Societal Options Research Articles

Sociopathic narcissistic leadership: How about their victims?

AbstractThere is evidence globally that the number of sociopathic, narcissistic, and so‐called antisocial personality disorders is far more prevalent than expected. Most individuals with such a disorder cause limited harm to society. However, politicians may, through an exaggerated sense of entitlement, grandiosity, sensitivity to criticism, and the hunger for acclaim, cause conflicts that have historically reached the level of wars, political unrest, or severe social suffering. This is often evident only after attaining a high office and is especially witnessed in international and national politicians. Thus, this review aims to clarify the social, political, and health‐care security implications of sociopathic narcissistic leadership and to recommend potential societal options to avoid the untoward leadership consequences that too often occur.

A solution scan of societal options to reduce transmission and spread of respiratory viruses: SARS-CoV-2 as a case study

Societal biosecurity – measures built into everyday society to minimize risks from pests and diseases – is an important aspect of managing epidemics and pandemics. We aimed to identify societal options for reducing the transmission and spread of respiratory viruses. We used SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) as a case study to meet the immediate need to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually transition to more normal societal conditions, and to catalog options for managing similar pandemics in the future. We used a ‘solution scanning’ approach. We read the literature; consulted psychology, public health, medical, and solution scanning experts; crowd-sourced options using social media; and collated comments on a preprint. Here, we present a list of 519 possible measures to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission and spread. We provide a long list of options for policymakers and businesses to consider when designing biosecurity plans to combat SARS-CoV-2 and similar pathogens in the future. We also developed an online application to help with this process. We encourage testing of actions, documentation of outcomes, revisions to the current list, and the addition of further options.

Beyond the Indicators: Improving Science, Scholarship, Policy and Practice to Meet the Complex Challenges of Sustainability

Many teams have developed a wide range of numerical or categorical indicators of progress in the implementation of the SDG targets. But these indicators cannot identify why target goals have not been accomplished, whether or how they do or do not do justice to the social and cultural context in which they are applied, and how newly emerging social dynamics affect indicators. Nor do they provide means for resolving conflicting values and making balanced trade-offs. Our starting point in examining why we have not been successful in progressing towards sustainability is that the sustainability conundrum is primarily a societal, rather than an environmental problem. Our present emphasis is to maintain our way of life while minimizing its impact, hoping that such a minimization strategy would make the world more sustainable. Reducing for example the extent of pollution but keeping the same industries alive would not be sufficient for a transformation towards sustainability. Instead we should ask “How did we come to this point and what practices, in our societies and in our science, need to change to make progress towards sustainability?” To answer these questions, one needs to go much further back than usual in the history of western societies to identify the societal, scientific, technological and environmental co-evolutionary dynamics that have brought us to the current conundrum. And the fact that most societal challenges are of the “wicked” kind, as well as the need to decide among many societal options and many future pathways that may lead to positive results require that we seriously engage in using “Complex Systems” approaches. It is up to our scientific community to identify these pathways, and we need to move fast!

Beyond welfare economics: some methodological issues

When one wishes to formulate, evaluate and implement public policies, the existence of a plurality of social actors, with interest in the policy being assessed, generates a conflictual situation. How such a conflict should be dealt with? This paper defends the thesis articulated in the following points: (1) Different metrics are linked to different objectives and values. To use only one measurement unit (on the grounds of the so-called commensurability principle) for incorporating a plurality of dimensions, objectives and values, implies reductionism necessarily. (2) Point (1) can be proven as a matter of formal logic by drawing on the work of Geach about moral philosophy. This theoretical demonstration is an original contribution of this article. Moreover, here the distinction between predicative and attributive adjectives is formalised and definitions are provided. Predicative adjectives are further distinguished into the new categories of absolute and relative ones. The new concepts of set commensurability and rod commensurability are introduced too. (3) Weak comparability of values, which is grounded on incommensurability, is proposed as the main methodological foundation of well-being evaluation. Incommensurability does not imply incomparability; on the contrary incommensurability is the only possible way to compare societal options under a plurality of policy objectives. Weak comparability can be implemented by using multicriteria evaluation, which is a formal framework for applied consequentialism under incommensurability.

Eric K. Johnson, MD, FACS, FASCRS.

