Self-compassion denotes a compassionate and empathic attitude toward oneself (Neff, 2003b). In the past decade, the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) has been used to measure self-compassion in individuals and its effects on social, psychological, and physiological functioning. While many studies have found positive effects of high self- compassion showing promise for the use of the construct in clinical and empirical applications, there is a dearth of literature regarding the psychometric properties of the SCS. Furthermore, previous studies have not evaluated the individual subscales of the SCS as they relate to other inventories. This study evaluated the SCS and its subscales in relation the to the well-established Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II). The study included 142 undergraduate Cal Poly students who completed both the SCS and the BDI- II. As predicted, a statistically significant negative correlation was found between total SCS and BDI-II scores (r = -.57). Statistically significant negative correlations were also found between BDI-II total scores and the Self-Kindness (r = -.35), Common Humanity (r = -.37), and Mindfulness (r = -.35) subscales of the SCS. Statistically significant positive correlations were found with BDI-II total scores and the Self-Judgment (r = .49), Isolation (r = .59) and Over-Identified (r = .43) subscales of the SCS. This study evaluated the convergent and discriminant validity of the SCS and its subscales as compared to the BDI-II.

This thesis strives to provide a new way of implementing the principle known as Responsibility to Protect (R2P). When traditionally associated with armed forces, this thesis will present the principle from a new angle, and in doing so illustrate its untapped potential as a tool for combating human suffering. The aim of this study is to normatively argue for R2P to also be applicable in a situation where water scarcity leads to such severe suffering that a state’s unwillingness or inability to manage the crisis puts people in a situation of despair equivalent with Crimes Against Humanity. The argumentation builds on a deductive inference where documents from the UN and the ICC lay the foundation for the premises. The study concludes that there exist circumstances where R2P could be invoked in the context of water scarcity, but advocates only the non-violent measures of the principle as responses.

Although international human rights declarations exist, violations of human rights are still sad but also common facts around the world. But for repressive regimes, it becomes more and more difficult to hide committed human rights violations, since society entered the "Information Revolution." This study argues that the volume of international information exchanged influences a country's human rights record. A pooled cross sectional time series regression model with a lagged endogenous variable and a standard robust error technique is used to test several hypotheses. The findings of this study indicate that the flow of information can be related to a country's human rights index. The study also suggests that more empirical work on this topic will be necessary.

Crimes against humanity have become a global concern, garnering widespread media coverage over the past decade. Boko Haram's actions pose a threat to both domestic and international security, with frequent attacks on civilians, churches, security forces, and even international organizations like the United Nations. The group's impact is felt across all 36 states of Nigeria, impacting the country's socio-political and economic development. The absence of agreement on whether non-state actors can be held responsible for crimes against humanity in the same way as states, can create a potential risk of serious crimes going unpunished. As non-state actors are increasingly gaining influence and have the capacity to plan and execute widespread atrocities, it is crucial to address this issue. This research project aims to investigate whether there is an Organizational Policy behind Boko Haram’s atrocities and how it can be categorized as committing crimes against humanity under Article 7(2)(a) of the Rome Statute.

The internationally recognized and flagship worker cooperative Fagor Electrodomésticos was founded in 1956 and was heralded as a success story before declaring bankruptcy in 2013. In this thesis, I examine the existing literature regarding worker cooperatives and provide historical background on Fagor Electrodomésticos. I then focus on one of the factors credited by the literature as contributing to its failure and other worker cooperatives broadly, the internal decision-making process. To analyze the role of the internal decision-making process I develop a game-theoretic model that sheds light on the dynamics of this process. This model contains three actors each of whom attempt to maximize their payoffs by advocating within a three-node game tree. This approach illustrates that in times of economic downturn actors with higher preferences for labor over profit will forestall employment cuts that are required for the firm to remain profitable or break-even and might operate at a loss to avoid necessary employment reductions. I then introduce costs when one or more actors employ their vetoes in a way that can prevent the delay of necessary unemployment reductions for firm survival.

