Journal articles on the topic 'Disclosure institutionalism'

The life cycle is inherent in any system and its individual elements. The period from the formation of a particular socio-economic system to its death (change) is its life cycle. There is an acute need for understanding new phenomena and development challenges, assessing possible threats and risks that may accompany the transformation of socio-economic relations in transitional periods. The purpose of the article is to describe the trends in socio-economic reality that have manifested in recent decades, which allow outlining the expected features of the decades to come. The consistent disclosure of substantiated trends, confirmed by the theoretical conceptual framework and the empirical component, reflects the causal relationship of all spheres of social structure. The integration social function of institutions based on the unity of dialectical positions is revealed, where the economic system serves as an arena for interaction and expression of politics, culture, psychology, ideology and other public spheres. Large-scale evolutionary changes and the emergence of new cultural types occur subject to the transformation of technology and economics. The evolving evolutionary laws of development are mediated by both institutional influence and the systemic nature of the formation of the conditions of socio-economic relations. Institutions of society contribute to the tendencies of preservation and variability of socio-economic development and their further transmission under conditions of dynamics and staging. Determining written and generally accepted rules of behavior in society, institutions reinforce the processes of interaction between economic entities, and form, within the framework of existing informal norms, motives, incentives and rules of the relationship between political, social and economic systems.

<p>The objective of this study is to determine whether or not social information disclosure practices of the top 15 Brazilian and top 15 French companies listed in the Forbes global ranking differ due to company size, country of origin, using the 16 indicators of the United Nations publication ‛Guidance on Corporate Responsibility Indicators in Annual Reports’ as benchmark. The empirical evidence is further analyzed using Institutional Theory as support. The study is based on a literature review and documents issued by the companies in the selected sample. The methodology is exploratory, quantitative and qualitative. The results revealed that disclosure practices by companies in both countries are similar, with no statistical significance connected to company size or country of origin. This result can further be explained by institutionalism in each country, a key featured that made it possible to use Institutional Theory as an important support to the main empirical results of the study</p>

PurposeElectric utility companies (EUC) are expected to play a key role toward implementing ambitious climate change aims being under critical scrutiny by regulators and stakeholders. However, EUC provide an under-researched field regarding sustainability reporting with the focus on economic, social and ecological concerns. This paper aims to gain insights of the sustainability reporting practice of EUC and the coverage of indicators based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)-Guidelines.Design/methodology/approachA twofold documentary analysis of 186 GRI-G4 sustainability reports by EUC globally is conducted to investigate the coverage rates of G4-indicators. Neo-institutionalism and strategic stakeholder theory serve as theoretical lenses. A regression analysis is used to examine ownership, stock-exchange listing, area of activity and region as potential drivers of sustainability reporting.FindingsResults show that the coverage of indicators based on triple-bottom-line dimensions is moderate in EUC leaving room for improvement. The coverage of sector-specific indicators lacks behind the coverage of standard disclosure indicators. Results show that private and listed EUC show better coverage rates than public and not-listed EUC.Research limitations/implicationsNeo-institutionalism shows limited homogenization in the sector. Strategic stakeholder theory demonstrates insufficient stakeholder compliance of public and not-listed EUC.Originality/valueThis study contributes to sustainability reporting research by focusing on the under-researched electricity sector. It provides practical reporting insights for EUC, the GRI and regulators.

Purpose The main purpose in this article is to highlight civil society activism that resulted in the inception of environmental auditing in the United States in the 1970s. The General Motors (GM) campaign which is discussed in this article led towards major institutional changes for the implementation of corporate social responsibility (environmental) reporting originally referred to as social (environmental) auditing. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) role and actions are analysed in detail in order to highlight the direction of this Federal Agency in relation to the implementation of social (environmental) auditing. Design/methodology/approach A detailed analysis of literature from the early 1970s is undertaken in order to identify the inception of environmental auditing and the types of environmental auditing as social auditing in its early stages. The case of the GM campaign is analysed in order to highlight the forms of historical institutionalism relevant to the critical stage of exogenous influences on companies to undertake social (environmental) auditing. Findings It is found that in the early 1970s companies resisted the incorporation of corporate social responsibility initiatives and actions as part of their agendas. Environmental Auditing as a type of social auditing at that time referred to corporate social responsibility disclosures that included environmental disclosures. Due to public pressure and civil society activism companies had to adopt and undertake social (environmental) auditing. The initial stages of environmental disclosures included reporting on environmental expenses and liabilities of the companies. The SEC imposed minimal disclosure requirements for environmental auditing, which were nevertheless adequate to undertake action against companies found to be providing misleading environmental information in their publicly available disclosures. The 1970s served as a critical juncture for the inception and development of mandatory and voluntary environmental reporting (auditing) in the United States. Originality/value This is an original research article.

Objective. The article is devoted to the disclosure of theoretical issues, the development of guidelines for the structuring of the economic space of small businesses in the agro-industrial complex. Materials and methods. Based on the systemic, integrated and cluster approaches, theories of spatial distribution of production, institutionalism and state regulation, the systemic prerequisites for the need to structure the economic space are identified, taking into account the number of economic entities of small forms of agricultural production and its natural resource potential, the status of households, based on their role in the consumer market. Results. An organizational mechanism for the consolidation of small forms of economic management in the agricultural sector has been developed, based on an assessment of the potential of the resource base of the region’s macrodistricts, the specialization of peasant (farm) and personal subsidiary farms, the level of filling of the relevant food markets in the region and their potential capacity. Conclusion. Theoretical issues of developing methodological recommendations for structuring the economic space of small forms of doing business in the agro-industrial complex are disclosed.

PurposeThis paper examines the level of sustainability disclosures provided by Spanish hospitals using exclusively the information revealed in their institutional websites. Based on different levels of disclosure, the authors try to find the possible reasons why some Spanish hospitals reveal more sustainability information than others.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve this goal, the authors conducted a content analysis of the official websites of all Spanish hospitals identified by the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality.FindingsThe results reveal that Spanish hospitals seem to use sustainability disclosures for different legitimizing purposes. In general, the results indicate that Spanish hospitals may be driven by symbolic rather than substantive actions to achieve legitimacy from stakeholders.Originality/valueDue to the lack of empirical research on the hospital sector, more research is required to improve understanding of why hospitals disclose sustainability information or not.

This study investigates whether firms increase their carbon disclosure to gain the attention of stakeholder and whether the pattern of disclosure is symbolic or substantive. Content analysis of the annual and sustainability reports of forty-two aerospace, air courier and airlines companies listed on Forbes 2000 was conducted to measure and compare disclosure practices in 2011 and 2013. The descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were carried out to answer the research questions. We found that firms do increase their carbon disclosure in sustainability reports only. In spite of the fact that previous studies have generally stated that disclosures have been used by corporations as a tool to legitimize their actions, the results of our study differ slightly. A more carbon-intensive industry such as aerospace, air courier and airlines has disclosed substantive information in relation to carbon. This study suggests that stronger requirements from regulators such as compliance obligations to disclose substantive information are most likely to make firms more accountable in their carbon disclosures. This result indicates that companies from this industry have made a substantial commitment to carbon reduction. This finding supports decision-makers, in particular regulators, to continue to institutionalize carbon regulation. It also provides empirical evidence of patterns of carbon disclosure in a specific industry.

