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“Jack of all Trades and Master of None,” is this a True Reflection of Today’s British Police
Kwan Choi,
Ju-Lak Lee,
Hyungoo Shin
Issue:
Volume 3, Issue 2, April 2014
Pages:
41-45
Received:
29 January 2014
Published:
10 March 2014
Abstract: The purpose of present study is to explore the British policing methods and their effectiveness. Generally, four key goals of their policing include preventing crime and disorder, pursuing and bringing to justice those who break the law, keeping the peace, and helping the public. When considering these aims carefully, it leads to a subsequent question: If the majority of regular police officers are not directly fighting crime, what are the reasons for it and what are they actually doing? This is the foundations for the “Jack of all trades” argument of this paper, which gives rise to the two competing paradigms. One is that the role of the police should involve much more than simply apprehending criminals. Furthermore, the other paradigm suggests that the police are simply spending too much time on the activities that are not part of their main duties. These polarised viewpoints need to be taken into account before any meaningful conclusions can be drawn. This paper argues that the answer can be found in the culture of policing by examining the goals that the British police forces are currently attempting to achieve. It is clear that as the police have finite resources, they have to make choices about how to deploy them. This requires reconsidering their priorities and placing more emphases on some activities more than others.
Abstract: The purpose of present study is to explore the British policing methods and their effectiveness. Generally, four key goals of their policing include preventing crime and disorder, pursuing and bringing to justice those who break the law, keeping the peace, and helping the public. When considering these aims carefully, it leads to a subsequent quest...
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Childbirth as a Trauma: Psychometric Properties of the Impact Event Scale in Japanese Mothers of Neonates
Mizuki Takegata,
Toshinori Kitamura,
Megumi Haruna,
Kyoko Sakanashi,
Tomoko Tanaka
Issue:
Volume 3, Issue 2, April 2014
Pages:
46-50
Received:
31 January 2014
Published:
20 March 2014
Abstract: Introduction:The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Impact of Event Scale (IES) among Japanese women after childbirth. Methods: Self-reported questionnaires were distributed to pregnant women in Kumamoto prefectureconsecutivelyon three occasions: late pregnancy (N = 642)andfive days (N = 416) and one month (N = 226) after delivery. Results:An exploratory factor analysis of the IES items at day 5 after childbirth yielded a two-factor structure (Intrusion and Avoidance) that was cross-validated by a confirmatory factor analysis. The IES subscale scores were correlated with other psychological measures rated at the same time, including postpartum depressive symptoms assessed with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and perceived difficulty of childbirth experience. The Cronbach’salphacoefficients were .83 for Intrusion and .86 for Avoidance. Test–retest reliability between day 5 and one month after childbirth was .74 for Intrusion and .71 for Avoidance. Discussion: The results provide support for the IES as a valid and reliable measure of postnatal traumatic symptoms among Japanese women.
Abstract: Introduction:The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Impact of Event Scale (IES) among Japanese women after childbirth. Methods: Self-reported questionnaires were distributed to pregnant women in Kumamoto prefectureconsecutivelyon three occasions: late pregnancy (N = 642)andfive days (N = 416) and one month (N =...
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Relationship between Self-Determination and Academic Identity in the Elementary Students
Manijeh Shehni Yailagh,
Mohammad Abbasi,
Nasser Behrozi,
Sirus Alipour,
Alireza Haji Yakhchali
Issue:
Volume 3, Issue 2, April 2014
Pages:
51-54
Received:
8 February 2014
Published:
20 March 2014
Abstract: Self-determination and academic identity have been suggested as being associated with positive learning outcomes. The relationship between self-determination and academic identity as associated with academic achievement among elementary school children (sixth and fifth grade) was examined in this study. Statistical population comprised of all students in elementary schools (sixth and fifth grade) in Ahwaz Iran, during the 2013-2014 academic year. Students were randomly selected. Hundred students (mean age 11.9 years) were recruited from elementary schools (sixth and fifth grade). The student completed the Self-Determination Student Scale (SDSS) and Academic Identification Scale (AIS). Data were analyzed using a Pearson’s r bivariate correlation and structural models. The results showed that the relationship between self-determination and academic identity among elementary students appeared to be strong, positive, and significant at the .01 level with a standardized path coefficient value of .58. The results also indicate that academic identity in the elementary students may be viewed as mediating the relationship between self-determination and academic achievement as measured by GPA.
