bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mental Health Act Assessments: Does a Community Treatment Team Make a Difference?
Authors: Dunn Louise M. 
Published: March 2007

There is an extensive body of research into home treatment for acute mental illness, but this is the first one to examine any association with Mental Health Act Assessments. It examines the question of whether there is any impact of a home treatment team on the numbers and circumstances of Mental Health Act Assess ments in its area. The 1983 Mental Health Act created the role of the Approved Social Worker, among whose duties is that of ensuring that any disposal is the least restrictive possible. For this duty to be carried out meaningfully, as wide a range of alternatives as possible needs to be available. The move from institutional to community care for the mentally ill which has been the 'big idea' of recent decades has given rise to intense interest in home treatment for acute mental illness, which can offer a potential alternative at a time of crisis for ASWs and thus patients. This study examined over 200 reports written by ASWs following Mental Health Act Assessments in the two areas, and it was found that the home treatment team appeared to have an impact. it was hypothesised that such a team might have an effect on the sorts people presenting for assessment. It was conduded that area with the team had an absolute and a relative reduction in the numbers of assessments. It was also found that there was a decrease in the likelihood of detention under Section 3 of the Act for people living in the area of the team. Finally it was found that the involvement of the team in an assessment reduced the likelihood of a Section 3 decision even further. Analysis indicated that the home treatment team was able to absorb some of the people, mainly male, who were suffering from a psychotic illness, and who were inclined to re-present on more than one occasion.
Social Networks of Nigerian Psychiatric Patients
Authors: Famuyiwa O.O. , Olatokunbo M.A. 
Published: March 2007

Despite the indubitable cohesiveness of their community life, Nigerian psychiatric patients had social networks with deficiencies not dissimilar to those reported for patients in the industrialised societies. Interactions between these Nigerian patients as focal persons and other members of their network, were found to be intense, but seemed to lack a strong affectional core. As expected, the separated, and the divorced patients scored less than the married patients on intensity of social relationships, but the two groups were not significantly different on all other network parameters examined. These findings should constitute a substratum of a kinship community-based counselling service with the goal of providing individual-oriented support for the psychiatrically disabled persons. It is believed that this may be realised by the relevant training and utilisation of para-professionals; effective liaison with families and special attention to prevailing concepts and socio-cultural norms.
An Investigation Into the Relationship Between Hostility and Criminality in Schizophrenia
Authors: Zoghes D. , Liakos A. , Potamianos G. 
Published: March 2007

The possible relationship between hostility and criminality was investigated in a sample of 134 schizophrenic patients at the public psychiatric hospital in Athens. The sample consisted of two groups of patients (n = 67 each); an offenders groups and a non-offenders group. No significant differences in hostility were found between the groups. Moreover, degree of hostility bore no relationship to severity of criminal offence.
Towards Culture- and Population-Specific Norms for Self-Reported Depressive Symptomatology
Authors: Fugita Stephen S. , Crittenden Kathleen S. 
Published: March 2007

This paper: (1) reviewed and integrated the small body of cross-cultural literature on Zung SDS scores among college students and (2) reported new SDS data on students in four countries. Its purpose was to facilitate the development of population- and culture-specific norms for the measurement of depression and to identify pat terns in the data available at this time. The results indicated considerable culture and gender specificity. Females had higher SDS scores in all but one group. There was a slight tendency for scores to increase over time. The pattern of mean scores across cultural groups was somewhat inconsistent. Korean and Philippine students had the highest scores, Caucasian Americans the lowest. There was moderate concordance of ranked symptoms across eleven samples. This concordance increased within cultural groups and especially within nations. Finally, two specific methodological problems were discussed. First, nine of ten of the highest ranked symptoms were stated in negative form, which sug gests that negative wording biases symptom means. Second, there appear to be addi tional problems in the specific wording of the libido and diurnal variation items as applied to college students.
Community Mental Health Care: Clients' Perceptions of Services and an Evaluation of a Voluntary Agency Support Scheme
Authors: Handyside Liz , Heyman Bob 
Published: March 2007