Background. Each entity in the course of business has transaction costs (TC) that directly or indirectly affect financial and economic position of an entity. The volume of TC is constantly growing, so we should take them into account in making management decisions, to ensure their monitoring, separate accounting and to record in the books of the entity. Analysis of recent research and publications has shown that there is a large num­ber of scientific achievements of foreign and domestic scientists, but significant number of issues connected with the importance of reflecting information on transaction costs in accounting and reporting remains unresolved and therefore requires further research. The aim of the article is to identify the features of the disclosure of transaction costs in accounting of the entity, which are related to the formal principles and standards of its management and the operation of informal institutions that influence management decisions. Materials and methods. Methods of induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, associations and analogies, empirical were used in the research. The works and the appro­aches of domestic and foreign authors were studied, systematized, detailed and specified. Results. Transaction costs are increasing and are defined by the researchers and experts as the important element that restrains economic growth in the realities of eco­nomic development in Ukraine. According to the formal rules, the object of accounting is only those transaction costs that are the result of business operations of the entity, recorded in the primary documents and the implementation of which does not contradict national laws. The evidence from practice shows that the methodology of accounting cost provides information about a significant amount of transaction costs that can be identified and measured by the accounting method elements. However, the costs grouping by financial statement items without taking into account the impact of the transactional component does not provide full disclosure in the financial statements of information summarized in the accounting. Conclusion. Transaction costs, as a category of neo-institutionalism, should be con­sidered through the tasks set by the relevant social institutions. Formal tools for the formation of information about the objects of accounting under the conditions of today can be the accounting policy of the business entity and the professional accountant’s judgment. The provision of information systems and Internet technologies leads to the auto­matic reduction of TC.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of IR reforms in South Africa on corporate disclosure practices of South African companies. In particular, the authors explore initial trends in corporate disclosures following the adoption of IR practice. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from Suchman’s (1995) framework of strategic and institutional legitimacy, the authors use content analysis to examine corporate disclosure practices. The authors conduct industry-specific analyses based on various industries to explore corporate disclosures practices across and within various industries in South Africa. The evidence is drawn from 246 integrated reports of large South African companies across six major industries over a three-year period (2011-2013), a period following the introduction of an “apply or explain” IR requirement in South Africa. Findings The results first show a significant increase in the overall amount of corporate disclosures following the adoption of IR practice. In particular, the authors find that intellectual capital and human capital disclosure categories have increased over time, with relational capital disclosures showing a decreasing trend. Second, the authors find that corporate disclosures are increasingly becoming institutionalised over time across and within industries following the adoption of IR practice. However, companies fail to provide meaningful disclosures on the interdependencies and trade-offs between the capitals, or components of a capital following the adoption of IR practice. Overall, the authors find that companies use specific disclosure strategies to respond to external pressures (strategic legitimacy), and that such disclosure strategies are increasingly becoming institutionalised across and within various industries (institutional legitimacy). Practical implications The theoretical implication of this study is that the strategic and institutional perspectives of legitimacy theory are complementary, rather than conflicting, and dovetail to explain corporate reporting practices. In terms of practical implications, the adoption of specific reporting frameworks such as the emerging IR framework is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, such reporting frameworks could potentially enhance comparability and consistency of organisational reports across and within industries. On the other hand, corporate reports could become a set of monotonous reports motivated by considerations other organisational accountability. Hence, to overcome the latter, this study emphasises the importance of specific accountability metrics and reporting guidelines, rather than the current generic IR guidelines, to enhance organisational reporting practices. Originality/value The paper’s longitudinal analysis of a large sample of integrated reports following the adoption of IR practice has the potential to inform growing academic research and ongoing policy initiatives for the emerging IR agenda.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how sustainability reporting managers (SRMs) institutionalise sustainability reporting within organisations. Design/methodology/approach In total, 35 semi-structured interviews with SRMs in Australia and New Zealand were analysed using an institutional work perspective. Findings SRMs’ institutional work can be categorised into four phases with each phase representing a different approach to sustainability reporting. Organisations transition from phase one to four as they achieve a higher level of maturity and a deeper embedding and routinisation of sustainability reporting. These include educating and advocacy work undertaken by engaging with managers (phase one), transitioning to a decentralised sustainability reporting process (phase two), transitioning to leaner, focussed, materiality driven sustainability reporting (phase three), and using sustainability key performance indicators and materiality assessment reports for planning, decision-making, goal setting, performance appraisal, and incentives (phase four). However, SRMs face challenges including their inexperience, limited time and resources, lack of management commitment to sustainability reporting and low external interest in sustainability reporting. The study identifies ten reasons why material issues are not always (adequately) disclosed. Practical implications This study recommends more training and development for SRMs, and that regulation be considered to mandate the disclosure of the materiality assessments in sustainability reports. Originality/value This research extends the existing literature examining how sustainability reports are prepared and sheds further light on how a materiality assessment is undertaken. The study identifies ten reasons for the non-disclosure of material matters, including but not limited to, legitimacy motives. Researchers can use these reasons to refine their methods for evaluating published sustainability reports. At a theoretical level, the study provides four observations that institutional researchers should consider when examining forms of institutional work.

The objective of this study was to obtain empirical evidence about the effect of auditor’s quality, financial condition, company’s ownership, disclosure, company’s growth, and debt default on the acceptance of going concern audit opinion. The object of this study is the manufacture companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2011 -2014. Samples of this research were taken by using purposive sampling as many as 8 manufactures company. Criteria taken among companies that publish annual report with financial statements audited by an external auditor in the year 2011 – 2014, financial statements period is begin on 1 January and ended on 31 December, using rupiah as a currency, and have a net loss at least 2 periods in a row. This research use regression logistic, because the dependent variable measured by nominal scale. In testing the simultaneous significant auditor’s quality, financial condition, institutional’s ownership, managerial’s ownership, disclosure, company’s growth, and debt default have significant effect towards going concern audit opinion. In T test, in partial, the independent variabel auditor’s quality, financial condition, institutional’s ownership, managerial’s ownership, disclosure, company’s growth, and debt default, does not have a significant effect on the auditor in the provision of going concern audit opinion. Keywords: Auditor’s Quality, Company’s Growth, Debt Default, Disclosure, Financial Condition, Going Concern, Institutional’s Ownership, Managerial’s Ownership.

A number of NGOs across the world currently develop digital tools to increase citizen interaction with official information. The successful operation of such tools depends on the expertise and efficiency of the NGO, and the willingness of institutions to disclose suitable information and data. It is this institutional interaction with civic technology that this study examines. The research explores empirical interview data gathered from government officials, public servants, campaigners and NGO's involved in the development and implementation of civic technologies in Chile, Argentina and Mexico. The findings identify the impact these technologies have had upon government bureaucracy, and the existing barriers to openness created by institutionalised behaviours and norms. Institutionalised attitudes to information rights and conventions are shown to inform the approach that government bureaucracy takes in the provision of information, and institutionalised procedural behaviour is shown to be a factor in frustrating NGOs attempting to implement civic technology.

