Cultures of the soul: spiritual beliefs about organ donation in China and the United States

Spiritual beliefs shape ideas about the meaning of life, the moment of death, and the care that must be taken to deliver the body of the loved one to the spiritual realm. This study investigated spiritual beliefs about organ donation for participants in China (n = 364) and the United States (n = 384). Results showed that spiritual connection with the transplant recipient, spiritual concern about removing organs, and attitudes toward organ donation significantly predicted willingness to become an organ donor for participants in both countries. Americans reported being significantly more religious compared to Chinese. However, altruism and religiosity were not significant predictors of willingness to donate organs. Chinese participants showed significantly higher levels of spiritual connection with the potential recipient of transplanted organs. Even so, Chinese participants exhibited more reluctance to become organ donors compared to Americans. Gender differences in organ donation behaviors are also reported. The study discusses the implications of the findings for structuring organ procurement campaigns that will address spiritual beliefs about organ donation.     

Changing college student perceptions and participation in organ donation: A classroom and service learning intervention

Each day an average of 18 people die from the lack of available organs for transplantation and the demand for organ, eye and tissue donation continues to vastly exceed the number of available donors. The single most effective method in addressing this issue remains programmatic efforts to encourage and support organ donation. The purpose of this article is to introduce a creative and comprehensive approach to enhance awareness, participation and organ donor registry among young adults. The programmatic intervention utilized a service learning model within a Freshman Year Seminar course focused on organ donation. The partnership between classroom-based curriculum and experiential learning served to increase knowledge and enhance positive attitudes toward organ donation, as measured by pre-post tests and student reflections in portfolio assessments. The number of organ donor registrants was increased as a result of student outreach activities. Results are discussed in terms of implications for increasing donation.     

Organ Transplantation as a Family Issue: Living Liver Donors in Japan

The global criticism of organ trafficking and transplant tourism requires many countries to pursue legal protection of living organ donors for organ transplantation. Japan is one of the criticized countries: more than 26 000 people have become living organ donors. This paper presents an exploration of living liver transplantation in Japan from legal, social and ethical perspectives. Since the first living liver transplantation in 1989, the cases have increased, with extremely high dependency in spite of a few deaths and cases of severe disability. Government and professional guidelines stipulate that living donors be “relatives” so that living organ transplantation can be privatized and regarded as a family issue, although it is strictly limited to altruistic cases in some countries. Based on results of the Living Liver Donor Survey conducted in 2004, Japanese liver donors have had various experiences. Most male donors were employed, felt some obligation and had concerns about financial effects or employment during decision‐making. In contrast, only a quarter of female donors were employed, felt guilty for their children, and did not have opportunities for regular health checkups after donation. Severe tensions and family break‐up were observed in adult‐to‐adult cases, although donors were satisfied with donation overall. The author suggests that we should rethink privatization of living organ donation and that independent advocates should support potential donors. Further research is necessary to explore the reasons why organ donation is privatized even in some forms of cadaver cases in Japan.     

Public Attitudes Toward the Ethics of Organ Donation

Abstract

This study expanded on previous investigations exploring public attitudes toward the human rights issues involved in organ donation practices and personal support for these practices. Participants included college and graduate students, and senior citizens (N = 99). Attitudes were assessed prior to and following the presentation of a brief informational DVD on major organ donation practices. Results indicated that participants were largely divided in their attitudes toward human rights issues, as well as in personal support for donation practices. Registration status was correlated with education, r = .47, p < .001. Support for donation incentive programs varied. Registered donors showed a change in attitudes toward human rights issues, t(22) = 2.18, p = .04. For non-registered donors, personal support for donation practices decreased after viewing the DVD, t(51) = - 3.06, p = .004. Results are discussed in terms of implications for increasing donation.     

Human Organ Donation: Does Knowledge Correlate with Intention?

Abstract

One increasing form of social distress in the USA today is the increasing number of ill Americans who die while awaiting a life-saving organ (Satel, 2008). While organ donation is a life saving practice supported by 95 per cent of Americans, only half of the U.S. population is registered to donate organs. To explore this discrepancy between attitudes and behaviors relating to organ donation, 135 New Yorkers completed an anonymous 25-item survey to assess individuals' accurate knowledge of organ donation and their organ donor practices. Results support the researchers' two hypotheses: (a) individuals who possess more accurate information about organ donation practices are more likely to be organ donors (r=.225, p<.01) and (b) are more likely to have had experience with organ donation, either directly or indirectly (r =.247, p <.01). These findings have implications for the organ donation community, specifically the focus of campaigns that seek to increase the number of registered organ donors.     

