Damaged hardmen: Organized crime and the half-life of deindustrialization.

Despite frequent associations, deindustrialization features rarely in studies of organized crime, and organized crime is at best a spectral presence in studies of deindustrialization. By developing an original application of Linkon's concept of the "half-life," we present an empirical case for the symbiotic relationship between former sites of industry and the emergence of criminal markets. Based on a detailed case-study in the west of Scotland, an area long associated with both industry and crime, the paper interrogates the environmental, social, and cultural after-effects of deindustrialization at a community level. Drawing on 55 interviews with residents and service-providers in Tunbrooke, an urban community where an enduring criminal market grew in the ruins of industry, the paper elaborates the complex landscapes of identity, vulnerability, and harm that are embedded in the symbiosis of crime and deindustrialization. Building on recent scholarship, the paper argues that organized crime in Tunbrooke is best understood as an instance of "residual culture" grafted onto a fragmented, volatile criminal marketplace where the stable props of territorial identity are unsettled. The analysis allows for an extension of both the study of deindustrialization and organized crime, appreciating the "enduring legacies" of closure on young people, communal identity, and social relations in the twenty-first century.

Effects of an on-board psychosocial programme on stress, resilience, and job satisfaction amongst a sample of merchant seafarers.

BACKGROUND: Seafarers are an occupational group amongst those at highest risk for stress, which may adversely affect their mental health. The primary aim of this study was to assess the effects of a psychosocial programme on perceived stress, resilience, and job satisfaction among a sample of merchant seafarers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Secondary data analysis was conducted using a work questionnaire administered by a large shipping company. The matched subjects technique and multivariate analysis of covariance were conducted using a theoretical model of the programme's effects on job satisfaction, resilience, and perceived stress. RESULTS: A significant interaction between programme participation and weeks on board indicated that the effects of weeks on board on perceived stress differed significantly for the intervention group and matched control group. Weeks on board had a significant effect for perceived stress for the control group (p = 0.02), but not for the intervention group (p = 0.857). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that participation in the programme moderated the effects of weeks on board on perceived stress, suggesting that the programme may have safeguarded participants against the effects of weeks on board on perceived stress. Importantly, however, a work environment that is experienced as supportive, inclusive and just is necessary as a cornerstone for individually-focused psychosocial interventions to be optimally applied.

Identifying Predictors of Stress and Job Satisfaction in a Sample of Merchant Seafarers Using Structural Equation Modeling.

Background: Seafarers are amongst occupational groups with the highest risk for stress, a factor known to impact on mental health. Psychological issues such as depression, anxiety, suicide, and alcohol or drug dependence are recognized health problems within the maritime sector. The primary aim of this study was to identify which individual and occupational factors, known to impact on psychological functioning across the maritime industry and other sectors, best predict perceived stress and job satisfaction among a sample of merchant seafarers. Methods: Secondary data analysis was conducted using a work experiences and attitudes questionnaire administered by a large shipping company to seafarers within their organization. Structural equation modeling was conducted using a proposed theoretical model of perceived stress and job satisfaction in a sample of merchant seafarers. Results: While the structural equation model produced acceptable fit to the sample data according to numerous goodness-of-fit statistics, the comparative fit index and Tucker-Lewis index results indicated less than satisfactory model fit. The model explained 23.8% of variance in the criterion variable of perceived stress, and the strongest predictive effect was for dispositional resilience. The model explained 70.6% of variance in the criterion variable of job satisfaction, and the strongest predictive effect was for instrumental work support. Conclusion: When addressing the psychosocial well-being of merchant seafarers, findings of this study suggest that dispositional resilience may be a particularly important factor with regards to perceived stress, while instrumental work support appears to be a critical factor in relation to job satisfaction. Importantly, however, an overall work environment that is perceived by employees as supportive, equal and just is a cornerstone for the psychosocial well-being of seafarers.

Gangs and a global sociological imagination.

