Among the first approaches scholars used to conceptualize the role of media in human development was the media effects model. Within this model, the content of media is believed to affect the emotions, thoughts, behaviours and attitudes of the user. Proponents of this model view media as external to the user, with its effects flowing unidirectionally-from the outside in. Although not explicitly stated, the media effects approach views users as passive recipients of media influence, with the inference being that media uniformly impacts adolescents, rather than considering individual differences in…
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BIOLOGICAL ARMS CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT REVIEW AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARES FUTURE
Negotiations to prohibit biological weapons became part of the agenda of the international community with the organization of the United Nations. Initial discussions focused on a treaty aimed at both chemical and biological weapons, but little progress was made until the mid-1960s. At the insistence of the British, negotiators began to focus on a treaty limited solely to biological weapons. The result was the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), which prohibited possession of any biological and toxin weapons. Although the treaty does not define what constitutes a biological weapon, subsequent deliberations…
Read MoreGLOBAL GOVERNANCE REFORMING UNITED NATIONS
Since its foundation in 1946, the United Nations has undergone a continuous process of reform, each phase reflecting the renewed priorities of its membership. The decolonization period and the subsequent independence of numerous States in Africa and Asia provided a unique opportunity for the United Nations to address the needs of the newly independent nations. Within twenty years of its creation, UN membership more than doubled reaching 118 by 1965. The emergence of new States showed the need for a strengthening of the United Nations system in the area of…
Read MoreSINGLE PARENTING: PROBLEMS AND EFFECTS
In world, the number of children in single-parent families has risen significantly over the past four decades, causing substantial concern among policymakers and the public. Parenthood is challenging enough even under the best of conditions. So, being a single parent in our society is tasking to say the least. This is because, with one parent, the challenges are multifaceted. Single parenting in our society has been the focus of much interest and research in recent years. According to a communicator, “The effect of single parenting are far reaching because it…
Read MoreYOUTH MENTAL HEALTH CURRENT USE DEVELOPMENT AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERVENTION AND DESIGN
The growing reliance of youth on online support for mental health represents an opportunity for providers of mental health services, apps, and other supports. Online spaces offer unique affordances that can help create scalable, personalized, and timely interventions. For example, we may be able to reach youth who are difficult to reach through more traditional clinical supports or in moments when current providers do not have visibility. Many people, especially youth, may not want traditional mental health support. An online screening platform hosted by Mental Health America, which has screened…
Read MoreDIGITAL AGE: PRIVACY CONCERN AND LOOPHOLES IN LEGISLATION
The development of new information technology has improved the ability to communicate and share information with others, thus enhancing freedom of expression and democratic participation. However, these technological developments have also made it possible for electronic surveillance and communications interception to be carried out on a large scale and with relative ease. Furthermore, arbitrary communications surveillance poses a threat to anonymity of communications and in turn human rights defenders, whistleblowers and investigative journalism – all of which are important elements of a free and democratic society. Article 17 of the…
Read MoreTHE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS
The drivers of conflict and vulnerability to climate change are multiple, complex, and oftentimes, cyclical, making it difficult to analyze their differentiated impacts on Sexual And Reproductive Health And Rights(SRHR) in isolation. As such, evidence related to the impacts of climate change on SRHR is often discussed more broadly in the context of these drivers of vulnerability, without distinguishing between, for example, post-disaster and conflict-affected settings. However, it is clear that settings of conflict and fragility are areas of high vulnerability in relation to SRHR and it is expected that…
Read MoreCOVID – 19 AND CRISIS IN FAMILIES : IMPACTS AND ECONOMICAL REPERCUSSION OVERVIEW
The coronavirus pandemic represents the biggest shock to the world economies since the great depression. COVID- 19 is/ was a seismic social shock even for families that lost no income due at least in part to abrupt school closures and the widespread threat of illness and death. In many instances, the school closures substantially increased the time that parents, especially mothers, spend with their children. For school children, school closures and learning interruptions could threaten children’s learning and adjustment but the effects will depend on the quantity and quality of parent-child…
