Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Mălina Voicu Author-Name: Mădălina Manoilă Author-Name: Delia Bădoi Author-Name: Simona Mihaiu Author-Name: Alexandra Deliu Title: Covid 19 in Romania: assessing prevalence, mortality and fatality by age and gender in the first 32 weeks of the pandemic Abstract: Gender and age play an important role in shaping the risk of developing severe infection with COVID-19. The exposure to risks associated with COVID-19 differs by country, but the factors explaining the cross-national variations are not fully understood, while the analyses of incidence, mortality and fatality by gender and age cover a handful of countries, Romanian not included. This paper focuses on the unfolding of the COVID pandemic in Romania, looking at prevalence, mortality rate and case fatality rate by age and gender, over the first 32 weeks of the pandemic. Data retrieved from EUROSTAT and the weekly reports issued by the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) reveals the uneven distribution of prevalence and fatality across gender and age groups. The results show that the infection was more spread among women between 40 and 59 years old, while men paid a higher death toll unevenly distributed across age groups. Publication-Status: Published in "Journal of Community Positive Practices", 4 2022 File-URL: http://jppc.ro/index.php/jppc/article/download/584/407 File-Format: Application/pdf File-Function: First version, 2022 Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Prevalence; Mortality; Case Fatality Rate; Gender Disparities Pages: 3-20 Issue: 4 Year: 2022 Number: 4221 Handle: RePEc:cta:jcppxx:4221 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Elena Lebedeva Title: Local communities in the post-socialist cities: beyond market and state (the experience of Minsk) Abstract: The development of local communities provides an opportunity for citizens to realize they right to the urban participation and self-government. The most effective mechanism for activating local communities is they involvement into urban common. Urban common practices allow citizens jointly feel responsibility for restoring their territories, formulate mutually beneficial solutions and reduce the possibility of conflicts. Data shows that at least one-third residents of Post-Socialist cities (on the example of Minsk) are still excluded from urban participation. Among all factors influencing the urban common practices, the most significant are the level of trust between the state and civil society, the knowledge about official ways of urban participation and the nature of neighborhood communication. Overcoming communication gaps between neighbors supported by educational work among local leaders could improve significantly the level of civil activity and urban participation at Post-Socialist cities. Publication-Status: Published in "Journal of Community Positive Practices", 4 2022 File-URL: http://jppc.ro/index.php/jppc/article/download/585/408 File-Format: Application/pdf File-Function: First version, 2022 Keywords: post-socialist city; urban participation; urban common; local government; local communities; neighborhood Pages: 21-34 Issue: 4 Year: 2022 Number: 4222 Handle: RePEc:cta:jcppxx:4222 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Gabriel Stoiciu Title: Romanian political campaigns in the age of social media Abstract: From public announcers and wall inscriptions to press and the audiovisual, any possible way of spreading the news became instantly an attractive opportunity for promoting people, products or ideas. Social Media made no exception – here, more than any other time or place, anything goes. Romania’s political agenda has witnessed various challenges raised by NGOs since the early 2000’s. This paper analyses few examples of Romanian political (and social) campaigns promoted and supported through Social Media. In present times, Social Media can prove to be the optimal instrument able to help us engage social actions and nurture communities of interest united by the aspiration of trying to change the world. Nevertheless, in times of great concerns, Social Media can prove to be as much damaging as it is useful. Publication-Status: Published in "Journal of Community Positive Practices", 4 2022 File-URL: http://jppc.ro/index.php/jppc/article/download/586/409 File-Format: Application/pdf File-Function: First version, 2022 Keywords: Social Media; political campaigns; civic engagement; activism; digital studies Pages: 35-46 Issue: 4 Year: 2022 Number: 4223 Handle: RePEc:cta:jcppxx:4223 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Vidhya Vinayachandran Title: Workers’ retention factors: a study on plant workers among small manufacturing firms Abstract: Human assets play a very important in the survival of small firms. There are prominent studies from developed and developing countries exploring the human resource practices among small firms. From the perspective of Resource Based View, human resources are regarded as potential assets that are indispensable for sustainability of all firms. Studies concentrating on human resource practices from small and large firms’ perspectives are abundant. Still there are fewer studies which view the importance and factors for fostering workers retention from the purview of plant workers of small firms in developing countries. The objective of the study is to explore workers retention factors among plant workers and whether it differs significantly sector wise. The study confirms that human resource retention factors are important for retaining plant workers among small manufacturing firms. The findings also proves that there is significant differences in workers’ retention factors with respect to demographic characteristics of workers. The study underlines