Setting the agenda, influencing public opinion, and advocating for social change

This study seeks to contribute to the systematic explanation of journalists’ professional role orientations. Focusing on three aspects of journalistic interventionism – the importance of setting the political agenda, influencing public opinion and advocating for social change – multilevel analyses found substantive variation in interventionism at the individual level of the journalist, the level of the media organizations, and the societal level. Based on interviews with 2100 journalists from 21 countries, findings affirm theories regarding a hierarchy of influences in news work. We found journalists to be more willing to intervene in society when they work in public media organizations and in countries with restricted political freedom. An important conclusion of our analysis is that journalists’ professional role orientations are also rooted within perceptions of cultural and social values. Journalists were more likely to embrace an interventionist role when they were more strongly motivated by the value types of power, achievement and tradition.

Behavior of the indian social wasp ropalidia-cyathiformis on a nest of separate combs (hymenoptera, vespidae)

Observations were made on a nest of Ropalidia cyathiformis consisting of three combs. The number of eggs, larvae, pupae and adults were monitored at about 3-day intervals for a 2-month period. The behaviour of the adults was observed with special reference to the proportion of time spent on each of the three combs, the proportion of time spent away from the nest site and the frequencies of dominance interactions and egg laying. The adults moved freely between the three combs suggesting that all of them and all the three combs belonged to one nest. However, most of the adults preferred combs 2 and 3 over comb 1. Of the 10 animals chosen for a detailed analysis of behaviour, seven spent varying periods of time away from the nest site and oRen brought back food or building material. Five of the 10 animals laid at least one egg each but two adults monopolized most of the egg-laying. The animals showed a variety of dominance interactions on the basis of which they have been arranged in a dominance hierarchy. The dominant individuals laid most of the eggs and spent little or no time foraging, while the subordinate individuals spent more time foraging and laid few eggs or none. It is argued that R. cyathiformis is different from R. marginata, the only other Indian social wasp whose behaviour has been studied, in being at a more primitive stage of social organization.

Social objectives of fisheries management: What are managers' priorities?

Increasingly, social considerations are having an influence on fisheries policy as well as day-to-day management decision making. Social objectives, unlike economic or conservation objectives, are often poorly defined in fisheries policy, providing substantial leeway for managers to develop management plans in response to the perceived importance of different social outcomes, and potential inconsistencies between different fisheries and jurisdictions. In this paper, through a literature review and workshop with managers across different Australian jurisdictions, we develop a set of social objectives that may be applicable in Australian fisheries. We assess the importance of these different objectives using the Analytic Hierarchy Process, and find considerable diversity in opinion as to which social objectives fisheries management should prioritise to achieve. This diversity of opinion is not directly related to jurisdiction, but does seem related to the context and social environment in which fisheries managers are operating.

A model of social work classification in health care

The introduction of casemix funding for Australian acute health care services has challenged Social Work to demonstrate clear reporting mechanisms, demonstrate effective practice and to justify interventions provided. The term 'casemix' is used to describe the mix and type of patients treated by a hospital or other health care services. There is wide acknowledgement that the procedure-based system of Diagnosis Related Groupings (DRGs) is grounded in a medical/illness perspective and is unsatisfactory in describing and predicting the activity of Social Work and other allied health professions in health care service delivery. The National Allied Health Casemix Committee was established in 1991 as the peak body to represent allied health professions in matters related to casemix classification. This Committee has pioneered a nationally consistent, patient-centred information system for allied health. This paper describes the classification systems and codes developed for Social Work, which includes a minimum data set, a classification hierarchy, the set of activity (input) codes and 'indicator for intervention' codes. The advantages and limitations of the system are also discussed.

The evolution of complexity in social organization-A model using dominance-subordinate behavior in two social wasp species

Dominance and subordinate behaviors are important ingredients in the social organizations of group living animals. Behavioral observations on the two eusocial species Ropalidia marginata and Ropalidia cyathiformis suggest varying complexities in their social systems. The queen of R. cyathiformis is an aggressive individual who usually holds the top position in the dominance hierarchy although she does not necessarily show the maximum number of acts of dominance, while the R. marginata queen rarely shows aggression and usually does not hold the top position in the dominance hierarchy of her colony. In R. marginata, more workers are involved in dominance-subordinate interactions as compared to R. cyathiformis. These differences are reflected in the distribution of dominance-subordinate interactions among the hierarchically ranked individuals in both the species. The percentage of dominance interactions decreases gradually with hierarchical ranks in R. marginata while in R. cyathiformis it first increases and then decreases. We use an agent-based model to investigate the underlying mechanism that could give rise to the observed patterns for both the species. The model assumes, besides some non-interacting individuals, the interaction probabilities of the agents depend on their pre-differentiated winning abilities. Our simulations show that if the queen takes up a strategy of being involved in a moderate number of dominance interactions, one could get the pattern similar to R. cyathiformis, while taking up the strategy of very low interactions by the queen could lead to the pattern of R. marginata. We infer that both the species follow a common interaction pattern, while the differences in their social organization are due to the slight changes in queen as well as worker strategies. These changes in strategies are expected to accompany the evolution of more complex societies from simpler ones.

