Search results

1 – 10 of over 2000
Book part
Publication date: 16 September 2014

Diane Rodriguez, Kenneth J. Luterbach and Rocio Espinosa de Gaitan

Special education in Guatemala started in the 1940s with the establishment of schools for the blind. While there is a relatively large population of persons with disabilities, the…

Abstract

Special education in Guatemala started in the 1940s with the establishment of schools for the blind. While there is a relatively large population of persons with disabilities, the country has an insufficient number of educational and rehabilitation programs because the country is very impoverished. Guatemala has enacted a number of disability laws in the 1990s and early 2000s that enable persons with disabilities to participate in educational services to develop their capabilities and to deter discrimination. The government has three categories of disability, namely, physical, sensory, and intellectual. Most of the special education schools and rehabilitation workshops are in the capital city with few programs in rural areas. Many children with special education needs do not attend school. The government offers public service to families of children with disabilities. In the 1980s, the government formed partnerships with United States universities to help develop service plans for students with disabilities as well as train school personnel in effective instructional methods due to a shortage of licensed teachers. While special education is improving it has a long way to go.

Details

Special Education International Perspectives: Practices Across the Globe
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-096-4

Book part
Publication date: 24 June 2015

José Godinez and Mauricio Garita

This study researched how corruption affects the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI). With the help of a qualitative methodology, the results of the analysis show that…

Abstract

This study researched how corruption affects the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI). With the help of a qualitative methodology, the results of the analysis show that firms headquartered in countries where corruption is high have an advantage when operating in a foreign country with a similar institutional environment. The reason for this advantage is that such firms may possess knowledge of how to cope with the arbitrary and pervasive dimensions of corruption at home. On the other hand, firms from countries with lower corruption levels than the host country are more affected by corruption in a highly corrupt host country. Finally, even though this study found evidence that all firms operating in a highly corrupt country might participate in corrupt deals, those headquartered in highly corrupt countries are more willing to do so. This claim is based on the fact that firms from less corrupt countries might face stronger pressures from their headquarters to not engage in corrupt deals, whereas firms from more corrupt countries might not encounter such pressures.

Details

Emerging Economies and Multinational Enterprises
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-740-6

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 27 May 2017

Tammy Ryan, Barbara Laster and Jeanne Cobb

Through a retrospective, reflective, descriptive methodology, three researchers explore their experiences as teacher educators. Interactions with a variety of educational…

Abstract

Through a retrospective, reflective, descriptive methodology, three researchers explore their experiences as teacher educators. Interactions with a variety of educational stakeholders in Guatemala resulted in new perspectives about culture, language, instruction, literacy materials, and access. Even though each researcher had a distinct background, global experience, and teaching expertise, they collaborated for data analysis and describe how their new international perspectives renews teaching and subsequently invigorates the learning of students back in the institutions of higher learning in the United States. All three brought their new learning into their higher education venues back in the United States to better prepare literacy educators for today’s global world.

Details

University Partnerships for Pre-Service and Teacher Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-265-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 May 2023

Mario Raúl Ramírez de León, Claudia Blanca Verónica Wolley Schwarz, María Elena Molina Soto, Olga Edith Ruiz, María Magdalena Ixquiaptap Tuc and Josué Roberto García Valdez

This paper discusses how the Heritage Place Lab (HPL) Pilot Phase, led by International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and the…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper discusses how the Heritage Place Lab (HPL) Pilot Phase, led by International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (2021–2022), supported La Antigua Guatemala (LAG) World Heritage Site as a case study to identify research gaps to strengthen HPL's management through a collaborative process between research and practice teams.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative method was adopted that followed the collaborative process proposed for the HPL Pilot Phase. An adapted version of the Enhancing Our Heritage (EoH) Toolkit 2.0 (forthcoming) was applied. The HPL served as an incubator for on-going research projects, with LAG acting as one of eight case studies.

Findings

To achieve sustainable development at the site, strengthening the governance model is a priority. This should focus on adopting a more comprehensive management approach that includes the surrounding areas and new values that have been identified since the approach's inscription in 1979 as well as addressing the impacts of climate change.

