Social, Cultural, and Environmental Drivers of International Students’ Fear of Crime: A Cognitive Behavioral Perspective

This investigation develops and tests an hypothesised Cognitive Behavioral Fear of Crime Model. Mass media reports of crimes against international students have raised public awareness, questions about racially-oriented victimization, and the need for appropriate preventative strategies. Drawing upon Culture Shock Theory, this study proposes that international students are a vulnerable group, showing elevated levels of fear of crime, perceived risk, and avoidance behaviors. Five-hundred and ninety-one international students across four universities participated in either an online or hardcopy questionnaire survey, the measures of which were adapted from related studies. Structural Equation Modelling demonstrates a nonrecursive relationship between perceived risk, fear of crime, and avoidance behavior, supporting cognitive behavioral theory as an appropriate theoretical conceptualization for investigating fear of crime. Results show that young and female international students express significantly higher levels of fear of crime than their older and male counterparts. International students, who report high levels of social disorder and feel as an outsider or that it is difficult to make friends, express elevated perceived risk and fear of crime. Direct victimization, perceived cultural distance, and host attitudes influence fear of crime and avoidance behavior indirectly via perceived risk. Intriguingly, international students’ perceived prejudice by local residents is a nonsignificant predictor of perceived risk and fear of crime. Findings suggest the importance of social integration, social disorder, cultural differences, and attitudes of locals when it comes to international students’ perceived risk and fear of crime

Sustainable Seafood: Improving Environmental Attitudes, Not Increasing Product Information, Can Lead to Greater Willingness to Pay

Marine fish stocks and associated ecosystems are currently in a grave state, with 90 percent of worldwide fisheries considered fully fished or overfished. Due to policy and legislation proving timely and expensive, a market-based solution is needed to expedite sustainable change. Unfortunately, eco-labels, such as Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Dolphin Safe have not been effective in eliciting a greater consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable products. I distributed an online experimental survey to over 529 U.S. consumers to test whether providing concise, explanatory information on product packaging would elicit a higher WTP than products that just contained the traditional MSC label. In addition, I tested how environmental attitude, industry knowledge, and socio-demographic characteristics influence WTP. I found that there was no difference in WTP among products whose packaging included only a traditional MSC label, explanatory information, or a combination of the two. In contrast, environmental attitude played a significant role in predicting WTP: the more pro-environmental a consumer’s attitude was, the more they were WTP for sustainable shrimp and salmon products. Like many other studies have found, product price was a main barrier in WTP. Improving consumers’ environmental attitudes while focusing marketing campaigns on consumers that already hold pro-environmental attitudes may help boost sales and demand for sustainable seafood products, helping expedite vital sustainable change to the commercial fishing industry

The Role of Social Capital in Business Resilience: A Case Study of Malaysian Family Business

Social capital is an essential business element, providing opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds and with different entrepreneurial capacities to interact when fulfilling their business aims. Characterized as the norms and networks that enable people to act collectively, social capital reflecting both the individualistic and communal notions of social capital. In this sense, norms and values are viewed as manifestations of social capital, which facilitate exchange, lower transaction costs, a reduction of cost of information, and encourage the collective management of resources. In this chapter, we take Noor Arfa Batik as a case to explore social capital concepts and processes, within the context of batik textiles, family business, as a means for strategizing valuable inputs and resources for business continuity. The qualitative data analytic approach taken here explores the internal and external network dimensions of social capital that help to foster business performance. The findings from the qualitative analysis show that social capital is associated with the presence of business dynamics and strong venture support and recognize the importance of fostering relationships within internal and external business network circles, to expand access to tangible (e.g., technology resources, investment in customer service) and intangible resources (e.g., knowledge, competencies, motivation, reputation), and industry platforms. Keywords: Social capital; Family Business, Business Resilience; Malaysian Batik Industry; Qualitativ

Social Capital, Knowledge Acquisition and Value-Creation for Business Performance

This study examines the interrelationships among structural and relational dimensions of social capital, and patterns of knowledge acquisition and value-creation, using data collected from 208 managers and executives of Malaysian SMEs. Structural embeddedness is measured in terms of perceived ties, frequency of interactions, and time spent with networks. Relational embeddedness is evaluated with respect to closeness, personal familiarity, certainty, and confidence towards other network players. Both structural and relational embeddedness of social capital are related significantly to the extent of intra- and inter-organizational knowledge acquisition and value-creation, which in turn impact significantly on business performance. Findings suggest that employees of SMEs are emboldened by the provision of networking options that are relevant for creating and adding business value in the long term; and that organizational structures must be suitable for reaching external market contacts and absorbing external knowledge for organizational change

The state of the evidence base for psychodynamic psychotherapy for children and adolescents

This article reviews outcomes of psychodynamic psychotherapy (PP) for children and adolescents reported in articles identified by a comprehensive review of the literature on treatment evaluations of psychological and medical interventions for mental disorders in pediatric populations. The review identified 48 reports based on 33 studies. While there is evidence of substantial clinical gains associated with PP, in almost all the studies, when contrasted with family-based interventions, PP fares no better and appears to produce outcomes with some delay relative to family-based therapies. Further rigorous evaluations are needed, but evidence to date suggests that the context in which PP is delivered should be extended from the traditional context of individual therapy and parents should be included in the treatment of children