PURPOSE: The disclosure of the content of the synergetic effect, as a result of network interactions of development institutions in a new economic virtual reality, and the presentation of the general characteristics of their relationships through knowledge of the functioning of clusters, which in the XXI century occurs during the digitalization of the economy, resulting in digital products/services and various platforms. METHODOLOGY: On the basis of dialectical, systemic and matrix methods and using the institutional-network approach, the characteristic features of network interactions of cluster formations in the conditions of virtual reality are studied, which are becoming the norm today, a good quality and effective rule for the practical implementation of various sectors of the economy in the course of digitalization of the economy. The method of comparison is used in terms of conditions for the formation of an innovation-digital cluster from the standpoint of the theory of institutionalism. FINDINGS: Network cooperation in the conditions of virtual reality demonstrates synergetic effects through new forms of qualitative accumulation and an increase of new knowledge, which occur through their network replication (division), and innovative growth is the result of the formation in the economy and society of a new, network model of coordination of connections, network cooperation of new quality, constantly adjusted by digital tools. The synergistic effect of networking creates a new phenomenon of growing marginal utility and growing marginal productivity from innovative glocalization and digital globalization. The greater the scale of innovation and digital activities is in the conditions of virtual reality, the greater the efficiency is of the use of additional resources. The effect of scale is especially pronounced within the network, which uses the standards produced and tested by it. IMPLICATIONS FOR THEORY AND PRACTICE: It is proved that the synergetic approach used in the formation and development of innovation-digital clusters is considered through the prism of the relationship “subject – subjective relationship of innovation-active organizations and digital enterprises.” In addition, in our case, this effect lies in the plane of restructuring the “old” development institutions in the “new”, under the influence of the relevant institutional and legal basis, systemic and comprehensive modernization and diversification of all sectors of production, improvement of the innovation and investment situation, construction of effective innovation and digital virtual-real infrastructure of the European standard, implementation of clustering of the economy using the opportunities of network cooperation.. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: The content of a virtual slice of network interaction of cluster formations in the conditions of virtual reality offered by the authors is revealed; the authors’ vision of its structural elements is given, as from a digital network augmented and virtual socio-economic reality; the taxonomy and categorization of terminology with the help of which it is possible to reveal the formation of network cooperation in the conditions of virtual reality and its further development are investigated; on the basis of the conducted deep theoretical and methodological analysis and the presentation of a retrospective of innovation and digital changes, a step-by-step transformation of cluster formations is shown. The basis of network economy is network institutions, entities, organizations, in addition, it forms an environment in which any business entity or individual, which, no matter where it is in the economic system, has been able to communicate easily and at minimal cost with any other company or individual about working together, trading issues, or know-how, or just for fun in the conditions of the new virtual reality.

Today, companies are under increasing pressure to implement corporate social responsibility [CSR] programmes that account for the economic, social and environmental impacts of their operations. In addition to companies voluntarilywanting to be seen as responsible corporate citizens, the requirement for CSR reporting is being institutionalised by the King Code of Governance [King III] in South Africa. The application of King III is mandatory for all companies listedon the Johannesburg Stock Exchange [JSE], albeit on an 'apply or explain' basis. King III requires companies to not only disclose their CSR performance, but also to ensure that such disclosures have been independently assured. Irrespective ofthe underlying reason for companies disclosing their CSR performance and for providing independent assurance thereon, companies are moving away from simplistically applying the cliche attributed to Friedman that "the social responsibility of business was to use its resources to engage in activities that would increase profits". Companies that have traditionally provided financial reporting to shareholders, are now beginning to account for their non-financial performance to other stakeholders as well. This paradigm shift requires those charged with company governance and reporting (including accounting professionals usually associated with financial reporting), to re-examine their morals, values and ethical beliefs.

Subject. This article deals with the theoretical and methodological features of the formation of accounting and analytical support for transformation and transaction cost optimization. Objectives. The article aims to indicate the need to classify costs according to their belonging to transactions and disclose the theoretical and methodological features in the context of accounting and analytical cost optimization support. Methods. For the study, we used general scientific methods (analysis, comparison and interpretation) and statistical methods in economics. The results of the study are shown in tabular and graphical forms. Results. The article defines the notion of Transaction Cost and the need to decompose cost into transformation and transaction parts to take measures to optimize the level of costs. It systematizes the theoretical and methodological features of accounting and analytical models for transformation and transaction cost optimization. The article also proposes to integrate digital technologies into the management cost accounting system. Conclusions and Relevance. The article justifies the necessity to break costs into transformation and transaction parts for these types of cost have different approaches to the accounting and analytical support formation for optimization. The organization of accounting and analysis of costs by their belonging to transactions can improve the quality of accounting and analytical support and, consequently, the information base for management decisions. At present, the digital technologies that can be used in financial and operational activities contribute to cost reduction.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to seek to extend the work of Robson (1991, 1992) by exploring the accounting implications of the way in which subsets of non-financial accounting numbers are constructed. In particular, the study investigates whether the different procedures for organising subsets of a set of accounting data may lead to different conclusions about (the same) reality. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical analysis focuses on the procedures by which organisations translate work-related injury outcomes to accounting numbers. First, existing procedures are problematised within their institutional context. This highlights complementary elements of translation and neo-institutional theory that together explain how institutional factors might operate to constrain the problematising process. An empirical analysis of workers’ compensation data covering a ten year period is then conducted to calculate and contrast performance using two competing logics of accounting for injury. Findings – The findings demonstrate that different representations of reality may result not only from accounting choices as to “what” is measured, but also from accounting choices as to “how subsets of measured data are organised”. Specifically, different ways of organising injury data into subsets led to different representations of the reality of overall injury performance. The evidence further suggests taken-for-granted assumptions and institutionalised practices may prevent adequate problematisation of the underpinning logic that guides the procedures for organising translations of work-related injury and illness to accounting numbers. Practical implications – The results suggest the existing logic of accounting for injury fails to recognise the financial or non-financial complexity of non-fatal injury outcomes. “Lost time injury” measures are revealed as neither valid nor reliable measures of injury (or safety) and therefore inappropriate for informing the occupational health and safety (OHS) decisions of managers, boards and external stakeholders. These findings reveal an urgent need for change in injury accounting practice and, in turn, raise serious concerns about the increasingly institutionalised global template for external disclosure of OHS performance information. Originality/value – This paper takes a novel look at the construction of social performance measures and suggests further attention to the construction of accounting subsets is warranted. In demonstrating serious problems in accounting logic that underpin existing, and deeply institutionalised, measurement and reporting practices, the findings reinforce the need to routinely re-problematise accounting practices. Failure to critically review those accounting translations that underpin decision-making may prove a fatal mistake.

PurposeThe paper seeks to disclose the features and implications of the neoliberal VET and employment policy agendas for the social and institutional VET ecosystems and the integration of at-risk youth in the labour market in the Baltic countries.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on the comparative policy analysis approach with reference to the theories of social and skill formation ecosystems and the historical institutionalism perspective.FindingsThe research has revealed three interconnected and alternately/simultaneously applied development pathways in the skill formation and vocational education of at-risk youth in the Baltic countries: (1) the market-oriented approach based on fostering immediate employability based on the momentary skills needs in the economy; (2) the state-assistance approach based on ensuring equal access to the VET and employment services by the state and (3) the approach of systemic support to socially disadvantaged or at-risk young people in developing their capabilities.Originality/valueThe originality of the paper lies in a new, holistic and comparative perspective in analysing the implications of the “Baltic neoliberalism” for the development of skill formation systems, VET and employment of at-risk youth in this region.

