Height and Happiness in a Developing Country

This paper analyzes the Indonesian Family Life Survey to estimate the relationship between height and happiness in a developing country, Indonesia. This paper finds that tall men and women are happier than their short counterparts and that the magnitude of the relationship is large. More important, a parsimonious set of channels is identified to substantially explain the relationship between height and happiness: education and earnings for men, and education and relative position of earnings for women. However, for men but not for women, height still exhibits a non-negligible relationship with happiness even after controlling for an extensive array of covariates.     

Stressors and Coping Strategies of State University Students in a Developing Country

The study examined stressors and coping strategies of 281 Social Sciences students at the Midlands State University in Zimbabwe (49% female, 51% male). A questionnaire was used to collect data. The results showed that the 7 most common stressors were: finance, reading resources, accommodation, food, transport, inadequate infrastructure and lecturer related problems. The students mentioned 34 coping strategies that were categorized and then analysed for effectiveness. The effects of sex, residence status and academic year differences were evaluated using Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis rank order analysis of variance. There were no significant differences in coping strategies for stressors by demographic variables.     

Perceptions of Nano Ethics among Practitioners in a Developing Country: A Case of India

Many developing countries have allocated significant amounts of funding for nanoscience and nanotechnology research, yet compared to developed countries, there has been little study, discussion, or debate over social and ethical issues. Using in-depth interviews, this study focuses on the perceptions of practitioners, that is, scientists and engineers, in one developing country: India. The disciplinary background, departmental affiliation, types of institutions, age, and sex of the practitioners varied but did not appear to affect their responses. The results show that 95% of the Indian practitioners working in the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology research recognized ethical issues in this research area, and 60% of them could offer specific examples, which included possible ill effects on environment and human, use as a weapon, hype, professional ethics, laboratory testing on animals, cyborgs, widening the gap between rich and poor, self-replication, and longevity of human life. The results may offer opportunities for future cross-cultural research, as well as offer examples that can be used to raise the awareness of other practitioners in India and elsewhere regarding the importance of ethical issues.     

Objectified Body Consciousness in a Developing Country: A Comparison of Mothers and Daughters in the US and Nepal

Self-objectification (Fredrickson and Roberts 1997) has been related to negative psychological consequences in U.S. women. However, little cross-cultural research has been done. We compared convenience samples of American and Nepali women on two measures of self-objectification. Pairs of Nepali mothers and daughters (N?=?23) and pairs of U.S. mothers and daughters (N?=?24) completed a quantitative and a qualitative measure of self-objectification. Cultural and generational differences were found. Nepali women engaged in less self-surveillance than U.S. women. Older women engaged in less self-surveillance than younger women. Women in both cultures had high beliefs in their ability to control the body. An additional dimension of body consciousness, termed Functionality, was particularly important to younger Nepali women.     

Health and Subjective Wellbeing in Algeria: A Developing Country in Transition

This paper explores the effects of health on wellbeing in a sample of 2,909 Algerians who participated in a survey using the Personal Wellbeing Index in 2005. The survey took place 3 years after the end of a violent civil war and the start of an economic recovery based on oil and gas. Survey participants were divided into two groups on the basis of their yes/no responses to a question about the existence of a chronic health condition. Their scores were then compared for the Personal Wellbeing Index, objective self-report health questions, and additional items relating to culture, environment and social networks. Correlational analyses and regressions were conducted to explore the relationship between health status, measures of health, and subjective wellbeing. Significant differences are found between the two groups in feelings of pain, anxiety and level of normal sleep, which further validate the comparison. The results show a marginal difference in Personal Wellbeing Index score in favour of the healthier group, due principally to the effect of the Health Domain. Moreover, the healthier group showed significantly higher satisfaction with marriage, friendship and family relationships, which raises the question of the direction of causation between the state of health and social relationships. Findings are discussed in relation to health provision in Algeria and previous SWB research.     

