Views Of Officers Research Articles

Resource needs for a socially just and sustainable urban agriculture system: Lessons from New York City

AbstractMany urban agriculture programs, and the organizations that run them, require substantial resources to remain viable and provide the multifunctional benefits that practitioners and supporters hope to achieve. As urban agriculture activity expands, practitioners and supporters face significant challenges, including how to match resources to the needs of practitioners and expectations of municipalities, and how to distribute those resources effectively and equitably so that communities, and the city as a whole, capture the benefits of these projects. This is particularly important as cities face increasing pressure to reduce costs and maximize the return on public expenditures. A 2-year study called Five Borough Farm documented the goals and objectives of urban agriculture projects in New York City and the resources for their success. The data showed that resource needs go beyond the material and financial needs discussed in the urban agriculture literature (e.g., land, soil, money). Interviews documented that urban agriculture projects have broader goals than merely producing food, and that attaining these goals (e.g., environmental improvements, community development, social justice) requires the support of government and networks of practitioners, non-profit organizations and philanthropies. Moreover, interviewee comments suggested that significant disparities in access to resources make the urban agriculture system in New York unequal and constrain the efforts of some farms and gardens. This paper, based on the Five Borough Farm research, examines the resource needs of urban agriculture operations in terms of farm and garden viability and equity among practitioners. It describes the goals, expectations and resource needs of New York City urban agriculture from the perspectives of farmers and gardeners, and from the views of city officials, funders and supporting non-profits. It discusses the need for attention to the political and social structures that create disparity and precariousness to ensure a sustainable and just urban agricultural system, in addition to the financial and technical assistance resources that enable farmers and gardeners to produce food. The paper concludes with recommended strategies to align resource needs and urban agriculture goals and expectations in New York and other cities.

Debates in China about the responsibility to protect as a developing international norm: a general assessment

Over the past several decades, international debates over intervention have usually focused on the primacy of state sovereignty or the protection of human rights. The emergence of the responsibility to protect (R2P) stimulates more profound debates by providing different perspectives and terminologies. In this vein, an important voice of dissent, or at least scepticism, comes from China. This article pays special attention to the domestic debates concerning the R2P concept in China. Based on a review of most of the academic studies on R2P in China, together with in-depth interviews with senior diplomats and practitioners, this article illustrates the different views of Chinese officials and scholars on the concept of R2P, offering insight into how to construct the new norm of R2P in order to shape the concept into an international norm that is more acceptable, legitimate and operational.

The United States Patent & Trademark Office's Current View on Patent Eligibility

The United States Patent & Trademark Office's Current View on Patent Eligibility

The Laws Have Changed, But What About the Police? Policing Domestic Violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Despite having received gender sensitivity and domestic violence (DV) education in the post-war reformation era, anecdotal evidence from across Bosnia and Herzegovina indicates that most police officers view DV as a private family affair and continue to hold negative attitudes toward women and DV victims. This study assessed these claims by examining gender and DV attitudes held by 137 Bosnian police officers. It was hypothesized that officers who received DV training would be less likely to hold sexist attitudes toward women or view DV as justifiable compared with untrained officers. Results, as well as policy implications and suggestions for future research, are presented.

The View of Religious Officials on Organ Donation and Transplantation in the Zeytinburnu District of Istanbul