The article proposes to explore the importance of policy and procedure as an impetus for establishing a whistle blowing culture. It can be suggested that the institutionalization of a whistle blowing culture through established and practiced policies and procedures can lead to lower levels of perceived retaliation, which is frequently a deterrent in blowing the whistle. The quantitative research method was employed to determine the extent to which higher education institutions implement policies and procedures to institutionalize whistle blowing as an imperative for an ethical organizational culture, which encourages potential whistleblowers to report on wrongdoing. A conceptual framework informed by legislation, policy and procedures was used to determine employee perceptions relating to the role of whistle blowing policies and procedures within the Durban University of Technology as an impetus for establishing a whistle blowing culture. The investigation was based on empirical research conducted at the Durban University of Technology, South Africa and literature on whistle blowing. In the light of the research, recommendations are made relating to institutional whistle blowing policies and procedures. The empirical findings reveal that whistle blowing legislation is inadequate to encourage whistle blowing. The article provides a comprehensive framework for the institutionalization of whistle blowing within the organizational culture as an imperative to encourage disclosure of unethical practices.

Abstract In this paper I examine the consequences of the 1989 political overturn in Romania on the selfhood. To this purpose, I initiate a twofold analysis: the official discourse of both socio-political systems, socialism and liberalism, and the individual’s quotidian discourse. The first one will enable a comparative view, over the ’bottom-up’ constructed realities, and the second will account for the degree of pervasiveness and naturalization of ideological views and, in this way, of a “top-down” identity construction and its configurations. One of the most apprehensible provisions through which liberalism endeavoured to institutionalize its own way of setting out reality is land restitution. Thereafter, I will discuss the way re-appropriation was experienced and its various subjectivization trajectories, but also the wider frame of the postsocialist economic transformations: rethinking work, money, the state and the interrelations between them. This particular angle of sight will disclose the mechanisms through which liberalism has deconstructed the system of socialist meaning and representation, at the same time replacing it with a socio-political order which reconfigured these meanings.

This paper analyzes the choice of illness-cure combinations to estimate people’s willingness to pay (WTP) for the reduction of acute health risks correlated with air pollution caused by mining and smelting in the Jinchuan mining area, China. To improve explaining the power of choice experiment (CE), a random parameter logit model (RPL) was employed and extended by considering rank ordered choice sets and non-linear effects of health risk perception on choice behaviors. The results of this study indicated that the ordered RPL approach produced better results than the unordered alternative after comparing different modeling techniques. Perceived health risk, illness attributes, and the residents’ external characteristics: income, education, age, family health experience, work environment and proximity to pollution source are important determinants of the Jinchuan people’s choice mode for avoiding acute health risks caused by air pollution. Taking all acute illnesses investigated together, the mean Jinchuan household WTP for reducing acute health risk caused by air pollution is 146.69 RMB (abbreviation of Chinese yuan) per year (US$23.38, 0.31% of average yearly household income). On the basis of our findings, we conclude that virtually Jinchuan residents perceive air pollution as a serious health risk. To assist the residents to take appropriate preventive action, the local government should develop counseling and educational campaigns and institutionalize disclosure of air quality conditions.

Purpose In recognition of the potential for Buddhism to advance sustainability, this paper aims to investigate whether Buddhism appears to be informing the sustainability practices of corporations within a particular national context. Corporate sustainability reports are used as a site of analysis. Design/methodology/approach Sixteen corporate sustainability reports from a set of sustainability award-winning corporations in Sri Lanka, a country with a strong Buddhist presence, are analysed. Evidence of Buddhist principles and values related to sustainability is sought to ascertain the extent to which Buddhism is evident in disclosures within the reports. The influence of global institutions is also considered. Findings Analysis reveals surprisingly little evidence of Buddhist principles and values in the corporate sustainability reports of these award-winning corporations. Sustainability reporting practices are revealed to be highly institutionalised by global influences, with the majority of the reports examined explicitly embracing global standardisation. The standardisation of corporate sustainability reporting through the pursuit of globally accepted reporting frameworks is argued to have caused a disconnect between Buddhism as a prevalent institutional force in the local culture and context and the corporate representations evident in such reporting. Potential consequences of this disconnect in relation to the ability for Buddhism to inform sustainability practices at the organisational level are considered. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature on corporate sustainability reporting through considering whether local cultural context is represented within such reports and possible reasons and consequences.

Objectives: Health studies of structural racism/discrimination have been animated through the deployment of neighborhood effects frameworks that engage institutional­ist concerns about sociopolitical resources and mobility structures. This study high­lights the acute illness risks of place-based inequalities and neighborhood-varying race-based inequalities by focusing on access to and the regulation of mortgage markets.Design: By merging neighborhood data on lending processes from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act with individual health from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, this article evalu­ates the acute childhood illness risks of four mutually inclusive, political economies using multilevel generalized linear models.Setting: Chicago, IL, USAParticipants: Youth aged 0 to 17 yearsMethods: Multilevel logistic regressionMain Outcome Measures: The prevalence of 11 acute illnesses (cold/flu, sinus trouble, sore throat/tonsils, headache, upset stom­ach, bronchitis, skin infection, pneumonia, UTI, fungal disease, mononucleosis) and the past-year frequencies of 6 acute illnesses (cold/flu, sinus trouble, sore throat/tonsils, headache, upset stomach, bronchitis) are evaluated.Results: The most theoretically consistent predictor of illness is a measure identifying neighborhoods with above-city-median levels of racial disparities in the regulation of loans – a mesolevel measure of structural racism. In areas with high levels of Minority- White differences in less regulated credit, youth are more likely to have a range of acute illnesses and experience them at more frequent intervals in the past year.Conclusions: This article highlights the substantive and methodological importance of focusing on multidimensional representa­tions of institutionalized political economic inequalities circumscribed and traversed by the power relations established by institu­tions and the state.Ethn Dis.2021;31(Suppl1):319-332; doi:10.18865/ed.31.S1.319

Introduction Previous studies have found long lasting cognitive delays among children with early childcare experience, especially institutionalised experience. However, little is known about institutions’ effect in late childhood. Objectives Our goal is to identify the characteristics of cognitive functions in connection to attachment related anxiety among adopted children and children living in institutional care. Methods The participants’ (N=68, Mage=14.20, 29 boys and 39 girls) cognitive functions were measured with the following tests: Rey15 Memory Task, Knock And Tap Task, Simon Says Test, Verbal Fluency Task, D-KEFS 20 Questions Test. Participants completed two questionnaires: the Family Affluence Scale and the Experiences In Close Relationships Revised Scale. The results from the adopted children (N=19) and children living in institutional care (N=18) were compared to the matched control group: children living with their biological parents (N=31). Results Children living in institutional care did not differ significantly from their (SES-based) matched controls. Children adopted after the age of 2 years (N=7, M =56,57month) and the low SES control group (N=14) differed from the high SES control group on tests of attention (Verbal Fluency Task, Mhigh.c.=212.50, Mad.aft.2=193.50, U=59.50, z=-2.62, p=0.009) and verbal memory (Rey15, Mhigh.c.=17.94, Mad.aft.2=9.18, U=35.00, z=-2.79, p=0.005). Children adopted before the age of 2 years differed from the high SES control as well, in inhibition (Simon Says Test, Mhigh.c.=12.26, Mad.bef.2=18.88, U=55.55, z =-2.23, p=0.026). Conclusions Our findings suggest that only in the early years is child protection experience associated with long-lasting cognitive delays and attachment related anxiety. Disclosure No significant relationships.