我国科学技术与社会主义意识形态面临的发展性课题

科学技术与社会主义意识形态的关系是一个互动共进的关系。现代科学技术的发展和引进必定推进我国社会主义意识形态的发展,强化其功能,改变其作用方式。社会主义意识形态必须为我国科学技术发展提供价值导向、人文动力并克服消极的思想阻抗。     

Understanding Youth Smoking Behavior Through Modeling the Smoking Decision Process: Lessons Learned From a Developing Country1

The prevalence of youth smoking is well reported in the literature. However, most research so far has been conducted in developed countries, leaving the incidence of youth smoking in developing and less developed countries unexplored and to the mercy of the tobacco industry. The present study forms a prototype called the smoking decision process model on youth smoking behavior, which draws from existing literature. Through this model, researchers, health practitioners, and anti‐smoking activist groups in various parts of the developing world can acquire a more holistic view of the factors behind youth smoking behavior in their respective societies and, in turn, focus on the most appropriate means to combat smoking. A case study application of the model is presented in this study, involving Cypriot youth 12 to 18 years of age.     

The Role of Heavy Alcohol Use in the Developmental Process of Desistance in Dating Aggression during Adolescence

The current study examined the role of heavy alcohol use in the developmental process of desistance in physical dating aggression during adolescence. Using longitudinal data spanning grades 8 through 12 we tested the hypotheses that (a) higher levels of early heavy alcohol use would be associated with decreased deceleration from dating aggression during late adolescence and (b) higher levels of heavy alcohol use during time-points in late adolescence would be contemporaneously associated with elevated levels of dating aggression at those same time points. Contrary to expectations, findings indicate that the effects of both early and continuing heavy alcohol use on dating aggression were strong during early adolescence but tended to diminish over time. Unexpectedly, the contemporaneous effects of alcohol use on dating aggression were stronger in the spring than in the fall semesters. Implications for prevention and for understanding developmental relations between the two behaviors are discussed.     

Developing Sexual Agency: Rethinking Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Theories for the Twenty-First Century

Neo-liberal society asserts that adults should be independent and responsible for themselves, and that children and adolescents should be dependent on their parents. The earlier construction of the concept of adolescence makes this seem obviously true. Yet if we remember that “adolescence” was part of a project of gender, race, and class construction, it becomes easier to ask whether adolescence is a meaningful concept and a stage of life or whether it continues to be a component of an ideology that relies on the construction of “others.” In this chapter, I suggest that adolescence plays the latter role, and that although the naturalization of adolescence is particularly dangerous for groups like queer youth who are at the margins of society, it is dangerous for all young people because it limits sexual agency. This is particularly important because increasingly society requires that young people consider their futures not from the assumption that they will move into well-defined roles, but with the assumption that they will need to define new ways of relating.

Rethinking desire: the objet petit a in Lacanian theory

The concept of the objet petit a is central to Lacan's theory of desire, which arguably represents his major contribution to psychoanalysis. It is an expression of the lack inherent in human beings, whose incompleteness and early helplessness produce a quest for fulfillment beyond the satisfaction of biological needs. The objet petit a is a fantasy that functions as the cause of desire; as such, it determines whether desire will be expressed within the limits of the pleasure principle or "beyond," in pursuit of an unlimited jouissance, an impossible and even deadly enjoyment. Parallels between the objet petit a and Winnicott's transitional object are explored and its functions illustrated through analysis of Pedro Almodovar's film Talk to Her. A clinical case is presented in which the question of desire seemed crucial.     

Job Stress and Employee Well-Being Among Airline Personnel in an Asian Developing Country

This study examined the relationship between job stress and employees' well-being in a developing country in Asia. Job stress was operationalized in terms of perceived experiences at jobs which were chronic in nature. Employee well-being was operationalized in terms of organizational commitment, job involvement, and job satisfaction. Data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire from 150 employees working in a national carrier in a developing country in Asia. Pearson correlation and moderated multiple regression were used to analyze the data. Job stress was significantly related to organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Moderated multiple regression did not support the role of gender as a moderator of the stress–outcome relationship.     

Childhood Predictors of Desistance and Level of Persistence in Offending in Early Onset Offenders

Childhood predictors of adolescent offending careers were studied in 310 boys from the longitudinal Pittsburgh Youth Study who started offending prior to age 12. Three main groups were distinguished: serious persisters (n = 95), moderately serious persisters (n = 117), desisters (n = 63), and an intermittent group (n = 35). Group membership was predicted using risk and promotive factors measured in childhood. Serious and moderately serious persisters could be distinguished well from desisters (29.2% and 32.3% explained variance). Distinction between the two persister groups proved somewhat more difficult (20.9% explained variance). More serious persisters than desisters showed disruptive behavior, while moderately serious persisters fell in between. Further, more moderately serious persisters were marked by social disadvantage. Family involvement, small family and positive peer relationships were promotive of desistance. Concluding, early onset offenders show considerable heterogeneity in their adolescent offending careers which seem to some extent to be predicted by different sets of risk and promotive factors.     

