Search results

Research indicates that children’s early experience of fire can influence what and how they learn about fire. In turn, early fire-learning can influence how people come to use it later in life, including whether they engage in maladaptive use, i.e. firesetting. Little is known about the underlying mechanisms of fire-learning, which was the basis for this study. The research question was: “how do adults educate children about fire in the UK/ Ireland”? The purpose of this study was to explore the child fire education process from an adult perspective.

Semi-structured interviews was conducted with 21 fire-educators who had regular contact with children. Data was analysed using abbreviated grounded theory. Steps were taken to ensure reliability and validity, including a Cohen’s Kappa calculation, indicating an agreement level of 0.9 between two raters.

Four core themes were identified: the fire narrative, enabling growth, risk management, and communication, from which the fire-learning process model (F-LPM) was formed.

The main limitation is the nature of the sample, in that it was diverse and self-selecting.

The findings are discussed, including how they offer support for social learning theory (SLT) perspectives on fire-learning.

The social construction of fire (i.e. the way fire is viewed by society as a whole in the UK/ Ireland) is discussed in depth, and cultural variability is highlighted. Suggestions are made for how the societal view of fire and, consequently, how adults convey this to young people, could be better balanced.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in the UK/ Ireland to consider how adults educate young people about fire from a concurrent perspective. This is important given that research indicates early experiences of fire can impact how people later go on to use it (including maladaptive use in the form of firesetting).

‘Countrymindedness’ is a resonant but perhaps manufactured term, given wide currency in a 1985 article by political scientist and historian Don Aitkin in the Annual, Australian Cultural History. Political ideology was his focus, as he charted the rise and fall ‐ from the late nineteenth century to around the 1970s ‐ of some ideological preconceptions of the Australian Country Party. These were physiocratic, populist, and decentralist ‐ physiocratic meaning, broadly, the rural way is best. Aitkin claimed the word was used in Country Party circles in the 1920s and 1930s, but gave no examples. Since the word is in no dictionary of Australian usage, or the Oxford Dictionary, coinage may be more recent. No matter. Countrymindedness is a richly evocative word, useful in analysing rural populism during the last Australian century. I suggest it can usefully be extended to analyzing aspects of the inner history of Euro‐settlement in recent centuries.

Psychological research on fire has focussed primarily on its misuse in the form of arson and firesetting, which reflects a tradition in forensic psychology for focussing on risk and pathological behaviour. However, this is inconsistent with the strengths-based approach because it fails to account for positive aspects of fire and law-abiding/ healthy interactions with fire. This study aims to explore the psychology of non-criminalised forms of fire use. It is predicated on a novel, dimensional, conceptualisation of fire-related behaviour – the continuum of fire use (CoFU; Horsley, 2020, 2021).

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 adults who use fire in law-abiding forms. Data were analysed using techniques informed by grounded theory. Steps were taken to ensure reliability and validity, including a Cohen’s Kappa calculation, which indicated an agreement level of 0.8 between two raters.

Four core themes were identified relating to the benefits of fire on psychological well-being, namely, immediate gratification; hope and empowerment; self-concept and emotional security.

Drawing on findings from this study, a theoretical framework of the psychology of non-criminalised fire use is presented. This is a preliminary conceptualisation and more work is needed to address this under-researched topic.

The findings can inform the work of forensic practitioners. They highlight the importance of considering service users' positive interactions with fire, alongside maladaptive/ criminal use. This has implications for the assessment of fire setters, as well as rehabilitative approaches.

It is argued in this paper that a society-wide approach is key to firesetting reduction. More specifically, findings can inform the development and refinement of early intervention programmes, which focus on supporting young people to develop a healthy relationship with fire.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore the psychology of non-criminalised forms of fire use. It is predicated on a novel, dimensional, conceptualisation of fire-related behaviour – the continuum of fire use (CoFU; Horsley, 2020, 2021a, 2021b).

This paper explores the impact of information technology (IT) on service quality in the consumer‐banking sector. It proposes a service quality model that links customer perceived IT‐based service options to traditional service dimensions as measured by SERVQUAL in the context of customer perceived service quality and customer satisfaction. The model also incorporates several variables affecting customers’ perceptions of IT‐based services, and was tested by a structural equation modeling approach using sample data collected from retail bank customers. The results indicate that IT‐based services have a direct impact on the SERVQUAL dimensions and an indirect impact on customer perceived service quality and customer satisfaction. The analyses also show that customers’ evaluations of IT‐based services are affected by their preference towards traditional services, experiences in using IT‐based services, and perceived IT policies.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and identify the cues that shape the purchase of local retail apparel clothing brands in an emerging economy. The study further develops a conceptual framework for the cues that shape the purchase of local retail apparel clothing brands.

A focus group methodology is used for data collection from the local retail clothing consumers in Bangladesh. Data collected for this study were coded and categorized using inductive reasoning methods and similar responses were identified from a prepared data matrix. The results were presented in narrative while preserving the authenticity of participant response.

Three cues were identified that shape the purchase of local retail apparel clothing brands in Bangladesh. First, consumers buy local retail apparel clothing brands due to the product authenticity (product quality, product uniqueness, apparel fittings, apparel durability, color combination, attractive design, comfortability and reasonable price). Second, consumer cosmopolitanism (urbanization of people, migration and overseas travel, and access to cable television and international channels) positively related to the purchase of local retail apparel brands in Bangladesh. Third, consumer ethnocentrism (superiority of local made brands over imported foreign brands, moral obligation for purchasing local products and patriotism) is a contributory cue responsible for the success of local retail apparel clothing brands in Bangladesh.

