Search results

This chapter depicts the burden of suicidal behavior among African American males. It describes the public health approach to preventing suicidal behavior among African American males. This approach includes assessing and describing the problem; identifying causes or risk and protective factors; developing and evaluating programs and policies; and implementing and disseminating findings and activities. The chapter provides a review of the epidemiology of fatal and non-fatal suicidal behavior; a summary of what is known about the risk and protective factors of the problem; and a descriptive analysis of the circumstances associated with suicides among young African American males is presented. Lastly, the authors give a summary of evidenced-based prevention programs which could be applied in preventing male suicidal behavior.

Stress and the military go hand-in-hand, particularly in combat environments. While some personality traits or types weaken relationships between stress and performance, others, such as psychopathy, may strengthen them. In the present chapter, we consider the ramifications of individuals with high levels of psychopathy or psychopathic tendencies in the military with regard to both their own stress and performance and that of those around them. We discuss different reactions to psychological and physical stress, as well as the implications of psychopathic tendencies as they relate to current military issues, including gender, leadership, teamwork, turnover, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicide. By juxtaposing relevant research findings on stress and psychopathy, we conclude that psychopathic tendencies should have neither uniformly negative nor positive effects on stress and performance in the military. Rather, effects on such individuals and the peripheral others with whom they interact will likely vary greatly depending on numerous factors.

This chapter explores the protest self-immolations since 2009 of over 100 Tibetans in China. It investigates whether these events have ecological as well as social causes and may thus be relevant to the emerging discipline of ‘EcoHealth’.

Targeted literature review and reflective analysis, presented as a narrative.

Chinese citizens identifying as Tibetan have experienced substantial ethnically based discrimination for over 60 years, manifest as attempted cultural destruction, pervasive disrespect and linguistic suppression. Tibetans, now a minority in much of their former territory, have witnessed and at times been forced to participate in ecological destruction, much of it led by Chinese settlers, endorsed by occupying authorities. Tibetans have for decades protested against the Chinese they regard as invaders and occupiers, but Tibetan acts of protest self-immolation are a recent response. Academic analysis has been scarce, particularly by Chinese scholars. Until now, EcoHealth practitioners have also denied any relevance, as if in a waltz led by the Chinese government.

Attempts to identify rational causes for Tibetan self-immolation conflict with themes of liberation and fairness central to Communist Chinese ideology. Most Chinese analysis of Tibetan self-immolation is superficial, nationalistic and unsympathetic. Also disturbing is the reaction to these issues shown by the International Association of Ecology and Health. It is suggested that this illustrates a failure to translate rhetoric of ‘speaking truth to power’ to reality, a retreat from idealism common to many social movements.

Increasing human demand on a limited biosphere necessitates a deepened understanding of eco-social factors. Practitioners concerned with sustaining our civilisation are encouraged to explore the integrated dimensions revealed by this case study.

Suicide ranks among the most tragic events in human life. It is important to demonstrate that suicide is the cause of substantial economic losses in a societal perspective and to develop preventive measures with a high population impact.Would individuals who commit suicide have had the same life expectancy and productivity as others in the population? This assumption can be challenged on the basis of available evidence on the long-term course of depression.The main effects in suicide prevention on a population basis can be expected if resources are used to: increase public awareness of treatment options, decrease stigmatization, and increase knowledge about the diagnosis and treatment of depression within the health care system.

Today, the presence of unwanted activities threatening the safety of the field, which has negative effects on daily life and social psychology, is increasing day by day. There is no doubt that it is inevitable to avoid these threats, but it is possible to take some measures to reduce the destructive power of these threats. Nowadays, increasing terrorist attacks increase the importance of field safety design in urban areas. There is a loss of life in attacks around the world. The subject of this study is to investigate the design criteria related to the built environment and the measures to be taken in the case of bomb attacks in the built environment. In this study, a checklist will designed to measure the security design process around the building. The checklist titles are taken mainly from the “Safety design and Landscape Architecture” series of the Landscape Architecture Technical Information Series/LATIS publications by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the Risk Management Series of the Federal Emergency Management Agency/FEMA (FEMA, 2003, 2007; LATIS, 2016) and others. The checklist created as a result of literature review will be tested in Istanbul Sultanahmet Square. As a result of the study, it was determined that improvements should be made in the areas of vehicular and pedestrian access, parking lots, lighting and trash receptacle designs around Sultanahmet Square.

In the post-9/11 period, tackling the vertical and horizontal growth of international terrorism has become a major challenge for the international community, more pertinently for the liberal states. About three decades ago, Paul Wilkinson wrote a book entitled Terrorism and the Liberal State in which he made a hypothetical statement that the liberal states in today’s world were more vulnerable to terrorist attacks and threats than any other political system. Totalitarian societies do not provide any space to terrorism in view of the fact that this system does not recognize the importance of civil societies. However, the point to be noted is that in today’s globalized international order, terrorist activities are not only confined within the territory of liberal societies alone, rather it has engulfed many parts of the globe that includes non-liberal societies as well. Therefore, strengthening democratic regimes and values is not the solution to abolish terrorism. In this context, this chapter attempts to test Wilkinson’s propositions that liberal states are more vulnerable to terrorism than any other political system by making a comparative study between democratic and non-democratic regimes to identify the recent trends of terrorism.