a cross-sectional study of differences among medical residents with various specialties working in German hospitals

Objectives This study aimed to analyse and compare differences in occupational stress, depressive symptoms, work ability and working environment among residents working in various medical specialties. Methods 435 German hospital residents in medical training working in 6 different medical specialties participated in a cross-sectional survey study. Physicians were asked about their working conditions and aspects of mental health and work ability. The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire, the Work Ability Index, the ICD-10 Symptom Rating and the Perceived Stress Questionnaire were used to measure working conditions, mental health and work ability. Results Results show that up to 17% of the physicians reported high levels of occupational distress and 9% reported high levels of depressive symptoms. 11% of the hospital physicians scored low in work ability. Significant differences between medical specialties were demonstrated for occupational distress, depressive symptoms, work ability, job demands and job resources. Surgeons showed consistently the highest levels of perceived distress but also the highest levels of work ability and lowest scores for depression. Depressive symptoms were rated with the highest levels by anaesthesiologists. Significant associations between physicians’ working conditions, occupational distress and mental health- related aspects are illustrated. Conclusions Study results demonstrated significant differences in specific job stressors, demands and resources. Relevant relations between work factors and physicians' health and work ability are discussed. These findings should be reinvestigated in further studies, especially with a longitudinal study design. This work suggests that to ensure physicians' health, hospital management should plan and implement suitable mental health promotion strategies. In addition, operational efficiency through resource planning optimisation and work process improvements should be focused by hospital managemen

Lifestyle, harassment at work and self-assessed health of female flight attendants, nurses and teachers.

Health-related lifestyle, harassment at work, and self-assessed health of female flight attendants in comparison to that of female nurses and female primary school teachers were surveyed. A higher proportion of flight attendants than nurses or teachers were smokers, 26% vs. 15% and 17% respectively; and consumed alcohol at least once a week, 40% vs. 21% and 16%. Repeated sexual harassment at work was more common among the flight attendants, 31% vs. 8% and 4%; whereas bullying, physical violence and threats were less prevalent among the flight attendants (12%) than among nurses (19%). Flight attendants were on average somewhat taller, but weighed on average less, 63.8 kg vs. 72.4 kg and 72.7 kg respectively. Repeated exposure to sexual harassment, bullying, violence and threats was related to less physical and psychological well-being in all the groups. Teachers scored on average significantly lower than did the flight attendants on general health and physical well-being, while nurses did not

Íslensk afbrotafræði: Yfirlit íslenskra rannsókna á afbrotum og öðrum frávikum

Í þessari grein fjöllum við um íslenskar rannsóknir á afbrotum og öðrum frávikum. Greinin byrjar á því að skoða afbrot á Íslandi í alþjóðlegum samanburði. Á heimsvísu er tíðni manndrápa einna lægst á Íslandi en minni munur er á Íslandi og öðrum löndum þegar aðrar tegundir brota eru skoðaðar. Á undanförnum árum hefur íslenskum rannsóknum á afbrotum fjölgað töluvert, sérstaklega rannsóknum á annars vegar áhrifum nærsamfélagsins á fráviks- og afbrotahegðun ungs fólk og hins vegar rannsóknum á viðhorfum almennings til refsinga. Í greininni skoðum við jafnframt nýjar áherslur í rannsóknum á afbrotum á Íslandi.This article reviews recent research on crime and deviance in Iceland. We begin by comparing crime rates in Iceland to crime in other countries. Iceland has one of the lowest homicide rates in the world. According to official data, rates of other types of crimes are, however, relatively high in Iceland. There has been substantial increase in criminology research in Iceland in recent years, particularly research on the contextual effects of neighborhood characteristics on adolescent behavior and overall well-being. There has also been extensive focus on examining public attitudes towards crime and punishment. The article also reviews new directions in research on crime in Iceland.Peer Reviewe

Fordómar og geðræn vandamál: Samanburður á þremur löndum

Research has shown that prejudice and negative attitudes toward those who are experiencing mental illness are widespread, but those attitudes reduce the quality of life and recovery of individuals experiencing such problems. In this article, we use a survey to evaluate the extent and causes of negative attitudes among the public in three countries: Iceland, the United States, and Germany. Our results indicate the existence of widespread prejudice and negative attitudes in all three countries. We also show that people across the three countries are more negative toward individuals experiencing mental illness if they define the condition as an illness. Finally, the results indicate that prejudice and negative attitudes toward this group are less common in Iceland and in Germany than in the United States

More trust among those who have moreThe impact of capital and perceived inequality on political trust

