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Advocates
Kinds of Advocates Selected AbstractsGOD's ADVOCATES: CHRISTIAN THINKERS IN CONVERSATION by Rupert Shortt, Darton, Longman & Todd, London, 2005, Pp. xii + 284, £12.95 pbk.NEW BLACKFRIARS, Issue 1008 2006Andrew Davison No abstract is available for this article. [source] Reductions in Costly Healthcare Service Utilization: Findings from the Care Advocate ProgramJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 7 2006George R. Shannon PhD OBJECTIVES: To determine whether a telephone care-management intervention for high-risk Medicare health maintenance organization (HMO) health plan enrollees can reduce costly medical service utilization. DESIGN: Randomized, controlled trial measuring healthcare services utilization over three 12-month periods (pre-, during, and postintervention). SETTING: Two social service organizations partnered with a Medicare HMO and four contracted medical groups in southern California. PARTICIPANTS: Eight hundred twenty-three patients aged 65 and older; eligibility was determined using an algorithm to target older adults with high use of insured healthcare services. INTERVENTION: After assessment, members in the intervention group were offered mutually agreed upon referrals to home- and community-based services (HCBS), medical groups, or Medicare HMO health plan and followed monthly for 1 year. MEASUREMENTS: Insured medical service utilization was measured across three 12-month periods. Acceptance and utilization of Care Advocate (CA) referrals were measured during the 12-month intervention period. RESULTS: CA intervention members were significantly more likely than controls to use primary care physician services (odds ratio (OR)=2.05, P<.001), and number of hospital admissions (OR=0.43, P<.01) and hospital days (OR=0.39, P<.05) were significantly more stable for CA group members than for controls. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that a modest intervention linking older adults to HCBS may have important cost-saving implications for HMOs serving community-dwelling older adults with high healthcare service utilization. Future studies, using a national sample, should verify the role of telephone care management in reducing the use of costly medical services. [source] Become a Legislative AdvocateNURSING FOR WOMENS HEALTH, Issue 2 2002Article first published online: 9 MAR 200 No abstract is available for this article. [source] How to be a Value-Free Advocate of Laissez FaireAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Ludwig von Mises's Solution Ludwig von Mises is often regarded as a "champion" of laissez faire. This characterization seems to contradict Mises's clear statement that economics is value free. The aim of this paper is to resolve this apparent contradiction. We accomplish this by distinguishing, as Mises did, between the advocacy of specific laissez-faire policies and the advocacy of a laissez-faire ideology vis-à-vis the alternative ideologies of socialism and interventionism. Mises argued that the logic of a value-free economics could be used to show that socialist and interventionist policies would not achieve a goal that the socialists and interventionists implicitly or explicitly aim to achieve, that of progress in terms of material wealth for the members of society. Thus, Mises resolved the contradiction by shifting the debate from the welfare analysis of particular policies to a logical analysis of the ends of a particular ideology and the means available to achieve those ends. In a seminal paper in neo-Austrian economics, Murray Rothbard criticized Mises. We analyze Rothbard's argument partly as a means of elucidating Mises's views and argue that Rothbard misinterpreted Mises and quoted him out of context. Rothbard failed to adequately support his claim that Mises held the beliefs that Rothbard attributed to him. Moreover, Rothbard's paper undermined the value freedom that Mises regarded as a crucial characteristic of economics. [source] The Failure of Popular Justice in Uganda: Local Councils and Women's Property RightsDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2001Lynn Khadiagala Advocates of alternative dispute resolution argue that informal, community-based institutions are better placed to provide inexpensive, expedient and culturally appropriate forms of justice. In 1988, the Ugandan government extended judicial capacity to local councils (LCs) on similar grounds. Drawing on attempts by women in southwestern Uganda to use the LCs to adjudicate property disputes, this article investigates why popular justice has failed to protect the customary property rights of women. The gap between theory and practice arises out of misconceptions of community. The tendency to ascribe a morality and autonomy to local spaces obscures the ability of elites to use informal institutions for purposes of social control. In the light of women's attempts to escape the ,rule of persons' and to seek out arbiters whom they associate with the ,rule of law', it can be argued that the utility of the state to ordinary Ugandans should be reconsidered. [source] Decentralisation, Governance and Health-System Performance: ,Where You Stand Depends on Where You Sit'DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 6 2010Andrew Mitchell Advocates of local government often argue that when decentralisation is accompanied by adequate mechanisms of accountability, particularly those responsive to local preferences, improved service