Intimate partner violence and stalking\ud

“Stalker guilty of stabbing ex-girlfriend to death in "brutal' attack”, reads the London Evening Standard news headline (Bailey, 2010). This article goes onto describe how Gemma Doorman, 24, was stabbed to death in July 2008, as she left a restaurant in South-West London, by her ex-partner Vikramgit Singh. The ‘frenzied attack’ occurred after months of stalking and harassment, which Miss Doorman had previously reported to the police. This is just one example of many worldwide media headlines that depict stories of relationships that have culminated in the murder of one partner. While, not all cases of partner homicide are characterised by stalking and harassment, most victims of stalking know their perpetrator, and in a large proportion of stalking cases the target is an ex-intimate partner (Spitzberg, 2002). Such murder cases provoke questions about why the fatality occurred and whether this arguably foreseeable event could have been prevented. These are questions that many academics and practitioners in the field have endeavoured to answer

The need to promote behaviour change at the cultural level: one factor explaining the limited impact of the MEMA kwa Vijana adolescent sexual health intervention in rural Tanzania. A process evaluation

Background - Few of the many behavioral sexual health interventions in Africa have been rigorously evaluated. Where biological outcomes have been measured, improvements have rarely been found. One of the most rigorous trials was of the multi-component MEMA kwa Vijana adolescent sexual health programme, which showed improvements in knowledge and reported attitudes and behaviour, but none in biological outcomes. This paper attempts to explain these outcomes by reviewing the process evaluation findings, particularly in terms of contextual factors. Methods - A large-scale, primarily qualitative process evaluation based mainly on participant observation identified the principal contextual barriers and facilitators of behavioural change. Results - The contextual barriers involved four interrelated socio-structural factors: culture (i.e. shared practices and systems of belief), economic circumstances, social status, and gender. At an individual level they appeared to operate through the constructs of the theories underlying MEMA kwa Vijana - Social Cognitive Theory and the Theory of Reasoned Action – but the intervention was unable to substantially modify these individual-level constructs, apart from knowledge. Conclusion - The process evaluation suggests that one important reason for this failure is that the intervention did not operate sufficiently at a structural level, particularly in regard to culture. Recently most structural interventions have focused on gender or/and economics. Complementing these with a cultural approach could address the belief systems that justify and perpetuate gender and economic inequalities, as well as other barriers to behaviour change

Proximate Determinants of Women's Use of Birth Control Methods in Ota,Ogun State

Fertility regulation and pregnancy prevention are among the major health challenges of the 21st century in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in Nigeria. Contraception has been identified as an effective means of combating the problem of unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion and it is equally an effective means of family planning and fertility control and therefore very important in promoting maternal and child health. Women between ages 18 and 47 (n=143, mean=30.4 years) were sampled. A survey research questionnaire made up of four trajectories and consisting of sixteen (16) items was used in this study. The study made use of frequency counts, percentage, t-test analysis and regression analysis. The SPSS software was used to analyze the data. Results indicate a good knowledge of types of contraception with more than a third (83%) aware of condom as a contraceptive method. However, very few women were aware of modern contraceptive methods such as implants (9%) and spermicides (5%). The study indicates that knowledge of contraception (β = 2.244; t = 2.356; p < .05), employment status (β = 1.955; t = 2.257;p < .05) and age (β = 1.530; t = 2.203; p < .05) were good predictors of women’s contraceptive use. There was also a significant difference in women’s use of contraceptives based on contraceptive selfefficacy (t = 3.387, p < .05). Based on these findings, the study shows the need for strong advocacy,enlightenment and community mobilization for improved awareness and use of contraceptives in fertility control and preventing unwanted pregnancie

Psychosocial factors influencing risk-taking in middle age for STIs

Objectives To increase the knowledge of the psychosocial factors influencing sexual risk-taking for STIs among adults in late middle age. Methods Individual interviews were conducted either face to face or by telephone with 31 heterosexual men and women aged between 45 and 65. They were recruited from NHS sexual health services (n=16) and council run culture and leisure facilities (n=15) in a large Scottish city. A total of 18 women and 13 men were interviewed. All interviews were transcribed in full and thematically analysed. Results Analysis detailed important psychosocial and sociocultural factors; the prioritisation of intimacy above and beyond concerns about risks for STI in sexual partnerships; the importance of unwanted pregnancy in shaping risk perceptions throughout the life course; vulnerability associated with periods of relationship transition (eg, bereavement, divorce or separation); social norms and cultural expectations relating to age-appropriate sexual and health-seeking behaviours. Conclusions This is the first qualitative study to examine the factors associated with sexual risk-taking among heterosexual adults in late middle age in the UK. Many factors associated with sexual risk-taking are similar to those reported within other populations. However, we also detail population-specific factors, which should be considered in terms of the development of interventions for ‘at risk’ older adults, or the tailoring of wider behaviour change interventions to this specific age group

Risk evaluations and condom use decisions of homeless youth: a multi-level qualitative investigation.