<p>This dissertation argues that the works of Augustine, especially the <em>City of God</em> and the <em>Confessions,</em> serve as a major source and influence upon Burton's <em>The Anatomy of Melancholy</em>. Burton's attitudes towards the world, humanity, and his sources can be seen to derive in part from Augustine's attitudes on these subjects. Especially, Burton shares with Augustine a form of scepticism this dissertation defines as 'Augustinian Scepticism', which is qualitatively different from the dawning scientific-rationalist scepticism of, for example, Descartes. Though this form of scepticism could be defined as dogmatism, as its rigorous negativity never extends to the grounds of faith, it is still the source of much of Burton's attitude towards the world, his reader and his material throughout the <em>Anatomy</em>. Burton's <em>elenctic</em> rhetorical strategies especially, wherein he collapses all sides of an argument to create seeming chaos in the sublunary world, can in large part be traced to his reading of, and use of, Augustine and avowedly Augustinian thinkers such as Melancthon, Nicholas Cusanus and Agrippa.</p> <p>Although critics such as Fish, Fox, Babb and Thompson deny an Augustinian influence in Burton's <em>Anatomy</em>, this dissertation argues against their positions. The argument presented employs a method of close, comparative readings, examining key passages of the <em>Anatomy</em> in the light of Augustine's <em>City of God</em>, the <em>Confessions</em>, and other works. Passages wherein Burton cuts closest to his submerged themes of redemption and salvation, abandoning the persona of Democritus Jr. in favour of his persona as Burton the Divine-Physician, (a symbolic persona drawn directly from Augustine), are especially examined. Through a focus on Burton's religious themes, a direct parallel with Augustine is discerned. and it is argued that Augustine has an influence on both style and substance in the <em>Anatomy</em>. Although Augustine is by no means the only, or even dominant influence on the <em>Anatomy</em>, Augustine would appear to play a much larger role in Burton's moral and spiritual thought, especially in Burton's scepticism towards the world, human knowledge and human endeavour, than has previously been acknowledged.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>Norman Mailer announced in Advertisements For Myself (1959) that he wished to revolutionize the consciousness of our time. With this as his goal he developed an aesthetics which views both life and art as a process of growth toward a full humanity and away from post-World War II American (and universal) tendencies to stifle human r,rowth through a technological totalitarianism.</p> <p>Mailer envisions the creation of life as a function of a divine power and the destruction of life as that of a satanic power who war with each other for possession of the universe. We do not know for whom we do battle, but our intuitions of good and evil are to be trusted.</p> <p>Growth for Mailer takes the form of a line of movement made by confronting and defeating opponents of a full humanity; he terms such engagements whose outcome is unknown and therefore dangerous to the self "existential". His life and his art make up a dramatic and progressive dialectic. There are three books which I believe contain Mailer's most effective expressions of his aesthetics and which have the greatest potential for revolutionizing the consciousness of our time. Each is the culmination of a phase in Mailer's growth which contains in itself the unified strands of that growth.</p> <p>The first phase includes the early success of The Naked and the Dead, the subsequent popular and critical failures of Barbary Shore and The Deer Park, the slou~hln[. off of old models, political and artistic, the creation of a radical creed in "The \'lhi te Negro" and a radical form in Advertisements For Myself. The latter is the culmination of this phase and is analyzed in detail. By the time of Advertisements Mailer has made himself the chief metaphor for his concept of erowth, thus synthesizing theme and method. The second phase enlarges the meaning of Mailer's existentialism, most particularly by his venturing deeply into the current political and social realm, and culminates in a new synthesis of growth in fictional theme and form in An American Dream (1965). The novel's protagonist, Stephen Rojack, defeated by a powerful satanic agent and by his own weakness, proves unequal to the task Mailer sets for the American hero: to unite the real- and the dream-life of the nation in himself and to lead a united nation to human wholeness which embraces all contradictions.</p> <p>The central occupation of the third phase of Mailer's work, therefore, is to develop himself--in the absence of other suitable candidates--into a representative American hero. His experimentation with various media for communication--drama, film, television, and others--ls a search for effective vehicles for his vision and is preparation for his assumption of the heroic role. Mailer's involvement with the central issues confronting the United States is rendered in a considerable experiment in novelistic form, Why Are We in Vietnam? The culmination of his efforts in this phase is the culmination of his work to date as well: The Armies of the Night (1968). Relating the experiences of a character called "Mailer", Mailer as narrator and novelist-historian not only creates himself as a representative comic American hero but invents a form which carries a total vision of the events of the 1967 March on the Pentagon, uniting traditional methods and aims of history, the novel, and journalism. With this boolc Mailer assumes the role of interpretor for our time, immersin~ himself in important contemnorary events in order to present us with his views of their meaning and significance.</p> <p>Mailer's three books following The Armies of the Night are discussed in a final chapter as similar to but lesser efforts than Armies.</p> <p>In this thesis Mailer's work is placed in two specific contexts which provide a basis for suggesting his significance: that of American literature, with emphasis upon his contribution to the literature of the American Dream and upon his indebtedness to Hemingway in particular and twentieth-century novelists in f,eneral; and that of contemporary thought which also seeks to influence the direction of future human life.</p> <p>Because his aesthetics of growth sees human progress as its art, Mailer's nonlitrerary roles are considered a vital part of his total work and consequently the critical standards applied in this thesis are Mailer's own: how well does each work register growth on Mailer's part and how potentially effective is the work in revolutionizing the consciousness of our time?</p> <p>Mailer scholarship is still in infancy. The contribution of this thesis to that scholarship lies in its approacth to Mailer's work as a progressive whole and its delineation of that progress; its critical approach whlch confronts Mailer on his own terms; its extensive treatment of works other than novels; the broad contexts which suggest the significance of Mailer's work; and the comprehensive bibliography, the most complete yet assembled on Mailer.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In the texts analyzed in this thesis, nineteenth-century Paris illustrates the utopian principles formulated by Karl Mannheim whose conceptualizations concern the social and moral order that makes up human existence. His utopia is characterized by human thoughts, behaviors, and actions. In our analysis of the works by Charles Fourier, Victor Hugo, and Emile Zola, common themes emerge as each writer undertakes the task of representing the past, present, and future Paris. They describe ideas of poverty, sickness, and revolution as well as the importance of education, progress, and moral order. The most telling conclusion of utopia unveiled in the thesis is that each writer also depicts his vision of Paris with a specific and unique designation. For Fourier, a utopian Paris is described as Harmony. A harmonious state of being represents a society built on agreement, cooperation, and order. Hugo's representation of Paris comes under the epithet of Humanity and Fraternity. Hugo believes that Paris held the key to unlocking a society built on benevolence, cooperation, and camaraderie. Zola designates Paris as Modernity. For Zola, modernity creates a paradox of utopia/dystopia and order/disorder. However, Paris offers the hope of a ville beatitude wherein the well-being of all the families would be of highest priority to create happiness, security, and order. Though each writer had a different idealization of Paris, the analysis of utopian mentalities foregrounds their outlook on not only the city-space but of humanity which held much promise for harmony, happiness, and order in a future "utopian" state. / Master of Arts

