Social Policies in Uruguay: A View from the Political Dimension of Community Psychology

This paper approaches social policy (SP) from the political perspective considered by Montero (Critical psychology: An introduction, Sage, London, pp 231–244, 1997; Community, Work and Family 1(1):65–78, 1998; Introducción a la Psicología Comunitaria. Desarrollo, conceptos y procesos, Paidos, Buenos Aires, pp 89–114, pp 255–284, 2004; Hacer para transformar. El método en la Psicología Comunitaria, Paidos, Buenos Aires, pp 229–256, 2004) as a paradigmatic dimension of community psychology. The field of SP, the characteristics of certain SPs and the role of SP in the production and reproduction of the subjectivities of those subject to them in Uruguay are described and an analysis given of the challenge posed by going from a compensatory or palliative to a transformative mode of SP. It is proposed that identification of, and understanding and intervention in, psychosocial processes in the field are the keys to maximising the likelihood of SPs assuming a transformative character. Psychosocial aspects and participatory processes implicit in the relationship between the State and civil society are discussed. Finally, some orientations for community psychological intervention in this field of action are proposed.     

Effectiveness of a consultation intervention to promote tobacco control policies in Northwest Indian tribes: Integrating experimental evaluation and service delivery

A quasi-experimental replication of an intervention for promoting tobacco control policies in Northwest Indian tribes is described and the process of intervention including issues of collaboration among research institutions and Indian organizations is discussed. The policy intervention was evaluated using a pretest-posttest design wherein 20 tribes that had served as wait-list controls now received the intervention. The intervention comprised a tribal representative attending a kickoff orientation; follow-up visits to the tribes; distribution of tobacco policy workbooks; and phone call consultations. Policy status and stringency were assessed by means of telephone interviews with two key contacts per tribe, and by a count of enacted policies. There were significant pre-post changes in the primary outcome measure, a composite summary score of tobacco policy stringency, and changes were also reflected in enacted policies. The intervention effects observed were similar to those found in the prior randomized trial and suggest a robust, disseminable intervention. Much of the success achieved was attributed to the role of an Indian organization in planning the project and implementing the intervention and evaluation protocols.     

Judging psychopathology: Expectation and contrast

An experiment was performed to assess the role of expectations in psychosocial contrast effects. Subjects were initially presented with a series of word definitions that were either high or low pathology; their task was to indicate those definitions that had been produced by schizophrenic (vs nonschizophrenic) patients. After this “induction” series, subjects were presented with a common “test” series that included both definitions and handwriting samples; they evaluated the degree of psychopathology that was implied by each item. Some subjects were required to state their expectations in connection with the test items. First they attempted to guess the percentage of schizophrenics in the overall test series; second, before being presented with each test item, they guessed whether the patient in question was (or was not) schizophrenic. Subjects' expectations were consistent with the induction series to which they were assigned; those assigned to the high-pathology induction expected the test series to include more schizophrenic patients than those in the low-pathology group. Nonetheless, despite these expectations, subjects showed a contrast effect in their evaluations of the test definitions (but not in evaluating the handwriting samples). That is, subjects from the low-pathology induction group rated the test definitions as being more pathological than did those in the high-pathology condition. Within-group correlations indicated that the subjects' expectations were directly related to subsequent judgments. A two-path model is discussed, relating (a) the respondents' induction group assignment, (b) his/her expectations, and (c) subsequent test judgments.     

THE INSULAR MOTHER: HER PROBLEMS IN PARENT-CHILD TREATMENT

Eighteen mother-child dyads were referred for psychological help because of the children's oppositional behaviors and the mothers' aversive reactions to the children. All dyads were from low income families in which the mothers reported themselves to be relatively isolated from social contact in their communities. Following a baseline phase, the mothers were trained to modify their children's oppositional behaviors through time out and a point system. Fourteen of the dyads were observed in three phases of the study: baseline, parent training or treatment, and a 1-year follow-up period. In Phases one and two, child opposition and mother aversive reactions to the children were measured twice weekly by professional observers in the home settings. During Phase three (follow-up), these observations occurred twice per month. In addition, the mothers' self-reported contacts with people in their communities were obtained immediately after each observation. Results showed significant improvement in the mother-child problems during the parent training or treatment phase. However, the problems returned to baseline levels of occurrence during the follow-up phase. The self-report findings indicated that number of mother contacts with friends was an inverse predictor of these problems. On days marked by high proportions of friend contacts, mother-child problems were lower in frequency than on days marked by low proportions of friend contacts. These correlational findings were taken to suggest that a mother's extra-family social contacts may influence her child interaction patterns at home. This possibility was discussed as a factor in the long-term success of parent training as a treatment strategy.     

