Experiences of violence in daily life among adults in California: a population-representative survey

Background Research on violence exposure emphasizes discrete acute events such as direct and witnessed victimization. Little is known about the broad range of experiences of violence (EVs) in daily life. This study assesses the prevalence and patterns of distribution of 6 EVs in an adult general population. Methods California state-representative survey administered online (English and Spanish), July 14–27, 2020. Adult (age ≥ 18 years) California resident members of the Ipsos KnowledgePanel were eligible to participate. Two EVs concerned community environments: (1) the occurrence of gunshots and shootings in the neighborhood and (2) encounters with sidewalk memorials where violent deaths occurred. Four concerned social networks: direct personal knowledge of individuals who (1) had purposefully been shot by someone else or (2) had purposefully shot themselves, and direct personal knowledge of individuals whom respondents perceived to be at risk of violence, either (3) to another person or (4) to themselves. Main outcome measures, expressed as weighted percentages with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), were the prevalence and extent (or dose) of each EV and of EVs in combination and associations between EVs and respondents’ sociodemographic characteristics and firearm ownership status. Results Of 2870 respondents (57% completion rate), 52.3% (95% CI 49.5–55.0%) were female; mean [SD] age was 47.9 [16.9] years. Nearly two-thirds (64.6%, 95% CI 61.9–67.3%) reported at least 1 EV; 11.4% (95% CI 9.7–13.2%) reported 3 or more. Gender was not associated with the prevalence of any experience. Non-owners of firearms who lived with owners reported more extensive EVs through social networks than did firearm owners or non-owners in households without firearms. Knowledge of people who had been shot by others was most common among Black respondents, 31.0% (95% CI 20.9–43.3%) of whom knew 2 or more such persons. Knowledge of people who had shot themselves was greatest among respondents aged ≥ 60 years, but knowledge of persons perceived to be at risk of violence to themselves was greatest among respondents aged 18–29 years. Conclusions and relevance Experiences of violence in daily life are widespread. They occur in sociodemographic patterns that differ from those for direct victimization and suggest new opportunities for research and intervention.

City to Flood: A new urban planning model for urban adaptation to climate change induced flooding in Dunedin

<p>Currently 40% of the world’s human population lives within 100km of a coast. With the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicting that sea levels will rise between 0.52 and 0.98m by 2100, and with increasing climate change induced extreme weather events affecting urban settings, the ways in which people reside in coastal areas needs to be addressed. As water levels rise, both permanently through sea level rise, and temporarily through storm surge events, areas of high population in low lying areas will have to reconsider their typical housing and infrastructure design methods, and/or their lifestyles to address this more frequent or potentially permanent influx of water into towns and cities. Current methods of flood adaptive architecture often consider solutions at just the individual house or building scale, despite the clear need to be able to analyse and design with wider changing urban landscape conditions driving decision making. In response, this research investigates possible design strategies for adapting housing to climate change induced flooding, while enhancing the liveability of changing local community environments. This is investigated through a case study design-led research process, and is complimented by a survey of residents. The case study site is a flood prone suburb in the city of Dunedin on the east coast of the South Island in Aotearoa New Zealand. Key findings of the research point to the importance of employing not just a purely technical approach to flooding adaptive housing, but also to using a community-led approach to re-design to understand how people will react to, use, and adapt to repurposed built environments that respond to climate change. This reinforces the need to conceive flood adaptive housing at least at a street and neighbourhood scale, and preferably at a whole suburb landscape scale, rather that just as a single housing typology solution. The research concludes that combining flood adaptive housing with ecosystem-based adaptation solutions to climate change induced flooding could lead to a different, more ecology-integrated way of living for inhabitants of low lying coastal areas. This in turn is likely to have positive social and psychological benefits for inhabitants while increasing community resilience.</p>

City to Flood: A new urban planning model for urban adaptation to climate change induced flooding in Dunedin

