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Asociaţia Lumen Centrul de CercetăriSocio-Umane Lumen

Revista Româneascăpentru

EducaţieMultidimensională

Romanian Journal forMultidimensional Education

Volum 4, Nr. 3, Decembrie, An 2012Volume 4, Issue 3, December, Year 2012

Iaşi

Revista Românească pentru Educaţie Multidimensională /Romanian Journal for Multidimensional EducationVolum 4, No. 3, Decembrie, 2012 / Volume 4, Issue 3, December, 2012Starting with the year 2013 the publication Romanian Journal for Multidimensional Education has 1 volume per year, with 2 issues that will appear in June, andDecemberHonorary Director: Prof. Univ. Dr. Tudor GHIDEANU - Emeritus Consulting Professor at „Al. I. Cuza” University Iaşi, RomaniaChief Editor: Associate Professor Ph.D. Tomiţă CIULEI, „Valahia” University, Târgovişte, RomaniaDeputy Chief Editor: Lecturer Ph.D. Antonio SANDU, „Mihail Kogălniceanu” University, Iasi, and Researcher at Lumen Association, Iaşi,RomaniaInternational Editorial Board Advisory of Lumen Publishing House Publications:

Univ. Prof. Ph.D. Tudorel DIMA - member of Romanian Academy;Prof. Ph.D. Wojciech J. CYNARSKI, PhD University of Rzeszow WydziałWychowania Fizycznego, Rzeszow, Poland;Univ. Prof. Ph.D Petre DUMITRESCU – „MihailKogalniceanu”Univeristy, Iaşi;Univ. Prof. Ph.D Marius DUMITRESCU – „Al. I. Cuza” University, Iaşi;Univ. Prof. Ph.D Nicu GAVRILUŢĂ – „Al. I. Cuza” University, Iaşi;Univ. Prof. Ph.D Tudor GHIDEANU – „Al. I. Cuza” University, Iaşi;Unv. Prof. Ph.D. Jan GOES – University Prof. Ph.D., „Artois” University,France;Univ. Prof. Ph.D Horia HULBAN – „Al. I. Cuza” University, Iaşi;Univ. Prof. Ph.D. Sophie LUCET - Université de Rennes 2, France;Univ. Prof. Ph.D Petre MAREŞ – „Valahia” University, Târgovişte;Univ. Prof. Ph.D Constantin MARIN – „Al. I. Cuza” University, Iaşi;Univ. Prof. Ph.D Vasile MIFTODE – „Al. I. Cuza” University, Iaşi;Univ.Prof. Ph.D. Christiane PAGE – Université de Rennes 2, France;Univ. Prof. Ph.D Traian Dinorel STĂNCIULESCU – „Al. I. Cuza”University, Iaşi;Univ. Prof. Ph.D Aseea TIMUŞ- State Univeristy from Chisinau, RepublicMoldova;Associate Prof. Ph.D Tomiţă CIULEI - Universitatea Valahia, Târgovişte;Associate Prof. Ph.D Ştefan COJOCARU – „Al. I. Cuza” University, Iaşi;Ph.D. Coordonateur Scientific Researcher LilianaCONDRATICOVA – Heritage Institute of the Academy ofSciences of MoldovaAssociate Prof. Ph.D. Nadia ANIŢEI - Associate Professor PhD.,Dunarea de Jos University ofGalati, Faculty of Law, Social and Political Sciences,Associate Prof. Ph.D. Tatiana DOROFTE - „Technique” University, Iaşi;Associate Prof. Ph.D. Mihaela Laura PAMFIL – „Petre Andre”University, Iaşi;Scientific Researcher Lidia PRISAC - Heritage Institute of the Academyof Sciences of Moldova, Chisinau, Republic Moldova Associate Prof. Ph.D.Angela SPINEI - State Univeristy from Chisinau, Republic Moldova;Associate Prof. Ph.D Conţiu Tiberiu ŞOITU – „Al. I. Cuza” University,Iaşi;Lecturer Ph.D. Daniela COJOCARU – „Al. I. Cuza” University, Iaşi;Lecturer Ph.D. Antonio SANDU – „Mihail Kogalniceanu” University, Iaşiand Lumen Research Center in Humanistic Sciences, IaşiLecturer Ph.D. Daniel COJANU - „Valahia” University, Târgovişte;

Lecturer Ph.D. Cosmin DARIESCU – „Al. I. Cuza” University, Iaşi;Lecturer Ph.D. Alisa NICA - „Petre Andre” University, Iaşi;Lecturer Ph.D. Irina RUSU – “Gh. Zane” University, Iaşi, Romania,Researcher III (Lecturer Ph.D) Emanuela BIRU - Bristol ResearchCenter, United KingdomScientific Researcher Ph.D. Cătălin - George FEDOR – RomanianAcademy, Iaşi BranchResearcher III (Lecturer Ph.D.) Raluca POPESCU – RomanianAcademyResearcher III (Lecturer Ph.D) Cătălina RĂDUCU – RomanianAcademyPh.D. Researcher Ion XENOFONTOV – Institute ofEncyclopaedic Research of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova;Ph.D. Svetlana CEBOTARI - Associate professor, The MilitaryInstitute of the Forces “Alexandru cel Bun”, Republic of MoldovaPh.D. Gabriela CREŢU - Romania's attachment to EuropeanParliamentPh.D. Arthur Philip DAVIES - - Chairman, Quality ManagementServices UK LimitedPh.D. Constantin MANOLACHE – Associate professor, TheMilitary Institute of the Armed Forces “Alexandru cel Bun”, Republicof MoldovaPh.D. Chandra Sharma SUBHASH - Reha Yilmaz CankiriKaratekin University, Turkey, Qafqaz Üniversitesi, Hukuk FakültesiBakü /AZERBAYCAN;Ph.D. Candidate Cristina SCARLAT – Ph.D. Candidate at “Al. I.Cuza” University, and Professor at the School from Lunca Cetatuii,Iasi, Romania.Archaeologist Ph.D. Vicu MERLAN – The Museum from Huşi,Vaslui CountyResearcher Ana Maria BOBOC – „Mihail Sturza” College, Iaşi,RomaniaResearcher Mehrdad JALALIAN - Research Center of IranianBlood Transfusion Organization Khorasan-e Razavi Blood CenterMashhad, Iran;Researcher Assistant Simona PONEA – Lumen Research Centre inHumanistic Sciences, Uk Branch