Abstract: Self-determination and academic identity have been suggested as being associated with positive learning outcomes. The relationship between self-determination and academic identity as associated with academic achievement among elementary school children (sixth and fifth grade) was examined in this study. Statistical population comprised of all stude...
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Parenting Styles and Peer-Pressure as Predictors of Substance Abuse among University Students
Gboyega E. Abikoye,
Adeniyi M. Sholarin,
James A. Adekoya
Issue:
Volume 3, Issue 2, April 2014
Pages:
55-59
Received:
26 March 2014
Accepted:
9 April 2014
Published:
20 April 2014
Abstract: The study investigated the prevalence of substance abuse and its prediction by parenting styles and peer pressure among university students. Participants in this cross-sectional survey consisted of four hundred and fifty two randomly selected undergraduates of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye. The sample consisted of 221 (48.9%) males and 231 (51.1) females. Participants’ age ranges were as follow: 126 (27.9%) were aged between 18 and than 20 years, 312 (69.0%) were aged between 20 and 25 years while 14 (3.1%) were aged between 25 and above. Students who were younger than 18 years were excluded from participating in the study. Results indicated that about 47% of all respondents reported current use while 58% reported lifetime use of one or more psychoactive substances. Prevalence rates of use of all categories of drugs by respondents are presented in Table 1. Life time prevalence rate was highest for alcohol (43.14%), followed by tobacco (37.61%), stimulants (22.57%), cannabis (18.14%), sedatives (17.92%) and heroin (12.17%). parenting styles (permissive parenting, authoritarian parenting and authoritative parenting), peer pressure and sex jointly predicted substance abuse among students (R = .48; F = 9.16; p<.01) by accounting for 23% of the variances in substance abuse. The study highlighted the important roles of parenting styles (especially authoritative parenting), peer pressure, age and gender in understanding students’ substance abuse problem. The study concluded that these variables should be factored into intervention programmes aimed at stemming the tides of substance abuse among university students. It is also important for relevant interventions to commence before students enter the university since many young people come to the university or college with pre-existing perceptions and expectations concerning substance use, and often start university with already established habits and orientations
Abstract: The study investigated the prevalence of substance abuse and its prediction by parenting styles and peer pressure among university students. Participants in this cross-sectional survey consisted of four hundred and fifty two randomly selected undergraduates of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye. The sample consisted of 221 (48.9%) males a...
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Quantification of Happy Emotion: Proportionality Relationship to Gain/Loss
Issue:
Volume 3, Issue 2, April 2014
Pages:
60-67
Received:
24 March 2014
Accepted:
10 April 2014
Published:
30 April 2014
Abstract: Toward understanding the role of emotion played in cognitive processing, an emotional model has been proposed to quantify the computation involved in assessing the disparity between the expected and the actual outcomes. This study provides the experimental evidence to validate the above emotional model. In this model, emotion serves as an internal feedback to assess the disparity between the internal predicted outcomes and the actual (external) outcomes in reality. It predicts that emotion provides a feedback to reduce the discrepancy between the expected (subjective) reality and actual (objective) reality. The hypothesis for this model is that the intensity of emotional response is proportional to the disparity between the expected outcome and the actual outcome (i.e., gain/loss magnitude). Happiness is an emotional feedback that indicates the congruency between the predicted and actual outcomes. In order to validate this theoretical model of emotion, the classical Ultimatum Game (UG) is used as an experimental paradigm to elicit self-generated (endogenous) emotions in response to a monetary offer, so that the emotional responses with respect to the perceived monetary gain/loss can be assessed by the stimulus-response function. The results showed that the self-reported happiness intensity is directly proportional to the magnitude of the desirable monetary gain. An empirically derived emotion stimulus-response function is shown to quantify the specific emotional biases graphically by the emotional-disparity graph. The results validated the hypothesis that the intensity of self-reported happy emotion is directly proportional to the monetary gain. The analysis also showed that the happy emotional sensitivity is also changed by the perception of fairness (whether the offer is fair or unfair), which can be represented graphically by the emotional-disparity graph
Abstract: Toward understanding the role of emotion played in cognitive processing, an emotional model has been proposed to quantify the computation involved in assessing the disparity between the expected and the actual outcomes. This study provides the experimental evidence to validate the above emotional model. In this model, emotion serves as an internal ...
