Taxonomy of outsourcing decision models

This article proposes a taxonomy of outsourcing decision models. The proposed taxonomy may assist practitioners in their decision-making and researchers in the identification, evaluation and classification of decision models. Further, this article also provides an overview and evaluation of existing outsourcing decision models, and assesses them for their applicability to the outsourcing decision process. In particular, this article finds that the outsourcing decision models proposed in the literature have limitations in their applicability to the outsourcing decision process.     

Violence in the name of god? A framing processes approach to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria

Since summer 2014, the insurgent group ‘Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’ (ISIS) has become a major concern for international politics and global security due to its rapid territorial gains, violent operations and the propagation of Salafi-jihadist ideology. This study aims to enhance the academic understanding of ISIS by demystifying the ideological reasoning behind its use of violence. It therefore investigates the link between structural factors that served ISIS’s evolution, its ideological outlook and the significance of this ideology to legitimize violent action. As its theoretical basis, the study employs framing processes within the study of social movements. Methodologically, discursive frame analysis serves to explore the relation of ISIS’s ideology to structural events and experiences to better understand how the group justifies violence. Therefore, the study draws on audio speeches and issues of the magazines Dabiq and Dar al-Islam published by ISIS, which are examined on the rhetoric of othering, collective identity and justifying violence. It is argued that ISIS constructs a collective action frame which creates a social reality that bestows the group with a rationale for action. ISIS’s ideology, based on Islamic symbolism, presents an interpretative lens which assigns meaning to the structural environment of ISIS’s emergence. In this context, violence is justified as a necessity to defend Islam and as an obligation for the true Muslim believer. The discussion concludes that ISIS’s ideology legitimizes the very existence of the group and conceals its mundane struggle for power, territory and wealth through reference to divine authority.     

Multiple Co-occurring Behaviours among Gamblers in Treatment: Implications and Assessment

A substantial portion of gamblers in treatment may have co-occurring mental health disorders including substance use disorders, especially alcohol dependency, personality disorders, affective disorders, anxiety disorders and impulse control disorders. Co-occurring mental health disorders affect treatment seeking, the treatment process and its outcome, quality of life and functioning in many mental health disorders. Participants in this study were 78 adults enrolled in state-supported out-patient services for pathological gambling and current Gamblers Anonymous attendees. The majority of participants (76.6%) had co-occurring behaviours; 55.8% had multiple co-occurring behaviours. Participants with multiple co-occurring behaviours were more likely to report that a co-occurring behaviour increased the severity of their gambling symptoms. A dose/response relationship between number of co-occurring behaviours and severity of gambling problems was found. Co-occurring behaviours can interact with gambling behaviour. Brief, validated screening instruments are available for screening and diagnosing co-occurring behaviours among gamblers presenting for treatment.     

Addressing issues of face validity in the application of a clinical guideline

In 1995, a statewide project to improve the practice of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the Medicare population was started in Louisiana. A retrospective baseline study found high concurrent utilization of lithium and benzodiazepines, medications considered detrimental to ECT by the second American Psychiatric Association Task Force on ECT. Resistance to a clinical guideline because of lack of face validity by clinicians was used as an opportunity to involve clinicians in using data to evaluate their clinical practices. Results of the first two quarters of the project demonstrated that the strategy was successful.     

What About the Grandparents? Children's Postdivorce Residence Arrangements and Contact With Grandparents

Despite the importance of grandparents in their grandchildren's lives, little is known about grandparent–grandchild contact after parental divorce. In this study, the authors investigated differences in grandparent–grandchild contact across 3 postdivorce residence arrangements (mother residence, father residence, and shared residence) using recent survey data from the Netherlands (N = 3,842). The results indicated that contact with maternal grandparents after divorce was highest in mother‐residence arrangements, followed by shared residence and then father residence. Contact with paternal grandparents was highest for children in father‐residence and shared‐residence arrangements, followed by mother residence. Parental conflict had little influence on children's contact with maternal grandparents, but it decreased contact with paternal grandparents. Moreover, the results partly support the assumption that conflict moderates the relationship between residence arrangements and grandparental contact, with differences between residence arrangements being more pronounced in the case of high‐conflict divorced families than in low‐conflict ones.     

Healthy Migrants? Health Selection of Internal Migrants in Germany

In Germany, internal migration streams have shaped the population structure quite notably during the past two decades. As selective migration can have a substantial impact on the geographical distribution of health, this paper examines whether internal migrants in Germany are selected regarding their health status. To capture health selection, one measure—i.e. self-rated contentment with health—and two established risk factors for poor health—i.e. smoking and BMI—were included. Applying event history analysis, the health status of migrants was compared to non-migrants, controlling for other individual characteristics. The analyses were based on the German Socio-Economic Panel, a retrospective data set representative of the German population. Results for self-rated health and smoking were inconclusive. While self-rated health was only related to migration in men, smoking was only linked to migration in women. However, there was a clear association between BMI and migration, i.e. the propensity to migrate decreased significantly with increasing weight. The results suggest that BMI is an important indicator of increased susceptibility to ill health, which prevent people from migration. Leaving behind a population who has a greater susceptibility to chronic conditions, selective migration is likely to reinforce the consequences of population ageing and healthcare demand, in particular in regions characterized by outmigration.     

Models for Multi-site Problem Gambling Clinical Trials

Efficacy, effectiveness and outcome studies of problem gambling treatment are limited. Systemic barriers to the development of evidence-based treatments for problem gambling include but are not limited to: low sample sizes, heterogeneous samples, lack of protocol driven treatments, single site clinical trials, lack of replication of studies by independent investigators and high rates of nonspecific treatment response. Increased collaboration among problem gambling treatment providers and investigators is necessary to overcome the systemic barriers and establish evidence-based treatments for problem gambling. Established models for provider and research collaborations are available in the fields of mental health and addictions. Development of a multi-site gambling treatment research network would facilitate development of evidence-based treatments, but require funding for the development of common assessment measures, information systems, training programs and communication networks.