Gender budgeting has great potential to promote the United Nations 2030 Agenda concerning gender equality and women&rsquo;s empowerment. This article shares some reflections on the need to implement and institutionalize gender budgeting at the regional level, both by embedding gender issues into the overall regional government budgetary process and by promoting gender equality disclosures. An empirical insight into the institutional behavior of Italian regional governments is provided. The study seeks to understand how the gender perspective is integrated into the governmental strategy that informs the entire budgetary cycle of Italian regional governments, by performing a thematic analysis of the key regional planning documents. The local promotion of gender budgeting implementation through institutional norms and the practice of gender performance reporting in Italian regional governments are also addressed. The results highlight that although there are differing degrees of commitment to gender equality and women&rsquo;s advancement within the regions, the gender perspective is quite homogeneously integrated into the governmental strategy. Four gendered transversal thematic priorities are identified: the encouragement of women&rsquo;s employment, the promotion of equal gender opportunities, the enhancement of social inclusion, and the combatting of gender-based violence. Furthermore, although nine regional laws establish gender performance reporting, additional reporting tools integrating non-financial information on gender issues are included solely in a small part of the regional government performance reporting systems. A greater organizational and cultural commitment to the institutionalization of the gender budgeting idea is needed in order to allow stakeholders to appreciate the government&rsquo;s value outcomes in all their dimensions, including the gender-related social dimension.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to determine the predominant features of the corporations in four Latin American that are countries associated with the disclosure of reputational risk in the frame of explanations proposed by the organizational institutionalism theory about the isomorphism due to environmental pressures like the organisation for economic cooperation and development (OECD) membership and the belonging of Pacific Alliance (PA).Design/methodology/approachUsing an exploratory structural equation model (SEM) with 26 variables from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) of a sample of 205 large companies from Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia that belong to the PA, during 2016, the research evaluates the association of firms features with the disclosure of reputational risk.FindingsThis research founds that country, industry, working conditions, financial performance and status in terms of firms listed in the stock market and in rankings of corporate reputation use to talk about reputational risk in firms' reports. The financial industry, which is ruled by Basel guidelines, and companies with lower returns tend to disclose reputational risk. The isomorphism does not depend on the time of membership in the OECD.Practical implicationsThe findings revealed that belonging to the same multilateral organizations like PA or OECD is not enough to create isomorphism in improving the corporative disclosure increasing the quality of sustainability reports. Policymakers and managers need more incentive to avoid strategic silence and selective disclosure of information to promote more transparency for society and enhance the usefulness of accounting and corporate information to interpret business risks, especially reputational risk.Originality/valueThis article contributes to the emerging literature in reputational risk disclosure with evidence explained in the frame of organizational institutionalism evaluating the features that contribute to the legitimatization process, with counterintuitive evidence about the isomorphism pressured by multilateral organizations and economic blocks.

Purpose Typhoon Hato attacked Macau in August 2017 and had caused fatalities and extensive damages. This study aims to analyze the reactions of the city’s six casinos after the natural disaster from the perspective of corporate social responsibility (CSR), with particular emphasis on finding out which stakeholders had they directed their support mostly. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative content analyses of press releases, social media, company reports and websites of the casinos in relation to the disaster and their CSR activities were conducted and examined in depth. Furthermore, triangulation of the qualitative data was achieved with quantitative data through a regression analysis. Findings It was found that most of the casinos’ activities were delivered in the forms of donations, rebuilding the community, supporting staffs and calling for volunteer work, thus largely targeting on the community and employees. Practical implications The study serves as a practical lesson for the casino operators to better plan and implement risk and reputational management and to better proliferate their socially responsible side of the gaming business to the public. It also helps casinos to ponder upon better crisis management methods so as to attain sustainability of the industry itself. Social implications The study explains the CSR activities of casinos, which are in a controversial industry, and attempts to explore why do they engage in CSR. It can be seen that the wrestle between social pressure and voluntarism will eventually institutionalize casinos and other controversial businesses in promoting more CSR in various aspects. Originality/value Combining some established institutional and socio-psychological theories, including the theory of planned behavior and the theory of regret regulation, the current work serves as an exploratory study to look into how and why Macau’s leading industry reacts in response to a natural disaster through CSR.

BackgroundPayments to physicians by the pharmaceutical industry are common, but recent evidence shows that these payments influence physician prescribing behavior in the form of increased prescription of brand-name drugs, expensive and low-cost drugs, increased prescription of payer company drugs, etc. Considering that these payments increase drug costs for patients and health systems, there is a public interest in controlling them. Therefore, this study aimed to identify and propose policy options for managing physician-pharmaceutical industry interactions in the context of Iran's health system.MethodsIn the first phase, a systematic search was conducted to identify relevant policies and interventions in Web of Science, PubMed, and ProQuest databases from 2000 to 2022. Then, the opinions of the research team and an expert group (physicians, health policy and transparency experts, and industry representatives) were used to categorize the interventions and propose policy options along with their advantages, disadvantages, and implementation considerations.ResultsIn the search, 579 articles were retrieved, and 44 articles were found suitable for the final analysis. Twenty-nine interventions and strategies were identified, and based on these; Five policy options were identified: prohibition, restriction, physician self-regulation, voluntary industry disclosure, and mandatory industry disclosure.ConclusionThe proposed policies in our study include advantages, challenges, and implementation considerations based on up-to-date evidence that can help policymakers use them to manage COI in physician-pharmaceutical industry interactions in Iran's health system. A combination of measures seems to help manage COI: firstly, using self-regulating physicians and industry to institutionalize transparency, and in the next step, implementing mandatory industry disclosure policies and establishing restrictions on some financial interactions.

Purpose This paper aims to examine Canadian government measures to support country’s economic recovery and sustainable development. The goal is to examine whether all orders of government are working well to deliver the required help to Canadians. Design/methodology/approach The theoretical foundations for this article are drawn from liberal and institutionalist approaches to comparative politics. Specifically, the proposed study draws on political tensions that occur because of actions of self-centered regional (provincial) governments who legitimize individual policies based on their self-centered economic and political objectives. Findings Nowadays, we can observe the primary role of the state in supporting and regulating the health governance systems, the economy and social life. Many informal groups have unstructured approach, which does not require them to follow existing strategies. The challenges caused by COVID-19 have led to the resurgence of collective, state-based approaches to the recovery. The key findings illuminate the importance of crisis communication activities which should be implemented properly. This implies that all disclosures must be timely and truthful. Practical implications The study helps to better understand the events that disrupt parts of the Canadian economy during pandemic. It reviews the essential functions that are critical for reliable operation of infrastructure services to ensure safety and well-being of the population. During the COVID-19, federal–provincial–territorial collaboration runs into resistance because of competing interests, resource constraints, legacies from past conflicts and lack of coordination. In contrast to managers, who often focus on tangible short-term results, today’s leadership more often seeks intangible long-term results. This means that the central–local government relations tend to be more informal. Originality/value In the face of external shock, such as COVID-19, it did not take much time for Canadian provincial governments to realize that they cannot cope with a wide range of challenges alone. In these circumstances, the narratives of how governments work together during the challenging time to impact their desired outcomes are of crucial importance.