Editorial Board:Editor - Oana BRADU - DGASPC Iaşi, RomaniaEditor – Irina MORARIU - DAC Vaslui, RomaniaEditor – Bianca VLASĂ – Lumen Research Center in HumanisticSciences, IaşiEditor – Elena UNGURU – Lumen Research Center in HumanisticSciences, IaşiCover Design and Technical Editor – Cristian UŞURELU - LumenResearch Center in Humanistic Sciences, IaşiPR Manager – Simona PONEA – Lumen Research Center inHumanistic Sciences, IaşiEditorial Address:Postal address: OP 3, CP 780, Iaşi, RomaniaEmail address [email protected] number: + 40. 332 450 133Fax number: + 40. 332 811 551Publishing House AddressEditura Lumen (Lumen Publishing House), Iaşi, RomaniaCP 3, OP 780, Iaş[email protected]+40 332 450 133+40 332 811 551Dr. Antonio Sandu (Chairman of Lumen Publishing House, Iaşi,România) – [email protected] address of publication:www.revistaromaneasca.roCopyright © Centrul de Cercetări Socio–Umane Lumen, Iaşi,Romania, Revista Românească pentru Educaţie Multidimensională.All Rights Reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, store, transmitted, ordisseminated, in any form, or by any means, without prior writtenpermission from Lumen Association, to whom requests to reproducecopyright material should be directed to [email protected] came with financing from Lumen Association, Iaşi, RomaniaSubscriptions rates:INDIVIDUAL subscription: 50 EUROINSTITUTIONAL subscription: - for Romania: 150 EURO; - for EUmember states: 500 EURO; - for USA: 600 USD; - for Canada: 550CAD; - for states outside those mentioned: 300 EURO.PRINTED JOURNAL subscription: - for Romania: 140 EURO;Subscriptions enquiries: OP 3, CP 780, Iaşi, Romania,[email protected] and Availably: available on print with subscription.Further issues will be available on line.ISSN: 2066 – 7329ISSN ONLINE: 2067 – 9270Peer review statementOur studies and journal articles submitted for publication will be sentfor review ("peer review" process) to 2 (two) reviewers selected fromour editorial board, or other reviewers from difrent universities. Basedon this report, as appropriate, the operational staff of the magazine (ledby editor in chief) or appointed members of the editorial board, takethe final decision about the acceptance or rejection of the proposedarticle.Frequency: 3 issues per year (April, August, December)Coverd in: Index Copernicus, Ideas, RePeC, EconPapers, Socionet,Ulrich Pro Quest, Cabbel, SSRN, Appreciative Inquiry Commons,Journalseek, Scipio, EBSCO, C.E.E.OL

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Table of Contents:

Theoretical Perspectives

Primary Qualification of Matrimonial Regime Notion............. 7Nadia Cerasela ANIŢEI

Romanian Deaf Sign Languages Projects - an overview ..........21Florea BARBUIonut Adrian CHIRIAC

British Philosopher Gilbert Ryle’s Perspective onBehaviorism.................................................................................... 29

Elena BANCIU

Policy Perspectives on Migration of Romanian HealthPersonnel ........................................................................................ 49

Irina CEHAN

Social action through educational strategies: ethics and theelection of Communication studies in Spain............................. 63

Joan-Francesc FONDEVILA-GASCÓNDr. Josep-Lluís del OLMO-ARRIAGAMarta CARRERAS-ALCALDE

Faith Organizations and Social Economic Welfare in Kenya ..81Richard Muko OCHANDA

Research Studies

Perceptions of Personal and Professional Values in SocialWork Training................................................................................109

Daniela ŞOITUMihaela RĂDOI

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The Discourse Analyse in the Romanian Media Regardingthe Organ Transplant – Systemic References ...........................129

Adina Karner-HUȚULEAC

Aspects of Coping with Disease in some Roma Communitiesof Romania .....................................................................................145

Andrada PÂRVULaszlo FOSZTOAngela ENACHESilvia DUMITRASStefana MOISARodica GRAMMAGabriel ROMANRadu CHIRITABeatrice IOAN

Influence of Personality Traits on Leadership Styles: asecondary level study ....................................................................163

Ijaz Ahmad TATLAHRahila NIZAMIKamran Ahmad SIDDIQUI

Graduate competency, teaching effectiveness and facultyperformance evaluation: An international perspective.............175

Minga NEGASH

Cultural Capital Accumulation Mechanisms and TheirEffects on the Professional Habitus of Romanian Nurses......205

Silvia POPOVICI

Education Through Migration. How the Experience ofLiving Abroad Can Be an Educational Factor ..........................219

Teodora MANEA

Theoretical Perspectives

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Primary Qualification of Matrimonial Regime Notion

Nadia Cerasela ANIŢEI1

AbstractBy adopting Law no. 287 of July 17, 2009 on the Civil Code republished

by Law no. 71/2011 the new Civil Code is subject to the modern legislationstendencies to create a triple balance in terms of property relations between spouses bymeans of the matrimonial property regimes established:

1. between spouses: through the appearance of matrimonial agreements, whichhave led to the adoption of more flexible legal rules which allow spouses a certainfreedom to choose the regime of patrimonial relations between them;

2. within the family: to protect the interests of the family, they resorted tomandatory rules providing for limitations and prohibitions (art.321-322 on thefamily home - a new notion in the Romanian law, art.316 on the acts of disposalseriously threatening family interests);

3. between family and society-third parties: by establishing formalrequirements of legal acts, including matrimonial agreements to be concluded bynotarial act that must be given to publicity afterwards.

Also, considering the fact that Romania is a member state of the EuropeanUnion and that more and more Romanian people are living abroad or marryforeigners, we consider the harmonization of legislation in order to determine the lawapplicable to such relationships as a highly important requirement.

Given these issues we will devote the present study: to primary qualification ofthe matrimonial regime notion.

Keywords:primary qualification of the matrimonial regime notion; scope of matrimonial

property regime notion in Romanian private international law.

1 Nadia Cerasela ANIȚEI - Associate Professor PhD., Dunarea de Jos University ofGalati, Faculty of Law, Social and Political Sciences, Email Address:[email protected]

Revista Românească pentruEducaţie Multidimensională

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1. Introductory conceptsIn order to clarify the meaning of the conflict of laws from

art.2590 of the new Civil Code, first of all we have to make the primaryqualification of the matrimonial regime notion. According to art.2558paragraph 1 of the new Civil Code, primary qualification is alwaysperformed following the Romanian law, namely in accordance with thenotions used by the Romanian legal system.

In the past 50 years Romanian experts have equated the notionof property relations between spouses with the notion of matrimonial regime. TheRomanian contemporary doctrine regarding the notions of matrimonialregimes and property relations between spouses is more nuanced than in thepast, claiming that the two notions are closely linked, but not identical.Thus, the matrimonial regime should designate a system of legal rulesthat govern the property consequences of marriage (Aniței, 2011; Aniței2012b), but not of any consequences (there are some pecuniary reportsthat are not of interest for the matrimonial regimes for example theobligation of maintenance between spouses, as well as those have inrelation to other people: children, relatives, etc.).. Consequence:matrimonial regime is part of the rules that systematize the "patrimonialrelations between spouses”, relationships which are the subject matter ofmore disciplines: property right of the family (Florian, 2008; Frenţiu,Moloman, 2008; Fuerea, 2005), inheritance law etc... As such, theconcept of matrimonial property regime may be perceived in a narrowsense, as it may also have wider significance. In a narrow sense –thesense preferred by the author - the matrimonial property regime is aset of legal rules governing the relations between spouses regarding the pecuniary rightsand obligations of conjugal life and the relations concerning their management. In awider sense, the matrimonial property regimes (Vasilescu, 2003: 56-106) also refer to the pecuniary relations between spouses and third parties,whether they are people completely foreign from marriage or people with specific legalties to it. (Vasilescu, 2003 :17)

Romanian authors (Bodoașcă, 2005:125; Bacaci, Dumitrache,Hageanu, 2005: 46; Filipescu, Filipescu, 2002:46) define thematrimonial property regime as the totality of legal rules governing relationsbetween spouses on their property and those established between spouses, on the onehand, and the third person on the other hand, also regarding the spouses goods.