<p>Currently 40% of the world’s human population lives within 100km of a coast. With the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicting that sea levels will rise between 0.52 and 0.98m by 2100, and with increasing climate change induced extreme weather events affecting urban settings, the ways in which people reside in coastal areas needs to be addressed. As water levels rise, both permanently through sea level rise, and temporarily through storm surge events, areas of high population in low lying areas will have to reconsider their typical housing and infrastructure design methods, and/or their lifestyles to address this more frequent or potentially permanent influx of water into towns and cities. Current methods of flood adaptive architecture often consider solutions at just the individual house or building scale, despite the clear need to be able to analyse and design with wider changing urban landscape conditions driving decision making. In response, this research investigates possible design strategies for adapting housing to climate change induced flooding, while enhancing the liveability of changing local community environments. This is investigated through a case study design-led research process, and is complimented by a survey of residents. The case study site is a flood prone suburb in the city of Dunedin on the east coast of the South Island in Aotearoa New Zealand. Key findings of the research point to the importance of employing not just a purely technical approach to flooding adaptive housing, but also to using a community-led approach to re-design to understand how people will react to, use, and adapt to repurposed built environments that respond to climate change. This reinforces the need to conceive flood adaptive housing at least at a street and neighbourhood scale, and preferably at a whole suburb landscape scale, rather that just as a single housing typology solution. The research concludes that combining flood adaptive housing with ecosystem-based adaptation solutions to climate change induced flooding could lead to a different, more ecology-integrated way of living for inhabitants of low lying coastal areas. This in turn is likely to have positive social and psychological benefits for inhabitants while increasing community resilience.</p>

Older Adults’ Perceptions of Smart City Initiatives to Age in Community

This project explores older American adults’ perceptions of smart city initiatives for them to “age in community” particularly in the northeast region. As the U.S. population is aging, it is imperative that the American cities can support their citizens to live in their preferred community environments for as long as they want. While there are many definitions of a smart city, some exemplary smarty city initiatives can be characterized as actively utilizing information and sensor technologies to promote efficiency and sustainability of city-wide systems, ultimately enhancing the quality of citizens' life. This project examines, in particular, seven smart city initiatives that are implemented globally: smart streetlights, health and fall monitoring system, community ridesharing, enhanced CCTVs, “age-friendly map,” contact tracing app, and smart traffic system. By surveying those age 55 and older, with a representative sampling from the nine states in the northeast region, this project found that the vast majority of older Americans in this region would prefer to age in rural and suburban communities, and depending on where they prefer to age in (rural-exurban-suburban communities vs. urban-urban center communities) and gender (female vs. male), they perceive particular sets of smart city initiatives as more important for them to age in community. Furthermore, regardless of the community/location preference and demographic (gender, income level, and age) differences, 40% of the respondents expressed no concern of data or information privacy issues from these initiatives, opening some doors for the municipalities that plan to adopt some of these initiatives in the near future.

