Current trends in housing development are economically, socially and environmentally unsustainable. Co-operatives may have an advantage with respect to the sustainable development of housing and housing communities. The research focuses on the ability of housing co-operative organizations to function as learning organizations to advance goals of sustainability. Drawing on literatures focused on housing co-operatives, learning organizations, community capital and sustainability, the investigation primarily focuses on a single strategic case: a housing co-operative that actively pursues goals of sustainability. The research also includes information gathered through personal participation and observation during three years of membership in another housing co-operative. The research methods employed include observation, documentation, and personal and group interviews. The intent is to understand the extent to which housing co-operatives can be learning organizations with regards to various aspects of community sustainability. The term community sustainability encompasses issues related to the viability and longevity of the community itself, as well as the adoption and implementation of more sustainable consumption practices by community members. The use and refinement of selected criteria for organizational and social learning facilitated the investigation of the ways in which a specific housing co-operative, and housing co-operatives more generally, may function as learning organizations.

Current trends in housing development are economically, socially and environmentally unsustainable. Co-operatives may have an advantage with respect to the sustainable development of housing and housing communities. The research focuses on the ability of housing co-operative organizations to function as learning organizations to advance goals of sustainability. Drawing on literatures focused on housing co-operatives, learning organizations, community capital and sustainability, the investigation primarily focuses on a single strategic case: a housing co-operative that actively pursues goals of sustainability. The research also includes information gathered through personal participation and observation during three years of membership in another housing co-operative. The research methods employed include observation, documentation, and personal and group interviews. The intent is to understand the extent to which housing co-operatives can be learning organizations with regards to various aspects of community sustainability. The term community sustainability encompasses issues related to the viability and longevity of the community itself, as well as the adoption and implementation of more sustainable consumption practices by community members. The use and refinement of selected criteria for organizational and social learning facilitated the investigation of the ways in which a specific housing co-operative, and housing co-operatives more generally, may function as learning organizations.

Today’s youth have been exposed to more gambling-related media than previous generations, and they have grown up in an era in which states not only sanction but also run and promote gambling enterprises. Social Learning Theory proposes that one can develop new attitudes or expectancies about a specific behavior by watching others engage in that behavior, and that the media is one avenue through which one can develop new expectancies (Bandura, 2001). In addition, the Theory of Reasoned Action proposes that one’s behaviors are influenced directly by both subjective norms and attitudes (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). A mixed methods explanatory design was used to test a modified version of the Theory of Reasoned Action in which subjective norms and gambling-related media were hypothesized to have an effect on gambling behaviors directly and indirectly through both positive and negative expectancies. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the hypotheses, and semi-standardized interviews were used to help explain the results of the quantitative analyses and provide a richer and more accurate interpretation of the data. The hypothesized model was partially supported: the model was a good fit with the female college student data, accounting for 27.8% of variance in female student gambling behaviors, and it fit the male college student data reasonably well, accounting for 35.2% of variance in male student gambling behaviors. Results indicated that perceived subjective norms were more important for female college students. Results also indicated that exposure to gambling-related media has a direct positive association with both male and female college student gambling behaviors, and that exposure to gambling-related media has an indirect, positive association with male college student behaviors through positive expectancies. However, exposure to gambling-related media is not associated with positive expectancies about gambling for female college students. Data from the qualitative interviews supported the findings from the qualitative analyses and provided some clues about the progression from non-problematic to problematic behaviors, which may inform future research in this area.

