Overall Level Of Support Research Articles

How kids view cops The nature of juvenile attitudes toward the police

During the past two decades there has been increasing interest in the attitudes of adults toward the police. There has only been limited interest in the attitudes of juveniles, even though they comprise a significant proportion of the population subject to police contact and arrests. The present study, using data collected through a survey administered to a sample of urban and suburban juveniles, examined the determinants of juveniles' attitudes toward the police. The findings generally suggest that the overall attitudes of juveniles are not quite as favorable as those reported previously for adults, that the overall level of support voiced by juveniles varied depending on the focus of the attitude question, that many juveniles selected the “neutral” response category and failed to voice positive or negative attitudes, and that many of the variables identified as being theoretically relevant in the literature on adult attitudes toward the police (e.g., contact with police, respondents' races and genders, extent of victimization) are also significant predictors of the attitudes of juveniles.

Integrated approach to child health in developing countries

This article focuses on the integrated approach to child health in developing countries. The Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) is a strategy developed by ten programs of WHO working with UN International Childrens Emergency Fund and many other agencies institutions and individuals. IMCI focuses on the disease of childhood that causes the greatest global burden while allowing for the content to be adapted to an individual countrys needs. An integrated approach is justified by good clinical practice and most importantly treating the child as a whole and not simply his or her most obvious disease. The strategy involves not only curative care but also interventions to promote healthy growth and development and prevent diseases. In health facilities the IMCI strategy promotes the accurate identification of childhood illnesses in outpatient settings ensures appropriate combined treatment of all major illnesses strengthens the counseling of caretakers and the provision of preventive services and speed up the referral of severely ill children. The strategy also aims to improve the quality of care of sick children at the referral level. In the home setting it promotes appropriate early home care and care seeking improved nutrition and prevention and the correct implementation of prescribed care. Through improving the coordination and quality of services provided by existing child health and other programs the IMCI strategy will help increase the effectiveness of care and in time reduce recurrent costs.

Resident perceptions of tourism in a resort town

This article describes a part of the survey research conducted in Antalya, Turkey, whose aim was to gain a better understanding of resident attitudes and perceptions of tourism. Factor analysis applied to impact statements yielded nine reliable dimensions of tourism impacts as perceived by local residents. The most important dimensions were effect of tourist crowds, impact on built environment, and impact on social values. The study findings suggest that residents of Antalya could differentiate between benefits and costs while still remaining predominantly supportive of tourism. In addition, this study empirically verified that residents with the highest overall level of support for tourism expansion in Antalya tended to be people who were more educated, did not live in the proximity of the city's central tourist area, were more frequent users of tourism facilities, had tourism‐dependent income, and were employed in jobs that had a direct relation to tourism.

An exploration of parental perception of the nature and level of support needed to care for their child with special needs*

This paper is part of a study attempting to identify parental perception of support necessary to care for their child with special needs. The existing literature has been analysed, revealing a paucity of studies relating to the parents' perception. The study gathered data from questionnaires administered to 25 randomly selected parents who have children with special needs, exploring multi-disciplinary support. The other method used was conducting three semi structured interviews, with parents known to the paediatric team in the locality being studied. The health professionals input, respite care and overall level of support have been studied from the questionnaires. The interviews highlighted many areas where the paediatric community nurse could fulfil some of the parents' support needs. The response rate was 19 questionnaires returned, covering 21 children, as two families had two children with special needs. The results indicate that half the parents were satisfied with the support they received, with the main groups giving support being education and relatives, followed by health and social services.

Relationships among Social Support, Diabetes Outcomes, and Morale for Older Men and Women

The present study examined (a) whether a diabetes-specific measure of social support is more highly related to diabetes outcomes than is a general measure of social support, (b) if the relationship between social support and diabetes outcomes is different for men and women, and (c) if self-care behavior and metabolic control influences morale among older adults with diabetes. Study participants were 191 community-dwelling volunteers (81 men, 110 women) over the age of 60 with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. For men, social support specific to one's regimen affected metabolic control indirectly by increasing self-care behavior. For women, neither diabetes-specific nor general support was related to self-care behavior nor was self-care behavior related to metabolic control. For women, only high levels of overall support were associated with higher levels of morale. For men, higher levels of morale were found for those who were married and perceived high levels of available support, and for those who were in better metabolic control. These latter findings suggest that reciprocal relationships between psychosocial variables and health outcomes should be considered.

Social impacts of tourism on central florida

The purpose of this study was to investigate Central Florida residents' perception of the social consequences and impacts of tourism. A telephone survey of 203 Central Florida households revealed that residents not only supported the current magnitude of the tourism industry, but also favored its expansion. Despite this overall positive feeling, Central Floridians identified some specific positive and negative impacts that, in their opinion, tourism had on their community. In addition, the study revealed a relationship between overall level of support for Central Florida Tourism and residents' perceptions of the consequences of tourism.

Gaining and losing social support: Momentum in decision-making groups

This paper addressed the question, is there a momentum effect in decision-making groups? That is, does movement toward a decision alternative encourage further similar movement? In the first two of three experiments, the movement of group members toward or away from a subject's preference was manipulated while holding constant the content of group discussion. The only significant effect of such shifts in position was an antimomentum effect; e.g., subjects were less likely to move toward an alternative which had gained a supporter than if no such shift in position had occurred. These experiments also demonstrated that the inverse relationship between overall level of support and likelihood of changing one's position (the “strength-in-numbers” effect) was not solely attributable to larger factions' ability to generate more arguments than smaller factions. In a final experiment, subjects were given an opportunity to defend their preference; under these conditions, the loss of a supporter might result in momentum-producing attributions (e.g., my arguments are unconvincing). However, these experimental conditions did not produce a momentum effect. Analyses of the content of subjects' speech paralleled the data on opinion change in these and previous studies—subjects were much more sensitive to current levels of support than to changes in the level of support. The antimomentum effect observed in Experiment 2 was attributed to a sensitivity to both one's current and past levels of support in the group.

Content validity in evaluation and policy-relevant research

It is argued that, in assessing attitudes about policy issues, the policy area can be conceptualized as a “domain of content,” and standards of content validity applied. The role of content validity in policy-relevant research is illustrated in a study that contrasts the findings of two surveys concerning public opinion toward gun control. Attitudes were assessed with items from the two surveys, which focused on different aspects of the policy domain of gun control. It was found that inadequate content validity threatened inferences about the overall level of support for gun control, but not inferences about opinion differences between the sexes or between respondents of varying political affiliation. Discussion focuses on the general conditions under which inadequate content validity threatens inferences from research. Finally, it is argued that attention to content validity should enhance construct validity.