tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/occupations-53370/articlesOccupations – The Conversation2020-07-29T19:59:30Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1436102020-07-29T19:59:30Z2020-07-29T19:59:30ZMapping COVID-19 spread in Melbourne shows link to job types and ability to stay home<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350095/original/file-20200729-25-m7fr21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5742%2C3819&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/workers-handle-meat-organizing-packing-shipping-559442095">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 provides a stark reminder of inequity and the spread of disease. These aren’t new ideas and can be traced back to <a href="https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/library-and-publications/library/blog/mapping-disease-john-snow-and-cholera/">John Snow’s cholera maps</a> and <a href="https://booth.lse.ac.uk/learn-more/who-was-charles-booth">Charles Booth</a> and his <a href="https://booth.lse.ac.uk/map/14/-0.1174/51.5064/100/0">colour-coded maps of occupation types</a> and poverty in the 19th century. Today, as <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-records-532-new-cases-of-coronavirus-six-more-deaths-20200727-p55fqa.html">case numbers soar</a> in Melbourne, large clusters of COVID-19 cases have been identified across the northern and western suburbs, raising questions about occupation types and socio-economic differences across the city. </p>
<p>One of the most important messages from government during the pandemic has been to work from home if you can. Though what happens if your work isn’t suited to this? </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/two-weeks-into-melbournes-lockdown-why-arent-covid-19-case-numbers-going-down-142990">Two weeks into Melbourne's lockdown, why aren't COVID-19 case numbers going down?</a>
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<p>Snow and Booth were forefathers of modern geographical information systems (GIS) analysis. It’s a powerful tool for mapping and visualising differences or inequities across cities and the spread of disease. We mapped the connection between occupation types, indicating the ability to work from home, and the locations of COVID-19 cases across Melbourne in the recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/victoria-is-undeniably-in-a-second-wave-of-covid-19-its-time-to-plan-for-another-statewide-lockdown-142047">second wave</a>.</p>
<h2>Why is equity a health issue?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-30/victoria-coronavirus-hotspot-local-lockdowns-in-melbourne/12407138">Hotspot suburbs</a> were first identified and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-30/victoria-coronavirus-hotspot-local-lockdowns-in-melbourne/12407138">ring-fenced</a> in early July. A hard lockdown was applied to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/05/what-we-know-about-victorias-coronavirus-public-housing-tower-hard-lockdowns">3,000 residents of nine high-density public housing estates</a> in inner Melbourne. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-30/coronavirus-covid-victoria-local-hotspot-suburban-lockdowns/12404010">Ring fencing</a> is a powerful method of containing a disease. It’s most appropriate where a specific location has a distinctive pattern of risk. It should also be applied without bias. </p>
<p>As the public housing towers lockdown reminded us, there is an <a href="https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/be-healthy/what-is-equity-and-how-has-coronavirus-impacted-it">inequity in health</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-lives-matter-melbourne-public-housing-residents-talk-about-why-covid-19-hits-them-hard-142901">Our lives matter – Melbourne public housing residents talk about why COVID-19 hits them hard</a>
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<p>Many people associate equality with treating everyone the same regardless of their needs. This is very different to equity, which is about treating people according to their needs. Unlike equality, equity is providing people with extra help when it is needed. </p>
<p>The picture below makes the concept of equity easier to understand. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349548/original/file-20200727-37-1qgxnoj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Illustration of equity by showing how standing on crates enables children of different heights to look over the people in front of them and see the action on a sports field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349548/original/file-20200727-37-1qgxnoj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349548/original/file-20200727-37-1qgxnoj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349548/original/file-20200727-37-1qgxnoj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349548/original/file-20200727-37-1qgxnoj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349548/original/file-20200727-37-1qgxnoj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349548/original/file-20200727-37-1qgxnoj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349548/original/file-20200727-37-1qgxnoj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://medium.com/@CRA1G/the-evolution-of-an-accidental-meme-ddc4e139e0e4#.tm1cbg2vn">Craig Froehle/Medium</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>In the context of this pandemic, a recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/overcrowding-and-affordability-stress-melbournes-covid-19-hotspots-are-also-housing-crisis-hotspots-141381">discussion of housing affordability</a> raised the issue of equality versus equity. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/overcrowding-and-affordability-stress-melbournes-covid-19-hotspots-are-also-housing-crisis-hotspots-141381">Overcrowding and affordability stress: Melbourne's COVID-19 hotspots are also housing crisis hotspots</a>