A questionnaire assessment of mental health and of perceptions of formal care was conducted with a sample of clients before they received a voluntary agency mental health intervention in addition to normal community psychiatric and social services. The assessment was repeated three months later. A matched control group who received only the normal services were also assessed twice over a period of three months. Both groups improved significantly on the mental health measure over the three months and there was little difference between the treatment and control group. Clients in the voluntary agency group were less satisfied with community psychiatric services and may have chosen the voluntary agency as an alternative source of help. Women in both groups showed less improvement in measured mental health than men. Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPNs) were seen more than social workers, psychoiogists and psychiatrists. Contacts with CPNs and social workers were rated most favourably.
Psychiatric Disorders Among Recently-Arrived Eastern Europeans Seen Through a Us Refugee Counseling Service
Authors: Buchwald Debra , Klacsanzky George , Manson Spero M. 
Published: March 2007

Objective: To describe the types and extent of psychiatric disorders found in a group of recently-arrived Eastern Europeans being treated by native-speaking mental health providers. Patients: Forty seven Hungarians, Romanians, Czechoslovakians, Poles and Gypsies referred by voluntary or government agencies, other organizations or community members to a refugee counseling service in Seattle, Washington. Over 90% were refugees and 68% maintained this status at the intake evaluation. Method: Clinical, descriptive study of data collected retrospectively by chart review. Results: The majority of clients had poor or fair English skills and less than half were employed. Twelve (26%) had a prior mental health problem and five (11%) a psychiatric hospitalization. The most common diagnoses were adjustment reaction in 21 (45%), marital/family problems in five (11 %), and paranoid schizophrenia in five (11 %). Conclusions: Psychiatric disorders were frequent in this clinical population of Eastern Europeans presenting for outpatient mental health care and may be associated with previous mental health problems. Our findings emphasize the need for sensitivity to the special risks of emigration.
Day-Program-Based Treatment in the Amsterdam City Center
Authors: Cohen D. , Sanders H.E. 
Published: March 2007

The Social Psychiatric Services Center (SPDC C/OW) is the acute psychiatric clinic for the Amsterdam city center. The unit, originally an integrated part of a General Psychiatric Hospital located outside Amsterdam, was transferred to the city center in 1988. Since then, the unit has been transformed into a fully operational institute for day-program-based treatment, both as a substitute for 24 hours hospitalization and as an extension of community treatment programs. The SPDC's organization, the format and contents of the treatment program and the integrated cooperation with the district mental health care partners proceed directly from the consistently applied key concepts: day-program-based treatment, continuity of care and tailor- made care. After an overview of some relevant developments in the Netherlands in general and in Amsterdam more specifically the SPDC is described in detail. Some conclusions, based on the experience of 6 years work in this organisation, are drawn, focussing on long term treatment strategies and the differences and merits of community-based versus hospital-based care.
Race as a Moderator of the Prediction of Receipt of Aftercare and Psychiatric Hospitalization
Authors: Klinkenberg W. Dean , Calsyn Robert J. 
Published: March 2007

Race proved to be an important moderator variable in the prediction of the receipt of aftercare and psychiatric hospitalization. Only one variable, currently receiving outpatient treatment, predicted receipt of aftercare for both African-Americans and Caucasians. Other predictors for African-Americans were not receiving a sub stance abuse referral, receiving a mental health referral, and having an appointment. For Caucasians, other predictors were being female, having previous psychiatric admissions, no substance use disorder diagnosis, and not being admitted at index. More previous admissions and recent outpatient treatment predicted hospitaliza tion for both racial groups. Additional predictors for African-Americans were being male, not being accompanied to the psychiatric emergency room (PER) by family, and receiving less intense aftercare. The only other predictor for Caucasians was being accompanied to the PER by the police.
Wave Propagation in Libroelastic Materials- Application to Solid Carbon-Dioxide
Authors: Valanis K.C. 
Published: March 2007

The wave propagation and dispersion characteristics of libroelastic materials are considered. Such materials consist of molecules which interact by means of position as well as orientation-dependent forces, and possess mass as well as rotational inertia. The following results hold for homogeneous libroelastic isotropic materials with a centre of symmetry: (a) Translational as well as librational waves decompose into longitudinal and transverse waves. (b) The longitudinal waves are uncoupled and the librational one is dispersive. (c) The transverse waves are coupled and the transverse translational particle motion is always perpendicular to the transverse rotational motion. These waves are dispersive. The difference of two libroelastic constants of solid carbon dioxide has been evaluated (using Raman scattering measurements) for, what it is believed to be, the first time.
Information and Propaganda
Authors: Ohlström BO 
Published: March 2007