delivery will result. From the perspective of the health sector, the appropriate degree of decentralisation and the necessary mechanisms of accountability depend upon the achievement of health system goals. Drawing on evidence from six countries (Bolivia, Chile, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Uganda), this article comes to the conclusion that a balance between centralisation of some functions and decentralisation of others, along with improved mechanisms of accountability, is needed to achieve health system objectives. [source] When Popular Participation Won't Improve Service Provision: Primary Health Care in UgandaDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 2 2005Frederick Golooba-Mutebi Advocates of participatory approaches to service delivery see devolution as key to empowering people to take charge of their own affairs. Participation is portrayed as guaranteeing the delivery of services that are in line with user preferences. It is assumed that people are keen to participate in public affairs, that they possess the capacity to do so, and that all they need is opportunities. Using evidence from ethnographic research in Uganda, this article questions these views. It shows that, to succeed in the long term, devolution and participation must take place in the context of a strong state, able to ensure consistent regulation, and a well-informed public backed up by a participatory political culture. [source] What are the policy lessons of National Alcohol Prohibition in the United States, 1920,1933?ADDICTION, Issue 7 2010Wayne Hall ABSTRACT National alcohol prohibition in the United States between 1920 and 1933 is believed widely to have been a misguided and failed social experiment that made alcohol problems worse by encouraging drinkers to switch to spirits and created a large black market for alcohol supplied by organized crime. The standard view of alcohol prohibition provides policy lessons that are invoked routinely in policy debates about alcohol and other drugs. The alcohol industry invokes it routinely when resisting proposals to reduce the availability of alcohol, increase its price or regulate alcohol advertising and promotion. Advocates of cannabis law reform invoke it frequently in support of their cause. This paper aims: (i) to provide an account of alcohol prohibition that is more accurate than the standard account because it is informed by historical and econometric analyses; (ii) to describe the policy debates in the 1920s and 1930s about the effectiveness of national prohibition; and (iii) to reflect on any relevance that the US experience with alcohol prohibition has for contemporary policies towards alcohol. It is incorrect to claim that the US experience of National Prohibition indicates that prohibition as a means of regulating alcohol is always doomed to failure. Subsequent experience shows that partial prohibitions can produce substantial public health benefits at an acceptable social cost, in the absence of substantial enforcement. [source] The alcohol industry and trade agreements: a preliminary assessmentADDICTION, Issue 2009Donald W. Zeigler ABSTRACT Aims To review trade agreements, their relation to alcohol control policy and examine the role of the alcohol industry in supporting and attempting to influence trade policy. Methods Review of peer review, public health advocacy literature (both pro and con on free trade), business, press and government documents on trade agreements, assess current and potential challenges by trade agreements to alcohol control policy and investigate the means and extent of industry influence in trade agreements. Findings ,Free' trade agreements reduce trade barriers, increase competition, lower prices and promote alcohol consumption. However, international treaties, negotiated by free trade experts in close consultation with corporate lobbyists and without significant, if any, public health input, governments and corporations contain significant provisions that will result in increased alcohol consumption and may challenge public health measures of other nations as constraints on trade. Conversely, alcohol control measures seek to reduce access and consumption, raise prices and restrict advertising and product promotion. The prospect is for increased alcohol consumption and concomitant problems throughout the world. Conclusions Trade agreements challenge effective alcohol control policies. The alcohol industry seeks to influence agreements and can be expected to work through trade agreements to reduce tariffs, increase market access and seek to restrict effective domestic regulations. Further research is needed on the impact of trade agreements and the ongoing role of the industry. Advocates must recognize the inherent conflicts between unbridled free trade and public health, work to exclude alcohol from trade agreements, counter industry influence and protect alcohol control policies. [source] PERSPECTIVE: SEVEN REASONS (NOT) TO NEGLECT NICHE CONSTRUCTIONEVOLUTION, Issue 9 2006Kevin N. Laland Abstract ,The niche-construction perspective within evolutionary biology places emphasis on the changes that organisms bring about in their selective environments. Advocates of this viewpoint argue that there is both accuracy and utility in treating niche construction as an evolutionary process in its own right, rather than merely as a product of evolution. Here we discuss and assess seven putative weaknesses of the niche-construction perspective. Niche construction has been