Reducing Public Misinformation About Organ Donation: An Experimental Intervention

Abstract

The shortage of life-saving human organs for transplantation today is a growing and international problem. A recent survey in this Journal found that people with “more accurate information about organ donation practices are more likely to be organ donors (r= .225, p< .01)” (Nickols, Stack, Viviano, & Whitney, 2008, p. 240). How much can a factual 20-minute message about organ donation significantly increase people's knowledge and pro-donation behavior? In this field experiment, 101 students in two urban colleges completed a one-page survey before and after an expert's 20-minute message. The survey assessed participants' knowledge about organ donation from 0 (low) to 40 (high), biodata, self-reported experiences, and behavior in the past (registered organ donor) and future (consider becoming a donor). As hypothesized: (1) Pre-message knowledge about organ donation was moderate (mean = 21.8 on the 0-40 scale), and rose significantly after the message (mean = 28.6, p < .01). (2) This knowledge positively correlated with consideration to register in the future as an organ donor (r = +.41; p < .001 post-presentation). (3) However, there was no significant correlation of prior donor registration with knowledge prior to the message (r = +.08) or after the message (r = +.04). From these findings, it seems a brief FAQ fact-sheet or DVD would be highly useful to increase people's accurate knowledge about donations.     

Willingness to Participate in Organ Donation Among Black Seventh-Day Adventist College Students

Objective and Participants: The authors studied a group of black and white Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) college students (N = 334) to compare the power of religious socialization with racial socialization. Methods: The authors compared the levels of willingness to donate organs between black and nonblack students in an availability sample. Results: Black SDA college students were significantly more likely than white SDA students or SDA students of other races to perceive racism in the healthcare system and to believe that doctors would not make heroic efforts to save their lives if they knew they were organ donors; they were 66.9% less likely to donate organs than were white SDA students or SDA students of other races. Conclusions: Despite a common religion with a purposive indoctrination, the racial socialization of black SDA students exerted a stronger influence on willingness to participate in organ donation than did that of white students and students of other races within this religion.     

Worlds apart or a part of the world? Public relations issues and challenges in India

This study examines modern public relations in India investigating current issues, trends and leadership in communication management. Using a survey of Indian practitioners, it compares public relations in India with global trends. Findings suggest that practice in India is interdependent and changing dynamically with global influences, though a global–local dialectic is clearly present. Country-level differences are evident with development of human capital seen as the top issue in the region. At the same time, similar to other countries, the industry in India is also dealing with issues of digitization and information flow, struggling with measurement concerns, and trying to stay on top of crisis management preparedness.     

Exploring the Use of the Stages of Change Model to Increase Organ Donations Among African Americans

Abstract

The success of organ transplants is affected by the degree of antigen match between donor and recipient. With organ transplants among African Americans, finding a good antigen match is difficult. While the consent rate for organ donations among Caucasians is 50%, this rate among African Americans is only 12%. The resulting ratio of donors to “recipients” is 1 to 9 in African Americans. The majority of organs received by African Americans come from Caucasian donors, thereby reducing the probability of an antigen match and increasing the probability of organ rejection. These circumstances could be improved if the organ donation rate eamong African Americans was increased. There is some empirical support for the theory that behavior change occurs through identifiable stages. This paper presents evidence for the construct validity of a stage of change measure suitable for use in designing and evaluating attempts to promote organ donations in the African American community. Use of this measure also permits clinicians to assess how receptive a client will be to organ donation promotional material. Use of this measure offers the possibility of refining approaches to organ donations among African Americans. Increases in the donor rate will result in a larger pool of antigen compatible organs in this subpopulation.     

Lesbian studies and activism in India

This essay surveys public debates and writings about lesbianism and the history of activism around lesbian issues in twentieth-century India. Weddings between women and joint suicides by female couples over the last twenty-five years are among the under-researched, but increasingly reported, phenomena that suggest future directions that activism and the study of lesbianism in India may take.     

Organ donation and reciprocity

The willingness to donate organs post-mortem varies considerably both across and within countries. Linking these differences to personal characteristics is an important focus of research investigating the supply of donor organs. Anecdotal evidence and previous findings indirectly suggest that the desire to reciprocate others’ (un)willingness to donate organs plays an important role in the decision to become an organ donor. We use individual measures of reciprocity in a large, representative survey in Germany and relate these to organ donation attitudes and behavior. Higher positive reciprocity is associated with a higher general willingness to donate organs, but it does not correlate with donor card possession. Individuals with higher negative reciprocity have a lower general willingness to donate organs and are less likely to have a donor card. Our findings open up the possibility of a double dividend of measures that increase organ donations. These could yield an additional increase of organ donations via a feedback loop through reciprocity.     

The nature of conflict in firm-client relations: A content analysis of public relations journal 1980–89

Determing the sources of conflict in public relations firm-client relations is the first step toward managing such conflict productively. A content analysis of firm-related articles in Public Relations Journal from 1980–1989 yielded a total of 45 conflict issues. The key issues recurring whether the conflict was attributed to the firm or the client were concerns over knowing each other's businesses, contributing to a consistent communication flow, finances, and “chemistry.”For the most part, conflict issues for public relations firms paralleled those for advertising firms as reported in the advertising agency literature. Exceptions were top ranking public relations firm issues related to research and billing and for clients, prompt payment. Advertising issues not directly found in the public relations literature included defensiveness, blame placing and the number of approval levels.     