Primary Qualification of Matrimonial Regime NotionNadia Cerasela ANITEI

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Based on legal provisions in effect, other authors consider thatthe matrimonial legal regime consists of all legal rules governing propertyrights and obligations of spouses (Bodoașcă, 2005: 125; Bacaci, Dumitrache,Hageanu, 2005: 46; Filipescu, Filipescu, 2002: 47).

It follows that the concept of matrimonial regimes, has a widerange of meanings, from the largest one containing all the rulesgoverning economic relations arising from marriage, until the narrowest,referring only to the rules on spouses' property, excluding othereconomic relations existing between spouses (such as those resultingfrom maintenance, donations, bequests, etc..) or patrimonial re lationsbetween spouses and their children.

Based on the above, we will try to give a definition of thematrimonial property regime, we consider that the matrimonialproperty regime means all legal rules governing the relations established betweenspouses, or between one or both spouses, on the one hand, and third party, on the otherhand, relations which have as object existing assets at the contracting of marriage oracquired during it and the obligations contracted in connection with such goods forcarrying out the duties of marriage.

Generally, the matrimonial regime will be subject to thefollowing rules:

- After the contracting of marriage, the spouses will declare thechosen matrimonial regime, which is mentioned in the marriagedocument;

- Regardless of the matrimonial regime chosen, the spouses willnot be allowed to derogate from the laws laid down for thatregime;

- Between spouses, the chosen matrimonial regime will becomeeffective only after the contracting of marriage and in relation tothird parties only after the accomplishment of advertisingformalities prescribed by law;

- matrimonial regime chosen will be changed whenever they wantwives, but only after at least one year after marriage and onlyauthentic notary;

- the chosen matrimonial regime will be changed whenever thespouses want so, but only after at least one year after thecontracting of marriage and only by an authentic notarydocument;


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- A spouse can give a mandate to the other spouse to representhim/her in the exercise of rights he/she has under matrimonialregime;

- If one spouse is unable to express their will, the other spouse willbe able to obtain court permission to represent him/her toexercise his/her rights it has under matrimonial regime. Thiscourt decision will determine the conditions, scope and durationof the judicial mandate. This mandate will end when the spouserepresented will be in a position to express his/her will or when aguardian or a curator will be appointed;

- At the request of a spouse the court may condition the provisionacts of the other spouse to his/her express consent. The measurewill be imposed only if a spouse contracts legal acts whichseriously endanger the interests of family and only for a fixedperiod. Documents concluded in breach will become void. Theright to action will be barred within one year, starting from thedate the injured husband became aware of the act;

- The matrimonial regime will cease with the cancellation,termination or cessation of marriage. The matrimonial regimewill end according to law in the event of termination or change.The New Civil Code establishes the property relations between

spouses on the basis of the principle of autonomy of will, predicting areal legislative reform of matrimonial property regime existing at presentin Romania (Bodoaşcă, 2005: 139).

By means of the matrimonial regime it establishes, the new CivilCode is subject to the modern laws (Lupascu, 2009, 2012) tendency tocreate a triple balance:

a. between spouses: the emergence of marital agreements, whichled to the adoption of more flexible legal rules that allow spouses acertain freedom to choose the property relations regime between them;

b. within the family: to protect the interests of the family, theyresorted to mandatory rules that provide for limitations and prohibitions(Art. 321-322 on the family home - new concept in the Romanian law,art. 316 on documents seriously threatening family interests);

c. between family and society-third parties: by the establishmentof formal requirements of legal documents, including marriage


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agreements concluded by notarial act, and with the obligation of makingit public.

Taking into account the international conventions to whichRomania is party and the principles contained in the Europeanrecommendations in the field the new Civil Code replaced the regulationof the Family Code with modern regulation harmonized with Europeanlaw (Sitaru, 2001; Ungureanu, Jugastru, Circa, 2008) rules. Thus,according to art. 312 of the new Civil Code "The future spouses canchoose as matrimonial regime: legal community, separation of goods orconventional community (paragraph 1). Regardless of the matrimonialregime chosen, one cannot derogate from the provisions of this section,if otherwise provided by law (paragraph 2)."

Paragraph 2 of art. 312 of the new Civil Code provides thatregardless of the chosen matrimonial regime one cannot derogate fromthe provisions of this section. Section I of Chapter VI called Patrimonialrights and obligations of the spouses is entitled Common provisions. Articles 312-338 of the new Civil Code are dedicated to this section. We note that thissection brings under regulation the primary regime that we define as theset of legal norms governing the relations established between spouses, or between one orboth spouses, on the one hand, and third parties on the other hand, relationshipswhich refer to property existing at the contracting of marriage, acquired during it andthe obligations and in connection with such goods or for the accomplishment of theduties of marriage and that apply to all marriages, regardless of the maritalregime to which the spouses are subjected.

From the provisions of art. 312 par. 1 of the new Civil Code wenotice that future spouses can choose as matrimonial regime: legalcommunity, separation of property or conventional community.

We note that by means of the provisions of art. 312 of the newCivil Code it is established: a legal system that is the community propertyregime and two types of conventional types of regimes: the regime ofseparation of property and the regime of conventional community (thelatter includes conventional derogation from community propertyregime) (Aniței, 2012 : 18-41).

Legal matrimonial regime includes assets acquired by eachspouse during marriage, except property required by law, that representseach spouse's own assets.


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Community legal regime shall be applies in all situations in whichprospective spouses do not opt for separation of property regime orthe conventional community regime.

The separation of property regime is characterized by the factthat each of the spouses is the exclusive owner of his/her current assetsand of those they acquire on their own after the contracting of marriage,for the adoption of this regime the spouses being forced to draw up aninventory of movable property belonging to each one at the contractingof marriage.

The conventional community regime is applicable when bymatrimonial agreement, derogates from the provisions on the legalcommunity regime, and the matrimonial convention concluded in thiscase can narrow or broaden the community of goods.

In conclusion, the legislative novelty of the new Romanian CivilCode which reformed the Regulation of the Family Code of patrimonialrelations between spouses in Romania, lies in the possibility of future spousesto choose between several matrimonial regimes, responding thus to the continuous needfor adaptation of existing legislation to socio-economic needs and to the trendmanifested in this field at European level.

2. The notion of matrimonial regimes in different legalsystems (Anitei, 2012 : 172-176).

Comparative law studies show that in many legal systems theconcept of property relations between spouses includes legal relationshipsconcerning spouses’ heritage assets and liabilities, the powers that eachspouse has on those goods, and the obligation to contribute to marriageexpenses (Droz, Georges, 1974:84).

In the foreign legal doctrine the notion of matrimonial regimehas been defined differently. While two foreign experts consider that thematrimonial regime is the relationship between the spouses arising fromtheir marriage in terms of their property, another proposes a lapidarydefinition easy to remember: a set of rules aimed at governing monetaryrelations between spouses (Crăciunescu, 2000 : 3-4; Terré, Simler, 1989 :1).