BackgroundHomeless youth are at higher risk for sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy than non-homeless youth. However, little is known about how they evaluate risk within the context of their sexual relationships. It is important to understand homeless youths' condom use decisions in light of their sexual relationships because condom use decisions are influenced by relationship dynamics in addition to individual attitudes and event circumstances. It is also important to understand how relationship level factors, sexual event circumstances, and individual characteristics compare and intersect.MethodsTo explore these issues, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 37 homeless youth in Los Angeles County in 2011 concerning their recent sexual relationships and analyzed the data using systematic methods of team-based qualitative data analysis.ResultsWe identified themes of risk-related evaluations and decisions at the relationship/partner, event, and individual level. We also identified three different risk profiles that emerged from analyzing how different levels of risk intersected across individual respondents. The three profiles included 1) Risk Takers, who consistently engage in risk and have low concern about consequences of risk behavior, 2) Risk Avoiders, who consistently show high concern about protection and consistently avoid risk, and 3) Risk Reactors, those who are inconsistent in their concerns about risk and protection and mainly take risks in reaction to relationship and event circumstances.ConclusionsInterventions targeting homeless youth should reflect multiple levels of risk behavior and evaluation in order to address the diversity of risk profiles. Relationship/partner-, event-, and individual-level factors are all important but have different levels of importance for different homeless youth. Interventions should be tailored to address the most important factor contributing to homeless youth reproductive needs

Organisational culture in airworthiness management programs: Developing a measurement model

All civil and private aircraft are required to comply with the airworthiness standards set by their national airworthiness authority and throughout their operational life must be in a condition of safe operation. Aviation accident data shows that over twenty percent of all fatal accidents in aviation are due to airworthiness issues, specifically aircraft mechanical failures. Ultimately it is the responsibility of each registered operator to ensure that their aircraft remain in a condition of safe operation, and this is done through both effective management of airworthiness activities and the effective program governance of safety outcomes. Typically, the projects within these airworthiness management programs are focused on acquiring, modifying and maintaining the aircraft as a capability supporting the business. Program governance provides the structure through which the goals and objectives of airworthiness programs are set along with the means of attaining them. Whilst the principal causes of failures in many programs can be traced to inadequate program governance, many of the failures in large scale projects can have their root causes in the organisational culture and more specifically in the organisational processes related to decision-making. This paper examines the primary theme of project and program based enterprises, and introduces a model for measuring organisational culture in airworthiness management programs using measures drawn from 211 respondents in Australian airline programs. The paper describes the theoretical perspectives applied to modifying an original model to specifically focus it on measuring the organisational culture of programs for managing airworthiness; identifying the most important factors needed to explain the relationship between the measures collected, and providing a description of the nature of these factors. The paper concludes by identifying a model that best describes the organisational culture data collected from seven airworthiness management programs

Cultural tattoos: meanings, descriptors, and attributions

Body piercing and tattoo/ta moko were initially seen to be practiced by sailors, criminals, specific cultural groups (e.g., Māori), or sub-cultural groups (e.g., bikers, gang members, adolescents). In recent times, these practices have become part of mainstream popular culture, and are enjoyed by a wide range of people. In this study, we set out to explore patterns of body modifying behaviour engaged in, or commented on, by a sample of university students. We invited undergraduate psychology students from two courses to complete an ‘online’ questionnaire. Students logged on to a web site, were presented with an information sheet, and invited to respond. In this paper, we present the reasons why people in this sample decided to obtain a tattoo and the meanings they ascribe to their modifications. We will also consider the observations that people make of those who have culturally inspired tattoos

Reducing risky security behaviours:utilising affective feedback to educate users

Despite the number of tools created to help end-users reduce risky security behaviours, users are still falling victim to online attacks. This paper proposes a browser extension utilising affective feedback to provide warnings on detection of risky behaviour. The paper provides an overview of behaviour considered to be risky, explaining potential threats users may face online. Existing tools developed to reduce risky security behaviours in end-users have been compared, discussing the success rate of various methodologies. Ongoing research is described which attempts to educate users regarding the risks and consequences of poor security behaviour by providing the appropriate feedback on the automatic recognition of risky behaviour. The paper concludes that a solution utilising a browser extension is a suitable method of monitoring potentially risky security behaviour. Ultimately, future work seeks to implement an affective feedback mechanism within the browser extension with the aim of improving security awareness