an article by Gaël Laurans and Pieter M.A. Desmet (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands) published in Journal of Design Research Volume 15 Number 3/4 (2018)
Abstract
Graphical self-report tools are increasingly used to collect data on users’ emotional responses to products, yet most of these tools have only undergone minimal validation.
A systematic set of animations was developed to allow participants in design research and other fields to report their feelings without relying on the nuances of a particular language’s affective lexicon. The animations were revised based on eight studies across four countries (total N = 826).
The set includes well-recognised animations representing desire/love, satisfaction/approval, pride/self-esteem, hope/optimism, interest/curiosity, surprise/excitement, disgust/aversion, embarrassment/shyness, fear/shock and boredom/dullness.
Two other emotions (joy/happiness and contempt/disrespect) were recognised by about half of the participants in the final study.
Wednesday, 28 February 2018
Job Seekers with Musculoskeletal or Sensory Disabilities: Barriers and Facilitators of Job Search
an article by Hugh T. J. Bainbridge (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) and Yuka Fujimoto (Sunway University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) published in British Journal of Management Volume 29 Issue 1 (January 2018)
Abstract
Drawing on interviews with job seekers and expert informants, we outline a model of the job search experience of people with disabilities.
This model specifies the sequence of events involved in the pursuit of paid work and the contextual features that inhibit or facilitate job search attitudes, behaviours, intermediate search outcomes and employment outcomes.
By contrasting the experiences of job seekers with musculoskeletal and sensory disabilities, and outlining the influence of major stakeholders in the form of employment agencies and family members, our model provides the basis for a more nuanced understanding of the job search process.
Finally, we recommend points of intervention that are grounded in data for improving job search outcomes for people with disabilities in general, and for job seekers with musculoskeletal or sensory disabilities specifically.
Full text (PDF 17pp)
Abstract
Drawing on interviews with job seekers and expert informants, we outline a model of the job search experience of people with disabilities.
This model specifies the sequence of events involved in the pursuit of paid work and the contextual features that inhibit or facilitate job search attitudes, behaviours, intermediate search outcomes and employment outcomes.
By contrasting the experiences of job seekers with musculoskeletal and sensory disabilities, and outlining the influence of major stakeholders in the form of employment agencies and family members, our model provides the basis for a more nuanced understanding of the job search process.
Finally, we recommend points of intervention that are grounded in data for improving job search outcomes for people with disabilities in general, and for job seekers with musculoskeletal or sensory disabilities specifically.
Full text (PDF 17pp)
Urban concentration and economic growth
a column by Susanne Frick and Andrés Rodríguez-Pose for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Urban concentration is typically deemed to lead to greater national economic growth. This column challenges this view, using an original dataset covering 68 countries over the past three decades.
Urban concentration levels have decreased or remained stable on average, though these averages hide widely diverging trends across countries. Although concentration has been beneficial for high-income countries, this hasn’t been the case for for developing countries.
Continue reading
Urban concentration is typically deemed to lead to greater national economic growth. This column challenges this view, using an original dataset covering 68 countries over the past three decades.
Urban concentration levels have decreased or remained stable on average, though these averages hide widely diverging trends across countries. Although concentration has been beneficial for high-income countries, this hasn’t been the case for for developing countries.
Continue reading
tiny Buddha
Why I've Upgraded to a Drama-Free Relationship
a post by Renée Suzanne for the Tiny Buddha blog
I used to think that true love should be passionate and intense. When someone broke up with me or treated me poorly, I’d imagine that he really didn’t mean it. Surely he was really a good person and truly loved me, but was just “going through something” or “needed space.” Eventually he’d be back with tears, apologies, and flowers.
I’d like to say I outgrew this tendency by the age of, well, maybe forty, but the fact is I didn’t.
Continue reading
a post by Renée Suzanne for the Tiny Buddha blog
“Love is not what you say. Love is what you do.” ~Unknown
I used to think that true love should be passionate and intense. When someone broke up with me or treated me poorly, I’d imagine that he really didn’t mean it. Surely he was really a good person and truly loved me, but was just “going through something” or “needed space.” Eventually he’d be back with tears, apologies, and flowers.
I’d like to say I outgrew this tendency by the age of, well, maybe forty, but the fact is I didn’t.
Continue reading
Temporary agency workers stepping into a permanent position: social skills matter
an article by Nathalie Galais and Klaus Moser (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany) published in Employee Relations Volume 40 Issue 1 (2018)
Abstract
Purpose
Temporary agency work (TAW) has increased enormously in recent decades. Most temporary agency workers are pushed involuntarily into this work arrangement and prefer permanent work arrangements. Therefore, the motive to find a permanent job through TAW is predominant for the majority of temporary agency workers. However, little is known about what helps in obtaining a permanent job in a client organization. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of social skills by simultaneously considering the human capital aspects and motivational background of the individuals for transition success.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a questionnaire study of 151 temporary agency workers with two measurement points. The questionnaires were first administered at the very beginning of their work as a temp and again five months later.
Findings
The findings show that the social skills of temporary agency workers in contrast to various aspects of human capital and motives for temping had a significant impact on becoming a permanent worker in a client organization.
Research limitations/implications
The generalizability of the finding that social skills help temporary agency workers to find a permanent job in a client organization may be restricted due to the particularities of the work setting in the clerical sector. The incidences as well as the determinants of transition success may depend on the industry sector because of the respective assignment characteristics as well as the clients’ reasons of using temporary agency workers. Future research should investigate more thoroughly the role of assignment characteristics for the experiences of the workers.
Practical implications
Social skills seem to play a crucial role for transition success in TAW. Qualification measures should therefore include the training of interpersonal behavior. It would be desirable when the involved organizations would assume responsibility in this respect. Furthermore, policy makers should provide adequate training formats since they promote TAW as a stepping stone opportunity for unemployed people.
Originality/value
This paper suggests that career mobility in the context of flexible work arrangements may be driven by more informal processes of social integration into the existing permanent team. While TAW is seen as a temporary solution in Germany, this study focuses on the individual determinants of transition success of temporary agency workers that is still rare in studies on the topic.
Abstract
Purpose
Temporary agency work (TAW) has increased enormously in recent decades. Most temporary agency workers are pushed involuntarily into this work arrangement and prefer permanent work arrangements. Therefore, the motive to find a permanent job through TAW is predominant for the majority of temporary agency workers. However, little is known about what helps in obtaining a permanent job in a client organization. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of social skills by simultaneously considering the human capital aspects and motivational background of the individuals for transition success.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a questionnaire study of 151 temporary agency workers with two measurement points. The questionnaires were first administered at the very beginning of their work as a temp and again five months later.
Findings
The findings show that the social skills of temporary agency workers in contrast to various aspects of human capital and motives for temping had a significant impact on becoming a permanent worker in a client organization.
Research limitations/implications
The generalizability of the finding that social skills help temporary agency workers to find a permanent job in a client organization may be restricted due to the particularities of the work setting in the clerical sector. The incidences as well as the determinants of transition success may depend on the industry sector because of the respective assignment characteristics as well as the clients’ reasons of using temporary agency workers. Future research should investigate more thoroughly the role of assignment characteristics for the experiences of the workers.
Practical implications
Social skills seem to play a crucial role for transition success in TAW. Qualification measures should therefore include the training of interpersonal behavior. It would be desirable when the involved organizations would assume responsibility in this respect. Furthermore, policy makers should provide adequate training formats since they promote TAW as a stepping stone opportunity for unemployed people.
Originality/value
This paper suggests that career mobility in the context of flexible work arrangements may be driven by more informal processes of social integration into the existing permanent team. While TAW is seen as a temporary solution in Germany, this study focuses on the individual determinants of transition success of temporary agency workers that is still rare in studies on the topic.
Post-capitalist property
an article by Paddy Ireland (University of Bristol, UK) and Gaofeng Meng (University of Glasgow, UK) published in Economy and Society Volume 46 Issue 3-4 (2017)
Abstract
When writing about property and property rights in his imagined post-capitalist society of the future, Marx seemed to envisage ‘individual property’ co-existing with ‘socialized property’ in the means of production. As the social and political consequences of faltering growth and increasing inequality, debt and insecurity gradually manifest themselves, and with automation and artificial intelligence lurking in the wings, the future of capitalism, at least in its current form, looks increasingly uncertain.
With this, the question of what property and property rights might look like in the future, in a potentially post-capitalist society, is becoming ever more pertinent.
Is the choice simply between private property and markets, and public (state-owned) property and planning?
Or can individual and social property in the (same) means of production co-exist, as Marx suggested?
This paper explores ways in which they might, through an examination of the Chinese household responsibility system (HRS) and the ‘fuzzy’ and seemingly confusing regime of land ownership that it instituted. It examines the HRS against the backdrop of Marx’s ideas about property and subsequent (post-Marx) theorizing about the legal nature of property in which property has come widely to be conceptualized not as a single, unitary ‘ownership’ right to a thing (or, indeed, as the thing itself) but as a ‘bundle of rights’.
The bundle-of-rights idea of property, it suggests, enables us to see not only that ‘individual’ and ‘socialized’ property’ in the (same) means of production might indeed co-exist, but that the range of institutional possibility is far greater than that between capitalism and socialism/communism as traditionally conceived.
Abstract
When writing about property and property rights in his imagined post-capitalist society of the future, Marx seemed to envisage ‘individual property’ co-existing with ‘socialized property’ in the means of production. As the social and political consequences of faltering growth and increasing inequality, debt and insecurity gradually manifest themselves, and with automation and artificial intelligence lurking in the wings, the future of capitalism, at least in its current form, looks increasingly uncertain.
With this, the question of what property and property rights might look like in the future, in a potentially post-capitalist society, is becoming ever more pertinent.
Is the choice simply between private property and markets, and public (state-owned) property and planning?
Or can individual and social property in the (same) means of production co-exist, as Marx suggested?
This paper explores ways in which they might, through an examination of the Chinese household responsibility system (HRS) and the ‘fuzzy’ and seemingly confusing regime of land ownership that it instituted. It examines the HRS against the backdrop of Marx’s ideas about property and subsequent (post-Marx) theorizing about the legal nature of property in which property has come widely to be conceptualized not as a single, unitary ‘ownership’ right to a thing (or, indeed, as the thing itself) but as a ‘bundle of rights’.
The bundle-of-rights idea of property, it suggests, enables us to see not only that ‘individual’ and ‘socialized’ property’ in the (same) means of production might indeed co-exist, but that the range of institutional possibility is far greater than that between capitalism and socialism/communism as traditionally conceived.
How language duped us into austerity
an article by Zoe Williams published in the Guardian
The same misleading metaphors are used again and again to talk about economic policy. We need a new frame
The Cranhill estate in Glasgow. ‘If anything, the more hardship austerity caused, the more necessary it was for many to cling to the narrative.’
Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian
What do people think the economy is? How do they think it works? How do you think it works, if you think it works at all? The New Economics Foundation, in its report, Framing the Economy, conducted 40 in-depth interviews in London, Newport, Glasgow, Wolverhampton and Hull, with the aim of finding points of common understanding. Though 40 is a relatively small number, the researchers were looking for images, metaphors, certainties and black holes that came up again and again, across regions and demographics.
From these tropes, they’ve been able to plot how, from 2010, the coalition government’s austerity agenda played so well into people’s hopes and fears; how the public attachment to it was so tenacious. How, even as the policy was failing to stimulate the economy in the way that had been promised, it was still seemingly resistant to counter-argument. Even once it was plainly, across the country, having devastating impacts on people’s lived experience (disabled people having their benefits removed and dying weeks later, the victims of the universal credit experiment evicted from their homes), the notion itself – that we all had to tighten our belts, and that was the responsible thing to do – was curiously buoyant.
Continue reading
The same misleading metaphors are used again and again to talk about economic policy. We need a new frame
The Cranhill estate in Glasgow. ‘If anything, the more hardship austerity caused, the more necessary it was for many to cling to the narrative.’
Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian
What do people think the economy is? How do they think it works? How do you think it works, if you think it works at all? The New Economics Foundation, in its report, Framing the Economy, conducted 40 in-depth interviews in London, Newport, Glasgow, Wolverhampton and Hull, with the aim of finding points of common understanding. Though 40 is a relatively small number, the researchers were looking for images, metaphors, certainties and black holes that came up again and again, across regions and demographics.
From these tropes, they’ve been able to plot how, from 2010, the coalition government’s austerity agenda played so well into people’s hopes and fears; how the public attachment to it was so tenacious. How, even as the policy was failing to stimulate the economy in the way that had been promised, it was still seemingly resistant to counter-argument. Even once it was plainly, across the country, having devastating impacts on people’s lived experience (disabled people having their benefits removed and dying weeks later, the victims of the universal credit experiment evicted from their homes), the notion itself – that we all had to tighten our belts, and that was the responsible thing to do – was curiously buoyant.
Continue reading
Distorted Physical Sensations in OCD
a post by Janet Singer for the World of Psychology blog
NOTE: I have not included the image of hand washing which I really felt was too much of a cliché. Be aware that when you click through that it is there.
I have previously written about OCD and mental imagery, where I discussed how those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (and those of us without) sometimes see, hear, or feel things without the presence of corresponding external stimuli. In particular, those with OCD often find their intrusive thoughts are accompanied by sensory experiences that attach some type of physical sensation to the distorted thinking of OCD.
A recent study published on November 20, 2017, in the journal Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy delves into the link between the strength of compulsions associated with OCD and the physical sensations that come with them. For example, the study authors noted that participants who struggle with contamination obsessions might feel “uncomfortable sensations in the skin, muscles or others body parts, like an itch or a burning sensation that drives the patient to do the compulsion until feeling…relief.”
Continue reading
NOTE: I have not included the image of hand washing which I really felt was too much of a cliché. Be aware that when you click through that it is there.
I have previously written about OCD and mental imagery, where I discussed how those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (and those of us without) sometimes see, hear, or feel things without the presence of corresponding external stimuli. In particular, those with OCD often find their intrusive thoughts are accompanied by sensory experiences that attach some type of physical sensation to the distorted thinking of OCD.
