Someone who Treats you as an Ordinary Human Being ... Homeless Youth Examine the Quality of Professional Care

Professor dr. Micha de Winter, Utrecht University, Department of Child and Adolescent Studies, POB 80.140, 3508 TC Utrecht, the Netherlands. Summary In this article we describe a peer-research project, in whichnineteen homeless youngsters interviewed 190 of their ‘colleagues’about the quality of professional care and the improvementsthat, according to them, should be made. The interviews werefollowed by discussion meetings with social workers and policymakers. The youngsters report mixed feelings about the professionalcare system. On the one hand they think they should do morethemselves, there should not be too much professional interferenceand certainly not a patronizing attitude. On the other hand,they want better advice and assistance which is rather basedon a joint effort. The essence of professional care is, accordingto both the young and the professional participants, to finda balance between independence and assistance. From an educationalpoint of view, social workers and adolescents operate at daggersdrawn. Conflict and opposing views are often an inherent partof the road to gaining autonomy. This process, which is oftenpainful, can only be successfully completed in an atmosphereof sincerity, mutual trust and consultation. Dialogue at alllevels is believed to be a sine qua non in the improvement ofprofessional care for homeless youth.     

‘Just community’–a social cognitive research project in the penal system

The implementation of a ‘Just Community” programme in a German youth prison has not only proven the pedagogical success of Kohlberg's intuitions about democratic education. Even under the hardships of imprisonment, democratic life forms promote progress in social understanding and responsibility. However, it is not the understanding of rules alone that promotes moral learning, but also a social setting that supports the development of deepened social relations.

The project shows, that the interpretation of Kohlberg's theory of stages as the moral articulation of reciprocal forms of social understanding in the sense of Selman is consistent.     

Are cities hotspots for bees? Local and regional diversity patterns lead to different conclusions

Urban Ecosystems - With the decline of natural habitats, there is an ongoing debate about the importance of the urban environment for pollinating insects. Our research assessed patterns in wild bee...     

Neyman-type sample allocation for domains-efficient estimation in multistage sampling

We consider a problem of allocation of a sample in two- and three-stage sampling. We seek allocation which is both multi-domain and population efficient. Choudhry et al. (Survey Methods 38(1):23–29, 2012) recently considered such problem for one-stage stratified simple random sampling without replacement in domains. Their approach was through minimization of the sample size under constraints on relative variances in all domains and on the overall relative variance. To attain this goal, they used nonlinear programming. Alternatively, we minimize here the relative variances in all domains (controlling them through given priority weights) as well as the overall relative variance under constraints imposed on total (expected) cost. We consider several two- and three-stage sampling schemes. Our aim is to shed some light on the analytic structure of solutions rather than in deriving a purely numerical tool for sample allocation. To this end, we develop the eigenproblem methodology introduced in optimal allocation problems in Niemiro and Wesołowski (Appl Math 28:73–82, 2001) and recently updated in Wesołowski and Wieczorkowski (Commun Stat Theory Methods 46(5):2212–2231, 2017) by taking under account several new sampling schemes and, more importantly, by the (single) total expected variable cost constraint. Such approach allows for solutions which are direct generalization of the Neyman-type allocation. The structure of the solution is deciphered from the explicit allocation formulas given in terms of an eigenvector \({\underline{v}}^*\) of a population-based matrix \(\mathbf{D}\). The solution we provide can be viewed as a multi-domain version of the Neyman-type allocation in multistage stratified SRSWOR schemes.

     

Reproductive rights or duties? The rhetoric of division in social media debates on abortion law in Poland

ABSTRACT

This study explores the argumentative schemas used in claim-making and the rhetorical resources for stance-taking in the online abortion law debate in Poland in late 2016. It shows how these discursive devices were used to divide and discredit the opponent in the social media by two social movements: the Stop Abortion coalition of conservative and religious organizations that sponsored the legislative proposal to considerably restrict abortion, and the Save Women committee that stood behind the ‘black’ protests opposing the project. The textual material is drawn from social media profiles of the two movements following a week of intense street protests and publicity activities (19–26 October 2016). It is subjected to contrastive argument analysis and critical discourse analysis of rhetorical resources. The analysis involves comparing (1) the discrepant premises underpinning arguments in the process of claim-making; (2) the reverse distribution of legitimization techniques deployed; and (3) the choices of name-calling devices aimed at discrediting antagonists.     

The relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment of knowledge workers. Facts obtained from Swiss SMEs

This paper explores the effects of human resource management (HRM) practices in Swiss small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). More specifically, the main objective of this study is to assess the impacts of HRM practices developed in Swiss SMEs upon the commitment of knowledge workers. Using data from a survey of over 198 knowledge workers, this study shows the importance of looking closer at HRM practices and, furthermore, to really investigate the impacts of the different HRM practices on employees' commitment. Results show, for example, that organizational support, procedural justice and the reputation of the organization may clearly influence knowledge workers' commitment, whereas other HRM practices such as involvement in decision-making, skills management or even the degree of satisfaction with pay do not have any impact on knowledge workers' commitment.     

The permutation flow shop problem with blocking. A tabu search approach

This paper develops a fast tabu search algorithm to minimize makespan in a flow shop problem with blocking. Some properties of the problem associated with the blocks of jobs have been presented and discussed. These properties allow us to propose a specific neighbourhood of algorithms. Also, the multimoves are used that consist in performing several moves simultaneously in a single iteration and guide the search process to more promising areas of the solutions space, where good solutions can be found. It allow us to accelerate the convergence of the algorithm. Besides, a dynamic tabu list is proposed that assists additionally to avoid being trapped at a local optimum. The proposed algorithms are empirically evaluated and found to be relatively more effective in finding better solutions than attained by the leading approaches in a much shorter time. The presented ideas can be applied in many local search procedures.     

The innate code of charisma

We argue that the sources of charisma are innate and can be explained as part of unique human cultural transmission mechanisms. Recently, developmental models and experiments have been presented, for example, natural pedagogy theory (Csibra & Gergely, 2006, 2009, 2011) and over-imitation studies (Lyons, Young, & Keil, 2007; McGuigan, 2013). Inspired by these, we maintain that certain universal principles of conspicuous influence are embraced with very little critical thinking, on the basis of certain signals the charismatic leader radiates in a particular communicative manner (“evolutionary syntax”). We point out expressions of these principles in charismatic leadership and propose a conceptual framework that can advance the formulation of a general theory on charisma anchored in evolutionary processes.