Since 2001, the forest sector and forest communities across Northern Ontario have experienced many challenges. In response, there has been significant provincial debate and policy reform surrounding the use and control of Crown forests, and some local leaders have established the Northeast Superior Forest Community Corporation (NSFC) under the federal Forest Communities Program (FCP) to collaborate for much needed economic and governance alternatives. This process has been difficult and characterized by uncertainty and conflict. This research examines evolving social framings of Northern Ontario’s ‘forestry crisis’ and the consequences of uneven power relations in the Northeast Superior Region of Ontario, Canada. Four core research questions were pursued: 1) how do different actors frame the forestry crisis in the Northeast Superior Region (e.g., problems, solutions and different actors)? 2) Do actors’ frames change over time? 3) What forms and sources of power are present and how do they influence, if at all, the construction of shared meaning? 4) How does social learning influence the way actors approach forest management problems related to policy, planning and practice? A single embedded case study design and mixed methods approach enabled analysis at the regional and organizational scales, for the period 2001-2009. A key informant survey assessed regional public-civic-private perceptions regarding the use and control of Crown forests. Fifty-nine interviews and over 200 documents from local and regional newspapers and reports were examined. Direct observations from two NSFC meetings and two regional conferences regarding Ontario’s forest governance challenges supplemented these data. Actors’ contrasting and shifting views were coded using QSR Nvivo 7 and analyzed for convergence as evidence of collective reframing. Survey results and frame analysis established two main perspectives of the ‘forestry crisis’: 1) a conventional perspective in which forest companies hold the primary interest in resource extraction as policy agents; and, 2) an alternative view that seeks increased municipal and Aboriginal control of forests to achieve equity and provide regional stability. Power relations reinforced an entrenched community of interest, including both internal and external actors (e.g., investors, mill managers and workers, bush workers, and government regulators), that has formed around a common goal and/or set of beliefs (i.e., timber extraction and scientific forestry). These interests have historically reproduced uneven social relations and overridden communities of place and collective place-based identities. The analysis builds to 14 conclusions that address the core research questions, highlights of which include: • Social framings of the forestry crisis in the Northeast Superior Region, as well as identities and local culture, are mediated by core-periphery dynamics. Such conditions normalize ongoing community instability and oversimplify notions of sustainability which prioritize a perpetual timber supply and economic values. • Commitment to place before interests provides a basis to develop trust and mutual understanding of each other and shared problems, and enable reframing of common identities based on shared values and local problems/opportunities. • Public control and collaboration are strongly valued in the Northeast Superior Region. Many leaders and residents want control over resources devolved to the municipal level; however, awareness and a model for effective implementation are needed. • Independent local forums are valuable for developing alternative and representative social framings. • Relational power works to consolidate various forms of agent-based power in dominant actors rather than facilitating its distribution. • Actors with unmatched positional and expertise power can (un)intentionally subvert reframing processes through limiting the participation of dissenters, thereby controlling the organizational framings guiding actions. • Dominant social relations influenced the perceived range of reasonable or desirable options as dominant actors bounded the problem to serve conventional interests, which in turn constrained debate about solutions. • Reframing a common place-based identity inclusive of Aboriginals and municipalities requires the willing redistribution of agent-based power and full recognition of Aboriginal and Treaty Rights. This research builds understanding of how power relations affect the social framings that drive action in settings of crisis, conflict and uncertainty, and provides new evidence to bridge concepts from framing and social learning theory. It supports the premise that social learning is a political process inherent in multi-party collaboration, in which reconciliation of individual and group identities occurs alongside the negotiation of problem and solution definitions. By documenting regional and NSFC perspectives, this research supports the search for alternative tenure models to reinvigorate Ontario’s forest economy and communities. Ten recommendations for NSFC, the Forest Communities Program or emerging collaborative organizations focus on organizational governance and practice to improve conditions affecting power relations and social learning. Main points include considering the need to organize culturally appropriate public workshops on forest issues to meet the need for deliberative space; increase access to organizational information and opportunities for NSFC plans to be publicly reviewed; actively participate in Ontario tenure policy reform discussions to develop, publicize and implement policy alternatives; support Aboriginal and Treaty Rights and meaningful resolution of First Nations settlement negotiations; expand NSFC board representation to include at-large public and ex-officio provincial members; decentralize organizational structures to establish a physical presence in partner communities and draw on leadership and capacity from the whole region; and, establish an explicit rationale for and clearly identify geographical boundaries for the organization.

