Integrated reporting encourages firms to provide information on their environmental, social and governance activities. Studies on this area in developing countries concentrate on the environmental and social aspects of the phenomenon, thus neglecting the governance disclosure element. Given this, the study examined the disclosure practices of the governance element of integrated reporting among Ghanaian listed firms. The content of 410 annual reports of 33 firms was examined based on a checklist of 18 disclosure items. Moving average scores and Wilcoxon signed-rank (...) test were employed to analyse the data. The study found that governance reporting is receiving attention in Ghana, suggesting that the firms have recognised its potentials. The findings imply that the firms employed governance reporting as a strategy to influence public perception and obtain their acceptance. This study provides insights into how firms address the governance aspect of integrated reporting that is neglected in the literature. (shrink)

By questioning the ways in which a supra-national European identity can be created in an environment of globalization, this article starts with the thesis that this concept faces problems which must be resolved first and foremost at the national level. By problematizing multiculturalism as a “utopian theory” which does not solve any problems at the practical level, and by viewing interculturalism as a potential danger to “smaller” cultures, this article identifies what it is that hinders the possible acceptance of the (...) idea of a Europe without borders by analyzing plays by Goran Stefanovski. In four of his plays, Euralien, Hotel Europa, Ex-Yu, and Goce, Stefanovski criticizes Western Europe, on the one hand, for constructing a problematic Other, imposing a visa regime, and contributing to its marginalization, and the Balkans on the other, for mythologizing its nationally-romanticized narrative. The paper sheds light on the fact that the acceptance of a common (shared) European identity, a necessity which propagates itself amidst conditions of globalization, is dependent on the ways in which Europe will resolve its problems, such as the marginalization of the Other, way of thinking in binary oppositions, like old/new Europe, rich/poor Europe, and especially (talking about Balkan countries) the phrase South-East Balkan. (shrink)

We examine change across U.S. cohorts born between 1920 and 2000 in their probability of having had sex with same-sex partners in the last year and since age 18. Using data from the 1988–2018 General Social Surveys, we explore how trends differ by gender, race, and class background. We find steep increases across birth cohorts in the proportion of women who have had sex with both men and women since age 18, whereas increases for men are less steep. We suggest (...) that the trends reflect an increasingly accepting social climate, and that women’s steeper trend is rooted in a long-term asymmetry in gender change, in which nonconformity to gender norms is more acceptable for women than men. We also find evidence that, among men, the increase in having had sex with both men and women was steeper for black than for white men, and for men of lower socioeconomic status; we speculate that the rise of mass incarceration among less privileged men may have influenced this trend. (shrink)

Mishel Fuco not only influenced the consciousness of modern West, but changed the modus of thinking, the way of perception of many traditional notions, transformed the opinions about the reality, history, person. Philosopher’s principle research programme which attaches the entirety to his works is “archeology of knowledge” programme, the search of human knowledge’s original layers. Let us mark that all Fuco’s works in 1960s are devoted to main aim: to clear up the conditions of historical origin of different mental aims (...) and social institutions in the culture of the Modern Time. Though in the whole this common aim remained for Fuco invariable, but the level on which he realizes his research search is changing constantly and rather logically. Relations of power, and to be more exact,accumulations of power and knowledge, social and cognitive which define all the aggregate of specific possibilities of culture in each given historical period. More than that the philosopher offers the particular prospects of sight of modern society and precisely totality of power relations, its ubiquitous nature and specific productivity which produces itself in each moment in any point or rather in any attitude from one point to another. From Fuco’s point of view the power is everywhere and not because it involves everything but because it comes from everywhere. The power is productive in that degree in which it is not associated with one definite imperious instance but pierces all kinds of activity in society, putting on its indelible stamp, developing under definite angle and due to this factit causes products, produced by them. The power induces and at the same time determines the fact which appears as a result of its inducement. The thirst of supremacy, which surrounds the individual and is focused on it as on the center of its use of force, comes out as a defining sign. It should be noticed that Fuco’s conception of power is not reduced to the understanding it as anonymous impersonal net of relations, piercing all society. It is supplemented by power treatment,coming out in “designed” look of definite imperious structure or imperious institute. (shrink)

