The Pill vs. the Sword: Additional Considerations Comment on “The Pill Is Mightier Than the Sword”

In this paper, I present additional information for policy-makers and researchers to consider in response to the view proposed by Potts et al that “the pill is mightier than the sword.” I identify states with both high rates of terrorism and a youth bulge and discuss correlates of both these societal characteristics. The research examined supports the view that factors other than access to family planning are more important in facilitating terrorism

The Shadow of Silence on the Sexual Rights of Married Iranian Women

There has been a recent shift in the field of sexual health, representing a move away from biomedical concerns to sexual rights frameworks. However, few studies on sexuality are based on a rights framework. The unspoken nature of sexuality in Iranian culture has led to a lack of national studies on the topic. The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of married Iranian women on sexual rights in their sexual relationships. In this grounded theory study, 37 participants (25 married women, 5 husbands, and 7 midwives) were selected. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding using MAXQDA software version 2007. The analysis revealed the core category of "sexual interaction in the shadow of silence. " The interrelated categories subsumed under the core category included adopting a strategy of silence, trying to negotiate sex, seeking help, and sexual adjustment. The silence originating from women's interactions with their families and society, from girlhood to womanhood, was identified as the core concept in Iranian women's experiences of sexual rights. A focus on husbands' roles seems salient because they can direct or alter some learned feminine roles, especially silence regarding sexual matters, which then affects the realization of women's sexual rights

The Pill vs. the Sword: Additional Considerations; Comment on “The Pill Is Mightier Than the Sword”

In this paper, I present additional information for policy-makers and researchers to consider in response to the view proposed by Potts et al that “the pill is mightier than the sword.” I identify states with both high rates of terrorism and a youth bulge and discuss correlates of both these societal characteristics. The research examined supports the view that factors other than access to family planning are more important in facilitating terrorism

Human rights education for nurses: An example from Finland

Background and objective: Nurses deal with complex human rights issues arising from difficult situations and ethical dilemmas involving patients, relatives, and health care professionals. Human rights education can enable nurses to understand principles of human rights and apply them at work in their efforts to provide high quality care. The objective for this study was to describe how human rights material was integrated into a professional ethics course for master degree nursing students and to facilitate nurse educators’ efforts to include such material in their courses. Methods: In this qualitative study, data consisted of responses to a human rights assignment by 23 nursing students at a university of applied sciences in Finland. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns and themes from the assignment. Results: Participants’ consensus was that human rights education should be part of nursing curricula. Students described what they learned, identified similarities and differences between human rights principles and ethical codes, gave examples applying human rights principles to their work, and stated how they could better protect human rights of nurses and their patients. Conclusions: Learning about human rights reinforces nurses’ knowledge and application of ethical codes and increases their awareness of factors necessary for quality care

PREDICTORS OF ATTITUDES TOWARD RAPE IN A COLLEGE POPULATION (GENDER ROLES, SEXUAL IDEOLOGY, UNITED STATES)

Recent research has supported the views that widely accepted attitudes about rape, rape victims, and rapists (a) help sexually coercive/assaultive men justify and deny the negative effects of their behavior; and (b) severely hinder both the reporting of rape and the recovery of rape victims. This study investigated predictors of attitudes toward rape for a sample of 390 college students in the Northeastern United States. The specific attitudes considered--referred to as victim-callous rape attitudes--were (a) Women enjoy sexual violence, (b) Sex rather than power is the primary motivation for rape, (c) Women are responsible for rape prevention, (d) Rape happens only to certain kinds of women, (e) Women falsely report many rape claims, (f) A woman is less desirable after she has been raped, and (g) Rape is justified in some situations. Variables assessing sexual experience, egalitarian gender role beliefs, adversarial sexual beliefs, macho personality, and attitudes toward female sexuality, homosexuality, extramarital sex, and premarital sex were examined for their ability to predict rape attitudes. The hypotheses suggested by previous studies were that respondents with more nonegalitarian gender role beliefs, adversarial sexual beliefs, traditional attitudes toward female sexuality, disapproving attitudes toward homosexuality, and macho personality have more victim-callous rape attitudes. Data were collected by administering a questionnaire to classes of students. With exceptions of the macho personality measure which contained forced-choice items and the sexual experience measures which were short-answer items, variables were assessed by 5-point Likert scales. Stepwise multiple regression indicated that for both men and women, the significant predictors--adversarial sexual beliefs, nonegalitarian gender role beliefs, traditional attitudes toward female sexuality, and attitudes toward premarital sex--accounted for 59% of the variance of victim-callous attitudes toward rape. In a regression done only for men, macho personality was found to be a significant predictor. The correlation and regression results supported the hypotheses of this study and suggested specific relationships between sexual ideology and rape attitudes. A discussion of the tenets of two divergent sexual ideologies--one male-dominant and the other egalitarian--shows how the former ideology leads to an acceptance of victim-callous rape attitudes and the latter leads to their rejection

