Simone Pettigrew and Michele Roberts
To explore mothers’ attitudes to fast food companies’ use of toy premiums as a marketing technique.
Abstract
Purpose
To explore mothers’ attitudes to fast food companies’ use of toy premiums as a marketing technique.
Design/methodology/approach
Two focus groups and 12 individual interviews were conducted with 21 mothers of young children.
Findings
The mothers considered toy premiums to be a highly effective form of marketing targeted at their children. Such purchase incentives stimulate a constant barrage of requests that parents must manage.
Research limitations/implications
If parents are to successfully perform their role of food providers to address escalating rates of childhood obesity, they need assistance to counter‐balance the highly effective forms of marketing being employed by fast food companies.
Practical implications
The findings have relevance for public policy makers in their efforts to assess the impacts of various promotional activities targeted at children. They are also useful for food marketers as they suggest how product offerings may be differentiated to better meet parents’ preferences.
Originality/value
Very little research has examined parents’ attitudes to specific marketing techniques aimed at children. Understanding the impacts of these techniques on parents’ feeding practices is critical in obtaining an appreciation for how parents can better manage their children’s diets to address rapidly escalating rates of childhood obesity.
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Brian Hinton's article on librarian poets (“Librarians as unacknowledged legislators”, NLW March 1987) reminded us just how many librarians have been poets in our day and how many…
Abstract
Brian Hinton's article on librarian poets (“Librarians as unacknowledged legislators”, NLW March 1987) reminded us just how many librarians have been poets in our day and how many still are. Is this yet another aspect of the much publicised “poetry boom”, and how far is this “poetry boom” in fact a public relations exercise? Are more people reading, writing, buying contemporary poetry now? I shall take a look at these questions, focusing on manifestations of poetry activity today, and summing up with ways in which libraries, and especially public libraries, can gain from involvement with the “poetry boom”.
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Abstract
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“At 7p.m. on Thursday 18th September there will be an open meeting for any women interested in helping to organise a ‘Feminism and Library Work’ conference…” began the…
Abstract
“At 7p.m. on Thursday 18th September there will be an open meeting for any women interested in helping to organise a ‘Feminism and Library Work’ conference…” began the advertisement which started it all off, in the Autumn of 1980.
This chapter uncovers the destabilizing and transformative dimensions of a legal process commonly described as assimilation. Lawyers working on behalf of a marginalized group…
Abstract
This chapter uncovers the destabilizing and transformative dimensions of a legal process commonly described as assimilation. Lawyers working on behalf of a marginalized group often argue that the group merits inclusion in dominant institutions, and they do so by casting the group as like the majority. Scholars have criticized claims of this kind for affirming the status quo and muting significant differences of the excluded group. Yet, this chapter shows how these claims may also disrupt the status quo, transform dominant institutions, and convert distinctive features of the excluded group into more widely shared legal norms. This dynamic is observed in the context of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, and specifically through attention to three phases of LGBT advocacy: (1) claims to parental recognition of unmarried same-sex parents, (2) claims to marriage, and (3) claims regarding the consequences of marriage for same-sex parents. The analysis shows how claims that appeared assimilationist – demanding inclusion in marriage and parenthood by arguing that same-sex couples are similarly situated to their different-sex counterparts – subtly challenged and reshaped legal norms governing parenthood, including marital parenthood. While this chapter focuses on LGBT claims, it uncovers a dynamic that may exist in other settings.
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Michele Schmitter, Jeroen Vermunt, Eric Blaauw and Stefan Bogaerts
Given the complex association between substance use disorders (SUD), comorbid mental health problems and criminal recidivism in forensic patients, homogenous patient classes can…
Abstract
Purpose
Given the complex association between substance use disorders (SUD), comorbid mental health problems and criminal recidivism in forensic patients, homogenous patient classes can contribute to a refined treatment. This paper aims to construct those classes in forensic patients (N = 286) diagnosed with SUD, unconditionally released between 2004 and 2013 of one of ten Dutch forensic psychiatric centers.
Design/methodology/approach
Retrospective data were derived from electronic patient files. Classes were based on the Dutch risk assessment tool, the Historisch Klinisch Toekomst-Revisie (Historical Clinical Future–Revised [HKT-R]) and identified by means of explorative Latent Class Analysis in Latent Gold version 5.1. In a three-step approach, posterior class memberships were related to external variables (i.e. diagnoses, type of drug and type of offence).
Findings
Four classes were identified that differ in the risk of recidivism, as well as Axis I and II diagnoses and type of drug consumption.
Practical implications
This study informed on the heterogeneity of forensic patients with SUD and identified four homogenous classes that differ in important variables for the treatment approach. Based on these classes, a more refined treatment approach can be developed. Possible treatment approaches are discussed, but future research is needed to provide evidence.
Originality/value
This study is the first to identify classes within forensic patients with SUD and, therefore, sets the first step to develop a tailored treatment approach based on characteristics informative for treatment.
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Michele Loi, Markus Christen, Nadine Kleine and Karsten Weber
Cybersecurity in healthcare has become an urgent matter in recent years due to various malicious attacks on hospitals and other parts of the healthcare infrastructure. The purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
Cybersecurity in healthcare has become an urgent matter in recent years due to various malicious attacks on hospitals and other parts of the healthcare infrastructure. The purpose of this paper is to provide an outline of how core values of the health systems, such as the principles of biomedical ethics, are in a supportive or conflicting relation to cybersecurity.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper claims that it is possible to map the desiderata relevant to cybersecurity onto the four principles of medical ethics, i.e. beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice, and explore value conflicts in that way.
Findings
With respect to the question of how these principles should be balanced, there are reasons to think that the priority of autonomy relative to beneficence and non-maleficence in contemporary medical ethics could be extended to value conflicts in health-related cybersecurity.
Research limitations/implications
However, the tension between autonomy and justice, which relates to the desideratum of usability of information and communication technology systems, cannot be ignored even if one assumes that respect for autonomy should take priority over other moral concerns.
Originality/value
In terms of value conflicts, most discussions in healthcare deal with the conflict of balancing efficiency and privacy given the sensible nature of health information. In this paper, the authors provide a broader and more detailed outline.
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Michele Andreaus, Leonardo Rinaldi, Caterina Pesci and Andrea Girardi
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of accountability in times of exception. The Italian government's account-giving practices are critically analysed with respect to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of accountability in times of exception. The Italian government's account-giving practices are critically analysed with respect to the distinct modes in which duties of accountability are discharged for the exceptional measures taken during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in early 2020.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on an exploratory case study. The case analysis draws primarily on data obtained through publicly available documents and covers the period between January 1 and August 7, 2020.
Findings
The paper reveals that the Italian government employed various accountability styles (rebuttal, dismissal, reactive, proactive and coactive). Each style influenced both how the government justified its conduct and how it sought to form distinctive relationships with social actors.
Originality/value
The paper uses the notion of “styles of accountability” to empirically illustrate how an unprecedented public governance challenge can reveal broader accountability trends. The paper contributes to accountability research by elucidating how governments tackle ambiguity and uncertainty in their systems of public accountability in extraordinary times.