neglected or rejected on the grounds that (1) it is not prevalent, (2) its study is not tractable, (3) it is not a process, (4) it is caused by natural selection, (5) it does not change our understanding of evolution in any fundamental way, (6) it does not bring about adaptation, and (7) it is not a single phenomenon. In each case, we critically evaluate the theoretical standing of these arguments and consider the empirical evidence that can be brought to bear on the debate. We conclude that none of these are strong criticisms of the niche-construction perspective and maintain that there are compelling reasons for treating niche construction as a major evolutionary process. [source] Between EU Requirements, Competitive Politics, and National Traditions: Re,creating Regions in the Accession Countries of Central and Eastern EuropeGOVERNANCE, Issue 4 2002Martin Brusis The article studies the impact of the European Union (EU) on the reforms of regional administration in Central and East European (CEE) accession countries. It analyzes the motives, process and outcomes of regional, or mesolevel administrative reforms in five countries,Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia,considering whether the EU has shaped these reforms to a higher degree than in relation to its incumbent member states. The article finds that the EU Commission's interest in regional self,governments with a substantial fiscal and legal autonomy has provided an additional rationale and an incentive to re,create regional self,governments. Advocates of regional self,government and an institutionalization of regions in the accession countries have referred to European trends and (perceived) EU expectations of regionalization. Thus, the Commission and the preaccession framework have become catalysts for a process in which most CEE regions have already enhanced and will further increase their political salience. However, the trajectories and outcomes of regional,level reforms can be better explained by a combination of domestic institutional legacies, policy approaches of reformers and their adversaries, and the influence of ethnic/historical regionalism. [source] Explanation And Thought Experiments In HistoryHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 1 2003Tim De Mey Although interest in them is clearly growing, most professional historians do not accept thought experiments as appropriate tools. Advocates of the deliberate use of thought experiments in history argue that without counterfactuals, causal attributions in history do not make sense. Whereas such arguments play upon the meaning of causation in history, this article focuses on the reasoning processes by which historians arrive at causal explanations. First, we discuss the roles thought experiments play in arriving at explanations of both facts and contrasts. Then, we pinpoint the functions thought experiments fulfill in arriving at weighted explanations of contrasts. [source] When Does World History Begin? (And Why Should We Care?)HISTORY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2003David Northrup Advances in evidence and understanding challenge the conventional view that history begins with written records. Nonliterate societies and unlettered social classes, not just the literate élite, are now standard subjects of historical inquiry. Moreover, advances in archaeology and other disciplines have made ,prehistory' knowable. Advocates of ,Big History' start history with the Big Bang, but a less radical beginning is the point at which humans first began to display modern esthetic and intellectual traits , a point that now seems to coincide with the evolution of biologically modern humans. [source] Do Unions Benefit from Working in Partnership with Employers?INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 4 2008Evidence from Ireland Advocates and critics of voluntary workplace partnership have presented a series of theoretical arguments as to the potential consequences for unions working under partnership arrangements. A survey of Irish employees' views is used to assess these competing claims. The study is timely on two counts: first, empirical investigations of the effects of partnership on union influence and members' commitment to unions are rare; and, second, it is 11 years since employers, unions, and government in Ireland first signed a national framework agreement to promote the diffusion of partnership as a means for the handling of workplace change. The evidence provides support for the arguments as advanced by advocates. [source] Challenges and Opportunities for Developing and Implementing Incentives to Improve Health-Related Behaviors in Older AdultsJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 9 2010Eran Klein MD There is growing interest in using patient-directed incentives to change health-related behaviors. Advocates of incentive programs have proposed an ambitious research agenda for moving patient incentive programs forward. The unique cognitive and psychological features of older adults, however, present a challenge to this agenda. In particular, age-related changes in emotional regulation, executive function, and cognitive capacities, and a preference for collaborative decision-making raise questions about the suitability of these programs, particularly the structure of current financial incentives, for older adults. Differences in decision-making in older adults need to be accounted for in the design and implementation of financial incentive programs. Financial