The design of a contextualized responsive evaluation framework for fishery management in Benin

The main question addressed by this article is how to adapt the responsive evaluation (RE) approach to an intervention context characterized by repetition of ineffective interventions, ambiguous intervention action theories among stakeholders, and high complexity. The context is Grand-Popo, a fishing municipality located on Benin's southwest Atlantic coast. The fishery management interventionists and the fishing communities in the municipality all espoused concern for the sustainable improvement of fishing actors' livelihood conditions, but differed about the reasons for this livelihood impairment, and about what should be done, when, where, and by whom. Given this ambiguity, we identified RE as a promising action research approach to facilitate dialogue and mutual learning, and consequently to improve stakeholders' ability to resolve problems. However, this approach seems to have some shortcomings in the Grand-Popo context, regarding the repetitive ineffectiveness of interventions, high complexity, and uncertainty. Therefore, based on our empirical study, we add three dimensions to the existing RE framework: historical analysis to deal with routine interventions, exploration and discussion of incongruities of action theories to trigger double-loop learning, and system analysis to deal with complexity and uncertainty. This article does not intend to address the implications or impact of this adapted RE framework. Instead, we suggest some criteria and indicators for evaluating whether the proposed amended RE approach has assisted in resolving the fishery problems in Grand-Popo after the approach has been applied.     

Organization Learning Disorders: Conceptual Model and Intervention Hypotheses

This paper presents a conceptual model thatproposes how organization learning disorders influenceorganization performance. The model suggests thatorganization knowledge mediates the relationship between learning disorders and performance. Specificorganization learning disorders are identified for eachof the four phases of organization learning: discovery,invention, production, and generalization. The effect of learning disorders on organizationknowledge is explored, and intervention hypotheses fortreating the disorders are presented.     

Religion Imagined: The Conceptual Substructures of American Religious Understandings

Sociologists have increasingly drawn on the cognitive sciences to better theorize how culture works. While this shift has improved understandings of the distinct qualities of practical and discursive modes of cognition, limited consideration has been given to the cognitive structures that scaffold cultural understandings. This article theorizes the influence of “image schemas” in structuring cultural understandings beneath the level of conscious awareness. After outlining how image schemas can be identified in interviews, I reconstruct how 50 religious Americans unconsciously “imagine” religion's role in their lives. Focusing on the implicit rather than respondents' explicit discourse, I identify five image schemas that structure Americans' religious understandings. Although respondents' understandings often appear incoherent and inconsistent at the level of explicit discourse, I show that they are coherent and consistent at the level of implicit image schemas. I then use factor analysis to identify patterns in these implicit understandings across social divisions. I conclude by discussing the promise of image schema analysis for improving studies of religion and other areas, as well as for theorizing how culture works.     

Trial and Lifetime Smoking Risks Among African American College Students

Abstract

The authors surveyed 614 African American university students to determine the magnitude of cigarette use, identify risk factors, and develop models to predict smoking. More than half (58.3%) of the participants had smoked at least once, and 9.3% of that group were lifetime smokers. Among the lifetime smokers, 71.3% had smoked during the 30 days preceding the survey. More women (66.8%) than men (56.1%) had tried smoking and were classed as lifetime smokers. Residence, parental, and peer smoking (current and childhood) were associated with trying smoking; age, race/ethnicity, and marital status were additional factors for becoming a lifetime smoker. The risk of being a lifetime smoker was reduced when neither friends nor parents of the student smoked and the student viewed spirituality as important. The results of this study add to the growing understanding of health risk behaviors among African Americans and can be useful in reducing smoking.     

Conceptual framework of planning a people-oriented hospital and peripheral health maintenance services

For development of a people-oriented hospital and primary care facilities in its peripheral health maintenance services, a rethinking of the planning concepts of the roles, attributes and various components, viz. user, provider, institutional, social and financial control is required. The emphasis in discussion of the various elements of the planning process is on need-orientation for the rural disadvantaged and availability of limited resources.     

Three Psychotherapies for Suicidal Adolescents: Overview of Conceptual Frameworks and Intervention Techniques

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth, and as many as one in five youth report having had at least one serious thought of suicide in the past year. Despite the enormous emotional pain and suffering associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors, up to 40 % of suicidal youth never receive treatment. Given that social workers are employed in multiple settings where suicidal children and adolescents are encountered (e.g. schools, homeless shelters, emergency departments, outpatient mental health agencies, private practice), they play a critical role in the identification and treatment of suicidal youth. In the past decade, evidence has emerged that attachment-based family therapy, integrated cognitive behavioral therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy can reduce suicidal ideation and/or suicide attempt in youth. The purpose of this article is to review the theoretical assumptions, conceptual frameworks and key intervention techniques for these three interventions so that clinicians can integrate these approaches into their practice with suicidal youth and families. Implications for practice are integrated throughout the review.     

