The purpose of this study was to empirically evaluate the effects of the Math to Mastery intervention package in a school setting. The participants in this study were elementary school students who were performing at least one year below grade level in math. A between-series multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of the Math to Mastery intervention. Results revealed that the multi-component intervention was successful in addressing the student’s academic skill deficits on single skill intervention probes. Improvement was also observed on multiple skill grade level, generalization probes. However, the impact was not as strong on these probes as for single skill probes. Implications for implementation in applied settings and future research are provided.

The study which follows considers the current approach to State sovereignty, use of force, and human rights, in order to determine the balance which exists between these concepts. A shift in this balance determines the direction of development of the concept of ‘humanitarian intervention.’ The investigation establishes that State sovereignty and certain human rights are at a point where they are viewed as equal and competing interests in the international arena. This leads to the question of whether or not the concept of humanitarian intervention has found any acceptance in international law. It is determined that the right to intervention rests exclusively with the United Nations Security Council. There are, however, obstacles to United Nations action, which necessitate either taking action to remove the obstacles, or finding an alternative to United Nations authorized action. The alternatives provided are unilateral interventions by regional organizations, groups of States or individual States, with interventions by regional organizations being favoured. The study further discusses the requirements which would make unilateral action more acceptable. These same requirements provide a standard against which the United Nations can measure its duty to intervene. Such an investigation was done by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, and a synopsis of its Report and Recommendations are included. Finally, the question of responsibility is addressed. State and individual responsibility for two separate types of action are considered. The responsibility of States and individuals for initiating an intervention is considered under the topic of the crime of aggression. The responsibility of States and individual for exceeding the mandate of a legitimate intervention is considered under the heading of war crimes.

No description available.

Universiẗat, Diss.--Hamburg, 2005.

Zugl.: Bonn, Universiẗat, Diss., 2008.

Analgesic products can produce serious side effects. Because potent analgesics are not under medical surveillance but are available to the public without a medical prescription, any attempt to influence consumer behaviour in relation to these products must be via interventions at pharmacist level. The Australian government is now pressuring the pharmacy profession to monitor effectively the use of such non-prescription medication. The aim of this study was to train community pharmacists on brief intervention strategies for use in a pharmacy setting in relation to combination analgesic products. Focus groups showed that participants had concerns about adopting confrontational counselling styles, as they feared this would antagonise consumers leading to loss of patronage without having an impact on consumer behaviour. This concern was later reinforced by consumer interviews, which showed that a significant proportion of respondents thought that the use of non-prescription analgesics was their responsibility. A protocol for the sales of analgesic products was designed with these issues in mind. The transtheoretical model of change (TTM) and motivational interviewing were selected as theoretical frameworks, as they take into account differences among consumers in motivation and in intention to change behaviour and are congruent with pharmacists' concerns. Consumer-centred intervention strategies were tailored to the individual consumer according to his/her readiness to change. This approach was borrowed from the area of smoking secession in which it has been related to positive clinical outcomes. The assumption was made that TTM-based intervention would also be effective in a pharmacy setting in relation to analgesic products. In the initial pilot study, community pharmacists who simply attended a workshop in the cognitive-behavioural intervention strategies failed to incorporate the newly acquired skills to their practice and consequently lost their proficiency. In the subsequent pilot study, when the workshop was followed by ongoing on-site training with immediate feedback and coaching through the use of pseudo-patron visits, the investigator was able to shape community pharmacists' practice behaviour in relation to the monitoring of pharmacist only analgesic products. The methodology was then refined and in the final study trained pharmacists were significantly more likely than control pharmacists and baseline to engage in a number of behaviours related to the study intervention. These included handling the sales of pharmacist only analgesics themselves, identifying inappropriate use, assessing readiness to change, and delivering an intervention according to the consumer's readiness to change. The results suggested that in pharmacy practice post qualifying therapeutic skill transfer is not achieved by workshop presentation alone. Modelling of the desired behaviour involving reinforcement and feedback is necessary.

