Toward an ecstasy and other club drug (EOCD) prevention intervention for rave attendees

A growing body of recent research has identified that "rave" attendees are at high risk for the use of "club drugs," such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or "ecstasy"). Rave attendees, however, comprise only one of several club-going populations. In the current study, we explore the prevalence of ecstasy and other club drug (EOCD) use among a sample of club attendees in Washington, DC. Data were collected from adult, primarily homosexual, club attendees during the summer of 2003. Data collection was scheduled between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. Participation rates were high. Of the 211 club attendees approached, 88% (n = 186) completed the interview. Drug use prevalence rates were low. With the exception of alcohol and marijuana, 2-day self-reports were less than 1% for each drug. These findings, amalgamated with results from other EOCD-related studies involving several distinct populations, offer considerable insight into the state of ecstasy in American society. Based on a meta-analysis of this literature, we offer a community-level prevention intervention for the population at highest risk for EOCD use-rave attendees.     

Characteristics of effective summer learning programs in practice

The Center for Summer Learning examined various summer program models and found that there are nine characteristics that provide a framework for effective summer programs. In this chapter, the authors demonstrate how effective practices lead to positive results for young people. The nine characteristics of effective summer learning programs are (1) accelerating learning, (2) youth development, (3) proactive approach to summer learning, (4) leadership, (5) advanced planning, (6) staff development, (7) strategic partnerships, (8) evaluation and commitment to program improvement, and (9) sustainability and cost-effectiveness. These characteristics are divided into two sections. The first three characteristics address a program's approach to learning. Summer instructional techniques are most effective when academic learning is woven into enrichment activities and youth development. The second section covers program infrastructure to ensure the organization achieves and maintains quality programming. The nine characteristics complement each other to ensure a strong program that works to prevent summer learning loss and narrow the achievement gap. To demonstrate the variety of high-quality programs that include the nine characteristics, thirteen program profiles at the conclusion of the chapter each highlight one of the characteristics. These profiles show the various approaches that different summer programs have developed to accelerate academic achievement and promote positive development for young people in their communities.     

Assessing environmental prevention strategies for reducing the prevalence and associated harms of methamphetamine use

Developed primarily in clandestine laboratories, methamphetamine is a highly addictive synthetic drug whose physical effects include hyperactivity, euphoria, tremors, and a sense of increased energy. While the accuracy of recent accounts suggesting a methamphetamine epidemic in the United States is unclear, these reports have nevertheless translated into significant funding allowances by the federal government. This increased funding suggests that the opportunity is ripe for the development of a scientific, environmentally-based model for methamphetamine prevention.     

All the News that’s Fat to Print: The American “Obesity Epidemic” and the Media

In the last twenty years scientific, medical, and public health interest in obesity has skyrocketed. Increasingly the term “epidemic” is being used in the media, medical journals, and public health policy literature to describe the current prevalence of fatness in the U.S. Using social scientific literature on epidemics, social problems, and feminist theories of the body, this paper traces the historical emergence of the “obesity epidemic” through an analysis of 751 articles on obesity published in The New York Times between 1990 and 2001. Through the identification and analysis of three discursive pairings I argue that the “obesity epidemic” is a part of a new breed of what I call “post-modern epidemics,” epidemics in which unevenly medicalized phenomena lacking a clear pathological basis get cast in the language and moral panic of “traditional” epidemics. I show how this moral panic together with the location of the problem within the individual precludes a more macro level approach to health and health care delivery at a time when health care services are being dismantled or severely cut back.

Political Corporate Social Responsibility: Reviewing Theories and Setting New Agendas

There has been rising interest in political corporate social responsibility (political CSR), defined as activities where CSR has an intended or unintended political impact, or where intended or unintended political impacts on CSR exist. Based on a survey and content analysis of 146 peer‐reviewed academic articles from 18 journals over the 14‐year period 2000–2013, this paper systematically reviews the existing applications of general theories (such as legitimacy theory, the resource‐based view and Habermasian political theory) within the political CSR literature. The survey indicates that the political CSR field is dominated by institutional theory and stakeholder theory, but future theory development needs to go beyond these theories in order to address a number of critical gaps. This review specifically points to several avenues for future political CSR research with regard to the individual level of analysis, domain integration and political CSR in multinational enterprises. The paper ends with a call for a new theory‐informed and pluralist research agenda on political CSR to integrate different perspectives and re‐examine the role of the state.     

Psychological distress among mental health social workers

This study employs the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) in order to examine psychological distress among Greek mental health social workers. The findings are examined in the light of the respondents' demographics, professional characteristics (educational background and work experience), work perspectives (job satisfaction and perceived work efficiency) and perceived financial strain. The study took place two years after austerity measures were imposed in the country. A self-addressed questionnaire employing 4-point Likert-type scale items was posted to 154 mental health social workers residing in an urban area in Greece. A statistical analysis of the 65 returned questionnaires identified frequencies and correlations in the corpus of the data. According to the findings, 15% of the practitioners were within the psychological distress range. When compared to their non-psychologically distressed counterparts, the psychologically distressed respondents were clearly differentiated according to their professional characteristics, work perspectives and perceived financial strain.     

教育的神话和隐喻:作为过程的教育和教育的改革

在原子论的哲学语境中,教育的过程被理解为输入知识的过程,学生被理解成为“学习机器”,老师被理解为“机器操纵者”,家长被理解为“机械修理者”。对教育过程的这种理解源自我们自身编造的神话,而过程哲学和中国传统哲学将有助于破除这些神话     

Fertility Determinants and Economic Uncertainty: An Assessment Using European Panel Data

This study examined the determinants of fertility, using panel data for 27 European countries. We employed panel co-integration to estimate fertility as function of demographic and economic variables. We showed that low fertility in most industrialized countries in Europe is due to low infant mortality rates, high female employment, low nuptiality rate, and high opportunity cost of having children. Using two measures of economic uncertainty, which are associated with labor market decisions—a production (an output) volatility measure and the unemployment rate—we examined to what extent economic insecurities affect fertility decisions. The empirical results showed that both measures of economic uncertainty have a significant negative impact on fertility implying that labor market insecurities might be a significant factor affecting fertility decisions.