Social Services of General Interest: The EU Competence Regime and a Constitution of Social Governance

In discussing the potential role of the EU, the Member States, their composite parts and civil society organisations in establishing social services of general interest at sub-national, national, transnational and EU wide levels, this chapter explores the EU competence regime for social services of general interest. Its analysis contradicts a tendency in academic writing to demand protection of national prerogatives for shaping welfare states against EU intervention at all costs, because this would be counterproductive for the progress of the EU project. It submits that an EU constitution of social governance should create mixed responsibilities so that the EU, states and civil society actors support each other in creating preconditions for social integration in the EU. It uses the field of social services of general interests as an example of applying this general theoretical concept.

Human Perception of Laughter from Context-free Whole Body Motion Dynamic Stimuli

Laughter is a ubiquitous social signal in human interactions yet it remains understudied from a scientific point of view. The need to understand laughter and its role in human interactions has become more pressing as the ability to create conversational agents capable of interacting with humans has come closer to a reality. This paper reports on three aspects of the human perception of laughter when context has been removed and only the body information from the laughter episode remains. We report on ability to categorise the laugh type and the sex of the laugher; the relationship between personality factors with laughter categorisation and perception; and finally the importance of intensity in the perception and categorisation of laughter.

Additionality of Incubator Support on Networks of University Spin-Out Firms

The formation rate of university spin-out firms has increased markedly over the past decade. While this is seen as an important channel for the commercialisation of academic research, concerns have centred around high failure rates and no-to-low growth among those which survive compared to other new technology based firms. Universities have responded to this by investing in incubators to assist spin-outs to overcome their liability of newness. Yet how effective are incubators in supporting these firms? Here we examine this in terms of the structural networks that spin-out firms form, the role of the incubator in this and the effect of this on the spin-out process.

Envolvimento dos estudantes na escola e perceção de suporte social: um estudo com alunos dos 2º e 3º ciclos do ensino básico

O envolvimento dos estudantes na escola tem ganho relevância no âmbito da comunidade científica. Apesar de não existir um consenso face à sua definição, todas apontam para o facto do envolvimento se relacionar com a forma como os estudantes se identificam e valorizam os resultados escolares, bem como, a sua participação em atividades escolares curriculares e extracurriculares. O suporte social visto como a perceção que o indivíduo tem de ser valorizado e aceite pelos outros contidos na sua rede social. A investigação tem demonstrado a relação existente entre estes dois conceitos. A existência de suporte social, mais especificamente o estabelecimento de relações positivas com o grupo de pares parece estar relacionada com um maior envolvimento dos estudantes na escola. O objetivo do presente estudo é compreender a relação entre o envolvimento dos estudantes na escola e a perceção de suporte social. O mesmo foi realizado numa escola em Évora, com alunos do 2º e 3º ciclos do ensino básico (335 alunos). Foram utilizados dois questionários: o QEEE – Questionário acerca do Envolvimento dos Estudantes na Escola e o QPSS – Questionário de Percepção de Suporte Social. Os resultados do presente estudo apontam para correlações estatisticamente significativas entre o suporte social e o envolvimento dos estudantes na escola, corroborando assim investigações já realizadas; ABSTRACT: Students engagement with school has won relevance within the scientific community. Although there is no consensus over its definition, all point to the fact that the engagement relate to how the students to identify and value the school results as well as their participation in curricular and extracurricular activities. The social support seen as the perception that the individual must be valued and accepted by others contained in your social network. The research has demonstrated the relationship between these both. The existence of social support, specifically the establishment of good relations with the peer group seems to be related to greater student engagement with school. The aim of this study is to understand the link between student engagement with school and perceived social support. It was conducted in a school in Évora, with students from 2nd and 3th cycles of middle school (335 students). We used two questionnaires: QEEE – Questionnaire about the Student Engagement with School and QPSS – Questionnaire for Perceived Social Support. The results of this study show statistically significant correlations between social support and students engagement with school, thus confirming previous research.

Comportamentos de agressão e vitimação em contexto escolar e a percepção de suporte social: um estudo com alunos do 3º e 4º anos de escolaridade