Dr. Eric K. Johnson is a staff colon and rectal surgeon at Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort Lewis, WA. Eric was born in Baumholder, Germany. He received bachelor of science in biology from the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, and MD from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD. He did his General Surgery Residency training at Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia. He then completed a Colon and Rectal Residency at the Georgia Colon and Rectal Surgical Clinic in Atlanta, GA. Eric then served as Chief of Colorectal Surgery at Eisenhower Army Medical Center for 6 years. In 2011, he joined the staff at Madigan Army Medical Center. During his Army career, Dr. Johnson spent multiple deployments as a staff surgeon in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has been promoted to the rank of Colonel and he has been awarded several military decorations including the Meritorious Service Medal and the Bronze Star. Dr. Johnson is an associate professor of surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD, and a clinical assistant professor of surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, WA. He is board certified in General and Colon and Rectal Surgery. He teaches military surgical residents and medical students on a daily basis and is an active participant in multiple surgical societies. His contributions to the medical literature include 48 peer-reviewed publications and 7 book chapters. He has also made multiple presentations at national meetings. Eric, his wife, Amy; and his three daughters, Emily, Abigail, and Molly, live in Gig Harbor, WA. When not working, he participates in sky diving and mountain climbing. As a retired USAF surgeon, I can appreciate the dedication and sacrifices of the dedicated individuals in our armed services. We owe our freedoms and societal options to all of those who have served our country. Dr. Johnson and several of his colleagues, who remain on active duty, have contributed to this issue. Their service and contributions merit our acknowledgment and gratitude. On behalf of the readers and staff of Clinics of Colon and Rectal Surgery, I sincerely thank Dr. Eric K. Johnson for serving as a guest editor and for providing us with a superb issue on biologicals in colon and rectal surgery.

Jeffery M. Nelson, MD, FACS, FASCRS

Dr. Jeffery Nelson is a colon and rectal surgeon and chief of surgery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD. Jeffery was born in Ogden, UT, and received a bachelor of science in chemistry and a MD degree from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT. He did his General Surgery Residency training at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii. He then served for 2 years as a staff general surgeon at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany. Following this service, Jeffery completed a Colon and Rectal Residency at the Northwest Colon and Rectal Clinic, Seattle, WA. Dr. Nelson then joined the staff at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2001, as chief of colon and rectal surgery and progressed to become chief of surgery. During his Army career, Jeffery spent multiple deployments as a staff surgeon in Iraq and other overseas locations. He has been promoted to the rank of colonel and he has been awarded several military decorations including three Meritorious Service Medals and the Bronze Star. Dr. Nelson is an associate professor of surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD, and is board certified in General and Colon and Rectal Surgery. He teaches military surgical residents and medical students on a daily basis and is an active participant in multiple surgical societies. His contributions to the medical literature include 13 peer-reviewed publications and he has made multiple presentations at national meetings. Jeffery, his wife, LTC Sarah J. Krajnik (who also serves in the Army National Guard), and his two children Ariana (8 years old) and Emily (5 years old) live in Laurel, MD. When not working, Jeffery is active in Crossfit (pretty much every day) and long-distance running. He also likes to read on American history and enjoys cooking. As a retired USAF surgeon, I can appreciate the dedication and sacrifices of the dedicated individuals in our armed services. We owe our freedoms and societal options to all of those who have served our country. Jeffery and several of his colleagues, who remain on active duty, have contributed to this issue. Their service and contributions merit our acknowledgment and gratitude. On behalf of the readers and staff of Clinics of Colon and Rectal Surgery, I sincerely thank Dr. Nelson for serving as a guest editor and for providing us with a superb issue on Quality in Colon and Rectal Surgery.

