Child sexual abuse: A study of prevalence in Great Britain

Of 2019 men and women (aged 15 years and over) interviewed as part of a MORI Survey of a nationally representative sample of Great Britain, 10% reported that they had been sexually abused before the age of 16 (12% of females; 8% of males). There was no increased risk associated with specific social class categories or area of residence. For all types of sexual abuse, the mean age of victims when first abused was significantly lower for females. Subjective reports of the effects of sexual abuse indicated that the majority (51%) felt harmed by the experience, while only 4% reported that it had improved the quality of their life. We estimate that there are over 4.5 million adults in Great Britain who were sexually abused as children, and that a potential 1,117,000 children will be sexually abused before they are 15 years of age. At least 143,000 of these will be abused within the family. The social and mental health implications are enormous, and the authors suggest that an effective intervention and prevention policy is urgently required.     

Fachdidaktisches Wissen von Lehrkräften und multiple Ziele im naturwissenschaftlichen Sachunterricht

Recent investigations in the field of mathematics have demonstrated that teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, as a central component of teachers’ professional knowledge, plays a significant role in high-quality instruction and students’ learning gains. The study presented here explores the significance of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge for gains in pupils’ understanding of scientific concepts and for motivational and self-related outcome criteria in primary science education in Germany. It reports on findings from a study with a pre-post-design comprising 60 primary school teachers and their 1326 pupils. Teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and pupils’ learning gains as well as motivational and self-related outcome criteria were directly assessed with paper-and-pencil tests. Two-step models controlling for several relevant variables at the individual and the class level were specified. Results revealed a substantial positive effect of the measured pedagogical content knowledge on pupils’ achievement gains as well as on pupils’ situational interest and perceived competence.     

Effect of Tulsi (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ocimum sanctum</Emphasis> Linn.) Supplementation on Metabolic Parameters and Liver Enzymes in Young Overweight and Obese Subjects

Ocimum sanctum Linn. (also known as Tulsi) is a sacred Indian plant, the beneficial role of which, in obesity and diabetes is described traditionally. This is a randomized, parallel group, open label pilot study to investigate the effect of O. sanctum on metabolic and biochemical parameters in thirty overweight/obese subjects, divided into two groups A and B. Group A (n = 16) received one 250 mg capsule of Tulsi (O. sanctum) extract twice daily in empty stomach for 8 weeks and group B (n = 14) received no intervention. Statistically significant improvements in the values of serum triglycerides (p = 0.019); low density lipoprotein (p = 0.001); high density lipoprotein (p = 0.001); very low density lipoprotein (p = 0.019); Body Mass Index, BMI (p = 0.005); plasma insulin (p = 0.021) and insulin resistance (p = 0.049) were observed after 8 weeks in the O. sanctum intervention group. The improvement in HDL-C in the intervention group when compared to the control group was also statistically significant (p = 0.037). There was no significant alteration of the liver enzymes SGOT and SGPT in both the intervention (p = 0.141; p = 0.074) and control arms (p = 0.102; p = 0.055) respectively. These observations clearly indicate the beneficial effects of O. sanctum on various biochemical parameters in young overweight/obese subjects.     

Research as knowledge democratization,mobilization and social action: pushing back on casteism in contexts of caste humiliation and social reproduction in schools in India

ABSTRACT

Dalit (the ‘downtrodden’) students continue to experience caste-based discrimination, humiliation and dehumanization; illegal practices that are being reproduced in the school system in the state of Odisha, India. Based on a research study organized by the Center for Research and Development Solidarity, an adivasi (original dweller/Scheduled Tribe)-dalit (Scheduled Caste) research organization and 401 dalit students in grades 6–10 attending 16 government schools in a 25-village zone, this paper elaborates on this research initiative. It demonstrates how knowledge democratization, both, as research undertaken with and for dalit students as producers of (caste-resistance) knowledge and as knowledge sharing as mobilization, can simultaneously mobilize wider circles of organized collective action with parents, Village Education Committees (VECs) and local dalit NGOs and movements to address casteism and untouchability in state schools. The paper concludes with some brief insights pertaining to academic and funded research as knowledge democracy and mobilization for social action that are emergent from this caste research and related research and social action addressing land-forest-labour assertions in South Odisha.     

A nurturing and problem-solving approach for abuse-prone mothers

This paper reports on a series of treatment programs for abuse-prone mothers. The basic premise was that abusive mothers could not nurture their children because they had never been nurtured themselves. Therefore, the first requisite was that they be given to without being asked to give back. Hairdressing was chosen as a socially acceptable way to touch, and thus physically nurture adults, as it is considered neither infantile nor sexually questionable. The first group demonstrated that this type of nurturing was helpful in creating a prosocial support network for isolated mothers. However, when problem-solving activity was substituted for nurturing in an attempt to foster the mothers' coping skills, the group disintegrated. The second group was designed to maintain the nurturing element while using group-generated crises to teach problem-solving skills. Findings from the third and fourth groups confirmed the value of this combination, as it did the importance of providing support to staff (professionals and volunteers) in their work with people whose needs are “like bottomless pits” [3]. Expert consultation on the effective use of the small group process to meet these needs was also established as necessary.     

Evaluating the quality of interaction in asynchronous discussion forums in fully online courses

Fully online courses are becoming progressively more popular because of their “anytime anywhere” learning flexibility. One of the ways students interact with each other and with the instructors within fully online learning environments is via asynchronous discussion forums. However, student engagement in online discussion forums does not always take place automatically and there is a lack of clarity about the ideal role of the instructors in them. In this article, we report on our research on the quality of discussion in fully online courses through analysis of discussion forum activities. We have conducted our research on two large fully online subjects for computing students over two consecutive semesters and used a grounded theoretic approach for data analysis. Our results reveal what students and instructors consider as quality interaction in fully online courses. We also propose two frameworks based on our findings that can be used to ensure effective online interaction.     

Resources for research and learning: The databases of the Research Libraries Group

The Research Libraries Group, Inc., is a not-for-profit membership corporation dedicated to improving access to information for research and learning. To this end, RLG provides the Research Libraries Information Network database of bibliographic records, files of article citations and abstracts, and other specialized research data-bases, all of which are accessible worldwide via the Internet.     

The adaptation of groups to the needs of potentially abusing mothers

A group for mothers who feared they would abuse their children was established at Queen Victoria Medical Centre, Melbourne in 1974. Its success has led to additional groups being set up. The circumstances and attitudes of these mothers are described, the group organization is discussed and the group process is analyzed.The mothers attending these groups come from an economically and socially deprived section of the community. The groups provide a nurturing and hopeful atmosphere. This has facilitated the mothers' abilities to reach valuable insights about their feelings and behaviour, and to develop their ego strengths. Consequently they have learned to exercise greater control over their behaviour and therefore to separate emotion from action, and as a result they are less likely to abuse their child either physically or emotionally.A pragmatic approach is adopted by the therapist. Pertinent information is provided, relevant theories are invoked, and community facilities utilized whenever appropriate to meet the diverse needs of these potentially abusing mothers.These groups have fulfilled their preventive function, and the relationship between mother and child has improved.