People with disabilities working in the disability sector in Timor Leste: a study of ‘lived experience’ using PhotoVoice

Perspectives on disability originating from non-Western cultures are beginning to appear in disability literature, however discussions may become lost in rhetoric unless grounded in experiences of people with disabilities themselves. The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experience of physical disability in Timor Leste with the assistance of a group of Timorese participants with disabilities who were employed in the disability sector. These participants recounted experiences of disability from their own lives together with their observations of people with disabilities living in remote parts of Timor Leste who often lived with stigma or deprivation. The participants thus described their own lived experiences against a backdrop of a non-Western culture. A picture emerged of a stigmatising culture where acceptance of disability is uncommon yet where significant attempts are being made to change attitudes to disability within the culture of Timor Leste.     

Black and white perceptions of party differences

Despite a comparative disadvantage vis-à-vis whites in resources like education that often are considered to lead to political sophistication, African Americans show signs of being a rather politically sophisticated group of people. Given that better educated people are much more likely than those with less education to see larger differences between Democrats and Republicans, the propensity for blacks to perceive larger differences between the parties, both in general and on specific issues, is striking. This puzzle is explained by the fact that education has a huge impact on seeing partisan differences for whites, but not for blacks. That this understanding of the structure of American politics has so completely penetrated black public opinion is quite remarkable. Strength of partisanship, and to a lesser degree, racial consciousness, appear to be largely responsible for blacks (particularly less educated blacks) perceiving such stark party differences.     

Measurement Properties of the Communities That Care<Superscript>®</Superscript> Youth Survey Across Demographic Groups

Prevention science has produced information about risk and protective factors that predict adolescent drug use and related problem behaviors. This paper investigates the Communities That Care Youth Survey that measures multiple risk and protective factors. Using a sample of 172,628 students who participated in surveys administered in seven states in 1998, analyses were conducted to test the factor structure of these risk and protective factors and to test the equivalence of the factor models across five racial/ethnic groups (African Americans, Asians or Pacific Islanders, Caucasians, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans), four grade levels (6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th) and both gender groups. Results support the construct validity of the surveys risk and protective factor scales and indicate that the measures are equally reliable across males and females and five racial/ethnic groups. Implications of these findings for science-based prevention planning are discussed.     

Whistleblowing in ?sterreich - Gefahren, Probleme und L?sungsm?glichkeiten

Der vorliegende Artikel er?rtert die derzeitige Rechtslage betreffend Whistleblowing in ?sterreich und zeigt ua unter Zuhilfenahme ausl?ndischer und internationaler Vorbilder und Rechtsquellen m?gliche L?sungen für bestehende Probleme de lege ferenda auf. Ausgehend von verschiedenen Fallkonstellationen, die das jeweils ver?nderliche Schutzbedürfnis des Whistleblowers einerseits und der von dessen Enthüllungen betroffenen Person andererseits aufzeigen, sowie der Analyse schon derzeit bestehender Pflichten zum Hinweisgeben, wird zun?chst versucht, dem Gesetzgeber einen Definitionsvorschlag zu unterbreiten, um Whistleblower schon begrifflich von nicht schutzwürdigen Personen abzugrenzen. Im Anschluss wird versucht, dem Gesetzgeber eine L?sung aufzuzeigen, die die arbeits-, dienst-, straf-, verwaltungsstraf-, zivil- und standesrechtlichen sowie faktischen Gefahren für Whistleblower beseitigt bzw minimiert. Zudem werden Geldleistungen als m?gliche positive Anreize zum Whistleblowing er?rtert.     

Lessons from Germany: some reflections occasioned by Schulenburg's "report"

Germany created the first national health insurance scheme, and its turbulent history has carried many lessons for all other countries. Health care financing--like all social security financing--redistributes wealth and inevitably is caught up in class politics. Cost-sharing by patients is not a neutral device in social engineering to improve efficiency, but it is a gambit in distributive politics. Health care involves the wealth and power of the doctors, and they become militant and successful forces in social politics. The forces for higher spending are stronger than the forces for restraint. Only exceptional political will be government can control costs.