Desistance in the Transition to Adulthood: The Roles of Marriage,Military, and Gender

Research is needed on desistance from crime comparatively by gender. This research uses a national longitudinal sample of youth transitioning to adulthood. Drawing on Sampson and Laub's Age-Graded Theory of Informal Social Control, social bonds found in marriage and military involvement are examined to determine if they decrease delinquency over time. The results for the full sample revealed that marriage but not military involvement led to desistance. However, gender sub-sample analyses further showed military enlistment led females, but not males, to desist from crime. Implications and future research aims are discussed.     

A Qualitative Investigation of Gang Presence and Sexual Harassment in a Middle School

Our goal with this qualitative case study was to explore the relationship between gang membership/presence of gangs in a middle school on the experiences of sexual harassment from the perspectives of both bullies and victims. This study sought to explore the characteristics of sexual harassment taking place in one middle school with a gang presence, the relationship of gang membership/presence to the types of sexual harassment experienced or witnessed, and student perceptions of the influence of gangs on sexual harassment. Thompson Middle School enrolls approximately 440 students. The surrounding community has more than 20 gangs with 2000 known gang members. Data were collected from 10 student interviews and unstructured observations from researcher field notes to capture experiences from one middle school. Analysis was performed using a modified van Kaam approach. Resulting themes centered on what students knew about sexual harassment, the types of sexual harassment they witnessed at their school, and reasons why they thought sexual harassment was occurring with such frequency. Sexual harassment appears to be heightened when there is a gang presence and visible gang activity. Incidents appear to happen more in the ‘open’ rather than hidden. The pressure to give into sexual advances by gang members appears to be especially heightened for girls. The types of sexual harassment acts described by the students as highly invasive with many classified as same-sex acts as initiated by the gang members. Sexual harassment prevention programs in schools with a gang presence need to incorporate discussions related to gang influence.     

Pilot Evaluation of a University-Based Training in Trauma-Informed Services for Gang Intervention Workers

The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of a course designed to bring trauma-informed practices into community-based intervention programming for gang-involved youth and families. There have been no formally evaluated trauma trainings for gang intervention workers to date. Thirty gang intervention workers completed a University-based course on trauma, which aimed to raise the level of knowledge regarding trauma exposure and its effects on youth, increase intervention workers’ confidence in their ability to identify and respond to posttraumatic stress reactions among clients, and build resilience among staff. Pre-post results revealed that participants significantly improved in their knowledge related to trauma and confidence in their ability to respond to trauma among clients. Participants also rated themselves significantly higher on these domains compared to gang intervention workers who did not take the course. Participants rated the course positively on dimensions that are associated with staff members’ willingness to implement evidence-based interventions following training. The findings indicate a number of important recommendations for supporting gang intervention workers and integrating trauma-informed practices into gang intervention services.     

A Mobile Colonoscopic Unit for Lynch Syndrome: Trends in Surveillance Uptake and Patient Experiences of Screening in a Developing Country

The Genetic and Endoscopic Surveillance Clinic is an annual outreach service offering accessible colonoscopic surveillance to known families with Lynch syndrome living in remote areas of the Western and Northern Cape Province of South Africa. Unfortunately attendance at this outreach clinic has been declining over several years and fewer than a quarter of participants, attending for surveillance, have been adherent with all their recommended screening appointments. Concerns exist for non-adherent individuals as screening can prevent colorectal cancer by removing the precancerous lesion or enabling the treatment of a malignancy at an early stage. This study explored the experience of surveillance from both the non-adherers’ and adherers’ perspectives and identified unique factors affecting attendance at the outreach clinic. Rates of compliance are calculated for 191 mutation-positive cases of Lynch syndrome, using strict attendance criteria, and compared to figures obtained from self-reported attendance. Non-compliance was under-reported and compliance was exaggerated when basing data on self-reported adherence to recommendations. Specific characteristics of the outreach clinic affecting compliance are identified and recommendations are made to facilitate improvements to the service. These improvements can result in increased compliance with screening regimens and ultimately reduce cancer-related mortality.