Curt Pankratz - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Curt Pankratz
Canadian Journal of Public Health-revue Canadienne De Sante Publique, Sep 1, 2017
OBJECTIVES: Fatal accidents often lead to policy changes. However, the existing decision-making e... more OBJECTIVES: Fatal accidents often lead to policy changes. However, the existing decision-making environment is critical to policy responses. This study compares the policy responses to similar events in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The key question explores the extent to which the policy decisions in each province differ despite the similarity of the events. METHODS: Key documents were examined. Provincial court rulings, workplace health & safety incident investigation reports, court transcripts and police reports were used to compare resulting policy changes as well as the socio-political and economic decision-making context. Relevant clauses in resulting legislation were also compared to assess the specific changes that were made in each province. RESULTS: In each province, a young, female highway construction worker was killed. However, the provinces responded in very different ways. In Saskatchewan, the Premier called for recommendations to improve worker safety, initiating an in-depth governmental study and the development of a broad safety strategy. In Manitoba, political and social pressures shifted the decision-making environment and contributed to the rushed passing of a bill focused on traffic fine increases that resulted in record-breaking traffic fine revenue while failing to include broader safety measures. CONCLUSION: Different decision-making contexts can lead to vastly different policy outcomes even when responding to very similar events. Key differences included time constraints, access to information and the nature of the political process invoked.
Journal of Comparative Family Studies, Jun 1, 2009
Taking the position that the structure of family policies plays a large role in shaping the lives... more Taking the position that the structure of family policies plays a large role in shaping the lives of families, this paper argues that comparative research should place even greater emphasis on approaching family policies as being components of a larger welfare state. In this way, cross-national comparisons of family policies and their impacts on the lives of families can take fuller advantage of well-established research on the factors that give rise to particular overall national policy approaches. In order to facilitate this, this paper contextualizes family policies within a welfare state regimes framework by analyzing characteristics of family policies using the method established by welfare state regimes theorists. In doing so, this analysis also focuses on the extent to which family policies reinforce various forms of class stratification, where most current analyses have seen family policies primarily as impacting on gender stratification. It is argued that this will be helpful in working toward an understanding of welfare state regime histories and characteristics as underlying key differences between national approaches to the welfare of families.
Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology, Jul 1, 2018
Welfare state regime typologies have proven useful in analyzing the impacts of various social pol... more Welfare state regime typologies have proven useful in analyzing the impacts of various social policy structures on health. Recently, several welfare state regime typologies have been identified as having relevance for the study of health. However, comparative research examining the relationships between population health and welfare states has relied disproportionately upon child-based health measures-in particular, infant mortality rate, under-5 mortality and low birthweight. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, eta, and ANOVA, this paper demonstrates that these commonly-used child-based health measures are more strongly correlated with welfare state regime typologies than other measures of population health. Adult mortality, life expectancy and disease measures are not strongly correlated with welfare state regime typologies, and greater use of such measures in comparative research may problematize the often-observed correlations between welfare states and health. The paper argues that the disproportionate use of child-based health measures may therefore present an incomplete picture of the connections between welfare state regimes and population health. Implications for theorizing the relationship between welfare states and health are discussed.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Jul 7, 2016
Motor vehicle collisions and bicycle collisions and falls are a leading cause of death by prevent... more Motor vehicle collisions and bicycle collisions and falls are a leading cause of death by preventable injury for children. In order to design, implement and evaluate campaigns and programs aimed at improving child safety, accurate surveillance is needed. This paper examined the challenges that confront efforts to collect surveillance data relevant to child traffic safety, including observation, interview, and focus group methods. Strategies to address key challenges in order to improve the efficiency and accuracy of surveillance methods were recommended. The potential for new technology to enhance existing surveillance methods was also explored.