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<p>We see a stark difference between the <a href="https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus-update-victoria-19-april-2020">initial transmission</a> of COVID-19 and the second wave. The earliest cases were concentrated in Melbourne’s wealthier areas and associated with international travel. In the second wave we have seen a different pattern of spread across disadvantaged areas of Melbourne. </p>
<p>This pattern is possibly linked to inequity associated with living and work conditions. People with higher education tend to work in occupations that often enable them to work from home, making it easier to self-isolate. </p>
<p>Outer areas of Melbourne have had more cases of COVID-19 cases in the second wave and this might be associated with job types and education levels. Residents living in inner areas of Melbourne are more likely to hold tertiary qualifications needed for occupations more suited to working from home.</p>
<h2>What does mapping reveal?</h2>
<p>We analysed Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data on <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/1220.0First%20Edition,%20Revision%201?OpenDocument">employment types</a> from the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations. We identified 93 major occupation types suitable for working from home. </p>
<p>We linked and mapped these occupation data along with COVID-19 incidence according to local government areas. The map below shows data from July 16. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350048/original/file-20200728-35-3jkb86.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of incidence of COVID-19 cases across Melbourne and proportion of people in occupations able to work from home by local government area." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350048/original/file-20200728-35-3jkb86.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350048/original/file-20200728-35-3jkb86.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350048/original/file-20200728-35-3jkb86.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350048/original/file-20200728-35-3jkb86.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350048/original/file-20200728-35-3jkb86.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350048/original/file-20200728-35-3jkb86.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350048/original/file-20200728-35-3jkb86.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Data: DHHS, July 16</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350051/original/file-20200728-31-15kqxes.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Legend for map: size of red dots shows number of COVID-19 cases, darker areas indicate more people in occupations able to work from home." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350051/original/file-20200728-31-15kqxes.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350051/original/file-20200728-31-15kqxes.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1187&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350051/original/file-20200728-31-15kqxes.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1187&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350051/original/file-20200728-31-15kqxes.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1187&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350051/original/file-20200728-31-15kqxes.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350051/original/file-20200728-31-15kqxes.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350051/original/file-20200728-31-15kqxes.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>The map reveals lower proportions (shown by lighter-coloured areas) of people employed in occupations suitable for working from home in many outer northern and western areas of Melbourne. In particular, the proportion is low in Hume, one of the local government areas where COVID-19 cases have been concentrated. </p>
<p>In the inner and outer eastern areas of Melbourne, residents are more likely to be able to work from home. Nillumbik in the outer north-east has the highest proportion of people able to work remotely. It has very few cases of COVID-19. </p>
<p>Greater Dandenong is an exception to this pattern. As a manufacturing hub for Melbourne, it has a low proportion of people in occupations suitable from working from home, but has few cases. </p>
<p>COVID-19 is spread through community transmission or close contact with others who are infected, as happened in meatworks factory clusters in northern and western Melbourne. Greater Dandenong may have been protected by the small number of cases across south-eastern Melbourne where more residents have occupations suitable for working from home. </p>
<p>The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services updates <a href="https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=172fec44be524ac29465587cef130363#overview">COVID-19 incidence data</a> hourly. We first sourced data on July 16, a week after the Melbourne-wide lockdown began, to understand the patterns of occupation types and COVID-19 clusters as they evolved. To continue monitoring, we have developed a data dashboard, which is shown below. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349801/original/file-20200728-27-1iif1lf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Data dashboard showing incidence of COVID-19 cases by local government areas" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349801/original/file-20200728-27-1iif1lf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349801/original/file-20200728-27-1iif1lf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=227&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349801/original/file-20200728-27-1iif1lf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=227&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349801/original/file-20200728-27-1iif1lf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=227&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349801/original/file-20200728-27-1iif1lf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349801/original/file-20200728-27-1iif1lf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349801/original/file-20200728-27-1iif1lf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://auo.org.au/">Ori Gudes</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>We hope this <a href="https://insights.arcgis.com/#/view/abea79c8d14b43f6be0dcad1bf4beb54">data dashboard</a> will be released in coming days with updated data.</p>