O serviço social no comando da Aeronáutica: decifrando este espaço socioocupacional do assistente social

Esta dissertação analisa o Serviço Social no Comando da Aeronáutica COMAER, a partir dos elementos sócio-institucionais, teórico-metodológico e ético-política profissionais na instituição. O interesse em estudar este espaço socioocupacional do assistente social define-se pela necessidade de produção de conhecimento teórico e crítico acerca do trabalho desenvolvido pelo Serviço Social nas esferas militares: um campo de trabalho profissional em crescimento, porém pouco conhecido e debatido no âmbito acadêmico. O COMAER é uma instituição militar, repleta de singularidades, pautada nos princípios de hierarquia e disciplina. Configura-se como um espaço de contradições, correlação de forças e disputas por poder. Porém, é neste terreno contraditório e tenso que o Serviço Social se realiza e se concretiza. Para melhor compreensão acerca desta instituição, torna-se imprescindível a apreensão da realidade concreta, seus limites e possibilidades no movimento real de sua historicidade. Portanto, dedicamos parte deste estudo para desenvolver uma análise institucional. Além da referida análise, o presente estudo reconstrói o processo de implementação do Sistema de Assistência Social no COMAER, situa o trabalho do Serviço Social neste espaço socioocupacional num contexto de reestruturação produtiva, bem como se apropria do debate teórico-metodológico acerca do Projeto Ético Político Profissional para analisar as possibilidades de materialização dos princípios fundamentais do Código de Ética dos Assistentes Sociais no âmbito institucional. Esta dissertação conta também com pesquisa realizada com 24 assistentes sociais civis e militares, através de formulário auto-aplicável, a partir do qual foi possível traçar o perfil das assistentes sociais do COMAER e as condições em que o trabalho profissional se realiza. Ressaltamos o protagonismo do trabalho desenvolvido pelo Serviço Social no COMAER e afirmamos que é possível realizar um trabalho crítico, coerente com os princípios do Código de Ética Profissional e norteados pelo Projeto da Profissão numa instituição militar.

A represntação social de perfeição na memória das personalidades do espiritismo

Este trabalho aproxima as contribuições da teoria das representações sociais e dos estudos em memória social para a compreensão do campo religioso, especificamente o Espiritismo, reconhecendo a importância da recordação de personalidades para a dinâmica religiosa. Esta pesquisa objetiva analisar o conteúdo da representação social de perfeição, o conteúdo e estrutura da memória de personalidades do Espiritismo e a relação entre ambos. Trata-se de estudo descritivo, desenvolvido em duas etapas. Participaram 75 participantes auto-declarados espíritas - 38 na primeira etapa e 37 na segunda, sendo entrevistados 24 desses. Os participantes, em média, possuíam 37,3 anos de idade e 16,7 anos como espíritas. Na primeira fase aplicou-se, através da Internet, a técnica de evocações livres com o termo indutor espíritos superiores, na qual os participantes respondiam que pessoas se associavam ao termo. Na segunda, prosseguiu-se com as evocações livres e questionário, para caracterização dos participantes. A partir das doze personalidades mais lembradas, realizou-se entrevista semi-estruturada, com questões sobre características, virtudes, lembranças, hierarquia das personalidades, e questões sobre o significado da perfeição e como alcançá-la. Os dados das evocações foram analisados através das técnicas do quadro de quatro casas e construção de árvore máxima de similitude. As entrevistas foram analisadas mediante análise categorial temática. Assim, verificou-se que as personalidades mais recordadas foram: Chico Xavier, Jesus, Allan Kardec, Emmanuel, Bezerra de Menezes, Madre Teresa de Calcutá, Joanna de Ângelis, Gandhi, André Luiz, Francisco de Assis, Maria de Nazaré e Divaldo P. Franco. A representação social de perfeição foi expressa, de modo simplificado, na sentença: um caminho, difícil e longo, em que o ser humano sai da sua condição de inferioridade para a perfeição, através do conhecimento (proveniente do trabalho, do estudo e do auto-conhecimento), livrando-se do seu egoísmo e expressando o amor, tal como demonstrado e vivido por Jesus. Verificou-se, ainda, que essas memórias se organizam, principalmente, em dois modelos de valores complementares no Espiritismo: 1) conhecimento, inteligência, razão, estudo, livro e 2) amor, vivência, fé, trabalho, exemplo. Eles se constituem nas duas condições essenciais para se alcançar essa perfeição. O primeiro modelo está principalmente personificado na figura de Allan Kardec e o segundo, em Jesus. Nesse sentido, o Espiritismo opera na mente dos fiéis, uma síntese entre ambos os modelos, tendo em Chico Xavier a personificação dessa síntese, constituindo-se como tipo ideal de espírita.