Organisation and Self-Concept in Year 6 and Year 7 Mathematics

<p>In New Zealand, schools use the term "tracking", "ability grouping", “setting” or “streaming” to define their class grouping and organisation for mathematics. This organisation of grouping may hinder students’ development of mathematical concepts in their primary and secondary school years. To group or not to group seems to be an important question facing many mathematical educators today. The aim of this study was to investigate if class organisation in regards to grouping affects female students’ mathematical self-concept. The research looks at possible factors affecting mathematical self-concept of students in a comparative study of their Year 6 and Year 7 mathematics learning by focusing on their attitudes to grouping in mathematics over a one-year period spanning two year levels. The Year 6 class organisation was mixed ability (within-class ability grouping for number strategies). The same cohort of girls was followed into Year 7 where three classes were taught using whole class teaching, with a cross-class ability grouping approach. This research draws from data collected from a purposive sample of one school in the Wellington area. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used in order to explore whether class organisation (cross-class or mixed ability grouping) affected students’ self-concept in relation to their mathematical learning. The underlying research paradigm was social constructivist, chosen in order to gain knowledge from students’ experiences and perceptions. Thirty-one questionnaires and nine one-to-one semi-structured interviews were used. The questionnaire answers were put into three categories of strategy groupings based on the expectations for Number from the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2003a) in order to explore the responses from students of a broad range of abilities. Each semi-structured interview was recorded and transcribed in full for analysis. This study indicates that students are aware of their mathematical ability whether being taught in a small group or whole class situation. Year 6 students preferred learning within a small group ability approach. They felt that this way of organisation fostered an inclusive environment which allowed for individual differentiation, encouraged risk taking, collaboration, helping of others, and feeling confident to discuss ideas, strategies, and ask questions without feeling judged by their peers. Whole class contribution, test scores, and assessment was found to affect the Year 7 students’ mathematical self-concept negatively and positively. The students felt that learning within a whole class approach which was broadly ability grouped was a positive experience as all students could hear everyone’s questions, ideas, strategies, and points of view. Implications from this research include that more exploration is needed in New Zealand schools into the effects of class organisation on students’ mathematical self-concept in order to inform teacher practices of differentiation in relation to the organisation of small group and whole class situations. This and other such research can also inform professional development for teachers on effective ways to create inclusive mathematics learning community environments.</p>

Organisation and Self-Concept in Year 6 and Year 7 Mathematics

<p>In New Zealand, schools use the term "tracking", "ability grouping", “setting” or “streaming” to define their class grouping and organisation for mathematics. This organisation of grouping may hinder students’ development of mathematical concepts in their primary and secondary school years. To group or not to group seems to be an important question facing many mathematical educators today. The aim of this study was to investigate if class organisation in regards to grouping affects female students’ mathematical self-concept. The research looks at possible factors affecting mathematical self-concept of students in a comparative study of their Year 6 and Year 7 mathematics learning by focusing on their attitudes to grouping in mathematics over a one-year period spanning two year levels. The Year 6 class organisation was mixed ability (within-class ability grouping for number strategies). The same cohort of girls was followed into Year 7 where three classes were taught using whole class teaching, with a cross-class ability grouping approach. This research draws from data collected from a purposive sample of one school in the Wellington area. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used in order to explore whether class organisation (cross-class or mixed ability grouping) affected students’ self-concept in relation to their mathematical learning. The underlying research paradigm was social constructivist, chosen in order to gain knowledge from students’ experiences and perceptions. Thirty-one questionnaires and nine one-to-one semi-structured interviews were used. The questionnaire answers were put into three categories of strategy groupings based on the expectations for Number from the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2003a) in order to explore the responses from students of a broad range of abilities. Each semi-structured interview was recorded and transcribed in full for analysis. This study indicates that students are aware of their mathematical ability whether being taught in a small group or whole class situation. Year 6 students preferred learning within a small group ability approach. They felt that this way of organisation fostered an inclusive environment which allowed for individual differentiation, encouraged risk taking, collaboration, helping of others, and feeling confident to discuss ideas, strategies, and ask questions without feeling judged by their peers. Whole class contribution, test scores, and assessment was found to affect the Year 7 students’ mathematical self-concept negatively and positively. The students felt that learning within a whole class approach which was broadly ability grouped was a positive experience as all students could hear everyone’s questions, ideas, strategies, and points of view. Implications from this research include that more exploration is needed in New Zealand schools into the effects of class organisation on students’ mathematical self-concept in order to inform teacher practices of differentiation in relation to the organisation of small group and whole class situations. This and other such research can also inform professional development for teachers on effective ways to create inclusive mathematics learning community environments.</p>

Structural Equation Model (SEM) of Matrilineal Parenting, Family and Community Environments on Adolescent Behavior in Padang City, Indonesia