One of the obstacles to organ donation and transplantation in Turkey is that of religious beliefs and, at this point, religious officials constitute a key aspect of this problem. Positive or negative viewpoints held by religious officials regarding organ donation and transplantation are influential in guiding the public. This descriptive study was conducted for the purpose of describing religious officials' viewpoints on this subject. To determine the opinions of 40 religious officials from among the imams and muezzins working in Zeytinburnu District Mufti (Religious Officials Superior) Station who participated in a normal meeting in April and who fully completed the survey. A 27-question survey form was used that consisted of open-ended and closed questions, 5 of which were on socio-demographic characteristics, 13 on viewpoints on organ donation and transplantation, and 9 on the Islamic viewpoint regarding organ donation and transplantation. For the analysis of the results, Student's t test and one-way ANOVA tests were used. It was found that all of the religious officials believed in the importance of organ donation, 80% considered donating their organs, and 5% had made an organ donation. Of the religious officials who had not donated organs, 35% gave an answer that there was no specific reason and 27.5% stated that they had never considered the subject. While the number of those stating that they would donate the organs of a close associate who had died, 77.5% of them who did not want to donate gave as their reason the idea that if it were him, he would perhaps not want to give his organs after death. Of the religious officials questioned, 92.5% asserted that the religion of Islam looked positively on organ donation and transplantation, 55% stated that the knowledge of religious officials in the country was inadequate regarding this subject, and 65% said that for interest in organ donation to increase, religious officials should make speeches and raise the issue with the public in conversations, meetings, and sermons. Fully 85% asserted that for interest in organ donation in Turkey to increase, religious officials have to lead on the subject. Of those questioned, 52.5% considered their knowledge on organ donation and transplantation to be adequate and that they had obtained 52.5% of such information from seminars/conferences, 50% from television/radio, and 45% from Directorate of Religious Affairs publications. However, 40% expressed that they did not know where organ donations were made. One reason for inadequate organ donation in Turkey is that of incorrect religious beliefs. Thus, it is necessary that informative efforts are made by the Directorate of Religious Affairs through in-house training programs, and that healthcare, religious, and legal officials work jointly to inform the public about organ donation, organ transplantation, and brain death. Additionally, religious officials should donate organs by the way of example and, to increase their sensitivity, healthcare professionals should go more frequently to mosques and Mufti Stations.

The Constraints Experienced by Educational Officials During the Implementation of Technology Education in North West Province, South Africa

The implementation of Technology Education is an under researched area. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study that was conducted in the North West Province of South Africa to gather the views of education officials about the implementation of Technology Education. Technology Education is still a relatively newcomer that was, for the first time ever, included in the South African curriculum transformation at the dawn of democratic governance around 1994. Its inclusion was inspired by the global trends that motivated Technology Education as a school subject. But the implementation of Technology Education in South Africa has not been without constraints. In order to understand the constraints that plagued the implementation of the subject, a study was conducted in which fifteen Technology Education officials, who comprised seven Heads of Departments (HoDs), four subject experts and four subject advisors were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. These officials were responsible for managing the implementation of Technology Education at Grade 7-9 schools in North West Province. The findings revealed the following constraints to the implementation of Technology Education: unsatisfactory teacher training, lack of resources and factors impacting on the Technology Education pedagogy. We believe that at practice level Technology Education curriculum planners and implementers should take into account these hindrances in order to ensure the successful implementation of Technology Education. Theoretically this paper contributes to the scarce body of knowledge in the field of Technology Education curriculum implementation.

Contemporary prison overcrowding: short-term fixes to a perpetual problem

Since the United States began using incarceration as its cornerstone of punishment for those who transgress the law, this method of discipline has been fraught with problems. One of the most ubiquitous problems found within correctional institutions are the conditions inmates are forced to live in particularly, when penal facilities are overcrowded. These conditions have led to extensive litigation, compelling the judicial system to change. Although overall conditions have improved, a perpetually increasing inmate population continues to plague correctional systems as costs continue to rise. As state budgets have become strained during the economic downturns, many states’ officials view less punitive measures as possible solutions to the excessive costs of administering punishment and overcrowded inmate populations. Due to facility overcrowding, several states have actually been placed under federal court order to reduce their inmate population in order to protect inmates’ constitutional rights. Although this has resulted in a change of policies to help alleviate prison overcrowding, there is little evidence these are anything more than short-term fixes to a problem with no end in sight.