Research limitations/implications

The study finds that this task is essential to widely disseminate and follow up the findings made between researchers and site managers as well as to propose a new governance model alongside associated changes in conservation and municipal and national legislation. Therefore, long-term political support and commitment from institutions, authorities and stakeholders involved in the management and conservation of LAG will be essential.

Social implications

All sectors and institutions in the local community should be involved in the conservation and development of LAG and its surrounding areas. Local communities should benefit from a more effective and inclusive model of governance that recognises and enhances the communities' values as part of communities' identity and quality of life. Climate change mitigation and risk-prevention programmes should also be put in place.

Originality/value

To date, research in LAG has been disparate and has not responded to LAG's management needs that result from LAG's complexity as a living historical city. This paper demonstrates the contribution that collaborative work can make between researchers and site managers to identifying, prioritising and proposing solutions to the challenges facing World Heritage Sites.

Details

Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-1266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 March 2014

Erik Alda

In almost all modern societies, police forces are at the forefront of ongoing activities to reduce and prevent crime. Both in practice and in popular belief, police forces are the…

Abstract

Purpose

In almost all modern societies, police forces are at the forefront of ongoing activities to reduce and prevent crime. Both in practice and in popular belief, police forces are the visible presence for maintaining security and safety to citizens in municipalities, towns and cities, and from cities to local neighborhoods. This paper aims to investigate how efficiently the police in Guatemala are in combating crime using data envelopment analysis (DEA).

Design/methodology/approach

The study used DEA to measure the efficiency of police stations in fighting crime in Guatemala based on their inputs and outputs.

Findings

The analyses showed that only four out of 22 police departments were considered efficient. The average efficiency score for the 22 police departments was 62 percent.

Research limitations/implications

Data on crime and police are limited in Guatemala. Further research using DEA would be particularly relevant if the methodology included: a wider range of inputs/outputs, longer panel data, and more precise estimates of the effect of contextual variables. The findings of the study can inform police managers and policymakers to allocate security resources more efficiently.

Practical implications

Given the low levels of inefficiency of police departments in Guatemala, police management would have to ensure that clearance rates increase significantly by either increasing the human resource capacity of the police departments according to the needs so that clearance rates can be improved and be more effective and efficient in combating crime.

Originality/value

This is the first in depth study of police efficiency in Central America. In an increasingly resource strapped environment employing DEA might be a useful tool to improve human and financial resource allocation.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 37 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 September 2014

Liliana Goldín

This study examines employment dynamics of youth in the central highlands of Guatemala. It is during late adolescence and early young adulthood that rural youth explore and settle…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines employment dynamics of youth in the central highlands of Guatemala. It is during late adolescence and early young adulthood that rural youth explore and settle into occupational structures that often define their economic lives and the region’s economic outlook. However, the occupational orientations of this group are poorly documented.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. A three wave longitudinal design with six-month intervals was implemented. Households were identified using random sampling based on household maps. Two individuals per household were interviewed, a female adult and a younger woman/man between 15 and 25 years old in 451 households. In-depth interviews also were conducted with 25 individuals.

Findings

Youth occupational choices were associated not only with their health, income, and standing in their household, but also their self-image, sense of independence, and control. Nonfarm jobs were found to be most attractive to youth, who identify them as more “modern” and urban jobs. The study documents shifts from farm to nonfarm jobs, gender dynamics, the impact education has on jobs for youth, and health correlates of employment and unemployment.

Originality/value

Most characterizations of employment patterns in rural areas of Guatemala focus on the “head of household,” while overlooking the diverse job activities of other members of the household. The study not only addresses a population that is often understudied but also provides a longitudinal perspective to understand job switching and youth ideas of a “good” and “better” job.

Details

Production, Consumption, Business and the Economy: Structural Ideals and Moral Realities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-055-1

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 11 November 2015

Eliza Guyol-Meinrath

To assess how an indigenous community in Guatemala, displaced by a mining project, has collaborated with international human rights advocacy organizations to address chronic…

Abstract

Purpose

To assess how an indigenous community in Guatemala, displaced by a mining project, has collaborated with international human rights advocacy organizations to address chronic insecurity and vulnerability resulting from the violence of their displacement.

Methodology/approach

The research for this case study was gathered using unstructured interviews with Lote Ocho community members and human rights advocates as well as textual analysis of social media documents, press releases, and reports. Participant observation was conducted during a community forum. Human rights theory, post-conflict theory, disaster theory, and narrative economy frameworks informed the research.

