Effectiveness of staff training programs for behavioral problems among older people with dementia

This paper reviewed studies on staff training programs to address the behavioral problems associated with dementia among older people in residential care. The papers were classified according to whether or not the studies included a control group in the research design. The results of the review demonstrate that there has been a wide range of psychosocial and educational interventions to reduce behavioral problems among older people with dementia, with inconsistent results being obtained. However, many of these studies suffer from problems in their research design that make it difficult to evaluate their effectiveness. Problems in conducting research in the nursing home setting are highlighted, and suggestions for future research in this area are discussed.

Optimal educational choice and redistribution when parental education matters

Higher education plays an important role in determining lifetime earnings. In turn, the decision to become educated depends to a large extent on family characteristics, such as wealth and education. In this paper, we focus on the interaction between fiscal policies and educational choices when parental education matters. We derive optimality conditions for a linear income tax and a lump‐sum subsidy for education in a dynamic framework in which generations are linked by educational background. The factors that determine their sign and magnitude include concerns for redistribution, efficiency, and the educational externality on future generations.

Educational enrolment of students with a disability in New South Wales and Victoria

The extent to which legislation and special education policy have impacted on the nature of the educational enrolment of students with a disability in Australia has not been clearly addressed. Although there are no detailed and systematic national data on the enrolment of students with a disability in inclusive settings, special classes and special schools in Australia, some broad trends are apparent. The legislative background to these trends is discussed. As might be expected, there are variations in the nature of the educational enrolment of students with a disability across the states and territories of Australia. Enrolment trends in the two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, are examined and discussed within the context of their respective special education policies, disability discrimination legislation, and educational precedent.

Tracking the nomadic life of the educational researcher :- what future for feminist public intellectual(s) and/in the performative postmodern university

Is the idea of the liberal university dead, has the post modern university any chance of being emancipatory, has the theory practice divide merely collapsed in an era of 'new knowledge work', or has the university just become one aspect of market state and global capitalism. Knowledge based economies simultaneously locate universities as central to the commodification and management of knowledge while the legitimacy of the university and the academic as knowledge producers is challenged by post modernist, feminist, postcolonial and indigenous claims within a wider trend towards the 'democratisation of knowledge' and a new educational instrumentalism and opportunism. What becomes of the educational researcher, and indeed for their professional organizations, in this changing socio political and economic scenario? Is our role one of policy service or policy critique, technical expert or public intellectual? In particular what place is there for feminist public intellectuals in a socalled era of post feminism and public-/private convergence? The paper draws on recent debates around the nature of knowledge based societies, trends in relations between policy and educational research, and draws upon feminist and critical perspectives to mount a case for the importance of the postmodern university and the public intellectual.

Educational administration and social justice

This paper argues that social justice is central to the pursuit of education and therefore should also be central to the practice of educational administration. Social justice in education, as elsewhere, demands both distributive justice (which remedies undeserved inequalities) and recognitional justice (which treats cultural differences with understanding and respect). But, given that cultures are always in the process of change, education is a key agency for negotiating cultural change through the exploration and negotiation of difference. Educational administration as a field can no longer escape the consideration of such issues as they are brought to the fore by the recognition of the failure of schools and school systems to ameliorate injustice in the distribution of resources and to recognise and celebrate difference as a means to social and cultural progress. We still need a model of educational administration centered around the problem of the justice and fairness of social and educational arrangements. Given the renewed interest in such issues, perhaps what was impossible twenty five years ago might now be achieved.

The effects of an area-based intervention on the uptake of maternal and child health assessments in Australia : a community trial

Background
Recognition of the importance of the early years in determining health and educational attainment and promotion of the World Health Organization Health for All (HFA) principles has led to an international trend towards community-based initiatives to improve developmental outcomes among socio-economically disadvantaged children. In this study we examine whether, Best Start, an Australian area-based initiative to improve child health was effective in improving access to Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services.

Methods
The study compares access to information, parental confidence and annual 3.5 year Ages and Stages visiting rates before (2001/02) and after (2004/05) the introduction of Best Start. Access to information and parental confidence were measured in surveys of parents with 3 year old children. There were 1666 surveys in the first wave and 1838 surveys in the second wave. The analysis of visiting rates for the 3.5 year Ages and Stages visit included all eligible Victorian children. Best Start sites included 1,739 eligible children in 2001/02 and 1437 eligible children in 2004/05. The comparable figures in the rest of the state were and 45, 497 and 45, 953 respectively.

Results
There was a significant increase in attendance at the 3.5 year Ages and Stages visit in 2004/05 compared to 2001/02 in all areas. However the increase in attendance was significantly greater at Best Start sites than the rest of the state. Access to information and parental confidence improved over the course of the intervention in Best Start sites with MCH projects compared to other Best Start sites.

Conclusion
These results suggest that community-based initiatives in disadvantaged areas may improve parents' access to child health information, improve their confidence and increase MCH service use. These outcomes suggest such programmes could potentially contribute to strategies to reduce child health inequalities.