incentive programs adjusted to characteristics of older adult populations may be more likely to improve the lives of older persons and the economic success of programs that serve them. [source] Diffusion of treatment research: does open access matter?JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2008David J. Hardisty Abstract Advocates of the Open Access movement claim that removing access barriers will substantially increase the diffusion of academic research. If successful, this movement could play a role in efforts to increase utilization of psychotherapy research by mental health practitioners. In a pair of studies, mental health professionals were given either no citation, a normal citation, a linked citation, or a free access citation and were asked to find and read the cited article. After 1 week, participants read a vignette on the same topic as the article and gave recommendations for an intervention. In both studies, those given the free access citation were more likely to read the article, yet only in one study did free access increase the likelihood of making intervention recommendations consistent with the article. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol/In Session 64: 1,19, 2008. [source] School Wellness Policies: Perceptions, Barriers, and Needs Among School Leaders and Wellness Advocates,JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 11 2010Peggy Agron MA BACKGROUND: School wellness policies are a key component to the prevention of adolescent obesity. This national research study sought to understand the wellness environment in school districts across the country and to identify challenges districts face and needs they have in order to effectively implement, monitor, and evaluate school wellness policies. The study determined (1) perceptions, barriers, and opportunities regarding the development, implementation, and monitoring/evaluation of school wellness policies among school board members, state school boards association leaders, state public health nutrition directors, and school wellness advocates; (2) the readiness and capacity of survey groups to address nutrition and physical activity policies; (3) the extent to which survey groups collaborate; and (4) the acceptability of wellness tools. METHODS: In 2006, over 2900 individuals participated in online surveys, focus groups, and key informant interviews. School board members represented 1296 school districts across the nation. RESULTS: School board members expressed the highest level of confidence among all survey groups that their district has the capacity to develop, implement, and monitor/ evaluate the wellness policy. The disparities among groups are most notable with regard to perceptions of district capacity to monitor/evaluate the policy. School board members are interested in school wellness policy tools and trainings. CONCLUSIONS: There is an opportunity for state school boards associations, state public health nutrition directors, and school wellness advocates to build their own capacity to provide training and resources to districts on wellness issues, particularly physical education/activity, school-based wellness initiatives, and strategies for implementing and monitoring/evaluating wellness policies. [source] Presidents as Supreme Court Advocates: Before and After the White HouseJOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY, Issue 2 2003Allen Sharp Eight men who took the presidential oath also appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States as advocates. From Senator John Quincy Adams at the outset of the Marshall Court to Richard M. Nixon during the high-water mark of the Warren Court, future and past Presidents have argued before the Supreme Court on such varied and important topics as land scandals in the South, slavery at home and on the high seas, the authority of military commissions over civilians during the Civil War, international disputes as an aftermath of the Alaskan Purchase, and the sensitive intersection between the right to personal privacy and a free press. Here, briefly, are stories of men history knows as Presidents performing as appellate lawyers and oral advocates before the nation's highest court. [source] Reintegrative Shaming, Procedural Justice, and Recidivism: The Engagement of Offenders' Psychological Mechanisms in the Canberra RISE Drinking-and-Driving ExperimentLAW & SOCIETY REVIEW, Issue 3 2007Tom R. Tyler Advocates of restorative justice (RJ) hypothesize that the diversion of criminal cases to RJ conferences should be more effective in lowering the rate of reoffending than traditional prosecution in court processing because the conferences more effectively engage the psychological mechanisms of reintegrative shaming and procedural justice. This study uses longitudinal data from the drinking-and-driving study in the Australian Reintegrative Shaming Experiments (RISE) to evaluate the long-term impact of reintegrative shaming and procedural justice on support for the law and on later recidivism as assessed through the use of police records and by self-report. Analysis first suggests that there is no direct effect of experimental condition on later recidivism. However, it further suggests that both traditional court-based prosecution and RJ conferences increase support for the law and lower the rate of future reoffending when they engage the social psychological mechanisms of reintegrative shaming and procedural justice and thereby increase the legitimacy of the law. Hence, the