Í lýðræðisríkjum er mikilvægt að einstaklingarnir beri traust til stjórnmála við- komandi lands, sér í lagi til þjóðþingsins og þeirra sem þar sitja. Markmiðið með þessari rannsókn er að skoða, með yfirgripsmeiri hætti en áður hefur verið gert, hvernig staða einstaklinga í lagskiptingu íslensks samfélags mótar stjórn- málatraust þeirra. Gögnin koma úr Íslensku félagsvísindakönnuninni sem lögð var fyrir árið 2020. Niðurstöðurnar voru túlkaðar út frá stéttakenningu franska félagsfræðingsins Pierres Bourdieu, sem kveður á um að stéttarstaða ráðist ekki aðeins af efnahagslegu auðmagni heldur einnig menningarlegu, félagslegu og táknrænu auðmagni. Við kynnum jafnframt til sögunnar nýjar og ítarlegar mælingar okkar á þessum helstu víddum auðmagns. Niðurstöður okkar benda til þess að efna- hagslegt auðmagn (kaupgeta) og táknrænt auðmagn (huglæg virðingarstaða) auki stjórnmálatraust, að hluta til vegna þess að þeir sem búa yfir miklu auð- magni telja síður að tekjuójöfnuður hérlendis sé vandamál.Political trust is important in democratic societies, especially people‘s trust in the national parliament and its members. The aim of this study is to examine, in a more comprehensive manner than previously, how individual position in the Icelandic stratificaton system shapes political trust. The data come from the Icelandic Social Science Survey gathered in 2020. The findings are interepreted by drawing on the class theory of French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu, which holds that class position is not only shaped by economic capital, but also cul- tural, social, and symbolic capital. Moreover, we introduce new measures of these major dimensions of capital. Our findings suggest that economic capital (purchasing power) and symbolic capital (subjective prestige) increase political trust, partly because those with high levels of capital are less likely to consider income inequality in Iceland a problemPeer reviewe

working conditions and individual resources as related factors

Objectives This study developed and tested a research model that examined the effects of working conditions and individual resources on work–family conflict (WFC) using data collected from physicians working at German clinics. Material and methods This is a cross-sectional study of 727 physicians working in German hospitals. The work environment, WFC and individual resources were measured by the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire, the WFC Scale, the Brief Resilient Coping Scale and the Questionnaire for Self-efficacy, Optimism and Pessimism. Descriptive, correlation and linear regression analyses were applied. Results Clinical doctors working in German hospitals perceived high levels of WFC (mean=76). Sociodemographic differences were found for age, marital status and presence of children with regard to WFC. No significant gender differences were found. WFCs were positively related to high workloads and quantitative job demands. Job resources (eg, influence at work, social support) and personal resources (eg, resilient coping behaviour and self- efficacy) were negatively associated with physicians’ WFCs. Interaction terms suggest that job and personal resources buffer the effects of job demands on WFC. Conclusions In this study, WFC was prevalent among German clinicians. Factors of work organisation as well as factors of interpersonal relations at work were identified as significant predictors for WFC. Our results give a strong indication that both individual and organisational factors are related to WFC. Results may play an important role in optimising clinical care. Practical implications for physicians’ career planning and recommendations for future research are discussed

Sanctions and moral judgments: The moderating effect of sanction severity and trust in authorities

In order to induce people to follow rules, sanctions are often introduced. In this paper we argue for the importance of studying the positive influence of sanctioning systems on people’s moral convictions regarding the rule advocated by the sanction and of studying factors that moderate this influence. In three experiments we tested the influence of sanction severity and showed that severe sanctions evoke stronger moral judgments with regard to rule-breaking behavior and stronger social disapproval towards rule-breakers than mild sanctions. This was particularly the case when trust in authorities is high rather than low. Implications of these findings are discussed. Also, a framework is proposed to understand the possible circumstances that determine whether sanctions either increase or decrease moral norms

A Large Specific Deterrent Effect of Arrest for Patronizing a Prostitute

BACKGROUND: Prior research suggests that arrest, compared with no police detection, of some types of offenders does not decrease the chances they will reoffend. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We assessed the specific deterrent effect of arrest for patronizing a street prostitute in Colorado Springs by comparing the incidence of arrest for clients of prostitutes first detected through public health surveillance with the incidence of rearrest for clients first detected by police arrest. Although these sets of clients were demographically and behaviorally similar, arrest reduced the likelihood of a subsequent arrest by approximately 70%. In other areas of the United States, arrest did not appear to displace a client's patronizing. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that apprehending clients decreases their patronizing behavior substantially

Tactics and Strategic Action

We discuss the dominant approaches to the analysis of social movement tactics and strategies. If there is broad agreement among scholars about their importance to the performance and understanding of collective action, there is considerably less consensus on how best to explain the decisions over tactics and strategy that social movements make, the extent to which decisions reflect individual or group preferences, or the importance that should be accorded to the micro and macro levels of analysis. The debates concerning these questions provide the main focus of our discussion, from contentious politics to actor-centered and interactionist approaches