ETHICS, REGULATION AND THE NEW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, PART I: ACCOUNTABILITY AND POWER

A generation ago, there was a major debate about the social and ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI). Interest in that debate waned from the late 1980s. However, both patterns of public risk perception and new technological developments suggest that it is time to re-open that debate. The important issues about AI arise in connection with the prospect of robotic and digital agent systems taking socially significant decisions autonomously. Now that this is possible, the key concerns are now about which decisions should be and which should not be delegated to machines, issues of regulation in the broad sense covering everything from consumer information through codes of professional ethics for designers to statutory controls, issues of design responsibility and problems of liability.     

Willingness to participate in organ donation among black Seventh-Day Adventist college students

OBJECTIVE AND PARTICIPANTS: The authors studied a group of black and white Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) college students (N = 334) to compare the power of religious socialization with racial socialization. METHODS: The authors compared the levels of willingness to donate organs between black and nonblack students in an availability sample. RESULTS: Black SDA college students were significantly more likely than white SDA students or SDA students of other races to perceive racism in the healthcare system and to believe that doctors would not make heroic efforts to save their lives if they knew they were organ donors; they were 66.9% less likely to donate organs than were white SDA students or SDA students of other races. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a common religion with a purposive indoctrination, the racial socialization of black SDA students exerted a stronger influence on willingness to participate in organ donation than did that of white students and students of other races within this religion.     

Drivers of workplace discrimination against people with disabilities: the utility of Attribution Theory

The purpose of this paper was to determine what drives workplace discrimination against people with disabilities. These findings are then compared to available literature on attribution theory, which concerns itself with public perceptions of the controllability and stability of various impairments. The sample included 35,763 allegations of discriminations filed by people with disabilities under the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Group A included impairments deemed by Corrigan et al. [1988] to be uncontrollable but stable: visual impairment (representing 13% of the total allegations in this study), cancer (12%), cardiovascular disease (19%), and spinal cord injuries (5%). The controllable but unstable impairments in group B included depression (38%), schizophrenia (2%), alcohol and other drug abuse (4%), and HIV/AIDS (7%). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had resolved all allegations in terms of merit Resolutions (a positive finding of discrimination) and Resolutions without merit. Allegations of workplace discrimination were found to center mainly on hiring, discharge, harassment, and reasonable accommodation issues. Perceived workplace discrimination (as measured by allegations filed with EEOC) does occur at higher levels in Group B, especially when serious issues involving discharge and disability harassment are involved. With the glaring exception of HIV/AIDS, however, actual discrimination (as measured by EEOC merit Resolutions) occurs at higher levels for Group A.     

DOES PUBLIC ATTENTION REDUCE THE INFLUENCE OF MONEYED INTERESTS? POLICY POSITIONS ON SOPA/PIPA BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERNET BLACKOUT

We investigate the role of public attention in determining the effect that campaign contributions by interest groups have on legislators' policy positions. We exploit the shock in public attention induced by the Internet service blackout of January 2012 that increased the salience of the Stop Online Piracy Act/Protect IP Act (SOPA/PIPA) bills aimed at stronger protection of property rights on the Internet. Using a new dataset of U.S. congressmen's public statements, we find a strong statistical relationship between campaign contributions funded by the affected industries and legislators' positions. However, this relationship evaporates once the two bills become primary policy issues. Our results are consistent with the notion that legislators choose positions on secondary policy issues in order to cater to organized interests, whereas positions on primary policy issues are driven by electoral support. (JEL D72, L82, L86)     

Children and Society Policy Review: Health Policy Affecting Children and Young People

The Health and Social Care Act comes into force in April 2013. It changes the organisation of the health service and accelerates the integration of health and social care. New relationships between primary and secondary healthcare will develop and the culture of clinical and cost effectiveness will expand into social care; work on children in public care is in the vanguard of this change. However, this is not an organisational change designed for children and there are considerable anxieties about how it will impact on the delivery of health care. The issues for children in public care need to stay high on the national agenda and in local fora.     

THE RISE OF THE CHICAGO PACKERS and THE ORIGINS OF MEAT INSPECTION and ANTITRUST

The Meat Inspection Act of 1891 and the Sherman Act of 1890 are closely tied. This link makes clearer Congress' intent in enacting the legislation. Both laws were products of economic conditions after 1880 and reflected, in part, widespread concern about the market power of Chicago meat packers. The concerns of local slaughterhouses, which were being displaced by new, low-cost refrigerated beef, and of farmers, who sold livestock to the large Chicago packers, were echoed elsewhere by other small businesses and farmers, who feared for their livelihood during a time of structural change in the economy.     

Historical Trends in Concerns About Social Issues Across Four Decades Among U.S. Adolescents

This study examined adolescents’ concerns about social issues and how these concerns have changed over historical time. Separate cohorts of U.S. high school seniors (N = 110,953; 51.1% female) reported their worries about four social issues (crime/violence, economic problems, hunger/poverty, race relations) every year from 1976 to 2015. Youth were most concerned with crime/violence, followed by economic problems, hunger/poverty, and race relations. Adolescents’ social concerns varied by demographic characteristics and cohort, paralleling specific historical events and appearing responsive to the political challenges of the time. Initiatives seeking to engage youth within the political process may benefit from providing opportunities for teens to participate in civic activities aimed to address these issues.