A call for critical reflection on the localisation agenda in humanitarian action

Abstract

Calls for a greater inclusion of local actors have featured for some time in debates on how to make humanitarian action more efficient and address unequal power relations within the humanitarian system. Though the localisation agenda is at the core of current reform efforts in the humanitarian sector, the debate lacks a critical discussion of underlying assumptions – most strikingly, the very conceptualisation of the local itself. It is argued that the current discourse is dominated by a problematic conceptualisation of the local in binary opposition to the international, leading to blind spots in the analysis of exclusionary practices of the humanitarian sector. As such the localisation agenda risks perpetuating the very issues it wants to redress. A critical localism is thus proposed as a framework for much needed research on the localisation agenda.     

Can Handedness be Determined from Skeletal Remains? A Chronological Review of the Literature

Abstract: Research indicates that considerable bilateral asymmetry exists in the skeletons of primates, including humans. The published literature suggests that although this asymmetry may be influenced by handedness, it reflects other factors as well. Although exact statistics of handedness in the modern population are not available because definitions of handedness vary greatly, it is known that we live in a predominantly right‐handed world. This knowledge makes the determination of handedness in forensic cases not as paramount in importance as other determinations. Review of the published scientific evidence clearly reveals that observations and measurements of the human skeleton cannot determine handedness with the degree of confidence needed for forensic applications.     

Polytraumatization and trauma symptoms in adolescent boys and girls: interpersonal and noninterpersonal events and moderating effects of adverse family circumstances

The objective of this study was to investigate the cumulative effect of interpersonal and noninterpersonal traumatic life events (IPEs and nIPEs, respectively) on the mental health of adolescents and to determine if the adverse impacts of trauma were moderated by adverse family circumstances (AFC). Adolescents (mean age 16.7 years) from the normative population (n = 462) completed the questionnaire, the Link?ping Youth Life Experience Scale (LYLES), together with Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC). The lifetime accumulation of interpersonal, noninterpersonal, and AFC was independently related to trauma-related symptoms in both boys and girls. The number of AFCs moderated the mental health impact of both IPEs and nIPEs in boys but not in girls. Cumulative exposure to both interpersonal and noninterpersonal traumatic events is important for the mental health of adolescents, and, at least for boys, family circumstances seem to be relevant for the impact of trauma. Our results suggest that broader approaches to the study, prevention, and treatment of trauma, including consideration of cumulative exposure, different types of trauma, and additional social risk factors, could be fruitful.     

Explaining health care system change: problem pressure and the emergence of "hybrid" health care systems

In this article, we will further the explanation of the state's changing role in health care systems belonging to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). We build on our analysis of twenty-three OECD countries, which reveals broad trends regarding governments' role in financing, service provision, and regulation. In particular, we identified increasing similarities between the three system types we delineate as National Health Service (NHS), social health insurance, and private health insurance systems. We argue that the specific health care system type is an essential contributor to these changes. We highlight that health care systems tend to feature specific, type-related deficiencies, which cannot be solved by routine mechanisms. As a consequence, non-system-specific elements and innovative policies are implemented, which leads to the emergence of "hybrid" systems and indicates a trend toward convergence, or increasing similarities. We elaborate this hypothesis in two steps. First, we describe system-specific deficits of each health care system type and provide an overview of major adaptive responses to these deficits. The adaptive responses can be considered as non-system-specific interventions that broaden the portfolio of regulatory policies. Second, we examine diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) as a common approach for financing hospitals efficiently, which are nevertheless shaped by type-specific deficiencies and reform requirements. In the United States' private insurance system, DRGs are mainly used as a means of hierarchical cost control, while their implementation in the English NHS system is to increase productivity of hospital services. In the German social health insurance system, DRGs support competition as a means to control self-regulated providers. Thus, DRGs contribute to the hybridization of health care systems because they tend to strengthen coordination mechanisms that were less developed in the existing health care systems.     

Trauma-exposed young victims: possibilities and constraints for providing trauma support within the investigative interview

For police, the aim of an investigative interview is to obtain a detailed and reliable account from the interviewee while remaining objective and impartial. This study explores the challenges involved in interviewing traumatised young victims and providing trauma support within the legal framework. The study is based on 19 videotaped investigative interviews of highly traumatised young victims of the 2011 Utøya terror attack in Norway and research interviews with the 17 detectives who conducted the police interviews. We analysed the research interviews that comprise the main data using qualitative inductive methods. We used the videotaped investigative interviews as a framework for the research interviews. We identified various types of constraint and support that the detectives perceived and found that objectivity is critical to the interviewers’ understanding of their professional role, which results in phase-bound support. At the beginning and end of the interview, they perceive opportunities to be supportive that are in accordance with recommended trauma care. However, the interviewing detectives become more passive when the conversation is about the criminal offence and seem less confident about being supportive. This study provides relevant new insights into how police experience interviewing traumatised young victims.     