Tobacco Control and Smoking Cessation Efforts in an Inner-City African American Community

This paper describes the conceptual framework that guided the development and implementation of a large-scale, community-based health initiative to lower the prevalence of smoking in an urban African American community. This project developed culturally-sensitive approaches to reducing smoking in the community and to promoting tobacco control efforts developed and implemented by community members. A randomized clinical-trial methodology was used to test the efficacy of the culturally-sensitivey community-developed smoking cessation interventions in lowering smoking rates as compared with a self-help approach. Two theoretical models guided the intervention strategies: a macro-level model applicable to the community as a whole, and a psychological process model applicable to individuals. The community model was based on community systems theory and incorporated the Readiness for Change Model which was applied in both the individual and organizational models. In addition, culturally-sensitive data collection methods were developed to improve the reliability and validity of project data, especially in determining the smoking prevalence rates and smoking behaviors of hard-to-reach, inner-city African Americans. Since the health of individuals is related to the health of their communities, smoking cessation and tobacco control activities that are integrated into the framework of the community (Le., churches, city-council, housing developments, community organizations), and incorporate culturally-relevant and specific interventions can be effective methods for achieving behavioral and societal change.     

A comprehensive health service evaluation and monitoring framework

ObjectiveTo develop a framework for evaluating and monitoring a primary health care service, integrating hospital and community services.MethodA targeted literature review of primary health service evaluation frameworks was performed to inform the development of the framework specifically for remote communities. Key principles underlying primary health care evaluation were determined and sentinel indicators developed to operationalise the evaluation framework. This framework was then validated with key stakeholders.ResultsThe framework includes Donabedian's three seminal domains of structure, process and outcomes to determine health service performance. These in turn are dependent on sustainability, quality of patient care and the determinants of health to provide a comprehensive health service evaluation framework. The principles underpinning primary health service evaluation were pertinent to health services in remote contexts. Sentinel indicators were developed to fit the demographic characteristics and health needs of the population. Consultation with key stakeholders confirmed that the evaluation framework was applicable.ConclusionData collected routinely by health services can be used to operationalise the proposed health service evaluation framework. Use of an evaluation framework which links policy and health service performance to health outcomes will assist health services to improve performance as part of a continuous quality improvement cycle.     

The Relations Between Parents' Smoking, General Parenting, Parental Smoking Communication, and Adolescents' Smoking

The present study examined whether the associations between general parenting practices (i.e., support, behavioral control, and psychological control) and parental smoking on the one hand and older and younger siblings' smoking on the other were mediated by parental smoking communication (i.e., frequency and quality of parent–adolescent communication concerning smoking-related issues). The focus of this paper was on examining whether these associations of parental actions and adolescents' smoking were different in older and younger siblings within the family. Participants were 428 Dutch families (mother, father, and their 2 adolescent siblings aged 13–17). The results of parent and adolescent reports indicated that general parenting practices and parental smoking were associated with parental smoking communication, which, in turn, was related with adolescent smoking. The magnitude of the associations between parenting and adolescent smoking did not differ between older and younger siblings. Supportive parents were generally more likely to engage in a high quality communication about smoking with their adolescent children; this was related to a lower likelihood to smoke. Parents who exerted psychological control were more likely to talk more frequently with their adolescents on smoking matters, which in turn, relates to a higher likelihood to smoke. Also, smoking parents were less likely to have high-quality parent–adolescent communication that relates to higher likelihoods to smoke. In general, the findings were similar across reporters. Implications for prevention are addressed.     

Partnering with community stakeholders: engaging rural African American families in basic research and The Strong African American Families Preventive Intervention Program

The Center for Family Research has implemented the first family-community preventive intervention program designed specifically for rural African American families and youths. Basic information garnered during a decade of research in rural African American communities formed the theoretical and empirical foundations for the program, which focuses on delaying the onset of sexual activity and discouraging substance use among youths. The Center's researchers have formulated future directions for engaging rural families in basic research and preventive intervention programs.     

