Aida Alvinius (Ph.D sociolog., Karlstad University, Sweden) is associate professor and university lecturer at the Department of Security, Strategy and Leadership, Swedish Defence University. She has published articles, chapters in books, and research reports within the field of organisation, collaboration, gender studies and leadership, sociology of disasters, and military sociology.
The development of gender differences as an area of research has been rapid over the last decades. Varieties of studies have focused on the gender differences as well as the similarities of women and men. The common purpose of the research attempt is to find out the possibilities and even the consequences of gender differences and the impact on human beings on one side, and social and cultural environment on the other. This book is an attempt to provide theoretical and empirical framework to better understand gender differences in various contexts and on different levels. Therefore, the contributions cover an array of themes that span from an individual level to an organizational and societal level.
Go to the bookPart of the book: Tsunami - Analysis of a Hazard
Social workers working with individuals, who are vulnerable and in need of help in different situations, face great demands. They need to be able to respond to people with different kind of needs, yet at the same time handle organizational requirements. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to contribute to an increased understanding of the phenomenon of job satisfaction, its meaning for professionals in the field of social work, and what affects job satisfaction. The study was performed in accordance with classic grounded theory, and all data were collected through three semistructural interviews. The results of the study generated a theoretical model that illustrates how the phenomenon of “work satisfaction” can be understood and reached through a process of balancing, maintaining, and recreating professional pride and dignity in the field of social work. The discussion ends with suggestions for further studies, methodological discussion, and proposals for practical implications.
Part of the book: Quality of Life and Quality of Working Life
The aim of the present study was to compare the existing conceptualization of the dual nature of organizational centaurs to discover what could be found in an investigation of organizational contexts characterized by risky and life-threatening situations. The study design involved a two-step procedure. The first step was inductive in character and followed the guidelines of grounded theory regarding selection of the participants in the study (further called informants, N = 71), data collection and initial analysis. The second step consisted of an attempt to compare this conceptual model to the existing ideal-typical descriptions of the organizational centaur concept. Managing crisis, disasters and other uncertainties as a boundary spanner can be understood in terms of a typology differentiated at the organizational and individual levels. The organizational part defines the prevailing conditions in uniformed, greedy organizations for boundary spanners who contribute to the organization’s foundation of competence and behavior, and also outlines the limitations this may entail. The individual part focuses on the human such as no room for mistakes and the management of asymmetrical collaborations. It was concluded that the special case of severely demanding conditions added new insights into the organizational centaur framework.
Part of the book: Crisis Management