Collaborative Procurement: A Relational View of Buyer–Buyer Relationships

Collaborative procurement is increasingly on the policy agenda in many countries, yet problems with collaboration occur. This article adopts a relational theory perspective to explore the enablers of and barriers to collaboration in purchasing, helping identify success factors. The authors adopted a mixed qualitative/quantitative methodology and interviewed 51 senior staffers in the United Kingdom. They found that collaborative public procurement is hindered by local politics and differing priorities, supplier resistance, reliance on suppliers for data, and a lack of common coding systems. Enabling factors for collaborating with local governments include dealing with local issues and buying from small and medium‐sized enterprises. For health care providers, important themes are product innovation and ensuring supply. The authors develop a list of enabling factors and show their effect on collaboration success. This may assist policy makers in identifying areas of guidance and help practitioners prevent problems in collaboration.     

What Voters Want From Political Campaign Communication

Implicit and explicit norms in broadcasting require that interviewees be treated in a fair and objective manner and given an equal chance to express themselves, regardless of interviewers' personal liking or preference. Nonverbal behavior of seven Israeli televison interviewers was investigated to discover whether they treated politicians from opposing camps and other interviewees in a differential or fair manner. Very brief clips (averaging 7 seconds) showing the interviewer alone were judged by American students who had no comprehension of speech content. In Study 1, all six interviewers were found to demonstrate differential nonverbal behavior toward interviewees, and four of them treated Labor versus Likud camp politicians in a differential manner. A range of individual differences in effect magnitudes of the differential behavior effects was found. Study 2 focused on two lengthy parallel interviews conducted by a prominent interviewer during the 1996 election campaign with the two candidates for prime minister. The interviewer's nonverbal behavior was found to be blatantly preferential in favor of one candidate. Study 3 examined micro behaviors contributing to the formation of global negative/positive impressions. Correlational analyses yielded several global (presumably universal) mediators: smiling, rhythmical beating hand movements, leaning forward, sarcasm, and attempts to regulate the interviewee. Each interviewer was found to demonstrate a unique personal style in which different nonverbal behaviors mediated the overall impression. The tentative conclusion is that more dominant and aggressive interviewers show more differential/preferential behavior. Social and ethical implications, as well as implications for nonverbal research, are discussed.     

Electrophysiological and Behavioral Responses of Thanatophilus sinuatus Fabricius (Coleoptera: Silphidae) to Selected Cadaveric Volatile Organic Compounds

Soon after death, carcasses release volatile chemicals that attract carrion insects including Silphidae. Nevertheless, it is not known which chemical cues are involved in the attractiveness of the carcass. So far, little information is available on the chemical ecology of carrion beetles, particularly concerning the subfamily of Silphinae. The biological role of selected cadaveric volatile organic compounds including dimethyldisulfide (DMDS), butan‐1‐ol, n‐butanoic acid, indole, phenol, p‐cresol, putrescine, and cadaverine on the silphine species, Thanatophilus sinuatus Fabricius, was investigated using both electrophysiological and behavioral techniques. Among the tested cadaveric compounds, butan‐1‐ol and DMDS elicited the strongest electroantennography (EAG) from both T. sinuatus male and female antennae. In a two‐arm olfactometer, males and females were significantly attracted to DMDS for both tested doses, whereas only males were attracted to p‐cresol at 100 ng. Putrescine was repellent to males at the dose of 1 μg.     

Social problem-solving correlates of sexual deviancy and aggression among adult child molesters

Cognitive-behavioral treatment programs for adult sex offenders often include training geared to improve a perpetrator's social problem-solving skills. However, little empirical evidence exists to date that documents the relationship between problem-solving and deviant sexual interest or behavior among child molesters. As such, this study investigated the association between problem-solving and two aspects of sexual offending—self-reported sexual deviancy and clinician-rated sexual aggression among a recruited sample of incarcerated child molesters. To minimize the potential for biased self-reports, criterion scores on a lie scale were employed to exclude individuals who might be prone to misrepresent their responses. Results indicated this sample to be characterized by significant deficits on all measures of social problem-solving as compared to the general population. In addition, a series of correlational analyses indicated that an avoidant problem-solving style was significantly associated with past sexual aggression, whereas a negative problem orientation and an impulsive/careless problem-solving style were significantly related to a measure of current sexual deviancy. Of particular interest is the finding that a rational problem-solving style (i.e., the constructive style that involves the systematic application of specific problem-solving skills geared toward identifying an effective solution) was not significantly related to either sexual offending measure. The implications of these collective results are discussed.     

Mental Health Problems among Prison Inmates: the Effect of Welfare Deficiencies,Drug Use and Self‐Efficacy

In this paper, we investigate the differential contribution of accumulated welfare deficiencies, drug use, and self‐efficacy on inmates' current symptoms of mental health problems. Few studies so far have investigated inmates' mental health based on empirical data covering both social and psychological predictors. Our analyses are aimed at the following research questions: (a) what is the relationship between welfare deficiencies, drug use, and symptom reporting among prison inmates? (b) is this relationship influenced by inmates' perceived self‐efficacy? and (c) how might this information be used to inform the discussion of challenges in prisoner re‐entry? Findings are based on a national survey among prison inmates in Norway, focusing on living conditions generally, as well as mental distress, drug use, and self‐efficacy. The findings indicate serious accumulation of disadvantage, and more welfare deficiencies among drug users and those suffering from mental distress. When it comes to prediction of mental distress, accumulation of welfare deficiencies and self‐efficacy both turned out as significant contributors. The findings are discussed both in terms of practical implications, and in terms of how they illustrate some of the shortcomings inherent in a traditional welfare research perspective.     

Understanding service users’ and therapists’ experiences of pharmacological treatment for sexual preoccupation and/or hypersexuality in incarcerated sex offenders

This research comprises two qualitative studies understanding the experiences of (1) convicted sex offenders voluntarily receiving pharmacological treatment to reduce sexual preoccupation and (2) therapists working with these offenders. The studies form part of a research programme evaluating the use of pharmacological treatment with sexual offenders. In study one, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 sexual offenders receiving selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. In study two, interviews were conducted with eight intervention staff with varying levels of experience of working with offenders taking anti-libidinals. Thematic analysis was used and in study one, two main themes emerged: (i) the impact of the pharmacological treatment on prisoners’ daily functioning; (ii) barriers to compliance/engagement. In study two, three main themes emerged: (i) offenders’ reluctance to engage with pharmacological treatment; (ii) challenges for therapists; (iii) pharmacology: ‘just another piece of the puzzle’. Findings are discussed in relation to practice and future research.     

The Design and Implementation of Early Childhood Intervention Programs: Informing Efforts to Address Risk and Promote Resilience

With the goal of narrowing disparities in children's school success, a growing number of innovative early childhood interventions have been launched. As these interventions begin to show evidence of enhancing children's development, it is important that we understand the design of these interventions and their implementation. This themed issue of the Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community includes four articles that each highlight a different early childhood intervention program, and a fifth article that provides a commentary on the main set of articles, from a community perspective. The first article focuses on children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a program that sought to integrate children with ASD into public schools. The next two articles center on children from low-income families, with a focus on preschool classrooms. The last article discusses a program that aimed to foster young children's school readiness as well as families' readiness for children's transition to school.