A recent study published on November 20, 2017, in the journal Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy delves into the link between the strength of compulsions associated with OCD and the physical sensations that come with them. For example, the study authors noted that participants who struggle with contamination obsessions might feel “uncomfortable sensations in the skin, muscles or others body parts, like an itch or a burning sensation that drives the patient to do the compulsion until feeling…relief.”
Continue reading
Tuesday, 27 February 2018
What are the prospects for robots in the construction industry?
an article by Robert Bogue (Consultant, Okehampton, UK) published in Industrial Robot: An International Journal Volume 45 Issue 1 (2018)
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to address the question posed in the title by considering the present uses and potential future role of robots in the construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a short introduction, this first considers developments involving the robotic automation of conventional building practices, notably bricklaying and glazing. This is followed by a discussion of the role of drones and developments in autonomous ground vehicles. It then provides examples of the rapidly growing use of robotic 3D printing of concrete structures and concludes with a discussion.
Findings
Many different classes of robots aimed at a diversity of uses in the construction industry exist or are at an advanced stage of development. While some seek to automate conventional building practices, others such as concrete printing robots underpin novel construction concepts. Their use has the potential to yield significant economic, operational, environmental and other benefits and many technologically advanced companies have recently been established which aim to exploit these opportunities. While the industry has traditionally been slow to adopt new technologies, robots are now exerting a real impact and will inevitably play a vital and growing role in the future.
Originality/value
The construction industry is under pressure to modernise and improve its efficiency, and this article illustrates the role that robots are playing in this process.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to address the question posed in the title by considering the present uses and potential future role of robots in the construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a short introduction, this first considers developments involving the robotic automation of conventional building practices, notably bricklaying and glazing. This is followed by a discussion of the role of drones and developments in autonomous ground vehicles. It then provides examples of the rapidly growing use of robotic 3D printing of concrete structures and concludes with a discussion.
Findings
Many different classes of robots aimed at a diversity of uses in the construction industry exist or are at an advanced stage of development. While some seek to automate conventional building practices, others such as concrete printing robots underpin novel construction concepts. Their use has the potential to yield significant economic, operational, environmental and other benefits and many technologically advanced companies have recently been established which aim to exploit these opportunities. While the industry has traditionally been slow to adopt new technologies, robots are now exerting a real impact and will inevitably play a vital and growing role in the future.
Originality/value
The construction industry is under pressure to modernise and improve its efficiency, and this article illustrates the role that robots are playing in this process.
OBR sceptical about DWP's claims about Universal Credit
a post by Johnathan Bradshaw (Emeritus Professor of Social Policy | University of York) for the CPAG blog
The roll-out of Universal Credit may be running five years later than planned, having wasted £40 million in botched IT, and been emasculated by austerity cuts since 2015, but its advocates in the DWP still argue that it is all going to be worthwhile in the end because its labour supply effects will get people into work and onto higher earnings. Sir Robert Devereux, the DWP Permanent Secretary, claimed this in a retirement interview: “the roll-out will see unemployment rates fall as disincentives are taken out of the system”. Esther McVey, the new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, even seemed to claim that 3.1 million extra people were in work as a result of UC when at the time only 700,000 were on it.
The impact assessment for UC in 2012 estimated that between 100,000 and 300,000 people would enter work and between 1 million and 2.5 million more hours would be worked as a result of UC. A parliamentary question in 2017 reduced the entering work number to 150,000 and made no claim on extra hours. The DWP presented estimates of the impact of UC in reports published in 2015 (the initial report and an update) and a further update in 2017. The latter found that that UC claimants were 3 percentage points more likely to be in work after six months than matched jobseeker’s allowance claimants (56 per cent versus 53 per cent).
Continue reading
There’s links to different reports and primary sources. The general feeling of the post is that Universal Credit is a mess (as if most of us did not know that already).
The roll-out of Universal Credit may be running five years later than planned, having wasted £40 million in botched IT, and been emasculated by austerity cuts since 2015, but its advocates in the DWP still argue that it is all going to be worthwhile in the end because its labour supply effects will get people into work and onto higher earnings. Sir Robert Devereux, the DWP Permanent Secretary, claimed this in a retirement interview: “the roll-out will see unemployment rates fall as disincentives are taken out of the system”. Esther McVey, the new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, even seemed to claim that 3.1 million extra people were in work as a result of UC when at the time only 700,000 were on it.
The impact assessment for UC in 2012 estimated that between 100,000 and 300,000 people would enter work and between 1 million and 2.5 million more hours would be worked as a result of UC. A parliamentary question in 2017 reduced the entering work number to 150,000 and made no claim on extra hours. The DWP presented estimates of the impact of UC in reports published in 2015 (the initial report and an update) and a further update in 2017. The latter found that that UC claimants were 3 percentage points more likely to be in work after six months than matched jobseeker’s allowance claimants (56 per cent versus 53 per cent).
Continue reading
There’s links to different reports and primary sources. The general feeling of the post is that Universal Credit is a mess (as if most of us did not know that already).
Practitioner (mis)understandings of coercive control in England and Wales
an article by Amanda L Robinson (Cardiff University, UK) and Andy Myhill and Julia Wire (College of Policing, UK) published in Criminology & Criminal Justice Volume 18 Issue 1 (February 2018)
Abstract
Coercive control is harmful behaviour recently criminalized in England and Wales. The extent to which the work of practitioners is informed by an understanding of coercive control therefore requires investigation.
Using data from two mixed methods multi-site studies, this article suggests that practitioners’ recognition of coercive control does not seem to be universally poor or skilled, but rather depends on the characteristics of the situation itself, the organizational context in which practitioners work and the stage at which they are evaluating whether coercive control is present.
The absence of a clear understanding of the importance of coercive control when making judgements about victims and perpetrators has serious implications for the efficacy of current approaches to domestic abuse.
Purposeful and systematic efforts to support practitioners to recognize and respond effectively to coercive control are required.
Abstract
Coercive control is harmful behaviour recently criminalized in England and Wales. The extent to which the work of practitioners is informed by an understanding of coercive control therefore requires investigation.
Using data from two mixed methods multi-site studies, this article suggests that practitioners’ recognition of coercive control does not seem to be universally poor or skilled, but rather depends on the characteristics of the situation itself, the organizational context in which practitioners work and the stage at which they are evaluating whether coercive control is present.
The absence of a clear understanding of the importance of coercive control when making judgements about victims and perpetrators has serious implications for the efficacy of current approaches to domestic abuse.
Purposeful and systematic efforts to support practitioners to recognize and respond effectively to coercive control are required.
Scientists have discovered where anxiety comes from
an article by Philip Perry for the Big Think blog
Anxiety disorders are common and may be growing more so. 40 million US adults suffer from one in some form, about 18% of the population. Worldwide, 260 million live with an anxiety disorder, according to the WHO. Economist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz reported in 2016 that anxiety disorders have doubled in the US since 2008. There are a number of different kinds. There’s general anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety, and of course, a near countless number of phobias.
Although common, physicians aren’t sure what exactly brings on such a disorder. They usually hit a person in the prime of their life, and the treatments we have now are generally, only partially effective. Medical researchers hypothesize that it’s a combination of genes, environmental conditions, and changes inside the brain that lead to such a disorder.
Anxiety often runs in families and epigenetic markers for it have been identified. Epigenetics is the system by which genes are marked to become either expressed or suppressed. A recent study found that epigenetic changes associated with anxiety that occurred in holocaust victims, were passed down to their children.
Continue reading
Anxiety disorders are common and may be growing more so. 40 million US adults suffer from one in some form, about 18% of the population. Worldwide, 260 million live with an anxiety disorder, according to the WHO. Economist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz reported in 2016 that anxiety disorders have doubled in the US since 2008. There are a number of different kinds. There’s general anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety, and of course, a near countless number of phobias.
Although common, physicians aren’t sure what exactly brings on such a disorder. They usually hit a person in the prime of their life, and the treatments we have now are generally, only partially effective. Medical researchers hypothesize that it’s a combination of genes, environmental conditions, and changes inside the brain that lead to such a disorder.
Anxiety often runs in families and epigenetic markers for it have been identified. Epigenetics is the system by which genes are marked to become either expressed or suppressed. A recent study found that epigenetic changes associated with anxiety that occurred in holocaust victims, were passed down to their children.
Continue reading
Walkable cities reduce blood pressure and hypertension risk, study finds
an article by Elle Hunt published in the Guardian
Research finds significant link between the walkability of a city and the blood pressure and hypertension risk of the people who live there
The pedestrian-focused North Laine area of Brighton. Photograph: Alamy
The largest-ever study of the link between city walkability and blood pressure has been held up as evidence of the “intangible value of urban design” in improving long-term health outcomes, say researchers.
The study of around 430,000 people aged between 38 and 73 and living in 22 UK cities found significant associations between the increased walkability of a neighbourhood, lower blood pressure and reduced hypertension risk among its residents.
The outcomes remained consistent even after adjustments for socio-demographic, lifestyle and physical environment variables, though the protective effects were particularly pronounced among participants aged between 50 and 60, women, and those residing in higher density and deprived neighbourhoods.
Continue reading
Research finds significant link between the walkability of a city and the blood pressure and hypertension risk of the people who live there
The pedestrian-focused North Laine area of Brighton. Photograph: Alamy
The largest-ever study of the link between city walkability and blood pressure has been held up as evidence of the “intangible value of urban design” in improving long-term health outcomes, say researchers.
The study of around 430,000 people aged between 38 and 73 and living in 22 UK cities found significant associations between the increased walkability of a neighbourhood, lower blood pressure and reduced hypertension risk among its residents.
The outcomes remained consistent even after adjustments for socio-demographic, lifestyle and physical environment variables, though the protective effects were particularly pronounced among participants aged between 50 and 60, women, and those residing in higher density and deprived neighbourhoods.
Continue reading
16 Ways To Free Yourself From Overthinking
a post by Rachel Fintzy for the Cultivating Contentment & Happiness [via World of Psychology]
The Greek philosopher Socrates once proclaimed that the unexamined life is not worth living, implying that it is only through self-examination that we can create a meaningful existence. While it’s vital to have a sense of our strengths and weaknesses, values, and goals, there’s a point at which ruminating can contribute to our misery rather than helping us.
Often we can find ourselves going over and over a conversation we had earlier today, last week, or even last year. “What did he mean by that? Why did I say that? Will she ever speak to me again?”
Or maybe we get caught up in what might happen in that staff meeting tomorrow, a blind date this weekend, or our final exams in two months. “Should I ask my boss for a raise? Should I wear the red dress or the black one? When will I ever find time to study for my tests?”
We spin our wheels, knowing at some level that obsessing is not the answer, but unable to stop our whirling thoughts.
How can we begin to free ourselves from the tyranny of overthinking?
Continue reading for Rachel's 16 suggestions
The Greek philosopher Socrates once proclaimed that the unexamined life is not worth living, implying that it is only through self-examination that we can create a meaningful existence. While it’s vital to have a sense of our strengths and weaknesses, values, and goals, there’s a point at which ruminating can contribute to our misery rather than helping us.
Often we can find ourselves going over and over a conversation we had earlier today, last week, or even last year. “What did he mean by that? Why did I say that? Will she ever speak to me again?”
Or maybe we get caught up in what might happen in that staff meeting tomorrow, a blind date this weekend, or our final exams in two months. “Should I ask my boss for a raise? Should I wear the red dress or the black one? When will I ever find time to study for my tests?”
We spin our wheels, knowing at some level that obsessing is not the answer, but unable to stop our whirling thoughts.
How can we begin to free ourselves from the tyranny of overthinking?
Continue reading for Rachel's 16 suggestions
The size and composition of fiscal adjustment matter for inequality
a column by Elva Bova, Tidiane Kinda and Jaejoon Woo for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Understanding the distributional consequences of fiscal adjustment measures is important for equity, but also to ensure the sustainability of the measures. This column shows that fiscal adjustments increase inequality, including through unemployment. Spending-based adjustments worsen inequality more significantly than tax-based adjustments. Progressive taxation and targeted social benefits and subsidies introduced in the context of a broader decline in spending can help offset some of the distributional impact of fiscal adjustments.
Continue reading
Understanding the distributional consequences of fiscal adjustment measures is important for equity, but also to ensure the sustainability of the measures. This column shows that fiscal adjustments increase inequality, including through unemployment. Spending-based adjustments worsen inequality more significantly than tax-based adjustments. Progressive taxation and targeted social benefits and subsidies introduced in the context of a broader decline in spending can help offset some of the distributional impact of fiscal adjustments.
Continue reading
How We Can Stop Arguing and Start Understanding Each Other
a post by Sara Fabian for the Tiny Buddha blog
“Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.” ~Rumi
One of the most common sources of conflict among people is in the way we communicate. Often times, conflicts arise because of the variety of our opinions and beliefs, and also from the way we express our thoughts and communicate disagreement.
A blaming, sometimes even aggressive tone of voice can seep into our language, which invites confrontation instead of collaboration, and conveys a closed “my way or no way” kind of approach.
Looking back on my past, I can recall myself during my childhood years, when anything felt possible. In my world, full of playfulness, creativity, and fun, things were straightforward and clear. Whenever I was hungry, I made sure my mother knew about that. When I was afraid, sad, or upset, I said so. Whenever I wanted anything, I asked for it.
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment:
This is one of the most constructive pieces I have read in ages for me.
I hope that it helps somebody else too.
“Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.” ~Rumi
One of the most common sources of conflict among people is in the way we communicate. Often times, conflicts arise because of the variety of our opinions and beliefs, and also from the way we express our thoughts and communicate disagreement.
A blaming, sometimes even aggressive tone of voice can seep into our language, which invites confrontation instead of collaboration, and conveys a closed “my way or no way” kind of approach.
Looking back on my past, I can recall myself during my childhood years, when anything felt possible. In my world, full of playfulness, creativity, and fun, things were straightforward and clear. Whenever I was hungry, I made sure my mother knew about that. When I was afraid, sad, or upset, I said so. Whenever I wanted anything, I asked for it.
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment:
This is one of the most constructive pieces I have read in ages for me.
I hope that it helps somebody else too.
Monday, 26 February 2018
Rhetoric and doctrines of policy over- and under-reactions in times of crisis
an article by Moshe Maor (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel) published in Policy & Politics Volume 46 Number 1 (January 2018)
Abstract
This article distinguishes between disproportionate policy response by error (bounded rationality) and disproportionate response by choice, and advances a further distinction of such choices between two disproportionate policy options, namely, rhetoric and doctrine.
