With water scarcity becoming a more critical problem for the world, water disputes and their remediation are increasingly vital for nations today. In regions like the Middle East especially, one would not expect to see cooperation regarding resources looking at the state of affairs going on now. By discussing the Johnston Plan, a mediation process by an envoy of the U.S. between Israel and the Arab League, however, this paper describes how cooperation was achieved between states in the Jordan River basin regarding water usage. An in-depth analysis of cooperation and mediation aid in outlining how Johnston and the U.S. achieved a successful agreement for the region’s water development. Mediation, or third party intervention, is an elusive concept in literature, as it depends on the dimensions related to the conflict’s context, actors and mediator. Looking at the Johnston Plan, however, one discovers that Johnston achieved his de facto success due to the many components related to water disputes, the involved nations and the status of the United States.

abstract: Research methods based on the frequentist philosophy use prior information in a priori power calculations and when determining the necessary sample size for the detection of an effect, but not in statistical analyses. Bayesian methods incorporate prior knowledge into the statistical analysis in the form of a prior distribution. When prior information about a relationship is available, the estimates obtained could differ drastically depending on the choice of Bayesian or frequentist method. Study 1 in this project compared the performance of five methods for obtaining interval estimates of the mediated effect in terms of coverage, Type I error rate, empirical power, interval imbalance, and interval width at N = 20, 40, 60, 100 and 500. In Study 1, Bayesian methods with informative prior distributions performed almost identically to Bayesian methods with diffuse prior distributions, and had more power than normal theory confidence limits, lower Type I error rates than the percentile bootstrap, and coverage, interval width, and imbalance comparable to normal theory, percentile bootstrap, and the bias-corrected bootstrap confidence limits. Study 2 evaluated if a Bayesian method with true parameter values as prior information outperforms the other methods. The findings indicate that with true values of parameters as the prior information, Bayesian credibility intervals with informative prior distributions have more power, less imbalance, and narrower intervals than Bayesian credibility intervals with diffuse prior distributions, normal theory, percentile bootstrap, and bias-corrected bootstrap confidence limits. Study 3 examined how much power increases when increasing the precision of the prior distribution by a factor of ten for either the action or the conceptual path in mediation analysis. Power generally increases with increases in precision but there are many sample size and parameter value combinations where precision increases by a factor of 10 do not lead to substantial increases in power. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2014

Orientador: Lúcia Helena Reily / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-21T22:15:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Caldas_MariaCeciliaCaxambu_M.pdf: 1214871 bytes, checksum: 8d8338ba8b72c4e7da9634aa2d289d9e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: A pesquisa trata sobre fotografia para deficientes visuais - indivíduos cegos e com baixa visão. Relatos na literatura mostram que a pratica fotográfica para deficientes visuais acrescenta experiências com as quais esses indivíduos anteriormente não tinham oportunidade de contato. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi investigar a relação de pessoas com deficiência visual com a fotografia. A partir da perspectiva dos participantes da pesquisa, nosso intuito foi apreender o que consideram significativo para a pessoa com deficiência visual, considerando como foco a fotografia. Buscamos entender como as falas sobre a produção fotográfica de interlocutores não deficientes (aquelas pessoas que descrevem as imagens para os deficientes visuais) encaminham novas possibilidades de compreensão das imagens. Os métodos usados no estudo foram trazidos de praticas de outros casos similares dentro desta temática, investigados durante o desenvolvimento do estudo, incluindo: observação de grupos e de exposições, atuação pratica e interlocução verbal com públicos especiais. Os resultados mostram que a associação entre a descrição verbal e o toque que segue a trajetória das linhas principais em relevo na imagem contribui para o acesso a fotografia, uma atividade presente no cotidiano de todas as pessoas. Essa pratica ajuda a abrir caminhos, não somente para a fotografia propriamente dita, mas também para a compreensão das múltiplas imagens que se apresentam diariamente para todas as pessoas na vida moderna / Abstract: This study addresses the issue of photography for people with visual impairments - blindness and low vision. Reports in the literature show that the practice of photography enables people with visual impairments to have experiences that they would not ordinarily have had. The aim of this study was to investigate how people with visual impairments can relate to photography. Based on the perspective of the participants in the study, our aim was to apprehend what they consider to be meaningful for persons with visual impairments regarding photography. We attempted to understand how enunciations about photographic production by the non disabled communication partner (those persons that described the images for the participants with visual impairments) generated new possibilities for understanding the images. The methods used in the study were borrowed from practices used in similar cases regarding this theme, and were investigated while the study was underway. They included observation of groups and exhibits, workshop practicum and verbal exchanges with special groups. The results showed that the association between verbal description and touching a trajectory of the main lines in relief on the image helped to enable access to photography, an activity that is present in the everyday lives of everyone. This practice can significantly open pathways not only to photography itself, but also to the understanding of multiple images that present themselves daily to all people in modern life / Mestrado / Artes Visuais / Mestre em Artes