This study is an attempt to measure information versus propaganda in Swedish news paper editorials dealing with the question of Swedish nuclear armament. In order to categorize the content a schema was developed identifying the following content ele ments: 1) the possible defense alternatives; 2) the situation categorized into sixteen exclusive situation variables which may be affected by the choice of defense alternatives; 3) evaluations of alternatives or situations, dichotomized into good or bad; 4) general value concepts, called 'ideologies.' The sample consisted of four papers, three of which endorsed Swedish nuclear armament. The fourth did not take an explicit position. Propaganda was defined as selectivity in the presentation of factual decision premises, i.e. the descriptive statements about the situation variables. (The more propagandistic argumentation is thus uneven, with high frequencies of statements for some variables, and low for others.) We expected to find the argumentation of the uncommitted paper less propagandistic than the other three papers, but data gave no support for this hypo thesis. A closer study of the evaluations made of consequences of different alternatives dis closed two facts: 1) the uncommitted paper could be considered as an opponent of Swedish nuclear armament, as it tended to evaluate consequences of a Swedish nuclear armament negatively and consequences of other alternatives positively. 2) By dividing the material into three time periods, it was found that all the papers became totally one-sided in their evaluations during the last time period. That is, they exclusively made positive evaluations of their endorsed alternative and negative evaluations of other alternatives. Considering the fact that the 'uncommitted' paper could be classified as an opponent of Swedish nuclear armament, we investigated to see if we could find a tendency toward polarization. Did those who endorsed Swedish nuclear armament tend to stress some situation variables, while the paper that was against this alternative tended to stress other variables? A very slight tendency in this direction could be found. Because the sample was very small, no generalizations can be made regarding the Swedish press in general.
Communal Conflict and Economic Considerations: the Case of Cyprus
Authors: Panagides Stahis S. 
Published: March 2007

This article attempts to demonstrate the contribution which better economic inte gration can make to the peaceful coexistence of the Greek and Turkish communities on Cyprus. It is asserted that interdependence in the economic sphere brings interaction and eventual dependence of one community on the other for their continued existence. The analysis demonstrates that economic interdependence with free flow of resources between the communities contributes to minimizing income inequality, which in turn is seen as a condition conducive to social stability. Estimates made of income distribution' between the Greek and Turkish communities demonstrate that the Greek Cypriots with 77.1 % of the population have 80.2% of the income, while the Turkish Cypriots with 18.2% of the population have a low 12.6 % of the income. In turn data from the manufacturing sector are used to demonstrate that allocation of capital and labor within this sector on the basis of economic considerations (not ethnic) will favorably serve the economic welfare of both communities, with particularly beneficial effects for the minority.
A Statistical Study of Political Determinants for Economic Growth
Authors: Seierstad Stale 
Published: March 2007

The article presents a few numerical models designed for use in statistical investigations of the impact of political factors upon economic growth in the developing countries. The main assumptions of the models are that economic growth is influenced by (1) the economic level of the country, (2) foreign capital inflow, and (3) political factors. The influence of the economic level of a country is taken into account by using a simple savings function relating per capita savings linearly to GDP per capita. The impact of the political factors is intro duced in the models by letting the savings depend also upon those factors. The value of the contribution of foreign capital inflow to GDP growth is assumed to be a third of the value of the inflow itself. While mainly concerned with methodological proposals, the article also presents an empirical investigation of the importance of the political mobilization of various social groups for economic development, and how political integration influences economic growth. The results of this study suggest that the political mobilization of the lower classes in the devel oping countries may have a positive impact upon the development efforts of these countries.
Views On War and Peace Among Students in West Berlin Public Schools
Authors: Haavelsrud Magnus 
Published: March 2007

