This experimental study examined the effects of an instructor’s face threat mitigation tactics on student self-efficacy for learning and perceived emotional support from the instructor in a written feedback setting. Participants (N = 401) were randomly assigned to one of four feedback scenarios in which level of face threat mitigation and instructor age and status were manipulated. Student grade orientation and state feedback apprehension were measured prior to being exposed to the feedback scenario. Results indicate that high face threat mitigation is positively associated with student self-efficacy for learning and perceived emotional support from the instructor. Results also revealed that state feedback apprehension predicts self-efficacy for learning and perceived emotional support from the instructor. Grade orientation predicted self-efficacy for learning but did not significantly predict perceived emotional support from the instructor providing feedback. Finally, scenarios manipulated for instructor age and status did not significantly differ in self-efficacy for learning or perceived emotional support from the instructor. Implications regarding theory, the measurement of feedback apprehension, and student-instructor communication are discussed.

Stereotype Threat wird definiert als ein Gefühl der Bedrohung, das Personen in einer Situation erleben, in der sie befürchten, aufgrund eines negativen Stereotyps über ihre Gruppe beurteilt zu werden bzw. durch ihr Verhalten das Stereotyp unbeabsichtigterweise zu bestätigen. Der Begriff geht auf Claude M. Steele und Joshua Aronson zurück. Stereotype Threat kann als ein situatives Dilemma bezeichnet werden, das bei Mitgliedern stigmatisierter Gruppen in Testsituationen kurzfristig zu signifikanten Leistungseinbußen führen kann. Es kann auch bei anderen Wahlentscheidungen auftreten. Empirisch gesicherte Befunde für die längerfristigen Auswirkungen liegen bisher kaum vor. Auch die auslösenden Bedingungen sind nicht abschließend geklärt.

