Aufgaben- und Instrumentenwandel dargestellt am Beispiel der schweizerischen Forstpolitik

Die staatliche Entwicklung in der Schweiz für die letzten 150 Jahre wird am Beispiel der Forstpolitik aufgerollt. Die Analyse dieses Politikfeldes zeigt als wichtigstes Ergebnis die inkrementale Anpassung von Interventionen und Inhalten an das sich stetig ändernde Umfeld. Adapationsmechanismen wie die Einflussnahme anderer forstrelevanter Politikbereiche (Politikverflechtung) oder auch veränderte externe Rahmenbedingungen (Waldsterben, sinkende Holzpreise, Finanzknappheit etc.) erklären, warum sich die Forstpolitik gegenüber anderen Policies geöffnet hat. Zunehmende Vernetzung der Forstpolitik, neue Akteurkonfigurationen und eine flexible Politik der Bundesverwaltung haben zusätzlich zur Erhöhung des Veränderungspotentials beigetragen. Begünstigt werden die genannten Prozesse durch den wachsenden Legitimationsbedarf der Politik. Die inhaltliche Anpassung der Policy hat ebenfalls auf der institutionellen Ebene Veränderungen induziert. Eine direkte Übertragbarkeit der politikfeldspezifischen Schlüsse auf institutionelle Reformen ist schwierig, weil die Interessen dort noch bedeutend vielfältiger sind.     

The Development of Motivation and Amotivation to Study and Work across Age-Graded Transitions in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - People’s motivation to engage in studying and working is an important precursor of participation and attainment. However, little is known about how...     

A Non-bipartite Propensity Score Analysis of the Effects of Teacher–Student Relationships on Adolescent Problem and Prosocial Behavior

Previous research suggests a link between the quality of teacher–student relationships and the students’ behavioral outcomes; however, the observational nature of past studies makes it difficult to attribute a causal role to the quality of these relationships. In the current study, therefore, we used a propensity score analysis approach to evaluate whether students who were matched on their propensity to experience a given level of relationship quality but differed on their actual relationship quality diverged on their concurrent and subsequent problem and prosocial behavior. Student/self, teacher, and parent- (only waves 1–3) reported data from 8 waves of the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths (z-proso), a longitudinal study of Swiss youth among a culturally diverse sample of 7- to 15-year-olds were utilized. The initial sample included 1483 (49.4 % female) students for whom information relevant for this study was available. The sample represented families from around 80 different countries, from across all the continents; with approximately 42 % of the female primary caregivers having been born in Switzerland. Following successful matching, we found that students who reported better relationships with their teachers and whose teachers reported better relationships with them evidenced fewer problem behaviors concurrently and up to 4 years later. There was also evidence for an analogous effect in predicting prosocial behavior. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to prevention and intervention practices.     

Efficacy of an Intervention to Reduce the Use of Media Violence and Aggression: An Experimental Evaluation with Adolescents in Germany

Several longitudinal studies and meta-analytic reviews have demonstrated that exposure to violent media is linked to aggression over time. However, evidence on effective interventions to reduce the use of violent media and promote critical viewing skills is limited. The current study examined the efficacy of an intervention designed to reduce the use of media violence and aggression in adolescence, covering a total period of about 12 months. A sample of 683 7th and 8th graders in Germany (50.1% girls) were assigned to two conditions: a 5-week intervention and a no-intervention control group. Measures of exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior were obtained about 3 months prior to the intervention (T1) and about 7 months post-intervention (T2). The intervention group showed a significantly larger decrease in the use of violent media from T1 to T2 than the control group. Participants in the intervention group also scored significantly lower on self-reported aggressive behavior (physical aggression and relational aggression) at T2 than those in the control group, but the effect was limited to those with high levels of initial aggression. This effect was mediated by an intervention-induced decrease in the normative acceptance of aggression. No gender differences in program efficacy were found. The results show that a 5-week school-based intervention can produce changes in the use of media violence, aggressive norms, and behaviors sustained over several months.     

Adolescents’ Mental Health Outcomes According to Different Types of Exposure to Ongoing Terror Attacks

This study investigates the impact of several types of exposure to terror attacks on adolescents’ psychological outcomes in the context of ongoing terror. A total of 913 adolescents (51% girls) aged 12 to 18 years (12–13.6 = 33%; 13.7–15.6 = 38%; 15.7–18 = 28%) took part in the study. Detailed data were collected concerning objective, subjective and “mixed” types of exposure to terror, as well as demographics, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), emotional and behavioral problems and overall psychological and psychiatric difficulties. Subjective exposure was found to be the most important contributor to adolescents’ post-traumatic stress and other mental health problems in this context. Gender also had important effects. The effects of objective and mixed types of exposure, as well as age, were less prominent. We did find, however, that the more adolescents consulted media, the less they experienced behavioral and emotional problems. Given that subjective experiences appear to be the best factor in explaining mental health outcomes when adolescents are confronted with persistent terror, the cognitive and emotional dynamics along with the coping behavior linked to such experiences merit further investigation.

Who Am I and Where Am I From? Substitute Residential Home Children’s Insights into Their Lives and Individual Identities

Abstract

Decisions regarding children’s residential care reorganisation are primarily based on an adult’s perspective of children’s wellbeing and care. While these adults tend to be well-intended and base their decisions off relevant evidence, the children’s perspectives ‐ which reflects their actual lived experiences ‐ is almost never considered. However, since children are experts of their own lives, they should have the right to participate and express their opinion: Their point of view could be of great value in developing residential child care. In this article, we provide SOS children’s insights into their own life experiences and individual identities. The data was collected during an ethnographic research in one of Estonia’s SOS Children’s Villages (SOS CV). This article aims to answer to following research questions: 1. What are the main topics in SOS children’s stories when they talk about themselves and their everyday lives in substitute homes? 2. What kind of identity can be determined from children’s stories? 3. How can the subtext within the children’s stories be used to develop a child-centred residential care? In this article, we present and discuss several key-findings. First, it is important to note that there are gaps in the children’s life stories, as they sometimes lack information about important people and events in their lives. Second, this lack of adequate information can damage the children's identities and, in turn, undermine their development. Third, the opportunity to talk about important life events encourages the children to ask questions, as they are interested in obtaining additional information to complete the gaps. Fourth, the children’s stories indicate the shortcomings of substitute homes, related to both culture and communication.     

East German dissident biographies in the context of family history

A case reconstruction study of the biographies of women in the former dissident movements of East Germany exemplifies how empirical results are dependent on the choice of data gathering and analytical methods. The primary result, on the one hand, is that the political activity of the women studied was closely related to their family histories, especially with respect to the Nazi period in Germany. On the other hand, different dimensions of family history become apparent depending on the method of analysis applied. Therefore, the respondents' self-analyses cannot substitute for a reconstruction meant to determine exactly which part of the family history is significant and what its function is.     

Living with COVID-19: Subjective Well-Being in the Second Phase of the Pandemic

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - While there is ample evidence of the decline in mental health among youth during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, less is known about the determinants of...