The Selectivity Gap in United States Responses to Human Rights Violations: Personal Integrity Violations between 1991 and 2001

Recent quantitative scholarship on international human rights law has revealed a trend in which countries will ratify human rights law in order to improve their international standings, but won’t make the policy changes necessary to implement the law because the policy changes would be more expensive than the costs of noncompliance. This raises the question as to in what circumstances will international law enforcement be costly enough to force countries to comply with international human rights law. Previous quantitative research demonstrates the importance of security concerns in determining US decisions to intervene. Additionally, previous research indicates that economic concerns have long term impacts on the likelihood of intervention, though the exact impacts are unclear. This article will thus treat economic variables as indicators of humanitarian intervention that require further exploration. Further, none of the scholars cited in the literature review focus on political explanations of humanitarian intervention. This is surprising given that political interests have a large impact on state behavior. Therefore, this study will focus on political concerns as a second indicator of humanitarian intervention using UN voting data as an indicator of political alignment

The dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII and its effect on the econmoy sic], political landscape, and social instability in Tudor England that led to the creation of the poor laws

Before the reformation and the schism of the Catholic Church, it had always been the duty of the Church and not of the state, to undertake the seven corporal works of mercy; feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick, visit the prisoner, and bury the dead.¹ By dissolving these institutions, Henry had unwittingly created what would become a social disaster of biblical proportions. In essence, this act was rendering thousands of the poor and elderly without a home or shelter, it denied the country of much of the medical aid that has been offered by the church, it denied future generations of thousands of volumes of books and scriptures from the monastic libraries, as well as denied many an education who would have otherwise never received one without the help of the Church. The ultimate goal of my thesis is to prove my hypothesis that the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII was not merely a contributory factor in the need for the creation of poor laws, but the deciding factor (in a myriad of societal issues) for their creation. Footnote 1: Matthew 25 vv. 32-46

Final report on the West Sussex Post Office Closure Impact Study

This report presents the results of an impact study undertaken by the University of Chichester and commissioned by West Sussex County Council (WSCC) considering the social, economic and environmental impact of the post office closure programme (Network Change) across the county. This final report is significant in that the evidence presented relates only to what has happened as a consequence of Post Office closure rather than what people fear might happen. The focus is, of course, on how the loss of a local branch is experienced but these findings also emphasise the importance of understanding the role of receiving branches. The overall research framework adopted used a case study approach, employing a range of research methods to provide both quantitative and qualitative evidence. Six case study locations were identified to ensure a range of neighbourhood types, each focussing on one Post Office branch that had been closed down. In addition to exploring the consequences of closure, the report also makes recommendations on what actions local authorities within West Sussex might take to mitigate the impact on the businesses and residents within the communities affected. The report concludes that, in the long term, the interests of residents and businesses are best served by a sustainable post office network and that this will require concerted effort by POL, local authorities and the business and residential communities they serve working together. The alternative total breakdown in the network would be far more costly in social, economic and environmental terms

Exploring Equity in Ontario:: A Provincial Scan of Equity Policies Across School Boards

Canada—and Ontario, in particular—is proud to be characterized as one of the most equitable education systems in the world. However, diversity poses unique challenges for Canadian education systems. This study presents findings from an environmental scan of equity policies across the 72 school boards in Ontario, which yielded 785 equity policies for analysis. Data extraction focused on five dimensions of knowledge mobilization:structures, brokering, co-production, dissemination, and exchange. Findings show that many topics remain under-represented in school board policy coverage, including religious accommodation, antiracism and ethno-cultural discrimination, anti-discrimination procedures for LGBTQ2+ students, gender identity, and socio-economic status.Le Canada—et particulièrement l’Ontario—est fier d’être décrit comme l’un des systèmesd’éducation les plus équitables du monde. Néanmoins, la diversité présente des défisparticuliers pour les systèmes d’éducation canadiens. Cette étude présente des constatsdécoulant d’une analyse des politiques en matière d’équité de 72 conseils scolairesd’Ontario, ce qui a mené à l’examen de 785 politiques concernant l’équité. Pour l’extraction des données, nous nous sommes concentrés sur cinq dimensions de la mobilisation du savoir : les structures, la transmission, la coproduction, la dissémination, et l’échange. Les observations démontrent que de nombreux sujets demeurent sous-représentés dans ce qui est couvert par les politiques des conseils scolaires, notamment en ce qui concerne les accommodations religieuses, l’antiracisme et la discrimination ethnoculturelle, les procédures antidiscriminatoires pour les étudiants GLBTTQ2, l’identité de genre et le statut socioéconomique

Exploring Equity in Ontario:: A Provincial Scan of Equity Policies Across School Boards

