Blockchain networks as constitutional and competitive polycentric orders

Institutional economists have analyzed permissionless blockchains as a novel institutional building block for voluntary economic exchange and distributed governance, with their unique protocol features such as automated contract execution, high levels of network and process transparency, and uniquely distributed governance. But such institutional analysis needs to be complemented by polycentric analysis of how blockchains change. We characterize such change as resulting from internal sources and external sources. Internal sources include constitutional (protocol) design and collective-choice processes for updating protocols, which help coordinate network participants and users. External sources include competitive pressure from other cryptocurrency networks. By studying two leading networks, Bitcoin and Ethereum, we illustrate how conceptualizing blockchains as competing and constitutional polycentric enterprises clarifies their processes of change.

Musical life stories coherence through musicking in the prison setting

Despite the strong relationships evidenced between music and identity little research exists into the significance of music in prisoners’ shifting sense of identity. This article explores musicking as part of the ongoing identity work of prisoners in light of theory on musical performance, narrative and desistance and discusses implications for penal practice and research. Through the presentation of an ethnographic study of music therapy in a low security Norwegian prison we show how participation in music activities afforded congruence between the past, the present and the projected future for participants by way of their unfolding musical life stories. Complementing existing conceptualisations of music as an agent for change, our study suggests that musicking afforded the maintenance of a coherent sense of self for participating prison inmates, whilst offering opportunities for noncoercive personal development. We argue that research into musicking in prison offers fruitful ways of tracing how the complexities inherent in processes of change are enacted in everyday prison life, and that it can advance our knowledge of relationships between culture, penal practice and desistance.

Smokers' Engagement Behavior on Facebook regarding to Smoking Cessation Verbalization and Facebook Reaction Usage: Content Analysis (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The Transtheoretical Model recommends "processes of change", while the Motivational Interviewing approach offers “motivational language” as indicators of health behavior change. The relationship between these indicators and the usage of Facebook reaction buttons is little known. However, this relationship may highlight how to evaluate one of the most popular engagement indicators (Facebook reactions) in online health behavior change interventions. OBJECTIVE The study aim was to understand the relationship between processes of change, motivational language, Facebook users’ gender, and the Facebook reaction buttons. METHODS A total of 821 comments were analyzed in the current study (N=821), which came from different Facebook users, and responded to image-based, smoking cessation support contents. The processes of change (experiential and behavioral processes) and the motivational language (change talk and sustain talk) in the investigated comments were identified. The presence, the number, and the proportion of these linguistic categories were compared with the Facebook users’ gender and the usage of reaction buttons. RESULTS The Facebook users who used the “Haha” reaction button wrote significantly higher proportion of sustain talk than those who used the “Like” or “Love” reaction (P=.011). No significant difference in the number or proportion of linguistic categories was found between those who used the "Like" reaction button, and those who did not use reaction buttons. The Facebook users who combined the comment and “Love” reaction wrote significantly more change talk than those who used the “Haha” and “Like” reactions, or those who did not utilize these buttons (P<.001). Significant female dominance was observed in the presence, the number, and the proportion of experiential processes and change talk (P<.05). In addition, significant male predominance was found in the presence, the number, and the proportion of sustain talk (P<.05). CONCLUSIONS The "Haha" reaction may be a negative engagement indicator, the "Like" reaction may be a neutral engagement indicator, and the "Love" reaction may be a positive engagement indicator in terms of the smoking cessation during Facebook-based interventions. Furthermore, female engagement may be characterized by utilizing the terms of experiential processes and change talk, while the usage of sustain talk can be typical for male engagement. We recommend the evaluation of processes of change and motivational utterances in participants' comments during online public health interventions.

Implementing Reforms in Community Corrections: Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This mixed-method study examined changes implemented in Pennsylvania community corrections agencies during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed ( N = 54; 83% response rate) and interviewed ( N = 10) county Chiefs of probation and parole regarding changes to agency policies, processes of this change, and expected sustainability. Findings revealed meaningful changes to community corrections policy initiated by the pandemic through new modes of supervision contact —such as “ curbside probation”— and new policies regarding violations of supervision that align with evidence-based principles. The moment’s urgency provided a rare but effective impetus for reform, but perceptions of sustainability varied across Chiefs’ role orientations. Our findings demonstrate how this moment expanded the footprint of evidence-based practice through local criminal justice reform and reveal new insights into capacities for and processes of change.

