The effect of environmental change on out-migration in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest

Population and Environment - We study how environmental change affects out-migration in the Brazilian Amazon using census data on municipal-level migration flows between 2005 and 2010. We...     

Facts,Opinions, and Scientific Memes: Reflections of and Recommendations for the March for Science in Germany

Germany ranked second in number of March for Science participants. The current essay is based on a focus group discussion with six participants of a march in a German university town and elucidates their motives for attending, their perceptions of how politically active scientists should be, the goals they think the march should aim to achieve, and their recommendations for future marches. Motives in Germany differed slightly from those mentioned in the United States. Discussants placed importance on the difference between facts and opinions, which is translated into recommendations for issue‐specific future marches.     

Cash‐for‐care payments in Europe: Changes in resource allocation

Resource allocation has been a main policy issue in cash‐for‐care schemes (CfCs) for older people in Europe since their inception. It regards how publicly funded care benefits and services are distributed among older people. The raising pressures of an ageing population and the tensions on the financial sustainability of welfare regimes in place have further exacerbated the relevance of this topic over the recent years. Nevertheless, comparative research so far has overlooked changes in resource allocation in CfCs over time. This article contributes to fill this gap, exploring changes in resource allocation of CfCs for older people in a sample of European countries—Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands—since the early '90s (or since the introduction of the scheme). It examines three analytical dimensions: (a) The mix of public services and benefits provided to older people (CfCs, community services in kind, residential care); (b) the level of CfCs coverage; and (c) its generosity. A combined view of these dimensions leads to the discussion of two dilemmas: How to allocate the resources devoted to CfCs in the light of the trade‐off between its coverage and intensity? And, within the whole long‐term care system, how to allocate resources between CfCs and services in kind?     

Breach of Psychological Contract and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors in Volunteerism: The Mediator Role of Affect and the Moderation of Volunteers’ Age

The breach of psychological contract is the perception by the members of an organization that it has reneged on promises made when they began their relationship with it. This perception generates intense negative emotions and is an effective predictor of future behavior in the work setting. In this investigation, we explore the relations between breach of contract and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) in volunteers. We also explore the mediator role of negative affect in the relationship between breach and citizenship behaviors and the moderator role of age. This study was carried out using a two-wave design, with 419 socio-assistential volunteers. The results support a direct effect of breach of contract on OCB and an indirect effect of breach through negative affect. Moreover, age moderates the relation between breach of psychological contract and negative affect. Lastly, the conditional effect of breach of contract on negative affect is greater in younger volunteers but loses its power in older volunteers. The implications are discussed in order to comprehend volunteers’ activity and design interventions.     

Modelling of socio-ecological connectivity. The rural-urban network in the surroundings of Madrid (Central Spain)

As most of Europe’s metropolitan landscapes grow, a change is occurring in their surrounding rural environment. The consequences thereof mainly involve losses of traditional land uses and changes in the socioecomic structures of the local population. The lack of coupling ‘urban society-countryside’ can be considered to constitute a driving force of this process. The present paper focuses upon the rural-urban network around the metropolis of Madrid (Central Spain). We developed a quantitative model to explain the socio-ecological rural-urban linkages, taking into account the influence of the metropolis in the network of neighbouring municipalities. The results show a rural landscape gradient ranging from silvo-pastoral to agricultural land uses and maintaining different interactions with the local socioeconomy. Urban-rural polarisation of the territory and accessibility to the metropolis are the main factors influencing the landscape dynamics. Territorial cohesion among municipalities and connectivity with the metropolis are factors determining the socio-ecological structure. The agricultural area presents good social cohesion, but a weak connection with the City. The silvo-pastoral landscape, on the contrary, maintains prominent links with the metropolis, but a non-significant interconnection between the small towns. The model tested constitutes a useful tool for analysing socio-ecological connectivity and for quantifying, designing and promoting territorial cohesion policies.     

Solidarity in Italy's policies towards the frail elderly: a value at stake

The Italian public policies towards the frail elderly are underdeveloped by both quantitative and qualitative standards. The bulk of care responsibilities lies on the family and the private provision of paid care is flourishing. The last decade was characterised by significant signs of improvement – an increase in the public resources committed to long-term care and the rising interest of politicians and scholars towards this issue – but the situation is still highly critical. In such a context several questions on solidarity arise regarding the degree to which this value is actually embedded in the public policies, what are the most relevant issues and how the main actors involved are concerned. The article aims to answer some of these questions, taking into consideration the points of view of the main actors: elderly people, carers and professionals.
In doing so, the article discusses the targets of the public services, differences in their provision across the country, the rise of the care allowance and the private provision of paid care. The article shows the problems regarding solidarity in the Italian policies towards the frail elderly and sets an agenda of issues to deal with in the next decade. How policy-makers will be able to manage these issues will determine whether and how the value of solidarity will shape Italy's long-term care policies in the future.     

Italian Adolescent Gambling Behaviour: Psychometric Evaluation of the South Oaks Gambling Screen: Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA) Among a Sample of Italian Students

Since no Italian validated instrument focuses specifically on the measurement of pathological gambling in very young people, with this study, we aim to adapt an international instrument (SOGS-RA) and assess its psychometric properties in a sample (n = 14.910) of young Italian students aged between 15 and 19 years. Cross-cultural adaptation of the instrument was performed through translation, synthesis of translation, back-translation, expert committee review, and pre-testing. The kappa statistic for test–retest concordance ranged from 0.53 to 0.80. Internal validity was assessed by the MCA that identified one principal component with eigenvalue equal to 3,875: the Divgi index and very simple structure analysis also pointed out one common factor, so uni-dimensionality of the SOGS-RA was accepted. Moreover the SOGS-RA was found to have acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.780). Cronbach’s alpha was also assessed separately among males and females (respectively 0.786 and 0.707). The SOGS-RA was assessed in relation to gambling frequency, alcohol and drug use: Chi squared test revealed a strong association both for males and females with gambling frequency (p value ≤ 0.0001), frequent use of illicit drugs (for each drug p value ≤ 0.0001) and having had 3 or more occasions of binge drinking in the last month (p value ≤ 0.0001). At the end we can say that, the results of our study suggest that the SOGS-RA screen may be useful to assess at-risk or problem gambling for both genders in comprehensive youth surveys.     

Feuerwehr und Supervision

Supervision in the fire services is not too common. This article will first describe the multifunctional field of work of the emergency services as well as their job requirements. Then the article will show possible starting points for supervision, and the difficulties in its acquisition and execution. Concludingly there will be a special example of supervision with psychotraumatherapeutic approaches.