Alcohol abuse among puerto ricans: in search of a theoretical model.

A secondary analysis of data was conducted on a cross-sectional survey conducted by the author. The original survey aimed at exploring the associations between the acculturation, stress and alcohol consumption of a non-probability sample of 100 Puerto Ricans residing in the state of Massachusetts. The current article aims at providing insights into the validity of the “acculturation model”, the “acculturative stress model” and “culture conflict theory” for Puerto Rican alcohol users. Furthermore this article explores the extent to which these different theoretical models represent an improvement over the traditional method of combining a few key independent variables in an effort to explain and predict alcohol abuse among Puerto Ricans. The findings of this secondary analysis of data revealed no significant associations between levels of acculturation and alcohol consumption or between acculturation and stress. Weak associations were found between specific types of stress and alcohol use. The findings of this study provide no support for the acculturation model and little support for the acculturative stress model or culture conflict theory. At the same time findings revealed stronger associations between levels of education, place of birth, length of residence in the U. S., skin color, and alcohol use. As a result, reliance on overly simplistic models is discouraged and the development of ethnic group-specific and multivariate theoretical models is highly recommended. Policy implications are discussed of identifying predictors of alcohol abuse among Puerto Ricans

Cultural factors associated with healthful behaviors in India

Policy makers, healthcare professionals and other human service providers have an ethical responsibility to provide effective services to different population subgroups. This ethical responsibility is also extended to the increasing number of Indian immigrants in the United States and other countries. The author proposes that knowledge of the clients’ ethnic identification is not enough to help human service providers provide culturally sensitive health and human services. This article identifies contextual as well as group based cultural factors that are likely to influence healthful behaviors. Such factors include: gender discrimination and the resulting inability of women to make decisions impacting their own health, tensions between Indian folk medicine and western medicine, social discrimination and the resulting inequitable access to health services by minority groups, culturally dictated forms of communication, the role of spirituality and religion, their culturally prescribed notion of time and attitudes towards time, group orientation and reliance on the family and friends during health crises. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of specific Indian beliefs and behaviors for healthcare policy and service delivery

Perceptions of Non-governmental Organizations and Socio-economic Progress: The Case of Four Latin American Countries

This article identifies multiple roles and functions of non-governmental organizations as perceived by various stakeholders. The primary purpose of the study on which this article is based was to test the theory of community capacity that states that social capital, human capital, and organizational resources available to the community are predictors of its collective ability. The methodology for this article included secondary data analysis from a survey and qualitative study conducted to assess the effectiveness of Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Internationals’ food security programs. The four Latin American countries in which the study was done are Peru, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Honduras. The study relied on a survey that was administered to approximately 1,200 heads of household, 300 from each of the four countries. It also relied on a qualitative component that drew from eight focus group discussions and eight in-depth interviews. The experimental and comparison groups were each composed of approximately 150 subjects per country; the experimental group participated in the food security programs of ADRA International while the comparison group had not received any food security services. Many study participants reported the perception that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are more effective and efficient than the agencies of their respective governments in responding to disasters and poverty. Most study participants also shared the perception that they have progressed economically as a result of the development services they received from ADRA international. They expressed strong support for International NGOs in these four Latin American countries. This study provides a base level empirical model for testing theses with respect to the neo-liberal perspective on non-governmental organizations. However, the researchers believe that a test of the neoliberal economic model calls for a larger and diverse sample of International Non-Governmental organizations located in randomly selected developing countries. [AUTHOR ABSTRACT

Dimensions of Charity versus Development: The Century-Old Debate in the Profession of Social Work

The social work profession seeks different objectives and utilizes different methodologies and interventions in the countries in which it operates around the world. Furthermore, it operates within drastically different political, economic and cultural contexts. For these reasons, it is difficult to identify an ideal universal method of intervention.For approximately a century, social work practitioners and academicians have debated whether the profession should focus its efforts on providing charity and relief services or promoting socio-economic development and self-sufficiency. This article defines the concepts of charity and socioeconomic development and analyzes the main dimensions of this debate in an effort to deepen our understanding of how to best promote the wellbeing of individuals and communities

Maximization vs. Inclusion as a Value Conflict in Development Work

This article builds on previous research studies strongly suggesting that high levels of social capital are positively associated with the economic and political progress of community residents. As previously proposed by the authors of this article, such findings may encourage policy makers of government and non-governmental development organizations to concentrate their efforts and resources in communities whose residents have been identified as having high levels of social capital. Policy- makers may view pre-existing high levels of social capital among community residents as a factor likely to increase the level of success of their respective socio-economic development initiatives. Such course of action however, would pose a serious ethical issue, given that it could lead to the exclusion of the poor communities with lower levels of social capital and the greatest socio-economic needs. This article explores ethical questions that emerge as we contrast an inductively created development model focusing on emotions with the positivistic social capital model often used in development work. Furthermore, it proposes that the ethical principles associated with the feelings and values held by development organizations and service recipients ought to guide decision making in development work. Such an approach would foster the relationships between policy makers, development professionals and program participants and would enhance the possibility of meeting their expectations

Editorial: Human rights and inequity in health access of Central American Migrants

Frontiers in Public Health is very pleased to publish this journal issue focusing on the health access of immigrants. Contributions to this journal issue include five articles that rely on different methodologies while focusing on diverse geographic world regions and target populations. This editorial summarizes these features while also highlighting the unique contributions of each article

Análisis de las necesidades energéticas para la implantación de autobús eléctrico en entornos urbanos

El principal obstáculo del vehículo eléctrico es la autonomía que hoy en día ofrecen sus baterías. En el caso particular del uso de tracción eléctrica en medios de transporte públicos, las baterías han de diseñarse de forma que tengan capacidad suficiente para soportar una jornada de trabajo. El objetivo del presente proyecto consiste en el desarrollo de un modelo que nos ayude a comprender el funcionamiento de las distintas partes de un autobús eléctrico, pudiendo dimensionar correctamente sus baterías en función del consumo energético de cada recorrido, pero dando al mismo tiempo un método general para abordar con éxito cualquier situación que pudiera ser planteada

Technical Audit of an Electronic Polling Station: A Case Study

P. 16-30This paper shows the lack of standard procedures to audit e-voting systems and also describes a practical process of auditing an e-voting experience based on a Direct-recording Electronic system (D.R.E). This system has been tested in a real situation, in the city council of Coahuila, Mexico, in November 2008. During the auditing, several things were kept in mind, in particular those critical in complex contexts, as democratic election processes are. The auditing process is divided into three main complementary stages: analysis of voting protocol, analysis of polling station hardware elements, and analysis of the software involved. Each stage contains several items which have to be analyzed at low level with the aim to detect and resolve possible security problemsS