Women Lawyers for Social Causes: Professional Careers and Legal Development in Thailand

Women lawyers are increasing seen among the leading legal defenders of human rights and social movements in Thailand. Increasing visibility is partly a result of news coverage and social media, but women lawyers activism has far older roots. In this article, we examine two related processes of change that contribute to women’s emergence as leading social cause practitioners. First, we discuss the relationship between Thailand’s legal system and its social and political development since the end of the nineteenth century. Second, we employ career narratives of three women lawyers with innovative practices for social causes as a lens through which to examine how lawyers transform available resources into an identity, law practice, and law. We discuss not only the role of prior generations of women lawyers, connections between influential elites and social cause lawyers, and the founding of a few key organizations within the NGO community, but also the role of the women as architects of their own careers. We conclude that they have become successful by aligning their practices with emerging social movements and progressive bureaucrats, unexpectedly creating professional identities with somewhat different relationships to the rule of law.

Stages and Processes of Change for Weight Loss in Acute Stroke or TIA Patients Living with Obesity

Background: Obesity is associated with an increased prevalence of vascular risk factors and incidence of stroke. As such weight loss is recommended for patients living with obesity in the secondary prevention of stroke. Few studies, however, have examined the stages and processes of change for weight loss in stroke patients living with obesity. Objective: To evaluate the stages and processes of change for weight loss in patients living with obesity who have had a recent stroke or TIA. Methods: Using a validated questionnaire, we assessed each patient’s stage of behavioral change according to the Transtheoretical Model (precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance). We also examined four processes of behavioral change, which quantify activities and experiences that patients undergo on the way to behavioral change: emotional re-evaluation (EMR), weight management action (WMA), weight consequence evaluation (WCE), and supporting relationships (SR). Processes scores were compared between patients in the action and maintenance stages and those in the precontemplation, contemplation and preparation stages. Results: Out of 49 patients who provided informed consent, 44 met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Of these 44 patients, 6 (14%) were in the precontemplation stage of change, 7 (16%) were in contemplation, 2 (5%) were in preparation, 13 (30%) were in action, and 16 (36%) were in maintenance. Those in the action and maintenance stages accounted for the majority of participants (n=29, 66%). Patients in the action and maintenance stages (N=29) had higher EMR scores (mean 79, SD 13 vs mean 68, SD 19, t=2.0, p=0.03) and WMA scores (mean 69, SD 13 vs mean 59, SD 19, t=2.0, p=0.03) as compared to those in the precontemplation, contemplation and preparation stages (N=15). Conclusions: Our results suggest that without counseling or specific intervention, approximately two-thirds of stroke/TIA patients living with obesity are in the action or maintenance stage of behavior change with respect to weight loss and therefore more likely to succeed in intensive lifestyle-based interventions targeted towards weight loss. Patients who score higher in EMR and WMA are more likely to be in the action or maintenance stage of change.

Creative Arts Interventions in Addressing Depression in Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Depression experienced by older adults is proving an increasing global health burden, with rates as high as 27% in the USA. This is likely to increase in coming years as the number and proportion of older adults in the global population rises. Therefore, it is imperative that the effectiveness of approaches to the prevention and treatment of depression are understood. Creative arts interventions, including art, dance movement, drama, and music, are utilized internationally to reduce depressive symptoms in older adults and promote wellbeing. This includes interventions led by trained arts therapists as well as other health and arts professionals. This presentation will include a report of findings from a recent systematic review of the outcomes of four creative arts modalities (art, dance movement, drama, and music) with particular attention paid to processes of change documented in each modality.

Institutional change processes in national tourism administrations: the case of Servicio Nacional de Turismo, Chile