Journal of international and comparative social policy, Oct 1, 2014
This paper argues that the concept of the liberal welfare state within welfare state regimes disc... more This paper argues that the concept of the liberal welfare state within welfare state regimes discourse fails to account for some important aspects of the historical development of liberalism. It is argued that two key aspects of liberalism have been neglected. First, that liberalism essentially arose in opposition to ascribed status, seeking to replace it with a form of “achieved” status. Second, that a major stream of historical liberalism sought to equalize individual opportunity by suggesting that the state should provide some basic social and economic supports to individuals in need. This paper uses OECD health data to identify welfare state clusters based on the measurement of welfare (rather than neo)liberalism. The emerging cluster model is then compared with other welfare state regime typologies with regard to its ability to predict important social and political outcomes. The paper concludes that the emerging “welfare-liberal” typology may be a better predictor of certain social and political outcomes than other regimes configurations, indicating the usefulness of considering alternative aspects of liberalism when examining welfare state regimes.
While welfare state regimes models have greatly increased our understanding of the social, politi... more While welfare state regimes models have greatly increased our understanding of the social, political, and historical factors that influence the development of divergent forms of social provision, they were developed around the analysis of labour market policies.1 The primary intent of this paper, therefore, is to examine family policies using a method commonly used by welfare state theorists in order to demonstrate that family-focused policies are largely connected to a country's overall approach to social welfare. In doing this, this paper focuses on the ways in which family policies reinforce certain forms of class stratification, where most current welfare state research stresses the impact family policies have on gender stratification.2 It will be argued that the congruence between family policy structures and overall national approaches to social welfare confirms that understanding family policy
Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology, 2018
Welfare state regime typologies have proven useful in analyzing the impacts of various social pol... more Welfare state regime typologies have proven useful in analyzing the impacts of various social policy structures on health. Recently, several welfare state regime typologies have been identified as having relevance for the study of health. However, comparative research examining the relationships between population health and welfare states has relied disproportionately upon child-based health measures – in particular, infant mortality rate, under-5 mortality and low birthweight. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, eta, and ANOVA, this paper demonstrates that these commonly-used child-based health measures are more strongly correlated with welfare state regime typologies than other measures of population health. Adult mortality, life expectancy and disease measures are not strongly correlated with welfare state regime typologies, and greater use of such measures in comparative research may problematize the often-observed correlations between welfare states and health. The paper argu...
Child: Care, Health and Development, 2020
BackgroundMandatory bicycle helmet and booster seat laws for children are now common across Canad... more BackgroundMandatory bicycle helmet and booster seat laws for children are now common across Canada and the United States. Previous research has found that despite legislation, child compliance is often low. Our objectives were to identify and compare children's perspectives on barriers to and facilitators of their use of bicycle helmets and booster seats.MethodsEleven focus groups were conducted with a total of 76 children; five groups of children between the ages of 4 and 8 years discussed booster seats and bicycle helmets, and six groups of children between the ages of 9 and 13 years discussed bicycle helmets. Efforts were made to include diverse participants from a variety of ethno‐cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.ResultsPoor fit and physical discomfort were most often described as barriers to bicycle helmet use. Helmet appearance was a barrier for some children but acted as a facilitator for others. Booster seat facilitators included convenient features such as drink c...
International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 2020
To date, little work has compared similarities and differences between parent and young people's ... more To date, little work has compared similarities and differences between parent and young people's perceptions of barriers to and facilitators of bicycle helmet and booster seat usage. Our goal was to conduct such a comparison in order to inform future safety campaigns. Eleven focus groups with a total of 68 parents and 11 focus groups with a total of 76 young people were conducted. Recruitment was conducted and focus groups were held in diverse neighbourhoods to facilitate participation by families from a variety of cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Overall, parents and their children agreed on 50% of the barriers identified for bicycle helmet use and approximately 40% of the barriers for booster seats. Barriers common to both types of equipment for parents and children included comfort, style and design, and fear of teasing. Common facilitators included perceived safety, and comfort. While there was considerable overlap between the perspectives of parents and young people, there were also differences, underscoring the importance of addressing both perspectives. The barriers and facilitators identified were modifiable to a large extent; based on these, recommendations for future injury prevention campaigns were outlined.
Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 2009
Taking the position that the structure of family policies plays a large role in shaping the lives... more Taking the position that the structure of family policies plays a large role in shaping the lives of families, this paper argues that comparative research should place even greater emphasis on approaching family policies as being components of a larger welfare state. In this way, cross-national comparisons of family policies and their impacts on the lives of families can take fuller advantage of well-established research on the factors that give rise to particular overall national policy approaches. In order to facilitate this, this paper contextualizes family policies within a welfare state regimes framework by analyzing characteristics of family policies using the method established by welfare state regimes theorists. In doing so, this analysis also focuses on the extent to which family policies reinforce various forms of class stratification, where most current analyses have seen family policies primarily as impacting on gender stratification. It is argued that this will be helpf...
Canadian Journal of Public Health, 2017
OBJECTIVES: Fatal accidents often lead to policy changes. However, the existing decision-making e... more OBJECTIVES: Fatal accidents often lead to policy changes. However, the existing decision-making environment is critical to policy responses. This study compares the policy responses to similar events in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The key question explores the extent to which the policy decisions in each province differ despite the similarity of the events. METHODS: Key documents were examined. Provincial court rulings, workplace health & safety incident investigation reports, court transcripts and police reports were used to compare resulting policy changes as well as the socio-political and economic decision-making context. Relevant clauses in resulting legislation were also compared to assess the specific changes that were made in each province. RESULTS: In each province, a young, female highway construction worker was killed. However, the provinces responded in very different ways. In Saskatchewan, the Premier called for recommendations to improve worker safety, initiating an in-depth governmental study and the development of a broad safety strategy. In Manitoba, political and social pressures shifted the decision-making environment and contributed to the rushed passing of a bill focused on traffic fine increases that resulted in record-breaking traffic fine revenue while failing to include broader safety measures. CONCLUSION: Different decision-making contexts can lead to vastly different policy outcomes even when responding to very similar events. Key differences included time constraints, access to information and the nature of the political process invoked.
SAGE Open, 2017
This article argues that understanding the relationship between welfare states and globalization ... more This article argues that understanding the relationship between welfare states and globalization can benefit from a "multitypological" approach, in which a number of typologies are applied side-by-side as summaries of the relationships between particular aspects of social policy and globalization. Findings suggest that different welfare state typologies predict different aspects of globalization. The article concludes that the analysis of the connection between welfare states and globalization can benefit not from attempting to identify the most accurate welfare state typology, but from understanding the unique contributions made by each one.
Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 2014
This paper argues that the concept of the liberal welfare state within welfare state regimes disc... more This paper argues that the concept of the liberal welfare state within welfare state regimes discourse fails to account for some important aspects of the historical development of liberalism. It is argued that two key aspects of liberalism have been neglected. First, that liberalism essentially arose in opposition to ascribed status, seeking to replace it with a form of “achieved” status. Second, that a major stream of historical liberalism sought to equalize individual opportunity by suggesting that the state should provide some basic social and economic supports to individuals in need. This paper uses OECD health data to identify welfare state clusters based on the measurement of welfare (rather than neo)liberalism. The emerging cluster model is then compared with other welfare state regime typologies with regard to its ability to predict important social and political outcomes. The paper concludes that the emerging “welfare-liberal” typology may be a better predictor of certain s...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2016
Motor vehicle collisions and bicycle collisions and falls are a leading cause of death by prevent... more Motor vehicle collisions and bicycle collisions and falls are a leading cause of death by preventable injury for children. In order to design, implement and evaluate campaigns and programs aimed at improving child safety, accurate surveillance is needed. This paper examined the challenges that confront efforts to collect surveillance data relevant to child traffic safety, including observation, interview, and focus group methods. Strategies to address key challenges in order to improve the efficiency and accuracy of surveillance methods were recommended. The potential for new technology to enhance existing surveillance methods was also explored.