Abstract Background Loss to follow-up after a positive infant HIV diagnosis negates the potential benefits of robust policies recommending immediate triple antiretroviral therapy initiation in HIV positive infants. Whilst the diagnosis and follow-up of HIV positive infants in urban, specialized settings is easier to institutionalize, there is little information about access to care amongst HIV positive children diagnosed at primary health care clinic level. We sought to understand the characteristics of HIV positive children diagnosed with HIV infection at primary health care level, across all provinces of South Africa, their attendance at study-specific exit interviews and their reported uptake of HIV-related care. The latter could serve as a marker of knowledge, access or disclosure. Methods Secondary analysis of data gathered about HIV positive children, participating in an HIV-exposed infant national observational cohort study between October 2012 and September 2014, was undertaken. HIV infected children were identified by total nucleic acid polymerase chain reaction using standardized procedures in a nationally accredited central laboratory. Descriptive analyses were conducted on the HIV positive infant population, who were treated as a case series in this analysis. Data from interviews conducted at baseline (six-weeks post-delivery) and on study exit (the first visit following infant HIV positive diagnosis) were analysed. Results Of the 2878 HIV exposed infants identified at 6 weeks, 1803 (62.2%), 1709, 1673, 1660, 1680 and 1794 were see at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 months respectively. In total, 101 tested HIV positive (67 at 6 weeks, and 34 postnatally). Most (76%) HIV positive infants were born to single mothers with a mean age of 26 years and an education level above grade 7 (76%). Although only 33.7% of pregnancies were planned, 83% of mothers reported receiving antiretroviral drugs to prevent MTCT. Of the 44 mothers with a documented recent CD4 cell count, the median was 346.8 cell/mm3. Four mothers (4.0%) self-reported having had TB. Only 59 (58.4%) HIV positive infants returned for an exit interview after their HIV diagnosis; there were no statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics between HIV positive infants who returned for an exit interview and those who did not. Amongst HIV positive infants who returned for an exit interview, only two HIV positive infants (3.4%) were reportedly receiving triple antiretroviral therapy (ART). If we assume that all HIV positive children who did not return for their exit interview received ART, then ART uptake amongst these HIV positive children < 18 months would be 43.6%. Conclusions Early ART uptake amongst children aged 15 months and below was low. This raises questions about timely, early paediatric ART uptake amongst HIV positive children diagnosed in primary health care settings. Qualitative work is needed to understand low and delayed paediatric ART uptake in young children, and more work is needed to measure progress with infant ART initiation at primary care level since 2014.

Abstract Background Vitamin D deficiency is common in the UK due to a lack of sunlight over the winter months. Risk factors include darker skin and reduced exposure to sunlight (e.g. housebound/institutionalised patients or those who cover skin for religious reasons). As part of the Choosing Wisely campaign, the British Society for Rheumatology recommend that vitamin D testing should be reserved for people at high risk of deficiency and avoided as part of routine investigation of widespread pain alone. They also recommend that repeat testing isn’t usually necessary in patients who are taking vitamin D supplements. The aim of this project was to review the testing of Vitamin D in a Primary Care setting. Methods An EMIS search was conducted for patients who had their vitamin D levels tested in September and October 2017. The following information was collected for each patient: indication for testing, vitamin D level, whether vitamin D had been tested previously or subsequently, treatment offered and the patient’s residence. Results 96 patients had their vitamin D levels checked. Of these, 8 were excluded as they had been tested on the advice of secondary care. Of the remaining 88 patients, 6 (6%) were vitamin D deficient and 34 (38%) had insufficient vitamin D levels. The most common indication for testing was tiredness in 26 patients (30%) followed by generalised aching/lower limb pain 19 (22%). 8 (9%) patients were tested due to pain at specific sites including a single joint or abdominal pain, 5 (6%) due to neurological symptoms, 4 (5%) due to a diagnosis of CKD and 3 (3%) due to skin and hair problems. There was no clearly documented indication for testing levels in the remaining 3 (3%) patients. 35 (40%) patients had previously had their vitamin D levels tested and 19 (22%) patients had subsequent testing. Of the patients with abnormal vitamin D levels, 22 (25%) were prescribed treatment, 16 (18%) advised to buy over the counter and no advice was documented in 16 (18%) patients. None of the patients lived in residential or nursing homes. Conclusion This project identified a range of indications for vitamin D testing and a large number of patients who had repeated testing. This highlights a potential area for education in primary care surrounding the value in both initial and repeated testing of vitamin D levels. The findings show a need for an improvement in documentation as some patients had no clear linked reason for testing and no evidence that abnormal levels were actioned. However, there were limitations to determining whether BSR guidelines were followed as some factors that would lead to patients being at high risk of deficiency (such as skin colour) could not be collected from EMIS. Disclosures E. Riding None. E. MacPhie Other; EM is the secretary of the North West Rheumatology Club; meetings are supported by an unrestricted educational grant from UCB.