Probing the 'plausibility' of these terms, the article presents pertinent illustrations drawn from the military, financial and environmental domains in the US, Britain, Israel, Australia, Singapore and the European Union.
These illustrations show that, during pre-crisis and in-crisis periods, both options can be purposefully designed to signal policymakers’ preference and/or to deliver the disproportionate responses in pursuit of policy goals.
Hazel’s comment
I wish I could give you a link to continue reading on this one. I have definitely marked it to read in the British Library on my next visit.
Abstract
This article distinguishes between disproportionate policy response by error (bounded rationality) and disproportionate response by choice, and advances a further distinction of such choices between two disproportionate policy options, namely, rhetoric and doctrine.
Probing the 'plausibility' of these terms, the article presents pertinent illustrations drawn from the military, financial and environmental domains in the US, Britain, Israel, Australia, Singapore and the European Union.
These illustrations show that, during pre-crisis and in-crisis periods, both options can be purposefully designed to signal policymakers’ preference and/or to deliver the disproportionate responses in pursuit of policy goals.
Hazel’s comment
I wish I could give you a link to continue reading on this one. I have definitely marked it to read in the British Library on my next visit.
Theorising new European youth mobilities
an article by Russell King (University of Sussex, Brighton, UK) published in Population, Space and Place Volume 24 Issue 1 (January 2018)
Abstract
This paper's objective is to offer a range of appropriate theoretical formulations to better understand the unfolding dynamics and characteristics of new European youth migrations. After an extensive contextual introduction that sets the recent historical, institutional, and economic scene, the paper presents and critically evaluates the usefulness of five theoretical frameworks:
Abstract
This paper's objective is to offer a range of appropriate theoretical formulations to better understand the unfolding dynamics and characteristics of new European youth migrations. After an extensive contextual introduction that sets the recent historical, institutional, and economic scene, the paper presents and critically evaluates the usefulness of five theoretical frameworks:
- neoliberal “Single Market” economics and free movement of persons and labour;
- the renewed relevance of the core–periphery model of spatial economic structure and resultant migration flows;
- “liquid migration” and its defining ethos of “intentional unpredictability”;
- the intersection of migration with “youth transitions”; and
- the “lifestyle migration” approach.
Reported preference versus revealed preference
a column by Jonathan Parker, Nicholas S Souleles and Aaron Goodman for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
The most accurate way to determine how people respond to an economic policy is to observe how they did in fact respond to that policy, but this approach is not always possible. This column uses a 2008 tax rebate in the US to compare the traditional revealed preference approach and a reported preference approach where people are simply asked how they would, or did, behave. The results suggest that reported spending data are valuable in predicting behaviour and in estimating population aggregates, but are not sufficiently accurate to provide reliable quantitative measurements of household-level spending responses.
Continue reading
The most accurate way to determine how people respond to an economic policy is to observe how they did in fact respond to that policy, but this approach is not always possible. This column uses a 2008 tax rebate in the US to compare the traditional revealed preference approach and a reported preference approach where people are simply asked how they would, or did, behave. The results suggest that reported spending data are valuable in predicting behaviour and in estimating population aggregates, but are not sufficiently accurate to provide reliable quantitative measurements of household-level spending responses.
Continue reading
How to Cope with a Scary Medical or Mental Health Diagnosis
a post by Suzanne Kane for the World of Psychology blog
Most of us are sanguine about the fact that some things are out of our control. We know, for example, that we can’t avoid death or taxes or do much about how tall we’ll grow.
For much of everything else, we figure out a way to deal with what happens in life — until we can’t, for one reason or another. A prime example is the emotional upheaval caused by receiving an unexpected and scary medical or mental health diagnosis. Having gone through this myself recently, here are some ways to help you cope.
And please make sure that the websites you consult are professional. If it doesn’t look right it probably isn’t.
Most of us are sanguine about the fact that some things are out of our control. We know, for example, that we can’t avoid death or taxes or do much about how tall we’ll grow.
For much of everything else, we figure out a way to deal with what happens in life — until we can’t, for one reason or another. A prime example is the emotional upheaval caused by receiving an unexpected and scary medical or mental health diagnosis. Having gone through this myself recently, here are some ways to help you cope.
- Get all the facts
- Go online and check trusted websites to learn the latest research, treatments, techniques
- Talk with your loved ones and family members and ask for their support
- Consider counseling
- Find a support group
- Adopt a positive attitude and maintain a proactive outlook
- Become a champion in your healing process
And please make sure that the websites you consult are professional. If it doesn’t look right it probably isn’t.
Sunday, 25 February 2018
Sickness presenteeism and sickness absence over time: A UK employee perspective
an article by Alison M. Collins and Susan Cartwright (Lancaster University, UK) and Sean Cowlishaw (Bristol University, UK) published in Work & Stress: An International Journal of Work, Health & Organisations Volume 32 Issue 1 (2018)
Abstract
This paper examined the influence of sickness presenteeism (SP), defined here as going to work despite illness, and sickness absenteeism (SA) behaviour on employee psychological well-being, work performance and perceived organisational commitment in a sample of 552 UK workers.
Self-report measures were administered on 2 occasions, separated by 1 year, to employees from 4 public sector and 2 private sector organisations. Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate simultaneous influences of SP and SA on outcomes over time.
Results suggested that employees reporting SP reported lower work performance in comparison to those reporting no SP, when measured concurrently but not over time. Employees reporting any SP in the previous 3 months showed relatively reduced psychological well-being but there was no significant association over time.
Six or more days SP was associated with a reduction in employee perceptions that their organisation was committed to them, concurrently and over time. There were no significant influences of SA on any outcome measure.
Our results strengthen previous research and suggest that SP, but not SA, has implications for individual outcomes.
The findings have implications for the way organisations manage their sickness absence systems.
Abstract
This paper examined the influence of sickness presenteeism (SP), defined here as going to work despite illness, and sickness absenteeism (SA) behaviour on employee psychological well-being, work performance and perceived organisational commitment in a sample of 552 UK workers.
Self-report measures were administered on 2 occasions, separated by 1 year, to employees from 4 public sector and 2 private sector organisations. Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate simultaneous influences of SP and SA on outcomes over time.
Results suggested that employees reporting SP reported lower work performance in comparison to those reporting no SP, when measured concurrently but not over time. Employees reporting any SP in the previous 3 months showed relatively reduced psychological well-being but there was no significant association over time.
Six or more days SP was associated with a reduction in employee perceptions that their organisation was committed to them, concurrently and over time. There were no significant influences of SA on any outcome measure.
Our results strengthen previous research and suggest that SP, but not SA, has implications for individual outcomes.
The findings have implications for the way organisations manage their sickness absence systems.
Is weeding defensible? Moral consideration for crabgrass
an article by John Hainze (Seattle University, WA, USA) published in Interdisciplinary Environmental Review Volume 18 Number 3/4 (2017)
Abstract
How we relate to other species undergirds our approach to sustainability.
This paper traces the development of human regard for other organisms, considering philosophical and religious perspectives in light of recent developments in biology.
Aspects of the biology of pest organisms like silverfish, dandelions, fruit flies, and crabgrass are reviewed as supporting moral considerability. It is determined that the findings of science, philosophy, and religion lead us to abandon a Cartesian conception of non-humans as machinelike other, and towards an attitude of moral consideration for other organisms.
This position requires that we adjudicate conflicts between members of different species, affirming the need to survive over lesser needs such as efficiency or aesthetics. A respectful attitude towards common living things like crabgrass can only enhance our relationship to nature in general.
Hazel’s comment
Pest organisms have a right to life? Philosophically yes but silverfish in my kitchen cupboards do not; dandelions in the rose bed need to be removed; and fruit flies are yucky. Crabgrass I had to look up (see http://www.garden-counselor-lawn-care.com/kill-crabgrass.html) but I feel murderous about the Japanese Knotweed encroaching from my neighbour’s garden.
Abstract
How we relate to other species undergirds our approach to sustainability.
This paper traces the development of human regard for other organisms, considering philosophical and religious perspectives in light of recent developments in biology.
Aspects of the biology of pest organisms like silverfish, dandelions, fruit flies, and crabgrass are reviewed as supporting moral considerability. It is determined that the findings of science, philosophy, and religion lead us to abandon a Cartesian conception of non-humans as machinelike other, and towards an attitude of moral consideration for other organisms.
This position requires that we adjudicate conflicts between members of different species, affirming the need to survive over lesser needs such as efficiency or aesthetics. A respectful attitude towards common living things like crabgrass can only enhance our relationship to nature in general.
Hazel’s comment
Pest organisms have a right to life? Philosophically yes but silverfish in my kitchen cupboards do not; dandelions in the rose bed need to be removed; and fruit flies are yucky. Crabgrass I had to look up (see http://www.garden-counselor-lawn-care.com/kill-crabgrass.html) but I feel murderous about the Japanese Knotweed encroaching from my neighbour’s garden.
Twisted Love: What I Learned from Being in an Abusive Relationship
a post by Frantzces Lys for the Tiny Buddha blog
“Never wish them pain. That’s not who you are. If they caused you pain, they must have pain inside. Wish them healing. That’s what they need.” ~Najwa Zebian
Most of us don’t grow up and say we’re going to be killers.
Most of us don’t grow up and say we’re going to hurt people.
We don’t grow up thinking and planning to hurt ourselves.
But there are moments in our lives in which we’ve stepped outside of ourselves and made decisions that impair our lives. Decisions that remain with us for a lifetime.
Then we have difficulty forgiving ourselves because what we did went against everything we’ve ever believed. We wonder if this is who we’ve always been. We wonder if we’re able to change.
Continue reading
“Never wish them pain. That’s not who you are. If they caused you pain, they must have pain inside. Wish them healing. That’s what they need.” ~Najwa Zebian
Most of us don’t grow up and say we’re going to be killers.
Most of us don’t grow up and say we’re going to hurt people.
We don’t grow up thinking and planning to hurt ourselves.
But there are moments in our lives in which we’ve stepped outside of ourselves and made decisions that impair our lives. Decisions that remain with us for a lifetime.
Then we have difficulty forgiving ourselves because what we did went against everything we’ve ever believed. We wonder if this is who we’ve always been. We wonder if we’re able to change.
Continue reading
Why It’s Never Too Late to Heal Your Mind
a post by Hilary Jacobs Hendel for the World of Psychology blog
Brian had suffered for years from an intractable depression for which he had been hospitalized.
He had been through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), psychoanalytic psychotherapy, supportive therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT).
He received varied diagnoses from major depression to bipolar disorder to dependent personality disorder. He had tried many medications that had proven ineffective. The psychiatrist who referred him told me he was hopeless.
I am a trauma therapist well versed in the science of emotions and attachment. Although change takes work, my conviction that the brain and mind heal is unwavering. No one disputes that the body heals itself. You fall and scrape your knee. Then, if you take care of the wound, your body heals. Just like your body heals with proper care, so do your brain and mind.
Continue reading
Brian had suffered for years from an intractable depression for which he had been hospitalized.
He had been through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), psychoanalytic psychotherapy, supportive therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT).
He received varied diagnoses from major depression to bipolar disorder to dependent personality disorder. He had tried many medications that had proven ineffective. The psychiatrist who referred him told me he was hopeless.
I am a trauma therapist well versed in the science of emotions and attachment. Although change takes work, my conviction that the brain and mind heal is unwavering. No one disputes that the body heals itself. You fall and scrape your knee. Then, if you take care of the wound, your body heals. Just like your body heals with proper care, so do your brain and mind.
Continue reading
Roots of social enterprise: entrepreneurial philanthropy, England 1600-1908
an article by Matthew MacDonald (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) and Carole Howorth (University of York, UK) published in Social Enterprise Journal Volume 14 Issue 1 (2018)
Abstract
Purpose
Insights into the roots of social enterprise from before the term was adopted are provided by examining histories of charitable service and comparing current understandings of social enterprise. Social enterprise models of welfare provision are evidenced from the seventeenth century onwards. Persistent themes are identified that provide insights for current practice and understanding.
Design/methodology/approach
This historiography examines interpretations from 1905 to the present day of examples of welfare provision between two watershed points: 1600, just prior to the Poor Laws and 1908, when the Old Age Pensions Act shifted emphasis in public sector provision.
Findings
Activities that would nowadays be termed social enterprise are evidenced in histories of charitable philanthropy covering each century since 1600. Prevailing attitudes uncritically demarcated deserving and undeserving poor. Histories contributed to a heroic narrative of social entrepreneurs, describing activities dependent on well-networked, politically active individuals that rarely continued beyond their involvement. The political environment was recognised to influence the types of organisations, governance and resourcing.
Research limitations/implications
The historiography takes examples from three centuries between 1600 and1908 but is not comprehensive. Recurrent themes are identified for further research.
Originality/value
Social enterprise is a twenty-first-century label but not a new phenomenon. Identification of prevailing themes provides insights for the understanding of social enterprises in the twenty-first century.
Abstract
Purpose
Insights into the roots of social enterprise from before the term was adopted are provided by examining histories of charitable service and comparing current understandings of social enterprise. Social enterprise models of welfare provision are evidenced from the seventeenth century onwards. Persistent themes are identified that provide insights for current practice and understanding.
Design/methodology/approach
This historiography examines interpretations from 1905 to the present day of examples of welfare provision between two watershed points: 1600, just prior to the Poor Laws and 1908, when the Old Age Pensions Act shifted emphasis in public sector provision.
Findings
Activities that would nowadays be termed social enterprise are evidenced in histories of charitable philanthropy covering each century since 1600. Prevailing attitudes uncritically demarcated deserving and undeserving poor. Histories contributed to a heroic narrative of social entrepreneurs, describing activities dependent on well-networked, politically active individuals that rarely continued beyond their involvement. The political environment was recognised to influence the types of organisations, governance and resourcing.
Research limitations/implications
The historiography takes examples from three centuries between 1600 and1908 but is not comprehensive. Recurrent themes are identified for further research.
