The Importance of Social and Political Context: The Case of AIDS Activism

We utilize a 1992 survey of approximately, 2500 AIDS activists to analyze their degree of participation. Activity levels were affected by several traditional predictors, but the inclusion of contextual measures indicating the activists' connection with AIDS, especially the pain and loss incurred, led to a much fuller and more complex explanatory model. We argue that a richer comprehension of political participation requires more studies of issue-specific activists and the specification of contexual features that serve to motivate more intensive degrees of participation.     

Better than Raw: A Guide to Measuring Organizational Performance with Adjusted Performance Measures

Like oysters on the half shell, some things are better when they're raw. In evaluating the performance of organizations and providing guidance for improving performance, however, raw performance measures, such as test scores or success rates, are often inferior to performance measures adjusted for client and environmental characteristics, or adjusted performance measures (APMs). Using examples from a variety of public services and data on public schools in Georgia, we compare the performance data generated by raw scores and by APMs. We conclude with guidance for constructing and using adjusted performance measures.     

Outcomes for children who care for a parent with a severe illness or substance abuse

Quantitative studies of children’s caring activities during parental illness have increased in the past 10 years. However, the various outcomes for these children have been investigated less frequently. In the present study, we investigate whether the children have different outcomes when the parent has a severe physical illness, mental illness, or substance abuse and whether any factors are associated with the positive and negative outcomes of the children’s caregiving. This was a cross-sectional, multicenter study. We recruited parents who were out- or inpatients in five public hospitals in Norway as well as their children. The sample included 246 children ages 8–18 and 238 of their parents with a severe physical illness, mental illness, or substance abuse. Ten percent reported negative outcomes at a clinical level of concern, and nearly half of the children reported stress. However, the outcomes were not significantly different across parental illness groups. Positive and negative outcomes were associated with the nature of caring activities (e.g., personal care, financial and practical management, household management), social skills, and perceived external locus of control. Health professionals must provide a more comprehensive and overall assessment of both the parents’ and the children’s needs. To recognize the role taken by the child, an assessment of children’s caring activities and their need for adequate information should be performed. In particular, should the children’s need for follow-up regarding caring activities, respite, and emotional support be assessed to secure their necessary skills and feeling of mastery.     

Avoiding Theoretical Stagnation: A Systematic Review and Framework for Measuring Public Value

Public value theory has become a hot topic in public administration research, but its proponents have long recognised difficulties in empirically testing the theory's central propositions. There has been a lack of clarity about how to measure the extent to which organisations are generating public value, which has rendered researchers unable to quantitatively study the causes, consequences and correlates of public value. The current study systematically reviews the growing literature on public value measurement to identify, evaluate, and synthesise available measures. Through a qualitative synthesis of the themes present in published measures, we identify four key components for measuring public value that appear to be important across a range of policy and national contexts. Our review identifies a promising framework that could be used to structure a comprehensive measure of public value and, in doing so, provides a means to progress theoretical development and testing of the public value approach.     

The Effect of Political Science Education on Political Trust and Interest: Results from a 5-year Panel Study

Citizenship education has evolved substantially in recent decades, with a rapid proliferation of education forms and approaches. The currently available evaluation studies, however, do not allow us to determine what kind of approach can be considered as a best practice for schools and education systems. In this article, we rely on the results of a 5-year panel study to investigate the long-term effects of various forms of citizenship education. Using the Belgian Political Panel Survey (n = 3,025), a three-wave longitudinal panel survey of 16-, 18- and 21-year-old Belgian late adolescents and young adults, we determine which citizenship education effort (i.e., classroom instruction, being a member of a school council, and an open-classroom climate) has a long-term effect on political trust and political interest. The results suggest that classroom instruction, the presence of an open-classroom climate, and being a member of a school board are positively related to political trust. We also find that classroom instruction and being a member of a school board are significantly associated with higher levels of political interest. We close with some observations on what these findings imply for citizenship education policies.     

Bullying and Victimization Trajectories in the First Years of Secondary Education: Implications for Status and Affection

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Bullying is known to be associated with social status, but it remains unclear how bullying involvement over time relates to social position (status and...     

Differentiation of Commercially Available Kratom by Purported Country of Origin using Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry,

Kratom is a plant material exhibiting both analgesic and stimulant effects and is also forensically relevant since it is abused as a “legal high.” It is regulated in several countries but not scheduled in the United States at the federal level. This study used inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) to measure the concentrations of 13 elements in 19 kratom samples obtained from an online distributor selling kratom, from Borneo, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, for the purpose of using the elements to discriminate among purported country of origin, “suborigin,” and strain. Analysis of variance revealed statistical differences in concentrations of elements from each group, while discriminant function analysis (using leave-one-out classification) successfully classified kratom samples by their purported country of origin (100%), “suborigin,” (100%), and strain (86%). Our method illustrates the possibility of utilizing ICP–MS for determination of commercially available kratom samples by purported origin, “subororign,” or by product line.     

The prevalence of compassion fatigue,compassion satisfaction and perceived stress,and their relationships with mental toughness,individual differences and number of self-care actions in a UK police force

ABSTRACT

Police personnel are likely to be affected by stress and compassion fatigue, which may have important consequences for health, well-being and job performance. There are certain individual differences which may protect against compassion fatigue, for example mental toughness, personality and self-care behaviours. However, there is little research examining all of these constructs in combination with policing. The current study aimed to gather information regarding the prevalence of compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction and perceived stress within a large UK police force, and their relationships with personality, mental toughness and self-care activities. A questionnaire was completed by 605 police employees within a UK police force. The results demonstrated that 20% of personnel suffered from negative psychological outcomes and that these outcomes were predicted by individual differences and self-care activities. The requirement for shift work, and mental toughness scores, significantly predicted compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and perceived stress. The analyses also revealed a role for gender, tenure, personality and self-care in several aspects of well-being. The implications of these findings are discussed, considering the current contexts in which policing operates, with the aim of improving the psychological well-being of police officers and staff.     

Let Them Eat Lunch: The Impact of Universal Free Meals on Student Performance

This paper investigates the impact of extending free school lunch to all students, regardless of income, on academic performance in New York City middle schools. Using a difference-in-differences design and unique longitudinal, student-level data, we derive credibly causal estimates of the impacts of “Universal Free Meals” (UFM) on test scores in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics, and participation in school lunch. We find UFM increases academic performance by as much as 0.083 standard deviations in math and 0.059 in ELA for non-poor students, with smaller, statistically significant effects of 0.032 and 0.027 standard deviations in math and ELA for poor students. Further, UFM increases participation in school lunch by roughly 11.0 percentage points for non-poor students and 5.4 percentage points for poor students. We then investigate the academic effects of school lunch participation per se, using UFM as an instrumental variable. Results indicate that increases in school lunch participation improve academic performance for both poor and non-poor students; an additional lunch every two weeks increases test scores by roughly 0.08 standard deviations in math and 0.07 standard deviations in ELA. Finally, we explore potential unintended consequences for student weight outcomes, finding no evidence that UFM increases the probability that students are obese or overweight. We also find no evidence of increases in average body mass index (BMI). Instead, we find some evidence that participation in school lunch improves weight outcomes for non-poor students. Results are robust to an array of alternative specifications and assumptions about the sample.     

Reactions of potential jurors to a hypothetical malpractice suit: alleging failure to perform a prostate-specific antigen test

We conducted focus groups with 47 potential jurors who were presented with different scenarios in a hypothetical malpractice case involving failure to order a PSA test. Better documentation that a patient made an informed decision to decline a PSA test appeared to provide more medical-legal protection for physicians, especially with the use of a decision aid.