Findings

As international human rights organizations collaborate with Lote Ocho to address the community’s displacement, intensive focus on a lawsuit between the community and a Canadian mining corporation HudBay Minerals, Inc., contributes to homogenization of the community, reinforcement of destructive power relationships, and lack of focus on long-term security.

Practical implications

Analysis of the potential harms of singular focus on legal action in the examined collaborations identifies areas for improvement for future collaborations in both Lote Ocho and other displaced communities.

Originality/value

Caal v. HudBay is the first case of its kind. Thus, the analysis presented here provides critical insight for international and community actors regarding the successes and shortcomings of collaboration in cases of development-forced displacement, identifying areas for improvement for future collaborations with displaced communities.

Details

States and Citizens: Accommodation, Facilitation and Resistance to Globalization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-180-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 September 2014

E. Anthon Eff and Christa D. Jensen

Mayan towns in the Guatemalan highlands hold periodic markets on specific days of the week. A market is attended by local townspeople, by peasants residing in the town’s…

Abstract

Purpose

Mayan towns in the Guatemalan highlands hold periodic markets on specific days of the week. A market is attended by local townspeople, by peasants residing in the town’s hinterland, and by vendors bringing wares from other towns. This study aims to determine the effects of physical, environmental, and cultural differences on the number of vendors that are sent from one Guatemalan town to a periodic market in another.

Design/methodology/approach

To understand how these markets are integrated, a gravity model is developed, examining the flow of vendors from 85 towns of residence to 15 market towns. In this model, the flow of vendors from one town to another is a function not only of physical distance, but of ecological complementarities, of linguistic differences, of road access, and of demographic endowments.

Findings

Results show that traveling vendors in these periodic markets do indeed integrate Guatemala both ethnically and ecologically, serving as a place in which different ethnic groups meet and bring in products that cannot be produced locally. Results also suggest that participation in markets is part of a diversified set of activities used by rural peasants to support their households.

Details

Production, Consumption, Business and the Economy: Structural Ideals and Moral Realities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-055-1

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 6 April 2023

Laura Iesue, Jenifer González and Kelly V. Martinez

Purpose: This chapter highlights the experiences of domestic violence survivors and service providers, namely firefighters and police, during the pandemic in Guatemala. It…

Abstract

Purpose: This chapter highlights the experiences of domestic violence survivors and service providers, namely firefighters and police, during the pandemic in Guatemala. It includes an overview of violence types seen and experienced during the pandemic, contributing factors to domestic violence, an overview of why individuals may or may not leave their abusers, and why they may or may not report abuses to the authorities. Policy recommendations for supporting victims in the future are provided.

Methodology/Approach: A field-based approach along with snowball sampling techniques was utilized to contact and interview survivors, police, and firefighters. Using grounded theory, interview responses were then organized by research questions and coded into emergent themes.

Findings: Emotional, psychological, and physical violence were all experienced during the pandemic. While typical, these experiences often started before the pandemic. However, they grew in intensity, as individuals experienced various forms of stress and negative emotions while being locked down in the same household together. Domestic violence was also vicarious, impacting the whole family. Most left their abusers once the lockdown was lifted; however, many stayed due to financial insecurities. Others stayed due to a fear of not being able to see their children anymore. Similar justifications were given for why individuals did not report abuse to the authorities. While a few simply mistrusted the police and believed the law was not on their side, this was not the primary reason for not reporting domestic violence. However, they did believe that current laws and policies needed to provide better services, as the law was thought to support their abuser more than them.

Originality/Value: This study contributes to our knowledge of domestic violence during pandemics by expanding on previous research in Guatemala. It also highlights how various limitations and resources which are not addressed in non-pandemic times may result in exacerbating violence during future pandemics.

Details

Crime and Social Control in Pandemic Times
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-279-2

Keywords

Expert briefing
Publication date: 6 July 2022

This decision was highly controversial, given repeated allegations that Porras had sought to use her position to halt or divert anti-corruption investigations. Her re-appointment…

Details

DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB271289

ISSN: 2633-304X

Keywords

Geographic
Topical
1 – 10 of over 2000