Physiological performance measures and tolerance limits of estuarine indicator species in South Florida

Current water management practices in South Florida have negatively impacted many species inhabiting Florida Bay. Variable and high salinity has been identified as a key stressor in these estuaries. The comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) includes water redistribution projects that will restore natural freshwater flows to northeastern Florida Bay. My studies focused on the following central theme and hypotheses: Biological performance measures (i.e., growth, reproduction, survival), behavior (i.e., habitat preference and locomotor behavior) and diversity of estuarine fish will be controlled by changes in salinity and water quality that will occur as a result of the restoration of freshwater flow to the bay. A series of acute and subchronic physiological toxicity studies were conducted to determine the effects of salinity changes on the life stages (embryo/larval, juvenile, adult) and fecundity of four native estuarine fish (Cyprinodon variegatus, Floridichthys carpio, Poecilia latipinna, and Gambusia holbrooki). Fishe were exposed to a range of salinity concentrations (freshwater to hypersaline) based on salinity profiles in the study areas. Growth (length, weight) and survival were measured. Salinity trials included both rapid and gradual change events. Results show negative effects of acute, abrupt salinity changes on fish survival, development and reproductive success as a result of salinity stress. Other studies targeted reproduction and critical embryo-larval/neonate development as key areas for detecting long-term population effects of salinity change in Florida Bay. Adults of C. variegatus and P. latipinna were also examined for behavioral responses to pulsed salinity changes. These responses include changes in swimming performance, locomotor behavior and zone preference. Finally, an ecological risk assessment was conducted for adverse salinity conditions in northeastern Florida Bay. Using the U.S. EPA's framework, the risk to estuarine fish species diversity was assessed against regional salinity profiles from a 17-year database. Based on the risk assessment, target salinity profiles for these areas are recommended for managers.

The Significance of Critical Theory for Restorative Justice in Education

Restorative Justice (rj), a distinctive philosophical approach that seeks to replace punitive, managerial structures of schooling with those that emphasize the building and repairing of relationships (Hopkins 2004) has been embraced in the past two decades by a variety of school systems worldwide in an effort to build safe school communities. Early studies indicate rj holds significant promise, however, proponents in the field identify that theoretical and evidence-based research is falling behind practice. They call for further research to deepen the current understanding of rj that will support its sustainability and transformative potential and allow it to move from the margins to the mainstream of schooling (Braithwaite 2006; Morrison & Ahmed 2006; Sherman & Strang 2007).

Implementing restorative justice practice in schools: what pedagogy reveals

In the ongoing pursuit for creating safe, nurturing and relational school cultures, educators continue to turn to restorative justice (rj) principles and practice. Predominantly, schools begin to engage with rj in an effort to address harm done, causing its discourse to be situated in literature tied to classroom management and behaviour. However, in this location, the effectiveness of rj can be limited because the power relationships underlying the original punitive, managerial structures maintain their grip. Drawing on a qualitative study that examines the experiences of educators committed to implementing rj principles, this article explores how placing rj in the context of engaged, productive pedagogies better nurtures the hoped for relational and peaceful school culture.

A Restorative Theory of Criminal Justice

In this project, I defend a restorative theory of criminal justice. I argue that the response to criminal wrongdoing in a just society should take the form of an attempt to heal the damage done to the community resulting from crime. I argue that the moral responsibilities of wrongdoers as wrongdoers ought to provide the framework for how a just society should respond to crime. Following the work of R.A. Duff, I argue that wrongdoers incur second-order duties of moral recognition. Wrongdoers owe it to others to recognize their wrongdoing for what it is, i.e. wrongdoing, and to shoulder certain burdens in order to express their repentant recognition to others via a meaningful apology. In short, wrongdoers owe it to their victims and others in the community to make amends. What I will deny, however, is the now familiar claim in the restorative justice literature that restoring the normative relationships in the community damaged by criminal forms of wrongdoing requires retributive punishment. In my view, how we choose to express the judgement that wrongdoers are blameworthy should flow from an all things considered judgment that is neither reducible to the judgement that the wrongdoer is culpably responsible for wronging others, nor the judgement that the wrongdoer in some basic sense “deserves to suffer” (or “deserves punishment,” etc.).

