• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.5-34
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• 2011

There have been increasing incidents of natural and social disasters that claimed many lives and caused financial calamities worldwide, which call for an attention to mental health issues affecting disaster victims. This study reviewed the findings of the empirical research on the effects of disaster on the victims, the prevalence and determinants of the mental health problems. The disaster tends to disproportionately affect the socio-economically disadvantaged population and their mental health problems and recovery seemed to be heavily influenced by post-disaster experiences such as restoration of physical environment, prospect of economic recovery and resumption of normalcy in their lives, opportunities for participation in decision-making that affect their lives. Such findings suggest that the disaster mental health should shift from its traditional approach that focuses on short-term clinical interventions to alleviate acute mental distress for the victims to a public health approach that involve medical, social and economic interventions as well as community empowerment to prevent chronicity of the mental health problems and to improve the general quality of life of the individuals and the community adversely affected by the disaster. Implications for the social work research, policy making, education and practice were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.68 no.1
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• pp.141-168
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• 2016

The research intends to analyse the life experiences of a Korean woman in Germany from the insider's view. Biographical data of A are analysed using Rosenthal's narrative-biographical interviews methode. Findings show that the life of A is in the process of 'becoming-work migrant woman', who jolts and 'deterritorializes' standard criteria of 'majority', which her colonize. Furthermore is analysed, that the 'becoming-work migrant women' as the construction of assemblage of 'becoming-worker', 'becoming-migrant', 'becoming-woman' is the fluid process of 'becoming-minority', which constructs constantly another assemblage of them, and is also the 'politics of difference' and the 'politics of becoming'. Based on the research results, some implications for social welfare practice are suggested.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.154-166
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• 2021

Background: Occupational health and safety (OHS) is a significant interest of all governments to prevent workplace hazards. Although appropriate legislation and regulations are essentials for the protection of workers, they are solely not enough. Application of them in practice should be secured by an efficient inspection system. Fundamental components of an inspection system are inspectors and their audit tasks. Maintaining the fair balanced task assignment among inspectors strictly enhances the efficiency of the overall system. Methods: This study proposes a two-phased goal programming approach for OHS inspectors' task assignments and presents a case study. Results: The solution approach gives the balanced assignment of inspectors to the workplaces in different cities of the country in the planning period. The obtained schedule takes into account the distances covered by the work places and the number of the workplaces' employees to be audited and pays attention to the human factors by considering the preferences of the inspectors. The comparisons between the obtained optimal schedule and the implemented one that is produced manually show that the approach not only maintains the technical requirements of the problem, but also provides social and physical balance to the task assignment. Conclusion: Both the approach and the application study are expected to offer fruitful inspirations in the area of safety management and policy and they provide a good guide for social policy and organizational aspects in the field of OHS inspectors' task assignment.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.157-165
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• 2013

This paper provides theoretical background on the relationship between social worker's Job satisfaction and Self-efficacy for Empirical Search. According to previous researches, the more social workers feel self-efficacy the better they select their jobs actively and work very hard. In addition, they are more likely to challenge constantly and have more possibility to carry out their tasks successfully. However, it is assumed that there are theoretical differences in Social Welfare Area compared with other Social Science Area due to the particularity of Social Worker's Job and tasks. Therefore, the aims of this paper is to review theoretical background on the relationship between Job Satisfaction and Self-efficacy in other Social Science Area and provide the groundwork for the expansion of Social Work Practice Research Area through Empirical Analysis in the future.

• Korean Journal of Family Social Work
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• no.56
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• pp.225-250
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• 2017

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of the social capital among married female immigrant on their quality of life and the mediating effect of empowerment. The data were collected from 260 married female immigrants and SPSS Statistics 20.0 and AMOS 22.0 were utilized to analyze the data. The results showed that social capital had statistically significant relationship with empowerment and quality of life among married female immigrants. In addition, empowerment was a statistically significant mediator in the association of social capital and quality of life. Based on these findings, the implications for social welfare practice to improve social capital and empowerment of married female immigrants and recommendations for the further studies were suggested.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.115-136
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• 2013

This research purports to examine the mediating effects of right perception and performance at service processes in relationship to the social worker's professionalism and user advocacy. As the research method, 198 social workers were surveyed, and structural equation was used for analysis. The research findings showed that the professionalism of social workers had a direct influence on right perception, right performances at service processes and user-advocacy. However, right perception at service processes do not have a direct influence on user advocacy. In addition to this right perception and performances at service processes was proven to be an important mediator between a social worker's professionalism and user advocacy. As a result, this research has implied the necessity for social work practice to promote user-advocacy.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.28-34
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• 2021

Background: Safety management is required to ensure health and safety of personnel in Norwegian fish farming. However, few studies have addressed the status and practical relevance of this risk-reducing measure. Methods: This article provides new knowledge through interviews with 35 employees at different company levels, addressing perceptions of various safety management activities according to managers and operational personnel. Results: The interviews show that managers and operational personnel at fish farms agree that the quantity of measures aimed to improve safety has increased in recent years. However, some activities are perceived to have higher practical relevance than others. In general, measures that fit well with the practical reality are well received by the employees at the fish farms. Conclusion: Suggested improvements include involving operational personnel in the design of procedures, considering all risk dimensions that may affect occupational health and safety, and challenging the value of specific safety activities based on a detailed knowledge of the distinctive characteristics of work practice in fish farming.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.43-49
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• 2012