Originality/value
Social enterprise is a twenty-first-century label but not a new phenomenon. Identification of prevailing themes provides insights for the understanding of social enterprises in the twenty-first century.
Career Management in Uncertain Times: Challenges and Opportunities
an article by Gerard A. Callanan, David F. Perri and Sandra M. Tomkowicz (West Chester University, Pennsylvania, USA) published in The Career Development Quarterly Volume 65 Issue 4 (December 2017)
Abstract
The beginning years of the 21st century have witnessed the confluence of a host of environmental factors that have dramatically altered employment relationships and upended long-standing approaches to career management for workers in the United States and around the world.
The authors critically examine these environmental changes, focusing on the implications for career choice and decision making.
On the basis of these findings, they address how individuals, working with career counselors and professionals, can enhance their contemporary careers in response to the challenges and uncertainties brought on by rapid environmental change.
Abstract
The beginning years of the 21st century have witnessed the confluence of a host of environmental factors that have dramatically altered employment relationships and upended long-standing approaches to career management for workers in the United States and around the world.
The authors critically examine these environmental changes, focusing on the implications for career choice and decision making.
On the basis of these findings, they address how individuals, working with career counselors and professionals, can enhance their contemporary careers in response to the challenges and uncertainties brought on by rapid environmental change.
Friday, 23 February 2018
It's not just in the genes: the foods that can help and harm your brain
an article by Lisa Mosconi published in the Guardian
Our diet has a huge effect on our brain and our mental wellbeing, even protecting against dementia. So, what should be on the menu?
As a society, we are used to the idea that we feed our bodies, and that our diet shapes our waistlines. But many of us forget that the same diet also feeds our brains, and that the food we give our brains shapes our thoughts and actions. I invested many years formally studying neuroscience and neurology, and have spent many more years as a scientist in those fields. Back when I started, most of my time was spent with medical journals. But 15 years into my research, much of my time is spent with cookbooks.
These books are essential to contemporary brain science. The recipes become food, and that food shapes our brains just as surely as it builds our bodies. Day after day, the foods we eat are broken down into nutrients, taken into the bloodstream and carried up into the brain. Once there, they replenish depleted storage, activate cellular reactions and become the very fabric of our brains.
Continue reading
Our diet has a huge effect on our brain and our mental wellbeing, even protecting against dementia. So, what should be on the menu?
As a society, we are used to the idea that we feed our bodies, and that our diet shapes our waistlines. But many of us forget that the same diet also feeds our brains, and that the food we give our brains shapes our thoughts and actions. I invested many years formally studying neuroscience and neurology, and have spent many more years as a scientist in those fields. Back when I started, most of my time was spent with medical journals. But 15 years into my research, much of my time is spent with cookbooks.
These books are essential to contemporary brain science. The recipes become food, and that food shapes our brains just as surely as it builds our bodies. Day after day, the foods we eat are broken down into nutrients, taken into the bloodstream and carried up into the brain. Once there, they replenish depleted storage, activate cellular reactions and become the very fabric of our brains.
Continue reading
The bottom line: why it’s time the bidet made a comeback
an article by Oscar Rickett published in the Guardian
It may have been out of fashion in British homes for 30 years – but experts say that washing your nether regions beats using toilet paper on both hygiene and environmental grounds.
The British have been stubborn about bidets but interest is growing.
Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
Bathroom news from the US, where entrepreneur Miki Agrawal, who co-founded the period-proof underwear company Thinx, “wants America to embrace the bidet”. Agrawal stepped down from Thinx last year after she was accused of sexual harassment, but has returned with a new company, Tushy, which makes devices that convert toilets into bidets. So is it time to forsake paper for water?
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the equivalent of almost 270,000 trees is either flushed or dumped in landfills every day – and about 10% of this is toilet paper. Globally, according to one environmental group, we use enough toilet paper to stretch around the planet every two minutes, or stretch to the sun and back every 10 days. Scientific American reports that switching to bidets “could save some 15m trees”.
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment
You could, of course, go down the route that I have used for years. Just search for "portable bidet" and you will get a number of these plastic bowls that fit over the normal toilet bowl.
Much more fiddly than the real thing but cheap and easy.
It may have been out of fashion in British homes for 30 years – but experts say that washing your nether regions beats using toilet paper on both hygiene and environmental grounds.
The British have been stubborn about bidets but interest is growing.
Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
Bathroom news from the US, where entrepreneur Miki Agrawal, who co-founded the period-proof underwear company Thinx, “wants America to embrace the bidet”. Agrawal stepped down from Thinx last year after she was accused of sexual harassment, but has returned with a new company, Tushy, which makes devices that convert toilets into bidets. So is it time to forsake paper for water?
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the equivalent of almost 270,000 trees is either flushed or dumped in landfills every day – and about 10% of this is toilet paper. Globally, according to one environmental group, we use enough toilet paper to stretch around the planet every two minutes, or stretch to the sun and back every 10 days. Scientific American reports that switching to bidets “could save some 15m trees”.
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment
You could, of course, go down the route that I have used for years. Just search for "portable bidet" and you will get a number of these plastic bowls that fit over the normal toilet bowl.
Much more fiddly than the real thing but cheap and easy.
Thursday, 22 February 2018
5 Anxiety Warning Signs You Might Not Notice
a post by Dr. Alicia H. Clark for YourTango.com [via World of Psychology blog]
Anxiety does its job by getting your attention. But what if you’re not noticing it?
Signs of anxiety can be obvious, and not so obvious.
Anxiety can ‘yell’ at you, flash you into panic, and fuel that familiar pit in your stomach that tells you something’s wrong. Most of us know and understand this kind of acute anxiety. But this isn’t the only kind of anxiety and certainly isn’t the only kind of anxiety that’s useful.
Some signs of anxiety are more like a quiet whisper that nags you, drags you down, and frankly irritates you. This is your discomfort is doing its job: to get your attention and prompt you to find a solution.
Continue reading
Anxiety does its job by getting your attention. But what if you’re not noticing it?
Signs of anxiety can be obvious, and not so obvious.
Anxiety can ‘yell’ at you, flash you into panic, and fuel that familiar pit in your stomach that tells you something’s wrong. Most of us know and understand this kind of acute anxiety. But this isn’t the only kind of anxiety and certainly isn’t the only kind of anxiety that’s useful.
Some signs of anxiety are more like a quiet whisper that nags you, drags you down, and frankly irritates you. This is your discomfort is doing its job: to get your attention and prompt you to find a solution.
Continue reading
Art therapy improves mood, and reduces pain and anxiety when offered at bedside during acute hospital treatment
an article by Tamara A. Shella (Arts and Medicine Institute, Cleveland, OH, USA) published in The Arts in Psychotherapy Volume 57 (February 2018)
Highlights
Art therapists can engage medical inpatients in the creation of art to encourage emotional and physical healing. Utilizing a chart review, the impact of art therapy sessions at the bedside with patients (N = 195) in a large urban teaching hospital was reviewed.
The sample was predominantly female (n = 166) as more women than men agreed to participate in an art therapy session. As a routine part of regular clinical practice patients were asked to rate their perception of mood, anxiety, and pain using a 5-point faces scale before and after an art therapy session conducted by a registered art therapist.
Multiple diagnoses were included in this chart review, making this study more representative of the variety of medical issues leading to hospitalization. Analysis of pre and post results demonstrated significant improvements in pain, mood, and anxiety levels of art therapy sessions for all patients regardless of gender, age, or diagnosis (all p < 0.001).
Full text (HTML)
an article by Tamara A. Shella (Arts and Medicine Institute, Cleveland, OH, USA) published in The Arts in Psychotherapy Volume 57 (February 2018)
Highlights
- A chart review, of the impact of art therapy at the bedside, with patients (N = 195) admitted for acute care at a large, urban, teaching hospital.
- Analysis of results demonstrated significant improvements in pain, mood, and anxiety levels within all patients regardless of gender, age, or diagnosis.
- Art therapy may be a safe and cost effective intervention as an adjunct to traditional medical management.
Art therapists can engage medical inpatients in the creation of art to encourage emotional and physical healing. Utilizing a chart review, the impact of art therapy sessions at the bedside with patients (N = 195) in a large urban teaching hospital was reviewed.
The sample was predominantly female (n = 166) as more women than men agreed to participate in an art therapy session. As a routine part of regular clinical practice patients were asked to rate their perception of mood, anxiety, and pain using a 5-point faces scale before and after an art therapy session conducted by a registered art therapist.
Multiple diagnoses were included in this chart review, making this study more representative of the variety of medical issues leading to hospitalization. Analysis of pre and post results demonstrated significant improvements in pain, mood, and anxiety levels of art therapy sessions for all patients regardless of gender, age, or diagnosis (all p < 0.001).
Full text (HTML)
The Trump Wall Tax: an exercise in critical thinking
an article by Daniel A. Underwood (Peninsula College, Port Angeles, WA, USA) published in International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education Volume 8 Number 4 (2017)
Abstract
A series of discovery-based critical thinking exercises are presented that explore potential unanticipated consequences that might result from Trump’s Wall Tax, a tax imposed on Mexican imports to pay for construction of a physical barrier between nations.
These exercises include the distribution of the tax between nations, impacts on the Mexican labour force and impacts on the US labour force. It is discovered that if both nations would pay the tax, employment and wages might fall in Mexico thereby increasing pressure for illegal immigration and that employment and wages in the USA may fall as well.
These exercises create the context to integrate multiple paradigms to further explore this controversial issue.
Abstract
A series of discovery-based critical thinking exercises are presented that explore potential unanticipated consequences that might result from Trump’s Wall Tax, a tax imposed on Mexican imports to pay for construction of a physical barrier between nations.
These exercises include the distribution of the tax between nations, impacts on the Mexican labour force and impacts on the US labour force. It is discovered that if both nations would pay the tax, employment and wages might fall in Mexico thereby increasing pressure for illegal immigration and that employment and wages in the USA may fall as well.
These exercises create the context to integrate multiple paradigms to further explore this controversial issue.
Increasingly fit again: The euro area economy is shedding the crisis legacies
a column by Marco Buti, Björn Döhring and José Leandro for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
The outlook for the euro area economy depends to a large extent on whether the impact of the crisis will turn out to be permanent or transitory. This column attempts to chart out the path ahead, starting from what different narratives of the 'atypical recovery' imply about the further trajectory of GDP and inflation. In view of remaining slack, and barring an exogenous shock or policy mistakes, there is scope for solid GDP growth above potential for some time. The factors that should eventually drive an increase in core inflation are gaining force, but only gradually. The current supportive policy mix is thus appropriate for the euro area as a whole, but reforms that raise productivity and increase the economy's resilience to shocks should be accelerated.
Continue reading
The outlook for the euro area economy depends to a large extent on whether the impact of the crisis will turn out to be permanent or transitory. This column attempts to chart out the path ahead, starting from what different narratives of the 'atypical recovery' imply about the further trajectory of GDP and inflation. In view of remaining slack, and barring an exogenous shock or policy mistakes, there is scope for solid GDP growth above potential for some time. The factors that should eventually drive an increase in core inflation are gaining force, but only gradually. The current supportive policy mix is thus appropriate for the euro area as a whole, but reforms that raise productivity and increase the economy's resilience to shocks should be accelerated.
Continue reading
Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Navigating the difficult: teaching for sustainability, activism, and the recognition of modern slavery
an article by Arlene Plevin (Olympic College, Bremerton, WA, USA) published in Interdisciplinary Environmental Review Volume 18 Number 3/4 (2017)
Abstract
As a goal, sustainability can sometimes be aligned with economic models and seldom considered in terms of all of its components, including modern slavery.
This paper argues that just and flourishing sustainability, that which is for the good of all, incorporates knowledge of modern slavery, the often invisible and unacknowledged abuse of people involved in the production of products and services. The paper encourages teachers to consider the reality of modern slavery and to teach for that, noting that it is an ethical and moral position and essential to just sustainability.
Examining some of the challenges of teaching for modern slavery, the paper works with concepts of activism and hope and offers examples of classroom approaches that can enable students to consider and work with modern slavery on behalf of those who are enslaved.
Abstract
As a goal, sustainability can sometimes be aligned with economic models and seldom considered in terms of all of its components, including modern slavery.
This paper argues that just and flourishing sustainability, that which is for the good of all, incorporates knowledge of modern slavery, the often invisible and unacknowledged abuse of people involved in the production of products and services. The paper encourages teachers to consider the reality of modern slavery and to teach for that, noting that it is an ethical and moral position and essential to just sustainability.
Examining some of the challenges of teaching for modern slavery, the paper works with concepts of activism and hope and offers examples of classroom approaches that can enable students to consider and work with modern slavery on behalf of those who are enslaved.
Am I Depressed or Just Lazy?
a post by John M. Grohol for the World of Psychology blog
I’m often asked, “Am I depressed or just lazy?”
It’s a legitimate question, in that many people who suffer from clinical depression will initially feel like they’re just being lazy, not wanting to get off the couch or out of bed. On the surface, the two — laziness and depression — appear to share some similarities.
But dig just a little deeper and you can quickly determine whether you’re depressed or just being lazy.
Depression is a serious, debilitating mental illness that impacts millions of Americans each year. It not only causes distress for the person suffering from it, but also for their loved ones and friends. For employers, it results in millions of hours, and billions of dollars, of lost productivity.
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment:
I take my antidepressants regularly and they keep me on an acceptable level of emotional activity, no highs and no lows just flat most of the time. I know when I am feeling lazy and it's completely different. As John Grohol says: “that is a case of the blahs”. It took me quite a while to learn.
I’m often asked, “Am I depressed or just lazy?”
It’s a legitimate question, in that many people who suffer from clinical depression will initially feel like they’re just being lazy, not wanting to get off the couch or out of bed. On the surface, the two — laziness and depression — appear to share some similarities.
But dig just a little deeper and you can quickly determine whether you’re depressed or just being lazy.
Depression is a serious, debilitating mental illness that impacts millions of Americans each year. It not only causes distress for the person suffering from it, but also for their loved ones and friends. For employers, it results in millions of hours, and billions of dollars, of lost productivity.
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment:
I take my antidepressants regularly and they keep me on an acceptable level of emotional activity, no highs and no lows just flat most of the time. I know when I am feeling lazy and it's completely different. As John Grohol says: “that is a case of the blahs”. It took me quite a while to learn.