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Risky foraging is a male reproductive tactic in most polygynous mammals. It is speculated to result from intense intra-sexual reproductive competition. Consequently this behavior has been speculated to increase a male's reproductive competitiveness. However, individual males may differ in their propensity to take foraging risks. </p> <p>We therefore conducted a study on crop raiding behavior (a risky foraging strategy) in African elephants from the greater Amboseli ecosystem, in southern Kenya. We specifically examined the population sizes, gender and patterns of raiding elephants and investigated the effect of crop-raiding and genetic heterozygosity on male body size. We also examined the influence of age and genetic relatedness on observed patterns of association. Finally, we examined the role of life history milestones, association patterns and social structure on the acquisition of crop raiding behavior among wild free ranging male African elephants. With regard to the influence of association patterns on crop raiding behavior, we were specifically interested in understanding the mechanisms by which social learning might occur among male elephants.</p> <p>Our results showed that 241elephants from different populations in the ecosystem converged to raid farms. Approximately 35% of raiders were from Amboseli National Park, and the rest were other populations in the ecosystem. We observed only post-pubertal males but not females to raid. About one third of post-pubertal males from the Amboseli population were raiders. We found evidence of habitual raiding by some individuals. Crop raiding predicted post-pubertal male size, with raiders being larger than non-raiders. This result suggests that taking risks pays off for males. Our results also showed that other variables known to influence growth like genetic heterozygosity had no effect on size-for-age in male elephants, because low-heterozygosity males were rare. The probability that an individual male is a crop raider was greater for older individuals than young males. The probability that a male is a raider was greater when his two closest associates were raiders versus when they were not raiders and when a male's second closest associate was older, versus when his second closest associate was of similar age or younger. These results suggest that increasing energetic demands associated with life history milestones and social learning play a significant role in the initiation of crop raiding behavior. Raiders did not cluster into separate social units from non-raiders, probably due to the nature of social learning exhibited by this species and due to the diffuse nature of male elephant social units.</p> <p>These results have implications for understanding the evolution of risky foraging behavior in males, and for understanding the role of kin selection, dominance hierarchies and social learning in male elephant social systems. Results also have implications for understanding the spread of adaptive complex behavior in natural populations.</p> / Dissertation

In this study, zoo visitor response to live prey feeding and jaguar response to dead fish feeding were analyzed. Four hundred visitors at Zoo Atlanta and four hundred visitors at Palm Beach Zoo were asked about their attitudes toward feeding live prey to zoo carnivores. Agreement rates were found to be high. Agreement rates at Zoo Atlanta and Palm Beach Zoo were both significantly higher for feeding live fish to penguins than at Edinburgh Zoo as reported in Ings et al. (1997). Zoo Atlanta also had a higher agreement rate for feeding live rabbits to cheetahs in view than Edinburgh Zoo. Both Zoo Atlanta and Palm Beach Zoo had lower agreement rates for feeding live insects to lizards out of view than Edinburgh Zoo. Agreement rates for visitors at Palm Beach Zoo that saw a dead fish to jaguar introduction did not differ significantly from visitors that had not seen the introduction. However, at both US Zoos, agreement rate was higher for visitors that had seen a live prey introduction at a zoo or aquarium in the past. Agreement rate was significantly greater for feeding live fish to jaguars, mice to hawks, and rabbits to cheetahs in view. For Palm Beach Zoo agreement rate was also higher for feeding live rabbits to cheetahs out of view. Stay time did not differ significantly between visitors at Palm Beach Zoo that saw and did not see a dead fish to jaguar introduction. Jaguar activity level, behavioral diversity, fecal corticoids, visibility, and percent time spent in water did not significantly differ between fish introduction and baseline.

These decades in the past, the progress of science and technology brought the human happiness; it is exhausted to also bring the serious environmental pollution, ecological disruption, resource day by day. So go over the faith that ' man is the master of his own fate ' begin to shake changing into and becoming gradually ' people are a natural part, mankind must with getting along naturally ', sustainable development become key concept of new paradigm. In 1978 Dunlap & Van Liere thought that the dominant social paradigm at that time was to demonstrate the inside out ecological image, only consider the social one's own demand, and get rid of the mankind outside the nature, ignore the environmental impact on society, so call this kind of view ' Human Exceptionalism Paradigm, HEP ' . Dunlap & Van Liere propose a kind of ' New Environmental Paradigm, NEP ¡¥, the reason why they call that ' New Environmental Paradigm ' because with mankind at that time for to model very different dominant social paradigm. It can be with the change of faith , attitude and values that the appearance of NEP mainly hopes, enable mankind to make a thorough review on people and naturally real relation, change mankind's attitude immoderate to the natural demand. Environmental sustainable planning deeply international while paying attention to , Taiwan environmental planning professional person, body in environmental front most of planning, in the face of new environmental paradigm arrival of times, how much deep understanding about the concept of the environmental sustainable ? The impact that is changed fast by the whole external environment condition, plan also the revolutionary transformation is taking place in the planning paradigm, the professional personnel of urban planning get along with during the process of adapting to. Has planned the contention in theory to extend all the