Who is Likely to Help and Hurt? Profiles of African American Adolescents with Prosocial and Aggressive Behavior

Prosocial behavior and aggression among children and adolescents are important indicators of social and interpersonal competence. The goal of this study was to investigate whether there are different prototypes among African American adolescents that can help explain prosocial and aggressive (relational and overt) behaviors. Also of interest was whether these profiles differed for boys and girls. The selection of independent variables (e.g., empathy, anger management, normative beliefs about aggression, and ethnic identity) was guided by an information processing model of aggression and prosocial behaviors. The sample consisted of 789 (57% female) African American adolescents between the ages of 11 and 14. Cluster analysis produced three profiles that were similar for boys and girls. These were labeled “well-adjusted,” “poorly adjusted,” and “low identity.” A fourth profile was labeled “low empathy” for girls and “poor anger management” for boys. These four clusters significantly differentiated who engaged in prosocial behavior and relational and overt aggression. Findings suggest that prevention programs may consider targeting well-adjusted youth to serve as peer modes. Additionally, programs that promote empathy, anger management, ethnic identity, and normative beliefs against aggression may be useful for reducing aggression and increasing prosocial behavior among poorly adjusted youth.     

Elite Philanthropy in Israel

The paper presents the findings of a study on elite philanthropy in Israel. The study aimed to describe and analyze the scope of elite philanthropy, which has been affected by the growth and relative stability of the Israeli economy. The study also aimed to shed light on the demographic characteristics of elite philanthropists, their motives for giving, preferred target populations and areas of interest for donations, the value of donations, and the channels and mechanisms through which donations are made. The findings revealed that the average percentage of donations out of the philanthropists’ total earnings was not lower than the percentage found among philanthropists in other Western countries. In the paper, we clarify the meaning of elite philanthropy in the context of Israeli society and the role of elite philanthropists in promoting social programs. We discuss the philanthropists’ sense of obligation to “give back” to the society which enabled them to become wealthy.     

Staff experiences of working in a Sexual Assault Referral Centre: the impacts and emotional tolls of working with traumatised people

This study considers the impacts on staff of supporting people who have reported sexual violence and attend a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC). This paper focuses on the staff’s perspectives of the stresses and emotional tolls they experience including the coping mechanisms they utilise. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 staff, and a focus group was held with a further four staff of a SARC. The data were examined using thematic analysis. Findings indicated that staff experienced positive emotions connected to the meaningfulness of the work and team spirit as well as a range of unpleasant emotions. Staff also reported emotional numbing, in connection to the specificity, volume and sometimes unpredictable nature of the work. Coping mechanisms used by staff focused on the supportive connection to family, nature, and other team members; the value of clinical supervision; and the avoidance of topics related to work.     

Police Bias,Social Identity,and Minority Groups: A Social Psychological Understanding of Cooperation with Police

The present study uses Social Identity Theory as a framework to investigate the collective effects of perceived police bias, ethnicity and self-identification with different groups on respondents’ intentions to cooperate with police in general crime control efforts and in counter-terrorism policing. Drawing on survey data collected from 1,272 individuals from three ethnic minority backgrounds in Australia, the present study reports findings including: (1) significant and large direct positive associations between superordinate identity and willingness to cooperate with police, (2) small-to-moderate significant associations between perceived police bias and cooperation with police (positive for Vietnamese subsample; negative for Indian and Arab subsamples), and (3) significant interaction patterns between subordinate identity, perceived police bias, and ethnicity. Findings are discussed with respect to community-engaged prevention and prejudice reduction.     

The Role of Trust in Nurturing Compliance: A Study of Accused Tax Avoiders

Why an institution's rules and regulations are obeyed or disobeyed is an important question for regulatory agencies. This paper discusses the findings of an empirical study that shows that the use of threat and legal coercion as a regulatory tool--in addition to being more expensive to implement--can sometimes be ineffective in gaining compliance. Using survey data collected from 2,292 taxpayers accused of tax avoidance, it will be demonstrated that variables such as trust need to be considered when managing noncompliance. If regulators are seen to be acting fairly, people will trust the motives of that authority, and will defer to their decisions voluntarily. This paper therefore argues that to shape desired behavior, regulators will need to move beyond motivation linked purely to deterrence. Strategies directed at reducing levels of distrust between the two sides may prove particularly effective in gaining voluntary compliance with an organization's rules and regulations.