In French law (Lamboley, Laurens-Lamboley, 2006: 23-47;Vasilescu, 2003 :56-106; Crăciunescu, 2000: 9 ) matrimonial regimes are


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defined as the rules governing monetary relations maintained betweenthe spouses between themselves and with others.

Some legal systems make no difference between personal andpecuniary relations between spouses. Thus, in Madagascar, pecuniaryrelations between spouses are part of the personal status and are subjectto personal law.

In the CIS, the Family Code of 1969 devotes only a few articlesto the property regime of spouses in a set of rules on personalrelationships.

In various legal systems matrimonial property regimes areclassified according to the following criteria (Vasilescu, 2003 :56-106;Crăciunescu, 2000 : 9 ):

Depending on their source, we have:- legal matrimonial regime which consists of all the rules governing

property relations between spouses and between them and thirdparties, being established by rules contained in legislation;

- conventional matrimonial regime represented by all economic relationsestablished between spouses and between them and third parties;they are governed by rules established by the spouses through aspecial contract, also called matrimonial agreement.Depending on their internal structure we have:

- The matrimonial regime of community which is characterized by thefact that some assets acquired during marriage with a specific titleare considered to belong in co-ownership to spouses, forming amass of assets that is treated separately from the assets of eachspouse;

- matrimonial regime of separation which is characterized by the factthat there is no mass of assets to concurrently belong to bothspouses, regardless of title, and the time when assets had beenpurchased;

- the dotal matrimonial regime (was defined in art. 1234 of the CivilCode. "as the fortune that a man received from a woman to helphim support the tasks of marriage").

- eclectic matrimonial regime, combining the separation of propertyduring marriage with the community principle manifested at itsdissolution.Depending on the degree of malleability we have:


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- the mutable matrimonial regime, namely the regime which maychange during the marriage;

- the immutable matrimonial regime, meaning that regime which cannotbe changed during marriage.By trying to group states according to their legal regime, research

literature (Crăciunescu, 2000: 1-167; Vasilescu, 2003: 105-108; Andone,2006: 3-64 ) placed the property matrimonial regime of common law and Islamiccountries outside any typology. The characteristic element of these systemsis the idea of separation and the fact that matrimonial regimes (in termsof legislation, doctrine or practice) do not have an actual autonomy, asthey are embedded in the general law relations that are establishedbetween spouses.

In English law, the term of matrimonial property regime isunknown, as the rules on the patrimonial status of the spouses are notsystematized; family law itself received recognition only after 1950.These regimes are characterized by the fact that there isn’t a mass ofgoods that belongs to both spouses, but only the personal property ofeach spouse. They preserve the exclusive ownership of all goods in theirpossession at the time of marriage and those they acquire duringmarriage by onerous or gratuitous title, each having the right to use,manage and dispose freely of their property.

In Muslim law even if theoretically, the notion of a matrimonialproperty regime does not exist, however there is a unique matrimonialregime which represents the separation of spouses’ goods combined witha specific dotal regime. The dotal regime is required by law as a conditionfor the validity of marriage for people belonging to rite Malekit, or as abiding effect of the marriage contract for people belonging to other rites.

Community legal regimes are the most common ones, being found inmany legal systems. This kind of regime has the following forms:

- universal community, including all property of spouses, whetheracquired before or during marriage, as in Denmark, Norway,Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Brazil andUruguay;

- reduced community for property acquired during marriage,applied as a legal regime in Romania, France, Spain, Poland,Bulgaria, Portugal, Russia, China, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico andChile.


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Legal separation regimes are relatively isolated, being found in Japan,Turkey and Greece, the latter being the only European country that stillregulates the dotal regime. In Germany, the separation regime is aconventional one, which applies if spouses refuse the legal regime ofparticipation in acquisitions. In Switzerland this type of system has aconventional or extraordinary law status, the latter being ordered by thejudge at the request of either spouse, as a protective measure against theother spouse.

Mixed matrimonial regime (expressed through participation inacquisitions) borrows rules from the separatist regimes and from thecommunity ones, generally applying provisions specific to first regimefor asset management during marriage and provisions of the secondregime for the liquidation of the mixed regime. This regime can be foundin countries such as Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Finland, Sweden,Paraguay, Colombia, Uruguay and Quebec in Canada.

Another mixed matrimonial regime is the matrimonial regime ofparticipation in movable property and acquisitions from Senegal, which appearsduring marriage as a separatist regime, but involves a system of co-management of property similar to community property regimes, and incase of dissolution spouses’ property is liquidated as in case ofcommunity systems.

However, we note that the notion of matrimonial propertyregime is not a universal legal concept. There are legal systems which are notaware of this notion, such as the common law legal systems, where rulespertaining to the matrimonial property regime in Roman-German law aredispersed in different chapters or Islamic legal system where marriagedoes not change in any way the powers that each spouse has on his/herproperty.

We conclude that the scope of the Romanian matrimonialproperty regime is equivalent with the scope of the same term in otherlegal systems.

3. The scope of matrimonial property regime notion inRomanian private international law

Currently, the conflict of laws in matrimonial matters is stated inart.2589-2596 of the new Civil Code.


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From the provisions of art.2590 of the new Civil Code, we cansee that the law applicable to the matrimonial property regime is, as arule, the law chosen by the spouses (lex voluntatis). However spouses havethe option limited to the following laws:

- the law of the State where one of them has their habitualresidence at the date of choice;

- the law of the State whose citizenship each one of them has atthe date of choice;

- the law of the State where they establish the first commonhabitual residence after marriage celebrationFrom the provisions of art.2591 paragraph 3 thesis I of the new

Civil Code we can see that spouses can always choose another lawapplicable to the matrimonial property regime, in compliance with theobservance of the convention of choice of applicable law conditions. So,spouses can choose only one of the laws applicable to matrimonialregime according to art.2590 of the new Civil Code.

According to art.2591 paragraph 3 thesis II of the new CivilCode the new law takes effect only for the future, if spouses have notdecided otherwise, and shall not prejudice in any way the rights of thirdparties.

If the spouses have not chosen the law applicable to theirmatrimonial regime, this is governed by the law applicable to the generaleffects of marriage. 2

The provisions of art.2591 paragraph 1 of the new Civil Codeshow that the choice of law applicable to matrimonial regime is made byconcluding an agreement before the celebration of marriage or at thetime of the conclusion of marriage or during marriage.

According to art.2593 paragraph 1 of the new Civil Code the lawapplicable to matrimonial regime governs:

a) the limits of the choice of matrimonial regime;b) the possibility of matrimonial regime change and the effects of

this change;c) the content of the patrimony of each spouse, the property

rights of spouses and the debts of spouses;d) the termination and liquidation of the matrimonial regime and

the rule on the division of common property (except the establishment

2 Art. 2592 of the new Civil Code.


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of lots and their distribution which are subject to the law of the Statewhere the property is located at the date of partition) 3;

e) publicity measures and enforceability of matrimonial regimesin relation to third parties4.