time constantly in the last hundred years, and planning paradigm to replace constantly, so the related one influences planners to public interests cognition and treatment method . In the face of the arrival of the era of knowledge-driven economy, the city is in global economy and ripe democratic politics day by day competed for day by day, plan to need marching toward the new model badly. So face the transitions of the paradigm of planning and ideological trend, does the environmental planning professional person in Taiwan do a good job of due adjustment? Over a long period of time, the urban growth and renovation in Taiwan have been spinning out of control and falling into disorder. The same problems have arisen time and again. For instance, deforestation and overexploitation of hillside lead to landslide; urban sprawl resulted in the shortage of public facilities; the developers were unable to internalize the externalities. If learning is deemed as a process of accumulating and readjusting life experience, then what¡¦s the problem with our society, which has failed to learn from the repeated urban issues and create new models for practice. What are the factors impeding this society¡¦s potential to remold the past experience? Traditional planning, overweight the human space and satisfaction of the demand, so that often neglect the carrying capacity of the ecological environment , and the inspiration that the whole social people's train of thought link and giving a new lease of life to. ' the Environmental planning ' which the advanced country emphasizes at present, its idea is conversely; The planning of the environment, is a kind of new idea, the ones that emphasized from ecological environment carrying capacity, or the potentiality , chance or limiting conditions of the supply, have priority to suitability analysis, but not meet the human demand simply . Namely the planner must respect the resource and environmental supply, mediate the human demand. This kind of planning could make the balance between development and preserve. So this research one is in the face of new environmental paradigm appears, such as transition of ideological trend and public interests, etc. to describing of person who understands environmental planning professional, practice crisis of urban planning of Taiwan , the emerging in an endless stream of environmental planning problem of Taiwan, influence its to be cognitive with the behavior further? To present domestic environmental planning professional education and training is enough to deal with the changes like this of the environment? Possibility which the professional person practice community produces? So this research is probed into from it by this: 1. Planner personal basic attribute with and its environmental view (new environmental paradigm), environmental behavior (responsible environmental behavior) and what is relation to learning style? 2. Planners face the environment (Environmental view, action approach, practice crisis), person (self-regulatory, self-efficacy) and with to influence each other what is relation to behavior (environmental behavior, production of practice community)? Through the distinguishing of above-mentioned problems relation, achieve the following research purposes: 1. Probe into environmental planners of Taiwan and present the environmental paradigm shift. 2. Probe into the social cognition model of planners under the new environmental planning discussion. 3. Probe into the possible change and meaning of environmental planning specialized education of Taiwan. This research is mainly studying social learning and cognitive social cognition view of the theory of society of society proposed through Bandura, as the key structure of this research, this theory thinks that the behavior is to emerge via the reciprocal function of person and environment, instead of be determined by any dimensions among them. This view transform environment (E ) , person (P ) and behavior (B ) into three interrelated dimensions and acts on to some extent, namely ' the social learning theory ' and ' the social cognitive theory ' with Bandura - Probe into the self- regulation system among the person cognition, behavior and environment. Retrospect via relevant theory documents of this study, put it in order out under the social cognitive theory, professional person's influence way of environmental program among the three of ' the environment ,person , behavior ', and planner's personal learning style way is set up. With the new environmental paradigm concept, action approach of planning , planning practice crisis of the whole , planner personal self-efficiency and self-regulatory, responsible environmental behavior, and plan practice relevant parameter that community produce influence, and then build the intact model which construct out a environmental planner's social cognitive theory, and then concern the analytical method of the way (LISREL ) to verify this theory model with Joreskog & Sorbom linear structure of development. This study attempts to set up a planner's social cognitive theory way from the retrospect of theory documents, offer the school, the department is carrying on environmental planning education public and private, knowledge and action are being linked etc. The result of study of this study can be summed up as follows on policy implications: 1. To test and verify of the social cognitive theory - Have proved on one's to the environmental planning professional person that among the three of ' the environment , person , behavior ' hand in the relation influenced in social cognitive theory, environmental influences person; Individual influences the behavior; The behavior influences the environment. 2. To indicate and verify the new arrival of times of environmental planning paradigm - So no matter in the school, public department or private consultant firm is in the future in planning educational course design and arrange, environmental draft, implementation of planning of policy, etc., should change to some extent. 3. To Assert and introduce of the learning style of the persons who plan the professional roles - The educational professional of environmental planning that this research is thought to be domestic, arrange with the design in course of professional training, real should make relevant adjustment and plan, there can be chance of balanced study in the training course of letting the profession form, pay attention to ' concrete experience ' and 'active experimentation ' more with the planning.

