Circumstances Of People Research Articles

Women And Media: An Ethical Analysis

Media is the collective communication outlets or tools that are used to store and deliver information or data. Media means technology that is intended to reach a mass audience. Ethics is the branch of knowledge that tests with moral principles. Ethics is a system of the ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy. Media ethics are a complex topic because they deal with an institution that must do things that generally people in ordinary circumstances would not do, those communication ethics focuses on moral characters, social values related to the women protection the significant segment of the society. Women play on important role in reforming the society. The media has a critical role to play in shaping people’s opinion and perceptions through the way it reports the news of women issues. There are some important ethical considerations which the media should take into account before reporting on women’s problems. The media also needs to focus on different aspects of the society at large to gradually bring awareness regarding the status of women and change orthodox mindsets which are based against women. This article discusses ethical consideration of media regarding women issues.

Life Skills Development Training for Adolescent Girls at Risk-Rescued Devadasi Girls in Karnataka

The positive evidences of life skills education among the young people in difficult circumstances have encouraged the researchers in imparting life skills education to the rescued devadasi adolescent girls in North Karnataka. The study was conducted in pre experimental research design without a control group of rescued devadasi girls by understanding their needs and gaps in life skills. The effectiveness of the programme was assessed using a standardized tool. 25 adolescent girls who were rescued from the devadasi system participated in the study. These girls were daughters’ of active devadasi women from Raichur, Koppal, Bellary and Bijapur. The girls were provided life skills education by the researchers. Intervention programme was developed based on the 10 life skills laid out by the World Health Organization after integrating methodologies and contents specific to their life situation after a need assessment study using Life skills assessment scale. The results analyzed in SPSS version 18, indicate that the programme was effective and displayed statistical significance in rendering the participants with Life skills. The study intends to highlight the importance of developing tailor made life skills programme for vulnerable groups and girls at risk.

Paying for Care Costs in Later Life Using the Value in People\u2019s Homes

With the number of U.K. citizens aged 75+ doubling to 10 million by 2040, and with 1.3 million people already receiving social care services in England alone, social care funding is a key public policy challenge. The government has launched a set of reforms designed to get social care funding onto a sustainable footing by establishing a new level for what individuals and the state will pay. The reforms are designed to encourage individuals to explore how best to use their available wealth and assets to meet care costs through a mixed system of local authority and private sector care-funding options. One option is to use the value in the home to bridge the cost between out-of-pocket costs and care home fees. In this article, we consider two new financial arrangements designed to meet the needs of people in different financial circumstances based on releasing equity from the home. These are an equity-backed insurance product and an “equity bank” that lets a person draw down an income from their home.

Responding to challenges for people with psychotic illness: Updated evidence from the Survey of High Impact Psychosis.

The objective is to summarise recent findings from the 2010 Australian Survey of High Impact Psychosis (SHIP) and examine their implications for future policy and planning to improve mental health, physical health and other circumstances of people with a psychotic disorder. Survey of High Impact Psychosis collected nationally representative data on 1825 people with psychotic illness. Over 60 papers have been published covering key challenges reported by participants: financial problems, loneliness and social isolation, unemployment, poor physical health, uncontrolled symptoms of mental illness, and lack of stable, suitable housing. Findings are summarised under the rubric of participant-ranked top challenges. The main income source for the majority (85%) of participants was a government benefit. Only one-third was employed, and the most appropriate employment services for this group were under-utilised. High rates of loneliness and social isolation impacted mental and physical health. The rate of cardiometabolic disease was well above the general population rate, and associated risk factors were present from a very young age. Childhood abuse (30.6%), adult violent victimisation (16.4%) and alcohol and substance abuse/dependence (lifetime rates of 50.5% and 54.5%, respectively) complicated the clinical profile. Treatment with medication was suboptimal, with physical health conditions undertreated, a high rate of psychotropic polypharmacy and underutilisation of clozapine in chronic persistent psychotic illness. Only 38.6% received evidence-based psychosocial therapies. In the previous year, 27.4% had changed housing and 12.8% had been homeless, on average for 155 days. Money, social engagement and employment are the most important challenges for people with psychotic illness, as well as good physical and mental health. An integrated approach to recovery is needed to optimise service delivery and augment evidence-based clinical practice with measures to improve physical health and social circumstances. Meeting these challenges has the potential to reduce costs to government and society, as well as promote recovery.