However, as a protective measure for third parties, when at thedate of conclusion of the legal relationship between a spouse and a thirdparty they had their common residence in the same State, thematrimonial law of this state, with the following exceptions should beapplied:

a) the publicity or registration conditions required by the lawapplicable to matrimonial regime have been met;

b) the third party knew, at the date of conclusion of the legalrelationship. the matrimonial regime or recklessly ignored it;

c) the estate publicity rules laid down by the law of the Statewhere the property is situated have been complied5.

The essential features that a legal relationship must meet in orderto be qualified by the Romanian authorities in the conflicting category ofpatrimonial relations between spouses are:

- legal relationships should be established between spouses orbetween a spouse on the one hand and third parties on the other;

- legal relationships should result from the status of marriedperson that the parties have;

- the purpose of the legal relationships should be the property ofone or both spouses acquired after marriage or obligationscontracted for accomplishing the tasks of marriage.Any legal relationship that meets these features can be included

by the Romanian authorities in the category of economic relationsbetween spouses, to determine the applicable law based on the conflictof laws from art. 2590-2596 of the new Civil Code, even when the legalrelationship as such is unknown to the Romanian Family Code.

Once the operation of primary qualification is completed, byframing the legal private international law in the case of conflict of lawsof art. 2589-2596 of the new Civil Code and the determination of theapplicable law, the matrimonial property regime notion shall acquire a

3 Art. 2593 paragraph 2 of the new Civil Code.4 Art. 2595 paragraph 1 of the new Civil Code.5 Art. 2595 paragraph 2 of the new Civil Code.


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new content and a new scope, as a result of the operation of secondaryqualification which is achieved by lex causae, namely after the substantivelaw, applicable to the legal relationship in question. The solution ofqualification by lex causae is supported by most private international lawdoctrine (Filipescu, 1999: 109; Jakotă, 1997: 223; Audit, 1997: 203-204;Loussouarn, Bourel, 1996: 201-203).

References:

Andone, R., O., (2006). Convenţia matrimonială-soluţie prematură saualternativă viabilă? Eseuri de hermeneutică juridică (MatrimonialAgreement – premature solution or viable alternative? Essays of LegalHermeneutics), vol. III, Venus Publishing House, Iaşi.

Anitei, N., C., (2012b), Regimurile matrimoniale potrivit noului Cod civil(Matrimonial Property Regimes under the New Civil Code), HamangiuPublishing House, Bucharest.

Aniței, N., C., (2012a). Dreptul familiei (Family Law), HamangiuPublishing House, Bucharest.

Aniței, N., C., (2011). General Considerations on Personal Relationsbetween Spouses under the Provisions of the New Civil Code.Postmodern Openings, Year 2, Vol. 7, September, pp: 7-16

Audit, B., (1997). Droit international privé, 2e édition, EconomicaPublishing House, Paris.

Bacaci, Al., (1986). Raporturile juridice patrimoniale în dreptul familiei(Property Legal Relationships in Family Law), Editura. Dacia,Cluj-Napoca.

Bacaci, Al., Dumitrache, V., C., C., Hageanu, C., (2005). Dreptul familiei(Family Law), 4th edition, All Beck Publishing House, Bucharest.

Bodoaşcă, T., (2005). Dreptul familiei (Family Law), All Beck PublishingHouse, Bucharest.

Crăciunescu, C., M., (2000). Regimuri matrimoniale, Editura All Beck,Bucureşti.

Droz, Georges A., L., (1974). Les regimes matrimoniaux en Droitinternational prive compare, Receil des cours de L'Academie de droitinternational de la Haye, Tome 143, III.

Filipescu, I., P., (1999). Drept internaţional privat (Private InternationalLaw), Actami Publishing House, Bucharest.


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Filipescu, I., P., (2000). Tratat de dreptul familiei (Family Law Treaty), 5thedition, All Beck Publishing House, Bucharest.

Filipescu, I., P., Filipescu. A., (2007). Tratat de drept internaţional privat(Treaty on Private International Law), revised and enlargededition, Universul Juridic Publishing House, Bucharest.

Filipescu. I., P., Filipescu A., I., (2002). Dreptul familiei (Family Law), AllBeck Publishing House, Bucharest.

Florian, E., (2008). Dreptul familiei (Family Law), 2nd edition, C.H. BeckPublishing House, Bucharest.

Frenţiu, G., C., Moloman, B.D., (2008). Elemente de dreptul familiei şi deprocedură civilă (Elements of Family Law and Civil Procedure),Hamangiu Publishing House, Bucharest.

Fuerea, A., (2005). Drept internaţional privat (Private International Law), 2nd

edtion revised and enlarged, Universul Juridic Publishing House,Bucharest.

Jakotă, M.,V., (1997), Drept internaţional privat (Private International Law),vol. I., Editura Fundaţiei Chemarea, Iaşi.

Lamboley, A., Laurens-Lamboley, M.-H., (2006), Droit des régimesmatrimoniaux, ed. a 4-a, Ediura LexisNexis Litec, Paris.

Loussouarn. Y., Bourel. P., (1996) Précis de Droit international privé,Editions Dalloz, Paris.

Lupascu, D., (2012). Drept internațional privat (Private International Law),Universul Juridic Publishing House, Bucharest.

Lupaşcu, D., (2009). Dreptul familiei (Family Law), 4th edition amendedand updated, Universul Juridic Publishing House, Bucharest.

Sitaru, D., Al., (2001). Drept internaţional privat (Private InternationalLaw), Treaty, Lumina Lex Publishing House, Bucharest.

Terré, F. , Simler, P., (1989), Droit civil, Ed. Précis Dalloz, Paris.Ungureanu, O., Jugastru, C., Circa, A., (2008). Manual de drept

internaţional privat (Private International Law Handbook),Hamangiu Publishing House, Bucharest.

Vasilescu, P. (2003) Regimuri matrimoniale. Parte generală. (MatrimonialRegimes. General Part) Rosetti Publishing House, Bucharest.

21

Romanian Deaf Sign Languages Projects - an Overview

Florea BARBU1

Ionut Adrian CHIRIAC2

Abstract:In the last years, some foundations working with teams of willing teachers

from Romania have developed projects involving Romanian deaf sing language, withthe hope that his kind of projects will improve the integration of the persons withhearing disabilities in all the aspects of social life. The authors are making a review ofthe existing projects involving Romanian deaf sign languages from past and present,describing the progress made in the last years and suggesting possibilities for futurepossible developments. Main conclusion is that the effort of developing projects for deafinvolving Romanian Sign Language (RSL) are meritorious but there is a lot of spacefor new future projects. These conclusions open possibilities for a lot of possible futureresearch projects directions in Romania, such as deaf sign language applications ortranslation systems, made with the help of the computers.

Keywords:sign language, romanian sign language, deaf sing language, deaf sing projects,

deaf sign translations

1 Florea BARBU - Univ. Lecturer, Phd., University of Pitesti, Faculty of OrthodoxTheology. Dept. of Sociology and Social Work, Str. Targul din Vale, Nr. 1, 110040Pitesti, Tel. 0348 453 130, e-mail: [email protected] Ionut Adrian CHIRIAC - Assistant Professor, “Carol Davila” University ofMedicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Marketing, Technologzand Medical Informatics, Bucharest, Eforie st. no. 4-6, Phone +40-0722 607 804, e-mail: [email protected]


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1. The Romanian Sign LanguageThe Romanian Sign Language (RSL) has been by far the most

dominant and preferred means of communication by the approximately25,000 hard-of-hearing people living in Romania (according to theNational Authority for the Persons with Disabilities, 2006) and for theapproximately 2,000 living in Bucharest (Barbu, 2011).