IMPROVING EVOLUTION ADVOCACY: TRANSLATING VACCINE INTERVENTIONS TO THE EVOLUTION WARS

When considering the persuasive characteristics and prospective influences of Darwin-skeptic mass media, uncertainties remain about how to reciprocally promote evolutionary theory to skeptical audiences. This study aims to improve evolution advocacy by translating some of the most successful methods of science endorsement to Evolution Wars contexts. In particular, strategies used to address vaccine hesitancies and enhance immunization uptake policies are reinterpreted for those seeking to improve pro-evolution communications to religious publics. What results are three recommendation categories described as General Guiding Principles, Proximate Interventions, and Auxiliary Interventions.     

Religiosity Reduces Sexual Aggression and Coercion in a Longitudinal Cohort of College Men: Mediating Roles of Peer Norms,Promiscuity, and Pornography

Extensive literature suggests that religiosity is a protective factor in reducing a number of deviant behaviors, including sexual aggression (SA). Whereas previous research focused on the role of risky alcohol consumption in mediating the relationship between religiosity and SA, this study explores the hypothesized meditational paths from religiosity to SA and technology‐based coercive behavior (TBC) through peer norms, pornography consumption, and promiscuity. Findings from a four‐year longitudinal study of male college students suggest that peer norms and promiscuity mediate the relationship between religiosity and both outcome measures, while pornography consumption mediates the relationship between religiosity and TBC. These findings may inform ongoing practice and future research into possible mechanisms by which problematic sexual behaviors may be influenced.     

公共政策制定程序对政策可接受性的影响

根据程序公正理论提出公共政策制定程序与公众对政策的可接受性的关系问题。研究一通过访谈不同领域的学者,初步揭示了公共政策及其制定程序存在的问题——对公共问题不敏感,解决问题的措施成效低。研究二用问卷调查公众对一个制定中的公共政策的态度,恰与政策制定者的愿望相反,公众并不认可政府解决问题的设想,也不认同政府举行的听证会的结果。研究三设计了一个非等组前后测准实验,在两个互联网站的电子公告板上比较根据不同的公共政策制定程序的政策的可接受性。结果证明,制定政策时了解公众态度可增强政策的针对性,提高解决问题措施的成效和可接受性     

PHILOSOPHICAL THEORIES OF PRIVACY: IMPLICATIONS FOR AN ADEQUATE ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY

Abstract: This essay critically examines some classic philosophical and legal theories of privacy, organized into four categories: the nonintrusion, seclusion, limitation, and control theories of privacy. Although each theory includes one or more important insights regarding the concept of privacy, I argue that each falls short of providing an adequate account of privacy. I then examine and defend a theory of privacy that incorporates elements of the classic theories into one unified theory: the Restricted Access/Limited Control (RALC) theory of privacy. Using an example involving data‐mining technology on the Internet, I show how RALC can help us to frame an online privacy policy that is sufficiently comprehensive in scope to address a wide range of privacy concerns that arise in connection with computers and information technology.     

Exploitative,irresistible, and coercive offers: why research participants should be paid well or not at all

This paper begins with the assumption that it is morally problematic when people in need are offered money in exchange for research participation if the amount offered is unfair. Such offers are called ‘coercive’, and the degree of coerciveness is determined by the offer's potential to cause exploitation and its irresistibility. Depending on what view we take on the possibility to compensate for the sacrifices made by research participants, a wish to avoid ‘coercive offers’ leads to policy recommendations concerning payment for participation. For sacrifices considered compensable, we ought to offer either no payment or payment at a level deemed fair, while for sacrifices deemed incompensable, we always ought to offer no payment because as compensation appears and increases, so too does coercion. This article provides a model for thinking of the way in which degrees of exploitativeness, irresistibility, and coerciveness interact with the size of the reward for compensable and incompensable cases. The conclusions are of particular relevance in contexts where potential research participants are poor or in other ways lack reasonably good options, as is often the case when international pharmaceutical companies or researchers based in the Global North place clinical trials in the Global South.     

An Approach for Determining the Mix between Human and Automated Service Providers

With the growing popularity of self‐service technologies (SST), businesses have to determine how to combine traditional human service with SST technologies. These mix problems have not received adequate attention in the research literature. This paper offers a decision model for solving mix problems between human service channels and SSTs. The decision problem cannot be determined as a traditional max or min problem and it is fuzzy. In fuzzy problems, the decision maker (DM) is considered as the focal point with the relevant knowledge and preferences and therefore, the objective is to maximize the DM's preferences. This paper develops a decision support system for eliciting a DM's value function when the service channels are considered to be substitutes, but when the rate of substitution may change and then uses a linear‐fractional model to fit the DM's data and optimize the DM's preferences. A service mix problem for a grocery store with human service providers and SSTs is used to demonstrate how the decision model can be employed to analyze and solve service mix decision making problems. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.