A construção da representação social de hierarquia na Força Aérea Brasileira

A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo geral analisar as representações sociais da hierarquia construídas pelos militares da FAB, considerando suas segmentações em termos dos círculos de oficiais e graduados, dos respectivos processos de formação, dos sexos de seus componentes e dos estágios, se formados ou em formação, em que se encontram. A fundamentação teórica discorre sobre a hierarquia, princípio geral das instituições militares, previsto por lei e regulador do comportamento militar, conforme prevê o Estatuto dos Militares (BRASIL, 1980); a respeito do poder, na perspectiva de Max Weber (1999) que trata a obediência, a partir da autoridade de uma pessoa sobre outras, e de acordo com Amitai Etzioni (1974), que entende o poder como a capacidade que uma pessoa tem de induzir outra a seguir suas orientações. Apresenta ainda a Teoria das Representações Sociais, proposta por Serge Moscovici (1961), para quem as representações sociais servem de instrumento de leitura da realidade, e a partir da abordagem estrutural, proposta por Jean-Claude Abric (1976), segundo a qual a representação social é composta pelo sistema central, constituído pelo núcleo central, e pelo sistema periférico, formado por elementos periféricos. A amostra foi composta por 600 militares, oriundos das escolas de formação de oficiais e de graduados, do âmbito do Comando da Aeronáutica (COMAER): Academia da Força Aérea (AFA), cuja finalidade é a formação dos Oficiais da Ativa dos quadros de Aviação, de Intendência e de Infantaria, a Escola de Especialistas da Aeronáutica (EEAR), responsável pela formação e pelo aperfeiçoamento dos graduados e o Centro de Instrução Especializada da Aeronáutica (CIEAR), responsável pela capacitação de oficiais e graduados em áreas afins à sua especialização. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio da técnica de evocação livre ao termo indutor hierarquia, da aplicação do questionário de caracterização e do questionário geral, composto por questões abertas e fechadas. As evocações foram processadas pelo software EVOC, desenvolvido por Pierre Vergès (2005), as questões fechadas receberam o processamento com o auxílio do software SPSS e as questões abertas sofreram uma categorização para o refinamento das análises. Os resultados encontrados nas comparações do conteúdo temático e da estrutura das representações sociais entre os diferentes segmentos permitem afirmar que os temas respeito e disciplina são os prováveis elementos centrais da hierarquia para o conjunto dos 600 militares pesquisados e caracterizam a base comum e consensual compartilhada na caserna. A hierarquia, norteada por um conjunto de regras que regula e assegura a disciplina e o respeito, direciona o comportamento dos militares, durante a formação e no decorrer da carreira. Da análise, conclui-se que os diferentes segmentos de militares da FAB possuem a mesma representação social de hierarquia.

Size hierarchies affecting the social interactions and growth of juvenile Japanese flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus

Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus (T. & S.)juveniles were size-graded and divided into three groups (small, large, and mixture of small and large flounder), and their social interactions (feeding, aggressive attacking and activity) and growth were investigated. The growth of the small flounder was markedly suppressed by the presence of the large flounder. Large flounder did not significantly suppress the overall food intake of the small flounder but exhibited high aggressive attacking on them and consequently inhibited their activity. Size dominance showed little influence on the aggressive behavior, feeding, activity and growth of the large flounder. The large flounder could not effectively defend the food in excess during the experiments ruling out disproportional food acquisition as the primary mechanism responsible for the size hierarchy effect. Aggressive interaction of the large flounder on the small flounder might be an important cause for the growth retardation of the small flounder. In culture, size grading could markedly improve the growth and survival of the early juvenile flounder. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Between respectability and disgrace: schismogenesis and the regeneration of inequality, stigma and social exclusion in Limerick