According to Mr. Mihai Grecu, President of the RomanianNational Association of the Deaf, there were 31,000 members registeredby the organization in 2010 in 34 subsidiaries and seven branchesthroughout the country (Mihai Grecu - Jurnalul National, 2010). Around7 % of them are deaf children with deaf parents learning RSL as theirfirst language (http://www.eaea.org/doc/EUDECU.pdf). That is about0.08 % of the entire population. As for the rest of the deaf, variousdifferent causes such as: accidents, illnesses, bad medical treatments, etc,may have impaired their hearing.

The number of people who use RSL includes family membersand friends of the deaf, people from special deaf educationalenvironment, individuals with research or social roles, which makes thenumber of the RSL users larger than the number of deaf. This meansthat approximately 1.4-2% of the Romanian population use RSL, with0.08% using it as their first language. Audionova, leader company inmanufacturing hearing instruments, claims that from 1999 to the present,they have sold 2.5 millions hearing-improving devices, whichunfortunately shows that the number of people with hearing disabilitiesis very large (Barbu, 2011), and if only some of them partially used RSL,it would mean that the figures of the RSL users presented may be evengreater.

On 9th November 1919, the Friendly Society of Deaf-and-Dumb in Romania was founded (under the patronage of Her MajestyQueen Mary), and its main goal was to defend the interests of deafpeople and help them. Since 1953, the Romanian Association of theDeaf has been financed by the State (Ministry of Health and SocialProtection). Since 1995, after the National Conference of theAssociation, the "National Association of the Deaf" has fallen under thecoordination of the National Directory Council (Mihai Grecu - JurnalulNational, 2010, disponibil la http://www.jurnalul.ro/starea-de-sanatate/asociatia-nationala-a-surzilor-din-romania-552670.htm)

Romanian Deaf Sign Languages Projects - an OverviewFlorea BARBU, Ionut Adrian CHIRIAC

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2. Sign Language National Projects in Romania2.1. TRAINING the teaching staff in schools for the

hearing impaired"TRAINING teaching staff in schools for the hearing impaired"

is a POSDRU project started by Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napocaon 1st October 2010 and is due to end on September 30th, 2013. Theaim of the project is to develop teaching skills using sign language and ITtools. The general objective is the training of the teaching staff in schools(ISCED 0-3) by developing the abilities to use RSL (Romanian SignLanguage) and ITC (Information Technology and Communications)support to enhance the quality and compatibility with the needs of theclass and teaching effectiveness. The project also includes thedevelopment of an IT education system in order to improve teacherstraining in schools for the hearing impaired, including an e-learningportal (http://lett.ubbcluj.ro:4646/);

The development, the supply and the accreditation of theuninterrupted training programs for teachers in schools for the hearingimpaired using RSL will have three levels: beginner, intermediate andadvanced level (with computer support). The project includes the design,the organization and the evaluation of teaching - ISCED 0 -1 andISCED 2-3 and also ITC (Information Technology andCommunications) in educating the deaf. Education units will have theirown teacher training including European innovative educationalpractices where the concern for special education is a priority for thehard-of-hearing. Education units will benefit from teachers with highprofessional skills, adapted to the needs of children/students withhearing disabilities. It is expected that such schools would becomeattractive and their number expand into elite units(http://lett.ubbcluj.ro:4646/Home/Prezentare).

2.1. Networking in Sign Language"Networking in Sign Language" is the title of a project with the

following keywords: Information and Communication. The project wasthe initiative of "June 1st, 2001 Buzau Association" from Buzau underthe name - "The Training Center for an Independent Living with SignLanguage". The project was local and its beneficiaries were the deaf-and-dumb from Buzau County. The project was carried out from October toDecember 2007, and, through this campaign, was intended to facilitate


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the access to public information for the local deaf-and-dumb public bytranslating in sign language the local news TV broadcast by TV Buzaustation.

2.3. Defeat Silence Project!Defeat Silence is another project aimed to improve the

communication between the doctor and the deaf patient. There arevarious problems related to finding and keeping a job, to personal andeducational development, stigmatism and social exclusion for those withhearing impairments. What is more, it has been common knowledge thefact that doctors have problems in obtaining personal data, antecedentsand current disease characteristics from a deaf patient. If a child becomesdeaf before learning to speak, he/she becomes silent, that is deaf-and-dumb (http://fasmr.ro/node/28).

Therefore, Defeat Silence, an umbrella grouping national andtransnational projects, aims to achieve its goal reaching the followingobjectives:

- organizing courses and workshops of initiation into signlanguage for young/senior doctors;

- creating a web platform with online courses in the fundamentalsof sign language, addressed to both young/senior doctors andalso auxiliary medical personnel.The idea of online sign language courses is based not only on

doctors’ need of having a specialized and accessible source ofinformation available but also on the need of the participants to thecourses and workshops to spread the information gained(http://fasmr.ro/node/28).

2.4. Information and Communication Laboratory for SignLanguage Communication

The project was the initiative of "June 1st, 2001 BuzauAssociation" from Buzau and its target was to facilitate the interactionamong friends and relatives of the people with speech and hearingdeficiencies.

In December 2011, "June 1st, 2001 Buzau Association" receivedfour computers designed for people with communication disabilities.The association also won three other projects in the same program, andreceived other 24 computers. The first four computers, which included


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webcams, were offered to the beneficiaries of the association, who mayinteract with their friends or relatives by sign language. What the otherthree projects concerns, "June 1, 2001 Buzau Association” created threemini-laboratories of information and sign language communication, oneof which was established at the headquarters in Buzau. Facilitating theonline communication through sign language is not the only goal soughtby setting up those three mini-laboratories, if we take into account theformation of joint beneficiaries, the skills in drafting web documents,which can better help them find a job.

2.5. DLMG.ro - Online Sign Language DictionaryANIALMG - National Association of Authorized Interpreters of

Sign Language.The organization is nonprofit, apolitical, and non-governmental

with the aim of promoting authorized and qualified interpreters andtheir recognition on the Romanian territory.

The Association’s website: http://ailmg.ro/ at Project sectionrecommends this link DLMG.ro - Online Sign Language Dictionary. Theonline dictionary has a very friendly interface with a dictionary includinga section with filter by starting letter. When a word is selected, a videorecording of the correspondent sign demonstrated by a humaninterpreter appears in the right section. When the selected word isclicked on, first time the pronunciation is heard and after that the videorecording can be viewed. The online dictionary owns a search sectionand a contact section (http://ailg.ro/).