ObjectiveTo examine the relations between social support, illness uncertainty, and fear of cancer recurrence.MethodsUsing data from a convenience sample of 231 breast cancer survivors in China to perform structural equation modeling with bootstrapping estimation. Participants were recruited from a general hospital in Shenyang, China. Participants completed the Perceived Social Support Scale, Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale, and Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory- Shorter Form.ResultsThe majority of breast cancer survivors have FCR. FCR was significantly negatively associated with social support, and was (...) significantly positively associated with IU. Moreover, IU was found to mediate the relationship between social support and FCR.ConclusionThe findings support the final model. Good social support can directly mitigate FCR, while illness uncertainty can play a mediation role between social support and FCR. Further studies should be conducted to explore effective interventions for social support and IU to ultimately mitigate FCR in cancer survivors. (shrink)

IntroductionThe 2019–2020 pandemic COVID-19 has become a global health crisis. While many recent studies on COVID-19 pandemic have focused on disease epidemiology and psychological status of patients, few have explored the multi-facet influential factors or combined perspectives from both the patients and healthcare workers. The purposes of this study were to: analyze the influencing factors of psychological distress of COVID-19 patients; and describe the experience of healthcare workers relieving psychological distress.Materials and MethodsThis study uses a mixed-method cross-sectional design, including a (...) quantitative study and a qualitative study, targeting two populations: COVID-19 patient and health workers, respectively. In the quantitative part, we recruited a convenience sample of patients with COVID-19 from five hospitals in Wuhan, Hubei Province from 10 to 15 April, 2020. Besides, we collected data by using participants’ socio-demographic information sheet, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10, the Herth Hope Index, the Distress Thermometer, the Revised Chinese Version of Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale, and the Chinese Version of Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale. In the qualitative part, the participants were healthcare workers involved in medical aid missions in Hubei Province, China. Meanwhile, we used sampling with convenient and purposive, data collection with a semi-structured online video interview, and text transcription with Colaizzi’s phenomenological method.ResultsThe results reveal that 25.7% of patients reported higher level of psychological distress. After controlling the sociodemographic variables, only severity of COVID-19 and uncertainty in illness shown significant effect on psychological distress in the regression model. The experience of healthcare workers emerged five themes: Particularly needed psychological care, Manifestation of negative emotion, Manifestation of proactive adaptation, Strategies relieving psychological distress, and gains of healthcare workers after delivering effective psychological care.ConclusionThe 25.7% of patients with COVID-19 still suffered from psychological distress, which should receive timely attention from healthcare workers. And the severity of the disease and disease uncertainty have a significant impact on distress. It is critical to train the healthcare workers on detecting the different manifestation of psychological distress, offering timely disease related information, and applying communication strategies. (shrink)

ObjectivesTo examine the association between illness uncertainty, resourcefulness, and poststroke depression and identifies whether stroke patients’ resourcefulness plays a mediating role in the relationship between illness uncertainty and PSD.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2020 to April 2021. A convenience sample of 355 stroke patients was recruited. A general characteristic questionnaire, the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale, the Resourcefulness Scale, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 were used to obtain data. Descriptive analysis, Student’s t-test, Mann–Whitney U-test, chi-squared test, hierarchical regression (...) analyses, Pearson correlation analysis, and mediation analysis with the PROCESS macro were used to analyze the data.ResultsIllness uncertainty, resourcefulness, and PSD were significantly related to each other. Resourcefulness partially mediated the relationship between illness uncertainty and PSD.ConclusionIllness uncertainty and resourcefulness were significantly associated with PSD, and resourcefulness played a mediating role between illness uncertainty and PSD. Interventions designed to reduce illness uncertainty and enhance resourcefulness may contribute to the prevention and improvement of PSD. (shrink)