HIV service provision for people with severe mental illness in outpatient mental health care settings in New York

People with severe mental illness evidence significantly higher rates of HIV infection than the general population in the United States. Frequently, the only access to health care for this population is through their outpatient mental health care providers. In order to determine how these providers were dealing with the increased risk of HIV infection among this group, a survey of all licensed and certified outpatient mental health care centers in New York State was conducted. The data were compared to a similar previous survey conducted in 1997.     

A mixed methods study of participant reaction to domestic violence research in Jordan

Research on domestic violence against women has increased considerably over the past few decades. Most participants in such studies find the exercise worthwhile and of greater benefit than emotional cost; however, systematic examination of participant reaction to research on violence is considerably lacking, especially in the Middle East region. This study begins to fill this gap by examining women's reactions to domestic violence research in Jordan and whether a personal history of violence is associated with unfavorable experiences. This sequential exploratory mixed methods study included 17 focus group discussions (FGD) with women in Amman followed by a survey conducted in reproductive health clinics throughout the country (pilot n = 30; survey n = 517). Open coding was used to identify the theme related to participant reaction in the FGD data. This construct was further examined by the subsequent survey that included dichotomous questions inquiring whether the respondent thought the study questions were important and whether they were angry or felt resentment as a result of the survey. One open-ended question on the survey provided additional qualitative data on the theme that was combined with the FGD data. Themes identified in the qualitative data pertained to expressions of gratitude and comments on the survey's value. Findings of this study indicate that Jordanian women's responses to the research process are similar to women currently represented by the extant literature in that a vast majority of its participants felt that the study was important (95%) and it did not evoke anger or resentment (96%). Many even found the study to be useful to them personally or to society. Among those who had a negative emotional reaction, most still found the research to be important. This study's findings highlight the safety and potential benefits of ethically conducted violence research.     

U.S. MBA and Management Training Programs in Central and Eastern Europe

The transfer of the American model of management education to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is the subject of this paper. It specifically looks at the impact of a U.S. government-funded program to promote linkages between U.S. business schools and institutions in the CEE region. In 1990, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was authorized by the Congress to develop a program to assist the countries of the CEE region in their transition from command to market economies. This would consist of training and education in economics and management in nine countries from the Baltic states in the north to Albania in the south. This program, known as the Management Training and Economics Education Project (MTEEP) would include twelve grants amounting to nearly $100 million to eleven U.S. universities that would partner with 14 local institutions of higher education. The paper does not purport to contribute to theoretical literature, but rather to chronicle a trend in technology transfer. The author maintains that over a 10-year period MTEEP has contributed to a significant transfer of educational technology in the form of management education, especially in the establishment of MBA and executive MBA programs as well as management training programs.     

Constructing loyalism: politics,communications and peace in Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland peace process has provided the space for the emergence of an articulate loyalist politics which has had implications for the traditionally obstructive and negative representations of unionist discourse. During talk and negotiations which led to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, leaders of the Progressive Unionist Party and the Ulster Democratic Party (both political wings of loyalist paramilitary groupings) voiced positions which assisted the possibilities for building constitutional change based along more moderate lines than those associated with dominant unionism. However, have the news media been receptive to such articulations and, if not, what problems have they created for the communication of loyalist positions? By considering such questions, this article explores the development of loyalism and loyalist communications in the early years of peace in Northern Ireland.