“I’m fat–and it’s okay! It doesn’t mean I’m stupid, or ugly, or lazy, or selfish. I’m fat!” so proclaims Joy Nash in her YouTube video, A Fat Rant. “Fat! It’s three little letters–what are you afraid of?!” This is the question I pose to my class on day one of Fat Studies. Sadly, many college students do fear fat, and negative attitudes toward fat people are quite prevalent in this population (Ambwani et al. 366). As I teach it, Fat Studies is cross-listed between Psychology and Gender Studies. However, most students who enrol have majors in Psychology or other behavioural health science fields in which weight bias is particularly pronounced (Watkins and Concepcion 159). Upon finding stronger bias among third- versus first-year Physical Education students, O’Brien, Hunter, and Banks (308) speculated that the weight-centric curriculum that typifies this field actively engenders anti-fat attitudes. Based on their exploration of textbook content, McHugh and Kasardo (621) contend that Psychology too is complicit in propagating weight bias by espousing weight-centric messages throughout the curriculum. Such messages include the concepts that higher body weight invariably leads to poor health, weight control is simply a matter of individual choice, and dieting is an effective means of losing weight and improving health (Tylka et al.). These weight-centric tenets are, however, highly contested. For instance, there exists a body of research so vast that it has its own name, the “obesity paradox” literature. This literature (McAuley and Blair 773) entails studies that show that “obese” persons with chronic disease have relatively better survival rates and that a substantial portion of “overweight” and “obese” individuals have levels of metabolic health similar to or better than “normal” weight individuals (e.g., Flegal et al. 71). Finally, the “obesity paradox” literature includes studies showing that cardiovascular fitness is a far better predictor of mortality than weight. In other words, individuals may be both fit and fat, or conversely, unfit and thin (Barry et al. 382). In addition, Tylka et al. review literature attesting to the complex causes of weight status that extend beyond individual behaviour, ranging from genetic predispositions to sociocultural factors beyond personal control. Lastly, reviews of research on dieting interventions show that these are overwhelmingly ineffective in producing lasting weight loss or actual improvements in health and may in fact lead to disordered eating and other unanticipated adverse consequences (e.g., Bacon and Aphramor; Mann et al. 220; Salas e79; Tylka et al.).The newfound, interdisciplinary field of scholarship known as Fat Studies aims to debunk weight-centric misconceptions by elucidating findings that counter these mainstream suppositions. Health At Every Size® (HAES), a weight-neutral approach to holistic well-being, is an important facet of Fat Studies. The HAES paradigm advocates intuitive eating and pleasurable physical activity for health rather than restrictive dieting and regimented exercise for weight loss. HAES further encourages body acceptance of self and others regardless of size. Empirical evidence shows that HAES-based interventions improve physical and psychological health without harmful side-effects or high dropout rates associated with weight loss interventions (Bacon and Aphramor; Clifford et al. “Impact of Non-Diet Approaches” 143). HAES, like the broader field of Fat Studies, seeks to eradicate weight-based discrimination, positioning weight bias as a social justice issue that intersects with oppression based on other areas of difference such as gender, race, and social class. Much like Queer Studies, Fat Studies seeks to reclaim the word, fat, thus stripping it of its pejorative connotations. As Nash asserts in her video, “Fat is a descriptive physical characteristic. It’s not an insult, or an obscenity, or a death sentence!” As an academic discipline, Fat Studies is expanding its visibility and reach. The Fat Studies Reader, the primary source of reading for my course, provides a comprehensive overview of the field (Rothblum and Solovay 1). This interdisciplinary anthology addresses fat history and activism, fat as social inequality, fat in healthcare, and fat in popular culture. Ward (937) reviews this and other recently-released fat-friendly texts. The field features its own journal, Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society, which publishes original research, overview articles, and reviews of assorted media. Both the Popular Culture Association and National Women’s Studies Association have special interest groups devoted to Fat Studies, and the American Psychological Association’s Division on the Psychology of Women has recently formed a task force on sizism (Bergen and Carrizales 22). Furthermore, Fat Studies conferences have been held in Australia and New Zealand, and the third annual Weight Stigma Conference will occur in Iceland, September 2015. Although the latter conference is not necessarily limited to those who align themselves with Fat Studies, keynote speakers include Ragen Chastain, a well-known member of the fat acceptance movement largely via her blog, Dances with Fat. The theme of this year’s conference, “Institutionalised Weightism: How to Challenge Oppressive Systems,” is consistent with Fat Studies precepts:This year’s theme focuses on the larger social hierarchies that favour thinness and reject fatness within western culture and how these systems have dictated the framing of fatness within the media, medicine, academia and our own identities. What can be done to oppose systemised oppression? What can be learned from the fight for social justice and equality within other arenas? Can research and activism be united to challenge prevailing ideas about fat bodies?Concomitantly, Fat Studies courses have begun to appear on college campuses. Watkins, Farrell, and Doyle-Hugmeyer (180) identified and described four Fat Studies and two HAES courses that were being taught in the U.S. and abroad as of 2012. Since then, a Fat Studies course has been taught online at West Virginia University and another will soon be offered at Washington State University. Additionally, a new HAES class has been taught at Saint Mary’s College of California during the last two academic years. Cameron (“Toward a Fat Pedagogy” 28) describes ways in which nearly 30 instructors from five different countries have incorporated fat studies pedagogy into university courses across an array of academic areas. This growing trend is manifested in The Fat Pedagogy Reader (Russell and Cameron) due out later this year. In this article, I describe content and pedagogical strategies that I use in my Fat Studies course. I then share students’ qualitative reactions, drawing upon excerpts from written assignments. During the term reported here, the class was comprised of 17 undergraduate and 5 graduate students. Undergraduate majors included 47% in Psychology, 24% in Women Studies, 24% in various other College of Liberal Arts fields, and 6% in the College of Public Health. Graduate majors included 40% in the College of Public Health and 60% in the College of Education. Following submission of final grades, students provided consent via email allowing written responses on assignments to be anonymously incorporated into research reports. Assignments drawn upon for this report include weekly reading reactions to specific journal articles in which students were to summarise the main points, identify and discuss a specific quote or passage that stood out to them, and consider and discuss applicability of the information in the article. This report also utilises responses to a final assignment in which students were to articulate take-home lessons from the course.Despite the catalogue description, many students enter Fat Studies with a misunderstanding of what the course entails. Some admitted that they thought the course was about reducing obesity and the presumed health risks associated with this alleged pathological condition (Watkins). Others understood, but were somewhat dubious, at least at the outset, “Before I began this class, I admit that I was skeptical of what Fat Studies meant.” Another student experienced “a severe cognitive dissonance” between the Fat Studies curriculum and that of a previous behavioural health class:My professor spent the entire quarter spouting off statistics, such as the next generation of children will be the first generation to have a lower life expectancy than their parents and the ever increasing obesity rates that are putting such a tax on our health care system, and I took her words to heart. I was scared for myself and for the populations I would soon be working with. I was worried that I was destined to a chronic disease and bothered that my BMI was two points above ‘normal.’ I believed everything my professor alluded to on the danger of obesity because it was things I had heard in the media and was led to believe all my life.Yet another related, “At first, I will be honest, it was hard for me to accept a lot of this information, but throughout the term every class changed my mind about my view of fat people.” A few students have voiced even greater initial resistance. During a past term, one student lamented that the material represented an attack on her intended behavioural health profession. Cameron (“Learning to Teach Everybody”) describes comparable reactions among students in her Critical Obesity course taught within a behavioural health science unit. Ward (937) attests that, even in Gender Studies, fat is the topic that creates the most controversy. Similarly, she describes students’ immense discomfort when asked to entertain perspectives that challenge deeply engrained ideas inculcated by our culture’s “obesity epidemic.” Discomfort, however, is not necessarily antithetical to learning. In prompting students to unlearn “the biomedically-informed truth of obesity, namely that fat people are unfit, unhealthy, and in need of ‘saving’ through expert interventions,” Moola at al. recommend equipping them with an “ethics of discomfort” (217). No easy task, “It requires courage to ask our students to forgo the security of prescriptive health messaging in favour of confusion and uncertainty” (221). I encourage students to entertain conflicting perspectives by assigning empirically-based articles emanating from peer-reviewed journals in their own disciplines that challenge mainstream discourses on obesity (e.g., Aphramor; Bombak e60; Tomiyama, Ahlstrom, and Mann 861). Students whose training is steeped