Transition on the Han: The Agricultural Roots of Development on the Korean Peninsula

One of the crucial preconditions for growth in the East Asian Economic Miracle were high levels of human capital, yet an explanation for their origin has not been forthcoming in the economic literature. This project investigates the origin of these high levels of human capital in South Korea through the frameworks of induced development and labor-intensive growth. By examining both long-term processes and the effect of policies during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945) in the Korean countryside, it\u27s argued that labor-intensive modes of production, particularly in the case of rice cultivation, induced changes in economic preferences and behaviors. These shifts encouraged household investment in education. A working definition of labor-intensive growth is constructed and employed with data from Japanese archival, census, and survey documents for a cross-sectional regression analysis. Though in many cases labor intensity was shown to have a correlation with education, the effects were strongly differentiated by sex and by region. Further research should focus on different ways labor-intensive growth affects male and female workers. Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

A qualitative study exploring the psycho-social experiences and difficulties of parents who have a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) : within a South African context.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.ASD is a neuro-developmental disorder that is associated with lifelong deficits in social and communicative abilities as well as ability to function independently. A diagnosis of ASD also has major consequences for the parents, with the potential to radically change and affect the entire family. It has been suggested that amongst childhood developmental disorders, ASD may be one of the most stressful for parents to manage. The evidence of increasing prevalence rates worldwide and of the burden of care associated with ASD emphasises the need for further exploration of parental experiences. This study investigated the experiences and challenges of parents who have a child with ASD within a South African context,specifically the Western Cape. Methodology: The study examined parental difficulties qualitatively, through semi-structured interviews and analysed the results using thematic analysis. The results were discussed within the theoretical context of the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation proposed by McCubbin and McCubbin (1993). Findings: An analysis of the interviews revealed a number of significant themes which offer insights into the psychosocial experiences of parents of a child with ASD as well as the factors that impact family resilience and coping. Emerging themes highlighted two contending and yet interlinked trends (vulnerability and resilience) that permeated the experiences of parents of children with ASD, thus expanding the insights into parental experiences beyond that of a deficit-based understanding to a multi-faceted perspective. The findings suggest a multi-dimensional perspective on resilience in these parents may be beneficial in order to fully understand their experiences and in turn support them appropriately. ASD research remains limited in South Africa despite growing interest in expanding the research base within this context. This research study provided the opportunity for in-depth exploration of parental experiences and challenges relating to raising a child with ASD in a South African setting.The findings highlight the value further research in this area could hold and therefore emphasises the need for further exploration

A Two-Step Approach to Increase Breastfeeding Adherence in Mothers With Preterm Infants

Breastfeeding provides multiple benefits for mothers and infants. An overwhelming amount of evidence indicates that breastmilk optimizes infant growth and develops the immune system (Yu et al., 2018). Apart from the health benefits for infants, the immediate effects of breastfeeding for mothers include a decreased risk for hemorrhage, stress, and postpartum depression (Flemming, 2021). A mother’s psychological state impacts lactation success, mainly by affecting milk ejection (Dabas et al., 2019). Despite evidence suggesting that relaxation techniques are beneficial for all human beings, it is one of the least commonly used approaches for postpartum mothers (Joseph et al., 2019). The PICOT question for this project was “In breastfeeding mothers of preterm infants, does education on implementation of meditation and music therapy (MT) during breastfeeding, and telephone follow-up at one, two-, and six-weeks post-discharge, compared to the standard of care (three-month follow-up visit at the developmental clinic), increase breastfeeding adherence, and decrease post-partum stress as measured by a patient-reported assessment tool over three months? Eleven participants from a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) developmental clinic in Northwest Indiana completed the twelve-week within-group project. Participants were instructed to complete a meditation-based audio recording or MT for one 15-minute pumping or breastfeeding session a day. Follow-up telephone calls at one, two, and six weeks served to reinforce education and adherence to the program. At the twelve-week visit, participants were asked to disclose post-intervention infant feeding type along with completing a Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) to measure maternal stress. A chi-square test was conducted comparing the frequency of occurrence in infant feeding types pre-and post-intervention. Out of the 11 participants, 8 participants achieved EBF (n=8, 72.73%). A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was utilized to compare pre-and post- STAI scores, the p-value (p-value=0.001) is significant (Z = -3.207, p \u3e 0.05). Statistically significant differences were observed in increased breastfeeding adherence and decreased maternal stress levels after the two-step intervention