Circular migration and the Internet: The role of social networks in the sociocultural context of Mexican residents in Barcelona

This work focuses on the study of the circular migration between America and Europe, particularly in the discussion about knowledge transfer and the way that social networks reconfigure the form of information distribution among people, that due to labor and academic issues have left their own country. The main purpose of this work is to study the impact of social media use in migration flows between Mexico and Spain, more specifically the use by Mexican migrants who have moved for  multiple years principally for educational purposes and then have returned to their respective locations in Mexico seeking to integrate themselves into the labor market. Our data collection concentrated exclusively on a group created on Facebook by Mexicans who mostly reside in Barcelona, Spain or wish to travel to the city for economic, educational or tourist reasons.  The results of this research show that while social networks are spaces for exchange and integration, there is a clear tendency by this group to "narrow lines" and to look back to their homeland, slowing the process of opening socially in their new context.

Outcome measures for evaluating the effectiveness of juvenile justice programs

Teaching boys in neoliberal and postfeminist times: Feminization and the question of re-masculinization in the education system and policy field

This paper focuses on teaching boys, male teachers and the question of gendered pedagogies in neoliberal and postfeminist times of the proliferation of new forms of capitalism, multi-mediated technologies and the influence of globalization. It illustrates how a politics of re-masculinization and its reconstitution needs to be understood as set against changing economic and social conditions in which gender equity comes to be re-focused on boys as the ‚new disadvantaged‘. This re-framing of gender equity, it is argued, has been fuelled by both a media-inspired backlash discourse about ‚failing boys‘ and a neo-positivist emphasis on numbers derived primarily from standardized testing regimes at both global and national levels. A media-focused analysis of the proliferation of discourses about ‚failing boys‘ vis-a-vis the problem of encroaching feminization in the school system is provided to illuminate how certain truths about the influence of male teachers come to define how the terms of ensuring gender equity are delimited and reduced to a question of gendered pedagogies as grounded in sexed bodies. Historical accounts of the feminization of teaching in the North American context are also provided as a basis for building a more informed understanding of the present, particularly as it relates to the contextualization of policy articulation and enactment regarding the problem of teaching boys. In light of such historically informed and critical media analysis, it is argued that what is needed is a more informed, evidenced based policy articulation of the problem of teaching boys and a more gender sensitive reflection on the politics of masculinities in postfeminist times. (DIPF/Orig.)

Anarchism and abolitionism in restorative justice: from promises to subjugated discourses.

Over the past 40 years, restorative justice (RJ) has slowly emerged as one of the most promising novelties within western contemporary penality, a relentlessly growing field of research able to inspire concrete actions within, outside or against many and diverse criminal justice systems. The Directive 2012/29/EU (i.e. Victims’ Directive) is just the last and most evident effort in this direction, with its emphasis on RJ as a victim service...

Human Rights Protection and Terrorism – Reflections in the Context of Strasburg Jurisprudence

The phenomenon of terrorism is one of the most asymmetrical, amorphous and hybrid threats to international security. At the beginning of the 21st century, terrorism grew to a pandemic. Ensuring freedom and security of individuals and nations has become one of the priority postulates. Terrorism steps out of all legal and analytic-descriptive standards. An immanent feature of terrorism, e.g. is constant conversion into malicious forms of violence. One of the most alarming changes is a tendency for debasement of essence of law, a state and human rights Assurance of safety in widely accessible public places and in private life forces creation of various institutions, methods and forms of people control. However, one cannot in an arbitrary way limit civil freedom. Presented article stresses the fact that rational and informed approach to human rights should serve as a reference point for legislative and executive bodies. Selected individual applications to the European Court of Human Rights are presented, focusing on those based on which standards regarding protection of human rights in the face of pathological social phenomena, terrorism in particular, could be reconstructed and refined. Strasbourg standards may prove helpful in selecting and constructing new legal and legislative solutions, unifying and correlating prophylactic and preventive actions.