O bullying descreve-se como um abuso sistemático de poder entre pares, de carácter intencional e repetitivo. O suporte social descreve comportamentos que funcionam como um reforço na rede social. A existência de suporte social parece ser um factor protector para o envolvimento em situações de vitimação e agressão. O objectivo deste estudo é compreender a relação entre o bullying e a percepção de suporte social. Realizou-se em quatro escolas do Agrupamento de Escolas nº1 de Évora, com alunos do 3º e 4ºanos de escolaridade (262 alunos). Utilizaram-se dois questionários: o QVEIS – Questionário de Violência Escolar e Isolamento Social e o QPSP – Questionário de Percepção de Suporte Social. Os resultados deste estudo não se revelaram conclusivos, sendo reduzida a prevalência de comportamentos de vitimação e agressão. Existem correlações estatisticamente significativas entre as dimensões da vitimação e da agressão e a percepção de existência de suporte social e, a vitimação e a percepção de ausência de suporte social; ABSTRACT: Bullying is described as a systematic abuse of power among peers, intentional and repetitive. Social support describes behaviors that act as reinforcement in a social network. The existence of social support seems to be a protective factor for involvement in situations of victimization and aggression. The aim of this study is to understand the relationship between bullying and perceived social support. It was conducted in four elementary schools, with students from 3rd and 4th grade (262 students). We used two questionnaires: QVEIS – Questionnaire for School Violence and Social Isolation and QPSP - Questionnaire for Perceived Social Support. The results were inconclusive, with a fair prevalence of risk of victimization and aggression. There are statistically significant correlations between the dimensions of victimization and aggression and the perception of the existence of social support and the perception of victimization and lack of social support.

Using data envelopment analysis to assess the efficiency of social security systems: the case of income protection in old age

As the number of pensioners in Europe rises relative to the number of people in employment, the gap between the contributions and the benefit levels increases, and consequently ensuring adequate pensions on a sustainable basis has become a major challenge. This study aims to explore the potential of using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique in order to access the efficiency of the income protection in old age, one of the most important branches of Social Security. To this effect, we collected data from the 27 European Union Member States regarding this branch. Our results show important differences among the Member States and stress the importance of identifying best practices to achieve more adequate, sustainable and modernised pension systems. Our results also highlight the importance of using DEA as a decision support tool for policy makers.

The perception of woman on the example of the Odyssey of Homer and its english translation by James Huddleston and portuguese translation by Frederico Lourenço

Dissertação de mestrado, Estudos Literários e Artísticos, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, 2015

How has the Personalisation of Social Care Impacted on Service Users with Dementia?

The personalisation agenda is a government initiative aimed at transforming adult social care through giving service users choice and control over the care they receive. A key part of this agenda is the provision of direct payments; cash payments made to individuals eligible for social care services which allow them to manage their own care. Research suggests that direct payments can enable people with dementia to stay in their own home for longer and experience greater choice, flexibility and an improved social life. However very few people with dementia currently access direct payments. The objective of this research was to explore the social care experiences of people with dementia in relation to their access to and use of direct payments. 26 semi-structured interviews were conducted with people with dementia in receipt of social care services in the community, and their carers and social workers, and focus groups held with two community social work teams. It was found that direct payments tended to be seen as a fall-back option, for example as the only alternative to residential care, or as a solution to problems with traditional services. Direct payments appeared to afford particular benefits to people with dementia in terms of flexibility, continuity of care and access to local facilities. It is therefore important that this group are enabled to access direct payments. The second (ongoing) phase of this research comprises the design and pilot testing of an intervention aimed at improving access to direct payments by people with dementia.

Development of Social Relationships, Interactions and Behaviours in Early Education Settings

Recent research and policy regarding the advantages of early years provision has focused largely on the enhancement and development of cognitive skills for preschoolers. This study, based in the United Kingdom, focuses on a range of cognitive and social skills and identifies beneficial characteristics of a government pilot scheme for 2-year-olds in areas of social disadvantage. Data were collected from nursery managers and parents across six early years settings using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods centred around in-depth observational techniques focused on children. Results indicate that in addition to the development of cognitive skills, children showed increased confidence and modes of communication and interaction and that these were associated with the varied activities and routines established within the early years settings. Some variations in terms of frequency and quality of interactions, activities and practice were identified in settings; however, interpersonal support for learning and development was consistent across settings.

Intergroup Relations and Fundamental Dimensions of Social Judgment

The goal of this paper is to review the literature on the fundamental dimensions of social judgment and reflect on how these can help to boost our understanding of attitudes towards immigrants. We start by reviewing the work on the “fundamental dimensions” along which these judgments are organized, describing the different conceptions that have been put forward, identifying the regularities found in the content of these dimensions and the distinctions between them. Next, we propose a new way of looking at these fundamental dimensions by situating them within the specific field of intergroup relations in an immigration context, and explain how all the different examples of dimensions map onto this “new perspective”. We conclude by discussing how these two dimensions mirror the two fundamental topics that organize the discourse and the opinions about immigrants and immigration in society, and how attitudes towards immigrants can be differentially shaped by these two fundamental dimensions.

