COMMUNITY INTERVENTION TO DETER ILLEGAL PARKING IN SPACES RESERVED FOR THE PHYSICALLY DISABLED

Illegal use of reserved parking spaces represents a major obstacle to the independence and mobility of people with physical disabilities. Using an ABACACA reversal design, the daily rates of illegal parking in four reserved spaces were examined across three types of sign displays: (a) a vertical sign alone or in combination with (b) a message sign that announced the possibility of public surveillance or (c) a message dispenser device that announced community involvement and dispensed politely worded reminder notes. The average rate of illegal parking dropped from 51.3% during the initial vertical sign phase to 37.3% under the message sign condition, followed by an increase to 50.4% when the message was removed. Illegal parking decreased to 24.5% when the message dispensers were first used (followed by an increase to 57.0% when they were removed) and to 23.7% when the message dispenser condition was repeated. Illegal parking in the final vertical sign condition failed to return to previous levels (M = 37.3%).     

Godly play: an intervention for improving physical, emotional, and spiritual responses of chronically ill hospitalized children

An experimental two-group comparison pilot study of forty chronically ill hospitalized children was carried out at Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. Three Godly Play interventions were given to participants in the experimental group. Children in the control group did not participate but received a fairy tale book as a control. The sample was evenly distributed with twenty (20) males and twenty (20) females. Ages ranged from six (6) to fifteen (15) years and all participants were chronically ill. Five (5) variables were studied. Of the five (5), three (3) showed significant differences before and after Godly Play: the Staic-Trait Anxiety Scale (p = .049), the Children's Depression Inventory (p = .011), and the McBride Spirituality Assessment (p = .033). A marginal difference in parent satisfaction with hospital care of children in the experimental and control groups was also determined (p = .058). Findings suggest that Godly Play had a significant effect on anxiety, depression, and spirituality of children and support the idea that the parents of children who participated in Godly Play were more satisfied with hospital care than those parents whose children did not engage in Godly Play.     

Positive Psychotherapy’s Theory of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Capacity to Know</Emphasis> as Explication of Unconscious Contents

Positive Psychotherapy (PPT), founded by Dr. Nossrat Peseschkian, a Persian Bahá’í who has lived in Europe for many years, assumes the functional capacities of the unconscious to be ‘basic capacities.’ PPT makes a distinction between actual capacities and basic capacities. The basic capacities are the capacity to love and the capacity to know. These basic capacities are comprehensive categories underpinning primary and secondary capacities. Based upon Bahá’í teachings, this therapy accepts belief as an implicit aspect of healthy psychological functioning. Moreover, contents of the unconscious in PPT are the conflicts between capacities, and undifferentiated and undeveloped actual capacities.

Sanctifying Work: Effects on Satisfaction,Commitment, and Intent to Leave

Sanctification involves perceiving objects or events: (a) theistically by viewing them as having spiritual significance, or (b) nontheistically by viewing them as extraordinary and worthy of veneration and respect without any reference to a higher being. Previous research has found positive outcomes associated with sanctification, including increased satisfaction with marriage (Mahoney et al., 1999 Mahoney, A., Pargament, K. I., Jewell, T., Swank, A. B., Scott, E.Emery, E. 1999. Marriage and the spiritual realm: The role of proximal and distal religious constructs in marital functioning. Journal of Family Psychology, 13: 321–338. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), body image (Mahoney, Carels, et al., 2005 Mahoney, A., Carels, R. A., Pargament, K. I., Wachholtz, A., Leeper, L. E.Kaplar, M. 2005. The sanctification of the body and behavioral health patterns of college students. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15: 221–238. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) and sexual intercourse (Murray-Swank, Pargament, & Mahoney, 2002 Murray-Swank, N. A., Pargament, K. I. and Mahoney, A. 2002. At the crossroads of sexuality and spirituality: The sanctification of sex by college students. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15: 199–219.  [Google Scholar]) to name a few. This study extends these findings into the world of work by demonstrating that those who sanctify their jobs are more satisfied, more committed to their organization, and at the same time less likely to intend to leave.     

SIGNS AS DETERRENTS OF ILLEGAL PARKING IN SPACES DESIGNATED FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES

The percentage of illegal parking in spaces reserved for the physically disabled was monitored under three sign conditions: ground markings, ground markings plus vertical signs, and vertical signs containing a message that concerned citizens were watching the spaces. Illegal parking dropped from 69.3% of 102 vehicles during the initial ground-sign condition to 57.3% of 36 vehicles in the first vertical-sign condition. Following removal of the vertical signs, illegal parking increased to 68.7% of 43 vehicles. During the second vertical-sign condition, illegal parking dropped to 53.7% of 32 vehicles, followed by an increase to 69.5% of 68 vehicles after the vertical signs were removed. The lowest rate of illegal parking (27.1% of 78 vehicles) occurred in the vertical-sign-plus-message condition. Illegal parking subsequently increased to 34.6% (of 94 vehicles) when the message sign was removed, followed by an increase to 65.2% (of 105 vehicles) when the vertical signs were removed.     

The behavioral impact of an advertising campaign to promote safety belt use.

Safety belt use was observed at one restaurant during McDonald''s "Make It Click" promotional campaign. Following baseline, the program was monitored without intervention. During the final 2 weeks of the campaign an incentive strategy was added providing a large soft drink contingent on safety belt use. Safety belt use did not change from baseline levels before the incentive phase. The rate of belt use increased under contingent reward and declined during follow-up. The effects of a verbal prompt could not be assessed because of the almost nonexistent use of the "Make It Click" stickers throughout the study.     

Coaches’ Perspectives of a Negative Informal Role: The ‘Cancer’ within Sport Teams

Roles are the pattern of behaviors expected of individuals in a given social situation. The general purpose of the present study was to gain an understanding of the negative informal role of the cancer (i.e., an athlete who expresses negative emotions that spread destructively throughout a team) within sport groups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Canadian intercollegiate coaches to determine perceptions of the characteristics, emergence, consequences, and management of the cancer. Verification interviews supported the classification and interpretation of information obtained from the initial data collection. The responses from the coaches demonstrate the importance of the cancer in relation to group functioning and contribute to our understanding theoretically and also in relation to practice.