Canada—and Ontario, in particular—is proud to be characterized as one of the most equitable education systems in the world. However, diversity poses unique challenges for Canadian education systems. This study presents findings from an environmental scan of equity policies across the 72 school boards in Ontario, which yielded 785 equity policies for analysis. Data extraction focused on five dimensions of knowledge mobilization:structures, brokering, co-production, dissemination, and exchange. Findings show that many topics remain under-represented in school board policy coverage, including religious accommodation, antiracism and ethno-cultural discrimination, anti-discrimination procedures for LGBTQ2+ students, gender identity, and socio-economic status.Le Canada—et particulièrement l’Ontario—est fier d’être décrit comme l’un des systèmesd’éducation les plus équitables du monde. Néanmoins, la diversité présente des défisparticuliers pour les systèmes d’éducation canadiens. Cette étude présente des constatsdécoulant d’une analyse des politiques en matière d’équité de 72 conseils scolairesd’Ontario, ce qui a mené à l’examen de 785 politiques concernant l’équité. Pour l’extraction des données, nous nous sommes concentrés sur cinq dimensions de la mobilisation du savoir : les structures, la transmission, la coproduction, la dissémination, et l’échange. Les observations démontrent que de nombreux sujets demeurent sous-représentés dans ce qui est couvert par les politiques des conseils scolaires, notamment en ce qui concerne les accommodations religieuses, l’antiracisme et la discrimination ethnoculturelle, les procédures antidiscriminatoires pour les étudiants GLBTTQ2, l’identité de genre et le statut socioéconomique

From Human-Centered to Social-Centered Artificial Intelligence: Assessing ChatGPT's Impact through Disruptive Events

Large language models (LLMs) and dialogue agents have existed for years, but the release of recent GPT models has been a watershed moment for artificial intelligence (AI) research and society at large. Immediately recognized for its generative capabilities and versatility, ChatGPT's impressive proficiency across technical and creative domains led to its widespread adoption. While society grapples with the emerging cultural impacts of ChatGPT, critiques of ChatGPT's impact within the machine learning community have coalesced around its performance or other conventional Responsible AI evaluations relating to bias, toxicity, and 'hallucination.' We argue that these latter critiques draw heavily on a particular conceptualization of the 'human-centered' framework, which tends to cast atomized individuals as the key recipients of both the benefits and detriments of technology. In this article, we direct attention to another dimension of LLMs and dialogue agents' impact: their effect on social groups, institutions, and accompanying norms and practices. By illustrating ChatGPT's social impact through three disruptive events, we challenge individualistic approaches in AI development and contribute to ongoing debates around the ethical and responsible implementation of AI systems. We hope this effort will call attention to more comprehensive and longitudinal evaluation tools and compel technologists to go beyond human-centered thinking and ground their efforts through social-centered AI

The association between treatment adherence to nicotine patches and smoking cessation in pregnancy

Background: In non-pregnant “quitters,” adherence to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) increases smoking cessation. We investigated relationships between adherence to placebo or NRT patches and cessation in pregnancy, including an assessment of reverse causation and whether any adherence: cessation relationship is moderated when using nicotine or placebo patches. Methods: Using data from 1050 pregnant trial participants, regression models investigated associations between maternal characteristics, adherence and smoking cessation. Results: Adherence during the first month was associated with lower baseline cotinine concentrations (β −0.08, 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.15 to −0.01) and randomization to NRT (β 2.59, 95%CI 1.50 to 3.68). Adherence during both treatment months was associated with being randomized to NRT (β 0.51, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.72) and inversely associated with higher nicotine dependence. Adherence with either NRT or placebo was associated with cessation at 1 month (odds ratio [OR] 1.11, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.13) and delivery (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.09), but no such association was observed in the subgroup where reverse causation was not possible. Amongst all women, greater adherence to nicotine patches was associated with increased cessation (OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.32 to 4.63) but greater adherence to placebo was not (OR 0.98, 95% CI: 0.44 to 2.18). Conclusion: Women who were more adherent to NRT were more likely to achieve abstinence; more nicotine dependent women probably showed lower adherence to NRT because they relapsed to smoking more quickly. The interaction between nicotine-containing patches and adherence for cessation suggests that the association between adherence with nicotine patches and cessation may be partly causal

The use of photo elicitation to explore the role of the main street in Kirkwall in sustaining cultural identity, community, and a sense of place.

This paper explores the value of photo elicitation as a method for investigating the role played by small town main streets in Scottish island communities in sustaining cultural identity, community, and a sense of place. In particular, it critically evaluates the photo elicitation techniques used during a multidisciplinary pilot study, conducted in Kirkwall, Orkney, in 2010. A number of techniques were used, including a photographic exhibition, discussion groups, extended face-to-face interviews, and the creation of a special Facebook page. Throughout all approaches, participants were presented with old and current photographs of the main street, together with some novel merged images combining both historical and contemporary views. These elicitation techniques proved successful in obtaining rich, detailed, qualitative data from 164 informants, who each shared their personal memories and perceptions of the social and cultural role of the Kirkwall main street. Indeed, the very process of identifying familiar buildings, landmarks and faces from photographs (both past and present) appeared to reinforce the participants cultural identity