Development and testing of a comprehensive ageing problem scale for community-living older adults in South Korea

This study was undertaken to develop and validate an instrument for gerontological policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to comprehensively assess the nature and severity of problems experienced by older adults. The Comprehensive Ageing Problem Scale (CAPS) for older adults living in the community was created as a reliable and valid instrument that is easy to use. A cross-sectional strategy was utilized, in which a total sample of 1060 older South Korean adults was selected (through a proportionate random-stratified sampling method) from four regions nationwide. The psychometric properties of the instrument were verified using item analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). To achieve cross-validity, the total sample was randomly divided into two groups. The first group (for the EFA) was employed to identify the factor structure of the initial scale. The second group (for the CFA) was used to confirm the factor structure of the revised scale with the first group. The final version of the 19-item CAPS with four factors showed good internal consistency and a CFA confirmed the acceptability of the model fit.     

Measuring the Effectiveness of Routine Child Protection Services: The Results From an Evidence Based Strategy

Most of what is known about the effectiveness of child welfare is found in studies of specific programs. Little is known about the effectiveness of the routine services provided in child protection systems. Family and Children's Services of Renfrew County is a Canadian child welfare agency that decided to expand its mission beyond protecting children to include enabling child development. This article discusses its effort to improve outcomes for children receiving a child protection service at home: the key elements examined are the selection of outcomes, the implementation of a child development strategy, and the collection and analysis of outcome data. Many of the findings are encouraging. The outcomes described rely on parents, social workers, and children and youth as sources of information. The triangulation resulting from combining a number of sources and instruments for the collection of the outcome data supports the credibility of the findings. Through the evidence based strategy that was adopted knowledge was acquired about what is possible in attaining better developmental outcomes in the course of child protection intervention.     

Political Bias and Methodological Failure in Assessing Environmental Impacts of Development Projects: Comparative Analysis of the High Aswan Dam and Calaca Thermal Power Plant Development Projects

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) by various sectors for development activities still needs operational guidelines to avoid failures. The High Aswan Dam in Egypt and the Calaca Thermal Power Plant in the Philippines were examined to delineate lessons. Three sorts of methodological failures were identified in these cases, although they differ in many aspects. They are (1) preoccupation with the previous case, (2) oversimplified assumptions about cause and effect, and (3) lack of a holistic viewpoint. These cases were also influenced by political biases, which led to inappropriate assessment methodologies and, subsequently, to erroneous conclusions. Care should be taken to avoid these universal failures in carrying out an assessment.     

Safety Considerations in Political Decisions: A Case Study of Changes to the Norwegian Aviation System

Following the international deregulation act of 1994, the structure of the Norwegian aviation system has undergone several important changes. This paper describes the terms dictated by the political environment and the different administrations for implementing the changes. Our analysis addresses the inclusion of safety considerations in the specific decisions, and questions whether safety evaluations have had any impact on the change processes. The changes included the restructuring of airlines, new terms of competition, regulatory changes, the separation and relocation of the civil aviation authority, and privatization and efficiency reforms in the new infrastructure company. Safety in aviation and the risk of aviation accidents were not issues that featured prominently during the early change management processes. These aspects were first considered when the parties realized that changes were imminent and conflicts began to emerge. The different parties involved used the safety concept in various ways to legitimize or counteract changes. Our analysis concludes that risk is a complex concept that is difficult to communicate in a rational political decision process, but the emotive element in the risk concept opens for political speculations that facilitate discussion of ethical responsibilities.     

Educational figures as models for empathetic communication at school： An exploratory examination of an integrative assessment model

This paper presents an exploratory examination of a methodology deliberated to quantify empathetic modeling in Israeli schools. Approximately half a dozen disciples and 3-5 teachers in each of 102 elementary and high-schools from various regions of Israel, affiliated with different educational sectors, participated in the study, which was conducted by 40 well trained interviewers. Using sophisticated algorithms, integrative scores were extracted in order to represent each school＇s pupils-teachers fit in viewing the empathetic approach by the school＇s leading educational figures. The results are conceived as indicative of the viability of the to-be-evaluated assessment method and the construct of school-empathy. Applied implications are suggested and continued research deliberated to test the hypothesis of an inverse causal connection between school-empathy, and school-violence is proposed.     

论刑法中重复评价的本质及其禁止

犯罪行为的本质是客观上侵犯了刑法所保护的法益,主观上反映出行为人反规范的人格态度。所谓重复评价,表面上是在定罪量刑时对存在论上的同一犯罪行为进行了重复使用,但本质上是对其所反映出来的同一不法内涵和同一罪责内涵进行了重复考量,结果导致重复处罚。禁止重复评价的本质则相应表现为禁止对反映同一不法内涵和同一罪责内涵的同一犯罪行为进行重复使用。     

论风险评估和风险预防的一致性——以《卡塔赫纳生物安全议定书》的相关规定为视角

作为国际社会第一个有约束力的专门规范转基因生物越境转移的多边环境协定———《卡塔赫纳生物安全议定书》,既要求转基因生物进口国的有关决定要以风险评估为基础,又包含了有关风险预防的若干规定。风险评估不会先天地阻碍或抵消风险预防在决策过程中的作用。同时,风险预防是以风险评估为基础的风险预防,当然也不会与基于科学证据的风险评估相冲突。《卡塔赫纳生物安全议定书》中规定的风险评估和风险预防是完全协调一致的。     

城乡统筹发展内涵及评价指标体系建立研究

该文从城乡统筹概念内涵角度出发,在构建城乡统筹发展定量指标指导原则下提出,城乡统筹评价指标体系应该由城乡协调度和城乡特色度两部分构成,其中城乡协调度包括政治统筹发展、社会统筹发展、经济统筹发展及环境统筹发展四个方面。该文认为城乡统筹是缩小城乡差距,并不是消灭城乡差别,城乡统筹的结果应是城乡各具特色,优势互补。     

非传统刑事司法的模式化定位

非传统刑事司法通过伴随定罪量刑过程的附加性措施,主动谋求执行符合犯罪人个别化要求的处遇、维护被害人权利、保障社会安全稳定。如果没有进行司法成本初次投资的勇气以及持续性成本跟进的实力,可能难以经受治疗性司法的成本耗费风险。恢复性司法属于报应性司法与矫正性司法利弊权衡后的整合形式。评估性司法的分析依据、方法、结果都是个体化的,其建议的刑事处遇能够针对犯罪人的具体情况实现富有效率且思路一致的再犯控制与犯罪预防。     

建立我国上市公司业绩评价体系和财务预警体系的构想

上市公司作为我国企业群体中的“精英”,其释放的“标杆效应”极为明显。通过对上市公司的适当评价,不仅可以为投资者提供一个较为真实的投资对象,而且对于中国资本市场的稳定、健康发展具有重要的意义。