in the scientific method seem to appreciate having quantitative data at their disposal to convince themselves–and their peers and professors–that widely held weight-centric beliefs and practices may not be valid. One student remarked, “Since I have taken this course, I feel like I am prepared to discuss the fallacy of the weight-health relationship,” citing specific articles that would aid in the effort. Likewise, Cameron’s (“Learning to Teach Everybody”) students reported a need to read research reports in order to begin questioning long-held beliefs.In addition, I assign readings that provide students with the opportunity to hear the voices of fat people themselves, a cornerstone of Fat Studies. Besides chapters in The Fat Studies Reader authored by scholars and activists who identify as fat, I assign qualitative articles (e.g., Lewis et al.) and narrative reports (e.g., Pause 42) in which fat people describe their experiences with weight and weight bias. Additionally, I provide positive images of fat people via films and websites (Clifford et al. HAES®; Watkins; Watkins and Doyle-Hugmeyer 177) in order to counteract the preponderance of negative, dehumanising portrayals in popular media (e.g., Ata and Thompson 41). In response, a student stated:One of the biggest things I took away from this term was the confidence I found in fat women through films and stories. They had more confidence than I have seen in any tiny girl and owned the body they were given.I introduce “normal” weight allies as well, most especially Linda Bacon whose treatise on thin privilege tends to set the stage for viewing weight bias as a form of oppression (Bacon). One student observed, “It was a relief to be able to read and talk about weight oppression in a classroom setting for once.” Another appreciated that “The class did a great job at analysing fat as oppression and not like a secondhand oppression as I have seen in my past classes.” Typically, fat students were already aware of weight-based privilege and oppression, often painfully so. Thinner students, however, were often astonished by this concept, several describing Bacon’s article as “eye-opening.” In reaction, many vowed to act as allies:This class has really opened my eyes and prepared me to be an ally to fat people. It will be difficult for some time while I try to get others to understand my point of view on fat people but I believe once there are enough allies, people’s minds will really start changing and it will benefit everyone for the better.Pedagogically, I choose to share my own experiences as they relate to course content and encourage students, at least in their written assignments, to do the same. Other instructors refrain from this practice for fear of reinforcing traditional discourses or eliciting detrimental reactions from students (Watkins, Farrell, and Doyle-Hugmeyer 191). Nevertheless, this tack seems to work well in my course, with many students opting to disclose their relevant circumstances during classroom discussions: Throughout the term I very much valued and appreciated when classmates would share their experiences. I love listening and hearing to others experiences and I think that is a great way to understand the material and learn from one another.It really helped to read different articles and hear classmates discuss and share stories that I was able to relate to. The idea of hearing people talk about issues that I thought I was the only one who dealt with was so refreshing and enlightening.The structure of this class allowed me to learn how this information is applicable to my life and made it deeper than just memorising information.Thus far, across three terms, no student has described iatrogenic effects from this process. In fact, most attribute positive transformations to the class. These include enhanced body acceptance of self and others: This class decreased my fat phobia towards others and gave me a better understanding about the intersectionality of one’s weight. For example, I now feel that I no longer view my family in a fat phobic way and I also feel responsible for educating my brother and helping him develop a strong self-esteem regardless of his size.I never thought this class would change my life, almost save my life. Through studies shown in class and real life people following their dreams, it made my mind completely change about how I view my body and myself.I can only hope that in the future, I will be more forgiving, tolerant, and above all accepting of myself, much less others. Regardless of a person’s shape and size, we are all beautiful, and while I’m just beginning to understand this, it can only get better from here.Students also reported becoming more savvy consumers of weight-centric media messages as well as realigning their eating and exercise behaviour in accordance with HAES: I find myself disgusted at the television now, especially with the amount of diet ads, fitness club ads, and exercise equipment ads all aimed at making a ‘better you.’ I now know that I would never be better off with a SlimFast shake, P90X, or a Total Gym. I would be better off eating when I’m hungry, working out because it is fun, and still eating Thin Mints when I want to. Prior to this class, I would work out rigorously, running seven miles a day. Now I realise why at times I dreaded to work out, it was simply a mathematical system to burn the energy that I had acquired earlier in the day. Instead what I realise I should do is something I enjoy, that way I will never get tired of whatever I am doing. While I do enjoy running, other activities would bring more joy while engaging in a healthy lifestyle like hiking or mountain biking.I will never go on another diet. I will stop choosing exercises I don’t love to do. I will not weigh myself every single day hoping for the number on the scale to change.A reduction in self-weighing was perhaps the most frequent behaviour change that students expressed. This is particularly valuable in that frequent self-weighing is associated with disordered eating and unhealthy weight control behaviours (Neumark-Sztainer et al. 811):I have realised that the number on the scale is simply a number on the scale. That number does not define who you are. I have stopped weighing myself every morning. I put the scale in the storage closet so I don’t have to look at it. I even encouraged my roommate to stop weighing herself too. What has been most beneficial for me to take away from this class is the notion that the number on the scale has so much less to do with fitness levels than most people understand. Coming from a numbers obsessed person like myself, this class has actually gotten me to leave the scales behind. I used to weigh myself every single day and my self-confidence reflected whether I was up or down in weight from the day before. It seems so silly to me now. From this class, I take away a new outlook on body diversity. I will evaluate who I am for what I do and not represent myself with a number. I’m going to have my cake this time, and actually eat it too!Finally, students described ways in which they might carry the concepts from Fat Studies into their future professions: I want to go to law school. This model is something I will work toward in the fight for social justice.As a teacher and teacher of teachers, I plan to incorporate discussions on size diversity and how this should be addressed within the field of adapted physical education.I do not know how I would have gone forward if I had never taken this class. I probably would have continued to use weight loss as an effective measure of success for both nutrition and physical activity interventions. I will never be able to think about the obesity prevention movement in the same way.Since I am working toward being a clinical psychologist, I don’t want to have a client who is pursuing weight loss and then blindly believe that they need to lose weight. I’d rather be of the mindset that every person is unique, and that there are other markers of health at every size.Jones and Hughes-Decatur (59) call for increased scholarship illustrating and evaluating critical body pedagogies so that teachers might provide students with tools to critique dominant discourses, helping them forge healthy relationships with their own bodies in the process. As such, this paper describes elements of a Fat Studies class that other instructors may choose to adopt. It additionally presents qualitative data suggesting that students came to think about fat and fat people in new and divergent ways. Qualitative responses also suggest that students developed better body image and more adaptive eating and exercise behaviours throughout the term. Although no students have yet described lasting adverse effects from the class, one stated that she would have preferred less of a focus on health and more of a focus on issues such as fat fashion. Indeed, some Fat Studies scholars (e.g., Lee) advocate separating discussions of weight bias from discussions of health status to avoid stigmatising fat people who do experience health problems. While concerns about fostering healthism within the fat acceptance movement are valid, as a behavioural health professional with an audience of students training in these fields, I have chosen to devote three weeks of our ten week term to this subject matter. Depending on their academic background, others who teach Fat Studies may choose to emphasise different aspects such as media representations or historical connotations of fat.Nevertheless, the preponderance of positive comments evidenced throughout students’ assignments may certainly be a function of social desirability. Although I explicitly invite critique, and in fact assign readings (e.g., Welsh 33) and present media that question HAES and Fat Studies concepts, students may still feel obliged to articulate acceptance of and transformations consistent with the principles of these movements. As a more objective assessment of student outcomes, I am currently conducting a quantitative evaluation, in which I remain blind to students’ identities, of this year’s Fat Studies course compared to other upper division/graduate Psychology courses, examining potential changes in weight bias, body image and dieting behaviour, adherence to appearance-related media messages, and obligatory exercise behaviour. I postulate results akin to those of Humphrey, Clifford, and Neyman Morris (143) who found reductions in weight bias, improved body image, and improved eating behaviour among college students as a function of their HAES course. 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