<h2>Using inclusive data to protect everyone</h2>
<p>The related patterns of occupations and COVID-19 incidence remind us of the importance of the well-known <a href="https://theconversation.com/your-local-train-station-can-predict-health-and-death-54946">relationships between health and place</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/your-local-train-station-can-predict-health-and-death-54946">Your local train station can predict health and death</a>
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<p>This pandemic takes advantage of inequity and our most vulnerable communities. It shows us why we must include the full spectrum of society (not only those we know best) when we make decisions, communicate and ask people to work from home. </p>
<p>Many workers are engaged in casual and insecure employment and work is a critical determinant of health. Our mapping provides evidence that can help authorities decide where and how to focus preventive measures when planning public health interventions. </p>
<p>These <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/84672a7bc6fe44c9824f0364d6cbab04">methods</a> of GIS analysis and easily understood maps should be freely available. The community will then be able to interrogate the data so they can realise in close to real time the rationale for public health directives. </p>
<p>These same principles have been used to understand health and liveability in cities though the <a href="https://auo.org.au/">Australian Urban Observatory</a> to inform city planning. </p>
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<p><em>We thank Weijia Liu of UNSW for assisting with data collection in this study. The updated data dashboard can be seen <a href="https://insights.arcgis.com/#/view/abea79c8d14b43f6be0dcad1bf4beb54">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143610/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Davern receives funding from the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub supported by the National Environmental Science Program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary-Louise McLaws is member of the World Health Oganization Infection Prevention and Control Guidance Development Group for COVID-19. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ori Gudes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Not everyone has a job they can do from home. Mapping the patterns of occupations across Melbourne’s suburbs against COVID-19 cases strongly suggests why some parts of the city are more vulnerable.Melanie Davern, Senior Research Fellow, Director Australian Urban Observatory, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT UniversityMary-Louise McLaws, Professor of Epidemiology Healthcare Infection and Infectious Diseases Control, UNSW SydneyOri Gudes, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1333082020-03-17T12:13:10Z2020-03-17T12:13:10ZTelecommuting could curb the coronavirus epidemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319444/original/file-20200309-58017-1cx4tae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Less than 30% of the workforce has the ability to work from home.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/telecommute?agreements=pa:77130&family=creative&license=rf&phrase=telecommute&sort=best#license">Westend61/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319446/original/file-20200309-64601-4w37x9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319446/original/file-20200309-64601-4w37x9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319446/original/file-20200309-64601-4w37x9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319446/original/file-20200309-64601-4w37x9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319446/original/file-20200309-64601-4w37x9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319446/original/file-20200309-64601-4w37x9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319446/original/file-20200309-64601-4w37x9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>Recent surveys from both <a href="https://nhts.ornl.gov/2009/pub/Codebook.pdf">the National Household Transportation Survey</a>
and <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/flex2.nr0.htm">the Bureau of Labor Statistics</a> indicate that around 29% of the United States workforce has the option to work at home, and around 15% usually does so.</p>
<p>Working from home pays a double dividend during a pandemic. First, it can help to limit the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus. This supports organizations’ efforts to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/03/03/811728989/coronavirus-cancellations-and-travel-bans-google-is-latest">limit travel and major public events</a>, and <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/55865732-60cb-11ea-b3f3-fe4680ea68b5">more assertive efforts by governments in badly affected regions to restrict population movement altogether</a>. </p>
<p>Restricting travel and canceling events have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/risa.12625?casa_token=kHXvEn9cTywAAAAA%3AhQVdf0tGXIH0Yxs9hSqwpILdyHbJ1b-Vsdyg7HdO7RANGSs0_jSNYWYAKdS4uSqiADYZAd89iXpD5zQ">substantial costs</a> at a time when businesses are already dealing with absences due to illnesses. Allowing people to <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811025662">work from home can help cut</a> some of these losses. </p>
<p>There are many jobs that can be conducted only at a place of work. For example, a dentist can perform a root canal only at an office, a bus driver must drive a bus and a longshoreman must travel to a port. </p>
