Social Return on Investment of an Innovative Employment Option for Persons with Developmental Disabilities

Common Ground Co‐operative (CGC) provides training, administrative, and job coach support to five social enterprises for which persons with developmental disabilities are the non‐share‐capital partners. This study examines the use of social return on investment (SROI) as a means of determining the value of program impacts related to quality‐of‐life changes for enterprise partners and their families. The process of conducting this SROI analysis is described and analyzed in terms of its utility in employment services for persons with developmental disabilities.     

Understanding the Role of Puberty in Structural and Functional Development of the Adolescent Brain

Over the past two decades, there has been a tremendous increase in our understanding of structural and functional brain development in adolescence. However, understanding the role of puberty in this process has received much less attention. This review examines this relationship by summarizing recent research studies where the role of puberty was investigated in relation to brain structure, connectivity, and task‐related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The studies together suggest that puberty may contribute to adolescent neural reorganization and maturational advancement, and sex differences also emerge in puberty. The current body of work shows some mixed results regarding impact and exact direction of pubertal influence. We discuss several limitations of current studies and propose future directions on how to move the field forward.     

Childhood trauma and problem behavior: Examining the mediating roles of experiential avoidance and mindfulness processes

Objective: Childhood trauma is associated with a variety of risky, unhealthy, or problem behaviors. The current study aimed to explore experiential avoidance and mindfulness processes as mechanisms through which childhood trauma and problem behavior are linked in a college sample. Participants: The sample consisted of college-aged young adults recruited November-December, 2016 (N = 414). Methods: Participants completed self-report measures of childhood trauma, current problem behavior, experiential avoidance, and mindfulness processes. Bootstrapped mediation analyses examined the mechanistic associations of interest. Results: Mediation analyses indicated that experiential avoidance was a significant mediator of the association between childhood trauma and problem behavior. Additionally, multiple mediation analyses indicated that specific mindfulness facets–act with awareness and nonjudgment of inner experience–significantly mediated the same association. Conclusions: Interventions for college students who have experienced childhood trauma might profitably target mechanisms such as avoidance and mindfulness in order to minimize engagement in problem behavior.     

Immigration Selection and the Educational Composition of the US Labor Force

Immigration policy is often viewed as an important regulator of the flow of labor and human capital into the labor market. In the US context, this perspective underlies efforts to raise the educational levels of newly admitted US immigrants, which has been proposed through a variety of mechanisms. Yet it remains unclear whether and under what circumstances such changes would significantly raise the educational level of the US labor force. We use a microsimulation model to evaluate the effects of various policy proposals that would seek to admit more highly educated immigrants. Results suggest that adopting a Canadian-style admissions policy that explicitly selects immigrants based on educational attainment would lead to a better educated labor force, especially among immigrants and their descendants. Eliminating all unauthorized immigration or family reunification and diversity admission categories, however, would have minimal impact. Additionally, the effects of all policy scenarios on the educational composition of the entire labor force are likely to be modest and would be conditional on the continuation of intergenerational mobility and high levels of immigration.     

If it’s so good,why not make them do it? Why true dialogue cannot be mandated

True dialogue—as opposed to two-way communication—is a very specific and inescapably principled form of communication with benefits for all participants. This paper asks whether, given its highly-desirable form and function, governments could use legislation to require organizations to conduct true dialogue. An analysis of practitioner insights, however, shows the nature of the relationship between organisations and their stakeholders, and their perspectives on each other and the communication between them, preclude the conduct of true dialogue. The empirical data from this study allow the identification and articulation of these barriers to dialogue, moving the field of dialogue studies in public relations on from the assertion that true dialogue is hard to find in practice. This research allows practitioners and scholars alike to say why true dialogue does not happen. Because of this, it is possible to start developing strategies for dealing with—and perhaps overcoming—the barriers.     

Expert Views on Their Role as Policy Advisor: Pilot Study for the Cases of Electromagnetic Fields,Particulate Matter,and Antimicrobial Resistance

This perspective presents empirical data to demonstrate the existence of different expert views on scientific policy advice on complex environmental health issues. These views are partly research‐field specific. According to scientific literature, experts differ in the way they provide policy advice on complex issues such as electromagnetic fields (EMF), particulate matter (PM), and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Where some experts feel their primary task is to carry out fundamental research, others actively engage in the policy dialogue. Although the literature provides ideas about expert roles, there exists little empirical underpinning. Our aim is to gather empirical evidence about expert roles. The results of an international study indicated that experts on EMF, PM, and AMR differ in the way they view their role in the policy dialogue. For example, experts differed in their views on the need for precaution and their motivation to initiate stakeholder cooperation. Besides, most experts thought that their views on the risks of EMF/PM/AMR did not differ from those of colleagues. Great dissensus was found in views on the best ways of managing risks and uncertainties. In conclusion, the theoretical ideal–typical roles from the literature can be identified to a certain extent.     

Difficulties in Shifting from Individualistic to Socio-political Policy Regarding Disability in Canada

An individualistic conception of disability has been replaced by a socio-political definition. The socio-political model implies that disability stems from the failure of the social environment to adjust to the needs of people with disabilities rather than from the inability of disabled individuals to adapt to societal demands. This paper will examine the extent to which Canadian policies have changed to embrace this new definition. There has been some progress in policies related to shelter, transportation and recreation. However, policies related to income and employment are still individualistic in nature because policy change in these areas requires a major shift in governmental approach to unemployment and fundamental reform of the Social Assistance system. In a period of high unemployment, people with disabilities are viewed as surplus labour, and the Canadian government has found that high unemployment is politically tolerable. Obstacles to an increase in income support include a strong work ethic, the philosophy that social assistance benefits should be less than could be earned in the work-force, and the private insurance and litigation industries which benefit from the current income system. Other barriers to change are the lack of power of disabled groups and the dominance of professionals.     

A comparative study of three methods of eliciting preference information

The study reported in this paper compared three methods of eliciting preference information from a decision maker and estimating weights with this information for use in a multiple objective decision making model. The design of the study included issues of implementing computerized interactive models vs more traditional question and answer techniques in the light of different decision models (in terms of level of complexity) and differing levels of decision maker experience. Results indicate that decision makers, regardless of prior exposure to computer terminals, are not intimidated by their use. Additionally, methods which required non-quantitative statements of preferences were preferred over techniques which requested numerical estimates of tradeoffs or marginal rates of substitution between objectives.     

Groups for Incest Survivors; A New Context

This article outlines a new context for group work with young women who have experienced incest. It describes how ideas from the work of White, Epston, Kamsler and de Shazer on the evolution, maintenance and resolution of problems can be applied to enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of group work with teenage survivors of incest. Externalisation, exploration of beliefs and restorying are found to assist the young women greatly to reconnect with their own resourcefulness.     

Citizenship and culture: the role of disabled people in Navajo society

Cultural constructs of disabilities can vary from one culture to another and significantly affect how the individual with disabilities is perceived, accepted, and accorded citizenship rights and responsibilities. This anthropological study of Navajo individuals with disabilities investigates these cultural constructs in a non-Western society from the perspective of the Navajo community members. Factors analyzed include child-rearing practices, the Navajo concept of childhood, and Navajo notions of health and unwellness. Historical attitudes toward disabled people are also explored, as well as changing attitudes due to the influence of Western biomedical explanations and interventions.