71 Abstract Mediation as an alternative manner of dispute resolution The topic of this thesis is mediation, as a form of settlement solution carried out of court. Mediation is in the Czech Republic still very topical. Its growing use can help to reduce the workload of courts. The aim of this thesis was to introduce mediation in general, to discuss the legal regulation of mediation in civil cases in the Czech Republic and critically analyse it. Apart the introduction and conclusion the thesis contains seven chapters in total. The first chapter defines mediation as one of the alternative methods of dispute resolution. Subsections provide a definition of mediation, comparison between mediation and court and arbitration proceedings, and discuss the benefits of resolving the dispute through mediation. The second chapter is focused on the development of mediation. After a brief introduction, it deals with the development of mediation in the United States, Europe and finally in the Czech Republic. Subsequent chapters describe mediation method itself and its theoretical bases. The third chapter discusses the fundamental principles that are applied in the mediation. The fourth chapter provides the basic definition of mediation styles. The following chapter discusses a mediator, his qualification, role,...

The aim of this thesis is to clarify the issue of enforceability of mediation settlement agreements with the focus on the field of commercial law. The thesis presents the main problems and interpretation divergences and the author argues his own opinions. In the first chapter, i.e. in the introduction, the reader is familiarised with the notion of mediation settlement agreement as a mere private agreement, which is not directly enforceable in most of the jurisdictions. In the second chapter, the thesis deals with different methods of making the mediation settlement agreement enforceable in Czech, Slovak and marginally also in Austrian legal system. There are basically three means of conversion of mediation settlement agreement in all three legal systems. First, it is possible to have the agreement approved by a state court in the form of court settlement. Second possibility is to have an arbitral award on agreed terms issued. However it is not clear, whether it is possible to start arbitral proceedings only for the sake of having an enforcement title if the parties have already settled. Third option is to get a notarial deed with permission to enforcement issued. In the third chapter, the thesis concerns with the enforcement of foreign mediation settlement agreements, which are enforceable in another state...

Positioning itself within policy debates on the best way to deal with disputes in UK workplaces and the (potential) resultant increased interest in mediation, this thesis draws on literature from law, philosophy, psychology and management to add to the growing, but largely theoretically-underdeveloped research on workplace mediation. In this research, mediation refers to a voluntary and confidential process where parties to dispute seek a mutually agreed outcome. This process is facilitated by an impartial third-party mediator. The research offers an empirically-informed theoretical framework exploring the extent to which the use of mediation to deal with bullying and harassment is appropriate. In asking whether mediation is appropriate, it argues that it is necessary to consider whether its use is not only feasible but also fair. Using Rawls’s (2001) theory of justice as fairness to structure the discussion and focusing on cases involving sex, race and sexual orientation it constructs an argument for the use of fairness as a guiding concern for an understanding of mediation grounded in an appreciation of public values and notions of social cooperation. It explores tensions between the nature of mediation and of bullying and harassment to question the extent to which an emphasis on cost/efficiency and empowerment in mediation rhetoric may obscure questions of the privatisation and individualisation of systemic and structural problems. Within this discussion theoretical and practical questions are identified and are then explored through the use of a mixed method research design comprised of a small-scale questionnaire (N=108), interviews (N=20) and focus groups (Four groups, N=16). Samples were purposively recruited and consisted of those over 18 years old with six month’s work experience in a UK workplace (questionnaire/focus groups) and external workplace mediators (interviews). Answers to the questions are offered in the form of a framework comprised of a theoretical model and a practically-orientated schematic. It is argued that the reconciliation of potential conflicts between mediation and bullying and harassment are found in a greater understanding of the way mediation operates in practice. This understanding is guided by an appreciation that different standards of reasonableness apply to different behaviours and that individuals, organisations and the courts have differing levels of responsibility for setting and upholding these standards. In meeting this responsibility it is important an organisation is seen as a party to the mediation process since a threat to fairness arises not from privatisation per se but from a personalisation of problems of organisational and/or societal significance. Rather than reject the use of mediation in such situations it suggests the notion of ‘tailored privatisation’ offering a compromise between the concerns of privatisation and the purported benefits of mediation.