<p>However, recent advances in digital technologies, software and networks have made working from home much easier. Now many can conduct all or a portion of their work at home, and the data show that <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/flex2.t03.htm">some workers from all occupations and industries work from home at some point during the week</a>. What this means is that even the most physical of industries have some jobs or portions of jobs that can be conducted remotely, even if part-time.</p>
<p>Researchers estimate that <a href="https://globalworkplaceanalytics.com">at least 50% of the workforce</a> has a job that is compatible with working at home for a portion of the week, such as those in sales, legal, media and military occupations. This workforce could contribute to the economy and limit their exposure to the coronavirus.</p>
<p>The limited uptake of working at home has more to do with managerial resistance <a href="https://theconversation.com/telecommuters-create-positive-change-so-why-arent-employers-more-flexible-about-people-working-from-home-127488">than the type of work itself</a>. When organizations come together and government provides the necessary resources, flexible workplace strategies have been successful in helping ease traffic during major events such as <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-olympics-transportation-20170805-htmlstory.html">the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics</a> and maintaining government services during catastrophic weather events such as <a href="https://wtop.com/gallery/weather-news/when-dc-froze-remembering-snowmageddon-10-years-later/">Snowmageddon in 2010</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Insight, in your inbox each day.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=insight">You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133308/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two transportation scholars argue that telecommuting could play an important role in solving the coronavirus crisis.Mohja Rhoads, Research Consultant and Lecturer in Policy, Planning and Development, California State University, Dominguez HillsFynnwin Prager, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, California State University, Dominguez HillsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1245542019-11-21T10:03:27Z2019-11-21T10:03:27ZPeople seeking asylum can have a better life – lift the ban on work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302202/original/file-20191118-66937-1lmojiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=155%2C97%2C6332%2C4221&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/female-warehouse-worker-helmet-safety-vest-679330939?src=ea77f526-27e8-4ece-8cc2-45ce89ade82d-1-33">metamorworks/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Seeking asylum is associated with many hardships. But one of the most significant is actually the challenge of finding meaningful ways to spend your time. People can find themselves waiting for an <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308022615591174">asylum decision for many years</a>, facing multiple barriers, struggling to fill the hours in their days and feeling they exist on the margins of society.</p>
<p>Indeed, daily occupations – such as family life, self-care, work, leisure and community participation – are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2018.1492958">how many people find purpose</a>, express themselves and connect with others. Research shows that finding the right kind of daily occupation has the potential to help people cope with the major adjustments of asylum and successfully negotiate daily <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2012.717499">life in their new context</a>.</p>
<p>For people seeking asylum though, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1539449216668648">opportunities for work</a> are often <a href="https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Lift-the-Ban-report.pdf">restricted by asylum policies</a> in their host country. This – along with reduced access to education, leisure and social networks – can mean that accessing opportunities becomes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2017.1373256">very difficult</a> and that people’s skills, experience and passions dwindle. All of which can lead to limited community integration, <a href="https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Lift-the-Ban-report.pdf">poor mental health and vulnerability to exploitation</a>. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-uk-asylum-system-creates-perfect-conditions-for-modern-slavery-and-exploitation-to-thrive-113778">How UK asylum system creates perfect conditions for modern slavery and exploitation to thrive</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/lift-the-ban/">Despite repeated calls</a> for greater access to opportunities like work and education, successive governments in the UK have reduced access through populist policies designed to create a “<a href="https://www.freemovement.org.uk/hostile-environment-affect/">hostile environment</a>” for immigrants. This leads to a waste of the skills and potential of many people.</p>
<h2>Finding meaning and purpose</h2>
<p>In my <a href="https://research.tees.ac.uk/en/persons/claire-hart/studentTheses/">recent research</a> with people seeking asylum in Teesside in north-east England, I found that people wanted more than just “something to do”. Indeed, many people were searching for opportunities to “not only keep busy, but keep busy with purpose”. They described the frustration of “low challenge occupations” – such as watching television or cleaning the house – which fill time but offer little satisfaction. Instead they were searching for activities that presented opportunities to find meaning and purpose.</p>