Across the globe, the phenomenon of youth gangs has become an important and sensitive public issue. In this context, an increasing level of research attention has focused on the development of universalized definitions of gangs in a global context. In this article, we argue that this search for similarity has resulted in a failure to recognize and understand difference. Drawing on an alternative methodology we call a 'global exchange', this article suggests three concepts-homologies of habitus, vectors of difference and transnational reflexivity-that seek to re-engage the sociological imagination in the study of gangs and globalization.

The second life of Kowloon Walled City: Crime, media and cultural memory.

Kowloon Walled City (hereafter KWC or Walled City), Hong Kong has been described as 'one of history's great anomalies'. The territory remained under Chinese rule throughout the period of British colonialism, with neither jurisdiction wishing to take active responsibility for its administration. In the postwar period, the area became notorious for vice, drugs and unsanitary living conditions, yet also attracted the attention of artists, photographers and writers, who viewed it as an instance of anarchic urbanism. Despite its demolition in 1993, KWC has continued to capture the imaginations of successive generations across Asia. Drawing on data from an oral and visual history project on the enclave, alongside images, interviews and observations regarding the 'second life' of KWC, this article will trace the unique flow of meanings and reimaginings that KWC has inspired. The article will locate the peculiar collisions of crime and consumerism prompted by KWC within the broader contexts in which they are embedded, seeking out a new interdisciplinary perspective that attends to the internecine spaces of crime, media and culture in contemporary Asian societies.

Resilience and well-being amongst seafarers: cross-sectional study of crew across 51 ships.

OBJECTIVES: Duration at sea was investigated as a potential chronic stressor amongst seafarers in addition to the mediating roles of previous seafaring experience and hardiness between duration and stress. METHODS: In a cross-sectional design, questionnaires were emailed to 53 tanker vessels in an international shipping company with questions relating to duration at sea, perceived stress, personality hardiness and work characteristics. The sample comprised 387 seafarers (98% male) including ratings, crew, officers, engineers, and catering staff that had been on board their ship between 0 and 24 weeks. RESULTS: Duration at sea was unrelated to self-reported perceived stress, even after controlling for previous seafaring experience and hardiness. Additional regression analyses demonstrated that self-reported higher levels of resilience, longer seafaring experience and greater instrumental work support were significantly associated with lower levels of self-reported stress at sea. CONCLUSIONS: These results imply that at least for the first 24 weeks at sea, exposure to the seafaring environment did not act as a chronic stressor. The confined environment of a ship presents particular opportunities to introduce resilience and work support programmes to help seafarers manage and reduce stress, and to enhance their well-being at sea.

Cancer incidence among refinery and petrochemical employees in Louisiana, 1983-1999.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine the incidence of cancer among employees at two petrochemical facilities in south Louisiana, and to compare their cancer rates to those of the general population of south Louisiana. METHODS: Records on 4639 active and former employees and retirees from the two plants were linked to the Louisiana Tumor Registry (LTR) database by LTR staff to ascertain incident cases of cancer. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were then calculated using the south Louisiana population as the comparison and adjusted for age, race, and time period. RESULTS: There was a significant 16% deficit of overall cancer cases for males in this cohort (SIR=0.84; 95% CI, 0.74-0.95). The only significantly elevated SIR in males was for cancer of the bone and joint (SIR=6.89; 95% CI, 1.42-20.1). This result was based on three non-fatal cases of bone cancer with different histologies, occurring in different parts of the body. These cases worked in different units of one plant. Significant deficits were seen for lung cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx. Cancer incidence among 719 female employees was non-significantly increased (SIR=1.24; 95% CI, 0.81-1.82). Breast cancer accounts for the excess (SIR=1.46; 95% CI, 0.73-2.61). Seventy percent of the breast cancer cases worked in an office setting. CONCLUSIONS: This study found little evidence of any association between cancer incidence and employment at these two petrochemical facilities. The increased incidence of bone cancer is unlikely to be due to occupational exposures. The non-significant excess of breast cancer may be due to early detection or other important unmeasured confounders, such as certain reproductive factors.