Attitudes towards Intimate Partner Violence against Women among Women and Men in 39 Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

BackgroundViolence against women perpetrated by an intimate partner (IPV) is prevalent in low- and middle-income countries (LAMIC). The aim was to describe the attitudes of women and men towards perpetration of physical violence to women by an intimate partner, in a large group of low- and middle-income countries.Methods and FindingsWe used data from Round Four of the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. Attitudes towards IPV against women were assessed by a study-specific scale asking if ‘wife beating’ is justified in any of five circumstances.Overall, data from 39 countries (all had data from women and 13 countries also had data from men) were included in the analyses. The proportions of women who held attitudes that ‘wife-beating’ was justified in any of the five circumstances varied widely among countries from 2.0% (95% CI 1.7;2.3) in Argentina to 90.2% (95% CI 88.9;91.5) in Afghanistan. Similarly, among men it varied from 5.0% (95% CI 4.0;6.0) in Belarus to 74.5% (95% CI 72.5;76.4) in the Central African Republic. The belief that ‘wife-beating’ is acceptable was most common in Africa and South Asia, and least common in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. In general this belief was more common among people in disadvantaged circumstances, including being a member of a family in the lowest household wealth quintile, living in a rural area and having limited formal education. Young adults were more likely to accept physical abuse by a man of his intimate partner than those who were older, but people who had never partnered were less likely to have these attitudes.ConclusionsViolence against women is an international priority and requires a multicomponent response. These data provide evidence that strategies should include major public education programs to change attitudes about the acceptability of IPV against women, and that these should be addressed to women and girls as well as to boys and men.

Why social contexts matter.

Commentary to: The case for investigating social context in laboratory studies of smoking Dimoff & Sayette not only make a persuasive case for taking account of social context in laboratory studies of smoking: their paper also underlines the importance of interdisciplinary perspectives on smoking behaviour, and particularly those grounded in social science and social epidemiology. John Dimoff & Michael Sayette argue that laboratory-based smoking research should ‘systematically and comprehensively’ examine social context 1. They support their argument in two ways. First, they point to the dearth of laboratory studies which include contextual factors in the study design. In their review of laboratory studies of smokers, only a handful incorporated an environmental factor—the presence or absence of another smoker—in the experimental design. The majority of these studies found that smoking behaviour was affected by the presence of ‘a peer confederate’ who was also smoking. The second source of evidence comes from a wider range of psychological studies demonstrating that ‘smoking can be influenced by the social contexts in which it occurs’. Examples are given of the influence of intimate relationships and wider social networks on smoking norms, behaviour and identities. The authors weave these two sources of evidence into a persuasive case for incorporating social context. However, what is striking from the standpoint of a researcher working outside psychology is that the case was one that needed to be made. Within the broader social science and public health fields, studies have social context as their starting point and often as their primary focus. There are therefore rich seams of research to support the author's argument and inform the deeper appreciation of context that they are seeking. For example, studies have described how the social patterning of cigarette smoking changes over time: following the introduction of the new tobacco product, prevalence is often higher among more advantaged groups (higher-educated, better-off) before social gradients flatten and smoking is associated increasingly with social disadvantage. In high-income countries where cigarette smoking first took hold, the habit is increasingly confined to poorer groups. Being a smoker has become a stigmatized identity linked inextricably to other stigmatized identities (for example, to ‘welfare mother’ in the United States and ‘chav’ in the United Kingdom) 2. Taking account of social context has also turned the spotlight on how the circumstances of people's lives, from childhood and through adulthood, shape their smoking trajectories. A disadvantaged pathway through life—poor childhood circumstances, early school-leaving, early parenthood, adult disadvantage—increases the risk of smoking. Cultural contexts matter too: in the United Kingdom, for example, South Asian women are at greater risk of social disadvantage but are less likely to smoke than white women. These broader seams of research have also shed light on intimate relationships and social networks as important contextual influences. Studies have noted how quitting can disrupt valued social relationships and the identities they sustain. It can mean a loss of shared activities and intimacy with partners, family and friends 3. As these examples suggest, Dimoff & Sayette's paper not only makes the case for investigating social context in laboratory studies of smoking; in so doing, it underlines the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to understanding smoking behaviour. Pharmacological and psychological explanations are not enough; they need to be enriched by perspectives from social science and social epidemiology. None.

