Ethical and psychosocial issues raised by the practice in cases of mistreatment of older adults

Intervention regarding older adult mistreatment raises many questions for practitioners. They have to interact with the victim, the abuser, and, in many cases, with both of them at the same time. In such cases, five themes emerge from the literature review on psycho-social and ethical issues in practice: practitioners' pre-construction and axiological frameworks, victims' capacity, confidentiality versus collaboration between practitioners or between agencies, social and family responsibilities and the balance between competing values in practice. Practitioners are well placed to offer a critical reflection on their practice and on ways of improving it. The goal of our qualitative study is to identify issues and ethical dilemmas in elderly mistreatment situations as represented in the discourses of practitioners in reference to interventions in their psychosocial practice. Sixteen practitioners from the public and community (non-profit organization) sectors were interviewed using a practice history approach. This paper presents the main ethical and psychosocial issues raised by practitioners and some ideas to improve the practice. It is motivated by the crucial question haunting the practitioners' minds: "How far should we go?"     

Darling–Erdős limit results for change-point detection in panel data

We wish to test the null hypothesis if the means of N panels remain the same during the observation period of length T. A quasi-likelihood argument leads to self-normalized statistics whose limit distribution under the null hypothesis is double exponential. The main results are derived assuming that the each panel is based on independent observations and then extended to linear processes. The proofs are based on an approximation of the sum of squared CUSUM processes using the Skorokhod embedding scheme. A simulation study illustrates that our results can be used in case of small and moderate N and T. We apply our results to detect change in the “corruption index”.     

Adverse childhood experiences,post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms,and self-reported stress among traditional and nontraditional college students

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationships between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD-S), and self-reported stress among college students. Participants: A total of 236 undergraduate students enrolled in nursing courses participated. Method: Using a correlational design, participants completed questionnaires online. To examine PTSD moderation between ACE and self-reported stress, multiple regression was employed. Stress outcomes were examined using a 4-group variable. Mean differences in stress response between these four groups were examined. Differences in ACE, PTSD-S, and stress response between traditional and nontraditional students were also examined. Results: PTSD-S moderated the relationship between ACEs, and self-reported stress. This indicates that students who report PTSD-S following childhood adversity perceive higher levels of stress. Nontraditional and traditional students differed in their responses to the ICLRE scale. Conclusion: Individuals who report PTSD-S following childhood adversity perceive higher levels of stress later in life. Stress reduction programs may be beneficial for students.     

Institutional readiness for integrated watershed management: The case of the Maumee river

Is there such a thing as “institutional readiness” for integrated watershed management? One element of readiness is the ability of managers with watershed-related responsibilities to identify the policy and management objectives of potential partners. The geographic areas encompassed by large watersheds are under the overlapping jurisdictions of many agencies and organizations from each sector (public, non-profit, and private) as well as private landowners. Developing a watershed-based institutional atlas is a promising strategy for coping with this jurisdictional complexity. The authors examine the potential for developing such an atlas in the Maumee River watershed of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, and they assess other signals of readiness and partnerships in progress in the basin.     

The utility of situational theory of publics for assessing public response to a disaster prediction

The study of public response to disasters is a relatively recent discipline that developed following the passage of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977. Because earthquake prediction is an inexact science, few formal predictions have been issued, which has limited the opportunity to study public response to predictions. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of public relations theory, specifically situational theory of publics, for assessing response to the New Madrid earthquake prediction.Situational theory demonstrates that there is not a single, general public for disaster predictions as has been assumed in studies of disaster response. Instead, multiple publics develop in response to a prediction based on how members of those publics view the situation. Contrary to previous findings that believability and personalized risk are correlated constructs, high personalized risk was associated with high constraint recognition regardless of belief in the prediction. Based on the findings, suggestions are proposed for the development of more effective messages for communicating with publics at risk.     

AN ANALYSIS OF WOMEN'S RETURN-TO-WORK DECISIONS FOLLOWING FIRST BIRTH

Women's labor force participation has increased sharply over the last two decades, particularly for married women with young children. This suggests women are spending less time out of the labor force for child bearing and rearing. Using the detailed information available in the NLSY, I explore women s decisions to return to work within one year of their first child's birth, focusing on the effect of child care costs. Consistent with economic theory, women facing lower child care costs are more likely to return to work as are women with higher potential wages and lower family income from other sources . ( JEL J0)     

Protecting the Consumer Through Truth-in-Dieting Laws

Although diets are ineffective in producing sustained weight loss, the multibillion dollar weight loss industry continues to make exaggerated claims of efficacy without substantiating outcome data. Lacking accurate information, individuals continue to pay for ineffective weight loss programs and products. In this article the author describes her application of social science data to influence state policy, which led to the passage of two first-in-the-nation diet disclosure laws. The 1996 law mandates that dieting companies make advertising claims only based on outcome data. The 1997 law requires full disclosure of program costs, conditions, and credentials of staff, and grants consumers a 3-day cancellation right. Together, the diet disclosure laws prohibit the use of deceptive practices and hold the diet industry accountable by requiring that all claims be based on representative group data.