Mapping the road to development: a methodology for scaling up participation in policy processes

Understanding local variability in context and mobilising local participation to define development agendas are widely accepted development strategies. There remain, however, significant challenges to the systematic and effective inclusion of local communities and households. Projeto MAPLAN, a pilot project in Ceará, Brazil, is a joint effort of the public sector and civil society designed to create a process of participatory development planning which integrates local-level contextual variations. In this effort, the use of a Participatory Geographic Information System (PGIS) stimulates the participation of community members in analysing their needs, goals, and priorities. The visualisation of these factors through easily understood maps facilitates communication and contributes to a democratic and transparent planning process, thus permitting the articulation of local priorities with the state-level planning apparatus. MAPLAN represents part of a shifting paradigm for rural development planning in the state and provides the tools for the effective inclusion of citizen voice in development policy.     

Violent Victimization and Perpetration: Joint and Distinctive Implications for Adolescent Development

To date few reports have provided direct comparison of psychosocial vulnerability and resources among youth with victimization and perpetration histories. Within a racially diverse, high-risk adolescent sample (n = 849), this study undertakes MANCOVA tests on a multidimensional set of risk and protective factors contrasting youth with histories of 1) neither violent victimization nor perpetration, 2) victimization only , 3) both perpetration only, and 4) both victimization and perpetration. All three violence-affected groups reported elevated risk and diminished protection, with perpetrating victims demonstrating the greatest psychosocial impairment. Detailed contrasts among the youth group profiles provide insights regarding overlapping and distinct developmental etiologies and implications for preventive and remedial intervention.     

Professionalizing Arts Management in Healthcare Facilities

An urgent need exists for trained specialists to manage organizational policies and practices involving arts programs and activities in healthcare facilities. This article introduces the field of arts in health and argues for what is currently needed within the academic and professional field of arts management to advance this emerging arena of arts management theory and practice. The authors integrate key references from existing scholarship alongside additional survey data to offer recommendations for developing professional management of the arts in healthcare facilities like hospitals, hospices, and long-term care centers. The article provides an overview of the responsibilities of arts managers in healthcare institutions, as well as insight into the knowledge, competencies, and skills that arts managers require to effectively work in these settings. The article concludes with articulating a conceptual framework for a long-term research trajectory to inform further advancement of this distinct sub-field of arts management.     

Parenting in Emerging Adulthood: An Examination of Parenting Clusters and Correlates

The changing nature of the transition to adulthood in western societies, such as the United States, may be extending the length of time parents are engaged in “parenting” activities. However, little is known about different approaches parents take in their interactions with their emerging-adult children. Hence, this study attempted to identify different clusters of parents based on the extent to which they exhibited both extremes of control (psychological control, punishment, verbal hostility, indulgence) and responsiveness (knowledge, warmth, induction, autonomy granting), and to examine how combinations of parenting were related to emerging adult children’s relational and individual outcomes (e.g. parent–child relationship quality, drinking, self-worth, depression). The data were collected from 403 emerging adults (M age = 19.89, SD = 1.78, range = 18–26, 62% female) and at least one of their parents (287 fathers and 317 mothers). Eighty-four percent of participants reported being European American, 6% Asian American, 4% African American, 3% Latino, and 4% reported being of other ethnicities. Data were analyzed using hierarchical cluster analysis, separately for mothers and fathers, and identified three similar clusters of parents which we labeled as uninvolved (low on all aspects of parenting), controlling-indulgent (high on both extremes of control and low on all aspects of responsiveness), and authoritative (high on responsiveness and low on control). A fourth cluster was identified for both mothers and fathers and was labeled as inconsistent for mothers (mothers were above the mean on both extremes of control and on responsiveness) and average for fathers (fathers were at the mean on all eight aspects of parenting). The discussion focuses on how each of these clusters effectively distinguished between child outcomes.     

Effects of Experiencing the Eyewitness Identification Procedure on Juror Decisions

Mistaken eyewitness identifications are believed to contribute to a preponderance of wrongful convictions, underscoring the need to identify methods to help decrease the likelihood of false convictions based on eyewitness testimony. The present study tested the hypothesis that providing jurors with first-hand experience with eyewitness identification procedures could help further sensitize them to the limitations of eyewitness testimony. Eighty college students watched a videotaped mock trial in which the prosecution’s sole evidence was eyewitness testimony. In a 2 × 2 randomized factorial design, we manipulated whether participants heard expert psychological testimony (henceforth referred to as expert testimony) on the limitations of eyewitness identification and whether they experienced an eyewitness identification procedure. As predicted, experiencing the eyewitness identification procedure had a significant impact on juror decisions, suggesting that this procedure could further help reduce the likelihood of wrongful convictions.     

Sticky Dollars: Inertia in the Evolution of Federal Allocations for HIV Care through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program

While substantial research examines the dynamics prompting policy adoption, few studies have assessed whether enacted policies are modified to meet distributional equity concerns. Past research suggests that important forces limit such adaptation, termed here "policy inertia." We examine whether block grant allocations to states from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program have evolved in response to major technological and political changes. We assess the impact of initial allocations on later funding patterns, compared to five counterfactual distributional equity standards. Initial allocations strongly predict future allocations; in comparison, the standards are weak predictors, suggesting the importance of policy inertia. Our methodology of employing multiple measures of equity as a counterfactual to policy inertia can be used to evaluate the adaptability of federalist programs in other domains.     

Forensic dental training in the dental school curriculum

This article reviews the literature regarding forensic education in the dental school curriculum and describes an exercise in forensic identification of victims of a mass casualty. Radiographs were made of dentate human cadavers in the gross anatomy laboratory at the Southern Illinois School of Dental Medicine. The jaws were then removed to provide "wet specimens" for the exercise. Several restorations were performed on the cadaver teeth, after which radiographs of the dissected jaws were made. One author wrote up mock dental records for each of the victims. These records included the first set or "premortem" radiographs. Students participating in the exercise were provided with a plane crash scenario, the dental records of the passengers on the manifest, the dissected jaws, and the second set or "postmortem" radiographs. Students were expected to form three teams. The first two teams evaluated the ante-mortem and postmortem dental records. The third team compared the ante-mortem and postmortem records to arrive at identification. The purpose of the exercise was twofold. It introduced dental students to forensic dentistry and emphasized the need for complete and accurate record keeping in the dental office. Several factors lessened the realism of the exercise and made it difficult to reproduce in the future. These included the uniformity of the dental records and the destruction of cadaver material following the exercise.     

Applying Functional Analysis to the Case of a Malfunctioning Education System: Addressing System Complexity and Tangled Causes

A 4-year decline culminating in a collapse of school leaver exam results sent shockwaves through the Tanzanian state education system. Students and citizens attribute the collapse to visible deficiencies in classroom teaching, which is the product of a complex, government-administered system of teacher training colleges, schools, schools inspectorate, an examinations council, and a curriculum development institution. A model of the system is constructed and ‘interrogated’ to establish a research framework of key questions and propositions for functional analysis and evaluation of the system.