<p>Which activities offer meaning and purpose will vary from person to person but, generally, people are motivated to do things that promote feelings of <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work">productivity</a>), <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2013.764580">connectedness</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2019.1592011">continuity</a> and <a href="https://research.tees.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/6325913/THESIS_post_viva_amendments_.pdf">self-worth</a>. Meaningful occupations can give feelings of achievement and mastery. They can provide connections to family, networks and community, so that people feel valued. They can also provide continuity between past, present and future. Together this creates a sense of productivity, belonging and a consistent life path.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302201/original/file-20191118-66937-8fv2zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302201/original/file-20191118-66937-8fv2zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302201/original/file-20191118-66937-8fv2zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302201/original/file-20191118-66937-8fv2zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302201/original/file-20191118-66937-8fv2zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302201/original/file-20191118-66937-8fv2zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302201/original/file-20191118-66937-8fv2zi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of the ugly realities of the British asylum system lies in the work ban placed on people awaiting a decision on their asylum claim.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/political-graffiti-uk-time-when-antiimmigration-1797159?src=5d7d496e-e1ae-4535-86e2-9744da7aa42f-1-9">Chris Loneragan/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Yet, each of these crucial elements is undermined during forced migration. Policies and practicalities leave people without the means to feel productive through <a href="http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN01908/SN01908.pdf">work or education</a>. The absence of family, networks and community <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2012.717499">undermines their sense of belonging</a>. Rapid change and <a href="http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/uk-public-opinion-toward-immigration-overall-attitudes-and-level-of-concern/">limited choice halt their feeling of continuity</a> and hostile attitudes leave them feeling devalued.</p>
<p>Meaningful occupations provide a means to resist these challenges, allowing people to hold onto a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2012.717497">sense of self and maintain wellbeing</a>. Projects promoting occupation for people seeking asylum are numerous. Activities can include <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2017/jun/28/nhs-therapeutic-gardening-help-refugees-trauma">gardening</a>, <a href="https://www.migrateful.org/2019/03/27/2695/">cookery</a>, <a href="https://soas.hubbub.net/p/storiesofhome/">creative writing</a>, <a href="https://thebikeproject.co.uk/pages/refugee">cycling </a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/apr/12/middlesbrough-refugees-football-community">football</a> – all of which foster meaning through structure, purpose, belonging and identity. </p>
<h2>‘More than just an asylum seeker’</h2>
<p>Occupations are so much part of everyday life that their value is often taken for granted. Humans are occupational beings. We use our daily activities to demonstrate our assets and strengths, connect with others and express our values. <a href="https://www.wfot.org/resources/human-rights">Access to occupation is considered a human right</a>. As previous research has highlighted, it enables people to “flourish, fulfil their potential and experience satisfaction”.</p>
<p>Through meaningful occupation, people seeking asylum <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1539449216668648">can experience</a> improved physical and mental health, maintain essential skills and integrate with their host community. It can also help to bring people together and provide opportunities for them to express their identity, to become “more than an asylum seeker”. Finding meaning in everyday life makes the hardships of asylum more tolerable. It also allows people to retain more of themselves to <a href="https://medium.com/becoming-alight/the-refugee-rethink-part-4-what-if-maslow-was-wrong-27eb49707548">take forward into their future</a>.</p>
<p>At a time when forced migration is at its <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/globaltrends2018/">highest recorded level</a>, more practical solutions to the lengthy, passive wait for asylum decisions must be found. This is important, as denying people opportunities is associated with many negatives. It is a costly, wasteful approach based on draconian and ill-considered policies, designed for their rhetoric rather than their common sense. The call for people seeking asylum to be allowed to work <a href="https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Lift-the-Ban-report.pdf">is growing</a>. But in the meantime, there must be easier access to a range of alternative occupations to help lessen the impact this limbo period has on people, their families and the wider community.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124554/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Claire Hart received funding from United Kingdom Occupational Therapy Research Foundation to carry out this study.</span></em></p>People can find themselves waiting for an asylum decision for many years, facing multiple barriers and struggling to fill the hours in their days.Helen Claire Hart, Principal Lecturer (Research & Innovation), Teesside UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1195772019-07-01T10:53:43Z2019-07-01T10:53:43ZThe US economy likely just entered its longest ever expansion – here’s who’s benefiting in 3 charts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281918/original/file-20190630-105200-1553v13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not everyone gets an equal share. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">TimeShops/Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.bea.gov/news/glance">U.S. economy</a> likely surpassed an important milestone last month: <a href="https://www.ai-cio.com/news/economic-expansion-sets-twin-records-length-weakness/">Americans are now experiencing</a> the <a href="https://www.nber.org/cycles.html">longest economic expansion</a> in the nation’s history, assuming the <a href="https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gross-domestic-product">data still being collected</a> bears this out. </p>