The tattoo as a document
an article by Kristina Sundberg and Ulrika Kjellman (ALM, Uppsala, Sweden) published in Journal of Documentation Volume 74 Issue 1 (2018)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how tattoos can be considered documents of an individual’s identity, experiences, status and actions in a given context, relating to ideas stating that archival records/documents can be of many types and have different functions. The paper also wants to discuss how tattoos serve as a bank of memories and evidence on a living body; in this respect, the tattooed body can be viewed as an archive, which immortalises and symbolises the events and relationships an individual has experienced in his or her life, and this in relation to a specific social and cultural context.
Design/methodology/approach
To discuss these issues, the authors take the point of departure in the tattoo practice of Russian/Soviet prisoners. The tattoo material referred to is from the “Russian Criminal Tattoo Archive”. The archive is created by FUEL Design and Publishing that holds the meanings of the tattoos as explained in Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia Volume I-III. The authors exemplify this practice with two photographs of Soviet/Russian prisoners and their tattoos. By using a semiotic analysis that contextualises these images primarily through literature studies, the authors try to say something about what meaning these tattoos might carry.
Findings
The paper argues that it is possible to view the tattoo as a document, bound to an individual, reflecting his/her life and a given social and cultural context. As documents, they provide the individual with the essential evidence of his or her endeavours in a criminal environment. They also function as an individual’s memory of events and relationships (hardships and comradeships). Subsequently, the tattoos help create and sustain an identity. Finally, the tattoo presents itself as a document that may represent a critique of a dominant society or simply the voice of the alienated.
Originality/value
By showing how tattoos can be seen as documents and memory records, this paper brings a new kind of item into information and archival studies. It also uses theories and concepts from information and archival studies to put new light on the functions of tattoos.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how tattoos can be considered documents of an individual’s identity, experiences, status and actions in a given context, relating to ideas stating that archival records/documents can be of many types and have different functions. The paper also wants to discuss how tattoos serve as a bank of memories and evidence on a living body; in this respect, the tattooed body can be viewed as an archive, which immortalises and symbolises the events and relationships an individual has experienced in his or her life, and this in relation to a specific social and cultural context.
Design/methodology/approach
To discuss these issues, the authors take the point of departure in the tattoo practice of Russian/Soviet prisoners. The tattoo material referred to is from the “Russian Criminal Tattoo Archive”. The archive is created by FUEL Design and Publishing that holds the meanings of the tattoos as explained in Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia Volume I-III. The authors exemplify this practice with two photographs of Soviet/Russian prisoners and their tattoos. By using a semiotic analysis that contextualises these images primarily through literature studies, the authors try to say something about what meaning these tattoos might carry.
Findings
The paper argues that it is possible to view the tattoo as a document, bound to an individual, reflecting his/her life and a given social and cultural context. As documents, they provide the individual with the essential evidence of his or her endeavours in a criminal environment. They also function as an individual’s memory of events and relationships (hardships and comradeships). Subsequently, the tattoos help create and sustain an identity. Finally, the tattoo presents itself as a document that may represent a critique of a dominant society or simply the voice of the alienated.
Originality/value
By showing how tattoos can be seen as documents and memory records, this paper brings a new kind of item into information and archival studies. It also uses theories and concepts from information and archival studies to put new light on the functions of tattoos.
Goals for algorithmic genies
an article by Hassan Masum (Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation, University of Waterloo, Canada) and Mark Tovey (Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration, Western University, Canada) published in First Monday Volume 23 Number 2 (February 2018)
Abstract
Algorithmic genies built from growing computational capabilities bring risks like automating well-paying jobs, yet we suggest that if supplied with suitable goals and supporting infrastructure they can help in meeting many human needs. We argue that algorithmic genies can be harnessed to raise the baseline experience of people worldwide (raising the floor), especially if such harnessing is informed by wide consensus and deep evidence.
Examples show how algorithmic genies could raise the floor for widely agreed human needs like health, education, and other components of the Social Progress Index.
Ensuring that both the least well off and the majority share in the benefits of progress can help to ensure the floor is raised for all (floored progress). Floored progress can apply beyond basic human needs to problems that people across the economic spectrum struggle with (shared floors).
We include three tables with illustrative opportunities, and conclude by summarizing the value of raising floors individually and in concert.
Full text (HTML)
Abstract
Algorithmic genies built from growing computational capabilities bring risks like automating well-paying jobs, yet we suggest that if supplied with suitable goals and supporting infrastructure they can help in meeting many human needs. We argue that algorithmic genies can be harnessed to raise the baseline experience of people worldwide (raising the floor), especially if such harnessing is informed by wide consensus and deep evidence.
Examples show how algorithmic genies could raise the floor for widely agreed human needs like health, education, and other components of the Social Progress Index.
Ensuring that both the least well off and the majority share in the benefits of progress can help to ensure the floor is raised for all (floored progress). Floored progress can apply beyond basic human needs to problems that people across the economic spectrum struggle with (shared floors).
We include three tables with illustrative opportunities, and conclude by summarizing the value of raising floors individually and in concert.
Full text (HTML)
Understanding emergency response: lessons learned from the helping literature
an article by Daphne E. Whitmer, Madeleine R. LaGoy and Valerie K. Sims (University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA) published in International Journal of Emergency Management Volume 14 Number 1 (2018)
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the need for collaboration between two areas of research: classical psychological helping behaviours and emergency warnings.
A large-scale disaster (i.e., the Chicago Heat Wave) is used throughout the paper as an example in which knowledge of the helping behaviour literature could have assisted emergency responders.
The emergency warning literature is reviewed within the context of people heeding the warnings and deciding to share the information with others. Developments in the helping literature are reviewed, along with a final summary of key lessons from this area of experimental research that can help answer questions for future emergency responders.
With a better understanding of experimental findings in the area of prosocial behaviours, emergency managers may be better able to assist their communities. Likewise, a greater collaboration between these two fields may lead to more research with the intent of improving emergency response.
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the need for collaboration between two areas of research: classical psychological helping behaviours and emergency warnings.
A large-scale disaster (i.e., the Chicago Heat Wave) is used throughout the paper as an example in which knowledge of the helping behaviour literature could have assisted emergency responders.
The emergency warning literature is reviewed within the context of people heeding the warnings and deciding to share the information with others. Developments in the helping literature are reviewed, along with a final summary of key lessons from this area of experimental research that can help answer questions for future emergency responders.
With a better understanding of experimental findings in the area of prosocial behaviours, emergency managers may be better able to assist their communities. Likewise, a greater collaboration between these two fields may lead to more research with the intent of improving emergency response.
Do environmental concerns affect commuting choices?: hybrid choice modelling with household survey data
an article by Jennifer Roberts and Gurleen Popli (University of Sheffield, UK) and Rosemary J. Harris (Queen Mary University of London, UK) published in Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society) Volume 181 Issue 1 (January 2018)
Summary
To meet ambitious climate change goals governments must encourage behavioural change alongside technological progress. Designing effective policy requires a thorough understanding of the factors that drive behaviours.
In an effort to understand the role of environmental attitudes better we estimate a hybrid choice model (HCM) for commuting mode choice by using a large household survey data set. HCMs combine traditional discrete choice models with a structural equation model to integrate latent variables, such as attitudes, into the choice process.
To date HCMs have utilized small bespoke data sets, beset with problems of selection and limited generalizability. To overcome these problems we demonstrate the feasibility of using this valuable modelling approach with nationally representative data.
Our results suggest that environmental attitudes have an important influence on commute mode choice, and this can be exploited by governments looking to add to their climate change policy toolbox in an effort to change travel behaviours.
Full text (PDF 22pp)
I am too far away from using statistical information for this type of analysis but ignoring the bits of this article that I no longer understand it makes a great deal of sense.
Summary
To meet ambitious climate change goals governments must encourage behavioural change alongside technological progress. Designing effective policy requires a thorough understanding of the factors that drive behaviours.
In an effort to understand the role of environmental attitudes better we estimate a hybrid choice model (HCM) for commuting mode choice by using a large household survey data set. HCMs combine traditional discrete choice models with a structural equation model to integrate latent variables, such as attitudes, into the choice process.
To date HCMs have utilized small bespoke data sets, beset with problems of selection and limited generalizability. To overcome these problems we demonstrate the feasibility of using this valuable modelling approach with nationally representative data.
Our results suggest that environmental attitudes have an important influence on commute mode choice, and this can be exploited by governments looking to add to their climate change policy toolbox in an effort to change travel behaviours.
Full text (PDF 22pp)
I am too far away from using statistical information for this type of analysis but ignoring the bits of this article that I no longer understand it makes a great deal of sense.
UK house prices: Looking far into the past and into the future…
a column by David Miles for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Over recent decades houses have become increasingly expensive in the UK, leading to what is routinely described as a ‘housing crisis’. This column assesses whether, over the long term, the UK experience is so unusual and explores the underlying forces at work. Two key elasticities and one technological factor are highlighted as being central to the story and will determine what happens over the next 50 years.
Continue reading
Over recent decades houses have become increasingly expensive in the UK, leading to what is routinely described as a ‘housing crisis’. This column assesses whether, over the long term, the UK experience is so unusual and explores the underlying forces at work. Two key elasticities and one technological factor are highlighted as being central to the story and will determine what happens over the next 50 years.
Continue reading
Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Four Tips for Being Assertive, Not Aggressive
a post by Billy Burgess for the Happy (serious learning) blog
Assertiveness is about standing up for yourself and getting your voice heard, without being aggressive. In this blog, Billy Burgess explains four key components for being assertive that you can put into place right away, both at work and in your personal life.
Headings:
Assertiveness is about standing up for yourself and getting your voice heard, without being aggressive. In this blog, Billy Burgess explains four key components for being assertive that you can put into place right away, both at work and in your personal life.
Headings:
- Stand up for yourself
- The importance of saying no
- Exercise diplomacy
- Effective listening
Work, employment and engagement conditions in a female-dominated public service occupation after restructuring/outsourcing
an article by Gill Kirton (Queen Mary University of London, UK) and Cécile Guillaume (University of Roehampton, London, UK) published in Industrial Relations Journal Volume 48 Issue 5-6 (November 2017)
Abstract
Most research on the phenomenon of public service restructuring/outsourcing focuses on lower skilled work in peripheral activities and typically provides an overview of effects on work, employment and employment relations.
Through an in-depth case study of probation, the intention of this article is to explore professional worker experiences of the restructuring/outsourcing of a core public service activity where the workforce is female dominated.
The article highlights three dimensions of job quality that all suffered deterioration – work, employment and engagement.
The case of probation adds to evidence demonstrating that employees experience adverse effects even though transfer regulations and union agreements supposedly protect workers. Probation also stands as an exemplar of impoverishment processes in a female-dominated occupation which reinforces the view that public services can no longer be relied upon to provide high-quality jobs for highly qualified women.
Abstract
Most research on the phenomenon of public service restructuring/outsourcing focuses on lower skilled work in peripheral activities and typically provides an overview of effects on work, employment and employment relations.
Through an in-depth case study of probation, the intention of this article is to explore professional worker experiences of the restructuring/outsourcing of a core public service activity where the workforce is female dominated.
The article highlights three dimensions of job quality that all suffered deterioration – work, employment and engagement.
The case of probation adds to evidence demonstrating that employees experience adverse effects even though transfer regulations and union agreements supposedly protect workers. Probation also stands as an exemplar of impoverishment processes in a female-dominated occupation which reinforces the view that public services can no longer be relied upon to provide high-quality jobs for highly qualified women.
Labour force participation growth in Europe will rely more on targeted policies than a socio-educational push
a column by Cristina Fernández and David Martínez Turégano for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
European labour force participation has increased over recent decades, fuelled in large part by increased female labour participation, improvements in education levels, and socioeconomic factors. This column explores whether this trend will continue, or whether we will see a decline similar to that in the US. Results indicate that while Europe’s labour participation is not on the verge of a reversal, targeted policies will need to take over from socio-educational developments in driving further growth.
Continue reading
European labour force participation has increased over recent decades, fuelled in large part by increased female labour participation, improvements in education levels, and socioeconomic factors. This column explores whether this trend will continue, or whether we will see a decline similar to that in the US. Results indicate that while Europe’s labour participation is not on the verge of a reversal, targeted policies will need to take over from socio-educational developments in driving further growth.
Continue reading
A discipline at the crossroads? Using a gender-inspired paradigm to reposition the sociology of work and employment
an article by Kate Huppatz (University of Western Sydney, Australia) and Anne Ross-Smith (Macquarie University, Australia) published in Journal of Sociology Volume 53 Issue 4 (December 2017)
Abstract
The future of work and employment sociology has been a subject of concern for a number of authors in recent years. Halford and Strangleman, among others, have suggested that work and employment sociology is on the decline, in that it has been disconnected from wider sociology and co-opted by management and business schools.
In this article we unpack the debate and look at how it relates to gender and work scholarship. In doing so, we propose that the decline thesis might be overstated.
While gender and work sociology has been implicated in the demise of labour process theory, it has also embraced change and strengthened and diversified work and employment sociology.
Nevertheless, in this article, we treat the perceived threat as an opportunity to rethink work and employment sociology. We propose a four-themed, interdisciplinary, gender-inspired research paradigm.
Abstract
The future of work and employment sociology has been a subject of concern for a number of authors in recent years. Halford and Strangleman, among others, have suggested that work and employment sociology is on the decline, in that it has been disconnected from wider sociology and co-opted by management and business schools.
In this article we unpack the debate and look at how it relates to gender and work scholarship. In doing so, we propose that the decline thesis might be overstated.
While gender and work sociology has been implicated in the demise of labour process theory, it has also embraced change and strengthened and diversified work and employment sociology.
Nevertheless, in this article, we treat the perceived threat as an opportunity to rethink work and employment sociology. We propose a four-themed, interdisciplinary, gender-inspired research paradigm.
There’s one way to stop school shootings without taking away anyone’s guns
a post by Philip Ratner for the Big Think blog
People are brought out of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after a shooting at the school that reportedly killed and injured multiple people on February 14, 2018 in Parkland, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Another day, another horrible school shooting in America. This time 17 kids were ruthlessly gunned down at the Majory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. By now, we have all gone through this nightmare many times and know the cycle that will follow. There will be blame thrown around, some will try to understand why the gunman did it, people will argue about guns, Congress will get pilloried, but nothing will change. We'll just have to wait until the next shooting to do this all over again.
