultural variables, hierarchical regression analysis was used to determine whether culture would significantly impact job satisfaction above and beyond race. Culture was not found to significantly impact satisfaction beyond race (which showed no significant impact). Control variables in this regression accounted for over 21% of variance in job satisfaction. When testing at the dimension level, culture was found to significantly impact supervisor and co-worker satisfaction beyond race and controls. Implications for using more complete approach to studying racial differences in work values are discussed. / M.S. / The present study examined how cultural values impacted the job satisfaction of Caucasian- American and African-American college students. Past research examining racial differences between Caucasian-Americans and African-Americans show the latter tend to measure lower on reported measures of job satisfaction. One explanation for this occurrence is that each group enters the workplace with a specific set of needs and values different from one another. Because of this, the work experience differs for each group. Past studies have attributed the distinctive needs of each group to race but recently researchers have begun exploring the possibility of such differences being partially due to the cultural differences (rather than racial differences) existing between these two groups. For this reason, the present study examines the impact of cultural values on worker satisfaction in helping to explain observed racial differences in mean job satisfaction scores between Caucasian and African-Americans. Using communalism and spirituality as cultural variables, the current study looked at how these variables were able to account for racial differences in job satisfaction after accounting for race. Culture was not found to significantly impact satisfaction beyond race (which showed no significant impact). Instead, it was the characteristics of the job (including a person’s supervisor and the work itself) and a person’s general mood (either positive or negative) that accounted for the majority of the racial differences in job satisfaction. When looking at specific aspects of the job, culture was found to significantly impact supervisor and co-worker satisfaction beyond race, job characteristics, and general mood. These findings help to broaden our understanding of the relation between culture and race and their impact on what employees will value and experience on the job.

Within the field of American religious studies, a growing area of scholarship has been that of "spirituality" as a category distinct from religion. Scholars have examined the sociological, cultural, and historical features that characterize Americans' use of the concept of spirituality. Within this field, one subject of study is the growth in the number of individuals who identify themselves as "spiritual, but not religious." This phrase is used to denote a rejection of organized or traditional religion and an interest in a variety of belief systems. Via ethnographic methods, this dissertation analyzes this self-styled identity in the context of two phenomena: the Protestant legacy in the United States and "engaged spirituality," in which individuals' spirituality is integrally linked to engagement with social activism. The early Protestant history of the United States and the "Protestant ethic," per Max Weber, have shaped how Americans define and perceive religion and how Protestant values persist as cultural norms. American "spiritual, but not religious" individuals who are also "engaged" reject organized religion and find activism necessary due to issues that originate in this Protestant legacy. Evidence for this can be found in cases in which these individuals participate in activism by collaborating with non-Protestant religious groups. In this dissertation, I present this finding through three case studies featuring two radical religious groups which are active in peace protests: Nipponzan Myohoji, a Japanese Buddhist monastic order, and the Catholic Worker, a lay movement that assists the poor and homeless. The case studies are: the 50th anniversary Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights March; Catholic Worker protests in Washington, DC, on the anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings; and events at the Buddhist Great Smoky Mountains Peace Pagoda. I argue that these individuals form these alliances because in working with a Catholic and/or Buddhist group, they find a venue for activism which both accommodates their spiritual motivations and includes a critique of the Protestant-based elements of American culture. / PHD / Beginning in the 1970s, the topic of spirituality as a distinct area of study has developed within the field of American religious studies. One subject within the study of spirituality is the growing number of individuals who identify themselves as “spiritual, but not religious.” This dissertation is an effort to further explore what roles these individuals play in American society. To accomplish this, this study addresses the relationship of “spiritual, but not religious” individuals to religion in the context of social activism. Through ethnographic methods of interviewing and participant-observation, this dissertation presents cases of spiritual but not religious individuals who identify activism as a key part of their spirituality. Specifically, these individuals participate in activism by collaborating with two radical religious groups which are active in peace protests: Nipponzan Myohoji, a Japanese Buddhist monastic order, and the Catholic Worker, a lay movement that assists the poor and homeless. Although “spiritual but not religious” individuals are defined by their rejection of organized religion, they choose to ally with these religious groups for the purpose of activism. I argue that these individuals form these alliances because the underlying social problems and elements of organized religion that they reject originate in the Protestant legacy in American culture. Therefore, in working with a Catholic and/or Buddhist group, these individuals find a venue for their spiritually-based activism that includes a critique of mainstream American culture.

Yes / Objectives: The imaging support workforce is a key enabler in unlocking imaging capacity and capability, yet no evidence exists of the workforce size and configuration. This research provides the first comprehensive analysis of workforce data to explore the deployment of the support workforce within National Health Service (NHS) imaging services in England. Methods: Using a census methodology, an anonymized electronic staff record (ESR) data set extracted in December 2022 was analysed to identify support workers and their employment bandings at NHS Trust, regional and national (England) level. Support workforce proportions, median values, and Spearman’s rank correlations were calculated. Results: Analysis of 137 NHS Trusts, comprising 100% of acute trusts (n = 124) and specialist trusts with imaging services (n = 13), identified that the support workforce (pay bands 2-4) constitutes 23.6% of the imaging staff base. Ranking trusts into 3 categories based on the proportion of support workers in their imaging establishment, median values ranged from 30.7% (high) to 22.2% (medium) and 10.5% (low). Two opposing deployment models of band 2 and band 3 support workers were identified. Conclusions: Comprising almost one-quarter of the imaging establishment, models of deployment at bands 2 and 3 are highly variable. Assistant practitioners (band 4) are under-utilised, providing an opportunity to introduce innovations to address workforce demands. Advances in knowledge: This census is the first to provide evidence of the size and structure of the support workforce, the first step in enabling effective workforce transformation. Further research is required to explain the two opposing deployment models. / This study is funded by the NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research programme (I.D. NIHR133813).

Yes / Introduction: In the UK the development of skill mix in radiography at the end of the 20th century formalised the assistant practitioner role, separating it from the support worker function. The key aim was to increase imaging capacity whilst enabling opportunities for career progression within both the support and radiography workforce. There has been limited examination of these support and assistive roles and this review aims to explore the current evidence. Methods: This scoping review used a systematic search strategy and interrogated MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus and Google Scholar. Primary research articles published in the English-language referring to studies conducted in the UK on assistant or support roles in radiography were sought. The sourced data was uploaded to a web-based review platform for screening. Results: The literature search identified only 11 articles which met the search criteria, of which only one referred to the support worker role. Adopting a primarily qualitative approach the quality of the articles varied. Thematic analysis was undertaken using a priori themes role purpose, outcomes, aspirations and capacity building. Conclusion: There is limited research evidence of capacity generation with most presenting individual perspectives. Job satisfaction and career aspirations within the support and assistive workforce are evident but there is still confusion over scope of practice and supervision. Implications for practice: The support and assistive workforce are a key part of the diagnostic imaging workforce but limited research evidence examining these roles has been published. Further research exploring the impact of skill mix changes across all levels and imaging professions is required. / The study was funded by the NIHR Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme (I.D. NIHR133813).

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