Les institutions internationales ont à la suite de la 2ème guerre mondiale créé un corpus de droits reliés à l’essence de la condition humaine qui sont aussi intuitifs que difficiles à systématiser. Cette émergence se trouve à l’origine de la relation étroite entre le droit international et un noyau intangible de valeurs considérées comme universelles, érigé à la lumière de constructions philosophiques et juridiques du concept d’humanité jusqu’au moment où elles sont saisies par le droit international coutumier et conventionnel dans une logique de protection. Cette protection relève, d’un côté, du droit international pénal à partir notamment de l’édification des concepts de crime contre l’humanité et de génocide ayant comme corolaire également la définition du concept de graves violations et, de l’autre côté, du droit international des droits de l’Homme, en ce qu’il s’est occupé de la sauvegarde de l’individu en tant qu’être à la fois singulier et collectif, mais aussi des droits essentiels à la préservation de sa condition humaine. Le problème majeur qui se pose est celui des difficiles interactions entre le droit international et le droit national, combiné à l’héritage des paradigmes du droit international classique, ce qui nous amène à répondre à la question du comportement des États quand le droit international a pour objet la préservation de ce noyau dur des valeurs humaines. Dans la présente thèse, nous cherchons donc à démontrer que la protection tissée notamment sur la base des prohibitions apporte au droit international une position de suprématie liée à son caractère de jus cogens, de manière à imposer des devoirs non seulement aux États mais aussi aux individus. / Como resultado da Segunda Guerra Mundial, as instituições internacionais criaram um conjunto de direitos relacionados à essência da condição humana que são tão intuitivos quanto difíceis de sistematizar. Dessa emergência tem origem a estreita relação entre o direito internacional e a tutela de um núcleo intangível de valores da comunidade humana em seu conjunto, engendrados à luz das construções filosóficas e jurídicas do conceito de humanidade até o momento em que a mesma passou a ser protegida pelo direito internacional costumeiro e convencional. Essa proteção deu-se, de um lado, pelo direito internacional penal a partir da edificação do conceito de crime contra a humanidade e de genocídio, de modo a possibilitar a identificação do sentido de graves violações e, de outro lado, pelo direito internacional dos direitos humanos, naquilo em que se ocupou da salvaguarda do indivíduo enquanto ser ao mesmo tempo singular e coletivo, assim como dos direitos essenciais à preservação de sua condição humana. O problema maior que se apresenta diz respeito às difíceis interações do direito internacional com o direito nacional, agravado pela herança deixada pelos paradigmas do direito internacional clássico, o que nos leva a buscar responder à pergunta de como se comportam ou devem se comportar os Estados quando o direito internacional tem por objeto resguardar esse núcleo duro de valores humanos. Na presente tese, buscamos demonstrar que a proteção exercida sobretudo sob a base de proibições aporta ao direito internacional uma posição de supremacia que se liga ao seu caráter de jus cogens, de modo a impor obrigações tanto aos Estados quanto aos indivíduos. / Because of World War II, international institutions have created a set of rights related to the essence of the human condition that are as intuitive as they are difficult to systematize. The close relationship between international law and the protection of intangible values of the human community as a whole has its sources from this emergence. Indeed, these values were identified in the light of philosophical and legal constructions about the concept of humanity until the moment when it became protected by the customary and conventional international law. On the one hand, this protection came from the international criminal law and its enlightenment about the conception of crime against humanity and genocide, in a manner that it enabled the identification of the meaning of serious violations. On the other hand, this protection came likewise from international human rights law, in which it took care to safeguard the individual either as a singular and collective human being, as well as of the fundamental rights to the preservation of its human condition. The hardest problem that is presented here is about the difficult interactions between international law and national law. This problem is aggravated by the heritage left by the classic international law paradigms, which leads us to seek the answer concerning how the States react or how States must react when international law aims to safeguard these core human values. In this thesis, we seek to demonstrate that the protection exercised, especially on the basis of prohibitions, places international law in a position of supremacy linked to its character of jus cogens, in order to impose obligations over both States and individuals.

