Relationship Among Religious Orientation,Individual Attributes,and Presence of People in Urban Public Space

Journal of Religion and Health - The purpose of this paper is to study the rate of presence in an urban space and how it is related to people’s intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientations...     

Physical and emotional stresses of technology on employees in the workplace

This article presents how today's technology permeates the planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling functions of human resources management. Certain industries or occupations are more reliant on technology and thus impose more physical and emotional stressors on employees. The effects of physical stressors and the physical manifestations of emotional stressors can expose employers to additional liability. The authors make 8 propositions in this study and provide supporting research with additional information. How employers can be proactive by encouraging task‐focused coping with stress is also discussed.     

At-Risk Marriages after Compulsory Premarital Testing and Counseling for β-Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease in Saudi Arabia, 2005–2006

Results from a screening program for sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia suggest about 90% of couples in Saudi Arabia at risk of having affected children still decide to marry. This study determined the rate of at-risk marriages and identified several factors that may prevent at risk couples from marrying. The marriage status of 934 at-risk couples was determined from original screening program records in the Ministry of Health. Of 934 couples, 824 married (88.2%) and 110 (11.8%) did not. A case–controlled study was conducted on 104 couples who did not marry (cases) and 478 couples who did marry (controls) in order to assess relationships between various cultural and social factors and marriage decisions. In the case-controled study, 28.8% of couples (30/104) who did not marry (cases) knew their disease or carrier status before screening compared to 18% (86/478) of those who married (controls). Reasons couples gave for proceeding with marriage included: wedding plans could not be canceled, and fear of social stigma. Couples who did not marry reported being influenced by prior knowledge of their disease or carrier status and whether they or family members were affected. Approximately half of the cases and controls (n = 270, 46.4%) thought it best to undergo screening before proceeding with the engagement and wedding plans. Most couples received no advice to participate in genetic counseling services. Marriage decisions for the small number who received genetic counseling (n = 168, 27.6%) did not differ significantly from those that received no counseling. Recommendations are made for improving the effectiveness of this screening program.     

Analyzing Youth’s Activity Patterns in Campus Open Spaces Depending on Their Personal and Social Needs

Campus open spaces play an important role in meeting socialization and personal development needs of youth. Various studies have shown that space use of youth is different from that of general society: particularly their psychosocial nature and the activities they carry out toward this nature differ from those of the children and adults. However, only a limited number of studies have produced findings on the needs of youth toward obtaining gains related to development of psychosocial nature required to carry out the activities aimed at meeting such needs. This study analyzed the use of campus open spaces by youth. The most preferred 3 places in study area have been chosen, and with behavioral observation, the activity types occurred in these places were identified. Which of these activities are for personal development and which of them are for social development were determined.     

Trauma in Resettled Iraqi Refugees: Differences between Those Seeking Psychological Treatment and Those Not Seeking Psychological Treatment

Psychological distress experienced by resettling refugees has been well documented, with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression being prevalent outcomes. This study examined psychological and physiological measures of trauma exposure in 2 groups of Iraqi refugees resettled in Australia, those seeking psychological treatment (n = 25) versus those not seeking treatment (n = 22). Data from a group of healthy sex- and age-matched controls (n = 32) were collected to facilitate norm comparisons for physiological arousal. Continuous recording of electrocardiogram data examined resting heart rate (HR). Refugees seeking treatment had significantly higher levels of PTSD symptomology and depression levels compared to non-treatment-seeking refugees; however, there was no difference in the number of trauma events endorsed. Finally, resting HR was significantly higher in both refugee groups compared with healthy controls; however, there was no difference between the refugee groups. Clinical consideration of this excessive trauma exposure and elevated autonomic arousal is warranted.     

The impact of multiculturalism on immigrant helping

We examined how immigrants' acculturation style (multiculturalism versus assimilation) affects the host society's willingness to help immigrants. The results from this experiment supported our expectations in showing that multiculturalism triggered less immigrant helping than assimilation, but only among high national identifiers. In addition, immigrants pursuing multiculturalism were perceived as less warm than those pursuing assimilation, and perceived warmth mediated the interaction effect of identification and acculturation style on helping. Whereas help could improve immigrants' integration into the host society and reduce the degree to which the latter views immigrants as threatening, these results ironically demonstrate that immigrants who are viewed as most threatening receive the least amount of help.     

Alston's Anti‐Justificationism as a Strategy to Resolve the Conflict Between Internalism and Externalism

After a justificationist period, William P. Alston has tried to eliminate justification from the epistemology of belief. He introduced a list of epistemic desiderata all of which contribute to the positive status of beliefs and none of which has an exclusive and decisive role so that it could be isolated as the property of being justified. Careful examination reveals, however, that this list includes fewer desiderata than advertised. Truth‐conducive desiderata are most important for Alston, and these are five; during his discussion, however, Alston reduces these desiderata to only one, the reliability of process, which has an externalist character. Besides this desideratum, there is one other group of desiderata, all of which have an internalist character. What Alston has in fact done, then, through the presentation of his anti‐justificationist list, is to separate externalist and internalist elements for the positive status of belief and to give an independent role to each. Since Alston regards the truth‐conducive group as the most important, however, and since he has failed to show a real pluralism in this group, we may conclude that he continues to have a monistic approach to the evaluation of beliefs, which belies his alleged pluralism.