Le présent mémoire s’intéresse aux interventions policières en contexte de crise. Il s’attarde plus particulièrement à l’usage de la force par les structures d’intervention spécialisée. L’intérêt de cette étude découle principalement du manque de connaissances empiriques sur le sujet. L’objectif général de cette étude est de comprendre les éléments qui peuvent expliquer le recours à la force par les structures d’intervention spécialisées et de vérifier si ces facteurs varient selon le type de menace auquel font face les policiers. Nous nous sommes intéressés à 438 événements de crise suicidaire, de barricade et de prise d’otage qui se sont déroulés au Québec, de 1990 à 2011, et durant lesquels est intervenu le groupe tactique d’intervention (GTI) de la Sûreté du Québec (SQ). Pour une meilleure compréhension de cette problématique, il sera en premier lieu question de comparer, selon leur niveau de risque, les personnes présentant une menace uniquement pour elles-mêmes avec celles présentant une menace pour autrui et les personnes qui présentent une menace tant pour elles-mêmes que pour autrui. En second lieu, malgré le fait que près de 90 % des situations de crise se terminent par une reddition pacifique, il est pertinent de connaître les facteurs qui expliquent l’usage de la force de la part des policiers et de voir si ces facteurs varient selon le niveau de risque de l’individu. Des analyses descriptives ont permis d’établir que les situations où l’individu en crise présente uniquement une menace pour lui-même diffèrent des autres groupes sur la base de certaines variables. Cet individu est davantage jugé comme suicidaire et il possède plus souvent des antécédents psychiatriques. L’élément déclencheur est souvent associé aux problèmes conjugaux, ce qui coïncide avec le fait que c’est souvent la conjointe ou l’ex-conjointe qui appelle les autorités. Des analyses bivariées n’ont pas illustré de profils distincts selon la problématique de la crise. Or, certains facteurs se démarquent des autres de manière générale pour l’ensemble de l’échantillon et les différents groupes. La possession d’une arme par l’individu, le degré d’intoxication, la présence d’antécédents psychiatriques, la durée du premier contact avec les policiers et la qualité de la négociation sont effectivement des facteurs qui semblent influencer à un certain point les opérations. Les analyses de régression logistique indiquent que les policiers interviennent davantage lorsqu’il n’y aucun contact n’est établi avec l’individu. Nous observons également que ces derniers restent davantage en retrait lorsque l’individu, présentant une menace pour lui-même, est en possession d’une arme à feu. D’autre part, il semble que les policiers réagissent plus souvent auprès des individus présentant une menace pour autrui lorsque la négociation est jugée non satisfaisante. Nous pouvons en conclure qu’ils semblent davantage s’attarder à des facteurs précis qu’au type de menace, ce qui rejoint un certain segment de la littérature à ce sujet. / This thesis argues that police intervention in a crisis context focuses specifically on the use of force by specialized intervention teams. The interest in this study pinpoints mainly the lack of empirical data on the subject. Therefore, the main objective is to understand how to explain the use of force by specialized intervention teams and to verify if these factors vary according to the type of threat police encounter in a particular situation. We studied 438 suicidal crises, barricade and hostage-taking situations that occurred in Quebec from 1990 to 2011, supervised by the Sûreté du Québec’s tactical intervention group (GTI). To begin with, for a better understanding of this issue, we will compare individuals according to the level of risk each one represents, i.e. those presenting a threat only to themselves, those presenting a danger to others and those who pose a threat to themselves and others. Secondly, despite the fact that almost 90 % of critical incidents end in a non-violent conclusion, it is interesting to understand the risk factors involved that explain the use of force by the police and to realize that these factors vary according to the level of risk exhibited by the individual in crisis. Descriptive analyses were used to demonstrate that the situation where the individual in crisis was a threat only to himself differed from other instances based on different variables. Overall, the general level of risk for this type of intervention is less significant since the danger appears to be directed specifically to the individual in crisis, taking into consideration that negotiation has been successful, also, considering the subject has limited or no access to firearms, and considering weapons are not frequently used. Bivariate analysis relating the different characteristics of the individual, the situation and negotiation with the use of force by the police, suggest that certain variables can have different effects depending on the type of threat facing authorities. For example, a history of psychiatric issues would increase the risk of police intervention among those who pose a non-aggressive threat to himself, but would decrease the probability of police intervention for those individuals who present a double threat, i.e. to themselves and others. Consequently, bivariate analyses suggest that certain variables, such as the possession of a weapon by an individual, the degree of intoxication, the presence of known psychiatric issues, the duration of the first contact with the police and the quality of the negotiation, could influence the use of force by police officers. Logistic regression analyses indicate that few of these variables resist multivariate analyses. These findings suggest that police intervene more so when there is no contact established with the individual, and this, regardless of the type of threat manifested. On the contrary, a non-satisfactory negotiation would encourage police to use force in cases where the individual presents no threat to himself. In sum, these multivariate analyses show that the police are less influenced by the type of threat, rather preferring negotiation as long as possible.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Cette thèse montre comment les imaginaires cinématographiques de la menace d’origine naturelle, technologique ou sociale traduisent le climat mental qui se développe à notre époque. L'émergence d'un héros postmoderne semble être le signe d'une mutation du social. La recherche s'appuie sur différentes analyses sociologiques du cinéma, sur l'analysede contenu d'un corpus de trente films réalisés durant la première décennie du XXIe siècle, sur des réponses à des sondages d'opinion auprès de jeunes et sur des textes d'observateurs du monde contemporain. Ceci afin de mettre en évidence les interactions qui lient le cinéma et le monde réel. Ces films constituent un terrain d'observation des obsessions du temps présent. / This thesis shows how the imaginaries in films concerning the threat inherent to nature, technology or social issues emphasizes the mental climate developing nowadays. The emergence of a postmodern hero seems to indicate a deep change in the social sphere. This research uses different sociological analysis of film-making, the analysis of the contentof a corpus of thirty films directed during the first decade of the twentyfirst century, youth answers to opinion polls and texts from contemporary world observers. In so doing it reveals the interactions linking cinema and reality. These films constitute a ground of observation of the nowadays obsessions.

Contrary to our intuitive expectations about a positive group influence on human performance behaviour, there is a vast body of literature proving the opposite. All the research is based on findings of Max Ringelmann who more than 120 years ago proved in the oldest social psychological experiment ever known that people cooperating on a common task tend to exert less effort than what would be their potential. This performance decrement is caused by coordination losses which relate to the very principles of a team work as well as motivation losses. Because of the tendency of people to limit their effort in collective settings the newly discovered phenomenon has been called social loafing. A group influence on individual's performance became also a main subject of this diploma thesis. Compared to a majority of research dealing with the same topic the present one employs a completely new type of interactive task which involves an intensive cooperation of all group members. We have used in our experiment an original simulation where players are in a role of top management in one movie production company and their goal is to make a strategic decision based on the information distributed among all the team members that will bring them the biggest profit. Consequently we have directly analysed behaviour of...

