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This paper aims to present a discursive and evaluative analysis of Energy + Illawarra, an Australian Government Low Income Energy Efficiency Program (LIEEP) funded interdisciplinary social marketing energy efficiency programme. Energy + Illawarra was a community programme working with low-income older people in Australia and involving social marketers, human geographers and engineers. The paper aims to identify how ecological systems theory can inform social marketing, and what practicalities there may be in doing so. The paper also aims to assess whether a social marketing programme that draws on ecological systems theory can have a positive impact on people’s thermal comfort.

First, the paper uses critical discursive analysis to examine the use of various elements of a social marketing energy efficiency programme in relation to the different levels of ecological systems theory. Second, a longitudinal cohort survey study design is used to evaluate the programme’s influence on people’s perceptions of thermal comfort and satisfaction with thermal comfort in their homes.

The study found that ecological systems theory could be an effective framework for social marketing programmes. The evaluation study found that the intervention had a positive impact on participant’s perceptions of thermal comfort, satisfaction with thermal comfort and attitudes towards energy efficiency. However, the paper identifies some potential tensions in using ecological systems theory and suggests that issues of power, representation, agenda setting, the need for reflexive practice and consideration of unintended consequences are important considerations in social marketing programmes.

The work presented here suggests that multi-level social marketing programmes that draw on ecological systems theory can make a useful contribution to social change as demonstrated by the evaluation survey finding positive impacts on thermal comfort and attitudes of participants. However, issues of power, representation, agenda setting, the need for reflexive practice and consideration of unintended consequences should be considered in social marketing programmes.

Drawing on value theory, this study aims to explore the perceived value of using energy efficiently amongst a low-income older population group. It aims to provide an empirical exploration of the concept of value-in-behaviour, and, in doing so, identify that it is a logical addition to the extant concepts of value-in-exchange and value-in-use.

Exploratory focus group research was conducted to explore older, low-income people’s perceived value towards using energy efficiently in the contexts of their everyday lives. The research was conducted in regional New South Wales, Australia, with 11 focus groups of 59 people (40 females, 19 males) aged over 60 with a personal disposable income below $26,104 per annum.

Using this framework, functional, economic and ecological value appeared to be the most pertinent value dimensions for using energy efficiently, while social or emotional value was less relevant. Attention is drawn to how value in using energy efficiently emerges within the everyday contingencies and constraints configured by individual households’ financial, social, material and cultural contexts. These findings suggest that programmes in this area and with similar target groups would benefit from trying to promote and co-create such value.

The present study provides empirical evidence that consumers in a social marketing context appear to perceive value-in-behaviour in relation to using energy efficiently. This approach inspires social marketers to foster individual behaviour change through a better understanding of how value is created in everyday practices. This builds upon existing work on value in social marketing and suggests that value is an important concept that warrants continued theoretical, empirical and practical exploration.

The purpose of this study is to describe what a sample of men in prison believe works well for the delivery of prison-based group alcohol and other drug (AoD) treatment programs. The authors hope the findings will help inform future practise in AoD program delivery in prison.

A qualitative research paper reporting on a thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with 30 male prisoners on their perspectives on AoD group treatment approaches.

Results indicate that matching readiness and motivation to start treatment is important for group success. Program content must be relevant and delivered by empathic facilitators who maintain confidentiality. It would be advantageous if one of the program facilitators was a peer with personal experience of overcoming an AoD use disorder.

According to the authors’ knowledge, this is one of few qualitative studies into the delivery of AoD treatment for men in prison and the only study of its kind in Australia. The consumer perspective is an important element in improving quality of treatment provision.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the strategies utilised to facilitate the wellbeing of workers of an alcohol and other drug (AOD) therapeutic community (TC)

This paper reports on the findings of a qualitative study that involved in-depth interviews with 11 workers from an Australian AOD TC organisation that provides both a residential TC program and an outreach program. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis

Three main interconnected themes emerged through analysis of the data: the challenges of working in an AOD TC organisation, including vicarious trauma, the isolation and safety of outreach workers and a lack of connection between teams; individual strategies for coping and facilitating wellbeing, such as family, friend and partner support and self-care practices; organisational facilitators of worker wellbeing, including staff supervision, employment conditions and the ability to communicate openly about stress. The analysis also revealed cross-cutting themes including the unique challenges and wellbeing support needs of outreach and lived experience workers.

Rather than just preventing burnout, AOD TC organisations can also play a role in facilitating worker wellbeing.

This paper discusses a number of practical suggestions and indicates that additional strategies targeted at “at risk” teams or groups of workers may be needed alongside organisation-wide strategies.

