The threat of foreign fighters and violent extremists and the development of rehabilitative measures through implementation of standardized risk assessment tools

Since the rise of the Islamic State, thousands of people from around the world have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight, support, and participate in the organization. Many of these people came from Western countries, including Norway. For numerous reasons, a great deal of them have returned to their countries of origin. The question now is what threat they may pose to national security, and what the risk that they choose to commit acts of terrorism is. The paper examines the extent to which we can establish this threat, how we can assess the risk they pose, and what we can do with this assessment. To what extent can the knowledge of the threat, and the risk assessments performed, assist in developing strategies for rehabilitation? Is there a way in which we can standardize and systemize these risk assessments in order to gain better insight, and in turn, improve the way we develop rehabilitation programs? The findings show many challenges in both ascertaining the threat posed by foreign fighters, as well as the implementation of standardized risk assessment. However, research and experience also indicate that there is a lot to gain from the different risk assessment tools available. Such tools are able to tell us a great deal about which areas to focus on when developing rehabilitation programs and help us better understand which steps to take when doing so

Scaring the public: fear appeal arguments in public health reasoning

The study of threat and fear appeal arguments has given rise to a sizeable literature. Even within a public health context, much is now known about how these arguments work to gain the public's compliance with health recommendations. Notwithstanding this level of interest in, and examination of, these arguments, there is one aspect of these arguments that still remains unexplored. That aspect concerns the heuristic function of these arguments within our thinking about public health problems. Specifically, it is argued that threat and fear appeal arguments serve as valuable shortcuts in our reasoning, particularly when that reasoning is subject to biases that are likely to diminish the effectiveness of public health messages. To this extent, they are rationally warranted argument forms rather than fallacies, as has been their dominant characterization in logic

The relevance of university adult education for labour market policies

Lifelong learning plays a key role in labor market policies in the EU. In the context of the increasing rate of people with higher education and changes in markets for skilled jobs, universities have begun to engage in adult education and active labor market policies. The article presents the results of studies of unrepresentative cases of university adult education programs conducted in seven European countries with special focus on middle-aged people, who are increasingly vulnerable socially. One of the salient features of the case studies was the social effectiveness of university adult education programs from the point of view of access to jobs and the quality of work / life. The results of the case studies along with analysis of the results of other European projects permitted a continuous training scheme the essential dimensions of universities in adult education for socially effective

Transformation of anthropological status in elderly with type II diabetes through exercise: pilates and aerobic exercise

Las estadísticas muestran que 285 millones de personas sufren de Diabetes Tipo II, esto es el 6% de la población mundial adulta y 60 millones de personas en los Estados Unidos (10% de la población). De los 47 millones de habitantes que posee España, mas de 3 millones de personas sufren de diabetes (6.4%). En el año 2010 se gastaron más de 106 mil millones de dólares en salud por causa de la diabetes en los Estados Unidos. El ejercicio físico es una manera de evitar la diabetes en la población a través de: un mejor uso de la propia insulina producida por el cuerpo, de la quema de grasas, del control del peso corporal, del aumento de la fuerza muscular y del aumento en la densidad y calidad ósea. Una frecuencia semanal de 250 a 300 minutos de actividad física puede resultar de gran ayuda en el control de esta patología. La práctica de Pilates es un ejercicio que puede ser utilizado para lograr fácilmente un estado físico saludable. Puede ser realizado en el hogar, aprendiendo la técnica a través de la TV o de DVDs, es conveniente y sin costos. Además no presenta riesgos para las personas con diabetes tipo II, quienes son vulnerables por presentar una biomecánica disminuida en los miembros inferiores y/o una disfunción de la marcha

Water for People, Water for Life

This report documents the serious water crisis we are facing at the beginning of the 21st century. This crisis is one of water governance, essentially caused by the ways in which we mismanage water. But the real tragedy is the effect it has on the everyday lives of poor people, who are blighted by the burden of water-related disease, living in degraded and often dangerous environments, struggling to get an education for their children and to earn a living, and to get enough to eat. The executive summary offers an analysis of the problem as well as pilot case studies for water management and recommendations for future action

Alternatives for sustained disaster risk reduction

The daily media is filled with images of catastrophic events which seem increasingly frequent and violent In parallel there are a large range of scientific studies debates in the policy arena, and a growing number of international institutions focused on disaster reduction. But a paradox remains that despite advances in technology, disasters continue to increase, affecting many individuals in rich as well as poor countries

Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation: Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

This Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) has been jointly coordinated by Working Groups I (WGI) and II (WGII) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report focuses on the relationship between climate change and extreme weather and climate events, the impacts of such events, and the strategies to manage the associated risks. The IPCC was jointly established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in particular to assess in a comprehensive, objective, and transparent manner all the relevant scientific, technical, and socioeconomic information to contribute in understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, the potential impacts, and the adaptation and mitigation options. Beginning in 1990, the IPCC has produced a series of Assessment Reports, Special Reports, Technical Papers, methodologies, and other key documents which have since become the standard references for policymakers and scientists.This Special Report, in particular, contributes to frame the challenge of dealing with extreme weather and climate events as an issue in decisionmaking under uncertainty, analyzing response in the context of risk management. The report consists of nine chapters, covering risk management; observed and projected changes in extreme weather and climate events; exposure and vulnerability to as well as losses resulting from such events; adaptation options from the local to the international scale; the role of sustainable development in modulating risks; and insights from specific case studies

Physical and Sexual Violence, Mental Health indicators, and treatment seeking among street-based population groups in Tegucigalpa, Honduras

To establish the prevalence of exposure to physical and sexual violence, mental health symptoms, and medical treatment-seeking behavior among three street-based subpopulation groups in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and to assess the association between sociodemographic group, mental health indicators, and exposure to violence