Poverty and experiences of social devaluation: a qualitative interview study of 25 long-standing recipients of social security payments

The purpose of this study is to explore experiences of social devaluation among people living in poverty. Twenty-five long-standing recipients of social security payments living in a city in Norway were interviewed. Most felt that people in their environment held low opinions of them regarding issues related to personality and moral integrity. Several factors play a role in the formation of such beliefs or assumptions: (a) impressions of prevailing views of the social category "the poor" and observations concerning devaluation of that category; (b) knowledge others are assumed to possess of the respondents' financial predicament; (c) perception of own social situation; (d) undesired behavior that signals low social status and low esteem; (e) actions by others that signal devaluation. Social devaluation is also experienced at the affective level: the sense of shame and guilt is widespread.     

Use of temperature variations to combat drivers' drowsiness

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the efficiency of temperature variations as a measure against drivers' drowsiness. A system for regulation of the air temperature in the cab was installed in two trucks. Irregular temperature reductions of about 8 degrees C were introduced. The periods between the temperature reductions varied among 5, 6, 7, and 8 min. The periods for the temperature reductions varied between 2, 4, 6, and 8 min. The system was tested with 6 drivers on 54 trips. The system was applied for periods varying between 30 to 300 min. Changes in wakefulness were analysed using subjective ratings by the lorry drivers. The application of the system significantly improved subjectively rated wakefulness. The wakefulness was rated with a questionnaire completed after 10 min. use of a cooling system and at the end of its use. Analysis showed individual differences in the usefulness of the system: 3 of the 6 truck drivers reported positive reactions to the use of the temperature cooling system.     

Comparing Quality of Life Instruments in a Population of Abused Women

The SF-36 Health Survey and the WHO Quality of Life Index—BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to study quality of life among women who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). The aim was to determine how these instruments correlated with each other and with physical and psychological IPV, in order to find the best instrument to use. IPV was measured using the Severity of Violence against Women Scale (SVAWS) and the Psychological Maltreatment of Women Index (PMWI). A self-administrated questionnaire was given to women able to understand Norwegian who were staying at a women’s shelter in Norway for more than 1 week. 87 of 212 women asked to participate completed the questionnaire. The physical acts of violence in SVAWS correlated significantly (P<0.001) with both the general health and bodily pain dimensions in SF-36 and global overall health (OH) in WHOQOL-BREF. Most correlations between WHOQOL-BREF and SF-36 were moderate. The WHOQOL-BREF domains explained 46% of the variance in OH and 40% of the variance in the global overall quality of life (OQOL). The SF-36 domains explained 66% of the variance in OH and 27% of OQOL. The mean WHOQOL-BREF and SF-36 scores were all low. The SF-36 correlated better with physical and psychological IPV in this population than the WHOQOL-BREF. The significant correlations between the OH, general health and bodily pain domains and acts of violence show the importance of including questions concerning bodily symptoms in determining the quality of life in a population of abused women.     

Moral Stress in International Humanitarian Aid and Rescue Operations: A Grounded Theory Study

Humanitarian aid professionals frequently encounter situations in which one is conscious of the morally appropriate action but cannot take it because of institutional obstacles. Dilemmas like this are likely to result in a specific kind of stress reaction at the individual level, labeled as moral stress. In our study, 16 individuals working with international humanitarian aid and rescue operations participated in semistructured interviews, analyzed in accordance with a grounded theory approach. A theoretical model of ethical decision making from a moral stress perspective was developed. The practical implications of the study are discussed.     

Less Religion,Better Society? On Religion,Secularity, and Prosperity in Scandinavia

Abstract : Phil Zuckerman argues in his book Society without God that Scandinavian secularity is strongly correlated to Scandinavian prosperity. In this article, we argue that such usage is premature. First, there are methodological issues that are not properly dealt with. Second, providing a causal narrative in addition to mere correlation is needed. Third, we argue that the causes of Scandinavian prosperity are found in close connection to Scandinavian Lutheranism.     

Teaching Engineering Ethics by Conceptual Design: The Somatic Marker Hypothesis

In 1998, a lead researcher at a Midwestern university submitted as his own a document that had 64 instances of strings of 10 or more words that were identical to a consultant’s masters thesis and replicated a data chart, all of whose 16 entries were identical to three and four significant figures. He was fired because his actions were wrong. Curiously, he was completely unable to see that his actions were wrong. This phenomenon is discussed in light of recent advances in neuroscience and used to argue for a change in the standard way engineering ethics is taught. I argue that engineering ethics is better taught in the form of a design course in order to maximize “somatic” learning.     

Intensive family therapy: a way to change family functioning in multi-problem families

TA single group treatment outcome study of intensive family therapy (IFT) is presented. One hundred and nine families from five Swedish units participated and results on family measures for eighty-six of these families are reported. This multi-centre study is the largest so far of this treatment model. The units offered a full-day multi-impact treatment programme for families during an intensive period of approximately one month preceded by a period of extensive planning. Measures used were the self-rating 'Family Climate' and Family Relation Scale and observer-rated CRS-Turbo and the Beavers' System Scales. Significant changes in the direction towards a better family climate and a higher family functioning occurred. Given the very difficult circumstances of these multi-problem families the results are considered promising.     

“Bipolar groupthink”: Assessing groupthink tendencies in authentic work groups

Research on regressive group processes such as Janis’ (1982) “groupthink” phenomenon has rarely focused on work groups in authentic settings. In this study, teams from six different organisations (n=308) were studied by using a groupthink questionnaire constructed in accordance with the symptoms of groupthink described by Janis. It was hypothesised that groupthink could be described as a bipolar construct identifying either an omnipotent or a depressive variant of a group’s delusions about its own and other groups’ features. The questionnaire showed reasonably good reliability as a whole and a factor analysis identified three factors in line with the proposed theoretical model in which the two different types of groupthink can be distinguished. We propose that any group might have a tendency or predisposition to react in either of the two directions during provocative circumstances. The six different organisations exhibited different types of groupthink to a varying degree. A religious sect was the one most characterised by omnipotent groupthink, while a technological company and a psychiatric team seemed to be the ones with most features of depressive groupthink.     

Reproduction and recognition in short-term visual memory

Reproduction and recognition in short-term visual memory was tested. In Experiment I, it was confirmed that the ability to reproduce visual figures in STM correlated with the ability to describe them. No such correlation was obtained when recall was by recognition. In Experiments II and III the mechanisms involved in the two types of recall were investigated by varying the character of the task interpolated in the retention interval. Results support the view that reproduction has a verbal component which is lacking in recognition.