Canadian Journal of Public Health-revue Canadienne De Sante Publique, Sep 1, 2017
OBJECTIVES: Fatal accidents often lead to policy changes. However, the existing decision-making e... more OBJECTIVES: Fatal accidents often lead to policy changes. However, the existing decision-making environment is critical to policy responses. This study compares the policy responses to similar events in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The key question explores the extent to which the policy decisions in each province differ despite the similarity of the events. METHODS: Key documents were examined. Provincial court rulings, workplace health & safety incident investigation reports, court transcripts and police reports were used to compare resulting policy changes as well as the socio-political and economic decision-making context. Relevant clauses in resulting legislation were also compared to assess the specific changes that were made in each province. RESULTS: In each province, a young, female highway construction worker was killed. However, the provinces responded in very different ways. In Saskatchewan, the Premier called for recommendations to improve worker safety, initiating an in-depth governmental study and the development of a broad safety strategy. In Manitoba, political and social pressures shifted the decision-making environment and contributed to the rushed passing of a bill focused on traffic fine increases that resulted in record-breaking traffic fine revenue while failing to include broader safety measures. CONCLUSION: Different decision-making contexts can lead to vastly different policy outcomes even when responding to very similar events. Key differences included time constraints, access to information and the nature of the political process invoked.
Journal of Comparative Family Studies, Jun 1, 2009
Taking the position that the structure of family policies plays a large role in shaping the lives... more Taking the position that the structure of family policies plays a large role in shaping the lives of families, this paper argues that comparative research should place even greater emphasis on approaching family policies as being components of a larger welfare state. In this way, cross-national comparisons of family policies and their impacts on the lives of families can take fuller advantage of well-established research on the factors that give rise to particular overall national policy approaches. In order to facilitate this, this paper contextualizes family policies within a welfare state regimes framework by analyzing characteristics of family policies using the method established by welfare state regimes theorists. In doing so, this analysis also focuses on the extent to which family policies reinforce various forms of class stratification, where most current analyses have seen family policies primarily as impacting on gender stratification. It is argued that this will be helpful in working toward an understanding of welfare state regime histories and characteristics as underlying key differences between national approaches to the welfare of families.
Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology, Jul 1, 2018
Welfare state regime typologies have proven useful in analyzing the impacts of various social pol... more Welfare state regime typologies have proven useful in analyzing the impacts of various social policy structures on health. Recently, several welfare state regime typologies have been identified as having relevance for the study of health. However, comparative research examining the relationships between population health and welfare states has relied disproportionately upon child-based health measures-in particular, infant mortality rate, under-5 mortality and low birthweight. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, eta, and ANOVA, this paper demonstrates that these commonly-used child-based health measures are more strongly correlated with welfare state regime typologies than other measures of population health. Adult mortality, life expectancy and disease measures are not strongly correlated with welfare state regime typologies, and greater use of such measures in comparative research may problematize the often-observed correlations between welfare states and health. The paper argues that the disproportionate use of child-based health measures may therefore present an incomplete picture of the connections between welfare state regimes and population health. Implications for theorizing the relationship between welfare states and health are discussed.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Jul 7, 2016
Motor vehicle collisions and bicycle collisions and falls are a leading cause of death by prevent... more Motor vehicle collisions and bicycle collisions and falls are a leading cause of death by preventable injury for children. In order to design, implement and evaluate campaigns and programs aimed at improving child safety, accurate surveillance is needed. This paper examined the challenges that confront efforts to collect surveillance data relevant to child traffic safety, including observation, interview, and focus group methods. Strategies to address key challenges in order to improve the efficiency and accuracy of surveillance methods were recommended. The potential for new technology to enhance existing surveillance methods was also explored.