Introduction: This research aims to explain the effect of family and community environment on the causal relationship between matrilineal parenting and adolescent behavior. Methods: This research employs a survey with a cross-sectional design. The population was mothers with adolescent children living in Padang City, Indonesia. The survey was distributed using Google Form, and the data were analyzed using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Results: The analysis revealed five findings as follows: (1) family environment has a significant positive influence on adolescent behavior; (2) family environment has a positive influence on matrilineal parenting; (3) community environment does not have an influence on adolescent behavior; (4) community environment does not have an influence on matrilineal parenting; and (5) matrilineal parenting has a positive influence on adolescent behavior. Conclusion: Matrilineal parenting and the family environment greatly influence the behavior of adolescents. There are three matrilineal parenting components that provide guidance and direction to adolescents, namely mothers, fathers, and Mamak (uncle). When the matrilineal parenting style and family environment are good, adolescents have a strong personality that is not easily influenced by other factors.

Exploring the perceptions of dignity among patients and nurses in hospital and community settings: an integrative review

Background Patients have a right to be treated with dignity. However, reports have continually identified concerns regarding the quality of care and dignity in hospitals. Undignified care can have unfavourable impact on the patient’s recovery such as leading to depression and loss of will to live. The aim of this study was to explore dignity as perceived by patients and nurses within hospital and community environments. Methods An integrative review methodological approach was adopted. Nine databases including Medline, CINAHL plus with full text, Web of Science, Embase, Pubmed, Psycinfo, Scopus, Nursing and Allied Health Source, and Science Direct were systematically searched for relevant articles using a predetermined set of inclusion criteria. Articles were included if they were primary empirical studies, peer reviewed, published between 2008–2019, assessing patients’ or nurses’ perception of dignity outside the end-of-life context, conducted in one of the European countries and written in English. Included papers were analysed using constant comparative analysis. The preferred reporting system for systematic review and meta-analysis (Prisma) flow diagram was used for quality appraisal and review. Results Fourteen relevant articles were included in this review. Four overarching themes and 10 subthemes were identified as impacting on patient dignity. Overarching themes include autonomy, healthcare delivery factors, organisational factors and the meaning of dignity, whilst subthemes include dependence/independence, choice, staff attitudes, communication, privacy, structure of services, staff shortages, physical environment, respect and person-centred care. Conclusion There are a wide range of factors impacting on patient dignity. Adopting evidence-based interventions supported by adequate theoretical backing can help to enhance patient dignity in hospital and community settings.

Back to the Source: Moving Upstream in the Curricular Rivers of Coloniality

This article shares choices made as part of an introductory decoloniality curriculum in a non-clinical community psychology M.A./PhD program where the authors are faculty members. We focus on the basics of decoloniality and decolonial pedagogies in two first-year foundational psychology courses: one course on implications of decoloniality for studying differing psychological paradigms, ontologies, and epistemologies, particularly relational ontologies that might reframe community environments, and another course on implications of decoloniality for post-humanist and indigenous qualitative research methodologies. We present currently emerging forms of theory, content, pedagogy, dialogue, artivism, and methodology in process in our work, as well as responses from students and our own reflections.

Positive Relationships with Adults and Resilience to Suicide Attempt among New Mexico Hispanic Adolescents

Suicide is a leading cause of adolescent death and has increased in recent years. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect that relationships with adults at home and in the community had on the probability of suicide attempts of Hispanic teenagers in New Mexico. Data from the 2019 New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey were analyzed to identify the ways in which relationships with adults influenced suicide attempts among Hispanic adolescent students. The examined factors included: relationships with adults in the home and in the community and with same-age friends, and participation in hobbies or organizations outside of school. The resiliency factors were similar for male and female Hispanic students. As positive relationships with adults at home or in the community increased, the probability of suicide attempts decreased by 37–54%. Positive relationships with same-age friends were also associated with reduced suicide attempts. Community organization involvement and hobbies affected males and females differently. Adults at home and in the community can decrease the risk of suicide for Hispanic teenagers through supportive relationships. Hybrid programs focusing on adolescent health, positive communication, and academic support, which integrate adults from home and community environments, show promise in reducing suicidal thoughts and other risk behaviors.