A pilot evaluation of positive behavioural support workshops for families of adults with intellectual disabilities who present challenging behaviour: 'It should have been offered years ago'

Background: Positive behavioural support (PBS) workshops were designed for families supporting their adult son or daughter with an intellectual disability engaging in challenging behaviours. This was in recognition of the impact of their challenging behaviour, in particular the level of stress carers often experience and positive reports from other studies incorporating multi-family learning. Method and materials: Two sets of pilot workshops were completed, incorporating modules in PBS and physical interventions. Workshops included presentations and self-directed/group learning tasks, recorded in a specifically designed workbook. Results: Quantitative data was analysed using non-parametric tests. Positive results were found for changes in various areas including self-reported stress levels. Positive trends were also found in pre and post application of the Aberrant Behaviour Checklist (Aman and Singh, 1994). Conclusions: This study showed very encouraging results in regard to the impact of this model of training for the carers involved. Further research is required to assess any longer term effects, and to explore the impact on larger numbers of participants

The time-varying nature of the overreaction effect: evidence from the UK

Previous studies on the overreaction effect in the UK show that prior losers consistently outperform prior winners in the period 1975 to 1990. This paper extends current knowledge by assessing the above phenomenon in the UK market for the period 1987 to 2007. In contrast to earlier research, we produce evidence of a weak presence of the overreaction effect for the latest test period. Further, we show that, after adjusting for size, the overreaction effect almost disappears and any additional excess post-formation return to prior-losers is attributable to market cycles. This study implies that the presence of the overreaction effect in the UK stock market is time-varying and difficult to exploit in practice

Social Location and Practising as an Ally in Community Development

This paper is a synopsis of my original thesis, whose central focus was an exploration of the self-relections of workers in Community Development on the relationship of social learning to their expressed values and behaviours. This relates particularly to practice as an Ally in Community Development in Ireland. The thesis emerged from my own personal learning and questioning about my place in society and how this location impacted on my practice. The theme was developed through an examination of literature theorising oppression, power, systems theory, psychology and critiques of Development. It was assumed that as values and norms from the dominant systems of society are internalised it is necessary to develop awareness of the source of our values and practices to understand and work with these internalisations. An emancipatory qualitative approach to research was taken, using 10 semi-structured interviews. It was found that social locational experiences had an impact on both the expressed practice and values of the participants. It was also ascertained that awareness of social location was an important factor in working as an Ally

The Use of History in the Movement for the Civic Engagement of Higher Education

No other effort to reform American higher education is as attentive to the past as the civic engagement movement. The historical minded-ness of the movement is one of its strengths. Its explicit connection to the historical mission of American higher education makes it broadly appealing, and its base in John Dewey\u27s progressive theories of education give it an intellectual heft missing in other reform movements. But the civic engagement movement\u27s use of history is not always well-considered. As a result, the movement has not taken full advantage of the historical profession\u27s insights into civic engagement. Nor has it adopted the historical practices that can deepen civic engagement efforts and the partnerships that underlie them. In particular, the movement would be well-served by paying more attention to the historical analogies it uses and examining more closely the contexts out of which successful models of civic engagement grow

Listeners' perceptual and emotional responses to tonal and atonal music

Research in music and emotion has largely focused on responses to tonal music on isolated occasions. This article presents a novel approach to the study of music and emotion that investigates the effects of familiarity on listeners' responses to tonal and atonal music. A mixed-methods longitudinal design was adopted to enable access to the familiarization process. Nineteen student participants (10 musicians; nine non-musicians) embarked on the study. Participants used a range of quantitative and qualitative self-report mechanisms to record their emotional responses to music by Clementi, Schoenberg and Berio over a two-week familiarization period. Results suggested that with increased familiarity, participants showed greater understanding of the musical structure and increased awareness of details in the music, which impacted on the emotional triggers identified by participants. There was evidence for increasing anticipation of emotional events with familiarity. The musical language also showed profound effects: participants found it more difficult to identify the musical structure of the atonal pieces than the tonal pieces; emotional responses to the atonal pieces were lower than those for the tonal piece, and these effects were greatest for non-music students. The implications of these results are discussed

Distressed debt-investing in Deutschland: Geschäftsmodelle und Perspektiven

The global distressed debt market has been established for some years now, however within this investment universe German Distressed Debt is generally considered as underdeveloped. The aim of this paper is to highlight why Investments are transacted and the framework of processes involved within the German market additionally; the paper focuses on current active investors and concludes with a market survey covering the impressions of these participants. --Non-Performing-Loans,Distressed Debt,Distressed Debt-Trading,Bad Bank,Work-Out,Outsourcing,Data Protection,Banker´s duty of secrecy,Due Diligence