results argue for the potential value of procedures such as the RJ conference but indicate that those procedures will only achieve their objectives if they are effectively designed and implemented. [source] Advocates in the Age of Jazz: Women and the Campaign for the Dyer Anti-Lynching BillPEACE & CHANGE, Issue 3 2003Mary Jane Brown More than three thousand people, predominantly African American males, were lynched in the United States between 1892 and 1940. Occurring mostly in the South, lynching was a means that white southerners used to enforce white supremacy and prevent African Americans from achieving political, social, and economic gains after the Civil War ended slavery. White southerners declared that the threat of black men raping white women necessitated lynching. They further argued that inaction by the courts and the black community's shielding of criminals justified mob action, theories that gained wide acceptance in the South and that were commonly accepted in the North as well. In the 1890s, black women, led by anti-lynching advocate Ida B. Wells-Barnett, began a protest against lynching that swelled into a sizable movement. Under Wells-Barnett's leadership, anti-lynching activists dismantled the theory of white women's protection and formulated a strategy of investigation and exposure that became the template for future anti-lynching drives. When the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded in 1909, it made anti-lynching a priority and drew black and white women to its anti-lynching battle. By the 1920s, women 's anti-lynching activity had become essential to the NAACP's drive for federal anti-lynching legislation and its campaign for passage of the Dyer bill. NAACP secretary Walter White's reliance on women increased throughout the 1920s, and women, courted both as voters and moral authorities, achieved a new level of importance in social movements and drives for legislation. This marked the beginning of the NAACP's twenty-year struggle for federal anti-lynching legislation, a campaign in which black and white women worked cooperatively and were essential to the campaign for the Dyer bill. [source] Using Protistan Examples to Dispel the Myths of Intelligent DesignTHE JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 1 2010MARK A. FARMER ABSTRACT. In recent years the teaching of the religiously based philosophy of intelligent design (ID) has been proposed as an alternative to modern evolutionary theory. Advocates of ID are largely motivated by their opposition to naturalistic explanations of biological diversity, in accordance with their goal of challenging the philosophy of scientific materialism. Intelligent design has been embraced by a wide variety of creationists who promote highly questionable claims that purport to show the inadequacy of evolutionary theory, which they consider to be a threat to a theistic worldview. We find that examples from protistan biology are well suited for providing evidence of many key evolutionary concepts, and have often been misrepresented or roundly ignored by ID advocates. These include examples of adaptations and radiations that are said to be statistically impossible, as well as examples of speciation both in the laboratory and as documented in the fossil record. Because many biologists may not be familiar with the richness of the protist evolution dataset or with ID-based criticisms of evolution, we provide examples of current ID arguments and specific protistan counter-examples. [source] Metabolic Syndrome and Solid-Organ TransplantationAMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 1 2010A. Sharif The metabolic syndrome is proposed as a cluster of known cardiovascular risk factors, interrelated by a common pathophysiological defect, that symbolize a heightened metabolic burden. Advocates of the concept argue that it is a predictor for both diabetes and cardiovascular disease, complications of great importance posttransplantation. The abundant medical literature on the topic is now expanding into the field of transplantation with evidence linking the metabolic syndrome to adverse patient and graft outcomes. Although the implications posttransplantation are significant, controversy surrounds the concept and the topic has not previously been reviewed in the context of solid-organ transplantation. The purpose of this review is to update transplant clinicians with our current understanding of the metabolic syndrome, review the transplantation literature and examine the controversies surrounding the concept. [source] The need for patellar resurfacing in total knee arthroplasty: a literature reviewANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 4 2010John D. Swan Abstract The controversy over whether or not to routinely resurface the patella during a total knee arthroplasty has persisted despite three decades of successful joint replacement procedures. Advocates for routine patellar resurfacing admit the occasional need for secondary patellar resurfacing and declare increased incidence of anterior knee pain in patients with non-resurfaced patellae as a cause for worry. Surgeons that leave the patella unresurfaced cite avoidance of complications that include patellar fracture, avascular necrosis, patellar tendon injury and instability. This review discusses the available literature on patellar resurfacing through an evidence-based analysis of randomized and pseudo-randomized controlled trials and published meta-analyses to date. The published literature seems to