RECOGNITION OF COGNITIVE POTENTIALS TO THE TARGET STIMULI IN THE BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACE ON THE BASIS OF THE ENSEMBLE OF CLASSIFIERS

Background. A number of studies have been done on detection of human visual attention focus by means of P300 brain-computer interfaces (BCI). However, the performance of interfaces on P300 is still low, since this technique requires the repeated presentation of target and non-target stimuli. There are some indications that it is appropriate to use ensembles of classifiers to improve the accuracy of recognition of multidimensional objects. The goal of the present study was to verify the feasibility of application of ensembles of classifiers to speed up the work of the BCI P300. Methods. The study involved 22 subjects, whose task was to closely monitor the highlights of target objects on the computer screen, presented as 8 triangles located in a circle (angle of 7.7 degrees). Single classifiers and ensembles of classifiers based on linear discriminant of Fisher were used to detect the target responses in the EEG. Results. The use of the ensemble of classifiers provided almost the same accuracy of algorithmic choice of target reactions, EEG in 78-80%, as compared with the use of single classifiers, but with two times smaller number of repetitions of the test stimuli and, therefore, faster detection of the target reactions of the EEG. Conclusions. This work implies that the P300 BCI with the participation of the ensemble of classifiers can be used to build high-speed communication systems for both the stroke patients and healthy people in special circumstances for additional alarm at the inability to use speech.

The Mental Capacity Act in action

The Mental Capacity Act framework is essential to ensuring good practice in the treatment of people in vulnerable circumstances. This case study illustrates the act in action in a multidisciplinary team setting. It demonstrates the balance between respecting fundamental rights to liberty and autonomy, and the need to protect people who lack the capacity to make certain decisions. The case study also shows how a health facilitation service works to achieve positive outcomes for clients.

Before Prison, Instead of Prison, Better Than Prison: Therapeutic Communities as an Abolitionist Real Utopia?

The aim of this paper is to critically engage with the idea that Therapeutic Communities (TCs) can be promoted in England and Wales as a radical alternative to prison for substance users who have broken the law. After grounding the discussion within the normative framework of an ‘abolitionist real utopia’ (Scott 2013), the article explores the historical and theoretical underpinnings of TCs. Existing literature advocating TCs as a radical alternative both before and instead of prison is then reviewed, followed by a critical reflection of the TCs compatibility with the broader values and principles of an abolitionist real utopia. To conclude, the article suggests that, although TCs could be a plausible and historically immanent non-penal real utopia for certain people in certain circumstances, we must not lose focus of wider social inequalities.

The demandingness of morality: toward a reflective equilibrium

It is common for philosophers to reject otherwise plausible moral theories on the ground that they are objectionably demanding, and to endorse “Moderate” alternatives. I argue that while support can be found within the method of reflective equilibrium for Moderate moral principles of the kind that are often advocated, it is much more difficult than Moderates have supposed to provide support for the view that morality’s demands in circumstances like ours are also Moderate. Once we draw a clear distinction between Moderate accounts of the content of moral principles, and Moderate accounts of morality’s demands in circumstances like ours, we can see that defenses of Moderate views that include both of these components are subject to both methodological and substantive objections. I consider arguments for Moderate views that have been made by Samuel Scheffler and Richard Miller, and argue that both are methodologically problematic because they rely on appeals to intuitions that we have strong grounds to think are unreliable. I conclude that we must take seriously the possibility that Moderate principles, applied to well off people in circumstances like ours, imply demands that are much more extensive than Moderates typically accept.

