Journeys of Violence: Trajectories of (Im-)Mobility and Migrants' Encounters with Violence in European Border Spaces

On their journeys to and through Europe, refugees and other migrants are commonly subjected to violence in its multifaceted forms. We argue that these "journeys of violence" are a direct effect of a fundamentally uneven and asymmetric global mobility regime that creates frictions and fragmentations in the European border space and beyond. Our argument is based on: (1) a state-of-the-art literature review on refugees’ mobilities towards Europe and new patterns of involuntary immobilisation through border regimes, (2) a secondary analysis of recent quantitative data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), which includes a large data set on refugee’s journeys to Germany, and (3) original qualitative interviews that were conducted with migrants in Germany and Bosnia-Herzegovina. We will first show that mobility in the context of violence is highly selective and that trajectories of mobility significantly depend on mobility capital. Second, we consider the fortification of European borders and the externalisation of control regimes as facets of structural violence and demonstrate their effects on refugees’ mobility, namely the fragmentation of journeys and the systemic production of situations of protracted immobility at multiple border sites. Third, we provide insights into refugees’ exposure to and experiences of direct violence on their journeys, which must be understood as immediate consequences of the structurally violent conditions that govern their mobility and the cultural violence of delegitimising and illegalising refugees’ movements

Recognizing the need for nursing support through energy data : a pilot project

Bei Personen im hohen Alter passieren 90 Prozent der Unfälle – wie zum Beispiel Stürze – zu Hause. Ein großer Anteil der Unfälle in Häusern betrifft Personen die älter sind als 65 Jahre. Das Erkennen von Aktivitäten kann dazu beitragen, dass Notfallsituationen frühzeitig erkannt werden. Bislang haben nur wenige Technologien zur Aktivitäts- und Notfallerkennung, welche in eine bestehende häusliche Infrastruktur integriert werden können, das Potenzial, die Sicherheit älterer, zu Hause lebender Personen zu erhöhen, indem Veränderungen im Alltag automatisch erkannt werden. Das Institut für Pflege (IFP) und das Institut für Energiesysteme und Fluid Engineering der ZHAW (IEFE) der Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften (ZHAW) will mit einer Pilotstudie aufzeigen, dass Aktivitäten des täglichen Lebens durch Energieverbrauchsdaten identifiziert werden können. Dazu wird untersucht, ob Daten aus einem Aktivitätsmonitoring-System dazu verwendet werden können, um einen pflegerischen Unterstützungsbedarf zu erkennen. Vor allem gebrechliche Personen über 70 Jahre, die sowohl kognitiv als auch sinnesbeeinträchtigt sind, könnten von intelligenten Technologien profitieren, was dazu beitragen kann, dass Personen im Alter länger zu Hause leben können. In older adults, 90 percent of accidents – such as falls – occur at home. A large proportion of accidents in homes affect people who are older than 65 years. Recognition of a pattern of activities can help ensure that emergency situations are detected early. Not many technologies for activity and emergency detection have the potential to improve the safety of older adults living alone. These technologies, which can be integrated into an existing domestic infrastructure, may automatically recognize changes in everyday life. The Institute of Nursing (IFP) and the Institute for Energy Systems and Fluid Engineering (IEFE) of Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) wants to show with a pilot study whether activities of daily living can be identified by energy consumption data and whether data from an activity monitoring system can be used to detect needs that would benefit from nursing support. Especially elderly persons over 80 years who have cognitive or sensory impairments could benefit from intelligent technologies, which can help older adults to continue to live at home

The 12-month course of ICD-11 adjustment disorder in the context of involuntary job loss

Background: After its redefinition in ICD-11, adjustment disorder (AjD) comprises two core symptom clusters of preoccupations and failure to adapt to the stressor. Only a few studies investigate the course of AjD over time and the definition of six months until the remission of the disorder is based on little to no empirical evidence. The aim of the present study was to investigate the course of AjD symptoms and symptom clusters over time and to longitudinally evaluate predictors of AjD symptom severity. Method: A selective sample of the Zurich Adjustment Disorder Study, N = 105 individuals who experienced involuntary job loss and reported either high or low symptom severity at first assessment (t1), were assessed M = 3.4 (SD = 2.1) months after the last day at work, and followed up six (t2) and twelve months (t3) later. They completed a fully structured diagnostic interview for AjD and self-report questionnaires. Results: The prevalence of AjD was 21.9% at t1, 6.7% at t2, and dropped to 2.9% at t3. All individual symptoms and symptom clusters showed declines in prevalence rates across the three assessments. A hierarchical regression analysis of symptoms at t3 revealed that more symptoms at the first assessment (β = 0.32, p = .002) and the number of new life events between the first assessment and t3 (β = 0.29, p = .004) significantly predicted the number of AjD symptoms at t3. Conclusion: Although prevalence rates of AjD declined over time, a significant proportion of individuals still experienced AjD symptoms after six months. Future research should focus on the specific mechanisms underlying the course of AjD

