This article revisits Goffman's stigma theory from the perspective of housing studies. We elaborate on Goffman's approach by exploring how housing tenure can work as a proxy for moral character. We interviewed twenty-seven people who are excluded from access to homeownership in two cities in Norway, which is a ''homeowner nation.'' These individuals are unable to enter the dominant ''homeowner class'' for different reasons, including drug-dependency, mental illness, refugee background, low socioeconomic status; thus, they must access housing through other tenures; private renting or social housing. To many of them, housing becomes a stigma, in Goffman terms, an ''undesired differentness.'' Social housing is known to carry stigma in Norway. It was thus a paradox, that those with the softest differentness-private rental-were most likely to practice (Goffman:) ''information control'' over their housing situation. Goffman's theoretical apparatus, and his distinction between the discreditable and the discredited in particular, helped us make this paradox comprehensible. Through this analysis, refinements to Goffman's theory were discovered. We suggest that ''multiple stigmas,'' which was not seen clearly by Goffman himself, should be a key notion in stigma studies. We use this notion to distinguish between possible sub-types to the discredited-discreditable distinction.
This paper discusses the challenge of implementing management systems related to occupational health and safety as well as handling the quality of food within the hospitality industry. Smaller enterprises play a significant role in employment and economy within the industry, but also provide the location of accidents, fatalities and low quality of products. The theoretical framework of the discussion is ''The Nordic Occupational Health Model''. A case study within the Norwegian Hospitality Association provides the empirical data. The paper documents that introducing systems for food control in parallel with systems for occupational health and safety gives positive outcomes on internal management, environmental issues and fire safety. The external condition promoting the results seems to be a strategic decision of the association on getting quality issues on the agenda, followed by a collaborative process among the members involving consultants, seminars, guidelines and checklists as well as support from local Food Control Authorities. The paper concludes that combining food control as a market mechanism related to the customer, with the regulating of occupational health and safety related to the employees, seems to be a healthy recipe for the industry.
BACkGROUND In 2004, the responsibilities for all substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation services in Norway were transferred from the county level to the state owned regional healthcare enterprises. ■ AIM This reform, as many other European health reforms, was inspired by the same ideological and expert policy prescriptions for organizing public services. The aim of this paper is to analyze how these organizational principles influence the probability of services meeting the conditions of recognized prerequisites for a high quality of care. ■ DATA The paper builds on data from one national and two regional evaluations of the reform. ■ RESULTS The new organization principles have created a system of fragmented, linear transfer of responsibilities from one agency to the next, preventing the realization of fundamental preconditions for effective treatments of substance abuse. Initiatives of bottom-up organization are seen as attempts to counteract these consequences.
Aims The aims of this study were to map the amounts and patterns of alcohol & drug (a&d) use among employees, to analyze the relationships between a&d use and the experienced negative and positive effects of such use, and to analyze how conditions of work and structural and cultural factors in the workplace affect the a&d use of employees. Method A total of 1 245 employees from 74 companies took part in the survey, giving a response rate of 34%. Given this low response rate, the sample was still considered representative, controlling for sex, age, industry, company size and geography. Results 2.6% of the employees had used illegal drugs and 18% had used prescribed drugs the last year. 3% had used prescribed drugs each week. There were strong connections between illegal drug use and negative consequences for the workplace (absenteeism, accidents and intoxication at work), but it seemed that none of the workplace factors affected the use of illegal drugs. Extensive use of prescribed drugs was strongly connected to experiencing bad working conditions and high absenteeism. 95% of the employees had used alcohol the last year. Based on the answers about the amounts of alcohol consumed the last two weeks, 4% of the women and 5% of the men in the sample could be characterized as heavy drinkers (according to WHO gender-specific limit values). High alcohol consumption is shown to be correlated to negative effects such as absenteeism (only short-term), accidents and intoxication at work. Demographic factors such as sex, age, marital status and caring responsibilities played a lesser role in explaining the variation in drinking among employees in this sample, and especially the variation in work-related drinking. Neither did the conditions of work explain the variation in drinking. Instead, such factors as number of work journeys abroad, hours working outside the permanent worksite, norms and beliefs (especially beliefs about alcohol as a strategy for coping with work strain), offer explanations for the variation in drinking among employees. Conclusions Alcohol and drugs use among employees is a twofold challenge to the working life. First, it is a challenge to prevent the negative effects of a&d use on the workplaces and the employees. Second, it is a challenge to prevent the many occasions for drinking in relation to work, and the structural and cultural factors in the workplace, from having a major negative impact on the alcohol and drug use of employees.
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