Or we can say that we won't take it anymore. Outside of countries in war zones, the United States is the only place in the world that has school shootings on a regular basis. Why can't we pull ourselves together as a civilized society and fix this?
One way is to stop the arguing. We all can agree that we love our kids. So let's not make this about gun control or anything else that we can't agree about. Let's solve this by doing what Americans do: we throw money at the problem.
Continue reading
People are brought out of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after a shooting at the school that reportedly killed and injured multiple people on February 14, 2018 in Parkland, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Another day, another horrible school shooting in America. This time 17 kids were ruthlessly gunned down at the Majory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. By now, we have all gone through this nightmare many times and know the cycle that will follow. There will be blame thrown around, some will try to understand why the gunman did it, people will argue about guns, Congress will get pilloried, but nothing will change. We'll just have to wait until the next shooting to do this all over again.
Or we can say that we won't take it anymore. Outside of countries in war zones, the United States is the only place in the world that has school shootings on a regular basis. Why can't we pull ourselves together as a civilized society and fix this?
One way is to stop the arguing. We all can agree that we love our kids. So let's not make this about gun control or anything else that we can't agree about. Let's solve this by doing what Americans do: we throw money at the problem.
Continue reading
Monday, 19 February 2018
Girl, interrupted: the science behind my stutter – and what not to say to me
an article by Rachel Hoge published in the Guardian
People tend to be misinformed about stammering. Here’s why finishing my sentences or telling me to ‘slow down’ doesn’t help
There are no miracle cures, but one thing is certain: a person with a stutter should be able to make their own decisions regarding their speech. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
I’ve heard the misconceptions for most of my life.
“Just slow down,” a stranger told me as a child. “You’re talking too fast – that’s why you stutter!” Later on, as my stutter carried on into adolescence and adulthood, strangers and loved ones alike offered up their own judgments of my speech –usually incorrect. Some have good intentions when it comes to sharing their opinions about my stutter. Others ... not so much. But everyone shares one defining characteristic: they’re misinformed.
Stuttering is a communication and disfluency disorder where the flow of speech is interrupted. Though all speakers will experience a small amount of disfluency while speaking, a person who stutters (PWS) experiences disfluency more noticeably, generally stuttering on at least 10% of their words.
Continue reading
People tend to be misinformed about stammering. Here’s why finishing my sentences or telling me to ‘slow down’ doesn’t help
There are no miracle cures, but one thing is certain: a person with a stutter should be able to make their own decisions regarding their speech. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
I’ve heard the misconceptions for most of my life.
“Just slow down,” a stranger told me as a child. “You’re talking too fast – that’s why you stutter!” Later on, as my stutter carried on into adolescence and adulthood, strangers and loved ones alike offered up their own judgments of my speech –usually incorrect. Some have good intentions when it comes to sharing their opinions about my stutter. Others ... not so much. But everyone shares one defining characteristic: they’re misinformed.
Stuttering is a communication and disfluency disorder where the flow of speech is interrupted. Though all speakers will experience a small amount of disfluency while speaking, a person who stutters (PWS) experiences disfluency more noticeably, generally stuttering on at least 10% of their words.
Continue reading
What drives users’ intentions to purchase a GPS Navigation app: The moderating role of perceived availability of free substitutes
an article by Yu-Yin Wang, Yi-Shun Wang, Ying-Wei Shih and Ssu-Ting Wang (National Changhua University of Education, Taiwan) and Hsin-Hui Lin (National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan) published in Internet Research Volume 28 Issue 1 (2018)
Abstract
Purpose
Grounded on the value-based adoption model and innovation diffusion theory, this study examined consumer purchase decisions of mobile Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation apps. In addition, this study also investigated the moderating role that perceived availability of free substitutes (PAFS) plays in the relationship between perceived value and purchase intention. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collected from 219 mobile users were analyzed against the research model using the partial least squares approach.
Findings
The results showed that compatibility, relative advantage, perceived enjoyment, perceived cost (positively), and complexity (negatively) influenced these users’ value perceptions and purchase decisions. Furthermore, PAFS significantly weakened the positive relationship between perceived value and purchase intentions.
Practical implications
Based on these findings, the authors provide practical suggestions for mobile app developers to increase mobile app sales. This study also helps advance knowledge of mobile internet marketing.
Originality/value
This study is a pioneering effort in explaining consumer purchase intentions in the context of mobile GPS navigation app.
Abstract
Purpose
Grounded on the value-based adoption model and innovation diffusion theory, this study examined consumer purchase decisions of mobile Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation apps. In addition, this study also investigated the moderating role that perceived availability of free substitutes (PAFS) plays in the relationship between perceived value and purchase intention. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collected from 219 mobile users were analyzed against the research model using the partial least squares approach.
Findings
The results showed that compatibility, relative advantage, perceived enjoyment, perceived cost (positively), and complexity (negatively) influenced these users’ value perceptions and purchase decisions. Furthermore, PAFS significantly weakened the positive relationship between perceived value and purchase intentions.
Practical implications
Based on these findings, the authors provide practical suggestions for mobile app developers to increase mobile app sales. This study also helps advance knowledge of mobile internet marketing.
Originality/value
This study is a pioneering effort in explaining consumer purchase intentions in the context of mobile GPS navigation app.
Does your ego serve you, or do you serve it? What Buddhism and Freud say about self-slavery
a post by Mark Epstein for the Big Think blog
Advice Not Given, by Mark Epstein
Ego is the one affliction we all have in common. Because of our understandable efforts to be bigger, better, smarter, stronger, richer, or more attractive, we are shadowed by a nagging sense of weariness and self-doubt. Our very efforts at self-improvement orient us in an unsustainable direction since we can never be certain whether we have achieved enough.
We want our lives to be better but we are hamstrung in our approach. Disappointment is the inevitable consequence of endless ambition, and bitterness a common refrain when things do not work out. Dreams are a good window into this. They hurl us into situations in which we feel stuck, exposed, embarrassed, or humiliated, feelings we do our best to keep at bay during our waking hours. Our disturbing dreams are trying to tell us something, however.
The ego is not an innocent bystander. While it claims to have our own best interests at heart, in its relentless pursuit of attention and power it undermines the very goals it sets out to achieve. The ego needs our help. If we want a more satisfying existence, we have to teach it to loosen its grip.
Continue reading
Advice Not Given, by Mark Epstein
Ego is the one affliction we all have in common. Because of our understandable efforts to be bigger, better, smarter, stronger, richer, or more attractive, we are shadowed by a nagging sense of weariness and self-doubt. Our very efforts at self-improvement orient us in an unsustainable direction since we can never be certain whether we have achieved enough.
We want our lives to be better but we are hamstrung in our approach. Disappointment is the inevitable consequence of endless ambition, and bitterness a common refrain when things do not work out. Dreams are a good window into this. They hurl us into situations in which we feel stuck, exposed, embarrassed, or humiliated, feelings we do our best to keep at bay during our waking hours. Our disturbing dreams are trying to tell us something, however.
The ego is not an innocent bystander. While it claims to have our own best interests at heart, in its relentless pursuit of attention and power it undermines the very goals it sets out to achieve. The ego needs our help. If we want a more satisfying existence, we have to teach it to loosen its grip.
Continue reading
Water into gas should not go
a post by Rosalind English for the UK Human Rights Blog [from One Crown Office Row]
Southern Gas Networks Plc v Thames Water Utilities Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 33, 25 January 2018 – read judgment
When the supply of gas to your house fails, you are entitled to compensation from the gas undertaker for the inconvenience. If that failure has been caused by another utility’s burst water main, the gas undertaker may seek to recoup its expenses for repair to its own infrastructure and the compensation it has had to pay out to consumers. A simple enough picture.
But behind this straightforward seeming network of liabilities is a labyrinth of common law and statutory relationships whose exploration is not for the faint hearted. As society’s dependence on the provision of energy, water and sewage services grew, during the Industrial Revolution and beyond, parliament had to think of ways to level the playing field between these increasingly centralised powers. This is not a trend that will go away, as the gas, electricity and fibre optic cables become ever more essential to the way we live our lives.
Continue reading
Southern Gas Networks Plc v Thames Water Utilities Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 33, 25 January 2018 – read judgment
When the supply of gas to your house fails, you are entitled to compensation from the gas undertaker for the inconvenience. If that failure has been caused by another utility’s burst water main, the gas undertaker may seek to recoup its expenses for repair to its own infrastructure and the compensation it has had to pay out to consumers. A simple enough picture.
But behind this straightforward seeming network of liabilities is a labyrinth of common law and statutory relationships whose exploration is not for the faint hearted. As society’s dependence on the provision of energy, water and sewage services grew, during the Industrial Revolution and beyond, parliament had to think of ways to level the playing field between these increasingly centralised powers. This is not a trend that will go away, as the gas, electricity and fibre optic cables become ever more essential to the way we live our lives.
Continue reading
The revenge of the places that don't matter
a column by Andrés Rodríguez-Pose for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Persistent poverty, economic decay and lack of opportunities cause discontent in declining regions, while policymakers reason that successful agglomeration economies drive economic dynamism, and that regeneration has failed. This column argues that this disconnect has led many of these ‘places that don’t matter’ to revolt in a wave of political populism with strong territorial, rather than social, foundations. Better territorial development policies are needed that tap potential and provide opportunities to those people living in the places that ‘don’t matter’.
Continue reading
Persistent poverty, economic decay and lack of opportunities cause discontent in declining regions, while policymakers reason that successful agglomeration economies drive economic dynamism, and that regeneration has failed. This column argues that this disconnect has led many of these ‘places that don’t matter’ to revolt in a wave of political populism with strong territorial, rather than social, foundations. Better territorial development policies are needed that tap potential and provide opportunities to those people living in the places that ‘don’t matter’.
Continue reading
Sunday, 18 February 2018
Why We’re Underestimating American Collapse
an article by Umair Haque published in Eudaimonia [via 3 Quarks Daily with grateful thanks]
The Strange New Pathologies of the World’s First Rich Failed State
You might say, having read some of my recent essays, “Umair! Don’t worry! Everything will be fine! It’s not that bad!” I would look at you politely, and then say gently, “To tell you the truth, I don’t think we’re taking collapse nearly seriously enough.”
Why? When we take a hard look at US collapse, we see a number of social pathologies on the rise. Not just any kind. Not even troubling, worrying, and dangerous ones. But strange and bizarre ones. Unique ones. Singular and gruesomely weird ones I’ve never really seen before, and outside of a dystopia written by Dickens and Orwell, nor have you, and neither has history. They suggest that whatever “numbers” we use to represent decline – shrinking real incomes, inequality, and so on – we are in fact grossly underestimating what pundits call the “human toll”, but which sensible human beings like you and I should simply think of as the overwhelming despair, rage, and anxiety of living in a collapsing society.
Let me give you just five examples of what I’ll call the social pathologies of collapse – strange, weird, and gruesome new diseases, not just ones we don’t usually see in healthy societies, but ones that we have never really seen before in any modern society.
Continue reading
The Strange New Pathologies of the World’s First Rich Failed State
You might say, having read some of my recent essays, “Umair! Don’t worry! Everything will be fine! It’s not that bad!” I would look at you politely, and then say gently, “To tell you the truth, I don’t think we’re taking collapse nearly seriously enough.”
Why? When we take a hard look at US collapse, we see a number of social pathologies on the rise. Not just any kind. Not even troubling, worrying, and dangerous ones. But strange and bizarre ones. Unique ones. Singular and gruesomely weird ones I’ve never really seen before, and outside of a dystopia written by Dickens and Orwell, nor have you, and neither has history. They suggest that whatever “numbers” we use to represent decline – shrinking real incomes, inequality, and so on – we are in fact grossly underestimating what pundits call the “human toll”, but which sensible human beings like you and I should simply think of as the overwhelming despair, rage, and anxiety of living in a collapsing society.
Let me give you just five examples of what I’ll call the social pathologies of collapse – strange, weird, and gruesome new diseases, not just ones we don’t usually see in healthy societies, but ones that we have never really seen before in any modern society.
Continue reading
Who Cares About Your Big Day? Impact of Life Events on Dynamics of Social Networks
an article by Arati Srinivasan (Providence College, Providence, RI, USA) and Hong Guo and Sarv Devaraj (University of Notre Dame, IN, USA) published in Decision Sciences Volume 48 Issue 6 (December 2017)
Abstract
With online social networking having revolutionized the way in which individuals communicate and interact with each other, there is heightened research interest in the dynamics of social networks. This article seeks to contribute to this stream of research by addressing the key question of the impact of major life events, such as getting married or graduating from college, on social network evolution.
Consistent with prior studies on the evolution of individuals’ social networks, we specifically focus on two key attributes of an individual's network: indegree of ties and relational embeddedness.
By longitudinally analyzing the network activities of a large-scale online social network, we find that the indegree of ties increased significantly following a major life event, and that this impact was stronger for more active users in the network.
Interestingly, we also find that the broadcast of major life events served to revive dormant ties as reflected by a decrease in embeddedness following a life event.
We also found that one-time life events such as weddings had a greater impact than recurring life events such as birthdays on the evolution of a user's social network.
From a research perspective, our study contributes to existing research by focusing on a user's communication network as opposed to friendship network and by emphasizing how exogenous life events add a different dimension to user communication patterns.
The importance of life events on social network evolution has important implications for practice as well by providing insights to advertisers as well as to social networking sites.
Abstract
With online social networking having revolutionized the way in which individuals communicate and interact with each other, there is heightened research interest in the dynamics of social networks. This article seeks to contribute to this stream of research by addressing the key question of the impact of major life events, such as getting married or graduating from college, on social network evolution.
Consistent with prior studies on the evolution of individuals’ social networks, we specifically focus on two key attributes of an individual's network: indegree of ties and relational embeddedness.
By longitudinally analyzing the network activities of a large-scale online social network, we find that the indegree of ties increased significantly following a major life event, and that this impact was stronger for more active users in the network.