Impact of co-facilitated information programmes on outcomes for service users and family members: the EOLAS programmes (paper 2).

The present study evaluated the impact on psychosocial outcome of parallel clinician and peer-led information programmes for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and for family members within an Irish context. A sequential mixed method design was used. Quantitative data were collected using pre- and post-programme questionnaires followed by an integrated qualitative component involving semi-structured interviews after the programme. The questionnaires assessed knowledge, attitudes towards recovery, hope, support, advocacy and well-being. Interviews with participants, facilitators and project workers explored their experiences and views of the programme. Findings While a number of the questionnaires did not show a statistically significant change, findings from the interviews suggest that the1 programmes had a number of positive outcomes, including increases in perceived knowledge, empowerment and support. Participants in both programmes valued the opportunity to meet people in similar circumstances, share their experiences, learn from each other and provide mutual support. The EOLAS programmes offer a novel template for communication and information sharing in a way that embodies the principles of collaboration and offers users and families a meaningful opportunity to become involved in service design, delivery and evaluation.

Художественно-биографический рассказ: особенности исследования биографии писателя в малой повествовательной форме

The article analyzes the genre model of the story the subject of artistic exploration in which advocates biography or facts biography famous writers. In the center of such works is the image of real people (writers) in the imaginary circumstances, which allows the author to reveal the mystery of the writer. An example of such forms are stories of “Friends” Y. Olesha, “Jingle Breguet” Y. Kazakova. Yuri Olesha recreated scene of the Lyceum period of Pushkin's life. Y. Kazakov tried to unravel the mystery of the fateful day in the life of Mikhail Lermontov. The nature of the works of these authors distinguish the variety genre layers: a novel, short story, lyrical and philosophical, artistic and biographical, literary – which are presented in a syncretic type of connection within a small narrative forms.Features of the study of biography in the framework of artistic-biographical story based on several factors:- the cause of these works is the interest of the writers to the personalities of Lermontov (Yuri Kazakov) and Pushkin (Yuri Olesha);- the connection of the facts of biography with fiction and conjecture;- in the center of the story – one fact from the biography of the writer, due to the volume of small form;- the nature of the character is revealed in situations that define the essence of his personality;- the narrative is dominated by “point of view” of one subject;- the structure of the finale of the story, inherent to semantic incompleteness and diversity.

Developing Brief Opportunistic Interactions: practitioners facilitate patients to identify and change health risk behaviours at an early preventive stage

Aim To identify shortcomings in existing models of patient behaviour change, and present the development and testing of a novel approach using practitioner facilitation and person-focussed conversations that identifies and addresses behaviours at an earlier stage than current models. Systematic strategies used by health professionals to change patient behaviours began with motivational interviewing and brief intervention approaches for serious addictive behaviours. Practitioners typically presume they should drive the process of patient behaviour change. Attempts to transfer these approaches to primary care, and a broader range of health risk behaviours, have been less successful. The TADS programme (Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Drugs, later Training and Development Services) began teaching motivational interviewing and brief interventions to practitioners in New Zealand in 1996. Formal and informal evaluations showed that practitioners used screening tools that patients rejected and that led to incomplete disclosure, used language that did not engage patients, failed to identify the behaviours patients wished to address and therefore misdirected interventions. Iterative development of new tools with input from patients and primary care clinicians. Findings The TADS programme developed a questionnaire whose results remained private to the patient, which enabled the patient to identify personal behaviours that they might choose to change (the TADS Personal Assessment Choice Tool). This was assisted by a brief conversation that facilitated and supported any change prioritised by the patient (the TADS Brief Opportunistic Interaction). The need for this approach, and its effectiveness, appeared to be similar across adults, youth, different ethnic groups and people in different socio-economic circumstances. Behaviours patients identified were often linked to other health risk behaviours or early-stage mental health disorders that were not easily detected by practitioner-driven screening or inquiry. The long-term effectiveness of this approach in different populations in primary health care settings requires further evaluation.

