On 20 April 1999, at Columbine High School in Colorado, two students, Eric Harris (aged 18) and Dylan Klebold (17), embarked on a massacre, killing 12 students and one teacher…
Abstract
On 20 April 1999, at Columbine High School in Colorado, two students, Eric Harris (aged 18) and Dylan Klebold (17), embarked on a massacre, killing 12 students and one teacher. The pair then committed suicide. The event provoked vigorous debate around topics such as the gun culture, bullying, violent video games, goth culture and teenage use of the internet and anti‐depressants. In nearby Boulder is the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, part of the University of Colorado. Del Elliott, a world‐renowned criminologist and sociologist, has been director there since 1993. Columbine was the catalyst for Del and a team of researchers, policy‐makers and practitioners to develop the Blueprints for Violence Prevention database of evidence‐based programmes. On 2 July 2009, Del gave the annual Social Research Unit, Dartington, lecture at the Commonwealth Club in London. This article is based on his talk.
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Corporate downsizing has destroyed millions of well‐paying jobs just in the USA. The psychological, medical, and social costs are staggering. Families are fragmented, communities…
Abstract
Corporate downsizing has destroyed millions of well‐paying jobs just in the USA. The psychological, medical, and social costs are staggering. Families are fragmented, communities impoverished, democracies weakened by oligopolistic, plutocratic corporarchies, and Third World nations recolonized and their subsistence economies decimated. Most of the employee survivors of this economic and class warfare are working longer and harder and are suffering various stress, burnout, and psychiatric symptoms. In addition to intense global competition, cheap foreign labour, and superefficient technologies, there are psychocultural factors contributing to the “jobless economy”: executive ambition, greed, power‐lust, and winner‐take‐all ideologies. Solutions include changes in tax and other federal policies, restrictive corporate charters, shorter workweeks, community development programmes, and co‐operative, employee‐owned enterprises. The learning organization and fourth‐wave business suggest an evolutionary paradigm for the twenty‐first century based on global responsibility, economic justice, a new bottom line, and a restoration of meaningful, sustainable work.
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Theresa Delbert, Kasey Stepansky, Janet C. Bucey and Diana Goodman-Schiller
College student wellbeing and mental health can be negatively impacted due to roles intrinsic to being and becoming a student in higher education. Active engagement in natural…
Abstract
Purpose
College student wellbeing and mental health can be negatively impacted due to roles intrinsic to being and becoming a student in higher education. Active engagement in natural environments has been shown to have benefits for wellbeing. The purpose of this paper is to examine collegiate students’ utilization of a therapeutic garden on a college campus and the impact on their quality of life.
Design/methodology/approach
A case series mixed-methods design was used to track self-reported measures of quality of life. Participants were instructed to spend at least 1 h per week over four weeks in the therapeutic sensory garden on campus. Student participants were assessed using the EUROHIS-QOL-8, Positive and Negative Affect Scale and a semi-structured interview.
Findings
Pre-post quantitative measures of quality of life show significant improvement in quality of life of 12 graduate and undergraduate students. These results are triangulated with reduction in negative affect immediately following garden visits, and rich qualitative illustrations of the value of nature engagement on self-care and occupational balance. Small sample size and convenience sampling limits the generalizability of results.
Originality/value
Institutions of higher education recognize the value of green space on campus; however, they may lack the intentionality of designing a nature-based space to support student wellbeing. An intentionally designed campus-based therapeutic sensory garden may provide a novel opportunity to support overall student mental health and wellness.
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Ann-Marie Kennedy and Gene R Laczniak
This paper seeks to gain an understanding of how different consumer conceptualisations in marketing may lead to negative outcomes. Every profession has its grand vision. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to gain an understanding of how different consumer conceptualisations in marketing may lead to negative outcomes. Every profession has its grand vision. The guiding vision for most marketing professionals is customer orientation. Of course, reality is more complex and nuanced than a single unified vision. Organisations tout their consumer-centric marketing decisions, in that they use consumer research to make operational decisions about products, prices, distribution and the like. However, marketers’ treatment of consumers is often far from the customer’s best interests. It is proposed that by understanding the different conceptualisations of the consumer over time, we can explore their implications for putting authentic consumer-centric marketing into practise.
Design/methodology/approach
A thematic analysis of marketing thought as reflected in the marketing literature.
Findings
This review of the history of marketing thought bears out a diversity of opinions concerning the role of consumers in aiding marketing efficiency and effectiveness. Not all views of the customer are nurturing of the marketing concept nor predicated on a solicitous relationship with consumers. A demonstrable lack of consumer orientation can lead to a distrust of marketers as well as the extant marketing system. Often additional regulation of marketers and markets is a compensating result and sometimes the structure of the marketing system itself may require adjustment.
Originality/value
This paper is intended to nudge marketing academics to more thoughtfully examine the pragmatic implications of how marketing managers conceive of the typical consumer. After conducting a thematic analysis of marketing thought, a normative ethical argument is then put forward concerning why an adherence to this fragile grand vision of marketing – genuine customer concern – is important for prudential marketing and the overall health of the marketing system.