10 research outputs found
The Relationship between Mobile Banking Deepening and Financial Performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya
The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between mobile banking deepening and financial performance of commercial bank in Kenya. The banking sector in Kenya has experienced turbulent times following the collapse of many banks in the 1990s. In order to minimize their operational costs, commercial banks have adopted internet banking including ATMs, mobile banking and internet banking where customer can access their accounts on their personal computers. Mobile banking offers millions of people a potential solution in emerging markets that have access to a cell phone, yet remain excluded from the format financial mainstream. The study applied descriptive research design. The target population included six mobile phone service providers who provide mobile phone services and 43 commercial banks operating in Kenya as at June 2014. The total amounts transferred via the mobile for the past five years were collected and the number of mobile banking users was regressed against bank performance as measured by the return on assets. The study used secondary data from the Central bank of Kenya, Mobile phone Companies and Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. During the study period, the amount of money transacted through the mobile money transfers increased steadily from 27.07 billion in 2009 to 207.08 billion by the last month of the analysis. The growth was motivated by the convenience offered by the service. The study however found that there exist a weak positive relationship between mobile banking and the financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The study recommends that the policy makers take mobile banking awareness creation into consideration when drafting policies on the operations of banks in Kenya. This was because of the weak relationship of mobile banking and financial performance especially as the industry moves into a technologically competitive environment. The study also recommends that policy makers keep a keen eye on the developments of mobile banking as it is a new platform for competition among commercial banks as the world moves into a digital age to ensure it does not lose its regulatory role. Keywords: Mobile Banking Deepening, Financial Performance, Commercial Bank
Geopolitics, Global Governance and Crisis Narratives
The financial crisis demonstrated a new quality of interconnected vulnerabilities across the globe. Yet, increased interdependence may lead to increased friction rather than common problem?solving or a shared outlook. This article is concerned with the prospects for future reform of global economic governance, taking as a starting point the apparent shift from the G8 to the G20 as the focal forum for reform. We show that (1) the crisis both reflects and propels important geopolitical change and that (2) interpretations of the crisis differ widely, leading to diverging ideas of different actors about each other and about future reforms. We then consider some implications, notably with regard to the utility of summit?level diplomacy and the transfer of responsibilities to controversial institutions, all within an environment marked by ongoing uncertainty
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Prevention in Pursuit of Social Justice
Abstract Although prevention is in many ways aligned with social justice goals, it often falls short of accomplishing the level of social change critical for the advancement of social justice. Progress toward social justice requires a careful blend of person-focused ameliorative activity with transformative social change. Professionals must be equipped with multicultural competencies, insight into power dynamics, and skills in outreach, advocacy, collaboration, empowerment, social action, and political literacy, among other skills. Although most prevention activity is not fully transformative, numerous examples can be identified of activities that further social justice. Further strides in the promotion of social justice through prevention will require changes in the training, credentialing, and remuneration of psychologists
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Promoting Mental Health in Asian Immigrants
Abstract This chapter focuses on promoting mental health among Asian immigrants. First, we provide background information about this growing and diverse community. Next, we discuss cultural adjustment, underuse of mental health services, and why it is important to develop services for Asian immigrants. We then describe the major factors that contribute to Asian immigrants’ mental health, including acculturation, social support, and spirituality, as well as Asian immigrants’ use of collectivistic coping strategies. Finally, implications for prevention programs, research, and education are discussed
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Promoting Well-Being and Mental Health in Refugees
Abstract The chapter primarily focuses on interventions that have the potential to promote well-being by facilitating and fostering successful acculturation through acquisition of new life skills in refugees and by increasing multicultural competencies of individuals and changing public policies in receiving cultures. Berry’s (1997 ) work on the acculturation process is utilized in considering possible interventions aimed not exclusively at refugee populations but also at increasing the readiness of receiving cultures to promote well-being of refugees. Prilleltensky and Nelson’s (2002) theory of well-being, particularly with regard to relational and collective well-being, also provides a theoretical framework for proposed interventions