The relationship between positive and negative attitudes towards children and reproductive intentions

A significant, but incomplete, relationship exists between fertility intentions and actual fertility but much less is known about how fertility intentions emerge, particularly at the individual level. Three studies assessed the relationships between fertility-relevant attitudes, desires, and intentions. The structure of the Attitudes towards Babies Scale (ABS) was verified, indicating that people concurrently have both positive and negative attitudes towards having children, as well as being aware of tradeoffs inherent in having children. Although the positive and negative factors reliably loaded as different dimensions they were also negatively correlated, indicating these factors are distinct but non-orthogonal. Additional analyses support this interpretation. The ABS was found to not only predict desires to have a baby, but to also predict fertility intentions (total number of children desired and desired age to have a first child). General undergraduates' fertility intentions were strongly predicted by positive and negative elicitors, whereas students who were parents or in a committed relationship showed a weaker relationship with these factors and more influence of tradeoff considerations. This suggests that fertility attitudes may relate differently to fertility intentions, dependent on people's circumstances.

Criterion validation of a stress measure: the Stress Overload Scale.

Validating stress scales poses problems beyond those of other psychological measures. Here, 3 studies were conducted to address those problems and assess the criterion validity of scores from a new theory-derived measure, the Stress Overload Scale (SOS; Amirkhan, 2012). In Study 1, the SOS was tested for its ability to predict postsemester illness in a sample of college students (n = 127). Even with precautions to minimize criterion contamination, scores were found to predict health problems in the month following a final exam on all of 5 different criteria. In Study 2, a community sample (n = 231) was used to test the SOS' ability to differentiate people in stressful circumstances from those in more relaxed contexts. SOS scores demonstrated excellent sensitivity (96%) and specificity (100%) in this general population application. In Study 3, the SOS was tested for its ability to differentiate salivary cortisol responses to a laboratory stressor in a group of pregnant women (n = 40). High scores were found to be associated with a blunted cortisol response, which is indicative of HPA-axis overload and typical of persons suffering chronic stress and stress-related pathology. Across all 3 studies, despite variations in the stressor, criterion, population, and methods, SOS scores emerged as valid indicators of stress. However, each study also introduced new problems that beg additional corrective steps in future stress-scale validity tests. These strategies, and the SOS' utility as a research and diagnostic tool in varied applications and populations, are discussed.

Luck Egalitarianism, Individual Responsibility and Health.

Luck Egalitarianism has frequently been discussed in the recent literature because of the potential impact of this theory on health financing. Luck Egalitarianism puts forth a theory of distributive justice which says that the fundamental aim of equality is to compensate people for undeserved bad luck such as being born with poor native endowments, having difficult family circumstances or suffering from accidents and illness. On the other hand, if individuals face ill health because of faults of their own, then society has no duty to supply health services to them. Many arguments for and against this theory have been raised since it was first introduced. The proponents of Luck Egalitarianism focus on the concepts that free choice and respecting the autonomy of the individual determine whether health services are deserved. The criticisms against the concept of Luck Egalitarianism are that it is harsh to the needy and abandons the wretched, discriminates against the disabled, is against basic humanitarian principles, is incompatible with human dignity, and is in dissonance with real life. We agree with the basic proposition of Luck Egalitarian theory, which states that "inequalities deriving from unchosen features of people's circumstances are unjust and therefore should be compensated for". Our agreement leads us to an opposite conclusion. We propose that the "unchosen features of people's circumstances" include more than personal disadvantages. The social features to be included in the context of inequalities deriving from unchosen features of peoples circumstances are, socioeconomic status (SES), access to social determinants of health, and the ethnic, cultural and religious identity of individuals. Our other propositions are the mutable character of choices which makes individual responsibility of preferences implausible; the problematic causal relationship between responsibility and ill-health; the disregard of the motives behind decisions; problems with implementation in real health service circumstances; and the contradictory nature of Luck Egalitarianism for principles of medical ethics. These arguments draw attention to possible ethical and practical consequences of implementation of health policies arising from Luck Egalitarian view for patients and for health care providers. In this paper, we will first define Luck Egalitarianism. Then, we will discuss arguments for and against the theory in the literature. Our final task is to suggest additional criticisms of the theory and justify them.

