Search results

1 – 10 of over 4000
Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 November 2022

Helena Valente, Daniel Martins, Marta Pinto, José Luis Fernandes and Monica J. Barratt

Recent studies have shown that people who attend electronic dance music events and use drug checking services (DCS) are a predominantly white male, highly educated middle-class…

1267

Abstract

Purpose

Recent studies have shown that people who attend electronic dance music events and use drug checking services (DCS) are a predominantly white male, highly educated middle-class population. However, there is still a lack of data beyond sociodemographic characteristics that must be addressed. This paper aims to describe the drug use patterns and protective behavior strategies (PBS) used by testers and nontesters at Boom Festival 2018 and analyze the relationship between these behaviors and the decision to use the DCS.

Design/methodology/approach

This is an exploratory research based on a cross-sectional design using baseline data collected at the Boom Festival from testers (N = 343) and nontesters (N = 115).

Findings

Nontesters presented, in general, slightly higher frequencies of use for most drugs, whereas testers tended to adopt PBS more frequently. Moreover, testers planned their drug use more often than nontesters and set more limits on the amount of drugs they used in one session. Both of these behaviors work as predictors for using the DCS.

Practical implications

Our data suggest that DCS might not be easily accessible to all people who use drugs, reaching almost exclusively highly educated people that already apply several harm reduction strategies. Actions should be taken to promote service accessibility.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to compare the demographics, drug use and PBS adoption of DCS users with nonusers who attended the same festival.

Details

Drugs, Habits and Social Policy, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2752-6739

Keywords

Abstract

Purpose

The 3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA) content in ecstasy tablets has increased enormously throughout Europe across the past decade. This study aims to determine whether this is caused by the production of “stronger” tablets (more mg MDMA per mg of tablet), or if tablets have simply been getting larger and heavier (more mg of tablet in total).

Design/methodology/approach

A data set of 31,716 ecstasy tablets obtained in 2012–2021 by 10 members of the Trans European Drug Information (TEDI) network was analysed.

Findings

The MDMA mass fraction in ecstasy tablets has remained virtually unchanged over the past 10 years, with increased MDMA contents being attributed almost exclusively to increased tablet weight. These trends seem to be uniform across Europe, despite varying sampling and analytical techniques being used by the TEDI participants. The study also shows that while tablet weight correlates perfectly with MDMA content on a yearly basis, wide variations in the MDMA mass fraction make such relations irrelevant for determining the MDMA content of individual tablets.

Research limitations/implications

These results provide new opportunities for harm reduction, given that size is a tangible and apparently accurate characteristic to emphasise that one tablet does not simply equate to one dose. This is particularly useful for harm reduction services without the resources for in-house quantification of large numbers of ecstasy tablets, although the results of this study also show that chemical analysis remains crucial for accurate personalised harm reduction.

Originality/value

The findings are both new and pertinent, providing a novel insight into the market dynamics of ecstasy tablet production at a transnational level.

Details

Drugs, Habits and Social Policy, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2752-6739

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 18 April 2009

Mary Nell Trautner

Who is ultimately responsible for the harms that befall us? Corporations who make dangerous products, or the consumers who use them? The answer to this question has a profound…

Abstract

Who is ultimately responsible for the harms that befall us? Corporations who make dangerous products, or the consumers who use them? The answer to this question has a profound impact on how personal injury lawyers screen products liability cases. In this chapter, I analyze results from an experimental vignette study in which 83 lawyers were asked to evaluate a hypothetical products liability case. Half of the lawyers practice in states considered to be difficult jurisdictions for the practice of personal injury law due to tort reform and conservative political climates (Texas and Colorado), while the other half work in states that have been relatively unaffected by tort reform and are considered to be more “plaintiff friendly” (Pennsylvania and Massachusetts). While lawyers in reform states and non-reform states were equally likely to accept the hypothetical case with which they were presented, they approached the case in different ways, used different theories, and made different arguments in order to justify their acceptance of the case. Lawyers in states with tort reform were most likely to accept the case when they focused on the issue of corporate social responsibility – that is, what the defendant did wrong, how they violated the rules, and how they could have prevented the injury in question. Lawyers in non-reform states, however, were most likely to accept the case when they believed that jurors would feel sorry for the injured child and not find their client at fault for the injury.

