Rebecca Ann Penn, Carol Strike and Sabin Mukkath
Peer harm reduction programmes engage service users in service delivery and may help peers to develop employment skills, better health, greater stability, and new goals. Thus far…
Abstract
Purpose
Peer harm reduction programmes engage service users in service delivery and may help peers to develop employment skills, better health, greater stability, and new goals. Thus far, peer work has not been discussed as an intervention to promote recovery. The purpose of this paper is to provide findings related to two research questions: first,do low-threshold employment programmes have the potential to contribute to positive recovery capital, and if so, how? Second, how are such programmes designed and what challenges do they face in supporting the recovery process?
Design/methodology/approach
Using a community-based research approach, data were collected at a Toronto, Canada community health centre using in-depth interviews with peer workers (n=5), staff (n=5), and programme clients (n=4) and two focus groups with peer workers (n=12). A thematic analysis was undertaken to describe the programme model and to explore the mechanisms by which participation contributes to the development of recovery capital.
Findings
The design of the Regent Park Community Health Centre peer work model demonstrates how opportunities for participation in community activities may spark cumulative growth in positive recovery capital within the community of PUDs. However, the recovery contagion of peer work may lose momentum with insufficient opportunities for new and experienced peer workers.
Originality/value
Using the concept of recovery capital, the authors demonstrate how low-threshold employment interventions have the potential to contribute to the development of positive recovery capital.
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Jane Ellen Dmochowski, Dan Garofalo, Sarah Fisher, Ann Greene and Danielle Gambogi
Colleges and universities increasingly have the mandate and motivation to integrate sustainability into their curricula. The purpose of this paper is to share the strategy used at…
Abstract
Purpose
Colleges and universities increasingly have the mandate and motivation to integrate sustainability into their curricula. The purpose of this paper is to share the strategy used at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and provide an evaluation of its success and guidance to others creating similar programs.
Design/methodology/approach
This article summarizes Penn’s Integrating Sustainability Across the Curriculum (ISAC) program. ISAC pairs Penn undergraduate research assistants with instructors in a collaborative effort to incorporate sustainability into courses.
Findings
In concert with other Penn initiatives (a course inventory, faculty discussion groups and a research network), ISAC increases Penn’s sustainability-related courses and creates dialogue regarding how various disciplines contribute to sustainability.
Practical implications
The program described in this article is replicable at other institutions. The authors demonstrate that the logistics of recruiting students and establishing the program are straightforward. Undergraduate students are on campus; their pay requirements are modest; and they are desirous of such research experiences.
Social implications
The ISAC program inculcates a cultural and behavioral shift as students and faculty approach sustainability issues collaboratively, and it facilitates the development of a shared language of environmental sustainability. Such social implications are difficult to quantify, but are nonetheless valuable outcomes.
Originality/value
The faculty–student partnership used to facilitate the integration of sustainability into courses at Penn is original. The ISAC program provides a framework for engaging students and faculty in curriculum development around sustainability in a manner that benefits the student research assistants, the participating faculty and future students.
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On April 2, 1987, IBM unveiled a series of long‐awaited new hardware and software products. The new computer line, dubbed the Personal Systems 30, 50, 60, and 80, seems destined…
Abstract
On April 2, 1987, IBM unveiled a series of long‐awaited new hardware and software products. The new computer line, dubbed the Personal Systems 30, 50, 60, and 80, seems destined to replace the XT and AT models that are the mainstay of the firm's current personal computer offerings. The numerous changes in hardware and software, while representing improvements on previous IBM technology, will require users purchasing additional computers to make difficult choices as to which of the two IBM architectures to adopt.
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…
Abstract
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.
Patricia Ahmed and Rebecca Jean Emigh
Two perspectives provide alternative insights into household composition in contemporary Eastern Europe. The first stresses that individuals have relatively fixed preferences…
Abstract
Two perspectives provide alternative insights into household composition in contemporary Eastern Europe. The first stresses that individuals have relatively fixed preferences about living arrangements and diverge from them only when they cannot attain their ideal. The second major approach, the adaptive strategies perspective, predicts that individuals have few preferences. Instead, they use household composition to cope with economic hardship, deploy labor, or care for children or the elderly. This article evaluates these approaches in five post‐socialist East‐European countries, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Russia, using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. The results suggest that household extension is common in these countries and provide the most evidence for the adaptive strategies perspective. In particular, the results show that variables operationalizing the adaptive strategies perspective, including measures of single motherhood, retirement status, agricultural cultivation, and poverty, increase the odds of household extension.
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Postcards have been sold by the billions over the past 100 years or so, but you never would recognize their popularity by checking library holdings. Most libraries ignore them…
Abstract
Postcards have been sold by the billions over the past 100 years or so, but you never would recognize their popularity by checking library holdings. Most libraries ignore them, yet a reporter observed at the 1981 national poster and postcard show: “Postcard collection—a nostalgic pastime that has become a consuming passion for thousands of Americans—is more popular today than when picture postcards first caught on at the turn of the century.” Among the dealers of new cards, Kennard Harris says that “in the past five years there has been an explosion of museum postcard publishing and sales in this country.”