Project for gestural vocabulary standardization teachers newlyemployed

(Submitted by Lecturer Barbu Florea, in consultation with a teamof teachers from the school for the hard-of-hearing, in Bucharest)

Several Dictionaries of RSL (Romanian Sign Language) havealready been published in Romania. A first attempt to unify andstandardize the RSL (Romanian Sign Language) was made by theuniversity lecturer Ph.D. Barbu Florea with the help of teacher NegruMarieta, financially supported by the Lightintoeurope Foundation. Thetwo are deaf. This latest material was recorded on DVD and wasdistributed throughout the special deaf school network in Romania. Mr.Barbu Florea has successfully used this material in sign language


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seminars and courses at the State University of Pitesti and in gesturalsign language courses at the Faculty of Sociology and Special Psycho-pedagogy from the University of Bucharest.

According to Mr. Barbu Florea, a sign language course wasdesigned and includes 1880 words/signs. These words/signs have beenphotographed and captions explain how to correctly make the signs,according to a specific grammatical structure, taking into account theconfiguration of the hand, hand movement, palm orientation andlocation of contact. This content is to be used by teachers who haverecently been employed in schools for the hard-of-hearing.

3. Sign Language International Projects with Romanianparticipation

3.1. European Deaf Culture Project, EUDECUThis project is part of Socrates program, benefiting from funding

for two years (1999-2000) (http://www.eaea.org/doc/EUDECU.pdf).The project was coordinated by the Center for Language andCommunication by Signs, represented by Asger Bergman (hard-of-hearing) and Tove Ravn (hearing) and was accomplished with theparticipation of delegates from the national deaf associations inDenmark, Belgium, Spain, Greece and Romania. This project wasdeveloped in two stages:

On the first stage, in 1999, a sign language information seminarwas held about the situation in the above-mentioned countries,concluding with a work (Deaf, Language, Culture) printed in Denmark inorder to be used by the national deaf associations.

On the second stage, in 2000, the project continued andinformation was gathered on sign language teaching for the parents ofdeaf children. The information was completed by developing the work:Teacher's Guide for Parents to Teach Sign Language.

It is worth mentioning that both works were translated byuniversity lecturer Dr. Barbu Florea, who took part in the project, andcopies were printed by the Foundation with the support of RENINCORomania and distributed throughout the network of special schools forthe deaf and National Deaf Association territorial branches in Romania(http://www.eaea.org/doc/EUDECU.pdf).


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3.2. LINQUA 2 Project part of the SOCRATES Program2000-2001

This project called PUZZLE has been coordinated by theUniversity of Liege, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. Itwas realized with the participation of academics from prestigiousuniversities in Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Romaniaand Spain, joined by one deaf person with experience in universityeducation from each country. The aim has been an objective assessmentof oral or written language comprehension, with the help of somepictograms in order to optimize the communication with deaf childrenand deaf adults or with people with speech disorders. The project hasproved to be a valuable tool in assessing the capacity of understandingthe sign language, oral and written, by deaf people (children or adults)(http://socrates.um.edu.mt/lingua.html).

4. Conclusions:In all researches I have performed in Romania so far I could not

find any major projects with impact regarding deaf sign translationsystems or deaf signs avatars. Therefore, I believe that any kind ofresearch would be welcomed in deaf sign translation system in Romanianlanguage, particularly with regard to the following: access to publicservices, commercial transactions and entertainment, teaching, learning ,leisure opportunities including broadcast and interactive television, e-commerce or World Wide Web. Avatars designed for this kind ofcommunication in real-time systems should be very useful for all theabove-mentioned systems.

Systems for translation from Romanian Sign Language into anyother language would be very useful for the communication betweenRomanian deaf people and foreign deaf people.

Today, the deaf people from Romania are using mobile phonesto communicate mainly by sms and, consequently, a translation systemfrom spoken Romanian into Romanian Sign Language on mobile phonewould be a very useful tool.

A Wiki Sign RO for Romanian deaf sign language would be anideal start to build a corpus of video signs, a foundation for futuredevelopments


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Bibliography

Barbu, F., (2011). Limbaj Gestual Comunicare si Interpretare, Editura Lumen,Iasi, pp: 199-225.

Surse online:http://ailg.ro/http://www.eaea.org/doc/EUDECU.pdfhttp://www.jurnalul.ro/starea-de-sanatate/asociatia-nationala-a surzilor-

din-romania-552670.htmhttp://lett.ubbcluj.ro:4646/http://lett.ubbcluj.ro:4646/Home/Prezentarehttp://fasmr.ro/node/28http://socrates.um.edu.mt/lingua.html

*all the mentioned links were accessed and available in the period 20-30.04.2012

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British Philosopher Gilbert Ryle’s Perspective onBehaviorism

Elena BANCIU1

AbstractPublished in 1890, William James’ manual, The principles of psychology,

followed by Psychology (lectures) in 1892, form the foundation of behaviorism. Thesame year, Animal life and intelligence by C. Lloyd Morgan correlates with James'view, extending it to wildlife. The next step was taken by Lloyd Morgan, with thepublication of An introduction to comparative psychology (1894), in which the issue oftrial and error learning in animals receives a systematic approach, thus pointingresearch to a specific area and interpretive apparatus that will ultimately lead to thefull crystallization of behaviorism’s ideas in the past century. The most prestigiousversion of behaviorism, that of psychological behaviorism, has strong historical roots; inthis way, one can invoke the works of Aristotle (On Nature). Another version ofbehaviorism, like that suggested by Gilbert Ryle, is logical behaviorism. Long beforethat, however, classical British empiricists, led by John Locke (1632-1704) andDavid Hume (1711-1776), used associationist prescriptions to reveal cause-effectcoupling in mental phenomena.

Keywords:Gilbert Ryle, behaviorism, mind/body, empiricism, hardware/software

1Lecturer, PhD., Communication Sciences Faculty, Ecological University of Bucharest,[email protected].


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IntroductionAccording to classical associationism, intelligent behavior in

humans (and even in some mammals) is the product of an activity ofassociative learning. As a result of associations between pairs of stimulior perceptual experiences, on one hand, and ideas and thoughts, on theother, human beings and animals learn about the environment andchange their way of acting accordingly. Of course, associations allow forthe discovery of causal structures. The association is a fairly simple wayto acquire knowledge about the relationships between events. Behavioralintelligence marks knowledge of this type. Such a model has fascinatedBritish empiricists, although, in a sense, they should not be labeled as"behavioral": as stated, this line of thinking emerges a century later, innineteen-century science.

An important precursor of empiricism, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) can be considered a phenomenalist as he bases his attempts ofexplaining mental activity on phenomena rather than essences.Contemporary with Descartes, who develops a concept to be later called“body / mind dualism ', Hobbes leads further the empiricist conceptioninitiated by Francis Bacon. Attempting a synthesis between empiricismand Cartesian rationalism, Hobbes concludes that sensations are theresult of imperceptible movements that occur in our body and the mindis nothing but calculation applied to varied sensations. Hobbes's centralconcept of ontology is that of physicality. Hobbes finds the empiricalsource of sensation: the outer body or the object that makes animpression on a sense organ or another, as stated in the Leviathan, Part I(On man), chapter I (About the senses). The universe is an aggregate ofall possible and achievable bodies.

The properties of bodies and the qualitative variety of thematerial world depend on motion, on a double motion: one internal tothe bodies (atoms), the other external, which is acted upon our sensoryorgans by external objects and phenomena. Inside the mental frame, theBritish philosopher distinguishes memory (a lasting trace left byperception after repeated requests), imagination (the feeling whichgradually weakens over time, producing phantasms) and intellect, thelatter being a correlate of imagination through language.

