The Phone-FITT: a brief physical activity interview for older adults

The purpose of this study was to develop a brief physical activity interview for older adults (Phone-FITT) and evaluate its test-retest reliability and validity. Summary scores were derived for household, recreational, and total PA. Reliability was evaluated in a convenience sample from a fall-prevention study (N = 43, 79.4 +/- 2.9 years, 51% male), and validity, in a random sample of individuals in older adult exercise programs (N = 48, 77.4 +/- 4.7 years, 25% male). Mean time to complete the Phone-FITT was 10 min for participants sampled from exercise programs. Evaluation of test-retest reliability indicated substantial to almost perfect agreement for all scores, with intraclass correlation coefficients (95% confidence intervals) ranging from .74 (.58-.85) to .88 (.8-.94). For validity, Spearman's rho correlations of Phone-FITT scores with accelerometer counts ranged from .29 (.01-.53) to .57 (.34-.73). Correlations of Phone-FITT recreational scores with age and seconds to complete a self-paced step test ranged from -.29 (-.53 to -.01) to -.45 (-.68 to -.14). This study contributes preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of the Phone-FITT.     

Sexual Harassment in the Creative Industries: Tolerance,Culture and the Need for Change

The economic, social and cultural contributions of the creative industries are essential elements of many societies and their governments' policies. However, there is growing evidence that precarity, competition and lack of regulation within these industries is exacerbating inequalities with respect to gender, race and class. With a focus on gender and sexual harassment among female workers, this study involved 32 in‐depth interviews with women working in the Netherlands' creative industries. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Findings suggest that sexual harassment is prevalent, and many women considered it to be part of their occupational culture and career advancement. Four factors influenced this phenomenon: competition for work; industry culture; gendered power relations; and the importance of informal networks. Implications include the need for a climate of non‐tolerance, sector‐specific research and guidelines, sensitivity training and further work with unions and professional associations to provide worker protection strategies traditionally undertaken by organizations. The article concludes that effective sexual harassment prevention requires action at the individual, educational, sectoral and governmental levels, beginning with public conversations to convey the message that sexual harassment is never acceptable.     

Differences in drinking expectancies and motives for regular education and special education high school students with emotional/behavioral disorders

Alcohol expectancies and drinking motives were compared for regular education students (n=159) and students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) receiving special education services (n=51). Differences existed between groups with respect to expected negative social consequences and emotional and physical outcomes associated with drinking. Across groups, drinkers reported more positive alcohol expectancies than non-drinkers, while non-drinkers reported more negative alcohol expectancies than drinkers. Differences also existed between the regular education and EBD students who drank with respect to coping, conformity, and social motives. Accounting for sample sizes differences, the relationship between alcohol use and negative physical effect was stronger for regular education students, while the relationship between alcohol use and conformity motives was stronger for the EBD group.     

Evaluating theory-based evaluation: information, norms, and adherence

Programmatic social interventions attempt to produce appropriate social-norm-guided behavior in an open environment. A marriage of applicable psychological theory, appropriate program evaluation theory, and outcome of evaluations of specific social interventions assures the acquisition of cumulative theory and the production of successful social interventions - the marriage permits us to advance knowledge by making use of both success and failures. We briefly review well-established principles within the field of program evaluation, well-established processes involved in changing social norms and social-norm adherence, the outcome of several program evaluations focusing on smoking prevention, pro-environmental behavior, and rape prevention and, using the principle of learning from our failures, examine why these programs often do not perform as expected. Finally, we discuss the promise of learning from our collective experiences to develop a cumulative science of program evaluation and to improve the performance of extant and future interventions.     

Modeling the effects of victim behavior and moral character on prosecutors' charging decisions in sexual assault cases

Prior research, modeling the effects of the victim's behavior and character on prosecutors' charging decisions, has used either a dichotomous variable that reflects the presence of any risky behavior or moral character issues or an additive index that captures the number of related items in a case file. We suggest that these measures do not adequately identify the specific issues that prosecutors take into consideration when making charging decisions. Using data on 666 sexual assault cases that resulted in arrest in three urban jurisdictions and a multivariate modeling strategy, we examine specific risk-taking behaviors and issues related to the victim's moral character in an effort to determine if certain behaviors and characteristics have a more substantial effect on charging decisions than others. We also examine the extent to which the effects of these blame and believability factors vary based on the nature of the cases. Our results reveal that although charging decisions in stranger cases are largely determined by legally relevant factors, these decisions in nonstranger cases are affected by several legally irrelevant victim characteristics: whether the victim had a prior criminal record, whether the victim had been drinking alcohol prior to the assault, and whether the victim invited the suspect to her residence. Further analysis, however, revealed that only the victim's prior record had a differential effect on charging decisions in cases involving strangers and nonstrangers and in aggravated and simple rape cases. Our results suggest that the focal concerns that guide prosecutors' charging decisions incorporate specific victim behaviors and background characteristics.     

Social justice for safeguarded adults deprived of their liberty in the United Kingdom?

In March 2014 the UK Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal in two seminal co-joined cases (P v Cheshire West and Chester Council, P & Q v Surrey County Council [2014] UKSC 19). The implications of this co-joined judgement signify a wake-up call to all those involved in safeguarding adults at risk. It will dictate the proper test for determining what constitutes a deprivation of liberty, when an individual assessed as lacking mental capacity is required to reside at a particular place for the purpose of receiving care and treatment. This judgement provides essential and necessary protections for many thousands of adults, subject to high levels of restrictive practice, supervision and control.     

‘Racism under the radar’: Student perceptions of school experiences in a multicultural context

In this study focus groups were conducted to explore Aboriginal and Caucasian student perceptions of school experiences within a multicultural context. Five major themes emerged from students’ dialogues that pose several questions about what sort of racist atmosphere the members of this community are being exposed to on a daily basis. The findings of this study underscore an understanding of Aboriginal student resiliency within a school setting that employs successful school initiatives that aim to promote student success. Further inquiry into these findings is needed.     

Service learning with First Peoples: a framework to support respectful and reciprocal learning

This article outlines a framework for working with First Peoples. The framework supports respectful and mutually beneficial learning partnerships and culminates from 6 years of practice and research in arts-based service learning with Aboriginal communities in Australia. We begin by looking at synergies between global service learning and service learning with First Peoples. We then position this work within an international context, focusing on Indigenous frameworks for practice identified in service learning with First Nations communities in North America. We next describe the Australian context and touch on the multilayered intercultural processes and outcomes associated with the programmes across three universities. Finally, we introduce the framework and elaborate on its dimensions.     

Multivariate rank tests for the two-sample location problem

A multivariate affinc-invariant family of rank tests is proposed for the two sample location problem. The class of statistics introduced is built upon Randles' multivariate one-sample sign statistic based on interdirections and the multivariate one-sample signed-rank statistic of Peters and Randles. Asymptotic relative efficiencies are obtained which indicate that selected members of the class perform very well for a broad class of distributions. Further comparisons are made among several statistics using Monte Carlo results.