Details

Access to Justice
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-243-2

Article
Publication date: 7 April 2023

Tamires Cássia de Melo Souza, Lívya Alves Oliveira, Juliana Costa Liboredo, Ceres Mattos Della Lucia, Lívia Garcia Ferreira, Marina Martins Daniel and Lucilene Rezende Anastácio

The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle (<150 min of physical exercise/week) and associated factors of this behavior in Brazil.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle (<150 min of physical exercise/week) and associated factors of this behavior in Brazil.

Design/methodology/approach

An observational study was conducted through an online questionnaire in August–September 2020 (5.5 months after the beginning of the pandemic in the country). Socioeconomic, lifestyle, anthropometric, dietary and perceived stress data were evaluated as possible related factors to a sedentary lifestyle through multiple logistic regression analysis.

Findings

A total of 1,347 individuals were evaluated (median of 31 years old, 80.1% women), of whom 76.7% were considered sedentary. Associated factors to a sedentary lifestyle were being overweight; a greater difference between current weight and prepandemic weight; female sex; lower percentage of home-cooked meals; greater increase in the frequency of consumption of alcoholic beverages; higher frequency of consumption of cereals, sausages and sweets during the pandemic; and higher score of perceived stress.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no studies have aimed to reveal the associated factors to a sedentary lifestyle during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. Protective factors against a sedentary lifestyle were eating breakfast, being a student, living with parents, a higher frequency of fruit consumption, a higher rate of alcohol consumption and a higher cognitive restriction of food intake during the pandemic. Most of the study participants were sedentary, especially women. A sedentary lifestyle was associated with worse lifestyle/eating habits and stress. Such findings encourage an interdisciplinary approach because habits and lifestyle have numerous interferences.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science , vol. 53 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2002

Roger Bennett and Martin Daniel

Editors or senior journalists within a sample of 21 leading UK newspapers were questioned about their opinions of the quality of the information about foreign (especially Third…

3086

Abstract

Editors or senior journalists within a sample of 21 leading UK newspapers were questioned about their opinions of the quality of the information about foreign (especially Third World) catastrophes supplied to them by the major disaster relief charities (Oxfam, Save the Children, ActionAid, etc.). The study also examined the procedures employed by journalists when searching for information about disasters, the major sources of information other than disaster relief organisations to which they referred, and their perceptions of what makes a story about a foreign disaster “newsworthy”. Additionally, the respondents discussed their reactions to the allegation that newspapers’ portrayals of the victims of Third World disasters stereotype, demean and patronise the communities involved. Briefly compares journalistic perspectives on these matters with those of the fund‐raising managers in a sample of seven major disaster relief charities.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 June 2023

Tamires Cássia de Melo Souza, Lucilene Rezende Anastácio., Lívya Alves Oliveira, Marina Martins Daniel, Fernanda Rodrigues de Oliveira Penaforte, Juliana Costa Liboredo, Ceres Mattos Della Lucia and Lívia Garcia Ferreira

This study aims to identify comfort food (CF) consumption and its associated factors during the pandemic period. The study also involves an online survey conducted five months…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to identify comfort food (CF) consumption and its associated factors during the pandemic period. The study also involves an online survey conducted five months after the quarantine started in Brazil.

Design/methodology/approach

Data on lifestyle, eating habits and anthropometric data were collected before and during the pandemic, and the differences in these habits were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were performed to identify predictors of CF consumption by gender.

Findings

A total of 1,363 individuals were included in the sample, with a median age of 31 years old, of whom 80.3% were women. Since individuals were free to respond about the food consumed without predetermined categories, it was possible to carry out a faithful assessment of the occurrence of this behavior. At the same time, allowing the subjectivity and symbolism inherent to the concept of CF to be embraced. CF consumption was present for 54%, with “sweets” being the most mentioned group by both genders. The factors associated with CF consumption in women during the pandemic were increased snacking, increased bread, candies and alcoholic beverage intake, increased time spent at work, worsened sleep quality, reduced meals, perceived stress (PS), emotional eating (EE), age and increased frequency of meat intake. In men, the predictors for CF consumption were remote full-time work/study, PS, EE and early waking time. For both genders, CF consumption during the pandemic period was associated with PS and EE.