Ethical concerns and dilemmas of Finnish and Dutch health professionals

Abstract Background: Healthcare professionals encounter ethical dilemmas and concerns in their practice. More research is needed to understand these ethical problems and to know how to educate professionals to respond to them. Research objective: To describe ethical dilemmas and concerns at work from the perspectives of Finnish and Dutch healthcare professionals studying at the master’s level. Research design: Exploratory, qualitative study that used the text of student online discussions of ethical dilemmas at work as data. Method: Participants’ online discussions were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Participants: The sample consisted of 49 students at master’s level enrolled in professional ethics courses at universities in Finland and the Netherlands. Ethical considerations: Permission for conducting the study was granted from both universities of applied sciences. All students provided their informed consent for the use of their assignments as research data. Findings: Participants described 51 problematic work situations. Among these, 16 were found to be ethical dilemmas, and the remaining were work issues with an ethical concern and did not meet criteria of a dilemma. The most common problems resulted from concerns about quality care, safety of healthcare professionals, patients’ rights, and working with too few staff and inadequate resources. Discussion: The results indicated that participants were concerned about providing quality of care and raised numerous questions about how to provide it in challenging situations. The results show that it was difficult for students to differentiate ethical dilemmas from other ethical work concerns. Conclusion: Online discussions among healthcare providers give them an opportunity to relate ethical principles to real ethical dilemmas and problems in their work as well as to critically analyze ethical issues. We found that discussions with descriptions of ethical dilemmas and concerns by health professionals provide important information and recommendations not only for education and practice but also for health policy

The Shadow of Silence on the Sexual Rights of Married Iranian Women

There has been a recent shift in the field of sexual health, representing a move away from biomedical concerns to sexual rights frameworks. However, few studies on sexuality are based on a rights framework. The unspoken nature of sexuality in Iranian culture has led to a lack of national studies on the topic. The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of married Iranian women on sexual rights in their sexual relationships. In this grounded theory study, 37 participants (25 married women, 5 husbands, and 7 midwives) were selected. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding using MAXQDA software version 2007. The analysis revealed the core category of “sexual interaction in the shadow of silence.” The interrelated categories subsumed under the core category included adopting a strategy of silence, trying to negotiate sex, seeking help, and sexual adjustment. The silence originating from women’s interactions with their families and society, from girlhood to womanhood, was identified as the core concept in Iranian women’s experiences of sexual rights. A focus on husbands’ roles seems salient because they can direct or alter some learned feminine roles, especially silence regarding sexual matters, which then affects the realization of women’s sexual rights

Are They Guilty Because of Their Gender?

This paper explores whether sexual acts of varying degrees of misconduct/violence are judged differently depending on the gender of the actor and the subject. It presents pooled data from four countries regarding the actors and subjects involved in a range of sexual activities. In addition, the paper investigates whether the gender of the observer (study participant) influenced the assessment. Our sample consisted of 3416 students from the United States, Israel, Finland, and Estonia. The research instrument contained 8 sexual scenarios where the gender labels of the actors and subjects were manipulated. In several highly revealing cases, it was found that female actors were assessed more benignly compared to male ones. Men were never assessed more benignly. Our research finding is in line with public records showing that women are less frequently perceived and reported as sexual perpetrators. As a consequence, men may find it more difficult to complain of sexual misconduct against them, and sexual misconduct by women against men may have remained uncounted and disregarded in many cases