Consensus democracy and the transformation of Swiss energy policy

Die Schweiz hat den schrittweisen Ausstieg aus der Kernenergie im Jahre 2011 beschlossen, diesen Entscheid 2017 in einer Volksabstimmung bestätigt und so den Weg für einen grundlegenden Strukturwandel des Energiesystems freigemacht. Dieser Beitrag untersucht, wie direkte Demokratie, Föderalismus und Konkordanz – d. h. die Kerninstitutionen der schweizerischen Konsensdemokratie – auf den Entscheid zur Transformation der schweizerischen Energiepolitik wirken. Dabei werden die für das politische System der Schweiz charakteristischen Strukturen der Machtteilung, welche insbesondere auf den drei Kerninstitutionen direkte Demokratie, Föderalismus und Konkordanz sowie auf deren fallspezifischen losen Kopplungen basieren, dargestellt und ihre Wirkung auf die Transformation der schweizerischen Energiepolitik chronologisch nachgezeichnet. Aus der qualitativen Prozessanalyse zeigt sich erstens, dass keine der drei machtteilenden Institutionen der schweizerischen Konsensdemokratie, weder isoliert noch lose gekoppelt, eine ausschließlich transformationshemmende Wirkung entfaltete. Zweitens schien deren Zusammenspiel insbesondere in der vorparlamentarischen Phase (Konsultation) und im Vorfeld der Volksabstimmung bedeutend. Die Analyse zeigt auf, dass institutionelle Aspekte, welche in vielen Policy-zentrierten Studien vernachlässigt werden, eine ebenfalls relevante Erklärungsgröße für Politikwandel ausmachen.Switzerland’s government decided to phase out nuclear power in 2011. In 2017, the Swiss people accepted this decision in a popular referendum and made way for fundamental structural change in the energy system. This article analyzes the effect of Swiss consensus democracy’s core institutions (i.e. direct democracy, federalism, consociationalism) on the transformation of Swiss energy policy. It considers three core institutions of the Swiss political system constituting the distinct structures of power separation: consociationalism, federalism, and direct democracy, and describes their casespecific coupling as well as their relevance in the course of the Swiss energy transformation. We show with our qualitative process analysis that none of the three institutions of the Swiss consensus democracy or their loose coupling had a purely constraining effect on the transformation of Swiss energy policy. Moreover, the coupling of institutions seemed to be considerably relevant during the consultation phase and prior to the public vote. The analysis shows that institutional aspects, which are neglected in many policy-centric studies, are also a relevant factor in explaining policy change

The Adjustment Disorder - New Module 20 as a Screening Instrument: Cluster Analysis and Cut-off Values

BACKGROUND Adjustment disorder (AjD) is a transient mental health condition emerging after stressful life events. Its diagnostic criteria have recently been under revision which led to the development of the Adjustment Disorder--New Module 20 (ADNM-20) as a self-report assessment. OBJECTIVE To identify a threshold value for people at high risk for AjD. METHODS As part of a randomized controlled trial evaluating a self-help manual for burglary victims, the baseline data of all participants (n=80) were analyzed. Besides the ADNM-20, participants answered self-report questionnaires regarding the external variables post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology, depression, anxiety, and stress levels. We used cluster analysis and ROC analysis to identify the most appropriate cut-off value. RESULTS The cluster analysis identified three different subgroups. They differed in their level of AjD symptomatology from low to high symptom severity. The same pattern of impairment was found for the external variables. The ROC analysis testing the ADNM-20 sum scoreagainst the theory-based diagnostic algorithm, revealed an optimal cut-off score at 47.5 to distinguish between people at high risk for AjD and people at low risk. CONCLUSION The ADNM-20 distinguishes between people with low, moderate, and high symptomatology. The recommendation for a cut-off score at 47.5 facilitates the use of the ADNM-20 in research and practice

Gewinner Swiss Quality Award "ambulanter Sektor". Spitex Plus : der Einsatz von "Advanced Practice Nurses" zeigt Wirkung

Swiss Quality Award 201