Tolerance of Elder Abuse and Attitudes Toward Third-Party Intervention Among African American,Korean American,and White Elderly

SUMMARY

Studies have found that professionals and the lay public differ consistently from one another in the ways in which they perceive elder abuse. A potential variable that may explain this observed difference is cultural norms among ethnic groups. Using 18 statements, this study examined similarities and differences among elderly from three ethnic groups in their tolerance for potential elder abuse, perceptions regarding perpetrators and the causes of elder abuse, and attitudes toward third-party intervention and reporting of elder abuse to the authorities. Results suggest that while African American and White elderly are remarkably similar in their responses to most statements, Korean American elderly differed significantly from the other two groups in their tolerance for medical mistreatment, financial exploitation and neglect, perceptions of causes, and attitudes toward reporting elder abuse. These findings have implications for understanding potential barriers to preventive outreach efforts, investigation, and intervention in cases of elder abuse in a culturally diverse community.     

Intervention of drudgery reducing technologies in agriculture and impact evaluation

Agriculture is main source of livelihood for majority of the population in India. Agriculture has been established as one of the drudgery prone occupation of unorganized sector due to lack of access to improved agricultural technologies. The present study was planned to assess intervention of drudgery reducing technologies in agriculture and its impact evaluation. The drudgery areas/activities in agriculture were identified. Participatory field level skill training for proper use of the ergonomically improved farm technologies were given to men and women in separate groups. An intervention package consisting of improved sickle, wheel hand hoe, capron, cot bag and protective gloves was introduced in village Shahpur. Data were collected to quantify the impact of intervention on the level of drudgery of worker before and after the technology intervention from sample of 30 respondents (15 male and 15 female) selected randomly from village Shahpur. Gain in knowledge and change in awareness level were calculated after the training.Evaluation of field validation of technology on drudgery of men & women was done after its use in the field conditions. A significant gain in awareness was observed among both men(2.6) & women (3.0) whereas the gain in knowledge was more among men (6.6) than women (4.5). In evaluation of field validation of technology on drudgery it was found that all the five technologies reduced the drudgery of men as well as women. However wheel hand hoe was used successfully by men in comparison to women who preferred to use their conventional technology i.e improved long-handled hoe. Evaluation of validation trials of the technologies reported that improved sickle was used successfully by both men & women farmers. More than half of the men farmers (53.3%) & only 13.3 percent women farmers preferred the wheel hand hoe over the traditional one as they found it four times more efficient in terms of time, energy & money saving. Cot bag was preferred by the entire sample. Capron was preferred by four-fifth of the men farmers (80.0%) whereas women farmers did not prefer it much. Only one third of men (33.3%) & 26.7 percent of women farmers preferred using gloves while harvesting of guar & picking of cotton.     

The priority of justice: a framework approach to ethics in program evaluation

The situations of evaluation are inevitably complex and various, often involving conflicts between ethical principles as well as among aims or stakeholders. To meet this challenge, evaluators and stakeholders need an interpretive framework to clarify the issues at hand and open the way to workable solutions. This paper provides a three-part framework of justice to guide practitioners in this interpretive task.First, evaluation is instituted to serve the public with fidelity to the values, standards, and ideals that characterize it as a profession and as an office deserving the public trust, here called public justice. Second, these requirements evoke and entail the more general demands of fair process, mutual respect, and right action known as procedural justice. Third, the operations of office and just process must serve the public good, meeting the demands of distributive justice that govern the allocation of goods and benefits.This framework takes as a starting point the priority of justice as articulated by John Rawls: “Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is to thought. A theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue; likewise laws and institutions no matter how efficient and well-arranged must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust” (1971, p. 3).     

Conceptual problems of the monitoring and evaluation of qualitative objectives of rural development

Monitoring and evaluation are crucial aspects of all rural development projects in terms of ensuring that objectives are being met and assessing the impact of various interventions. Thus, monitoring and evaluation should be built into a project's organizational and implementation structure and constitute a continuous, systematic project activity. In need of further refinement, however, are techniques for monitoring and evaluating the nonmaterial, nonobjective dimensions of development projects such as community participation. Needed is an approach that is not based exclusively on the measurement of material impact, but is also able to explain what happens in a rural development project that seeks to promote participation. In dealing with participation, there is a concern not only with quantitative results, but also qualitative processes. Toward this end, project beneficiaries should have a role in describing the processes involved, analyzing the results, and making a judgment as to the outcome of project activities. The unmet need in this area is to devise indicators of economic, political, cultural, and vulnerable-group participation in rural development projects and to identify ways such indicators could be used to collect relevant data.