Educational organizations and gender in times of uncertainty

In this chapter I identify and elaborate, from a feminist perspective, upon the theoretical shifts and key concepts that inform sociological analyses of gender and educational organizations. Gender inequalities are embedded in the multi-dimensional structure of relationships between women and men, which, as the modern sociology of gender shows, operates at every level of experience, from economic arrangements, culture and the state to interpersonal relationships and individual emotions. (Connell, 2005: 1801) Even naming this a sociology of gender and organizations is problematic. Many sociologists consider gender as a key sociological concept, but not necessarily from a feminist perspective. Feminism is a multidisciplinary, transnational movement that 'focuses on the relationship between social movements, political action and social inequalities' (Arnot, 2002: 3) and on the everyday experiences of women and girls and how they translate into social and structural 'ruling relations' (Smith, 1988). Feminism takes on multiple trajectories and imperatives in different cultural contexts, although with familial resemblances, most particularly the shared objective of equality for women and girls. Education as a primary institution of individual and collective mobility and social change, but also social and economic reproduction, has long been a focus of feminist theory and activism. So a feminist sociology needs to address this complexity of feminist sociological 'encounters' with gender and organizations.

Contestation and continuity in educational reform : a critical study of innovations in environmental education

This study explores the notion of contestation in environmental education. Contestation is a process in which self-interested individuals and groups in a social organisation cooperate, compete and negotiate in a complex interaction aimed at solving social problems. A "framework for critique" is developed, comprising technicist, liberaland critical paradigms in each of scientific knowledge, educational innovation, educational research and education itself. This framework forms the basis from which a critique is mounted of contesting perspectives in environmental education at international, national and local levels. The thesis argues, firstly, that contestation takes place in the domains of (a) language or "policy in environmental education; (b) organisational strategies aimed at initiating or improving environmental education; (c) educational practices conducted in the name of environmental education; and (d) within perspectives between these domains. The thesis argues, secondly, that the presently dominant techniqist models of innovation expressed in the organisation of environmental education are part of an hegemonic relationship which acts to "technologise" the innovation: they provide an organisational strategy for establishing environmental and educational progress without offering a theory for self-reflection and ideology-critique. The incompatibility of certain contesting perspectives and practices is masked, thus contributing to continuity, rather than reform. The thesis characterises this "educational problem of environmental education" as a series of theory-practice gaps at all levels, where "theory" is the set of beliefs and assumptions held by individual practitioners, and in. terms of which they understand their educational practices. An educational problem exists because these theory-practice gaps exist; the educational problem continues because these theory-practice gaps exist unacknowledged within the infrastructure of environmental education due to the effects of false consciousness and hegemony. The thesis addresses the issue of which of several contesting forms of educational research offers the most coherent response to the educational problem of environmental education, and argues that, for the time being, approaches grounded in the critical social sciences are both the best justified and most promising approaches . to educational research for environmental education.

Evolutionary psychology and the rehabilitation of offenders : constraints and consequences

The mainstream view in criminology and correctional psychology is that evolutionary perspectives have little to offer researchers or practitioners and may in fact lead to overly reductionist and crude responses to the complex issue of crime and its consequences. However, in our view all the major evolutionary approaches to the explanation of human behavior have something of value to contribute, with niche construction providing a particularly useful lens upon crime and its management. In this paper we analyze the concept of rehabilitation and describe the key features of effective rehabilitation. We argue that niche construction is responsive to the cognitive versatility and behavioral flexibility of human beings and can also accommodate the important role of social and cultural scaffolding in the rehabilitation process.

A head-to-head comparison of aripiprazole and risperidone for safety and treating autistic disorders, a randomized double blind clinical trial

Aripiprazole and risperidone are the only FDA approved medications for treating irritability in autistic disorder, however there are no head-to-head data comparing these agents. This is the first prospective randomized clinical trial comparing the safety and efficacy of these two medications in patients with autism spectrum disorders. Fifty nine children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders were randomized to receive either aripiprazole or risperidone for 2 months. The primary outcome measure was change in Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) scores. Adverse events were assessed. Aripiprazole as well as risperidone lowered ABC scores during 2 months. The rates of adverse effects were not significantly different between the two groups. The safety and efficacy of aripiprazole (mean dose 5.5 mg/day) and risperidone (mean dose 1.12 mg/day) were comparable. The choice between these two medications should be on the basis of clinical equipoise considering the patient's preference and clinical profile.

Correctional psychology and the desistance paradigm: commentary for the special issue of Criminal justice and behavior

Let me begin this commentary by suggesting that many of the ideas contained in this special issue will be important to the future of correctional psychology. Although each of the authors offer different perspectives on the role that the criminal justice system has to play in the process of desistance from crime, they all identify the importance of a valueoriented analysis to effective offender rehabilitation. Their focus is on promoting desistance at all points of the justice process; from how the legal system can promote therapeutic outcomes through to the provision of post-release support services and the need for community engagement. By approaching the tasks of both rehabilitation and reintegration from a values perspective, they have been able to identify a range of novel and innovative approaches that have the potential to make a real difference. Even more encouragingly, these draw on resources that may already be available to correctional psychologists and yet are often underutilized. In addition, the confidence, and indeed the optimism, expressed in these articles provides a refreshing counter to suggestions that contemporary correctional practice has become pre-occupied with the need to “manage” offenders and for professionals to focus on fulfilling their administrative obligations (see Hardy, 2014).

Cognitive control as a moderator of temperamental motivations toward adolescent risk-taking behavior

Few studies have directly examined whether cognitive control can moderate the influence of temperamental positive and negative affective traits on adolescent risk-taking behavior. Using a combined multimethod, latent variable approach to the assessment of adolescent risk-taking behavior and cognitive control, this study examined whether cognitive control moderates the influence of temperamental surgency and frustration on risk-taking behavior in a sample of 177 adolescents (Mage = 16.12 years, SD = 0.69). As predicted, there was a significant interaction between cognitive control and frustration, but not between cognitive control and surgency, in predicting risk-taking behavior. These findings have important implications and suggest that the determinants of adolescent risk taking depend on the valence of the affective motivation for risk-taking behavior.