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Quantification of Happy Emotion: Dependence on Decisions
Issue:
Volume 3, Issue 2, April 2014
Pages:
68-74
Received:
31 March 2014
Accepted:
20 April 2014
Published:
30 April 2014
Abstract: In the previously proposed theoretical model of emotion, emotion serves as an internal feedback to assess the disparity between the internal prediction and the actual outcomes in the external world, so that congruency between the desirable wants and needs can be met by resolving the emotions. The Emotional-Gain Model predicts that the happy emotional intensity is proportional to the magnitude of the desirable gain signals, while unhappy emotional intensity is proportional to the magnitude loss signals. Using the classical Ultimatum Game (UG) experimental paradigm to elicit self-generated emotions in response to a monetary offer, we want to determine whether the emotional responses are altered in relation to the decision to accept or reject the offer. If so, then does it change the emotional baseline level or the emotional sensitivity? The results showed that the proportionality relationship between emotional intensity and offer-ratios remains the same with respect to the acceptance or rejection decision. The only difference between the decisions is that the baseline level of happiness is shifted by 40% higher for the decisions to accept the offer, compared to the decisions that rejected the offer. The emotional baseline level is changed without changing the emotional sensitivity. This is quantified by the shift in the y-intercept of the emotional stimulus-response function. The happy emotional intensity is shifted upward (toward positive emotion) for those trials that accepted the offer, compared to those who rejected the offer. The slope of the stimulus-response function does not change with respect to the decision, indicating the constancy of the emotional sensitivity. These results validated the hypothesis that happy emotion is inter-related to the decision-making process, such that the decision to accept an offer is related to a shift towards a happier emotion, while the decision to reject an offer is associated with a shift towards an unhappier emotion. This provided the quantitative assessment of how emotion is biased in relation to the decision. The decision to accept an offer is related to a shift to the emotional baseline level rather than a change in the emotional sensitivity — without altering the proportionality relationship between happiness intensity and monetary offer-ratios in UG.
Abstract: In the previously proposed theoretical model of emotion, emotion serves as an internal feedback to assess the disparity between the internal prediction and the actual outcomes in the external world, so that congruency between the desirable wants and needs can be met by resolving the emotions. The Emotional-Gain Model predicts that the happy emotion...
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Interactive Behaviors and Attachment Patterns in the Strange Situation Procedure: A Validation of the Ainsworth Model
Alessandra Simonelli,
Francesca De Palo,
Micol Parolin,
Marilena Moretti
Issue:
Volume 3, Issue 2, April 2014
Pages:
75-84
Received:
5 March 2014
Accepted:
8 April 2014
Published:
10 May 2014
Abstract: The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, Wall, 1978) is the most widely used procedure to assess attachment in early childhood (Bowlby, 1969). In the original text by Ainsworth et al. (1978), the video coding is carried out by means of a two-step procedure: in the first part, coders apply a series of observational scales with graduated scores on a Likert scale, whereas during the second part, a descriptive category of attachment is assigned, which somehow “summarizes” the general quality of the child’s behaviour, already assessed by means of scales. Obviously, the system validation study highlights a discriminant correspondence between the scores which are assigned through the scales and the descriptive category which is assigned in the end. The aim of the present study was to test this specific aspect of the Strange Situation coding procedure: in order to do so, and similarly to what had been done in the original work in 1978, we compared the categorical attachment classification system with the ordinal one provided by the scales, which describe the child’s behaviors in the various procedure episodes. 76 12-month-old infants were observed in the Strange Situation Procedure in order to compare the classification of attachment by the global descriptive patterns with the Ainsworth’s microanalytic coding system (Interactive Behavior Scales). Results: Discriminant function analysis (MDFA) and classification weights confirm the discriminant functions of the interactive behavior to differentiate between patterns of attachment and attesting good validity of the methodology and the coding system.
Abstract: The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, Wall, 1978) is the most widely used procedure to assess attachment in early childhood (Bowlby, 1969). In the original text by Ainsworth et al. (1978), the video coding is carried out by means of a two-step procedure: in the first part, coders apply a series of observational scales wit...
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