The present study undertakes to (1) clarify relationships between certain international orienta tions and independent variables as age, sex, and socio-economic background and (2) compare data with previous findings from England, Japan, Norway, and Sweden. The questionnaire was administered to 565 public school students of ages 10, 12, 15, and 17 in West Berlin. (A purposive sample was selected with overrepresentation on extreme values as to age and sex. Subjects also distribute nicely on the socio-economic dimension insofar four schools in a middle class part of the city and four schools in a lower class part were selected for data collection). 76 % of the sample chose the Allies as being more right in World War II and 7 % chose the Axis as being more right. 81.6 % of the former and only 2.4 % of the latter managed to be consistent in giving a rationale for their decision. Consistency also seems to be related to higher socio-economic levels, higher degree of interest in politics, and belonging to the high IQ-group. The 'meaningfulness' of the terms war, peace, prevention of war, and causes of war is measured by the frequency of associations given to each term. Expansion of connotative meaning seems to be associated with increased age, higher socio-economic level, interest in politics, and being a girl. The image of 'war' viewed developmentally shows the younger subjects to be less concerned with negative effects of war on people. Further, the younger subjects view war more as an activity and process. The concept 'peace' is decreasingly defined as the negation of war with age whereas 'peace' defined as coexistence is more common with older subjects. No clear sex differences exist. An overall reaction to provocation when a subject imagines a threatening situation regarding family, city, native country, and ally of own country is that a war should not be started. Previous findings that older subjects tend to justify war to a greater extent is not supported. 90 % of the sample display the belief that there is something inside people that causes war. However, in giving reasons for their predictions of the probability of future war few references are made to man's bad qualities. No clear trend emerges between the independent variables and the probability ratings. The general trend for the total sample is that quite low probability exists for having a war in 5 years whereas the ratings for 100 years indicate a much greater probability.
Approaches to Social Psychology Relevant to Peace Research as Developed in the FRG
Authors: Horn Klaus 
Published: March 2007

Three important aspects of social-psychological peace research in the Federal Republic of Ger many are emphasized in this review. In the realm of political socialization and participation, the tradition of German educational theory as ad vanced by the educated bourgeoisie is noticeable as an obstacle to development in the social sci ences. On the other hand, forms of political soli darization have arisen, particularly in the wake of the student movement, which are establishing themselves as new mediating structures between individuals and mass organizations as well as the state. They are supposed not only to check the rise of autonomous power élites and the further devel opment of structural violence, but also to politicize topical conflicts and to represent interests in an unhypostasized fashion. The discussion of the problem of aggression is mostly theoretical in nature; one tries to overcome the monistic theories and to arrive at multidimen sional models which, of course, deal with the 'natural' element of man - but always within the framework of life-histories as members of a species which consciously seeks to make its history. We then present the difficulties of nomothetic psychology in grasping this historic dimension also with theoretical and metatheoretical developments of a psychoanalytic social psychology, a psychol ogy whose conceptual framework is better suited to answer the questions posed by critical peace re search.
Simulating Economic Sanctions and Incentives: Hypothetical Alternatives of United States Policy on South Africa
Authors: Hübner-Dick Gisela , Seidelmann Reimund 
Published: March 2007

This paper reports on a part of a pure computer simulation model concerning the inter dependencies and mutual influence of the dyad US — South Africa within the international system. The feedback model is based on several theoretical assumptions and constructed along the principles of Forrester's system dynamics; its initial values and parameters are based on empirical data, the latter calculated by means of statistical procedures. The model attempts to find out how computer simulation can contribute to better knowledge and to the analysis of process behaviour in the international system. The main question is to what extent a change in US policy on South Africa can influence the socio-economic and the political development of South Africa towards liberalizing the government's racial policy. Five experiments were run to answer this question. One models the actual relationship between the US and South Africa, whereas the others deal with strategies of economic sanctions and incentives on the part of the US. The results of the different experiments show hardly any impact on the socio-economic situation, especially on the apartheid policy of South Africa. Economic crises simulated in the model are shifted to the black population. The consequences are reflected more strongly in the relational aspect itself. A US economic boycott strategy spills over into the political field of the dyadic relation, whereas an incentive strategy strengthens cooperation with South Africa and thereby benefits the white power elite.
The Political Economy of US Military Spending
Authors: Nincic Miroslav , Cusack Thomas R. 
Published: March 2007

The causes of the dramatic rise in military spending in the post-war era have been the subject of much political and academic controversy. No extant formulation seems to provide a compelling explanation of the dynamics involved in the levels of, and rates of change in, such spending. In light of this, the authors develop a new model, based mainly on a political-business cycle argument, to account for these dynamics. The basic proposition in this model is that variations in national defense spending arise from political considerations which are related to real and desired conditions within the national economy. Applying this model to the experience of the United States 1948-1976, the authors show that it has a large measure of empirical validity. If one removes the effects of war-time mobilization, it is clear that for the United States the principal driving forces in military spending dynamics were (1) the perceived utility of such spending in stabilizing aggregate demand, (2) the political or electoral value of the perceived economic effects arising out of such spending, and (3) the pressures of institutional-constituency demands.