Read MoreDIGITAL AUTHORITARIANISM AND ITS EFFECTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY
Digital authoritarianism is “the use of digital information technology by authoritarian regimes to surveil, repress, and manipulate domestic and foreign populations”. Essentially it refers to the use of digital and technological means to increase control and limit the freedom and rights of citizens. For example, digital authoritarianism entails actions such as; limiting internet freedom, internet access and free speech online, collecting personal data for illegitimate purposes, surveillance and tracking of online activities, especially those of regime critics. We can sums up digital authoritarianism in six different techniques: surveillance, censorship, social…
Read MoreDIVORCE EFFECTS ON CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOUR AND DEVELOPMENT
Nowadays, one in four children will have to face their parents’ divorce and one in ten children live with only one of them, usually the mother. For all families, the divorce can trigger a series of changes potentially stressful for each member. The child and family tasks where before guided by two parents, now are responsibility of one, such as family roles and functioning can become chaotic. In the preceding months to divorce, many families face financial problems that could result in changes of home, school, and job. According to…
Read MoreCLIMATE DISPLACEMENT: GAPS IN THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR SMALL ISLANDS/ARCHIPELAGO
Despite the existence of numerous international instruments addressing forced migration, internal displacement and climate change, international law does not offer ad hoc protection to people affected by climate displacement. The unprecedented nature of the challenges posed by sinking islands is one of the causes of this legal vacuum. Nonetheless, international law will have to react and the ways in which this could happen vary substantially. One possible solution could consist in adapting the existing legal frame work to the peculiarities of climate-induced displacement. The specific needs of climate-displaced people could…
Read MoreRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTAL STRESS AND CHILDREN TEMPERAMENT
A child’s activity level was correlated with the level of stress a mother experiences. Parents can describe their children as having distinct and recognisable patterns of behaviour as young as in infancy. Even at birth, some children are much more challenging to parents while other children are notably more easygoing and carefree. Since parenting involves the relationship between a child’s temperament(personality style) and the parent’s response, the relationship is a reciprocal process in which parent and child are constantly affecting each other. It was hypothesised that child activity level would correlate…
Read MoreGARDENING: WELLBEING FOR MENTAL HEALTH
It has commonly stated that “Mental health and wellbeing” can positively affect almost every area of a person’s life: education, employment, family and relationships. It can help people achieve their potential, realise their ambitions, cope with adversity, work productively and contribute to their community and society. Promoting mental health and wellbeing has multiple benefits. It improves health outcomes, life expectancy, productivity and educational and economic outcomes and reduces violence and crime. Estimates from 2006 put the wider economic costs of mental health problems at over £110 billions per year. We can define wellbeing as “a positive…
Read MoreCOUPLES ATTACHMENT INSECURITY IN STRESSFUL COVID-19 CONTEXTS
The COVID-19 pandemic represents an acute, challenging event that puts to the test whether models in relationship science help identify whose relationships are vulnerable to disruption in the wake of this unprecedented global event. The current longitudinal study leveraged to examine whether pre-existing vulnerabilities (attachment insecurity) assessed prior to the pandemic and stress during a mandated quarantine predicted residual changes in relationship functioning. Partners’ attachment anxiety emerged as a consistent vulnerability that, along with stress, increased the risk of poor relationship functioning, including greater relationship problems, a more chaotic and less cohesive family environment and lower relationship quality. These results uniquely emphasize that the potential…
Read MoreNEEDFULNESS HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES AMENDMENT DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND UPCOMING PANDEMIC OUTBREAK
The nation faces an unprecedented public health crisis, businesses are grappling with how to support their workforce, implement emergency policies and sustain their businesses amidst economic uncertainty. As of millions of workers especially frontline workers paid low wages are facing dire extremes: either experiencing layoffs or reduced hours, or working under demanding and often unsafe conditions. Many workers lack emergency protections and benefits to meet the needs of this moment. We must encourage companies to adopt multiple practices and focus on applying them as broadly and equitably as possible, to…
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