South Africa has always been cited as an example of protracted social conflict by the analytical conflict resolution school. Given that appellation, the conflict, in terms of the understanding of that school of thought, would not have been amenable to resolution, and yet many observers hail the South African democratic transition as a miracle of transformation. This thesis, using a detailed application of the various elements of protracted or deep-rooted social conflict, demonstrates that South Africa is indeed an example of protracted social conflict. Given the application of pre-negotiation initiatives, and the establishment of a unique National Peace Accord, negotiations were enabled, and successfully delivered a democratic election, and so far, also a sustainable democracy. The establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was the result of a realization on the part of a wide spectrum of South African leadership and conflict resolution professionals, that negotiation alone would not provide conflict resolution for South Africans, and that there was therefore an additional need to deal with the deeper issues of conflict, if the settlement were to prove sustainable. The question remains whether ours represents a successful resolution of the conflict from the theoretical perspective of the analytical conflict resolution school. A close examination of South African socio-political issues across a number of domains regarded by the analytical conflict resolution school as important, indicates that while the requirements for conflict resolution were indeed met in the South African case, their more advanced stage of resolution; conflict provention has not been satisfied. That explains the fact that many tensions, much violence and intolerance remain. South Africa’s democracy has not been infused with analytical conflict management institutions, basic human needs have not been substantially met and valued relationships remain elusive. Because protracted social conflict is cyclical, we can expect high-levels of conflict behaviour to haunt, and even threaten our fledgling democracy. It is argued here that a coherent theoretical approach to the South African conflict management process would have produced a more sustainable outcome, and we recommend the continued use and institutionalization of analytical conflict provention processes to secure the future of our country.

Five study guides prepared for two productions of I, Claudia by Kristen Thomson will serve as a case study to determine the nature and orientations of the tools provided by theatre companies to pedagogues, who in turn teach students how to understand and read theatrical performance. More specifically, this case study will seek to explain how processes typical of “cultural mediation” help students accumulate what Pierre Bourdieu names “cultural” or “social capitals”, both necessary when training future citizens. This thesis will thus serve as a first critique of the workings, strengths and failings of a sociological mechanism typical of English Canadian theatre designed to help teachers mediate theatre and create more informed audience members.

This study examined individual differences as precursors to engagement, then assessed whether engagement was a mechanism through which the personality variables led to organizational outcomes. Specifically, this study assessed how the relationships between select personality dimensions and citizenship behavior (OCB), both individual (OCB-I) and organizational (OCB-O), were mediated by work engagement using two distinct measures. Undergraduate working students at Florida International University completed surveys that measured their personalities, levels of work engagement, and citizenship behaviors in the work setting. Correlations and multiple regressions were used to assess the relationships between variables. Results confirmed several of the hypotheses, including the effects of personality on engagement and engagement on OCB. Select hypotheses involving mediation were supported, of which further support was found for the UWES measure over the MBI-GS. Results from a coworker sample contribute to the literature by complementing these results linking personality, work engagement, and OCB.

Suicide is a national public health concern, and college students may be at increased risk. Symptoms of psychopathology (i.e., stress, anxiety, and depression) may contribute to risk, whereas religiosity (i.e., religious attendance, surrendering to God, and feeling forgiven by God) may reduce risk. Students from a rural southeastern university (N=249) completed self-report measures. Serial mediation analyses indicate that attendance and surrender to God are inversely- predictive of suicide risk, both directly and through the indirect pathways of feeling forgiven by God (1st order mediator) and psychopathology (2nd order mediators). In all models, specific indirect effects occurred through feeling forgiven by God, suggesting the importance of relational aspects of religiosity. Our novel findings highlight mechanisms of action linking religiosity to suicide risk, and may provide direction for therapeutic intervention (e.g., psycho- education regarding religious involvement, fostering feelings of forgiveness) to reduce psychopathology and suicidality in the collegiate population.