Men's experiences of receiving objective feedback on physical activity and other indicators of health risk, within the context of a gender-sensitised weight loss intervention

Receiving personalised feedback on body mass index and other health risk indicators may prompt behaviour change. Few studies have investigated men’s reactions to receiving objective feedback on such measures and detailed information on physical activity and sedentary time. The aim of my research was to understand the meanings different forms of objective feedback have for overweight/obese men, and to explore whether these varied between groups. Participants took part in Football Fans in Training, a gender-sensitised, weight loss programme delivered via Scottish Professional Football Clubs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 men, purposively sampled from four clubs to investigate the experiences of men who achieved and did not achieve their 5% weight loss target. Data were analysed using the principles of thematic analysis and interpreted through Self-Determination Theory and sociological understandings of masculinity. Several factors were vital in supporting a ‘motivational climate’ in which men could feel ‘at ease’ and adopt self-regulation strategies: the ‘place’ was described as motivating, whereas the ‘people’ (other men ‘like them’; fieldwork staff; community coaches) provided supportive and facilitative roles. Men who achieved greater weight loss were more likely to describe being motivated as a consequence of receiving information on their objective health risk indicators. They continued using self-monitoring technologies after the programme as it was enjoyable; or they had redefined themselves by integrating new-found activities into their lives and no longer relied on external technologies/feedback. They were more likely to see post-programme feedback as confirmation of success, so long as they could fully interpret the information. Men who did not achieve their 5% weight loss reported no longer being motivated to continue their activity levels or self-monitor them with a pedometer. Social support within the programme appeared more important. These men were also less positive about objective post-programme feedback which confirmed their lack of success and had less utility as a motivational tool. Providing different forms of objective feedback to men within an environment that has intrinsic value (e.g. football club setting) and congruent with common cultural constructions of masculinity, appears more conducive to health behaviour change.

Administrative justice and the control of bureaucratic decision-making: A study investigating how decision-makers in local authority education departments respond to the work of redress mechanisms

This socio-legal thesis has explored the factors responsible for explaining whether and how redress mechanisms control bureaucratic decision-making. The research considered the three principal institutions of administrative justice: courts, tribunals, and ombudsman schemes. The field setting was the local authority education area and the thesis examined bureaucratic decision-making about admissions to school, home-to-school transport, and Special Educational Needs (SEN). The thesis adopted a qualitative approach, using interviews and documentary research, within a multiple embedded case study design. The intellectual foundations of the research were inter-disciplinary, cutting across law, socio-legal studies, public administration, organization studies, and social policy. The thesis drew on these scholarly fields to explore the nature of bureaucratic decision-making, the extent to which it can be controlled and the way that learning occurs in bureaucracies and, finally, the extent to which redress mechanisms might exercise control. The concept of control was studied across all its dimensions – in relation both to ex post control in specific cases and the more challenging notion of ex ante or structuring control. The aim of the thesis was not to measure the prevalence of bureaucratic control by redress mechanisms, but to understand the factors that might explain its presence or absence in a particular area. The findings of the research have allowed for a number of analytical refinements and extensions to be made to existing theoretical and empirical understandings. 14 factors, along with 87 supporting propositions, have been set out with the aim of making empirically derived suggestions which can be followed up in future research. In terms of the thesis’ contribution to existing knowledge, its comparative focus and its emphasis on the broad notion of control offered the potential for new insights to be developed. Overall, the thesis claims to have made three contributions to the conceptual framework for understanding the exercise of control by redress mechanisms: it emphasizes the importance of ‘feedback’ in relation to the nature of the cases referred to redress mechanisms; it calls attention to the structure of bureaucratic decision-making as well as its normative character; and it discusses how the operational modes of redress mechanisms relate to their control functions.

Managing Fisheries in the context of an integrated policy: the importance of spatial issues

A variety of conservation policies now frame the management of fishing activity and so do also the spatial planning of different sectorial activities. These framework policies are additional to classical fishery management. There is a risk that the policies applying on the marine system are not coherent from a fisheries point of view. The spatial management of fishing activity at regional scale has the potential to meet multiple management objectives, on a habitat basis. Here we consider how to integrate multiple objectives of different policies into integrated ocean management scenarios. In the EU, European Directives and the CFP are now implementing the ecosystem approach to the management of human activity at sea. In this context, we further identify three research needs: • Develop Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) for multiple-objective and multiple-sector spatial management schemes • Improve knowledge on and evaluation of functional habitats • Develop spatially-explicit end-to-end models with appropriate complexity for spatial MSE The contribution is based on the results of a workshop of the EraNet COFASP.