that small manufacturing firms are relatively less conscious to retain workers in the plant thus leading to their instability. Publication-Status: Published in "Journal of Community Positive Practices", 4 2022 File-URL: http://jppc.ro/index.php/jppc/article/download/587/410 File-Format: Application/pdf File-Function: First version, 2022 Keywords: Sustainability; Human Assets; Human Resources; Resource based view; Plant workers Pages: 47-65 Issue: 4 Year: 2022 Number: 4224 Handle: RePEc:cta:jcppxx:4224 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Cristina Tomescu Author-Name: Alin Casapu Author-Name: Mihai Pitel Title: Rural development. The case of two communities Abstract: The article was elaborated within the MarginalRural project, a grant of the Romanian Academy, carried out between 2019 and 2022. The purpose of the grant was to collect data from several rural and small urban communities and analyze the demographic data but also data regarding infrastructure, health and education services, sources of income, local employers and more. The analysis included different perspectives, respectively an institutional one (through the opinions of representatives of public institutions), an entrepreneurial one (through the reflected opinion in interviews with local entrepreneurs) and that of vulnerable groups (through the opinions of interviewed disadvantaged people). The objective of the project was to analyze the phenomenon of rural development/underdevelopment and reveal the factors that influence development or marginalization. Publication-Status: Published in "Journal of Community Positive Practices", 4 2022 File-URL: http://jppc.ro/index.php/jppc/article/download/588/411 File-Format: Application/pdf File-Function: First version, 2022 Keywords: rural community; development; social inclusion; education; employment; social services Pages: 66-80 Issue: 4 Year: 2022 Number: 4225 Handle: RePEc:cta:jcppxx:4225 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Michael Joseph Davis Title: Locus of emotional intelligence among oklahoma law enforcement officers Abstract: Emotional intelligence has community positive value for the profession of policing, and knowledge about which police officers within an agency have the highest levels of emotional intelligence is of significant management value within law enforcement agencies. The focus of this study was to determine whether differences in emotional intelligence (EI) levels among binary categories of small-agency Oklahoma law enforcement officers were statistically significant. Three research questions guided the study, involving statistical comparison of actual EI scores across varying levels of career longevity and promotion within the law enforcement profession by the study participants. The Assessing Emotions Scale (AES) was used to scale the EI levels of the 86 participants. A self-report survey was used to classify participant longevity or promotion. The application of inferential statistics to the data, in the form of multiple t-tests, revealed statistically significant differences in average EI levels, with the higher mean distribution of EI levels present among those with more than 10 years of longevity, a history of rank promotion, and a history of promotion to supervisory status. The study provides analysis and implications for law enforcement leadership and future research. Publication-Status: Published in "Journal of Community Positive Practices", 4 2022 File-URL: http://jppc.ro/index.php/jppc/article/download/589/412 File-Format: Application/pdf File-Function: First version, 2022 Keywords: Policing; Emotional Intelligence; law Enforcement Pages: 81-93 Issue: 4 Year: 2022 Number: 4226 Handle: RePEc:cta:jcppxx:4226 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Sebastian Fitzek Title: Alcohol consumption in the context ofthe covid-19 pandemic Abstract: n this study I aimed to conduct a qualitative research on the influence of alcohol on domestic violence using hybrid questionnaires (online and F2F) on three distinct groups of alcohol consumers in Bucharest (medium, high and low). I used the online scientific platform "SurveyMonkey" for the questionnaire application and data collection. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, AUDIT-C model was used to assess alcohol consumption in the 2 months (October, November 2021) according to three key consumption indicators: frequency of alcohol consumption, alcohol level, average amount consumed per drink and frequency of excessive alcohol consumption Change in consumption was recorded analogously to AUDIT-C variables (frequency of alcohol consumption, amount of alcohol consumption and excessive alcohol consumption), whereby consumption indicators are related to the degree of change. So, is there a link between degree of consumption, frequency and domestic violence? The results, together with a range of psychiatric, psychoanalytic and psychological theories, provide a variety of explanations for the violent behavior perpetuated in family relationships, denouncing their impact and harmful effects on personality upbringing, psychological profiling, and especially on the belonging and role of the dysfunctional family. Publication-Status: Published in "Journal of Community Positive Practices", 4 2022 File-URL: http://jppc.ro/index.php/jppc/article/download/590/413 File-Format: Application/pdf File-Function: First version, 2022 Keywords: domestic violence; alcohol consumption; Covid-19; AUDIT-C; quality of life; victims Pages: 94-112 Issue: 4 Year: 2022 Number: 4227 Handle: RePEc:cta:jcppxx:4227 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Olga Garanina Title: Russian society’s responses to the social challenges of the pandemic Abstract: The purpose of the article is to determine the national characteristics of overcoming the social consequences of the pandemic in the Russian society. The planetary spread of the COVID-19 virus, which takes place regardless of state national borders, has highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of world integration on a global scale and, at the same time, has shown the reserves of a national solution to economic, political and cultural problems in a pandemic situation. The author proposes the author's solution to the problem of Russia's place in the world civilizational process, determines the specifics of the country's civilizational development, which determines decision-making in the management of social processes, using civilizational approach, historical and comparative methods. The result of the study is the substantiation of the position on the crisis of the globalization project, the signs of which are the inability of the world community to ensure intercultural interaction and consolidate in solving the problem of the pandemic, as well as the refusal to recognize Russian achievements in the fight against the virus. It was concluded that only national-state localization and tough government decisions can have positive consequences in an extreme situation. The practical value of the results of scientific research lies in the possibility of using the conclusions that we justified to assess the social situation and develop specific political and economic measures to overcome the negative social consequences of the pandemic in Russian society, to organize tolerant intercultural communication in the world community. Publication-Status: Published in "Journal of Community Positive Practices", 4 2022 File-URL: http://jppc.ro/index.php/jppc/article/download/591/414 File-Format: Application/pdf File-Function: First version, 2022 Keywords: pandemic; globalization; civilization; civilizational crisis; Russian society; standard of living; economic policy; sanctions Pages: 113-129 Issue: 4 Year: 2022 Number: 4228 Handle: RePEc:cta:jcppxx:4228 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Mariana Stanciu Title: The european path towards a new paradigm of energy production and consumption Abstract: The European Union has decided to follow a new path in terms of energy production and consumption, migrating as quickly as possible to the production of green energy. This decision came about as an inevitable consequence of climate change and global environmental issues. This article reveals some consequences of the multiple crises (economic, political, monetary, trust in state institutions etc.) and especially of the energy crisis triggered around this decision, in the European Union including Romania, starting from the hesitations of the factors determined to apply the tough but necessary measures for changing the paradigm in the field of energy sectors (this also on the background of the war from Ukraine). The article also discusses Romania's particular situation from an energy perspective. On the one hand, we are talking about a rate of dependence on imports much lower than the average European rate, and on the other hand, we are talking about a population that for many decades has achieved the lowest energy consumption per inhabitant in Europe (and as a result of the massive dislocation of the national industrial branches. Would it therefore be appropriate for the Romanian population to be imposed an additional austerity regime at this time? The article cites some relevant international and Romanian publications in the field, using international statistics documents (from Eurostat, EC, WB etc.) as well as national data (INS, BNR etc.). Publication-Status: Published in "Journal of Community Positive Practices", 4 2022 File-URL: http://jppc.ro/index.php/jppc/article/download/592/415 File-Format: Application/pdf File-Function: First version, 2022 Keywords: multiple crisis; price; politics; national interest; consumption models Pages: 130-144 Issue: 4 Year: 2022 Number: 4229 Handle: RePEc:cta:jcppxx:4229 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ha Thi Hai Do Author-Name: Nhung Thi Kim Tran Author-Name: Thuy Thi Le Nguyen Author-Name: Mai Thi Thu Le Title: Will tertiary lecturers’ research motivations differ from publication types in developing countries? A case study of Vietnam Abstract: This research is based on expectancy theory to investigate “internal attraction” and “external attraction” and integrate “belief” into the research framework that motivates lecturers to publish their research. Findings of regression analysis from a sample of 475 lecturers in business and economics have revealed that lecturers are motivated by both “internal attraction” and “external attraction”; however, the impact of “internal attraction” is stronger than that of “external attraction” on international publication but weaker on national publication. Belief is found not to influence motivation for national research publications, but negatively influences motivation for international research publications. The research results also reveal that the motivation for international research publications of professors and associate professors is higher than the motivation of other lecturers, irrespective of age and gender. Based on the research results, proper implications for policies to foster motivation for international and national research publications have been suggested for developing countries with constant changes in science and education. Publication-Status: Published in "Journal of Community Positive Practices", 4 2022 File-URL: http://jppc.ro/index.php/jppc/article/download/593/416 File-Format: Application/pdf File-Function: First version, 2022 Keywords: Motivation; Tertiary lecturers; Publication Pages: 145-160 Issue: 4 Year: 2022 Number: 42210 Handle: RePEc:cta:jcppxx:42210