How publics respond to crisis communication strategies: The interplay of information form and source

Through an experiment with 162 college students this study empirically evaluates an emerging communication model: the social-mediated crisis communication model (SMCC). As part of a series of studies testing the SMCC model, this study focuses on two of the SMCC model's components: the effects of crisis information form (traditional media, social media, and word-of-mouth) and source (third party and organization) on publics’ acceptance of crisis response strategies and publics’ crisis emotions. The findings clearly indicate the importance of strategically matching crisis information form and source when organizations respond to crises. In addition, the selection of crisis information form and source affects publics’ attribution independent and dependent emotions.     

Envisioning emerging nanotechnologies: a three-year panel study of South Carolina citizens

This article reports results from a three-year panel study of a nonrandom sample of 76 South Carolina citizens, recruited from a variety of walks of life, and their impressions of emerging nanotechnology. This discussion focuses on material from depth interviews conducted alongside a baseline opinion and awareness inventory at the beginning of the study, the most intensive data-gathering phase. These results are placed in the context of data from three additional surveys conducted at about equal intervals over the three years, plus exit interviews from 21 of the 34 individuals who completed the entire study. The results give insight into popular thinking about technology but little indication of strong emerging concerns, a trajectory of amplification of those concerns, or opinion polarization over time, despite some awareness of risks and potential ethical dimensions. Nanotechnology may stand out more as an example of risk attenuation than of risk amplification, consistent with most results from national surveys.     

RACE AND IMPRISONMENT DECISIONS

The possible race differences in judicial sentencing have been of long-standing interest to social scientists. We argue, however, that prior research on the issue either uses crude measures of offense severity and prior record, or, if more precise measures are employed, is limited to one or a few offenses. The Pennsylvania guidelines sentencing data used in this report allow a more rigorous test of the racial hypothesis since they include detailed information on these two most important legal variables, on other variables for statistical controls, and on a fairly comprehensive list of common law offenses, with an adequate sample size. The data—analyzed with both additive and interaction models—reveal that race (net of other factors) has a small effect on judicial decision-making as it pertains to the likelihood of incarceration but has negligible effect on the length of imprisonment decision. The small race effect at the in/out decision is accounted for by dispositional departures in sentencing that favor white defendants. Offense severity is overwhelmingly the major factor influencing judicial sentencing, followed at some distance by prior record. At the end of the report, we discuss the implications of our findings for research on sentencing and for policies aimed at reducing the high incarceration rate of black males.     

The use of finite mixture models to estimate the distribution of the health utilities index in the presence of a ceiling effect

Finite mixture models are flexible parametric models that allow one to describe complex probability distributions as a mixture of a small number of simple probability distributions. Measures of health status are often used to reflect a person's overall health. Such measures may be subject to a ceiling effect, in that the measure is unable to discern gradations in health status above the ceiling. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of finite mixture models to describe the probability distribution of the Health Utilities Index, under the assumption that the HUI is subject to a ceiling effect. Mixture models with two through six components are fit to the HUI. Bayes factors were used to compare the evidence that the Canadian population of non-institutionalized residents is composed of four distinct subpopulations, and that a mixture of six Normal components is required to describe these four subpopulations.     

Attitudes and Values of Scottish Farmers: “Yeoman” and “Entrepreneur” as Factors,Not Distinct Types1

Abstract We investigate the validity of the classification of farmers into two or more distinct types on the basis of attitudes, objectives, and values. Factor analysis of data from a survey of farm pluriactivity in Scotland (N=472) shows that attributes ascribed to “yeoman” and “entrepreneur” types emerge as separate factors rather than as a single bipolar factor. No clustering of the factor scores corresponding to distinct types is found. We also present correlations of the factor scores with attitudes to on- and off-farm pluriactivity and with observables such as age and off-farm employment. The desirability of analyzing survey data by methods which do not make assumptions about typology is discussed.     