<p>Three decades after the creation of the Chilean national tourism administration – the Servicio Nacional de Turismo (Sernatur) – the government initiated a process of institutional change. In 2007, a bill was submitted to Parliament and in 2010 the bill was enacted (Act 20423). Act 20423 replaced the existing national tourism administration (NTA) with a new set of public organisations performing various roles in tourism. The act not only created a new structure but also modified the allocation of roles in tourism to different agencies thereby creating a new public institutional framework for tourism in Chile. Although changes like those occurring in Chile have attracted some attention, such research tends to lack a broad perspective and fails to consider how and why processes of change occur and how changes in the general environment impact on the process. In order to address this broad perspective, this thesis concentrates on three research questions: what was the process that led to the creation of the new Chilean institutional framework for tourism, what were the factors that influenced and shaped the process, and how and why did the process and the factors influence the outcomes of the process. In this way, this research aims to provide a better understanding of how and why NTAs change over time. To address this problem, a conceptual framework is developed from three separate bodies of literature: tourism organisations, the administration of the public sector, and tourism policymaking. The framework illustrates two critical aspects to investigate a process of change in NTAs: a spatial scale and a temporal scale. The first scale shows that the process of change occurs in, and is influenced by, a broad context composed of two sub-systems and multiple interrelated organisations. The second scale presents the process of change over time and shows that changes in the environmental conditions also influence the process. The process of change and the influence of contextual factors are examined using an in-depth analysis of the relevant documentation. This method is complemented by in-depth semi-structured interviews with multiple stakeholders. In order to address the various aspects of the conceptual framework, a multi-phase approach is also adopted for the analysis of the data. The research reveals that in democratic countries like Chile, institutional change occurs in the context of a legislative process. Three policy stages are suggested to operationalise the process: pre-legislative, policy window, and legislative. In each of these stages there are several components of a policy process: evaluations, agendas, formulation, decision making, and implementation. During the process of change these components overlap and a division into consecutive phases as proposed by the Policy Cycle Model cannot be operationalised. The thesis also shows that the process is influenced and shaped by several factors arising from environmental conditions and evaluation reports. Environmental conditions directly impact on the process and shape the focus and outcomes of evaluation reports. In turn, evaluation reports impact on the process by shaping the proposals discussed during the policy stages. This also challenges the Policy Cycle Model on the ground that evaluations are not part of a single phase and that these evaluations play different roles during the policy process. Finally, this thesis suggests that the outcomes of a process of institutional change in tourism are influenced by both the environmental conditions and the features of the process (consultation, participation, agreement, disagreement, power, negotiation, and acceptance). Variations in the environmental conditions influence the features of the policy process and in turn, changes in these features directly impact the outcomes of the process. In summary, the analysis of the Chilean case reveals that processes of change in NTAs are directly influenced by the general environment in which these processes occur. This suggests that these processes are not isolated developments and therefore the general environment strongly influences the features and outcomes of the process. Hence, investigating the influence of these conditions is critical to explain how a process of change occurs and why particular outcomes result from the process. Variations in the environmental conditions impact on the features of the policy process so that changes in these features directly shape the outcomes of the process.</p>

Institutional change processes in national tourism administrations: the case of Servicio Nacional de Turismo, Chile

<p>Three decades after the creation of the Chilean national tourism administration – the Servicio Nacional de Turismo (Sernatur) – the government initiated a process of institutional change. In 2007, a bill was submitted to Parliament and in 2010 the bill was enacted (Act 20423). Act 20423 replaced the existing national tourism administration (NTA) with a new set of public organisations performing various roles in tourism. The act not only created a new structure but also modified the allocation of roles in tourism to different agencies thereby creating a new public institutional framework for tourism in Chile. Although changes like those occurring in Chile have attracted some attention, such research tends to lack a broad perspective and fails to consider how and why processes of change occur and how changes in the general environment impact on the process. In order to address this broad perspective, this thesis concentrates on three research questions: what was the process that led to the creation of the new Chilean institutional framework for tourism, what were the factors that influenced and shaped the process, and how and why did the process and the factors influence the outcomes of the process. In this way, this research aims to provide a better understanding of how and why NTAs change over time. To address this problem, a conceptual framework is developed from three separate bodies of literature: tourism organisations, the administration of the public sector, and tourism policymaking. The framework illustrates two critical aspects to investigate a process of change in NTAs: a spatial scale and a temporal scale. The first scale shows that the process of change occurs in, and is influenced by, a broad context composed of two sub-systems and multiple interrelated organisations. The second scale presents the process of change over time and shows that changes in the environmental conditions also influence the process. The process of change and the influence of contextual factors are examined using an in-depth analysis of the relevant documentation. This method is complemented by in-depth semi-structured interviews with multiple stakeholders. In order to address the various aspects of the conceptual framework, a multi-phase approach is also adopted for the analysis of the data. The research reveals that in democratic countries like Chile, institutional change occurs in the context of a legislative process. Three policy stages are suggested to operationalise the process: pre-legislative, policy window, and legislative. In each of these stages there are several components of a policy process: evaluations, agendas, formulation, decision making, and implementation. During the process of change these components overlap and a division into consecutive phases as proposed by the Policy Cycle Model cannot be operationalised. The thesis also shows that the process is influenced and shaped by several factors arising from environmental conditions and evaluation reports. Environmental conditions directly impact on the process and shape the focus and outcomes of evaluation reports. In turn, evaluation reports impact on the process by shaping the proposals discussed during the policy stages. This also challenges the Policy Cycle Model on the ground that evaluations are not part of a single phase and that these evaluations play different roles during the policy process. Finally, this thesis suggests that the outcomes of a process of institutional change in tourism are influenced by both the environmental conditions and the features of the process (consultation, participation, agreement, disagreement, power, negotiation, and acceptance). Variations in the environmental conditions influence the features of the policy process and in turn, changes in these features directly impact the outcomes of the process. In summary, the analysis of the Chilean case reveals that processes of change in NTAs are directly influenced by the general environment in which these processes occur. This suggests that these processes are not isolated developments and therefore the general environment strongly influences the features and outcomes of the process. Hence, investigating the influence of these conditions is critical to explain how a process of change occurs and why particular outcomes result from the process. Variations in the environmental conditions impact on the features of the policy process so that changes in these features directly shape the outcomes of the process.</p>