The prevalence of compassion fatigue,compassion satisfaction and perceived stress,and their relationships with mental toughness,individual differences and number of self-care actions in a UK police force

ABSTRACT

Police personnel are likely to be affected by stress and compassion fatigue, which may have important consequences for health, well-being and job performance. There are certain individual differences which may protect against compassion fatigue, for example mental toughness, personality and self-care behaviours. However, there is little research examining all of these constructs in combination with policing. The current study aimed to gather information regarding the prevalence of compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction and perceived stress within a large UK police force, and their relationships with personality, mental toughness and self-care activities. A questionnaire was completed by 605 police employees within a UK police force. The results demonstrated that 20% of personnel suffered from negative psychological outcomes and that these outcomes were predicted by individual differences and self-care activities. The requirement for shift work, and mental toughness scores, significantly predicted compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and perceived stress. The analyses also revealed a role for gender, tenure, personality and self-care in several aspects of well-being. The implications of these findings are discussed, considering the current contexts in which policing operates, with the aim of improving the psychological well-being of police officers and staff.     

The Influence of Perceived Confidentiality Risks and Attitude on Tanzania Government Employees’ Intention to Adopt Web 2.0 and Social Media for Work-Related Purposes

Studies show that there are many benefits of using Web 2.0 and social media in governments. However, the factors influencing government employees‘ adoption of these technologies are not well known. In this paper, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was integrated with two constructs, namely, perceived confidentiality risks (PCR) and attitude (AT) in order to investigate the factors influencing adoption of these technologies among government employees. The sample consisted of 600 usable responses collected from Tanzania Government Employees. To analyze the data, Structural Equation Modeling was used. Both PCR and AT were found to be influential.     

How oil autocracies learn to stop worrying: Central Eurasia in 2008 global financial crisis

Autocracies in developing countries are more likely to collapse during economic crises. Some influential works and popular media extend this argument to oil-rich autocracies, but cross-national empirical studies find little evidence to support this view. Yet, while the causes of their stability during boom periods are well understood, how oil-rich autocratic regimes remain stable during busts is underexplored. This article advances an explanation that refines and complements existing accounts. I argue that we need to take into account three interrelated factors that currently are likely to stabilize oil-rich autocracies: considerable savings, policy learning, and sustenance of coercive capacity. Leveraging evidence drawn from 40 original interviews, documents, news media, and academic literature, I investigate the role of these factors through a comparative case study of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan during the 2008 global economic turmoil. The findings highlight the ruling elites’ ability to amass sizeable savings that later provide safety cushions, to update their know-how through drawing lessons within and beyond fiscal policy, and to sustain coercive capacity without resorting to overt repression. Through economic crises, they may learn to not escape the “resource curse,” but to escape despite the “resource curse.”     

Southern Europe and the Eurozone Crisis Negotiations: Preference Formation and Contested Issues

South European countries were severely hit by the eurozone crisis. Adopting the theoretical framework of prospect theory, this article conducts an empirical analysis of the interpretation of the situation by the South European political leaders in terms of gains and losses. After discussing the stances of South European countries vis-à-vis a number of contested issues which emerged during the 2010–2013 negotiations, the article goes on to provide a comparative account of the determinants of national preference formation with respect to the eurozone crisis reforms in Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain, paying special attention to the relationship between governments and parliaments.     

我国外汇储备增长的影响因素与实证检验

近年来,我国外汇储备呈现快速增长态势。本文从分析我国外汇储备快速增长的原因出发,利用协整分析方法对影响我国外汇储备的因素进行实证研究。结果表明,影响我国外汇储备的因素主要包括汇率、国内生产总值、外贸开放度等,而外资开放度和外债余额对外汇储备的影响不显著。     

The Influences of Perceived Managerial Discretion and Risk-Taking Behavior on Government Organizational Performance

Purpose: This study investigates pertinent factors in perceived managerial discretion (PMD) in association with risk-taking behavior (RTB) and organizational performance within government organizations. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a mix of qualitative methods—using focus group discussions (FGDs) to select key variables affecting PMD and to validate the research findings—and quantitative methods—using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test eight hypotheses developed from FGDs and from a literature review. Out of 340 questionnaires sent out to potential participants, 260 were returned and deemed valid for SEM analysis, reflecting a satisfactory response rate of 76%. Findings: A total of six factors affecting PMD were identified: quasi-legal constraint (QLC), powerful outside forces (POFs), inertial forces (IFs), powerful inside forces (PIFs), power base (PB), and political acumen (PA). The SEM analysis indicated that QLC, PIF, PB, and PA enhance PMD, while IF tends to inhibit PMD. Stronger PMD was associated with weaker RTB on the part of government-official decision makers, while greater RTB was associated with more positive organizational outcomes. These findings are partially consistent with prior findings, with some notable contradictions. Research implications/limitations: The primary limitation of this study was its limited external validity, as these findings can only be extended to organizations with similar characteristics of those of the government institution used as the case study. These findings must be used with care for different types of public organizations. Practical implications: These findings support taking the following steps: (1) review and remove equivocal regulations that could restrain PMD, (2) streamline bureaucracy, (3) establish regulations that allow more space for innovation and discretion, (4) delineate the tasks and responsibilities of decision makers, and (5) discourage abrupt policy changes, promoting proper scrutiny and notice.     

Give them toys? Military allocations and regime stability in transitional democracies

In contrast to the conventional wisdom that democratization reduces coups, 46% of coups targeted democracies from 2000–2009, twice the rate seen in the prior half-century. Efforts to explain coups have arrived at wildly varied conclusions regarding the vulnerability of democracies. We argue that this is attributable to regime type acting as a conditional influence. We theorize that democratization incentivizes old elites to veto the process, and these vetoes are more likely to occur when the new regime cannot credibly commit to the military’s corporate interests. Using cross-national data for 172 states for the years 1952–2009, we find that though young democracies are more vulnerable to coups than either civilian authoritarian regimes or older democracies, this vulnerability is mitigated when military expenditures are near or above the sample mean. We also find that commonly argued determinants of coups appear to be driven by their influence in democracies, suggesting the need for scholars to revisit commonly held assumptions regarding autocratic survival.     

高等教育法治建设是实现高校稳定的战略保障

法治是现代社会发展追求的价值目标。在高等教育快速发展的当代,高校稳定工作面临着许多新情况和新问题。在高等教育领域内进行法治建设,首先是要关注教师和学生的基本权利得到保障,其次是要保障高校自主办学权的实现,第三是要平衡高校与社会的关系。上述三个方面是高校实现长期稳定与和谐的基础因素。从这个意义上来说,高等教育法治建设是实现高校稳定的战略保障。     

维护和平稳定努力提升服务经济发展的能力

当前,顺义区正处在经济超高速、跨越式发展的战略机遇期,公安机关维护稳定、打击犯罪、治安管理和行政管理工作面临着新课题。必须在一些重大问题上创新公安对策,加速创新公安工作机制,与时俱进地创新警务方式,加快公安机关自身建设的步伐。