favour resurfacing the patellar routinely. Selective patellar resurfacing would be the ideal solution if sound pre-operative criteria could be established. So far, a method for accurately predicting which patients can avoid patellar resurfacing has not been found. Future research looking at patellar resurfacing should concentrate on developing criteria for selecting those patients that would benefit from patellar resurfacing and those that would do as well without resurfacing, and thus, limiting potential surgical complications. [source] Holt, Johnson and the 1966 Federal Election.AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 3 2001A Question of Causality US President Lyndon Johnson's state visit to Australia in October 1966, came at the pinnacle of support for Australia's military involvement in the Vietnam War. Johnson's visit also occurred just weeks before an election for the House of Representatives at which the ruling Liberal-Country Party Coalition won its eighth successive, and largest victory. The proximity of these events has led many to argue that a causal relationship exists between the two. Advocates of this thesis, however, have failed to support their position with any evidence other than the anecdotal. Contrary to the assertions made by numerous political historians and observers of the period, this paper finds no evidence to support a thesis of causality. This paper argues that the Coalition's landslide victory in 1966 was both a rejection of the tired and lacklustre leadership of Labor's Arthur Calwell and a measure of the electorate's overwhelming support for Holt and his Government's policies of conscription and military involvement in Vietnam. [source] Advocates, Critics and Union Involvement in Workplace Partnership: Irish AirportsBRITISH JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 4 2002William K. Roche The Irish Airports Authority and its unions have developed a radical partnership initiative which seeks to involve staff and unions in operational and strategic decision,making. The initiative allows for an empirical assessment of arguments regarding the effects of partnership on union organization and strength, and on members' commitment to unions. Drawing on research conducted over a four,year period, we argue that partnership was of considerable benefit to workers and unions, but that new tensions and challenges have arisen. On balance, the evidence provides modest support for the theoretical arguments of advocates of partnership. [source] Evaluating the Conservation Mission of Zoos, Aquariums, Botanical Gardens, and Natural History MuseumsCONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2004BRIAN MILLER Many of these institutions emphasize a mission of conservation, and, undeniably, they do contribute directly to conservation education and conservation science. They present an exceptional opportunity for many urban residents to see the wonders of life, and they can contribute to education and habitat preservation. Because many collection-based institutions now hold a stated mission of conservation, we suggest eight potential questions to evaluate actions toward that mission: (1) Does conservation thought define policy decisions? (2) Is there sufficient organizational funding for conservation activities? (3) Is there a functional conservation department? (4) Does the institution advocate for conservation? (5) Do conservation education programs effectively target children and adults? (6) Does the institution contribute directly to habitat protection locally and internationally? (7) Do exhibits explain and promote conservation efforts? and (8) Do internal policies and activities protect the environment? These questions are offered as a place to begin discussion. We hope they will help employees and administrators of a collection-based institution (and citizens of the surrounding community) think about and support their institution's conservation activities. Public support and praise for institutions that are striving toward solutions for conservation problems and pressure on organizations that are moving more slowly toward a conservation orientation can help shift more resources toward saving nature. Resumen:,Las instituciones basadas en colecciones (zoológicos, acuarios, museos y jardines botánicos) exhiben vida silvestre. Por lo tanto, tienen una conexión especial con la naturaleza. Muchas de estas instituciones destacan una misión de conservación y, sin duda contribuyen directamente a la educación y la ciencia de la conservación. Brindan una oportunidad excepcional para que muchos residentes urbanos vean las maravillas de la vida, y pueden contribuir a la educación y a la preservación del hábitat. Debido a que en la actualidad muchas de las instituciones basadas en colecciones tienen una misión de conservación manifiesta, sugerimos ocho preguntas potenciales para evaluar las acciones hacia el cumplimiento de esa misión: (1) ¿Las consideraciones sobre la conservación definen las decisiones sobre políticas? (2) ¿Hay suficiente financiamiento organizacional para las actividades de conservación? (3) ¿Hay un departamento de conservación que funcione? (4) ¿La institución aboga por la conservación? (5) ¿Los programas de educación en conservación se enfocan eficientemente sobre niños y adultos? (6) ¿La institución contribuye directamente a la conservación del hábitat a nivel local e internacional? (7) ¿Las exhibiciones explican y promueven los esfuerzos de conservación? y (8) ¿Las políticas y actividades