Suchergebnisse

Studies on the media use of incarcerated persons often depart from a narrow theoretical perspective. Inspired by the media effects tradition or by the uses and gratifications approach, they concentrate on the plausible (causal) relationships between the media preferences of perpetrators and the type of offences they have committed, or on the therapeutic functions of mass media in prison settings. This research note presents the results of an extensive quantitative and qualitative investigation into the media use of convicts in five Flemish penitentiaries. The underlying theoretical model integrates both criminological and communication insights to explain the media consumption of individuals inside prison walls. More particularly, the `imported' sociodemographic and criminal background characteristics of prisoners, their concrete living conditions and the (stress-inducing) interaction between the depriving prison environment and the individual, are considered to be the most important determinants of their media use.

Untersuchungen über den Mediengebrauch von eingekerkerten Personen gehen häufig von einer sehr eingeschränkten theoretischen Perspektive aus. Angeregt durch die Traditionen der Medienwirkungsforschung oder den "Uses and gratifications"-Ansatz konzentrieren sie sich auf plausible (kausale) Beziehungen zwischen den Medienpräferenzen von Straftätern und der Art ihrer Vergehen oder die therapeutischen Funktionen von Massenmedien in der Gefängniswelt. Der vorliegende Beitrag päsentiert die Ergebnisse einer umfangreichen quantitativen und qualitativen Untersuchung über den Mediengebrauch von Gefangenen in fünf flämischen Strafanstalten. Das zugrundeliegende theoretische Modell integriert sowohl kriminologische als auch kommunikationswissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse mit dem Ziel, die Mediennutzung hinter Gefängnismauern individuell erklären zu können. Als wichtigste Determinanten für die Mediennutzung erweisen sich die "importierten" soziodemographischen und kriminellen Hintergründe der Gefangenen, ihre konkreten Lebensbedingungen und die (stressabbauende) Interaktion von Individuum und entbehrungsreicher Gefängniswelt. (UNübers.)

AbstractThis paper tests the comparative effectiveness of spokes-characters, both 'celebrity' and 'non-celebrity', in promoting healthy versus non-healthy foods. An experimental study among 6- to 7-year-old children in Belgium demonstrates that adding a spokes-character (i.e., a gnome) to a food product increases the appetite, the wished-for frequency of consumption and the expected number of purchase requests for that product. This finding holds true for healthy foods (apples and grapes) as well as for unhealthy foods (cookies and chocolate). The effect of the celebrity spokes-character exceeds that of a similar (but unknown) gnome. Nevertheless, the latter is also capable of promoting the healthy and unhealthy products. These findings suggest that using 'celebrity' spokes-characters to promote healthy foods to children might indeed be an effective strategy to change children's diets. Even the use of similar, non-celebrity (and thus cheaper) spokes-characters could be quite fruitful.

The dominant perspective underlying investigations into the media use of elderly regards 'old age' as a rather separate and problematic life stage, and media use as a coping tool. This rationale was tested in a face-to-face survey about TV viewing motivations and patterns among 284 Flemish elderly. Since the dominant perspective pays little attention to the continuity in people's lives, and the link between one's personal history and current television use, an additional qualitative study was conducted to explore this 'historical and developmental' dimension of media use. The quantitative results reveal that a subcategory of elderly considers television viewing as a substitute for structuring activities and real life contacts. The semi-structured interviews indicate that past experiences, habits and mores influence this generation's media behavior and that elderly see mass media as part of societal evolutions.

While seasonal variations in television viewing are well documented, the hypothesis that variations in the weather within seasons may be significantly related to television viewing has seldom been tested. This study relates the official daily meteorological data for Flanders with data on the frequency and density of television viewing. The results provide substantial support for a specific weather effect. They suggest that, under normal conditions, the interaction of seasonal and weather factors constitutes the strongest single explanatory factor with regard to variations in overall levels of TV use, with amounts of explained variance at times reaching 80 percent. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Während jahreszeitliche Unterschiede in der Fernsehnutzung seit längerem bekannt sind, wurde die Hypothese, daß auch unterschiedliches Wetter innerhalb der einzelnen Jahreszeiten signifikanten Einfluß auf das Zuschauerverhalten haben kann, bislang noch nicht untersucht. Die vorliegende Studie korreliert die Daten der offiziellen täglichen Wetterberichte für Flandern mit Daten über die Häufigkeit und Intensität der Fernsehnutzung. Die Ergebnisse lassen einen spezifischen Wettereffekt erkennen. Unter normalen Bedingungen erweist sich das Zusammenwirken von jahreszeitlich und wetterbedingten Gegebenheiten als der stärkste einzelne Erklärungsfaktor in Bezug auf Abweichungen bei der Fernsehnutzung insgesamt. Die Varianzbreite, die man damit erklären kann, erreicht zu bestimmten Zeiten bis zu 80 Prozent. Die theoretischen Implikationen dieser Ergebnisse werden diskutiert. (UNübers.)

A survey among 2052 primary and secondary school children reveals that cyberbullying among youngsters is not a marginal problem. However, there are discrepancies between the prevalence figures based on direct measurement versus indirect measurement of cyberbullying. Youngsters who have bullied someone via the internet or mobile phone during the last three months are younger, and are more often victims and bystanders of bullying via the internet or mobile phone, and are more often the perpetrators of traditional bullying. Youngsters who have been bullied via the internet or mobile phone during the last three months are more dependent upon the internet, feel less popular, take more internet-related risks, are more often a bystander and perpetrator of internet and mobile phone bullying, and are less often a perpetrator and more often a victim of traditional bullying. The implications for future research into cyberbullying and for cyberbullying prevention strategies are discussed.

AbstractWestern societies are confronted with a growing number of overweight and obese (pre-school) children. Past studies have pointed to excessive television viewing as one of the causes of this phenomenon. The aim of the current study was to examine the influence of parental mediation and modeling on TV use and obesity among pre-school children.A survey conducted among 608 parents of two-and-a-half to six year olds shows that obese children watch significantly more television, show more affinity towards television and more often have a TV set in their bedroom than normal weight and overweight children. For girls, parental restrictions on television viewing are negatively associated with their BMI. For boys, no similar relationship can be found. This study suggests that taking into account possible differences in television viewing behavior between pre-school boys and girls and paying attention to a wide range of television viewing variables can be fruitful for further research.

Abstract
Indoor radon is a natural radioactive gas that enters homes through cracks in the foundations. It is one of the leading causes of lung cancer. Although radon can be detected with an indoor radon test and can be mitigated by means of either ventilation or professional measures, testing and mitigating rates of the at-risk population remain insufficient. The objective of this study is to systematically review the current level of evidence regarding the design and effectiveness of mass media campaigns to address the health risks of indoor radon to homeowners. The results show that informative tone of voices prevailed, other components, such as emotional or social components, were often not included. Furthermore, the focus was mostly on intention and less on behavior itself, and on testing instead of mitigation. Further research is needed to test effective and innovative communication strategies to increase protective behavior concerning indoor radon.