Scott R. Steele, MD

Dr. Scott Steele is a staff colon and rectal surgeon at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. Scott was born in Minocqua, WI, and attended the Unites States Military Academy at West Point. After graduation, he received his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and did his general surgery residency training at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. After a year as a staff surgeon at Fort Hood, Texas, Scott completed his colon and rectal surgery training at the University of Minnesota. He returned to active duty as a staff surgeon at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he then became Chief of Colorectal Surgery and Assistant Program Director of the General Surgery Program. During his Army career, Scott spent several multiple-month tours as a staff surgeon in Iraq and Afghanistan. His military decorations include the Combat Medical Badge, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal (6), Army Achievement Medal (4), and Order of Military Merit, among others. Scott remains an active clinician and manages patients in the Tacoma area. He is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the University of Washington and teaches residents on a daily basis. He is an active participant in multiple surgical societies, and serves as an associate examiner for the American Board of Colon & Rectal Surgery and on several national committees of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. Scott serves on the editorial boards of Cochrane Colorectal Collaboration, American College of Surgeons Web Portal, Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, Clinics in Colon and Rectal Surgery, and the World Journal of Gastroenterology, and is a reviewer for several other journals as well. His contributions to the medical literature include 75 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 46 book chapters. He has made multiple presentations at national meetings. Scott, his wife Michele and daughter Marianna live in Olympia, Washington. When not working, Scott enjoys triathlons, CrossFit, and watching Green Bay Packer football. As a retired USAF surgeon, I appreciate the dedication and sacrifices of the dedicated individuals in our armed services. We owe our freedoms and societal options to all of those who have served our country. Scott, who remains on active duty, must balance his clinical and academic activities against family and military commitments. His service and contributions along with the other medical professionals serving in our military merit our acknowledgment and gratitude. Information technology is something we are all dealing with on a daily basis, both in our professional and personal lives. Scott and his colleagues have produced a superb and enjoyable issue on information technology. On behalf of the readers and staff of Clinics in Colon and Rectal Surgery, I sincerely thank Dr. Steele for serving as the Guest Editor.

Economic Growth and Inflation in Argentina under Kirchner’s Government

Since 2003, the growth rate of the GDP has been higher in Argentina than in Brazil. Argentina re-established sustained industrialisation, while in Brazil the trend is towards deindustrialisation. Investment rates grew, but not enough, and pressures on production capacity remain high. Income distribution is less unequal. Poverty has decreased, its depth has strongly declined, and inequalities among the poor have also declined. Employment is growing – including in the industrial sector; informal jobs, whether salaried or not, are loosing ground; while the balance of trade shows a strong surplus and the dept ratio is not overly high. Real inflation is high, far higher than announced by the government, and it curtails any rise in buying power, particularly among the poorest. Distributional conflicts between farmers and government, between wage earners and managers, illustrate both governance problems and questions of societal options. The recent rise in effective exchange rates, the rise in the share of raw materials in exports, the fact that these are needed for subsidies paid mainly to energy consuming sectors, the shortage of subsidies to research intensive industries could tomorrow turn what is currently a virtuous circle into a vicious circle.

Morocco's Elections: Islamists, Technocrats, and the Palace

Abstract: The 2007 elections in Morocco were not about putting competing political projects or societal options before the voters in order to let them choose among them. In fact, the elections were mainly about changing the methods by which the system can adapt in the face of a crisis among its elites. Morocco is a country with a “defused” political game.

Role of integrated assessment and scenario development issues beyond SRES

It is already 4 years since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Emission Scenarios (IPCC-SRES) and the IPCC Third Assessment Report (IPCC-TAR) activities indicated the various future emission pathways as well as the possible societal options. In the first decade of the 21st century, international negotiations on global warming mitigation have not progressed as well as expected. There are several possible reasons for this: (1) there are still many scientific uncertainties about climate change, especially regional change, and the warming may be beneficial to some and not to others; (2) there is insufficient knowledge on the impacts of climate change and the adaptation possibilities; and (3) there are difficulties about the assessments of the mitigation strategies in the long term and the spatial distribution. Although the activities of the IPCC have led to the compilation and proposal of extensive scientific findings, the gap between scientific findings and the political decisions remains deep. On the other hand, most nations agree with the importance of energy and environmental conservation as one of the key factors in sustainability. In this context, research on the long-term assessment of global warming should provide the basis for decision making as the comprehensive scientific information to support the dialogues among policy makers and stake holders. This article discusses two issues regarding scenario developments pending in the IPCC-SRES and IPCC-TAR activities: the role of narrative scenarios for the assessment of societal and economic structures, with introduction to our recent research activities and the effects of long-term uncertainties on short-term decisions.

Social discourses, women's resistive voices: facing involuntary childlessness in bulgaria

The article discusses the way in which culturally available discourses of the expected transition to motherhood are negotiated in women's narratives of living with involuntary childlessness in Bulgaria. We follow the meanings that the situation holds for the women and the ways in which they creatively appropriate, transform, and resist culturally available discourses in the process of constructing their narratives and identities. For the purpose of this analysis, we use the Listening Guide Method of interviewing and interpretation of interview transcripts. For the women we interviewed in Bulgaria, both subtle and explicit forms of resistance were evident. They protest stigma and mistreatment through voicing their anger, and they also appeal to social change through organized action. Childless women in Bulgaria are slowly changing the available cultural images of infertility, as well as the models of womanhood, introducing more societal options.

