以伦理视角审视气候变化的意义

气候变化的本质是一个伦理问题。气候变化主要是由发达国家或者发展中国家的富裕人群引起的,但是受影响和伤害最大的却是世界上的弱势群体,气候变化对世界上一些欠发达地区的人们而言是一种潜在的风险和灾难,气候变化的全球性特征决定了必须将其作为一个伦理问题来理解。以伦理视角审视气候变化具有重大的意义,任何国家在减排方面都负有不可推卸的责任。伦理维度是应对气候变化的核心。     

歌德与“世界文学”

歌德对世界文学影响巨大。他的作品被翻译成48种语言,是各国经典的重要组成部分。歌德通晓多种语言,熟悉欧洲国家各历史时代的文学作品和形式,他翻译、戏仿或用这些作品的风格写作。《浮士德》简直是欧洲文学传统的汇集。歌德还对世界各地的民歌有着浓厚的兴趣,积极搜集欧洲主流之外的作品。他参与"世界文学"的最突出的例子是两本诗集《西东诗集》和《中德四季晨昏杂咏》。前者受波斯诗人哈菲兹影响,后者受中国戏剧和小说影响。歌德希望借文化了解来提高宽容度,他的"世界文学"我们现在称之为"跨文化交流",指一系列的全球对话和交换。在这些对话和交换中,不同文化的共性日趋明显,个性却也并未被抹杀。歌德通过广泛的学术阅读、文本翻译来了解世界上各种文化的观点,并宽容地对待这些观点,平静地接受或忽略它们。歌德赞同康德艺术和科学相互启发的观点。他的科学实践以及"世界文学"实践都是为了寻找一切生命体在不同中体现出的统一和和谐。     

DECISION MAKING INVOLVING SEQUENTIAL EVENTS: SOME EFFECTS OF DISAGGREGATED DATA AND DISPOSITIONS TOWARD RISK*

This paper concerns human processing of disaggregated data in a business decision setting involving sequential events. Subjects currently employed in trust banking institutions chose between two mutually exclusive alternatives in a series of decision trials. The outcome for each alternative was the result of a two-stage process; an unsuccessful outcome resulted from failure at either the first or second stage. The probabilities of success at each stage and the overall (joint) probability of success were provided for each alternative. Participants showed strongest preferences for an optimal (expected-value) strategy in processing the data; however, significant preferences for two suboptimal strategies also were observed. Preferences for suboptimal strategies were influenced by the magnitude of differences in the alternatives' joint probabilities of success, by the magnitude of differences in the alternatives' stage probabilities of success, and by subjects' dispositions toward risk.     

Exploring the promotion of youth voice in community-based youth development programmes

This constructivist grounded theory study used semi-structured interviews with 19 youth service providers in community-based youth development programmes to develop a context-specific framework of how and why youth voice promotion occurred. Factors external to the youth programmes, such as funder expectations, influenced the conceptualization of role for youth workers. The social process of meaning making in relation to role identity impacted how youth workers perceived self-efficacy when working with youth, especially when engaged with behaviours falling outside programmatic expectations or norms. Workers prioritized fostering physical and psychological safe spaces for youth participants. When conflict occurred, perceptions of efficacy guided workers in taking positions that either promoted or restricted youth voice based on their perceptions of efficacy in resolving conflict safely. Youth programmes have the capacity to resist or replicate oppression present within the educational system. The adoption and adaptation of educational models of resistance offer a strategy for community-based youth organizations to promote equity and thriving youth.     

Inclusive Governance Practices in Nonprofit Organizations and Implications for Practice

An inclusive board seeks information from multiple sources, demonstrates an awareness of the community and constituents that benefit from and contribute to the organization's services, and establishes policies and structures to foster stakeholder contributions. This research investigated the prevalence of inclusive governance practices and its relationship to board composition, diversity attitudes, and recruitment practices. Fifty‐six executive directors and forty‐three board members representing sixty‐two nonprofit organizations returned a mailed survey (29 percent response rate). The study profiled two organizations that represented different styles of inclusive governance. The survey, part of a larger study, contained questions about inclusive practices, board composition, attitudes toward diversity, and recruitment practices. Most organizations indicated that they operate with inclusive governance practices. The organizational profiles provide a picture of boards that used different strategies to accomplish the goal of inclusivity. Boards that use more inclusive practices were not necessarily heterogeneous in board member composition. Inclusive boards were more inclined to be sensitive to diversity issues and used recommended board recruitment practices. The existence of a task force or committee on diversity was also significantly associated with a more inclusive board. Nonprofit organizations must consider their philosophy on stakeholder involvement, recognizing that different strategies lead to different levels of stakeholder involvement.     

Suicide and suicide risk in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations: review and recommendations

Despite strong indications of elevated risk of suicidal behavior in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, limited attention has been given to research, interventions or suicide prevention programs targeting these populations. This article is a culmination of a three-year effort by an expert panel to address the need for better understanding of suicidal behavior and suicide risk in sexual minority populations, and stimulate the development of needed prevention strategies, interventions and policy changes. This article summarizes existing research findings, and makes recommendations for addressing knowledge gaps and applying current knowledge to relevant areas of suicide prevention practice.     

An overture for the sociology of credentialing: Empirical, theoretical, and moral considerations

There are a variety of relatively new, and some old and persisting, empirical issues confronting scholars of credentialing. Success in understanding these matters will be aided by greater theoretical and methodological precision and sophistication, and by avoidance of morality-driven assumptions about these topics. This paper discusses both promising and problematic aspects of current credentialing research.     

Buffering Effects of a Family-Based Intervention for African American Emerging Adults

This study focused on the buffering effects of Adults in the Making (AIM), a family-centered preventive intervention, on the link between life stress and increases in risk behaviors among 347 rural, southern African Americans as they left high school. Of the families, 174 were assigned to the prevention condition and 173 to a control condition. Emerging adults reported risk behaviors at pretest, posttest (7 months after pretest), and long-term follow-up (10 months after posttest). A significant Life stress × Prevention condition interaction emerged: Increases in risk behaviors were significantly greater among emerging adults in the control condition who experienced high stress levels than among those in the prevention condition who experienced equally high stress levels.     

Organising Work and Home in Same‐Sex Parented Families: Findings From the Work Love Play Study

In this article we present findings from the Work, Love and Play (WLP) study: a survey completed by 445 same‐sex attracted parents across Australia and New Zealand. Comparisons of household division of labour are made between a sub‐sample of WLP participants, who were currently cohabiting with a same‐sex partner (n = 317), and 958 cohabiting opposite‐sex parents surveyed as part of a major Australian study, Negotiating the Life Course. This comparison showed that same‐sex couples divided household labour significantly more equally than heterosexual parents, and lesbian couples also shared parenting tasks more equally. Qualitative findings from the WLP study indicate that, for many same‐sex couples, major decisions around who gives up paid work and how many hours parents choose to work, as well as decisions around work/family balance, are negotiated on the basis of couple's preferences and circumstance rather than an assumption that one parent will be the primary child carer. It is speculated that this finding highlights an important point of difference between same‐sex couples and heterosexual couples where the division of household labour is often based on the assumption that the mother will almost always be the primary child carer and homemaker. The research is a collaborative partnership between La Trobe University, Deakin University, The University of Melbourne, and Relationships Australia Victoria.