<p>This is certainly good news and something to celebrate. But, as an <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/author/Pressman%2C+Steven">economist who focuses on income inequality</a>, I believe it’s important to look deeper into the data to see who really has gained from this record economy. </p>
<p>Economic growth represents two things – how much more the U.S. economy produces from one year to the next and how much more income Americans have relative to the previous year. </p>
<p>These are two sides of the same coin. When items get produced and sold, businesses and ultimately workers receive income. In theory, economic growth should represent a higher standard of living for Americans. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, economic growth during the current expansion has neither been deep nor broadly distributed among most Americans. </p>
<h2>1. A shallow expansion</h2>
<p>First, the shallow part. </p>
<p>The economy grew an average of just <a href="https://www.ai-cio.com/news/economic-expansion-sets-twin-records-length-weakness/">2.3% a year</a> since the <a href="https://www.nber.org/cycles.html">expansion began in June 2009</a>, at the end of the Great Recession. That’s <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/IN10520.pdf">almost half the 4.3% average growth rate</a> of the 10 previous economic expansions since World War II. </p>
<p><iframe id="bHrIu" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/bHrIu/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>2. CEOs vs. teachers</h2>
<p>More troublesome is the fact that the record economic growth has not been broadly shared. </p>
<p>Economic growth figures summarize what is happening overall and on average. But averages can be deceptive. If <a href="https://paywizard.org/salary/vip-check/celebrities-world-richest-people/bill-gates">Bill Gates</a> walks into a soup kitchen, average incomes will suddenly far exceed US$1 million. But this figure poorly describes the economic condition of those eating there.</p>
<p>To gauge the breadth of our economic expansion, we need to look at how its economic gains have been distributed. Over the past decade, <a href="https://eml.berkeley.edu/%7Esaez/saez-UStopincomes-2014.pdf">60% of all income gains have gone to the top 1%</a>, roughly those making more than $500,000 a year. Income gains for everyone else has been less than 5%, or under 1% per year. </p>
<p>The narrowness of the current economic expansion can be seen by focusing in on two occupations: secondary school teachers and CEOs at companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500.</p>
<p>Teachers make average salaries despite having <a href="https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/educational-attainment.htm">significantly above average education levels</a>. Since the current economic recovery began, inflation-adjusted salaries of secondary school teachers declined slightly to $64,340 in 2018, down about 0.3%. </p>
<p>In sharp contrast, median pay including non-salary compensation for the top CEOs in the U.S. jumped an inflation-adjusted 65% since 2009 to a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/many-s-p-500-ceos-got-a-raise-in-2018-that-lifted-their-pay-to-1-million-a-month-11552820400">record $12.4 million</a> in 2018. </p>
<p><iframe id="BDLJr" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/BDLJr/12/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Flat wages and rising CEO pay help explain why the ratio of CEO pay to median wages at the largest 350 companies by sales <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/07/20/ceo-pay-ratio-2016/">has soared from 200 to 271 times average worker wages</a> during the present economic recovery.</p>
<h2>3. Where the wealth went</h2>
<p>What is true of income is also true of wealth. </p>
<p>Wealth is distributed even more unequally than income and has grown worse during the current economic expansion. While all income groups have experienced gains since 2009, the biggest beneficiaries of the economic expansion by far have been the very richest families. </p>
<p><iframe id="XhHsi" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/XhHsi/9/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>One main reason for this is that the rich have a large share of their wealth in financial assets, such as stock shares, <a href="https://www.spindices.com/indices/equity/sp-500-growth">which have nearly doubled</a> in price since their peak before the Great Recession.</p>
<p>In contrast, middle-income households <a href="https://247wallst.com/economy/2018/10/04/how-much-of-americans-personal-wealth-is-tied-up-in-their-home/">have most of their wealth</a> tied up in their home. </p>
<p>While home prices have gone up a lot in big cities on the coasts, <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CSUSHPISA">average home prices are up only 13%</a> since their pre-Great Recession peak in 2006 – <a href="https://www.usinflationcalculator.com">that’s less than the inflation rate</a> over the same period. What’s more, many families are still living in homes <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2019.1603765">with little or no equity</a>.</p>
<h2>Spreading the prosperity</h2>
<p>Of course, financial metrics aren’t the only ones worth looking at to see who benefited from a growing economy. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k5118">Life expectancy</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/5/22/17376536/fertility-rate-united-states-births-women">fertility rates</a> have been falling in recent years, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22066128">particularly among those at the bottom</a> of the income and wealth distribution.</p>
<p>And more young adults are <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/05/a-record-64-million-americans-live-in-multigenerational-households/">living with their parents</a> and <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/09/24/record-share-of-americans-have-never-married">delaying marriage</a>. </p>