Parent-infant psychotherapy for improving parental and infant mental health

Background: Parent-infant psychotherapy (PIP) is a dyadic intervention that works with parent and infant together, with the aim of improving the parent-infant relationship and promoting infant attachment and optimal infant development. PIP aims to achieve this by targeting the mother’s view of her infant, which may be affected by her own experiences, and linking them to her current relationship to her child, in order to improve the parent-infant relationship directly. / Objectives: 1. To assess the effectiveness of PIP in improving parental and infant mental health and the parent-infant relationship. / 2. To identify the programme components that appear to be associated with more effective outcomes and factors that modify intervention effectiveness (e.g. programme duration, programme focus). / Search methods: We searched the following electronic databases on 13 January 2014: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, 2014, Issue 1), Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, BIOSIS Citation Index, Science Citation Index, ERIC, and Sociological Abstracts. We also searched the metaRegister of Controlled Trials, checked reference lists, and contacted study authors and other experts. / Selection criteria: Two review authors assessed study eligibility independently. We included randomised controlled trials (RCT) and quasi-randomised controlled trials (quasi-RCT) that compared a PIP programme directed at parents with infants aged 24 months or less at study entry, with a control condition (i.e. waiting-list, no treatment or treatment-as-usual), and used at least one standardised measure of parental or infant functioning. We also included studies that only used a second treatment group. / Data collection and analysis: We adhered to the standard methodological procedures of The Cochrane Collaboration. We standardised the treatment effect for each outcome in each study by dividing the mean difference (MD) in post-intervention scores between the intervention and control groups by the pooled standard deviation. We presented standardised mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for continuous data, and risk ratios (RR) for dichotomous data. We undertook meta-analysis using a random-effects model. / Main results: We included eight studies comprising 846 randomised participants, of which four studies involved comparisons of PIP with control groups only. Four studies involved comparisons with another treatment group (i.e. another PIP, video-interaction guidance, psychoeducation, counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)), two of these studies included a control group in addition to an alternative treatment group. Samples included women with postpartum depression, anxious or insecure attachment, maltreated, and prison populations. We assessed potential bias (random sequence generation, allocation concealment, incomplete outcome data, selective reporting, blinding of participants and personnel, blinding of outcome assessment, and other bias). Four studies were at low risk of bias in four or more domains. Four studies were at high risk of bias for allocation concealment, and no study blinded participants or personnel to the intervention. Five studies did not provide adequate information for assessment of risk of bias in at least one domain (rated as unclear). / Six studies contributed data to the PIP versus control comparisons producing 19 meta-analyses of outcomes measured at post-intervention or follow-up, or both, for the primary outcomes of parental depression (both dichotomous and continuous data); measures of parent-child interaction (i.e. maternal sensitivity, child involvement and parent engagement; infant attachment category (secure, avoidant, disorganised, resistant); attachment change (insecure to secure, stable secure, secure to insecure, stable insecure); infant behaviour and secondary outcomes (e.g. infant cognitive development). The results favoured neither PIP nor control for incidence of parental depression (RR 0.74, 95% CI 0.52 to 1.04, 3 studies, 278 participants, low quality evidence) or parent-reported levels of depression (SMD -0.22, 95% CI -0.46 to 0.02, 4 studies, 356 participants, low quality evidence). There were improvements favouring PIP in the proportion of infants securely attached at post-intervention (RR 8.93, 95% CI 1.25 to 63.70, 2 studies, 168 participants, very low quality evidence); a reduction in the number of infants with an avoidant attachment style at post-intervention (RR 0.48, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.95, 2 studies, 168 participants, low quality evidence); fewer infants with disorganised attachment at post-intervention (RR 0.32, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.58, 2 studies, 168 participants, low quality evidence); and an increase in the proportion of infants moving from insecure to secure attachment at post-intervention (RR 11.45, 95% CI 3.11 to 42.08, 2 studies, 168 participants, low quality evidence). There were no differences between PIP and control in any of the meta-analyses for the remaining primary outcomes (i.e. adverse effects), or secondary outcomes. / Four studies contributed data at post-intervention or follow-up to the PIP versus alternative treatment analyses producing 15 meta-analyses measuring parent mental health (depression); parent-infant interaction (maternal sensitivity); infant attachment category (secure, avoidant, resistant, disorganised) and attachment change (insecure to secure, stable secure, secure to insecure, stable insecure); infant behaviour and infant cognitive development. None of the remaining meta-analyses of PIP versus alternative treatment for primary outcomes (i.e. adverse effects), or secondary outcomes showed differences in outcome or any adverse changes. / We used the Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation Working Group (GRADE) approach to rate the overall quality of the evidence. For all comparisons, we rated the evidence as low or very low quality for parental depression and secure or disorganised infant attachment. Where we downgraded the evidence, it was because there was risk of bias in the study design or execution of the trial. The included studies also involved relatively few participants and wide CI values (imprecision), and, in some cases, we detected clinical and statistical heterogeneity (inconsistency). Lower quality evidence resulted in lower confidence in the estimate of effect for those outcomes. / Authors' conclusions: Although the findings of the current review suggest that PIP is a promising model in terms of improving infant attachment security in high-risk families, there were no significant differences compared with no treatment or treatment-as-usual for other parent-based or relationship-based outcomes, and no evidence that PIP is more effective than other methods of working with parents and infants. Further rigorous research is needed to establish the impact of PIP on potentially important mediating factors such as parental mental health, reflective functioning, and parent-infant interaction

Defining family business: a closer look at definitional heterogeneity

Researchers have used a myriad of different definitions in seeking to explain the heterogeneity of family firms and their unique behavior; however, no widely-accepted definition exists today. Definitional clarity in any field is essential to provide (a) the basis for the analysis of performance both spatially and temporally and (b) the foundation upon which theories, frameworks and models are developed. We provide a comprehensive analysis of prior research and identify and classify 82 definitions of family business. We then review and evaluate five key theoretical perspectives in family business to identify how these have shaped and informed the definitions employed in the field and duly explain family firm heterogeneity. Finally, we provide a conceptual diagram to inform the choice of definition in different research settings