Evaluation of Agency and Stewardship Approach in Four Units of the Islamic Azad University and Prediction of Their Potential Productivity

There are two general views of management known as Agency and Stewardship. The kind of management approach or methodology that managers choose in managing their organizations depend on various factors such as psychological, cultural and structural factors. In this study, the influence of these factors and the tendency of managers and employees of four units of the Islamic Azad University to agency or stewardship have been studied. This is a correlation study, Statistical Population of this research including directors, assistants and employees of four units of the Islamic Azad University (N=100) .Thus sampling was not done and they were all studied. Data is collected by means of scholar questionnaires that its content validity was measured via referring to reviewers and specialists and its reliability amount was calculated 0.78 by Cronbach's alpha .Collecting data were analyzed by correlation coefficient and F test. The results show that there is a significant relationship between views of officials and employees both about psychological, structural and cultural factors and Stewardship approach. Therefore, the potential productivity of four units of the Islamic Azad University is available.

Confidence in the criminal justice system: Differences between citizens and criminal justice officials in China

This article examines citizens’ confidence in the Chinese criminal justice system, with data from the surveys collected in three provincial capitals with a random sampling strategy in 2007 and 2008. Multivariate analyses are conducted, and follow-up questions are explored with a comparative approach to assess the differences between public perceptions and the views of criminal justice officials within the current social context. The sample sizes for citizens and officials were 217 and 90, respectively. Findings show that the majority of citizens and officials believed that there was a lack of confidence in the Chinese criminal justice system, as demonstrated in the recent ‘anger-venting’ events. This finding is inconsistent with the limited empirical literature on public attitudes in China. The important factors such as perceptions of fairness, corruption and extortion of confessions are explored, and policy implications are discussed.

Canadian policy makers’ views on pharmaceutical reimbursement contracts involving confidential discounts from drug manufacturers

Pharmaceutical policy makers are increasingly negotiating reimbursement contracts that include confidential price terms that may be affected by drug utilization volumes, patterns, or outcomes. Though such contracts may offer a variety of benefits, including the ability to tie payment to the actual performance of a product, they may also create potential policy challenges. Through telephone interviews about this type of contract, we studied the views of officials in nine of ten Canadian provinces. Use of reimbursement contracts involving confidential discounts is new in Canada and ideas about power and equity emerged as cross-cutting themes in our interviews. Though confidential rebates can lower prices and thereby increase coverage of new medicines, several policy makers felt they had little power in the decision to negotiate rebates. Study participants explained that the recent rise in the use of rebates had been driven by manufacturers’ pricing tactics and precedent set by other jurisdictions. Several policy makers expressed concerns that confidential rebates could result in inter-jurisdictional inequities in drug pricing and coverage. Policy makers also noted un-insured and under-insured patients must pay inflated “list prices” even if rebates are negotiated by drug plans. The establishment of policies for disciplined negotiations, inter-jurisdictional cooperation, and provision of drug coverage for all citizens are potential solutions to the challenges created by this new pharmaceutical pricing paradigm.

Law-Enforcement Officials' Views of Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification

Little is known about how criminal justice officials perceive the efficacy and scope of sex offender registration and community notification (SORN) procedures. This study examines the attitudes regarding SORN among a sample of law enforcement agency supervisors/managers using a survey methodology and the Community Attitudes Toward Sex Offenders (CATSO) scale. Results show that law enforcement officials tend to hold harsh views about sex offenders. Additionally, the CATSO appears to be an efficient way of categorising the views of law enforcement officials. When considered relative to other populations, law enforcement officials appear to hold views similar to college students, and in contrast to other criminal justice officials.

Needs or deeds? Child protection and youth justice in the Australian Capital Territory

This paper reports on research conducted as part of a national study on the views of judicial officers and other stakeholders in Australia's Children's Courts. It focuses on the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and in particular the way in which care and protection matters are dealt with separately from youth justice matters. Many research participants advocated alternatives which were less formal and more focused on the needs of children and young people. Frequent positive references were made to the Scottish Children's Hearing system: a non-judicial diversionary system in which children and young people are treated on the basis of ‘needs and not deeds’, in which the welfare of young people who offend is prioritised. Using the Scottish model as a counterpoint to that of the ACT, the paper outlines the main features of the ACT system, and what informants thought were the key philosophical and practical challenges facing the Court. The universal dilemma of how to balance the welfare of young people with a justice agenda is highlighted by the differing arrangements in these jurisdictions.