Analgesic products can produce serious side effects. Because potent analgesics are not under medical surveillance but are available to the public without a medical prescription, any attempt to influence consumer behaviour in relation to these products must be via interventions at pharmacist level. The Australian government is now pressuring the pharmacy profession to monitor effectively the use of such non-prescription medication. The aim of this study was to train community pharmacists on brief intervention strategies for use in a pharmacy setting in relation to combination analgesic products. Focus groups showed that participants had concerns about adopting confrontational counselling styles, as they feared this would antagonise consumers leading to loss of patronage without having an impact on consumer behaviour. This concern was later reinforced by consumer interviews, which showed that a significant proportion of respondents thought that the use of non-prescription analgesics was their responsibility. A protocol for the sales of analgesic products was designed with these issues in mind. The transtheoretical model of change (TTM) and motivational interviewing were selected as theoretical frameworks, as they take into account differences among consumers in motivation and in intention to change behaviour and are congruent with pharmacists' concerns. Consumer-centred intervention strategies were tailored to the individual consumer according to his/her readiness to change. This approach was borrowed from the area of smoking secession in which it has been related to positive clinical outcomes. The assumption was made that TTM-based intervention would also be effective in a pharmacy setting in relation to analgesic products. In the initial pilot study, community pharmacists who simply attended a workshop in the cognitive-behavioural intervention strategies failed to incorporate the newly acquired skills to their practice and consequently lost their proficiency. In the subsequent pilot study, when the workshop was followed by ongoing on-site training with immediate feedback and coaching through the use of pseudo-patron visits, the investigator was able to shape community pharmacists' practice behaviour in relation to the monitoring of pharmacist only analgesic products. The methodology was then refined and in the final study trained pharmacists were significantly more likely than control pharmacists and baseline to engage in a number of behaviours related to the study intervention. These included handling the sales of pharmacist only analgesics themselves, identifying inappropriate use, assessing readiness to change, and delivering an intervention according to the consumer's readiness to change. The results suggested that in pharmacy practice post qualifying therapeutic skill transfer is not achieved by workshop presentation alone. Modelling of the desired behaviour involving reinforcement and feedback is necessary.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Violence occurs in different environments, however, it is often found in the family with family members being the perpetrators. Family violence, as an integrative concept, is defined by few researchers or theorists, let alone conceptualised as a theoretical grounding for family-centred interventions aimed at violence in the home. However, family members are all affected in the act of any violence in the family, thus any intervention should include the whole family. A family-centred approach focuses on all family members to be included in the intervention and is acknowledged as the best method when trying to create an intervention for family violence. Thus, the aim of this study was to design an intervention programme for families experiencing family violence in order to reduce violence in the family. To create such a programme, intervention mapping was the chosen design for this study. Intervention mapping has five steps, 1.) Specify the programme’s goals into proximal programme objectives. In this stage, needs are identified; 2.) Selection of theoretical and practical strategies; 3.) Design the programme, 4.) Implementation of the programme, and 5.) Focus on anticipating process and effect evaluation. However, this study only focused on the first 3 steps of intervention development, namely, Phase I, a family violence needs assessment done to identify the problem, Phase II entailed a review done to determine appropriate theoretical and practical approaches for the intervention regarding family violence, and lastly, Phase III had been a Delphi study which aided in the design and development of the intervention. This study showed promising results with proven long-term positive effects in implementing a family-centred approach, and when coupled with a collaborative network of support services, political will, and community support, and has the ability to ensure continuity of care and improved functioning for families experiencing violence in the home.