From the concrete to the intangible: understanding the diverse experiences and impacts of new transport infrastructure.

BackgroundChanges to the environment that support active travel have the potential to increase population physical activity. The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is an example of such an intervention that provides new traffic-free infrastructure for walking, cycling and public transport. This qualitative investigation explored the diverse experiences of new transport infrastructure and its impacts on active travel behaviours.MethodsThirty-eight adult participants from the Commuting and Health in Cambridge natural experimental study were purposively selected according to their demographic and travel behaviour change characteristics and invited to participate in semi-structured interviews between February and June 2013. A mixed-method, following-a-thread approach was used to construct two contrasting vignettes (stories) to which the participants were asked to respond as part of the interviews. Inductive thematic qualitative analysis of the interview data was performed with the aid of QSR NVivo8.ResultsPerceptions of the busway’s attributes were important in shaping responses to it. Some participants rarely considered the new transport infrastructure or described it as unappealing because of its inaccessibility or inconvenient routing. Others located more conveniently for access points experienced the new infrastructure as an attractive travel option. Likewise, the guided buses and adjacent path presented ambiguous spaces which were received in different ways, depending on travel preferences. While new features such as on board internet access or off-road cycling were appreciated, shortcomings such as overcrowded buses or a lack of path lighting were barriers to use. The process of adapting to the environmental change was discussed in terms of planning and trialling new behaviours. The establishment of the busway in commuting patterns appeared to be influenced by whether the anticipated benefits of change were realised.ConclusionsThis study examined the diverse responses to an environmental intervention that may help to explain small or conflicting aggregate effects in quantitative outcome evaluation studies. Place and space features, including accessibility, convenience, pleasantness and safety relative to the alternative options were important for the acceptance of the busway. Our findings show how environmental change supporting active travel and public transport can encourage behaviour change for some people in certain circumstances.

Medical use of cannabis: an addiction medicine perspective.

The use of cannabis for medical purposes, evident throughout history, has become a topic of increasing interest. Yet on the present medical evidence, cannabis-based treatments will only be appropriate for a small number of people in specific circumstances. Experience with cannabis as a recreational drug, and with use of psychoactive drugs that are prescribed and abused, should inform harm reduction in the context of medical cannabis.

Services to domestic minor victims of sex trafficking: Opportunities for engagement and support

Human trafficking of young people is a social problem of growing concern. This paper reports selected findings from an evaluation of three programs serving domestic minor victims of human trafficking. Participants in this study were funded to identify and serve male and female victims of sex or labor trafficking who were less than 18years old and were U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. Programs provided case management and comprehensive services, either directly or through community collaboration. Evaluation data included data on client characteristics, service needs and services delivered; key informant interviews with program staff and partner agencies; and case narrative interviews in which program staff provided in-depth descriptions of clients' histories. All clients served were known or believed to be sex trafficked. The majority of clients needed crisis intervention, safety planning, educational support, mental health services, and employment services. Although they were diverse in terms of demographics and circumstances, two common patterns were of homeless young people exchanging sex to meet survival needs and young people were emotionally engaged with their trafficker. Key findings include the diversity of trafficked minors, the challenge of initial and continued engagement with service delivery, the structural and resource barriers to long-term support for young people, and the potential contribution of programs specifically addressing trafficked minors. A framework linking services to young people's circumstances and outcome areas is proposed.

Equality for inegalitarians

This book offers a new and compelling account of distributive justice and its relation to choice. Unlike luck egalitarians, who treat unchosen differences in people's circumstances as sources of unjust inequality to be overcome, Sher views such differences as pervasive and unavoidable features of the human situation. Appealing to an original account of what makes us moral equals, he argues that our interest in successfully negotiating life's ever-shifting contingencies is more basic than our interest in achieving any more specific goals. He argues, also, that the state's obligation to promote this interest supports a principled version of the view that what matters about resources, opportunity, and other secondary goods is only that each person have enough. The book opens up a variety of new questions, and offers a distinctive new perspective for scholars of political theory and political philosophy, and for those interested in distributive justice and luck egalitarianism.