Pedagogical Techniques that Provide Educational Value to Social Work Students through Bereavement Academics and Empathetic Advancements

The lack of empathy in college students has been documented and empathy levels are reported to have declined over recent years. College student bereavement has not been well-researched (Balk, 2008) but the lack of declining college student empathy has documentation in psychological expressions (Balk, 2008). This article addresses social work students engaged in an academic bereavement assignment that incorporates student centered instruction (SCI) and “teaching through relationships.” Using an untimely social work students’ death, students utilize research, reflection, cooperative small group learning, and applied theory, to compose a writing assignment. Intentionally introducing the “sorrowful empty chair” in the bereavement assignment led to reflective thoughts that are equal to empathy and shows a reflection model in production. Applying theoretical framework to current events aids students understanding of theory. While current events’ research improves student research skills as well as their theoretical understanding, the application of theoretical frameworks and current events with research, leads to an increase in student devotion and commitment to produce good work

Business and social entrepreneurs in the UK : gender, context and commitment

Objectives: What sort of people become social entrepreneurs, and in what way do they differ from business entrepreneurs? This question is important for policy because there has been a shift from direct to indirect delivery of many public services, requiring a professional approach to social enterprise. Yet we know little about who sets up social enterprises. Prior work: Much prior work on social entrepreneurs has been based on small and convenience samples, and this is true in the United Kingdom as elsewhere. An exception is work based on annual UK Global Entrepreneurship monitor (GEM) surveys (e.g. Levie et al., 2006). Approach: Defining and distinguishing business from social entrepreneurs is problematic. However, inclusion of items that measured the relative importance of economic, social and environmental goals in the 2009 UK GEM survey enables us to compare business and social entrepreneurs based on two different definitions: activity-based (setting up or running a new business or any kind of social, voluntary or community activity, venture or initiative) and goals-based (setting up or running a new organisation which has mainly economic goals versus mainly social goals). We use logistic multivariate regression techniques to identify differences between business and social entrepreneurs in demographic characteristics, effort, aspiration, use of resources, industry choice, location and organisational structure, identified from a representative sample of 30,000 adults interviewed in the United Kingdom in 2009. Results: The results show that the odds of an early-stage entrepreneur being a social rather than a business entrepreneur are reduced if they are male, from an ethnic minority, if they work 10 hours or more per week on the venture, and if they ever worked in their parents business, while they are increased if they have higher levels of education and if they are a settled in-migrant to their area. Implications: These results suggest that a high proportion of social enterprise founders are part-time founders. This could be a cause for concern for policy-makers keen to shift delivery of professional services from the public sector to a professional third sector. Future surveys could test if there is a hand-over of control from founders to full-time managers as social enterprises mature. Value: To our knowledge, this is the first time that large representative samples of business and social entrepreneurs have been compared using multivariate analysis. This type of research complements case-based research, enabling hypotheses raised by qualitative research to be tested on representative samples of a population

The Historic Role of Boards of Health in Local Innovation: New York City’s Soda Portion Case

Childhood and adult obesity pose major risks for cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, with the poor and racial minorities suffering from disproportionately high burdens of obesity and chronic disease. With current policies failing, cities and states have moved forward with creative prevention measures–-with boards of health driving policy innovation in many local jurisdictions. The New York City Board of Board of Health’s (NYCBH) soda portion limit pushed the boundaries of innovation, but was struck down on June 26, 2014 by New York State’s highest court, which held that the Board trespassed on the City Council’s authority. The Court’s decision ignored the critical role of local health agencies in responding to 21st century public health threats, including epidemics of obesity and chronic disease. The Court narrowly construed the NYCBH’s authority, characterizing its powers as administrative, and thus potentially stifling local innovation. The decision also obscured the fundamental truth that public health policymaking requires complex trade-offs and incremental action, as well as a multifaceted approach to reducing population weight gain. Policymaking often relies upon limited evidence, and agencies experiment with novel ideas while also transforming social norms and pushing the boundaries of public opinion. Although the portion rule would disproportionately affect disadvantaged individuals who drink the largest amount of soda, government’s failure to act represents a greater injustice. Enhancing opportunities to choose a healthy life path better serves the interests of justice, but the Court’s judgment takes us further away from realizing this social aspiration

A New bush viper

Volume: XXVI

The Effect of Personal Contact on Attitudes toward Mental Illness in Baccalaureate Nursing Students

Many people who suffer from serious mental illness also suffer from the stigma associated with such illness. Because nurses frequently come into contact with the mentally ill, it is important that they do not stigmatize these individuals. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of a guest lecture by an individual with a serious mental illness on attitudes about mental illness in a sample of baccalaureate nursing students. The theoretical framework that guides this study is Goffman’s (1963) theory of social stigma. The sample used for this research is a convenience sample of 50 junior level nursing students enrolled in the Mental Health Nursing course at a large public university in Midwest U.S. The Attitudes toward Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ; Cunningham, Sobell, & Chow, 1993) measured attitudes and was used as a pre- and post-test before and after personal contact via guest lecture with a person with a serious mental illness. A paired t-test was used to determine differences in the means of the pre- and post-tests. The results revealed a significant improvement in baccalaureate nursing student attitudes toward persons with serious mental illness following personal contact. These findings indicate that personal contact with a mentally ill person could be used as an intervention to improve attitudes and reduce stigma in healthcare professionals