Recent reviewers of the group psychotherapy literature have called for the introduction of new constructs that may contribute to a deeper understanding of what it is about process groups that make them effective in eliciting change. To this end, this study investigates the potential of a newly defined and operationalized construct known as self-compassion. Drawing on the writings of various scholars of Buddhism, Neff has theorized that self-compassion consists of three main, mutually influential components: self-kindness (the act of being gentle with oneself in instance of pain or failure); mindfulness (holding painful thoughts and feelings in balanced awareness, without over-identifying with them); and common humanity (the perception of one’s experiences as part of the larger human experience). This paper argues that there are strong parallels between each of these three components and existing theory on the mechanisms of change in group psychotherapy. The study was motivated by the belief that preliminary quantitative support for the role of self-compassion in change through groups may highlight the importance of the construct and help orient both group practitioners and group researchers towards a new theoretical lens through which the power of groups may be better understood. 92 subjects were enrolled in the study: 57 in a non-treatment Control condition, and 35 in a Treatment condition. The Control group was comprised of undergraduates from the Educational Psychology Department subject pool at the University of Texas at Austin; the Treatment group was formed by UT undergraduate and graduate students who were enrolled in a process psychotherapy group at the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center. A pre-test/post-test design was employed, with subjects taking identical surveys at baseline (beginning of Fall 2007 semester) and follow-up (end of the same semester). A variety of inferential statistical techniques were utilized, and results indicated that there was a significant relationship between participation in process group psychotherapy and positive mental health outcomes as measured by self-report levels of depression, perceived stress, and happiness; that participation in a therapy group was associated with increased levels of self-compassion; and that as a predictor of mental health outcome in relation to therapy groups, self-compassion was on the whole equivalent to one construct (hope) often cited in the group literature as a powerful therapeutic mechanism, and a more powerful predictor than another (altruism). The overall results offer exciting implications for future research and clinical practice, as they suggest that self-compassion may well serve as an important component of a robust theoretical, organizing lens through which the power of group psychotherapy may be more clearly understood. / text