Summary: This dissertation is focused on observation of locomotion two groups of mantled guereza in ZOO Prague and ZOO Usti nad Labem. The observation took place in the summer of 2011. The locomotion behavior is for better clarity presented by tables, diagrams and detailed description of the breeding facilities of both groups. The work contains list of all species of guereza, including all subspecies of mantled guereza. Key words: primates, old world monkeys, Colobinae, black and white colobus monkey, mantled guereza, threat, behavior, breeding in the zoo.

This thesis purpose is to examine the development of the European Union’s threat perception and identetity construction in regards to Russia. It uses a qualitive text analysis to study the national security strategies formulated by the memberstates Sweden, Germany, Italy and Poland and how these countries view of Russia is formulated. Furthermore it compares the change from before the annexation of Crimea and the Ukraine crisis and how this influenced the possibly change in perception of Russia. The study finds that the Russian action in Crimea and Ukraine has changed the threat perception in Sweden, Germany and Poland but that Russia is not mentioned in the Italy papers. Hence the identity construction is similar in the countries north of the Alps but Italy does not contrast its identety to Russia. From this the study concludes that the Russian threat is not enough to construct an European identity throughout Europe but there are patterns within the Union, which might indicate how the European project might continue.

The aim of this thesis is to summarise the legal framework of states of crisis in legal order of the Czech Republic, to point at the main shortages and provide possible solutions. The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter firstly takes a closer look at the general conception of states of crisis defined by legal theory. Then follows the topic of states of crisis and their functioning in ancient Rome, England till the 19th century and in France and Germany during the last 150 years. The second chapter is focused on the types of states of crisis which were known in the previous Czech legal orders. Attention is mainly paid to the state of war and declaration of war. The next part deals with the other historical states of crisis, such as those which arose originally from Austrian Emergency Measures Act, till the legislative proposals antecedent to current Security of the Czech Republic Act. The third chapter is firstly defining current legal terms and analysing states of crisis which are regulated in the Czech legal order. The text starts with the state of danger and then proceeds to the state of emergency, state of threat to the state and to the state of war. The subchapters expound who and under which circumstances, is entitled to declare each single state. The position of selected...

Work-related violence is a growing problem. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which social workers are exposed to threats and physical violence in Sweden, and comparing exposure units. The study also investigated attitudes that exists about threats and / or physical violence within the social services, whether it is a normalized phenomenon in the social services and how this affects the reporting inclination of social workers. The survey is based on a survey of 139 social workers working within the social services. The results showed that more than half of the respondents have been exposed to threats and / or physical violence and that threats were more common than physical violence. The results indicated that there is a relationship between which unit the social worker worked on and the extent they were subjected to threats and physical violence. There was a greater tolerance to threats than to physical violence, even though the study indicated there were negative consequences of threats. The lower frequency of reporting threats by social workers could be because of they have normalized the problem. The study highlights that normalization of threats needs to be addressed in order to prevent the problem. / Arbetsrelaterat våld är ett växande problem. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka i vilken omfattning socialarbetare utsätts för hot och fysiskt våld från klienter inom socialtjänsten i Sverige och jämföra utsattheten enheter emellan. Syftet är även att undersöka attityder som finns om hot och/eller fysiskt våld inom socialtjänsten, om det är ett normaliserat fenomen inom socialtjänsten samt hur detta påverkar anmälningsbenägenheten hos socialarbetare. Undersökningen bygger på en enkätundersökning bland 139 socialarbetare som arbetade inom socialtjänsten. Resultatet visade att över hälften av respondenterna har varit utsatta för hot och/eller fysiskt våld och där hot var mer vanligt förekommande än fysiskt våld. Resultatet visade att det finns ett samband mellan vilken enhet socialarbetaren arbetade på och vilken utsträckning de utsattes för hot och fysiskt våld. Det fanns en större tolerans gentemot hot än för fysiskt våld trots att det förekommer negativa konsekvenser av hot. Anmälningsbenägenheten av hot var låg bland socialarbetarna och normalisering av problemet kan vara en bakomliggande faktor. Studien vill belysa att normalisering av hot är ett problem som måste uppmärksammas för att kunna förebygga problemet.