Interestingly, we also find that the broadcast of major life events served to revive dormant ties as reflected by a decrease in embeddedness following a life event.
We also found that one-time life events such as weddings had a greater impact than recurring life events such as birthdays on the evolution of a user's social network.
From a research perspective, our study contributes to existing research by focusing on a user's communication network as opposed to friendship network and by emphasizing how exogenous life events add a different dimension to user communication patterns.
The importance of life events on social network evolution has important implications for practice as well by providing insights to advertisers as well as to social networking sites.
How to Mindfully Calm Your Anger and Stop Doing Things You Regret
a post by Chris Boutté for the Tiny Buddha blog
“Neurologists claim that every time you resist acting on your anger, you’re actually rewiring your brain to be calmer and more loving.” ~Unknown
One of the most impactful ways that mindfulness has changed my life is how I’m able to work with my feelings of anger.
Anyone who has met me in recent years would never know how anger used to run my life. I often wish that people who are just now meeting me could realize the transformation I’ve gone through from my past. If people could see how mindfulness has changed me from an angry, irritable person who hated the world to a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky guy, I think everyone would give mindfulness a try.
Continue reading
I wish that bloggers would stop using images of people in that dreadful position that I can't possibly manage. I would have had difficulty before I had my hip replaced, now I am advised not to even try.
“Neurologists claim that every time you resist acting on your anger, you’re actually rewiring your brain to be calmer and more loving.” ~Unknown
One of the most impactful ways that mindfulness has changed my life is how I’m able to work with my feelings of anger.
Anyone who has met me in recent years would never know how anger used to run my life. I often wish that people who are just now meeting me could realize the transformation I’ve gone through from my past. If people could see how mindfulness has changed me from an angry, irritable person who hated the world to a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky guy, I think everyone would give mindfulness a try.
Continue reading
I wish that bloggers would stop using images of people in that dreadful position that I can't possibly manage. I would have had difficulty before I had my hip replaced, now I am advised not to even try.
How effective are disability sensitization workshops?
an article by Mukta Kulkarni (Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Management, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Bengaluru, India), K.V. Gopakumar (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India) and Shivani Patel (Mallya Aditi International School, Bengaluru, India) published in Employee Relations Volume 40 Issue 1 (2018)
Purpose
Organizations are increasingly investing in disability-specific sensitization workshops. Yet, there is limited understanding about their hoped outcomes, that is, increased knowledge about disability-related issues and behavioral changes with respect to those with a disability. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness and boundaries of disability-specific sensitization training in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an interview-based study where 33 employees from five industries across India were interviewed over the span of a year.
Findings
The findings suggest that sensitization workshops are successful with regard to awareness generation. Paradoxically, the same awareness also reinforced group boundaries through “othering.” Further, workshops resonated more so with individuals who already had some prior experience with disability, implying that voluntary sensitization is likely attracting those who have the least need of such sensitization. The findings also suggest that non-mandated interventions may not necessarily influence organizational level outcomes, especially if workshops are conducted in isolation from a broader organizational culture of inclusion.
Originality/value
The present study helps outline effects of sensitization training initiatives and enhances our understanding about how negative attitudes toward persons with a disability can be overcome. The study also indicates how such training initiatives may inadvertently lead to “othering.” Finally, this study offers suggestions to human resource managers for designing impactful disability sensitization workshops.
Only a small sample but the results are not encouraging. The training works with those who are predisposed to it and if done in isolation from overall company policy then makes little difference.
Maybe I am reading too much into an abstract but …
Abstract
Purpose
Organizations are increasingly investing in disability-specific sensitization workshops. Yet, there is limited understanding about their hoped outcomes, that is, increased knowledge about disability-related issues and behavioral changes with respect to those with a disability. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness and boundaries of disability-specific sensitization training in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an interview-based study where 33 employees from five industries across India were interviewed over the span of a year.
Findings
The findings suggest that sensitization workshops are successful with regard to awareness generation. Paradoxically, the same awareness also reinforced group boundaries through “othering.” Further, workshops resonated more so with individuals who already had some prior experience with disability, implying that voluntary sensitization is likely attracting those who have the least need of such sensitization. The findings also suggest that non-mandated interventions may not necessarily influence organizational level outcomes, especially if workshops are conducted in isolation from a broader organizational culture of inclusion.
Originality/value
The present study helps outline effects of sensitization training initiatives and enhances our understanding about how negative attitudes toward persons with a disability can be overcome. The study also indicates how such training initiatives may inadvertently lead to “othering.” Finally, this study offers suggestions to human resource managers for designing impactful disability sensitization workshops.
Only a small sample but the results are not encouraging. The training works with those who are predisposed to it and if done in isolation from overall company policy then makes little difference.
Maybe I am reading too much into an abstract but …
Playing the credit score game: algorithms, ‘positive’ data and the personification of financial objects
an article by Mark Kear (University of Arizona, Tucson, USA) published in Economy and Society Volume 46 Issue 3-4 (August-November 2017)
Abstract
This paper is about how people are learning to ‘make themselves up’ in response to the market’s new algorithmic ways of seeing. More specifically, it explores how the self-datafication of informal financial relations is being used to affect the calculation of credit score.
I argue that credit score functions as a legal technology of arbitration beset with contradictions that are giving rise to inchoate struggles over the distribution of calculative agency in consumer credit markets.
Drawing on an ethnographic case study of credit building peer ‘lending circles’, the paper explores how financially marginalized groups and financial inclusion advocates are reacting to the blind spots and biases of credit-scoring algorithms through compensatory and transgressive data-generation practices.
I think that this is called “cooking the books” except that the books these days are not words on paper but digits inside a computer program.
Abstract
This paper is about how people are learning to ‘make themselves up’ in response to the market’s new algorithmic ways of seeing. More specifically, it explores how the self-datafication of informal financial relations is being used to affect the calculation of credit score.
I argue that credit score functions as a legal technology of arbitration beset with contradictions that are giving rise to inchoate struggles over the distribution of calculative agency in consumer credit markets.
Drawing on an ethnographic case study of credit building peer ‘lending circles’, the paper explores how financially marginalized groups and financial inclusion advocates are reacting to the blind spots and biases of credit-scoring algorithms through compensatory and transgressive data-generation practices.
I think that this is called “cooking the books” except that the books these days are not words on paper but digits inside a computer program.
7 Tips to Control Anger
a post for Adventures in Mind, Body & Soul with April Wright [via World of Psychology]
Anger can range from mild irritation to out-of-control rage.
When anger is managed well, it can provide a healthy release, a motivator for change, or a self-empowering strategy. Anger also is a protectant from underlying feelings of pain, fear, guilt, or shame. It is a normal human response, an indicator of hurt, and promoter of transformation.
When anger reaches an elevated state, the pre-frontal cortex, the thinking part of the brain is hijacked by the amygdala, the emotional, instinctual part of the brain that induces the fight-flight-freeze response. New information can no longer be received and defenses rise, demands persist, criticism overtakes, or vented venom leads to violence. It is at times when anger reaches an uncontrolled state of mind that a deliberate plan of action must take place.
Continue reading
Anger can range from mild irritation to out-of-control rage.
When anger is managed well, it can provide a healthy release, a motivator for change, or a self-empowering strategy. Anger also is a protectant from underlying feelings of pain, fear, guilt, or shame. It is a normal human response, an indicator of hurt, and promoter of transformation.
When anger reaches an elevated state, the pre-frontal cortex, the thinking part of the brain is hijacked by the amygdala, the emotional, instinctual part of the brain that induces the fight-flight-freeze response. New information can no longer be received and defenses rise, demands persist, criticism overtakes, or vented venom leads to violence. It is at times when anger reaches an uncontrolled state of mind that a deliberate plan of action must take place.
Continue reading
Saturday, 17 February 2018
Accept Yourself Unconditionally (Even When You're Struggling)
a post by Brianna Johnson for the Tiny Buddha blog
“Self-acceptance is my refusal to be in an adversarial relationship with myself.” ~Nathaniel Branden
Have you ever thought that you accepted yourself fully, only to realize there were conditions placed upon that acceptance?
There was a point in my life when I realized I had stopped making tangible progress with my emotions, self-esteem, and habits. I'd made some profoundly positive shifts that remained with me, like eating healthier, practicing yoga, and phasing out negative friends. You could say I was “cleaning house” in a sense—getting clear on what I wanted my life to look like and discarding the rest.
I began my first truly healthy relationship in years, had a small freelance business that was thriving, and even became a certified yoga teacher. I was no longer a slave to self-doubt and social anxiety like I was in college. However, I didn't feel like I could vulnerably bare all like other yoga teachers seemed to do so effortlessly.
Continue reading
“Self-acceptance is my refusal to be in an adversarial relationship with myself.” ~Nathaniel Branden
Have you ever thought that you accepted yourself fully, only to realize there were conditions placed upon that acceptance?
There was a point in my life when I realized I had stopped making tangible progress with my emotions, self-esteem, and habits. I'd made some profoundly positive shifts that remained with me, like eating healthier, practicing yoga, and phasing out negative friends. You could say I was “cleaning house” in a sense—getting clear on what I wanted my life to look like and discarding the rest.
I began my first truly healthy relationship in years, had a small freelance business that was thriving, and even became a certified yoga teacher. I was no longer a slave to self-doubt and social anxiety like I was in college. However, I didn't feel like I could vulnerably bare all like other yoga teachers seemed to do so effortlessly.
Continue reading
The differential influence of absent and harsh fathers on juvenile delinquency
an article by Cortney Simmons and Elizabeth Cauffman (University of California, Irvine, CA, USA), Laurence Steinberg (Temple University, Philadelphia, USA; King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) and Paul J.Frick (Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA; Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, Australia) published in Journal of Adolescence Volume 62 (January 2018)
Abstract
Researchers have identified father absence as a contributor to juvenile delinquency. Consequently, politicians and community leaders are making efforts to re-engage fathers.
However, it is possible that the presence of fathers is not, in itself, a substantial protective factor and, in some cases, can even be more detrimental than father absence.
Employing a diverse sample of male juvenile offenders in the U.S. (ages 13–17), the present study examined the differential effects of absent fathers and harsh fathers on delinquency.
Results indicated that youth in the harsh-father group engaged in more offending behaviors and used more substances than youth in the absent-father group. This difference remained even after controlling for the mother-child relationship.
Implications of these findings for future research and delinquency prevention programs are discussed.
Full text (HTML)
an article by Cortney Simmons and Elizabeth Cauffman (University of California, Irvine, CA, USA), Laurence Steinberg (Temple University, Philadelphia, USA; King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) and Paul J.Frick (Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA; Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, Australia) published in Journal of Adolescence Volume 62 (January 2018)
Abstract
Researchers have identified father absence as a contributor to juvenile delinquency. Consequently, politicians and community leaders are making efforts to re-engage fathers.
However, it is possible that the presence of fathers is not, in itself, a substantial protective factor and, in some cases, can even be more detrimental than father absence.
Employing a diverse sample of male juvenile offenders in the U.S. (ages 13–17), the present study examined the differential effects of absent fathers and harsh fathers on delinquency.
Results indicated that youth in the harsh-father group engaged in more offending behaviors and used more substances than youth in the absent-father group. This difference remained even after controlling for the mother-child relationship.
Implications of these findings for future research and delinquency prevention programs are discussed.
Full text (HTML)
Rehabilitating prisoners: the place of basic life skills programmes
an article by Michelle Jolley (University of Northampton, Northampton, UK) published in Safer Communities Volume 17 Issue 1 (2018)
Abstract
Purpose
Tackling high reoffending rates in England and Wales is of significant political interest, with education and training being viewed as an important mechanism to achieve change. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a small empirical study examining a life skills programme delivered in a Category C prison in the West Midlands.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a multi-method approach incorporating observations of two modules, four focus groups with prisoners enrolled on the programme, questionnaires with programme completers, and semi-structured interviews with staff.
Findings
The findings indicate that life skills are an important component in rehabilitation. More specifically, developing the necessary tools to assist prisoners in everyday life, such as recognition, interpretation, reflection, response, and planning is fundamental to rehabilitation.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of this study was that only prisoners currently at this Category C prison were included. This could be complemented by the inclusion of more participants who had completed the programme; however, access and data protection considerations limited the study to one location.
Practical implications
The key message of this study is that without addressing basic life skills, education and vocational rehabilitation is severely limited.
Social implications
To reduce reoffending rates, it is important to conceive rehabilitation in broader terms, not simply in relation to education and vocational training.
Originality/value
This paper offers insight into an unreported area of good practice in prison rehabilitation provision.
Abstract
Purpose
Tackling high reoffending rates in England and Wales is of significant political interest, with education and training being viewed as an important mechanism to achieve change. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a small empirical study examining a life skills programme delivered in a Category C prison in the West Midlands.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a multi-method approach incorporating observations of two modules, four focus groups with prisoners enrolled on the programme, questionnaires with programme completers, and semi-structured interviews with staff.
Findings
The findings indicate that life skills are an important component in rehabilitation. More specifically, developing the necessary tools to assist prisoners in everyday life, such as recognition, interpretation, reflection, response, and planning is fundamental to rehabilitation.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of this study was that only prisoners currently at this Category C prison were included. This could be complemented by the inclusion of more participants who had completed the programme; however, access and data protection considerations limited the study to one location.
Practical implications
The key message of this study is that without addressing basic life skills, education and vocational rehabilitation is severely limited.
Social implications
To reduce reoffending rates, it is important to conceive rehabilitation in broader terms, not simply in relation to education and vocational training.
Originality/value
This paper offers insight into an unreported area of good practice in prison rehabilitation provision.
To maintain our welfare state we need to rethink how we pay for it
a post by Torsten Bell for the Resolution Foundation blog
Social democracy gave 20th Century Britain the welfare state. But in the 21st Century it’s wandered off for a long post-crisis snooze, just at the time when big challenges to that welfare state are looming into view. It’s time it woke up because, for a new generation of social democrats, there is work to do.
We each cost the state when young, pay in when working and then rely on it again in retirement. But it’s not just individuals that give and take different amounts from the welfare state – generations do too.
The ‘silent generation’, born before war, founded the welfare state and paid for it, despite not benefiting from its expanded education system or recent moves to make state pension more generous. As a result they are the generation that has put most in compared to what they took out.