Journal of international and comparative social policy, Oct 1, 2014
This paper argues that the concept of the liberal welfare state within welfare state regimes disc... more This paper argues that the concept of the liberal welfare state within welfare state regimes discourse fails to account for some important aspects of the historical development of liberalism. It is argued that two key aspects of liberalism have been neglected. First, that liberalism essentially arose in opposition to ascribed status, seeking to replace it with a form of “achieved” status. Second, that a major stream of historical liberalism sought to equalize individual opportunity by suggesting that the state should provide some basic social and economic supports to individuals in need. This paper uses OECD health data to identify welfare state clusters based on the measurement of welfare (rather than neo)liberalism. The emerging cluster model is then compared with other welfare state regime typologies with regard to its ability to predict important social and political outcomes. The paper concludes that the emerging “welfare-liberal” typology may be a better predictor of certain social and political outcomes than other regimes configurations, indicating the usefulness of considering alternative aspects of liberalism when examining welfare state regimes.
While welfare state regimes models have greatly increased our understanding of the social, politi... more While welfare state regimes models have greatly increased our understanding of the social, political, and historical factors that influence the development of divergent forms of social provision, they were developed around the analysis of labour market policies.1 The primary intent of this paper, therefore, is to examine family policies using a method commonly used by welfare state theorists in order to demonstrate that family-focused policies are largely connected to a country's overall approach to social welfare. In doing this, this paper focuses on the ways in which family policies reinforce certain forms of class stratification, where most current welfare state research stresses the impact family policies have on gender stratification.2 It will be argued that the congruence between family policy structures and overall national approaches to social welfare confirms that understanding family policy
Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology, 2018
Welfare state regime typologies have proven useful in analyzing the impacts of various social pol... more Welfare state regime typologies have proven useful in analyzing the impacts of various social policy structures on health. Recently, several welfare state regime typologies have been identified as having relevance for the study of health. However, comparative research examining the relationships between population health and welfare states has relied disproportionately upon child-based health measures – in particular, infant mortality rate, under-5 mortality and low birthweight. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, eta, and ANOVA, this paper demonstrates that these commonly-used child-based health measures are more strongly correlated with welfare state regime typologies than other measures of population health. Adult mortality, life expectancy and disease measures are not strongly correlated with welfare state regime typologies, and greater use of such measures in comparative research may problematize the often-observed correlations between welfare states and health. The paper argu...
Child: Care, Health and Development, 2020
BackgroundMandatory bicycle helmet and booster seat laws for children are now common across Canad... more BackgroundMandatory bicycle helmet and booster seat laws for children are now common across Canada and the United States. Previous research has found that despite legislation, child compliance is often low. Our objectives were to identify and compare children's perspectives on barriers to and facilitators of their use of bicycle helmets and booster seats.MethodsEleven focus groups were conducted with a total of 76 children; five groups of children between the ages of 4 and 8 years discussed booster seats and bicycle helmets, and six groups of children between the ages of 9 and 13 years discussed bicycle helmets. Efforts were made to include diverse participants from a variety of ethno‐cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.ResultsPoor fit and physical discomfort were most often described as barriers to bicycle helmet use. Helmet appearance was a barrier for some children but acted as a facilitator for others. Booster seat facilitators included convenient features such as drink c...
International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 2020
To date, little work has compared similarities and differences between parent and young people's ... more To date, little work has compared similarities and differences between parent and young people's perceptions of barriers to and facilitators of bicycle helmet and booster seat usage. Our goal was to conduct such a comparison in order to inform future safety campaigns. Eleven focus groups with a total of 68 parents and 11 focus groups with a total of 76 young people were conducted. Recruitment was conducted and focus groups were held in diverse neighbourhoods to facilitate participation by families from a variety of cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Overall, parents and their children agreed on 50% of the barriers identified for bicycle helmet use and approximately 40% of the barriers for booster seats. Barriers common to both types of equipment for parents and children included comfort, style and design, and fear of teasing. Common facilitators included perceived safety, and comfort. While there was considerable overlap between the perspectives of parents and young people, there were also differences, underscoring the importance of addressing both perspectives. The barriers and facilitators identified were modifiable to a large extent; based on these, recommendations for future injury prevention campaigns were outlined.
Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 2009
Taking the position that the structure of family policies plays a large role in shaping the lives... more Taking the position that the structure of family policies plays a large role in shaping the lives of families, this paper argues that comparative research should place even greater emphasis on approaching family policies as being components of a larger welfare state. In this way, cross-national comparisons of family policies and their impacts on the lives of families can take fuller advantage of well-established research on the factors that give rise to particular overall national policy approaches. In order to facilitate this, this paper contextualizes family policies within a welfare state regimes framework by analyzing characteristics of family policies using the method established by welfare state regimes theorists. In doing so, this analysis also focuses on the extent to which family policies reinforce various forms of class stratification, where most current analyses have seen family policies primarily as impacting on gender stratification. It is argued that this will be helpf...
Canadian Journal of Public Health, 2017
OBJECTIVES: Fatal accidents often lead to policy changes. However, the existing decision-making e... more OBJECTIVES: Fatal accidents often lead to policy changes. However, the existing decision-making environment is critical to policy responses. This study compares the policy responses to similar events in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The key question explores the extent to which the policy decisions in each province differ despite the similarity of the events. METHODS: Key documents were examined. Provincial court rulings, workplace health & safety incident investigation reports, court transcripts and police reports were used to compare resulting policy changes as well as the socio-political and economic decision-making context. Relevant clauses in resulting legislation were also compared to assess the specific changes that were made in each province. RESULTS: In each province, a young, female highway construction worker was killed. However, the provinces responded in very different ways. In Saskatchewan, the Premier called for recommendations to improve worker safety, initiating an in-depth governmental study and the development of a broad safety strategy. In Manitoba, political and social pressures shifted the decision-making environment and contributed to the rushed passing of a bill focused on traffic fine increases that resulted in record-breaking traffic fine revenue while failing to include broader safety measures. CONCLUSION: Different decision-making contexts can lead to vastly different policy outcomes even when responding to very similar events. Key differences included time constraints, access to information and the nature of the political process invoked.
SAGE Open, 2017
This article argues that understanding the relationship between welfare states and globalization ... more This article argues that understanding the relationship between welfare states and globalization can benefit from a "multitypological" approach, in which a number of typologies are applied side-by-side as summaries of the relationships between particular aspects of social policy and globalization. Findings suggest that different welfare state typologies predict different aspects of globalization. The article concludes that the analysis of the connection between welfare states and globalization can benefit not from attempting to identify the most accurate welfare state typology, but from understanding the unique contributions made by each one.
Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 2014
This paper argues that the concept of the liberal welfare state within welfare state regimes disc... more This paper argues that the concept of the liberal welfare state within welfare state regimes discourse fails to account for some important aspects of the historical development of liberalism. It is argued that two key aspects of liberalism have been neglected. First, that liberalism essentially arose in opposition to ascribed status, seeking to replace it with a form of “achieved” status. Second, that a major stream of historical liberalism sought to equalize individual opportunity by suggesting that the state should provide some basic social and economic supports to individuals in need. This paper uses OECD health data to identify welfare state clusters based on the measurement of welfare (rather than neo)liberalism. The emerging cluster model is then compared with other welfare state regime typologies with regard to its ability to predict important social and political outcomes. The paper concludes that the emerging “welfare-liberal” typology may be a better predictor of certain s...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2016
Motor vehicle collisions and bicycle collisions and falls are a leading cause of death by prevent... more Motor vehicle collisions and bicycle collisions and falls are a leading cause of death by preventable injury for children. In order to design, implement and evaluate campaigns and programs aimed at improving child safety, accurate surveillance is needed. This paper examined the challenges that confront efforts to collect surveillance data relevant to child traffic safety, including observation, interview, and focus group methods. Strategies to address key challenges in order to improve the efficiency and accuracy of surveillance methods were recommended. The potential for new technology to enhance existing surveillance methods was also explored.