Patent Eligibility of Biological Methods and Compositions

Industrial BiotechnologyVol. 9, No. 3 Patent UpdatePatent Eligibility of Biological Methods and CompositionsTiffany A. Reiter and J. Peter FasseTiffany A. ReiterSearch for more papers by this author and J. Peter FasseSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:24 May 2013https://doi.org/10.1089/ind.2013.1575AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail View articleFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byThe United States Patent & Trademark Office's Current View on Patent Eligibility Rebecca Shult and J. Peter Fasse5 June 2014 | Industrial Biotechnology, Vol. 10, No. 3 Volume 9Issue 3Jun 2013 InformationCopyright 2013, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.To cite this article:Tiffany A. Reiter and J. Peter Fasse.Patent Eligibility of Biological Methods and Compositions.Industrial Biotechnology.Jun 2013.90-92.http://doi.org/10.1089/ind.2013.1575Published in Volume: 9 Issue 3: May 24, 2013PDF download

Supervisor‐officer fit and role ambiguity

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to re‐examine the nature of the sergeant‐officer attitudinal relationship. Using person‐environment fit as a framework, the current study tests the influence that sergeant‐officer attitudinal congruence concerning role orientations has on officer role ambiguity.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses survey data from 765 patrol officers and 146 sergeants across five police departments. Polynomial regression, calculated values, and response surface plots were used to examine the effect of sergeant‐officer attitudinal congruence on role ambiguity.FindingsFirst, there was modest empirical evidence that the relationship between sergeant and officer views toward order maintenance and role ambiguity was nonlinear. Second, role ambiguity was lowest for officers supervised by sergeants who highly accepted order maintenance activities. Finally, role ambiguity was higher when both officers and sergeants failed to view order maintenance and law enforcement as important functions of the police role.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings highlight the need to incorporate additional research approaches that capture differences in officer and sergeant views toward police work. Such differences might impact other attitudinal outcomes or officer discretionary behaviors.Practical implicationsWhen looking at attitudinal congruence, the results show that sergeants have the capacity to attenuate or amplify officer role ambiguity. This emphasizes the need for police administrators to ensure that sergeants communicate job expectations to their subordinate officers that are in line with the department's values.Originality/valueThe study adds to the limited body of research on frontline supervision by examining the nature of the sergeant‐officer attitudinal relationship from an alternative theoretical approach.

Whither Australia’s Children’s Courts? Findings of the National Assessment of Australia’s Children’s Courts

The Children’s Court is a critical social institution that decides important legal and social issues relating to children and families. This article reports the findings of a large national study which canvassed the views of judicial officers and other key stakeholders in each of Australia’s eight States and Territories concerning the court’s contemporary status and challenges and future reform directions with a view to informing current policy debates and deliberations. It draws together the major themes that emerged from the analysis of data derived from eight parallel sub-studies conducted concurrently which together comprised the national study. The findings point to a range of changes and underscore the importance of adequately resourcing the courts and the youth justice and child protection systems.

Building Alliances to Conserve and Protect the Kentucky River

Abstract The EKU Center for Appalachian Studies has been involved in capacity-building initiatives within the Appalachian region over the past decade. One of the most notable has been our collaboration and alliance with the Kentucky Riverkeeper (KRK). In this essay, we first talk about the development of this alliance and what it may mean for the field of Appalachian studies or specifically, what Reid and Taylor (2002) and Reid (2005) have referred to as "critical regionalism" and "civic Professionalism." After this overview of current modes of thought and action within Appalachian studies, we discuss some of the research and teaching we have accomplished in partnership with the KRK. As we will share, Center faculty, students, and the Kentucky Riverkeeper worked together to develop and distribute a survey to assess the views of county officials regarding the Kentucky River. These survey results have been used by the Kentucky Riverkeeper and the EKU Center for Appalachian Studies to advocate on behalf of the river. In the third section of the essay, we discuss how the Center’s partnership and alliance with the KRK, and the broader Waterkeeper Alliance, have helped in other ways to advocate for, protect, and defend the Kentucky.