In recent years, various international organizations have raised awareness regarding psychosocial risks and work-related stress. European stakeholders have also taken action on these issues by producing important documents, such as position papers and government regulations, which are reviewed in this article. In particular, 4 European models that have been developed for the assessment and management of work-related stress are considered here. Although important advances have been made in the understanding of work-related stress, there are still gaps in the translation of this knowledge into effective practice at the enterprise level. There are additional problems regarding the methodology in the evaluation of work-related stress. The European models described in this article are based on holistic, global and participatory approaches, where the active role of and involvement of workers are always emphasized. The limitations of these models are in the lack of clarity on preventive intervention and, for two of them, the lack of instrument standardization for risk evaluation. The comparison among the European models to approach work-related stress, although with limitations and socio-cultural differences, offers the possibility for the development of a social dialogue that is important in defining the correct and practical methodology for work stress evaluation and prevention.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.39-69
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• 2012

With the advent of communication technologies including electronic collaborative tools and conferencing systems provided over the Internet, virtual collaboration is becoming increasingly common in organizations. Virtual collaboration refers to an environment in which the people working together are interdependent in their tasks, share responsibility for outcomes, are geographically dispersed, and rely on mediated rather than face-to face, communication to produce an outcome. Research suggests that new sets of individual skill, knowledge, and ability (SKAs) are required to perform effectively in today's virtualized workplace, which is labeled as individual virtual competence. It is also argued that use of online social networking sites may influence not only individuals' daily lives but also their capability to manage their work-related relationships in organizations, which in turn leads to better performance. The existing research regarding (1) the relationship between virtual competence and task performance and (2) the relationship between online networking and task performance has been conducted based on different theoretical perspectives so that little is known about how online social networking and virtual competence interplay to predict individuals' task performance. To fill this gap, this study raises the following research questions: (1) What is the individual virtual competence required for better adjustment to the virtual collaboration environment? (2) How does online networking via diverse social network service sites influence individuals' task performance in organizations? (3) How do the joint effects of individual virtual competence and online networking influence task performance? To address these research questions, we first draw on the prior literature and derive four dimensions of individual virtual competence that are related with an individual's self-concept, knowledge and ability. Computer self-efficacy is defined as the extent to which an individual beliefs in his or her ability to use computer technology broadly. Remotework self-efficacy is defined as the extent to which an individual beliefs in his or her ability to work and perform joint tasks with others in virtual settings. Virtual media skill is defined as the degree of confidence of individuals to function in their work role without face-to-face interactions. Virtual social skill is an individual's skill level in using technologies to communicate in virtual settings to their full potential. It should be noted that the concept of virtual social skill is different from the self-efficacy and captures an individual's cognition-based ability to build social relationships with others in virtual settings. Next, we discuss how online networking influences both individual virtual competence and task performance based on the social network theory and the social learning theory. We argue that online networking may enhance individuals' capability in expanding their social networks with low costs. We also argue that online networking may enable individuals to learn the necessary skills regarding how they use technological functions, communicate with others, and share information and make social relations using the technical functions provided by electronic media, consequently increasing individual virtual competence. To examine the relationships among online networking, virtual competence, and task performance, we developed research models (the mediation, interaction, and additive models, respectively) by integrating the social network theory and the social learning theory. Using data from 112 employees of a virtualized company, we tested the proposed research models. The results of analysis partly support the mediation model in that online social networking positively influences individuals' computer self-efficacy, virtual social skill, and virtual media skill, which are key predictors of individuals' task performance. Furthermore, the results of the analysis partly support the interaction model in that the level of remotework self-efficacy moderates the relationship between online social networking and task performance. The results paint a picture of people adjusting to virtual collaboration that constrains and enables their task performance. This study contributes to research and practice. First, we suggest a shift of research focus to the individual level when examining virtual phenomena and theorize that online social networking can enhance individual virtual competence in some aspects. Second, we replicate and advance the prior competence literature by linking each component of virtual competence and objective task performance. The results of this study provide useful insights into how human resource responsibilities assess employees' weakness and strength when they organize virtualized groups or projects. Furthermore, it provides managers with insights into the kinds of development or training programs that they can engage in with their employees to advance their ability to undertake virtual work.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.33-55
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• 2009

This article reviews 20 empirical studies that have focused on the organizational effectiveness of social welfare organizations since 1980. The purposes of this study were to understand the organizational phenomena of social welfare organizations, to offer practical implications for organizational management and to propose direction for the further researches. Special attention has been paid to identify 1) subjects of research 2) approach and criteria of organizational effectivess and 3) critical factors that impact on organizational effectiveness. The results showed that 1) most of researches utilized samples from social welfare community centers and assisted-living facility, 2) many researches focused on internal process approach and used diverse criteria of organizational effectiveness 3) collective developmental culture, decentralized structure, transformational leadership, open relationship between organization and external environment were critical factors of organizational effectiveness. The review suggests that social welfare managers should practice diverse approach based on vision, purpose and developmental stage of each organization. The managers also should implement more conscious efforts to make supportive and fair work environment where all employees feel valued and can demonstrate their maximum potential and to respond to task environments more proactively. Further research should be conducted from diverse organizations using various research methods. More comprehensive empirical model and multidimensional measure of organizational effectiveness need to be developed.