Wilton Robert, Evans Joshua
School of Geography and Earth Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Work. 2018;61(4):561-574. doi: 10.3233/WOR-182826.
Many people living with mental illness want paid work, but finding and maintaining mainstream employment remains challenging. In recent decades, social enterprises have emerged as one alternative site for paid employment. Existing research has examined the experiences of people with mental illness working in social enterprises, but less is known about the organizational character of these workplaces.
The objective of this paper is to develop a better understanding of social enterprises as organizational contexts for workers with mental illness.
The research employed a qualitative methodology, conducting semi-structured interviews with executive directors and managers at 42 organizations operating 67 social enterprises across CanadaRESULTS:While there are strong similarities in organizational mandate to create meaningful employment there are also important variations between social enterprises. These include variations in size, economic activity and organizational structure, as well as differences in hours of work, rates of pay and the nature and extent of workplace accommodation. These variations reflect both immediate organizational contexts as well as broader economic constraints that enterprises confront.
Understanding the varied nature of social enterprises is important for thinking about future enterprise development, and the capacity of such organizations to create meaningful employment for people living with mental illness.
许多患有精神疾病的人希望从事有薪工作，但找到并维持主流就业仍然具有挑战性。近几十年来，社会企业已成为有薪就业的一个替代场所。现有研究考察了患有精神疾病的人在社会企业工作的经历，但对这些工作场所的组织特征了解较少。
本文的目的是更好地理解社会企业作为患有精神疾病的工人的组织环境。
该研究采用定性方法，对加拿大境内运营67家社会企业的42个组织的执行董事和经理进行了半结构化访谈。
虽然在创造有意义就业的组织使命方面有很强的相似性，但社会企业之间也存在重要差异。这些差异包括规模、经济活动和组织结构的差异，以及工作时间、工资率和工作场所便利设施的性质和程度的差异。这些差异既反映了直接的组织环境，也反映了企业面临的更广泛的经济限制。
了解社会企业的多样性质对于思考未来企业发展以及此类组织为患有精神疾病的人创造有意义就业的能力很重要。