The impact of routine assessment of past or current mental health on help-seeking in the perinatal period

BackgroundClinical practice guidelines now recommend that women be asked about their past or current mental health as a routine component of maternity care. However, the value of this line of enquiry in increasing engagement with support services, as required, remains controversial.AimThe current study aimed to examine whether assessment of past or current mental health, received with or without referral for additional support, is associated with help-seeking during pregnancy and the postpartum.MethodsA subsample of women drawn from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (young cohort) who reported experiencing significant emotional distress during pregnancy (N = 398) or in the 12 months following birth (N = 380) participated in the study.ResultsMultivariate analysis showed that women who were not asked about their emotional health were less likely to seek any formal help during both pregnancy (adjOR = 0.09, 95%CI: 0.04–0.24) and the postpartum (adjOR = 0.07, 95%CI: 0.02–0.13), as were women who were asked about these issues but who were not referred for additional support (antenatal: adjOR = 0.26, 95%CI: 0.15–0.45; postnatal: adjOR = 0.14, 95%CI: 0.07–0.27). However, considerable levels of consultation with general practitioners, midwives and child health nurses, even in the absence of referral, were evident.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that enquiry by a health professional about women's past or current mental health is associated with help-seeking throughout the perinatal period. The clinical and resource implications of these findings for the primary health care sector should be considered prior to the implementation of future routine perinatal depression screening or psychosocial assessment programmes.     

The Polish Parliament and the Making of Politics through Abortion: Nation,Gender and Democracy in the 1996 Liberalization Amendment Debate

The collapse of communism across East Central Europe was marked by a renewal of debates around reproduction, with abortion debates surfacing in Romania, Germany and Poland. Reproductive politics and more specifically abortion debates typically come to the forefront in times of crisis or societal transformation. Struggles over women's reproductive rights in Poland, as evidenced by continuing debate around the legal status of abortion, are in this postcommunist context intimately related to and bound up with ongoing symbolic and concrete re-definitions of Polish nationhood, identity and citizenship. Focusing on the connections between discourses of Polish nationhood, gender and democracy, this article offers a detailed and critical engagement with debate in the Sejm (the lower chamber of the Polish parliament) during the second reading of the 1996 liberalization of abortion amendment. Using a discourse analysis methodology, the article argues that abortion is a symbolic issue through which anxieties about postcommunist reform are raised, nationalist pasts and futures are imagined and through which political projects are articulated.     

An overview,Editor's Note

Abstract

Current relational theory is very consonant with traditional social work perspectives, particularly the importance of relationships and of the environment. Further, it is now possible theoretically to describe the manner in which human interactions and the environment are fundamental to identity using the concept of identity complexity. This article examines these ideas, showing the roots of the current developments in cognitive and constructionist theory as well as in psychoanalytic ideas.     

Supervision mit Ehrenamtlichen

For a better understanding of the requirements for the supervision of staff members in “crisis hot line” (“Telefonseelsorge”) the organization structure and the specific setting of telephone counseling are presented. The motives of the voluntary staff members are proving to be various and they are transforming from an altruistic desire to be helpful towards an increased need for personal development. In co-operation with volunteers the supervisor plays a special role. In addition to the routine supervision the supervisor is continually working with the volunteers to increase their scope of the basic principles of professional counseling. Finally, practical supervisory work is illustrated with case studies including frequently discussed topics such as intervention in situations of an existential crisis and dealing with sexually motivated calls and repeat permanent calls.     

Combining Workstation Design and Performance Management to Increase Ergonomically Correct Computer Typing Postures

The effects of workstation changes and a performance management (PM) package on seven typing postures were examined for seven office workers. Workstation adjustments were implemented first. Two participants increased five safe postures by 50% or more. The effects of a PM package on postures that did not improve by 50% were then examined using a multiple baseline design across participants. The PM package included information, feedback, and praise. Composite percent safe scores for postures targeted in the PM package increased for all seven participants, with increases ranging from 54% to 80%. Results suggest that it is beneficial to combine ergonomic design and performance management in office ergonomic programs.