<p>These are things that normally happen during economic recessions and depressions.</p>
<p>One positive trend during the current economic expansion has been the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/upshot/why-america-may-already-have-its-highest-minimum-wage.html">gains for workers in low-wage occupations</a>. However, these gains have not occurred because of the economic expansion. Rather, they are the result of <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Minimum_wage_increases_in_2019">policy choices</a> made by legislators in dozens of states such as California, Colorado and New Jersey and cities such as New York and Seattle that raised their minimum wages in the face of national inability to do so. </p>
<p>Ideally, everyone gains equally from an economic expansion, regardless of its length. And gains need to be broad and deep because expansions do not last forever. </p>
<p>Overall, a well-performing economy should be one where most families take two steps forward during expansions and one step back during recessions. But that’s not America’s reality today.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119577/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Pressman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Most of the gains from the record economy went to those at the top, while everyone else saw much smaller gains – if any – in income and wealth.Steven Pressman, Professor of Economics, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/961732018-05-08T20:22:36Z2018-05-08T20:22:36ZThe preferred jobs of serial killers and psychopaths<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218671/original/file-20180512-184630-j6ffcd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">blank</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The recent and startling arrest of the elusive <a href="http://people.com/crime/golden-state-killer-behind-investigation-arrest/">Golden State Killer</a>, aka the East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker/Diamond Knot Killer/Visalia Ransacker in what was arguably the most vexing and disturbing constellation of interlinked cold cases in American history, has raised more questions than answers. </p>
<p>One question is how a serial burglar, rapist and murderer could operate in so many jurisdictions simultaneously and, much like <a href="http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/paul-bernardo-and-karla-homolka-case/">the case of Paul Bernardo</a> in Canada, have law enforcement officials so myopically overlook the connections among his crimes in several different cities.</p>
<p>Another question is, of course, how a police officer like <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5688023/Judge-OKs-taking-DNA-photos-Golden-State-Killer-suspect.html">Joseph DeAngelo</a>, the accused Golden State Killer who makes his next court appearance on May 14, could be capable of such sadistic brutality throughout a large portion of his brief and troubled law enforcement career. </p>
<p>Similar questions have been raised in the past about other serial offenders, killers whose innocuous and even virtuous jobs seemed to belie the horrors they committed while hiding behind a veneer of respectability. That includes the infamous Canadian <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/that-one-time-a-canadian-air-force-pilot-who-was-also-a-serial-killer-flew-queen-elizabeth-2015-9">Col. Russell Williams</a> (who once piloted a VIP aircraft whose passengers included Queen Elizabeth) to lesser-known computer store owner and prominent Nashville businessman <a href="https://casetext.com/case/state-v-steeples">Tom Steeples</a>, who killed three people for thrills before committing suicide while in police custody. </p>
<p>But in fact, occupations and serial murders are often linked, and some specific full-time and part-time jobs are strangely over-represented among serial killers. So much so, in fact, that over the last 50 years, some dominant patterns have emerged. </p>
<p>As detailed in my recent book, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/551497/murder-in-plain-english-by-michael-arntfield-and-marcel-danesi/9781633882539/"><em>Murder in Plain English</em>,</a> these same occupations are commonly broken down into four categories based on skill, training and turnover. Some of them might surprise you, others not.</p>
<h2>Serial killer job breakdown</h2>
<p><strong>—</strong> Top 3 Skilled Serial-Killer Occupations: 1. Aircraft machinist/assembler; 2. Shoemaker/repair person; 3. Automobile upholsterer</p>
<p><strong>—</strong> Top 3 Semi-Skilled Serial Killer Occupations: 1. Forestry worker/arborist; 2. Truck driver; 3. Warehouse manager </p>
<p><strong>—</strong> Top 3 Unskilled Serial Killer Occupations: 1. General labourer (mover, landscaper, et. al.); 2. Hotel porter; 3. Gas station attendant</p>
<p><strong>—</strong> Top 3 Professional/Government Serial Killer Occupations: 1. Police/security official; 2. Military personnel; 3. Religious official </p>
<p>Obviously, not everyone occupying these jobs is a serial killer, nor are they likely to become one.</p>
<p>But there’s something about these jobs that is inherently appealing to offenders, or that otherwise cultivates the impulses of serial killers-in-waiting and causes them to be curiously over-represented among this rare breed of murderer. </p>
<p>DeAngelo, the alleged Golden State Killer, for instance, actually held down three of these jobs over the course of his lifetime: Police officer, military personnel (he was previously in the U.S. navy), and, peripherally, truck driver, although his post-police career (he was fired in 1979 for shoplifting) was spent mostly as a mechanic for a fleet of grocery store freezer trucks. </p>
<h2>Bygone era</h2>
<p>A closer look at the these occupations reveals a bygone era in terms of available jobs — occupations that, while once common and accessible to killers in the ‘60s, '70s and '80s —are now largely obsolete. The job market is changing; with that, so is the disturbing but legitimate nexus between murder and labour. </p>