This study is a first of its kind to significantly enrich the consumer behavior literature related to local retail apparel branded companies and their implications.

Suggests that the strategic advantages of experience, scale economies, product differentiation, capital requirements, and location are important determinants of international franchise expansion, but are slowly being diminished by technological and capital market innovations. Explores this theme from the perspectives of competitive strategy and economic theory of the firm. Based on these perspectives, hypotheses are developed and tested with a large sample of US franchisors at two points in time. Results show that franchise firms′ strategic advantages derived from experience, scale economies and location differ for more international firms compared to nationally‐focused firms. Results also provide insights to the extent to which these differences are moderated by technological and capital market innovations occurring over time.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the impact of persistent racial bias, discrimination and racial violence is facilitated by otherwise well-intentioned individuals who fail to act or intercede. Utilizing the aversive racism framework, the need to move beyond awareness raising to facilitate behavioral changes is discussed. Examining the unique lens provided by the aversive racism framework and existing research, the bystander effect provides important insights on recent acts of racial violence such as the murder of Mr. George Floyd. Some promise is shown by the work on effective bystander behavior training and highlights the need for shared responsibility in preventing the outcomes of racial violence and discrimination to create meaningful and long-lasting social change.

This paper uses literature based on the aversive racism framework together with the literature on the bystander effect to understand the factors, conditions and consequences for lack of intervention when the victim is African American. This paper also provides evidence and theory-based recommendations for strategies to change passive bystanders into active allies.

The use of the aversive racism framework provides a powerful lens to help explain the inconsistencies in the bystander effect based on the race of the victim. The implications for intervention models point to the need for behavioral and competency-based approaches that have been shown to provide meaningful change.

Several different approaches to address incidents of racial aggression and violence have been developed in the past. However, given the principles of aversive racism, a unique approach that considers the inconsistencies between self-perceptions and actions is needed. This sets a new agenda for future research and meaningful behavioral intervention programs that seek to equip bystanders to intercede in the future.

The need to address and provide effective strategies to reduce the incidence of racial aggression and violence have wide-ranging benefits for individuals, communities and society.

By connecting the aversive racism framework to the bystander effect, the need for different models for developing responsive and active bystanders can be more effectively outlined.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of revenue diversification, non-interest income and asset diversification on the performance and stability of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) conventional and Islamic banking systems.

The authors implement a panel of 69 conventional and Islamic banks listed in six GCC markets over the period of 2003–2015, using the System Generalized Method of Moments methodology.

Non-interest income diversification has a negative impact on GCC banks’ performance, while asset-based diversification affects banks performance positively. However, Investors tend to penalize the value of the banks’ assets, which are highly diversified. Government intervention, lack of competition, legal protection and high control of Central banks on GCC banks’ have positive impact on performance. Contrary to the results on conventional banks, asset diversification adds value to Islamic banks. Overall, both banks’ revenue and non-interest diversification have negative impact on GCC banks’ stability, while asset diversification improves Islamic banks’ stability.

The analysis is limited to a sample of banks, which are listed in the GCC stock exchanges. The lack of data on private and foreign banks operating in the region made the analysis and, consequently, the results specific to shareholding companies. Also, the authors’ measures of bank stability might not be appropriate to use for Islamic banks, given their banking models implemented.

Research results provide important implications for regulators, bank managers and policy makers, as to the expected ways to support economic diversification through bank diversification strategies.

Unlike related studies, the authors’ sample of homogeneous banks has a market structure that is different from the samples in the literature covering either developed countries or heterogeneous samples from both developed and developing countries. Furthermore, using an efficient econometric methodology, the authors deal with two types of banks: conventional banks and Islamic banks. The research determines which type of bank is more able to benefit from different types of diversification. Unlike previous research, this research explores the sensitivity of the results both to the regulatory environment of the GCC market and to general market conditions.

The purpose of this paper is to set forth a conceptual model describing the actors and roles in ecosystems created to enable productive black entrepreneurship in the USA.

This paper provides a systematic literature review of entrepreneurship ecosystems. It further leverages such literature review by using an autoethnographic approach recommended by Guyotte and Kochacka (2016), drawing on the authors’ practical experience in studying, owning, educating or consulting employer businesses owned by persons of color in the USA and abroad.

Each actor in the ecosystem has practical wisdom and assets that can be shared and leveraged through interacting with the other actors either as role model institutions or capacity development institutions, thus mitigating social inequalities and boosting economic progress by extending entrepreneurial opportunities beyond those that are greatly resourced.

Our literature review is based on selected samples of relevant articles on entrepreneurship ecosystem research and ethnic minority entrepreneurship, and thus, is not exhaustive. The selection was partly influenced by the authors’ opinion of whether a given study was relevant or not to a black entrepreneurship ecosystem. There is the possibility that some relevant studies were excluded. Thus, other actors are encouraged to revise or adapt this model to inform their distinct roles and goals.

The proposed model can help actors involved in the operation or support of a black-owned business make optimal business decisions, enabling each actor to be instrumental in another’s understanding of how to facilitate the success of black American entrepreneurs and business owners and thus, deploy marketing campaigns to boost the visibility and role of each actor. These campaigns play a role in their entrepreneurial marketing efforts.

Responding to Gines and Sampson’s (2020) call, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to explicitly provide a comprehensive black entrepreneurship ecosystem model that identifies the actors, roles and activities that can help black Americans address social inequalities that limit their ability to become a successful employer business. The proposed model may aid in deepening the theoretical discussion on entrepreneurial ecosystems and be of inspiration for the future works of scholars and practitioners interested in the entrepreneurship and marketing interface.