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Whether or not the practices of euthanasia and assisted suicide are viable as societal options presents a challenging dilemma for social workers in health care settings. Social workers should prepare to discuss possible requests for information about these practices in the context of patient and family decision making in end-of-life situations. Along with awareness of definitions, current debate, federal, state, professional policies, other health care professionals' attitudes and practices, social workers must examine their own values, attitudes, and practices in this highly controversial area so that the profession may continue to enhance quality of life and protect vulnerable populations, such as the elderly.

Age differences in adolescent future-oriented goals, concerns, and related temporal extension in different sociocultural contexts

The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which differences in agegraded sociocultural contexts influence adolescent future-oriented goals, concerns, and related temporal extension. Ninety-five 13–14-year-old Australian boys and 104 girls, 87 16–17-year-old Australian boys and 81 girls, 67 13–14-year-old Finnish boys and 86 girls, and 56 16–17-year-old Finnish boys and 107 girls were investigated. Half of the subjects in each group came from an urban environment and half from rural regions. The subjects filled in the Hopes and Fears Questionnaire measuring the content and temporal extension of goals and concerns. Overall, the results showed that adolescent goals, concerns, and related temporal extension reflected the major developmental tasks of their own age and early adulthood. However, interesting cross-cultural, gender, and urban rural differences were also found, reflecting variation in societal options and cultural values. For example, Australians were more interested in leisure and more concerned about their own health and global issues. Later school transitions meant that in older age groups the Finnish adolescents expected goals related to their future education and occupation to be actualized later than Australian youths did. Because of a lack of career options, interest in a future occupation decreased with age among adolescents living in rural regions.

Technological Change, Sexuality, and Family Futures Planning

Planning for both future social, scientific and medical research and for the challenges and changes we will confront as a result of sexological research and reproductive/contraceptive tech-nology requires consideration of four areas of special concern: (1) contraception, (2) reproductive technologies, (3) gender differences, and (4) sexual relationships. In each of these four areas examples are provided illustrating the political, activist, and religous uses and abuses of data to promote partisan views and agendas. Planning for a more humane future requires continual, skeptical, careful, and open dialogue because it will often be impossible to anticipate or define the problems in advance, and weigh the likely costs and benefits of individual and societal options.

Transcending options: creating a milieu for practicing high-level wellness.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between living in a female‐headed one‐parent family and the family's practice of prevention behaviors. The participants included 59 female‐headed, one‐parent families as well as other data sources that provided a societal perspective on the phenomenon. Interviews, observations, a health diary, and a card sort were used for data collection. This study was carried out according to the tenets of grounded theory. The major finding was the emergence of the theory of transcending options. This theory describes the family's practice of prevention behaviors as a subset of the family's life circumstances. The family's behaviors (health and nonhealth) were a response to the societal options that the woman perceived were available to the female‐headed, one‐parent family. The theory of transcending options describes this process on a continuum. There are three major points on the continuum: choosing options, seeking options, and transcending options. The interface between the family's life circumstances and their practice of prevention behaviors is evident at each of these points.

La politique culturelle en Suède

Cultural policy in Sweden. During the ‘70’s, Sweden adopted a genuine cultural policy evolving along the following main criteria : major opportunities for self-expression, creative and community development, decentralization and financial efforts in favour of the underprivileged. Since State finance does not reach the local level, the implementation of such a policy remained within the exclusive terms of reference of local govemment. This accounts for wide discrepancies among boroughs. The 80ties witness a cut in public expenditure with serious effects on cultural policy which had not yet reached its full development and still lacked strong local structures. Therefore, future cultural policy is as yet uncertain. It will largely depend on societal options taken : privatization and commercialization or cultural welfare and creativity.

Offender Rehabilitation: A Review of Societal Options

Widespread negative research reports and rehabilitation agency deemphasis of behavioral disabilities have seriously curtailed interest in and rehabilitation efforts with the handicapped public offender. A comprehensive review of research illustrates that positive rehabilitation outcomes can be attained. Alternatives to offender rehabilitation programs are examined as other societal options in coping with the public offender.