The state of police integrity in Armenia: findings from the police integrity survey

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the extent and nature of police integrity in Armenia. It analyses police officer views about misconduct seriousness, appropriate and expected discipline, and willingness to report misconduct.Design/methodology/approachThe respondents surveyed in this study are 468 Armenian police officers assigned to work in two large police departments, Yerevan and Lori. The overall response rate is 84 per cent. The respondents evaluated 11 hypothetical scenarios describing cases of police misconduct.FindingsAlthough the majority of the respondents recognized and labelled the behaviour described in the scenarios as rule violating, a large proportion, in some cases even above 40 per cent, did not do so. The respondents’ evaluations of misconduct seriousness varied greatly across the scenarios. In only two scenarios, describing the acceptance of a bribe from a speeding motorist and the theft of a watch from a crime scene, the respondents thought that both the appropriate and expected discipline should and would be severe; in all of the other scenarios, the respondents expected and approved of either no discipline at all or quite lenient discipline. The code of silence appears to be strong among our respondents, protecting almost all behaviours described in the questionnaire. Unique to Armenia is the finding that the respondents estimated that they would subscribe to the code of silence to a larger extent than their fellow officers would.Research limitations/implicationsPolice officers included in the survey come from two police departments.Practical implicationsPolice administrators interested in controlling the code of silence could apply the methodology used in this research to ascertain the extent and nature of the code beforehand. They could use the methodology to assess and compare the police officer perceptions of the discipline the agency is expected to mete out with the discipline meted out in actual cases and, if necessary, work on addressing the discrepancy between the perceptions and reality.Originality/valueAlthough Armenia has been one of the former Soviet republics that purged the communist government even before the breakdown of the Soviet Union, the transition toward democracy has been troublesome and riddled with widespread accusations of various types of failures in police integrity. The methodology used in this research enables measurement of the nature and extent of police integrity at the present time and also, subsequently, monitoring and detection of the changes in police integrity, which is particularly relevant for a police agency in transition.

Office Views and Productivity — Case Study of Offices at Chandigarh

Major spending of companies is on staff salaries. In order to be efficient, progressive, profitable and competitive in the profession, the staff should be productive. Staff is productive when Office Environment is comfortable with regard to work conditions. In this paper effect of Views from Offices on productivity of occupants is highlighted. A research to this regard was conducted in Offices of city of Chandigarh(India) capital of Punjab and Haryana state. Various Offices were sampled and Questionnaire survey of productivity was conducted to get first hand information from Office Occupants.

Between the maternal and the professional: the impact of being a child welfare officer on motherhood

AbstractChild welfare officers experience stress from exposure to child neglect and abuse and the burden of responsibility for children's well‐being. This qualitative study addresses the question: How do social workers who are child welfare officers perceive and cope with the influence of their professional occupation on their relationships with their own children? The research is based on in‐depth interviews with a purposive sample of 10 child welfare workers who are mothers (of 2–4 children aged 2–23 years). The data analysis illustrates how the professional identity and the maternal identity of the child welfare officer fluctuate between two positions. The first is ‘anxious motherhood’ in which anxiety is the prism through which the welfare officer views the world as dangerous for her children, stimulating protective, control‐enhancing actions. The second position is reflective motherhood in which the welfare worker struggles with her own stresses and conflicts as a mother and searches for an experience of meaningful, positive motherhood. The findings reinforce the need to raise the consciousness of child welfare officers regarding the impact of encountering distress and trauma on their own well‐being as parents. In this way, they can prevent secondary traumatization and enhance professional and maternal growth.

The adoption of internal audit as a governance control mechanism in Australian public universities – views from the CEOs

This study draws on the multi-theoretical approach to governance and the views of university chief executive officers (CEOs) to examine the extent to which internal auditing as a control mechanism is adopted in Australian public universities under an environment of change management. The findings highlight negative consequences of change and their causal factors for university management to address towards narrowing the current theory-practice gap of internal auditing.