internas protegen el ambiente? Estas preguntas se ofrecen como un marco para iniciar la discusión. Esperamos que ayuden a los empleados y administradores de una institución basada en colecciones (y a los ciudadanos de la comunidad en la que se encuentra) a reflexionar sobre las actividades de conservación de su institución y lograr que las apoyen. El apoyo y el reconocimiento público de aquellas instituciones que pugnan por soluciones para los problemas de conservación y la presión sobre aquellas organizaciones que se están moviendo más lentamente hacia una orientación de conservación pueden ayudar a destinar más recursos para salvaguardar la naturaleza. [source] Can behavioral evolution be measured on a staircase? a commentaryDEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 1 2004Celia L. Moore Abstract The serious, comparative study of behavioral complexity that Greenberg et al. advocate is a progressive direction for the field, but their proposal to separate comparative psychology from its roots in evolutionary biology seems regressive. Modern evolutionary theory has been broadened within biology to include development and paleontology alongside natural selection, making closer integration with that discipline particularly timely. Such an integrated evolutionary approach in psychology would offer a useful alternative to the adaptationism popularized by evolutionary psychology. Although the differences between comparative psychologists and biologists may be blurred in the process, the behavioral sciences will be better served by a rich biological approach to evolution than by a uniquely psychological approach. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 44: 16,20, 2004. [source] Forensic psychiatry, ethics and protective sentencing: what are the limits of psychiatric participation in the criminal justice process?ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 399 2000S. N. Verdun-Jones As clinicians, psychiatrists are unequivocally dedicated to relieving the suffering of those who are afflicted with mental disorders. However, the public and those individuals, who are assessed, find it difficult to draw a distinction between forensic psychiatrists acting in a clinical role and the very same professionals acting in an evaluative role, on behalf of the state. This paper examines the ethical issues raised by psychiatric involvement in the sentencing process. It rejects the view that a forensic psychiatrist, who undertakes an evaluation for the state, is to be considered as an advocate of justice who is not bound by conventional ethical duties to the individual whom he or she assesses. It contends that the forensic psychiatrist has an important role to play in presenting evidence that may result in the mitigation of the sentence that may be imposed on a person who is mentally disordered. The paper will focus on these issues in the particular context of the situation in England and Wales, Canada and the United States. [source] The significance of the Carolingian advocateEARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE, Issue 2 2009Charles West This article argues that ninth-century advocates in the Frankish world deserve more attention than they have received. Exploring some of the wealth of relevant evidence, it reviews and critiques both current historiographical approaches to the issue. Instead of considering Carolingian advocates as largely a by-product of the ecclesiastical immunity, or viewing advocacy as a Trojan horse for a subsequent establishment of lordship over monasteries, the article proposes a reading of ninth-century advocacy as intimately linked with wider Carolingian reform, particularly an interest in promoting formal judicial procedure. [source] A tale of CIN,the Cannabis Infringement Notice scheme in Western AustraliaADDICTION, Issue 5 2010Simon Lenton ABSTRACT Aims To describe the development and enactment of the Western Australian (WA) Cannabis Infringement Notice scheme and reflect on the lessons for researchers and policy-makers interested in the translation of policy research to policy practice. Methods An insiders' description of the background research, knowledge transfer strategies and political and legislative processes leading to the enactment and implementation of the WA Cannabis Control Act 2003. Lenton and Allsop were involved centrally in the process as policy-researcher and policy-bureaucrat. Results In March 2004, Western Australia became the fourth Australian jurisdiction to adopt a ,prohibition with civil penalties' scheme for possession and cultivation of small amounts of cannabis. We reflect upon: the role of research evidence in the policy process; windows for policy change; disseminating findings when apparently no one is listening; the risks and benefits of the researcher as advocate; the differences between working on the inside and outside of government; and the importance of relationships, trust and track record. Conclusions There was a window of opportunity and change was influenced by research that was communicated by a reliable and trusted source. Those who want to conduct research that informs policy need to understand the policy process more clearly, look for and help create emerging windows that occur in the problem and political spheres, and make partnerships with key stakeholders in the policy arena. The flipside of the process is that, when governments change, policy born in windows of opportunity can be a casualty. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||