This paper provides a novel and in-depth analysis of strategies to facilitate TC worker wellbeing and has implications for TC staff, managers and researchers.

The Scopes Monkey Trial is a landmark court case in American history and has often been referred to as “The Trial of the Century.” It provides a curricular platform for understanding changes in American society, populace tensions with shifting social and moral views, gaps in economic prosperity, and the outcomes of urbanization. Studying this pivotal and historical trial – along with the context surrounding it – offers readers a dynamic lens to view powerful social and cultural insights at the beginning of the twentieth century. Additionally, academic freedom issues, which have a history in our nation's courts, (Patterson & Chandler, 2008) as well as current dialogue among educators (see the November/December issue of Social Education), and are at the very center of the Scopes Trial, require critical examination. Most importantly, it exemplifies the type of interdisciplinary content social studies educators should be promoting, a goal of 21^st Century Teaching and Learning and Common Core Standards. In this article, we provide a brief historical context setting the stage for the Scopes Monkey Trial, a daily synopsis of significant points in the trial, a rationale for teaching the Scopes Trial, and instructional teaching resources with particular emphasis on books, DVD/media, and web-based materials.

The purpose of this paper is to describe how librarians at the State University of New York College at Buffalo used iPads during one class session of a semester-long library instruction course to increase student engagement, energize the traditional library tour, build collaboration and give students experience using tablet technology in an educational setting.

Librarians provided iPads to groups of students and sent them to photograph different areas of the library during one class session of a semester-long course. Students then uploaded the photographs to a common Web site for class discussion.

Formal and informal student feedback was positive. Students connected with the instructors and with each other, enjoyed discovering library spaces and services and became more comfortable with tablet technology. The project also increased student enthusiasm for the class.

This paper is the first to systematically describe a simple activity that can be used by instruction librarians to incorporate tablets into the curriculum. The method requires minimal time to set up and implement, involves a very short learning curve and is easily adaptable to various mobile devices.

Little is known about the health status of prisoners in low-income countries. In Haiti, prisons typically lack adequate medical care, clean water and food, though some prisoners receive additional food from visitors. The purpose of this paper is to characterize the physical and mental health of Haitian prisoners in three select prisons and examine the effects of having visitors and length of detention on health status. The authors hypothesized that prisoners with more visitors and shorter detention times would have better overall health status.

The authors conducted a cross-sectional study of 290 male inmates in three regional prisons in Haiti. Data were collected on prisoners’ sociodemographic characteristics, number of visitors, length of detention, body mass index (BMI), self-reported physical and mental health status, and food insecurity.

Overall, prisoners at all three prisons had poor health outcomes. Prisoners with more visitors were significantly less likely to be underweight and more likely to have a higher BMI, better self-reported physical function and lower levels of food insecurity. The length of incarceration was negatively associated with physical function and self-rated health, but positively associated with BMI. These results suggest that prisoners who do not receive supplemental food from visitors are at increased risk for food insecurity and poor nutritional and physical health status.

These findings demonstrate the importance of supplemental food from visitors in stabilizing prisoner health in Haiti and emphasize the need for the provision of adequate nutrition to all prisoners. This study also suggests that policies that reduce incarceration times could improve health status among prisoners.

In South Africa, the majority of the population struggles to access care and support for mental health challenges. Drawing on challenges faced by asylum seekers and refugees in the urban margins of Johannesburg, this paper aims to explore the relationship between migration and mental health through a lens of heightened vulnerability, precarious urban spaces and unmet basic needs.

Remote interviews were conducted with respondents working in the mental health-care sector (public and private) and with migrant communities in Johannesburg. Respondents were identified via purposive sampling and interviews were conducted in English. Key findings were identified using thematic analysis.

Effective responses to asylum seekers and refugees facing mental health challenges are based on an understanding of context, of crisis and of the need to meet basic needs such as paying rent, finding employment and providing for families. These “daily stressors” not only compound “extreme traumatisation” but are a form of trauma in and of itself.

This paper shows how alternative responses determined by an understanding of context, of crisis and of the need to meet basic needs provide critical and potentially far-reaching interventions. Locating trauma in the unmet needs, precarious urban spaces and marginalisation opens up space to further question the ways that migration and mental health shape and reshape one another.

Life studies are a rich source for further research on the role of the Afro‐American woman in society. They are especially useful to gain a better understanding of the Afro‐American experience and to show the joys, sorrows, needs, and ideals of the Afro‐American woman as she struggles from day to day.