The baby boomers got a much better deal, benefitting from the expansion of the welfare state, rising longevity, and an underpinning assumption in Britain’s ‘Pay As You Go’ welfare state that the rising costs of their old age will be passed onto later generations. They are Britain’s welfare winners, who we project will take out over a fifth more than they will have put in.
Continue reading
Whilst not doubting anything that the author says I would have liked to see some data back up.
Social democracy gave 20th Century Britain the welfare state. But in the 21st Century it’s wandered off for a long post-crisis snooze, just at the time when big challenges to that welfare state are looming into view. It’s time it woke up because, for a new generation of social democrats, there is work to do.
We each cost the state when young, pay in when working and then rely on it again in retirement. But it’s not just individuals that give and take different amounts from the welfare state – generations do too.
The ‘silent generation’, born before war, founded the welfare state and paid for it, despite not benefiting from its expanded education system or recent moves to make state pension more generous. As a result they are the generation that has put most in compared to what they took out.
The baby boomers got a much better deal, benefitting from the expansion of the welfare state, rising longevity, and an underpinning assumption in Britain’s ‘Pay As You Go’ welfare state that the rising costs of their old age will be passed onto later generations. They are Britain’s welfare winners, who we project will take out over a fifth more than they will have put in.
Continue reading
Whilst not doubting anything that the author says I would have liked to see some data back up.
What Is Revenge Porn?
a post by Kurt Smith for the World of Psychology blog
Break-ups can be difficult and often quite painful. But imagine that the person you loved and trusted for the duration of your relationship decided to take revenge on you for breaking it off. What does that look like? Well, there are a variety of ways that a scorned lover might express their resentment, but in today’s era of cyber-everything, revenge porn is becoming a tool of choice for many in their quest for vengeance.
Revenge porn has been defined by the government as “the sharing of private, sexual materials, either photos or videos, of another person without their consent and with the purpose of causing embarrassment or distress.” Often there will be additional personal information included with the images or videos that are published. This combination can leave a person feeling vulnerable and could possibly put them in danger. At minimum, it is psychologically damaging to the victim.
Continue reading
Break-ups can be difficult and often quite painful. But imagine that the person you loved and trusted for the duration of your relationship decided to take revenge on you for breaking it off. What does that look like? Well, there are a variety of ways that a scorned lover might express their resentment, but in today’s era of cyber-everything, revenge porn is becoming a tool of choice for many in their quest for vengeance.
Revenge porn has been defined by the government as “the sharing of private, sexual materials, either photos or videos, of another person without their consent and with the purpose of causing embarrassment or distress.” Often there will be additional personal information included with the images or videos that are published. This combination can leave a person feeling vulnerable and could possibly put them in danger. At minimum, it is psychologically damaging to the victim.
Continue reading
How to tell the truth about climate change
an article by Kellan Anfinson (University of South Florida, Tampa, USA) published in Environmental Politics Volume 27 Issue 2 (2018)
Abstract
Scientific knowledge, it is argued, is insufficient to overcome climate skepticism. Spiritual truth is proposed as a way to do so.
First, the cases of Eric Holthaus and Paul Kingsnorth are examined. Though they knew about climate change, they were only able to tell the truth and act on it after a personal collapse that transformed them. Telling the truth in this way carried a political force that their previous advocacy did not.
These figures help animate and adapt Foucault’s notion of spiritual truth for climate change.
Finally, this theory of spiritual truth is compared to Naomi Klein’s argument that climate science determines political truth and Bruno Latour’s argument that politics should decide the truth of climate science.
Spiritual truth accommodates the insights these perspectives provide while adding transformation as a key element for telling the truth about climate change.
Abstract
Scientific knowledge, it is argued, is insufficient to overcome climate skepticism. Spiritual truth is proposed as a way to do so.
First, the cases of Eric Holthaus and Paul Kingsnorth are examined. Though they knew about climate change, they were only able to tell the truth and act on it after a personal collapse that transformed them. Telling the truth in this way carried a political force that their previous advocacy did not.
These figures help animate and adapt Foucault’s notion of spiritual truth for climate change.
Finally, this theory of spiritual truth is compared to Naomi Klein’s argument that climate science determines political truth and Bruno Latour’s argument that politics should decide the truth of climate science.
Spiritual truth accommodates the insights these perspectives provide while adding transformation as a key element for telling the truth about climate change.
People with depression use language differently – here’s how to spot it
a post by Mohammed Al-Mosaiwi for the Big Think blog
Actor Robin Williams appears onstage during MTV's Total Request Live at the MTV Times Square Studios on April 27, 2006 in New York City. (Photo by Peter Kramer/Getty Images)
From the way you move and sleep, to how you interact with people around you, depression changes just about everything. It is even noticeable in the way you speak and express yourself in writing. Sometimes this “language of depression” can have a powerful effect on others. Just consider the impact of the poetry and song lyrics of Sylvia Plath and Kurt Cobain, who both killed themselves after suffering from depression.
Scientists have long tried to pin down the exact relationship between depression and language, and technology is helping us get closer to a full picture. Our new study, published in Clinical Psychological Science, has now unveiled a class of words that can help accurately predict whether someone is suffering from depression.
Traditionally, linguistic analyses in this field have been carried out by researchers reading and taking notes. Nowadays, computerised text analysis methods allow the processing of extremely large data banks in minutes. This can help spot linguistic features which humans may miss, calculating the percentage prevalence of words and classes of words, lexical diversity, average sentence length, grammatical patterns and many other metrics.
Continue reading
Actor Robin Williams appears onstage during MTV's Total Request Live at the MTV Times Square Studios on April 27, 2006 in New York City. (Photo by Peter Kramer/Getty Images)
From the way you move and sleep, to how you interact with people around you, depression changes just about everything. It is even noticeable in the way you speak and express yourself in writing. Sometimes this “language of depression” can have a powerful effect on others. Just consider the impact of the poetry and song lyrics of Sylvia Plath and Kurt Cobain, who both killed themselves after suffering from depression.
Scientists have long tried to pin down the exact relationship between depression and language, and technology is helping us get closer to a full picture. Our new study, published in Clinical Psychological Science, has now unveiled a class of words that can help accurately predict whether someone is suffering from depression.
Traditionally, linguistic analyses in this field have been carried out by researchers reading and taking notes. Nowadays, computerised text analysis methods allow the processing of extremely large data banks in minutes. This can help spot linguistic features which humans may miss, calculating the percentage prevalence of words and classes of words, lexical diversity, average sentence length, grammatical patterns and many other metrics.
Continue reading
Friday, 16 February 2018
Work placements at 14-15 years and employability skills
an article by David Messer, (Open University, Milton Keynes, UK) published in Education + Training Volume 60 Issue 1 (2018)
Abstract
Purpose
In the UK, concern frequently has been voiced that young people lack appropriate employability skills. One way to address this is to provide work based placements. In general, previous research findings have indicated that young people find such placements useful because of help with career choice and relevant skills. However, most studies are retrospective and involve sixth form or degree students. The purpose of this paper is to extend previous research by collecting information before and after the placements.
Design/methodology/approach
This investigation involved questionnaires with nearly 300 14-15 year-old students who provided a pre- and post-placement self-reports about their employability skills and their work-experience hosts provided ratings of employability skills at the end of the placement.
Findings
There was a significant increase in student ratings of their employability skills from before to after the placement, and although the employers gave slightly lower ratings of some employability skills than the students, the two sets of ratings were reasonably close. In addition, the students had high expectations of the usefulness of the placements and these expectations were fulfilled as reported in the post-placement questionnaire.
Originality/value
These positive findings, extend the knowledge of the effects of work based placements, by focusing on the opinion of the young people themselves, using a pre- to post-placement design, by validating student self-reports with host employer ratings, and by focusing on a younger than usual age group.
Abstract
Purpose
In the UK, concern frequently has been voiced that young people lack appropriate employability skills. One way to address this is to provide work based placements. In general, previous research findings have indicated that young people find such placements useful because of help with career choice and relevant skills. However, most studies are retrospective and involve sixth form or degree students. The purpose of this paper is to extend previous research by collecting information before and after the placements.
Design/methodology/approach
This investigation involved questionnaires with nearly 300 14-15 year-old students who provided a pre- and post-placement self-reports about their employability skills and their work-experience hosts provided ratings of employability skills at the end of the placement.
Findings
There was a significant increase in student ratings of their employability skills from before to after the placement, and although the employers gave slightly lower ratings of some employability skills than the students, the two sets of ratings were reasonably close. In addition, the students had high expectations of the usefulness of the placements and these expectations were fulfilled as reported in the post-placement questionnaire.
Originality/value
These positive findings, extend the knowledge of the effects of work based placements, by focusing on the opinion of the young people themselves, using a pre- to post-placement design, by validating student self-reports with host employer ratings, and by focusing on a younger than usual age group.
What We Can Learn from Tolstoy about FMIS
a post by Moritz Piatti-Fünfkirchen (Senior Economist at the World Bank) and Ali Hashim (a former Lead Treasury Systems Specialist, World Bank) published in The International Monetary Fund’s Public Financial Management Blog
When Leo Tolstoy wrote Anna Karenina about 150 years ago, he inspired generations. His novel begins
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
Now, what does this have to do with Financial Management Information Systems (FMIS)? What Tolstoy perhaps meant was that a deficiency in any one of a host of factors dooms an endeavor to failure. Consequently, to make an endeavor successful it is necessary to mitigate against deficiencies and risks in multiple areas.
In a recent World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (click here to access the paper) the authors developed a framework that lays out three critical dimensions for an FMIS to contribute to improved budget management:
The system lifecycle lays out what it takes to make an FMIS operational.
Lastly, the coverage and utilization of an FMIS will determine its scope and effectiveness.
Continue reading
When Leo Tolstoy wrote Anna Karenina about 150 years ago, he inspired generations. His novel begins
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
Now, what does this have to do with Financial Management Information Systems (FMIS)? What Tolstoy perhaps meant was that a deficiency in any one of a host of factors dooms an endeavor to failure. Consequently, to make an endeavor successful it is necessary to mitigate against deficiencies and risks in multiple areas.
In a recent World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (click here to access the paper) the authors developed a framework that lays out three critical dimensions for an FMIS to contribute to improved budget management:
- the diagnostic phase,
- the system’s lifecycle, and
- the system’s coverage and utilization.
The system lifecycle lays out what it takes to make an FMIS operational.
Lastly, the coverage and utilization of an FMIS will determine its scope and effectiveness.
Continue reading
Choosing a Physician on Social Media: Comments and Ratings of Users are More Important than the Qualification of a Physician
an article by Guillermo Carbonell (University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany) and Matthias Brand (University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany; Erwin L Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Essen, German) published in International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction Volume 34 Issue 2 (2018)
Abstract
Social media provides users with descriptions, comments, and ratings from others to facilitate decision-making. In this study, we want to assess how users make decisions with the help of the tools provided by social media.
In order to do so, we simulate a physician rating website in which participants had to choose one physician among four options in a task of 20 trials. For this, we used a choice-based conjoint design, which allowed us to experimentally observe which features of social media have more impact on the decisions of the participants.
Furthermore, personal characteristics of the participants, such as executive functions, cognitive styles, and personality traits, were measured.
We found that the subjective features of social media, such as the comments and ratings provided by other users, have a greater impact on the decision of the participants when compared with the objective characteristics such as experience or specialty.
Regarding the personal characteristics, we found that the executive functions cognitive flexibility and categorization were higher for those participants who preferred objective features (e.g. availability, specialty, experience of the physician) than for those participants who preferred subjective features.
The results of the current study help understand how users make decisions with social media tools. We also stress the importance of the comments and ratings of users in decision making on social media.
Furthermore, we suggest considering these results in the fields of recommender systems and information retrieval, in order to improve the human-computer interaction in platforms that use recommendations as an important part of the decision-making process of users.
Abstract
Social media provides users with descriptions, comments, and ratings from others to facilitate decision-making. In this study, we want to assess how users make decisions with the help of the tools provided by social media.
In order to do so, we simulate a physician rating website in which participants had to choose one physician among four options in a task of 20 trials. For this, we used a choice-based conjoint design, which allowed us to experimentally observe which features of social media have more impact on the decisions of the participants.
Furthermore, personal characteristics of the participants, such as executive functions, cognitive styles, and personality traits, were measured.
We found that the subjective features of social media, such as the comments and ratings provided by other users, have a greater impact on the decision of the participants when compared with the objective characteristics such as experience or specialty.
Regarding the personal characteristics, we found that the executive functions cognitive flexibility and categorization were higher for those participants who preferred objective features (e.g. availability, specialty, experience of the physician) than for those participants who preferred subjective features.
The results of the current study help understand how users make decisions with social media tools. We also stress the importance of the comments and ratings of users in decision making on social media.
Furthermore, we suggest considering these results in the fields of recommender systems and information retrieval, in order to improve the human-computer interaction in platforms that use recommendations as an important part of the decision-making process of users.
The local economic impact of shale gas extraction
an article by Philip B. Whyman (University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK) published in Regional Studies Volume 52 Issue 2 (February 2018)
Abstract
Advocates of UK shale gas expansion have focused upon predicted national economic benefits, but the local and/or regional impact has been largely neglected.
This paper seeks to address this deficit by creating a unique dataset, combining industry data with consumer and supply-chain surveys, thereby overcoming the current absence of suitable secondary data.
Local economic impact in the Bowland field is estimated via a simple Keynesian local-income multiplier model. Results emphasize the importance of facilitating local employment opportunities, through skills initiatives, and the development of regional supply chain clusters, to anchor economic benefits within the local economy.
Policy implications are discussed
Abstract
Advocates of UK shale gas expansion have focused upon predicted national economic benefits, but the local and/or regional impact has been largely neglected.
This paper seeks to address this deficit by creating a unique dataset, combining industry data with consumer and supply-chain surveys, thereby overcoming the current absence of suitable secondary data.
Local economic impact in the Bowland field is estimated via a simple Keynesian local-income multiplier model. Results emphasize the importance of facilitating local employment opportunities, through skills initiatives, and the development of regional supply chain clusters, to anchor economic benefits within the local economy.
Policy implications are discussed
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