The thesis examines cultural processes underpinning the emergence, institutionalisation and reproduction of class boundaries in Limerick city. The research aims to bring a new understanding to the contemporary context of the city’s urban regeneration programme. Acknowledging and recognising other contemporary studies of division and exclusion, the thesis creates a distinctive approach which focuses on uncovering the cultural roots of inequality, educational disadvantage, stigma and social exclusion and the dynamics of their social reproduction. Using Bateson’s concept of schismogenesis (1953), the thesis looks to the persistent, but fragmented culture of community and develops a heuristic ‘symbolic order of the city’. This is defined as “…a cultural structure, the meaning making aspect of hierarchy, the categorical structures of world understanding, the way Limerick people understand themselves, their local and larger world” (p. 37). This provides a very different departure point for exploring the basis for urban regeneration in Limerick (and everywhere). The central argument is that if we want to understand the present (multiple) crises in Limerick we need to understand the historical, anthropological and recursive processes underpinning ‘generalised patterns of rivalry and conflict’. In addition to exploring the historical roots of status and stigma in Limerick, the thesis explores the mythopoesis of persistent, recurrent narratives and labels that mark the boundaries of the city’s identities. The thesis examines the cultural and social function of ‘slagging’ as a vernacular and highly particularised form of ironic, ritualised and, often, ‘cruel’ medium of communication (often exclusion). This is combined with an etymology of the vocabulary of Limerick slang and its mythological base. By tracing the origins of many normalised patterns of Limerick speech ‘sayings’, which have long since forgotten their roots, the thesis demonstrates how they perform a significant contemporary function in maintaining and reinforcing symbolic mechanisms of inclusion/exclusion. The thesis combines historical and archival data with biographical interviews, ethnographic data married to a deep historical hermeneutic analysis of this political community.

Rapid behavioral and genomic responses to social opportunity.

From primates to bees, social status regulates reproduction. In the cichlid fish Astatotilapia (Haplochromis) burtoni, subordinate males have reduced fertility and must become dominant to reproduce. This increase in sexual capacity is orchestrated by neurons in the preoptic area, which enlarge in response to dominance and increase expression of gonadotropin-releasing hormone 1 (GnRH1), a peptide critical for reproduction. Using a novel behavioral paradigm, we show for the first time that subordinate males can become dominant within minutes of an opportunity to do so, displaying dramatic changes in body coloration and behavior. We also found that social opportunity induced expression of the immediate-early gene egr-1 in the anterior preoptic area, peaking in regions with high densities of GnRH1 neurons, and not in brain regions that express the related peptides GnRH2 and GnRH3. This genomic response did not occur in stable subordinate or stable dominant males even though stable dominants, like ascending males, displayed dominance behaviors. Moreover, egr-1 in the optic tectum and the cerebellum was similarly induced in all experimental groups, showing that egr-1 induction in the anterior preoptic area of ascending males was specific to this brain region. Because egr-1 codes for a transcription factor important in neural plasticity, induction of egr-1 in the anterior preoptic area by social opportunity could be an early trigger in the molecular cascade that culminates in enhanced fertility and other long-term physiological changes associated with dominance.

Routine maintenance and sustainability of existing social housing

Presently the UK social housing stock accounts for approximately 18% of the total UK housing with maintenance costs in the region of £1.25 billion per annum. In terms of its impact on the environment, housing is generally responsible for approximately 27% of the UK’s CO2 emissions. The extent to which routine maintenance (planned preventative and responsive) can be used as a vehicle to improve the overall sustainability (social, environmental and economic) of existing social housing is one focus of a 5 year EPSRC funded research programme. This paper reports on the findings of a series of in-depth interviews with social housing providers examining current social housing maintenance practices and attitudes towards sustainability. This paper will report the initial findings of interviews and outline a new performance based multi-criteria maintenance model from which an AHP hierarchy will be presented, integrating the principles of sustainability into maintenance strategies

Grading gems: Appraising the quality of research about social work and social care.

The impetus towards basing practice and policy decisions more explicitly on sound research requires tools to facilitate the systematic appraisal of the quality of research encompassing a diverse range of methods and designs. Five exemplar tools were developed and assessed in terms of their usefulness in selecting studies for inclusion in a systematic review. The widely used ‘hierarchy of evidence’ was adapted and used to appraise internal validity. Four tools were then developed to appraise the external validity dimensions of generalizability (two scales) and methods of data collection (two scales). Methods of combining the scores generated by each tool were explored. Qualitative and quantitative studies were appraised, not separated into two spheres but by using complementary tools developed to appraise different aspects of rigour. There was a high level of agreement between researchers in applying the tools to twenty-two studies on decision making by professionals about the longterm care of older people. The scales for internal validity and generalizability discriminated between the qualities of studies appropriately. The two tools to appraise data collection gave diverse results. Excluding studies that scored in the lowest category on any scale appeared to be the scoring system that was most justifiable. This approach is presented to stimulate debate about the practical application of the evidence-based initiative to social work and social care. This study may assist in developing clearer definitions and common language about appraising rigour that should further the process of selecting robust research for synthesis to inform practice and policy decisions.