<p>Vi gör dagligen bedömningar av risker i situationer av alla de slag. Trafiken är en av de situationer där riskbedömningar är särskilt viktiga och hur korrekt bedömningen blir beror på hur vi upplever riskerna, vilket i hög grad varierar från person till person. Hypotesen i detta examensarbete är: Kvinnliga bilister upplever större subjektiv risk i trafiken än manliga bilister. Undersökningen av hypotesens giltighet utfördes med hjälp av intervjuer av 20 män och kvinnor. Frågorna syftade till att ta reda på deltagarnas subjektiva upplevelser av trafikrisker. Resultaten pekade på att det finns en tendens till skillnad i hur de båda könen upplever risker i trafiken. Kunskap om hur kvinnor och män upplever risker i trafiken är användbara för att göra olika trafiksituationer säkrare och därmed minska antalet olyckor. Ännu ett steg i denna strävan är att undersöka hur stressfaktorer påverkar riskuppfattningen i en trafiksituation.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2010. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Feb. 19, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-60).

Relationships or connections with caring pro-social others (e.g., parents, teachers, school, friends, neighborhood, religion) serve as pro-resilience assets that may enhance children's abilities to cope with bullying. The purpose of this research study was to explore the roles of connectedness and religiosity as potential factors that could enhance resiliency against bullying among preadolescents in Puerto Rico (PR). This doctoral dissertation also addressed several gaps in the children's bullying, resilience and religiosity research literature. A sample of 426 community-based afterschool program preadolescents (ages 10-12 years old) participated in this exploratory, cross-sectional study, by completing a quantitative questionnaire in paper and pencil format. Data was analyzed overall, by location (i.e., San Juan Metropolitan Area (SJ Metro), Other Municipalities within PR), gender, age, and church attendance. Twenty percent of all participants were victimized by bullying at least 2-3 times per month. On the other hand, 5% of participants said they had been a bully 2-3 times per month. The most frequent type of bullying perpetration and victimization reported was verbal. Participants reported the highest levels of connectedness to school and the community, followed by connectedness to parents, teachers, mothers, religion, fathers, and friends. Most participants (71%) said they attended church regularly, but only 35% did so every week. Statistically significant differences were found by location, gender, age and church attendance. Connectedness and religiosity were correlated significantly to the participants' involvement in bullying at different roles. Surprisingly, having strong prosocial connections do not appear to have a reduction impact on participants' bullying victimization. Connectedness overall, to mothers, teachers and school was positively and significantly correlated to victimization, whereas connectedness to school was negatively correlated to perpetration. Bully-victimization was negatively correlated to connectedness overall, to parents, mothers, friends, teachers, and school. Multiple linear regression analyses found that higher levels in connectedness to mother and connectedness to the community accounted for a 60% decrease and a 45% increase, respectively, in bullying perpetration among non-church attending participants. In terms of religiosity, analyses distinguished between participants' engagement in private and public religiosity practices. Private religiosity was negatively correlated to being a bullying perpetrator, and positively correlated to being a bystander. Public religiosity was positively correlated to bullying victimization. The self-report of religiosity did not affect the odds of being a perpetrator, victim or bully-victim. Specifically among SJ Metro participants, the self-report of private religiosity or the combination of both private and public religiosity reduced the odds of being a bystander. Multiple linear regression analyses found that among non-church attending participants, a 1-unit change in public religiosity acccounted for a 62% increase in bullying perpetration. While the religiosity-related findings from this study's correlation analyses were consistent with the literature, regression analyses' findings were unexpected and warrant additional research. This study goes beyond solely school-based approaches to bullying research and prevention, by utilizing a non-school sample of low-income preadolescents who attend afterschool programs at local community-based organizations. Furthermore, its focus on a younger age group (i.e., preadolescents) is consistent with the resiliency literature and the need to enhance resilience factors earlier in childhood. Findings also consider the multiplicity of actors involved in bullying (i.e., perpetrators, victims, bully/victims, or bystanders), and distinguishes between direct and indirect types of bullying. Consistent with recommendations from previous research, a socio-ecological approach was followed to explore the role of connectedness to others at the individual, family, school, peer, religious and community levels, as well as the role of religiosity as an external asset to enhance resilience in preadolescents. This exploratory study contributes to our understanding of bullying among PR preadolescents, and serve to inform the development of prevention programs, strategies and policies at the school and community level. Research on bullying in PR is limited, making it increasingly challenging for PR schools, community- and faith-based organizations to collaborate in multilevel interventions that specifically address the needs of PR's children.