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A History of Prevention in Counseling Psychology
Abstract This chapter’s two tables present illustrative markers of prevention events that have occurred within counseling psychology and within prevention per se. These markers are addressed selectively in the chapter’s narrative, which is organized sequentially as follows: (1) “Early Antecedents”; (2) “A Decade of Fomentation: The 1960s”; (3) “Prevention Emerges in the 1970s”; (4) “Prevention Expands: 1980s–Current,” with attention to 1980–1989, 1990–1999, 2000–2010; and (5) “Future Directions.” The thesis is that prevention in counseling psychology remains an artifact of hope. Although impressive scholarly production has occurred at an increasing pace since around 1985 and the Society of Counseling Psychology has formalized its support of prevention through its Prevention Section, “real world” demonstrations of gains—through training curricula, research, and employment—suggest that prevention remains still on the outside looking in. Yet due largely to the noticeable increase in prevention professional literature and to passage of health care reform legislation, the time for prevention in counseling psychology may finally have come—though we should be mindful that we’ve heard that refrain sung before
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Advocacy and Prevention Dismantling Systems of Oppression
Abstract The impact of environmental factors on psychological functioning has received much attention in the psychological literature and has expanded the scholarship on mental heath beyond individual-level variables and intrapsychic processes. The current chapter therefore reviews the role of societal oppression on the psychological functioning of individuals from historically marginalized groups. In addition the chapter frames prevention as an important social justice tool that can be used in order to facilitate the well-being of individuals and groups who continue to experience oppression based on such factors as race, sexual orientation, and gender. The chapter concludes by providing a case illustration of social justice–based prevention as it applies to antiracism advocacy
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Critical Psychology, Prevention, and Social Justice
Abstract Critical psychology and prevention have a goal in common: the promotion of individual and community well-being. Their ways of achieving it, however, vary. In this chapter we explore similarities and differences between these two disciplines in terms of values, ontology, epistemology, and practices. Whereas prevention has assumed a value-neutral, positivist and largely individualistic approach, critical psychology has endorsed an explicitly value-laden and social action orientation. The value of social justice, very prevalent in critical psychology, assumes a marginal position in prevention. With the notable exception of George Albee and his disciples, prevention professionals have embraced the promotion of health and the reduction of personal risk factors as their main goals. Whereas critical psychologists have done a great deal to show the role of injustice in mental health and psychosocial problems, they have not done as well as preventionists in systematically implementing and evaluating psychosocial interventions. We argue for a synergy between critical psychology and prevention to promote both sustainable well-being and social justice
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Teaching Prevention Preparing the Next Generation of Psychologists
Abstract Despite the importance placed on prevention in the field, most counseling and counseling psychology training programs are not addressing prevention in substantive ways (Matthews, 2003a, 2003b ), nor have they in the past (McNeill & Ingram, 1983 ). There have been periodic calls for increased emphasis on prevention training in professional preparation programs (e.g., Britner & O’Neil, 2008 ; Conyne, 1997 ; DeLeon, Dubanoski, & Oliveira-Berry, 2005 ; Kiselica & Look, 1993 ; Romano & Hage, 2000a ). This chapter will address ways to incorporate prevention material into a graduate psychology or counseling curriculum through either a specialized course or infusion or a combination of the two. It will also address the need to offer more opportunities for continuing professional education in the area of prevention
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Ethical Principles for the Practice of Prevention
Abstract The role of prevention in the field of psychology, due to increasing evidence of the utility of prevention, has grown significantly in recent years. Unfortunately, although there has been increasing attention to training competent prevention practitioners, there has been less attention to explicating meaningful guidelines for ethical issues raised in prevention. In this chapter we will discuss the importance of prevention, identify unique ethical issues in prevention, highlight previous guidance provided for addressing these issues, and suggest ideas for starting a new ethical code for prevention practice