Conversions of Relief: on the perception of depth in drawings

Of the many ways in which depth can be intimated in drawings, perspective has undoubtedly been one of the most frequently examined. But there is also an equally rich history associated with other forms of pictorial representation. Alternatives to perspective became particularly significant in the early twentieth century as artists and architects, intent on throwing off the conventions of their predecessors, looked to new ways of depicting depth. In architecture, this tendency was exemplified by Modernism’s preference for parallel projection – most notably axonometric and oblique. The use of these techniques gave architects the opportunity to convey a new and uniquely modern form of spatial expression. At once shallow and yet expansive, a key feature of these drawings was their ability to support perceptual ambiguity. This paper will consider the philosophy and science of vision, out of which these preoccupations emerged. In this context, the nineteenth-century discovery of stereopsis and the invention of the stereoscope will be used to illustrate the way in which attempts to test the limits of spatial perception led to an opening up of visual experience; and provided a definition of visual experience that could encompass the representational ambiguities later exploited by the early twentieth-century avant-garde.

Georg Lukács as a Communications Scholar: Cultural and Digital Labour in the Context of Lukács’ Ontology of Social Being

The task of this work is to apply thoughts from Georg Lukács’ final book, the Ontology of Social Being, for the theoretical analysis of cultural and digital labour. It discusses Lukács’ concepts of work and communication and relates them to the analysis of cultural and digital work. It also analyses his conception of the relation of labour and ideology and points out how we can make use of it for critically understanding social media ideologies. Lukács opposes the dualist separation of the realms of work and ideas. He introduces in this context the notion of teleological positing that allows us to better understand cultural and digital labour as well as associated ideologies, such as the engaging/connecting/sharing-ideology, today. The analysis shows that Lukács’ Ontology is in the age of Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter still a very relevant book, although it has thus far not received the attention that it deserves. This article also introduces the Ontology’s main ideas on work and culture, which is important because large parts of the book have not been translated from the German original into English. Lukács’ notion of teleological positing is crucial for understanding the common features of the economy and culture.

Economia social, pilar de um novo modelo de desenvolvimento económico sustentável

Dissertação apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Contabilidade para a obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Auditoria Orientada por Dr.ª Alcina Portugal Dias

Validação e aplicação clínica de uma escala de cognição social na esquizofrenia = Validation and clinical use of a measure of social cognition in schizophrenia

RESUMO: A cognição social encontra-se frequentemente alterada na esquizofrenia. Esta alteração relaciona-se com a diminuição do funcionamento social,caracterizando-se quer por défices quer por vieses cognitivos sociais. No entanto, existem poucos instrumentos fiáveis e válidos para avaliar a cognição social na esquizofrenia, nomeadamente capazes de medir os vieses cognitivos sociais e a cognição social auto-relevante. Adicionalmente, as bases biológicas da disfunção social não estão totalmente esclarecidas. Evidências recentes sugerem que o peptídeo oxitocina (OXT) influencia o funcionamento social, e que esta relação poderá ser mediada pela cognição social. Este Trabalho de Projecto descreve a contribuição do autor para o desenvolvimento e avaliação psicométrica inicial de um novo instrumento de avaliação da cognição social, e a utilidade desta escala na investigação das associações entre a OXT e a capacidade e vieses cognitivos sociais. A Waiting Room Task (WRT), uma escala constituída por 26 vídeos sequenciais que simulam a experiência de observar outra pessoa numa sala de espera, foi administrada num estudo transversal com 61 doentes com esquizofrenia e 20 controlos saudáveis. Observou-se uma menor capacidade cognitiva social e um aumento dos vieses cognitivos sociais nos doentes com esquizofrenia, comparativamente aos controlos. Nos controlos e doentes com delírios, o desempenho na WRT correlacionou-se significativamente com os níveis de OXT. Esta correlação não se observou nos doentes sem delírios, sugerindo que o papel da OXT na cognição social poderá encontrar-se atenuado neste grupo. Estes achados fornecem suporte inicial para a adequação da WRT como instrumento de avaliação da cognição social na esquizofrenia, podendo ainda ser útil na investigação da sua base biológica. ------------ ABSTRACT: Social cognition is often impaired in schizophrenia. This impairment is related to poor social functioning and is characterized by both social cognitive deficits and biases. However, there are few reliable and valid measures of social cognition in schizophrenia, particularly measures of social cognitive bias and of self-relevant social cognition. Also, the biological bases of social dysfunction are not well understood. Emerging evidence suggests that the peptide oxytocin (OXT) influences social functioning, and that this relationship may be mediated by social cognition. This Research Project describes the author’s contribution to the development and initial psychometric testing of a new measure of social cognition, and the utility of this instrument to examine associations between OXT and social cognitive capacity and bias. The Waiting Room Task WRT), a video-based test comprising 26 sequential videos simulating the experience of facing another person in a waiting room, was administered in a cross-sectional study involving 61 patients with schizophrenia and 20 healthy controls. Social cognitive capacity was lower and social cognitive bias was increased in patients with schizophrenia compared with controls. Among controls and patients with delusions, performance on the WRT was significantly correlated with OXT level. This correlation was not found in patients without delusions suggesting that OXT’s role in social cognition may be blunted in this group. These findings provide initial support for the adequacy of the WRT as a measure for assessing social cognition in schizophrenia that may also be useful in understanding its biological underpinnings.