In this study, we analyse the relationship of participation in the Finnish basic income (BI) experiment and people’s attitudes towards a BI. The experiment, implemented in 2017–2018, aimed to improve citizens’ employment and well-being by reducing the eligibility conditions of basic social benefits and by increasing monetary incentives to find employment. The data on attitudes come from responses to a survey carried out during the experiment. Identical questions were posed to the treatment (receiving the BI) and the control group of the experiment. The contributions of this paper are (1) an estimation of the relationship between participation and opinions on BI, (2) an analysis of the heterogeneity of the relationship and (3) an estimation of the relationship between participation and people’s ability to express their opinions on BI. Our findings indicate that participation in the experiment significantly explains people’s support for a BI and their ability to express opinions.

This paper describes the development and the validation of a questionnaire assessing the opinions of the relatives of patients with schizophrenia on the causes and the social consequences of the disorder. The final version of the questionnaire includes 28 items, grouped in four sub-scales (social restrictions, social distance, utility of treatments, biopsychosocial causes of schizophrenia), whose intra-rater reliability ranges from 0.36 to 0.84. Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which tests the content validity of the sub-scales, ranges from 0.56 to 0.66. Factor analysis identifies two factors (opinions on social consequences and the utility of treatments, and the beliefs on the causes of schizophrenia), which account for the 73% of the total variance. This questionnaire may be particularly useful to assess relatives'beliefs about schizophrenia and to target psychosocial interventions in the families of patients with schizophrenia.

The aim to this article is to analyse the judgments and opinions of Africans about Europeans during the early Portuguese expeditions to West Africa in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. While opinions of Europeans about Africans are for that period certified by numerous and varied sources, the opinions of Africans are difficult to examine. Cultures of the West African coast in the fifteen and early sixteen century were illiterate. Local oral traditions do not go back – within the scope of this field of interest – to such distant centuries. There are two types of sources: Firstly, African statements written down in European texts, which require a particularly critical approach; secondly, some Africans expressed their opinions about Europeans in works of Art. These include the statues of Europeans from the area of present-day Sierra Leone (the Sapi people), and from the state of Benin (the Edo people). In this article the author examines: 1) the circumstances in which the Africans expressed their opinions (ad hoc meetings, political negotiations, trade, court ceremonies); 2) the authors (individuals or social and ethnic groups), which were attributed the judgments; 3) the content of speeches; and 4) the motives which guided the Africans. Then author compares individual cases, analyses the common characteristics and the distinct features of judgments and opinions known to us, and discusses the possibility of identification of general traits of Africans’ opinions about Europeans.

Objective – Description of the opinions about causes and psychosocial consequences of schizophrenia in a sample of psychiatric professionals, recruited in 29 Italian Mental Health Centres (MHC). Design – Each professional was asked to read a case-vignette describing a patient who met the ICD-10 criteria for schizophrenia. Referring to case-vignette, he/she was asked to fill the Questionnaire on the Opinions about Mental Illness – Professionals' version (QO-P). Professionals' opinions were explored in relation to: a) their socio-demographic variables and professional background; b) geographic location of the MHC. Setting – 29 MHC stratified by geographic area (Northern, Central, Southern Italy) and population density of their catchment areas (> 100000 inhabitants; between 100000 and 25000 inhabitants; < 25000 inhabitants) and randomly selected. Results – Data on 465 professionals were collected. 75% of the sample identified in the vignette a case of schizophrenia, 22% of depression/anxiety disorder. Factors most frequently mentioned as causes of the detected disorder were heredity (68%), stress (61%), family difficulties (46%). More pessimistic opinions about psychosocial consequences of schizophrenia were found among nurses and among professionals of Southern Italy, among those with lower educational level, older age and among those working longer in psychiatry. No statistical difference in the opinions about psychosocial consequences of schizophrenia was found among staff who referred the case-vignette to schizophrenia and those who did not. Conclusions – The results of this study outline the need to: a) include issues such as disability and psychosocial consequences of mental disorders in the basic training of professionals; b) increase the number of professionals trained in evidence-based psychosocial interventions.

A growing field of discursive institutionalism has argued for the importance of ideas and discourse in policy changes. The aim of the study is to analyse framing effects empirically by examining how, and to what extent, competing frames can shape public opinion on the implementation of a specific policy change. The case study focuses on the administration of social assistance in Finland. Results indicate that the framing of ideas shapes public opinion. Analyses show that some types of frames are more effective than others. To be successful, a politician must simplify the issue and appeal to moral sentiments rather than present too many difficult ‘factual’ viewpoints. Our study also emphasizes that even frames that succeed in shaping popular opinion may fail if powerful political actors oppose reform. Therefore, we argue that the interplay between the ‘old’ power resource approach and the ‘new’ ideational approach should be taken into account when explaining institutional changes.

We carried out an in-depth analysis of a media campaign designed to raise awareness of the ecology and conservation of the Critically Endangered saiga antelope Saiga tatarica in the Pre-Caspian region of Russia. We carried out 250 semi-structured interviews in eight villages. The effectiveness of the campaign was assessed using change in opinion over the previous 3 years as an attitudinal indicator and amount pledged for saiga conservation as a measure of behavioural intention. The campaign induced positive changes in attitudes and behavioural intention. Reinforcement was important, with people's retention of information about saiga conservation from the campaign being positively correlated with their level of ecological knowledge about the species. Similarly, behavioural intention towards the saiga was more likely to be positive in individuals who had a high level of exposure to the species and/or had been subject to two or more different conservation interventions. Level of attitudinal change was dependent on an interaction between the date when the media campaign was carried out and the age of the respondent. We conclude that public awareness campaigns, if designed to take into account the socio-demographics and cultural background of the target audience, can be an effective method of improving attitudes towards conservation.

Objective – Description of the opinions on schizophrenia and its psychosocial consequences in a sample of relatives of patients with schizophrenia, recruited in 30 Italian Mental Health Centres (MHC), stratified by geographic areas and population density. Design – Cross-sectional study on key-relatives of clinically stable patients with a DSM-FV diagnosis of schizophrenia. Evaluation of relatives' opinions on schizophrenia and its psychosocial consequences, in relation to: a) patient's clinical and family's socio-demographic variables; b) geographic areas and population density. Setting – 30 Italian MHC randomised and stratified by geographic areas (Northern, Central, Southern Italy) and population density (> 100000 inhabitants; between 100000 and 25000 inhabitants; < 25000 inhabitants). Main outcome measures – Patient's clinical status and social functioning: Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Disability Assessment interview (AD). Interventions provided to patient and his/her family: Scheda di Rilevazione degli Interventi – Pattern of Care Schedule (SRI). Relatives' opinions on schizophrenia and its psychosocial consequences: Questionnaire on the Opinions of the Family (QOF). Results – Data on 709 patients and their key-relatives were collected. Relatives' pessimistic opinions on social competence of patients with schizophrenia were found to be associated with: high levels of patient's disability, hostility and negative symptoms, relatives' knowledge of patient's diagnosis of schizophrenia, residence in a medium or low population density area, low levels of relative's education. Relatives' pessimistic opinions on social restrictions imposed by schizophrenia were found to be associated with high levels of disability and high number of hospital admissions in the patient and older age in the relative. Conclusions – The results of this study emphasise the need to: a) provide families with educational interventions covering not only clinical aspects of schizophrenia, but also those concerning disability and psychosocial consequences of the disorder; b) plan educational campaigns on mental illnesses which take into account the socio-cultural characteristics of the target populations.

Background: Dementia research often requires the participation of people with dementia. Obtaining informed consent is problematic when potential participants lack the capacity to provide it. We investigated comfort with proxy consent to research involving older adults deemed incapable of this decision, and examined if comfort varies with the type of proxy and the study's risk-benefit profile.

Methods: We surveyed random samples of five relevant groups (older adults, informal caregivers, physicians, researchers in aging, and Research Ethics Board members) from four Canadian provinces. Respondents were presented with scenarios involving four types of proxies (non-assigned, designated in a healthcare advance directive with or without instructions specific to research participation, and court-appointed). Given a series of risk-benefit profiles, respondents indicated whether they were comfortable with proxy consent to research for each scenario.

Results: Two percent of the respondents felt proxy consent should never be allowed. In all groups, comfort depended far more on the risk-benefit profile associated with the research scenario than with type of proxy. For research involving little or no risk and potential personal benefits, over 90% of the respondents felt comfortable with substitute consent by a designated or court-appointed proxy while 80% were at ease with a non-assigned proxy. For studies involving serious risks with potentially greater personal benefits, older adults and informal caregivers were less comfortable with proxy consent.

Conclusions: A large majority of Canadians are comfortable with proxy consent for low-risk research. Further work is needed to establish what kinds of research are considered to be low risk.

There are three topics within the body of Vereshchetin's academic work which deserve special attention: the law of the sea, space law, and the theory of international law. Vereshchetin's contribution as a judge to the practice and theory of international law can be appreciated through his individual opinions and declarations, in which he dealt with various issues of international law and the international judicial process: self-determination, countermeasures, diplomatic protection, and questions which concern the functioning of the Court (the role and powers of the ICJ, non liquet, bases for the revision of decisions, declarations accepting the Court's jurisdiction and reservations to them, and so on).