Political Strategy, Leadership, and Policy Entrepreneurship in Japanese Defense Policy and Politics: A Comparison of Three Prime Ministerships

Since the end of the Cold War, Japan’s defense policy and politics has gone through significant changes. Throughout the post cold war period, US-Japan alliance managers, politicians with differing visions and preferences, scholars, think tanks, and the actions of foreign governments have all played significant roles in influencing these changes. Along with these actors, the Japanese prime minister has played an important, if sometimes subtle, role in the realm of defense policy and politics. Japanese prime ministers, though significantly weaker than many heads of state, nevertheless play an important role in policy by empowering different actors (bureaucratic actors, independent commissions, or civil actors), through personal diplomacy, through agenda-setting, and through symbolic acts of state. The power of the prime minister to influence policy processes, however, has frequently varied by prime minister. My dissertation investigates how different political strategies and entrepreneurial insights by the prime minister have influenced defense policy and politics since the end of the Cold War. In addition, it seeks to explain how the quality of political strategy and entrepreneurial insight employed by different prime ministers was important in the success of different approaches to defense. My dissertation employs a comparative case study approach to examine how different prime ministerial strategies have mattered in the realm of Japanese defense policy and politics. Three prime ministers have been chosen: Prime Minister Hashimoto Ryutaro (1996-1998); Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro (2001-2006); and Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio (2009-2010). These prime ministers have been chosen to provide maximum contrast on issues of policy preference, cabinet management, choice of partners, and overall strategy. As my dissertation finds, the quality of political strategy has been an important aspect of Japan’s defense transformation. Successful strategies have frequently used the knowledge and accumulated personal networks of bureaucrats, supplemented bureaucratic initiatives with top-down personal diplomacy, and used a revitalized US-Japan strategic relationship as a political resource for a stronger prime ministership. Though alternative approaches, such as those that have looked to displace the influence of bureaucrats and the US in defense policy, have been less successful, this dissertation also finds theoretical evidence that alternatives may exist.

Review of Two Issues at the Long-Term Commitment Facilities, Department of Juvenile Justice: 1)Safety Threat to Employees & Juveniles; and 2)Event Reporting Process Integrity Allegations

The Legislative Oversight Committee of the South Carolina House of Representatives, referred allegations pertaining to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) which were generated during its ongoing oversight study of DJJ. Specifically, the safety issues focused on lack of control; lack of trust; and lack of adequate staffing. This review’s scope and objectives were: Investigate specific complainant allegations of DJJ employees underreporting, misreporting, or destroying ERs; Review the efficiency and effectiveness of DJJ’s event reporting process and follow-up on anomalies or potential patterns of systemic underreporting, misreporting, or missing ERs; and Assess juvenile and employee safety conditions through interviewing a cross-section of relevant employees, record review, and possibly an employee survey.

Healing wounds institutional strength, peacebuilding, and productive entrepreneurship – exploratory analysis on 23 departments of Colombia

Este estudio presenta un análisis exploratorio sobre la correlación entre la fortaleza institucional, las condiciones de paz, y el emprendimiento en una muestra de 23 departamentos en Colombia usando datos de 2014. Para llevar a cabo este objetivo se propusieron y construyeron tres índices siguiendo definiciones conceptuales seminales o estándares de evaluación internacional, a saber: 1) El Índice de Fortaleza Institucional, 2) El Índice de Construcción de Paz (construido a partir del índice de paz negativa y el índice de paz positiva) y 3) El Índice de Emprendimiento Productivo. Los resultados no muestran una correlación significativa entre todos los tres índices. Por un lado, existe una correlación significativa (p<0.05) entre los índices de fortaleza institucional y emprendimiento productivo. Por otro lado, existen correlaciones negativas no significativas entre los índices de paz positiva y fortaleza institucional, emprendimiento productivo y paz positiva y emprendimiento productivo y construcción de paz. En un segundo acercamiento, la población de los departamentos fue la variable con mayor número de correlaciones significativas (p<0.01) entre variables relacionadas con emprendimiento productivo, empleo, producto interno bruto, sofisticación industrial, innovación (patentes) y crimen. Finalmente, se discuten las conclusiones y las futuras investigaciones.