The Catholic Church and the Desegregation of Boston\u27s Public Schools

Recent studies of Boston \u27s desegregation crisis, most notably J. Anthony Lukas\u27s Common Ground, have been highly critical of the Catholic church and its local leader, Humberto Cardinal Medeiros, archbishop of Boston. Their criticisms have been that the church, guided by the ineffective leadership of Cardinal Medeiros in an effort to save its own schools, allowed its schools to become havens for those Bostonians attempting to escape busing. This article is an account of the church\u27s effort to develop a desegregation policy that would allow it to preserve its own schools but not at the expense of court-ordered desegregation and its attempt to implement that policy in the face of strong opposition. In assessing the success of the church\u27s effort, this article also raises the question of what is the proper role of the church in the construction and implementation of public policy

The Role and Liability of Certification Organisations in Transnational Value Chains

Certification organisations have become important players in the monitoring of compliance with social and environmental standards. This is particularly the case in relation to corporate operators producing in or sourcing from developing countries. At the same time, some of the worst industrial disasters in recent years, such as the Ali Enterprises factory fire in Pakistan or the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, occurred after the relevant operators had been certified for their compliance with standards. This raised doubts about the care that the relevant certification organisation had exercised. This article explores potential grounds on which corporate social responsibility (CSR) certification organisations may incur liability towards third parties, in particular employees of subsidiaries or suppliers. To this end, it discusses the functions of certification generally before it analyses the potential liability of certification bodies under German and English law. It considers various circumstances under which certification takes place, including certification that is required by law, certification that is required to obtain certain benefits, such as tax reductions, certification within private CSR schemes and the entirely voluntary use of CSR certification as an instrument of supply chain control

Europeizacija civilnog društva u Poljskoj

The paper presents a preliminary diagnosis of the changes that have affected Polish civil society along the trajectory of Europeanization over the 1990s and early 2000s. First, the continuing structural transformation of the civil society organizations is described and analysed. The phenomena of uneven growth and multifaceted differentiation of the sector are emphasized. Legal and institutional arrangements aimed at the levelling of the formal position which civil society actors occupy in the public sphere of the country vis-à-vis the state and market actors are then discussed. Using the case of the involvement of Polish civil society actors in new institutionalized partnership settings related to the implementation of EU structural funds, the levelling arrangements, introduced under the banner of Europeanized modes of governance, are finally put to an empirical test to probe their effectiveness and adequacy in the post-Communist country.Ovaj rad daje preliminarni pregled promjena koje su utjecale na poljsko civilno društvo tijekom procesa europeizacije u devedesetim godinama dvadesetog stoljeća i početkom dvadeset prvog stoljeća. Prvo se opisuje i analizira trajna strukturalna transformacija organizacija civilnog društva. Naglašavaju se fenomeni neravnomjernog razvoja i raznovrsne diferencijacije tog sektora. Zatim se raspravlja o zakonskim i institucionalnim rješenjima usmjerenim prema izjednačavanju formalnog položaja koji akteri civilnog društva zauzimaju u javnoj sferi zemlje nasuprot državi i tržišnim akterima. Na slučaju uključenosti poljskih aktera civilnoga društva u nova institucionalizirana partnerstva povezana s korištenjem strukturalnih fondova Europske Unije, novi sporazumi o izjednačavanju, uvedeni u skladu s europeiziranim načinima vladavine, podvrgavaju se empirijskom testiranju kako bi se ispitala njihova učinkovitost i primjerenost u postkomunističkoj zemlji