Wisdom from life's challenges: qualitative interviews with low- and moderate-income older adults who were nominated as being wise

Previous wisdom research tended to focus on cognitive and intellectual aspects, highly educated professionals and/or prominent subjects, and wisdom as the outcome not process. In this study, based on in-depth interviews of 18 low- and moderate income older adults who were nominated as being wise by their aging-service providers, we explored the ways challenging life experiences and coping may have contributed to the development of their wisdom, their ideas/beliefs about the qualities of wisdom, and the ways they may be practicing wisdom in daily life. Their emphasis on interconnectedness and interdependence, forgiveness and patience, and gratitude appears to represent self-transcendental qualities of wisdom. Social work practice and research implications are discussed.     

Principals' perceptions of benefits and barriers to school-based suicide prevention programs

Suicidal behavior among children and adolescents is a national problem and schools can be an effective context for suicide prevention and intervention efforts. School-wide screening programs are viewed as most effective from a public health standpoint, although they garner the least support from school administrators. The purpose of this article is to examine administrators' perceptions of three school-based suicide prevention models while also capturing opinions on barriers and benefits to implementation. Data were gathered through interviews with seven principals from one Midwestern state. Findings reveal agreement among principals that schools play a key role in suicide prevention, but they differ on which type of prevention approach is most appropriate. School principals believed the school-wide screening program included more barriers to implementation than either the in-service or the curriculum-based program, largely due to the likelihood of parental disapproval. Limitations of the study and implications for improving suicide prevention efforts are discussed.     

Do cows belong in nature? The cultural basis of agriculture in Sweden and Australia

Within the now extensive recent literature on cultures of nature, agriculture has received less attention than might have been expected given its threshold role in transforming human relations with the earth and with plants and animals. The concept and practice of agriculture can be understood as central to the emergence and maintenance of the culture/nature dichotomy within Western thought and practice. In this paper we use the comparative cases of Sweden and Australia to examine the differential and contingent positioning of agriculture with respect to that which is understood as nature. Broadly speaking, some parts of agriculture are understood to belong to nature in Sweden through a long history. This is not the case in Australia, where the short agricultural history is positioned in contrast to nature. This affects the way in which biodiversity and environmental protection takes place - in Sweden as part of farming, - in Australia in spite of it. We argue that these cultural differences have been more important than generally recognised in debates over multifunctional agriculture. We discuss the environmental management implications of the two different models in a context made more dynamic by climate change.     

Predictors of Change in Self-Reported Social Networks among Homeless Young People

This research investigates changes in social network size and composition of 351 homeless adolescents over three years. Findings show that network size decreases over time. Homeless youth with a conduct disorder begin street life with small networks that remain small over time. Caregiver abuse is associated with smaller emotional networks due to fewer home ties, especially to parents, and a more rapid loss of emotional home ties over time. Homeless youth with major depression start out with small networks, but are more likely to maintain network ties. Youth with substance abuse problems are more likely to maintain instrumental home ties. Finally, homeless adolescents tend to reconnect with their parents for instrumental aid and form romantic relationship that provide emotional support.     

Racial Disparities in Hospital Length of Stay for Asthma: Implications for Economic Policies

Asthma is one of the most common health burdens on American families. An understanding of how the costs of asthma are distributed across communities is essential to realizing cost savings from preventative care. We model the household’s utilization of hospital services using Grossman’s health production framework. We then test for differences in asthma-related hospitalizations by race using inpatient records from the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance. On average black and nonwhite-Hispanic patients stayed between one-third and one-fourth of a day less than similar white patients which translates into a difference in expenditures of $8 million over 1994–2002. The difference in expenditures raises questions for market-based methodologies to value health and for policies directed at reducing inequalities in health outcomes.     

The closer the sportier? Children��s sports activity and their distance to sports facilities

We investigate whether the distance between the next sports facilities and children’s homes matter for their sports activities inside and outside of sports clubs. Our analysis is based on a large and informative cross-section of individual data on children and their families, the so-called German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents data. We use a semiparametric econometric method to investigate this relationship empirically. Our results suggest that while the distance does not matter in larger towns and cities, it does matter in smaller towns and in particular on the countryside.     

Hochschule als Marke

This paper gives an overview of new developments in conceptualizing universities as brands. Brand development in this sense is not an externally-oriented marketing instrument, but an internal strategy. In this internal brand development process, a university sorts out its developmental resources and challenges and structures an identity. Ten steps in this process of brand development are outlined and a concept of brand positioning specific to universities is introduced.