<p>The shift toward a service-based, tech-driven and typically contractual economy, what is often called <a href="https://www.laborrights.org/issues/precarious-work">precarious work</a>, along with the disappearance of once traditional career paths will obviously have profound effects not only on the jobs held by offenders but also how they acquire their victims. </p>
<p>As discussed in my forthcoming book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Monster-City-Murder-Mayhem-Nashvilles/dp/1503952886"><em>Monster City</em></a>, there was a precipitous surge in serial murder in Nashville with the rise of the “new” country music scene in the '80s and '90s, giving would-be killers access to new victims. </p>
<p>Serial killers once used the guise of their employment to stalk and acquire specific victims or types of victims (<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/btk-serial-killer-inside-confessional-new-book-w439143">Dennis Rader</a>, <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/29/local/la-me-i-5-strangler-20110629">Roger Kibbe</a> and <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-07-18/news/0707170835_1_truck-arrest-town">Bruce Mendenhall</a> all immediately come to mind). But <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01490400.2017.1384941">new research</a> suggests that leisure activities like music, including online interactions, may be the new avenue through which serial killers troll for their victims.</p>
<p>It’s also where they mentally rehearse their crimes amid a shrinking offline public sphere and work world. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217791/original/file-20180504-166890-wuilpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this artist’s sketch, alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur makes an appearance via video in a Toronto courtroom in April 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alexandra Newbould</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The result is that we are likely to see, returning once again to alleged Toronto serial killer <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/alleged-serial-killer-bruce-mcarthur-s-latest-victim-came-to-canada-on-mv-sun-sea-to-protect-his-life-1.4622216">Bruce McArthur</a>, blurred occupational-recreational categories involving both online and offline dimensions — a new paradigm that will force us to adjust the list of the most common jobs among serial killers. </p>
<p>The caveat, of course, is that a single defining occupation is in continuous flux. Could “occupation,” for instance, denote a primary vocation, a part-time avocation or even just a paid hobby or pastime? </p>
<h2>Pastimes as well as professions?</h2>
<p>Might it also include an unpaid pastime by which a person defines himself or herself? </p>
<p>A quick perusal of top LinkedIn “influencers” and “open networkers,” for example, suggests many people actually list their passions or pastimes and not their paid jobs as their primary occupation.</p>
<p>In McArthur’s case, we see that while he conforms to the “general labourer” category, as a landscaper and not just a grass-cutter, as well as the owner of his own company, he also fits no clear vocational definition. </p>
<p>And yet, as we already know from the morbid mass grave recovered from a client’s home on Mallory Crescent in Toronto, the occupation of the accused was central to his alleged offences and how he reportedly disposed of victims — it was integral to his apparent modus operandi. </p>
<p>So while many killers use their employment as a pretext to acquire vulnerable victims, obtain information or cultivate violent fantasies for reasons we still don’t fully understand (“Milwaukee Cannibal” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/18/us/15-life-terms-and-no-parole-for-dahmer.html">Jeffrey Dahmer</a> once admitted that his work as a chocolate factory machinist awakened homicidal and necrophilic urges he had otherwise suppressed), in McArthur’s case, occupation was the back-end to his alleged crimes, not the inspiration for them.</p>
<h2>What about the psychopaths?</h2>
<p>As we begin to redraw the map of serial murder and career paths, it might also be useful to look at the otherwise better-known index of occupations over-represented among psychopaths. </p>
<p>While not all psychopaths are serial killers, psychopathy — or at the very least, the possession of psychopathic traits — is a common denominator among serial killers, sex offenders and most violent criminals. Have a look at the Top 10 occupations <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/these-10-jobs-attract-the-most-psychopaths-a6692656.html">according to an Oxford University psychologist</a>:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>CEO or business executive</p></li>
<li><p>Lawyer</p></li>
<li><p>Media personality</p></li>
<li><p>Salesperson</p></li>
<li><p>Surgeon</p></li>
<li><p>Journalist or news anchor</p></li>
<li><p>Police officer</p></li>
<li><p>Religious official</p></li>
<li><p>Chef</p></li>
<li><p>Miscellaneous civil servant (military, city council, corrections, etc.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>In overlaying the two lists, we can see that even amid a perpetually changing economy, certain jobs are always likely to appeal to those people we will later be stunned to learn managed to carry on that type of work while also being monsters in our midst. </p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story originally published May 8, 2018. The earlier story described Bruce McArthur as a landscape architect instead of a landscaper.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96173/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Arntfield does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The arrest of former cop Joseph DeAngelo in the Golden State Killer case raises questions about the common occupations of killers and psychopaths. Canada’s Russell Williams was a former military officer.Michael Arntfield, Associate Professor of Criminology & English Literature, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.