Originality/value

This study provides an important overview of the possible contributions of the pandemic on behaviors and food choices related to the consumption of CF in Brazilians. This information is valuable to support further studies to investigate and treat the impacts of the pandemic on lifestyle, eating habits and behavior, mental health and other factors in the postpandemic period.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 4 May 2020

Verónica Michel

In a country where judicial institutions are known to be inefficient and where activists have traditionally not engaged in legal mobilization, what explains the emergence of NGO…

Abstract

In a country where judicial institutions are known to be inefficient and where activists have traditionally not engaged in legal mobilization, what explains the emergence of NGO strategic litigation? The author argues that a change in the legal opportunity structure impacts how activists interact with the legal system. Comparing two states in Mexico, the author demonstrates that the introduction of private prosecution rights opened the door for activists to litigate femicide cases. The emergence of strategic litigation has helped improve compliance with international human rights law and has had a demonstration effect on how to use the law to press for accountability.

Book part
Publication date: 10 June 2019

Jeb Barnes

Litigation is part of the American policymaking playbook as diverse groups routinely turn to courts to pursue their agendas. All of this litigation raises questions about its…

Abstract

Litigation is part of the American policymaking playbook as diverse groups routinely turn to courts to pursue their agendas. All of this litigation raises questions about its consequences. This essay examines the literature on the political risks of litigation. It argues that this literature identifies four potential risks – crowd out, path dependence, backlash, and individualization – but offers less insight into the likelihood of these risks in practice. It ends by offering suggestions about how to advance our understanding of when litigation casts a negative political shadow in the current age of judicialization.

Details

Studies in Law, Politics, and Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-727-1

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 5 November 2015

Peter Bowden

This paper explores the question of whether the identification of many wrongdoings in an organisation requires knowledge of the technical and operating mechanisms of that…

Abstract

This paper explores the question of whether the identification of many wrongdoings in an organisation requires knowledge of the technical and operating mechanisms of that organisation. If such is the case, many ethical problems cannot be resolved by a generalist. They must be left to people with knowledge of that industry. In attempting to answer the question, the paper examines 11 different types of organisations. It then asks how the ethical issues in those organisations might be resolved. The organisations are veterinarians, pharmacies, media companies, engineering firms, doctors, general businesses, including two sub disciplines, marketing and accounting organisations, nursing institutions, political parties, scientific research organisations, legal firms and information technology companies. Each can be a small professional company, locally based, or a large organisation, possibly international. Each exhibits one or more ethical problems that are not easily resolved by accepted ethical theory. Accepted theory, as further defined in the text, is the mainline ethical theories that would be core components of most ethics texts or courses. The question arises then on how would ethics be taught if the ethical issues require specialised knowledge of that industry sector. After examining the 11 industries, the paper puts forth two views. One is that a number of wrongs can be identified in industries and organisations where the ethical problems are complex and difficult to resolve, and where the standard ethical theories are of little or no help. Resolving these issues requires action from the organisation, or from the industry association encompassing all companies within that sector. A further complication has developed in the near explosive growth in whistleblower protection systems. These systems, now introduced in close to 30 countries around the world, have their own lists of wrongdoings for which the whistleblower will receive administrative and legal support. These lists of wrongs are distinct from any moral theory One conclusion to be drawn is that new methods possibly need to be found for teaching the identification and resolution of ethical issues. A second is a consequence of the first – that the teacher of ethics in these courses has to be drawn from within the industry. Further questions then arise: One is whether this demand then requires that this industry specialist learn moral theory? A second is then how would generalist applied ethics causes be taught (in humanities departments for instance)? Alternate viewpoints on joint teaching by a moral specialist and an industry specialist have been put forward. The paper puts forward one possible approach for the industry courses – that the industry specialist has to present the course, with new methods and content, but that a theoretical content is taught by someone knowledgeable in ethical theory. For generalist courses, the moral theorist has to include a sufficiently wide sample of industry and organisational ethical issues to ensure that students are aware of the wide range of ethical concerns that can arise, as well as approaches to resolving them.

Details

The Ethical Contribution of Organizations to Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-446-1

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Legal Professions: Work, Structure and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76230-800-2

1 – 10 of over 4000