Les relations syro-libanaises peuvent être considérées comme l'une des questions contemporaines les plus sensibles et les plus délicates. La raison doit être recherchée dans la particularité de l'union historique qui s'est nouée entre les deux pays, qui ne furent séparés par aucune frontière avant l'indépendance du Liban en 1943, formant ainsi un seul peuple dans un seul Etat. Compte tenu des relations historiques entre ces deux pays, la Syrie a toujours laissé planer un doute sur l'indépendance du Liban. Ainsi ce petit pays se présenta, pour la Syrie, comme son ventre mou, ce qui obligea la Syrie à le protéger contre toute agression extérieure, afin de garantir sa sécurité. Cette attitude s'est traduite par l'intervention militaire syrienne au Liban durant la guerre civile de 1975, dans le cadre des Forces arabes de dissuasion, qui constituaient la seule force pacificatrice au Liban. L'accord du Taëf de 1989, qui mit fin à la guerre civile libanaise, consolida et légalisa les relations sécuritaires et économiques syro-libanaises, à travers la signature de traités entre les deux pays. Mais la question de la présence syrienne au Liban et de son influence sur sa souveraineté fut mise à l'ordre du jour principalement après le retrait israélien du Liban en 2000.Le facteur déclencheur qui rompit ces relations syro–libanaises privilégiées se produisit suite à l'assassinat du Premier ministre Rafiq Hariri en 2005, qui se traduisit par le retrait définitif syrien du Liban. En adoptant un plan chronologique des événements, cette thèse présente les principales étapes des relations politiques et économiques entre la Syrie et le Liban, les facteurs régionaux et internationaux qui ont pesé sur elles, et leurs répercussions sur les relations syro-libanaises ; elle fournit par ailleurs des éléments nouveaux sur ces relations, qui prennent racine sur le passé et dégagent une vision de l'avenir. / Syro-Lebanese relations: Past crises and political changes.Syro-Lebanese relations may be considered as one of today's most sensitive and thorny issues. The reason for this should be sought in the special nature of the historical union built between two countries which had never been divided by a frontier until the independence of Lebanon in 1943, so were a single people within a single State.Given the historical relationship between the two countries, Syria has always been somewhat ambivalent over Lebanese independence. This little country developed into Syria's soft underbelly, so Syria was forced to protect it from outside aggression in order to ensure its own safety. This stance resulted in the Syrian military intervention in the Lebanese civil war of 1975, under cover of the Arab Deterrent Force which was the only peacemaking force in Lebanon. The Ta'if Agreement of 1989, which ended the Lebanese civil war, consolidated and legalised Syro-Lebanese relations regarding security and economics by means of treaties signed by both countries. But the issue of Syria's presence in Lebanon and its influence on sovereignty was accelerated, especially after Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.The essential event which disturbs the special Syro-Lebanese relationship was the assassination of the Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005, after which Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon.This thesis takes these events in chronological order to discuss the major stages in the political and economic relationship between Syria and Lebanon, the regional and international factors brought to bear on it and their repercussions on Syro-Lebanese relations. It sheds a new light on these relations which are rooted in the past and moot a vision for the future.

This thesis examines the legal and political dilemmas in the implementation of the African Union’s (AU) ‘right’ of forceful intervention through a systemic method of analysis. It first addresses the question of whether the AU’s intervention system represents a paradigm shift in international law on intervention and the authorization role of the United Nations. It examines whether there is a justifiable basis for the implementation of the AU’s intervention mandate outside the UN system, while taking into account the necessity of the international rule of law. It then analyzes the manner in which the failure to institutionalize the concept of sovereignty as responsibility within the AU system has contributed to the Union’s failure to implement its intervention mandate even within the UN system. The AU’s legal framework expressly grants the Union the mandate to forcefully intervene in a member state in situations of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. However, the failure of the AU’s legal framework to explicitly require authorization by the Security Council for intervention (as required by the UN Charter) has led to uncertainty on the envisaged implementation mechanism, including allegations of its inconsistency with the UN Charter and international law. The Security Council may, however, be ineffective in granting authorization due to the use of the veto. There is, therefore, the question of whether the AU’s legal framework exemplifies the crystallization of a customary law permitting humanitarian intervention, or is consensual (since African states have agreed by treaty to such intervention) and consequently, Security Council authorization is not mandatory. The core argument of this thesis is that although the necessity for the international rule of law restricts African Union’s forceful interventions to United Nations authorized enforcement action, robust intervention by the Union within that framework is compromised by a systemic failure of institutionalization of the concept of sovereignty as responsibility. This thesis recommends that for robust implementation of the African Union’s intervention mandate within the UN system, alternative authorization from the General Assembly be sought where the Security Council is ineffective. However, implementation of the AU’s intervention mandate within the UN framework is compromised by continued concerns of protecting traditional concepts of unfettered sovereignty. This is evident in non-intervention oriented clauses within the AU’s legal framework (which negate the intervention mandate) and the Union’s practice of opposing forceful interventions like in the case of Libya. Possible solutions to that predicament are examined. A systemic method of analysis is utilized in this thesis since there is an interaction of various legal norms within the AU system, in addition to the system’s interaction with environmental factors such as politics and increasing global interdependence, while it is also subject to the UN and international law systems. The significance of the research is in identifying legal, policy and contextual factors that can transform the AU into an effective regional mechanism for institutionalization of the rule of law within the African region (by deterring gross human rights violations) while safeguarding the values of the international rule of law. / published_or_final_version / Law / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy