Social Validity is a concept used in behavioral intervention research. It focuses on whether the goals of treatment, the intervention techniques used, and the outcomes achieved are acceptable, relevant, and useful to the individual in treatment. The Social Validity Manual, Second Edition, provides background on the development of social validity, an overview of current research in social validity, and guidelines for expanding the practice of social validation. The book offers detailed information on scales and methods for measuring social validity across the goals, procedures, and effects of treatments utilized in various fields. The second edition incorporates advances in research findings and offers two new chapters on the use of social validity in the health sciences and how social validity plays an important role in increasing cultural awareness.

Applied Behavior Analysis is the science of applying experimentally derived principles of behavior to improve socially significant behavior. The research and application of ABA contributes to a wide range of practical areas, including AIDS prevention, education, gerontology, language acquisition and parenting, and ABA-based interventions have gained particular popularity in the last 20 years related to teaching students with autism spectrum disorders. Social Validity, a concept used in such behavioral intervention research, focuses on whether the goals of treatment, the intervention techniques used and the outcomes achieved are acceptable, relevant, and useful to the individual in treatment. Judgments are made (often via clinical trials) about the effects of the intervention based on statistical significance and magnitude of effect. Essentially, social validity alerts us as to whether or not the ABA-based intervention has had a palpable impact and actually helped people in ways that are evident in everyday life.
This clinical research volume offers a detailed evaluation of the extant findings on Social Validity, as well as discussion of newly emerging factors which reemphasize the need for well-developed methods of examining SV. Basic conceptualizations, measurement, research findings, applications, ethics, and future implications are discussed in full, and novel recommendations relating back to clinical treatment are provided. The volume will give readers a firm understanding of the general concept of SV, help them become familiar with the research methods and findings, and teach them how to establish and evaluate the Social Validity of individual interventions and treatment programs.
Consolidates literature broadly distributed across journals and book chapters into single source
Provides discussion of SV in greater depth and breadth than is found in other sources, which generally just focus on general conceptualization and broad research findings
Describes how concept of SV can be influential in numerous areas of clinical practice

A visceral tale of love, loss, and finding yourself where you least expect to, Amber L. Carter's whirlwind novel invites you to 'The Middle of Nowhere'...and won't let you leave.

There's a little bit of James Bond and Lucy Liu in all of us. It just takes some of us longer to find them. Rae Shields is shy and attractive, and one big walking contradiction. Stoic, yet humorous, she struggles to overcome an abusive childhood and a plethora of phobias. An aversion to touch leaves her afraid she'll never experience the pleasure of sex. Believing she's insane, she creates a world where everything is ordered, disciplined, and calm. And, it works, until she meets Tyler. Handsome and mysterious, Attorney Tyler Blazer is a well-known, widely controversial associate of the Cabani crime family. With a reputation for being aloof, he's dubbed the Ice Man. But, when he crosses paths with Rae, he's no longer the cool, dashing playboy he once was. Falling fast, he wants to stay away, but he can't. He's been ordered to kill her. His life becomes a complicated web of deceit as he tries to buy time, and keep Rae from finding out the truth. Tired of being a victim, Rae finds her Lucy Liu in the nick of time with Tyler's love giving her the strength she needs to fight back. With him, she finds hope.

This book is a comprehensive chronicle of the transformation of the intensely competitive British insurance industry in response to evolving economic, social, technological and political conditions. It analyzes the fast-changing shape of the distribution system, the role of the state and the shifting boundaries of insurability and risk transfer.

What are the features of the school environment that make students' of color incorporation greater at some schools than at others? Prudence L. Carter seeks to answer this basic but bedeviling question through a rich comparative analysis of the organizational and group dynamics in eight schools located within four cities in the United States and South Africa-two nations rebounding from centuries of overt practices of racial and social inequality. Stubborn Roots provides insight into how school communities can better incorporate previously disadvantaged groups and engender equity by addressing socio-cultural contexts and promoting "cultural flexibility." It also raises important and timely questions about the social, political, and philosophical purposes of multiracial schooling that have been greatly ignored by many, and cautions against narrow approaches to education that merely focus on test-scores and resources.
"There are simply not enough texts that look comparatively at the two foremost experiments with questions of race, culture, and class in the English-speaking world, the United States and South Africa. Prudence Carter's work is simultaneously scholarly and compassionate. It helps us see, in these two benighted but globally important societies, how easily things break, but also how well, when structures are in place and when human agency takes flight, individuals and the groups to which they belong flourish and grow."
- Crain Soudien, Professor of Education, University of Cape Town
"In this ambitious mixed-method study, Carter analyzes the social and symbolic boundaries that account for disparate educational experiences by race in the United States and South Africa. Resources are only part of the answer; equally important, she argues, are the cultural and institutional conditions that make students feel they are valued contributors of the community. Thus, school policies about hairstyle, dress codes, tracking, extracurricular activities, and language use are among the important dimensions that enable or discourage engagement in students. Educators, policymakers, and scholars alike have much to learn from this agenda-setting work."
-Michele Lamont, Harvard University
Author of The Dignity of Working Men: Morality and the Boundaries of Race, Class and Immigration

"Prudence Carter's remarkable book shines a light on the often invisible patterns that perpetuate educational disparity in both the United States and South Africa. Stubborn Roots reveals how racial and ethnic divides are often reinforced, even in supposedly 'integrated' schools and even when many people of good will, try to eradicate them. Carter's insights illuminate how educators and schools can address these issues by becoming increasingly attuned to the socio-cultural worlds in which their students live. This book paves the way for the changes needed for historically disadvantaged groups to receive equitable, high-quality educations."
-Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles Ducommun Professor of Education, Stanford University

Applied Behavior Analysis in Early Childhood Education provides a basic introduction to applied behavior analysis and overviews the highly beneficial role that it can play in early childhood education for both typically developing children and those with special needs. This updated text equips future and current early childhood professionals with the tools they need to positively impact the lives of young children, including how to implement effective techniques for changing behavior, strategies for everyday challenges both in the classroom and at home, and suggestions for how to consult and correspond with parents and caretakers. The book is ideal for professionals preparing for—or those already in—careers in child development, behavior analysis, early childhood education, developmental therapy, counseling, and special education. A companion website provides further information and resources for students and instructors.

While the achievement gap has dominated policy discussions over the past two decades, relatively little attention has been paid to a gap that is even more at odds with American ideals: the opportunity gap. Opportunity and achievement, while inextricably connected, are very different goals. Every American will not go to college, but every American should be given fair opportunities to be prepared for college. By obsessively focusing on measuring achievement, the nation's policymakers have made little progress in measuring or addressing inequitable opportunities. Policy therefore fails to engage with the challenges, supports, and resources that lead to improvements in student learning. The achievement gap has not arisen by coincidence; children learn when they have opportunities to learn, and gaps in opportunities have led to gaps in achievement. Moreover, students' learning experiences and outcomes are deeply affected by many factors outside of the immediate control of schools. Closing the Opportunity Gap brings together top experts who offer evidence-based essays that paint a powerful picture of denied opportunities. They also describe sensible, research-based policy approaches to enhance opportunities. They highlight the discrepancies that exist in our society and in our public schools, focusing on how policy decisions and broader circumstances conspire to create the opportunity gap that leads inexorably to the outcome differences that have become so stark. The volume makes a compelling case that American educational policy must move beyond the conventional focus on achievement and opens a discussion about the common sense ways schools can and should give all American children more equitable opportunities to thrive.

Mobile communications havepermeated the globe in both business and social cultures. In only af ew short years, Japan aloneh ash ad more than ten million subscribers enter the mobilem arket. Such explosive popularity is an indication ofa strong commercial demand for communications in both the tethered and tetherless environments. Accompanying the vibrant growth in mobile communications is the growth in multimedia communications, includingthe Internet. Mobile and multime dia communications technologies are merging, making mobile computing ak ey phrasei n the coming advanced information communication era. Thegrowth i n these dynamic industries shows that achange in our chosen method of commu nications is already well advanced. Reading e mail and connecting to various information feeds have already become a part ofdaily business activities. We are trying to grasp theo verall picture of mobile computing. Its shape and form are just starting to appear as personal digital assistants (PDA), handheld personal computers (HPC), wireless data communication services, and com mercial software designed for mobile environments. We are at the cusp of vast popularization of "computers on the go. " "Any time Anywhere Computing" provides the reader with an understand able explanationo ft he current developments and commercialization of mobile computing. Thec oret ec hnologies and applications needed to un derstand the industry are comprehensively addressed. Thebook emphasizes three infrastruc tures: (1) wireless communication network infrastructure, (2) terminal devices (or "computers on the go"), and (3) software middleware and architectures that support wireless and mobile computing.

Applied Behavior Analysis in Early Childhood Education provides a basic introduction to applied behavior analysis and overviews the highly beneficial role that it can play in early childhood education for both typically developing children and those with special needs. This updated text equips future and current early childhood professionals with the tools they need to positively impact the lives of young children, including how to implement effective techniques for changing behavior, strategies for everyday challenges both in the classroom and at home, and suggestions for how to consult and correspond with parents and caretakers. The book is ideal for professionals preparing for—or those already in—careers in child development, behavior analysis, early childhood education, developmental therapy, counseling, and special education. A companion website provides further information and resources for students and instructors.

This text addresses two separate but related questions. Firstly, what is Paul's theology of material possessions, and secondly, what is the source of the apostle's thought on this subject? Carter endeavours to answer these questions by posing the hypothesis that Paul owes his pecuniary thought to the synoptic sermon tradition. Unlike other studies that investigate this link, Carter does not appeal to verbal parallels to establish this theory. Rather, he demonstrates a continuity in the broad fiscal thought of Jesus and Paul. This is accomplished by first demonstrating the plausibility of Paul's acquaintance with the dominical tradition through evidence related to the apostle's historical environment and his extant writings.
The author then establishes the likelihood that Paul knew the pre-synoptic sermon tradition because of its ubiquity in early church discipleship, the judgment of form critical scholars, and its pervasive resonances in Pauline literature. From this point of embarkation, Carter moves on to articulate the broad fiscal thought of the synoptic sermons. It is found that the synoptic sermons' fiscal material has a pervasively eschatological orientation, and that in the sermons, Jesus seeks to redefine the financial worldview of Christian disciples.
Having examined the synoptic sermons, their fiscal thought is compared with that expressed by Paul in 1 Corinthians. Through the course of this comparison, alternate sources in Jewish and Hellenistic literature are considered as potential explanations for any correspondences. Ultimately, the study concludes that Jesus' and Paul's financial thought evidence remarkable symmetry that cannot be explained by a shared cultural environment. Consequently, it is determined that Paul very likely depends on the dominical tradition for the contours of his financial thought.

Since the initial publication of Law Enforcement Intelligence: A Guide for State, Local and Tribal Law Enforcement Agencies in November 2004, there have been a number of significant changes that have once again had an impact on law enforcement intelligence. While the field is continually evolving, many of the changes have been captured in the second edition of this publication. In fact, 85 percent of the content is new including new chapters on intelligence-led policing; civil rights and privacy in the law enforcement intelligence process; public-private partnerships; fusion centers; suspicious activity; and open source information. This publication takes a comprehensive look at these topics as well federal and national law enforcement intelligence resources, networks, systems, human resources, and anticipated changes to the classification system moving from Sensitive But Unclassified information to Controlled Unclassified Information.

A dictator's power is secure, the authors begin in this muscular, impressive study, only as long as citizens believe in it. When citizens suddenly believe otherwise, a dictator's power is anything but, as the Soviet Union's collapse revealed. This conviction – that power rests ultimately on citizens' beliefs – compels the world's autocrats to invest in sophisticated propaganda. This study draws on the first global data set of autocratic propaganda, encompassing nearly eight million newspaper articles from fifty-nine countries in six languages. The authors document dramatic variation in propaganda across autocracies: in coverage of the regime and its opponents, in narratives about domestic and international life, in the threats of violence issued to citizens, and in the domestic events that shape it. The book explains why Russian President Vladimir uses Donald Trump as a propaganda tool and why Chinese state propaganda is more effusive than any point since the Cultural Revolution.

Since 1955 when Dr. Paul Kirk first presented a bloodstain evidence affidavit in State of Ohio v. Samuel Sheppard, expert testimony on bloodstain interpretation has gained wide acceptance in U.S. courts. Scientific and Legal Applications of Bloodstain Pattern Interpretation brings together some of the most respected and noted experts in forensic science, the law, and bloodstain interpretation to provide a comprehensive overview of the discipline. It discusses research, applications, and the current view of bloodstain pattern interpretation within the legal system at the trial and appellate court levels, as well as scientific approaches and developments in the field.
Scientific and Legal Applications of Bloodstain Pattern Interpretation will help attorneys who are questioning and cross-examining expert witnesses have a good working knowledge of bloodstain interpretation. Included is a full-color atlas of bloodstains, in conjunction with a glossary of terms and an outline of basic laboratory experiments that are commonly used in the discipline.

Among the outstanding contributions in this volume you will find:
o An excellent chapter by Carol Henderson discusses the legal and ethical aspects of bloodstain pattern evidence in detail.
o A post-conviction analysis by Marie Elena Saccoccio evaluates how bloodstain evidence can play a role in the appeal process.

Misinterpretation and overinterpretation of bloodstain evidence can occur in our courts of law-be prepared to effectively analyze the evidence and the testimony with Scientific and Legal Applications of Bloodstain Pattern Interpretation.