In the same mechanist fashion, Thomas Hobbes explainsbiological, physiological and even social processes. From the succession

British Philosopher Gilbert Ryle’s PerspectiveElena BANCIU

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and chaining of images, our ideas begin to reflect world. Through theassociation of names that evoke ideas come sentences and fromconnecting these in turn comes reasoning. For Hobbes, man is, like anyother, a material body whose mechanism can be explained by movement.On the same mechanist basis our spiritual life and human knowledgeitself are explained.

John Locke is usually regarded as the founder of modernempiricism. In Essay on the human intellect (Locke, 1961:238), althoughit deals mostly with problems of epistemology, ontological problems arealso present. Body and mind are described by their characteristics, thefirst by solidity and volume and by the possibility of communicationthrough impulse, the second by cogitation and free will: "Our idea ofsoul, regarded as immaterial spirit is that of a substance that thinks andhas the power to put the body in motion, by will or thought." Mind isimmaterial, but substantial, and so it is not accidental but has anecessarily determined existence. By using a deistic solution, Locke triesto solve two important problems: the source of movement in nature andthe nature of human consciousness: God is invoked as prime mover ofthe Universe (a "relic" from Aristotle’s On Nature). God is also the onewho "seeds" consciousness in the human being. Thus, from a body /mind perspective, Locke is neither monist nor dualist, remainingsomewhere halfway. Divine and natural causality sometimes combine.

Our intellect behaves as a mirror towards things. The equivalentof mirror images of things is, for the intellect, simple ideas. These ideasare, however, are not exact copies of external things. Some of themexpress intrinsic qualities of things, other express the effects of things onthe human mind. Immutable qualities that belong to things are: thevolume, the figure, the motion, the repose, the impenetrability and thenumber. These qualities of things are called primary qualities. But bodiescan exert certain influence on our senses, such that they producerepresentations of heat and light, colors, sounds, smells, tactilesensations, etc.. They are located not in the bodies themselves, but in themind. Our intellect does not operate only with simple ideas, butcombines them and gets complex ideas, which are divided into threeclasses: modes, substances, relations.

David Hume, the philosopher about whom is said to haveawakened Immanuel Kant from the "dogmatic slumber", is the one that


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leads forward these ideas, bringing Locke's empiricism to its lastconsequences. For Hume, to think something through sensory qualitiesand to think its existence means different things. Sensations arediscontinuous, perceptions try to give continuity, but only imagination(which is based on consistency or coherence of impressions) is able torepresent the outer world as continuous and uninterrupted (Hume,1987).

Therefore, Hume's attempt to build a moral philosophy based onexperience and covering human nature ended in failure and skepticalconclusions of knowledge. The philosopher refuses to ask whether thereis an objective reality outside consciousness and deals with experience asan experience of consciousness without relating it to the external world.

Consciousness is nothing but a collection of differentperceptions, united together by certain relations, which derive from thelaws of association of ideas. All perceptions of the spirit can be classifiedinto two categories: impressions and ideas, differing in the degree ofvivacity with which they occur in the spirit and make their way intothinking; an idea differs from an impression through its intensity,impressions being more vivid, colorful, accurate in comparison withideas. If one make an analysis of one’s own conscience, that is of what ishappening in the spirit, we encounter but a series of impressions, ideas,pleasures, pains, emotions, passions, feelings: consciousness is nothingbut the changing of these conditions; the philosopher, though, cannotidentify a support for all these things. The conclusion of the Treaty onhuman nature is that man cannot know the essence of the material orspiritual world, because knowledge is reduced to a succession of ideas inthe consciousness, to which habit gives a causal character. Perceptualknowledge cannot certify the existence of God, matter or spirit. In otherwords, sensory knowledge is not able to elucidate the status ofsubstances such as God (the supreme substance), matter (the substanceof the surrounding universe), consciousness or spirit (manifested as ahuman self).

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) challenged the theory of DavidHume, reducing foreign objects to simple permanent possibilities ofperception. To explain a phenomenon is to determine its cause, toexplain a law is to reduce it to other known laws. In both cases, one istrapped in the closed circle of the phenomenal world and cannot grasp


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the essence of things perceived. The self is reduced to a permanentpossibility of producing feelings that one does not have, but might have.According to Mill, the belief in the permanence of the self is nothing butthe belief in the permanent possibility of psychic manifestations, a beliefthat always accompanies our real feelings.

2. Behaviorism in the twentieth centuryFor the first modern psychologists there were no differences

between "consciousness" and "mind". Psychology was described as astudy of the mind and consciousness, even though the affects could notbe contained entirely inside either of the two concepts. Theintrospection method was suitable for the study of consciousness - thusmental investigation methodology allowed for procedures different fromthose of the natural sciences. With the advent of behaviorism,introspection as a method of investigation, and consciousness, as anobject of investigation, were no longer of interest to scientists.Behaviorists believed that the only chance for psychology to become ascience was that its data be directly observable and objectively measured.

In Chicago, at the beginning of the last century, a movementemerged within psychology that treats behavior as a subject of studyusing observation as its only method. This movement, which bringstogether the natural environment as invariable and introspection asvariable, took the name of behaviorism. Claiming that it promotespsychology to the level of objective science, behaviorism seeks to definelaws that link stimuli to response and allow derive behavior fromstimulus. The first works to consecrate behaviorism are those of JBWatson, Clark Hull, Edward Tolm, with the most prominentrepresentative of the current, being, in the twentieth century, BurrhusSkinner. The geography of perceptive terminology can be used in actualcases with examples from literature reflecting the impact of natural andsocial environment on the individual's mental representations.

The personal experiences of an individual could be revealed onlythrough introspection and not directly through observation. Thus, thepsychology had to deal with public rather than personal events, eventswhich were observable only to the individual experiencing them. Becausebehaviorists approached phenomena in terms of the subject’s verbalresponse, their excessive interest towards observable behavior made


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them neglect interesting psychological problems such as dreams,meditation, hypnosis, subjective aspects becoming totally irrelevant tothem. In the sixth decade, psychologists have gradually begun toacknowledge that some aspects of consciousness were too important tobe neglected.

In 1894, C. Lloyd Morgan published An introduction to comparativepsychology highlighting the idea of learning by trial and error in animals,which strongly influenced the behaviorist current. Scientists werefocusing on the comparison between human and animal intelligence inan attempt to separate the two types of behavior. In 1903, Ivan Pavlov,professor of psychology at the Military Medical Academy in St.Petersburg, whose work influenced early behavioral psychologists,receives the Nobel Prize for his research in digestion. This occurs almostsimultaneously with the publication of JB Watson’s thesis, AnimalEducation, at the University of Chicago. Another notable figure is thepsychologist and philosopher James Angell, who significantly influencedearly behaviorist psychology with his work Psychology: an introductorystudy to the structure and function of human consciousness (1904).

In 1913, when JB Watson published his study, Psychology, abehaviorist point of view, Sigmund Freud inaugurated a different approach,by writing Totem and Taboo. The methodological diversification inpsychology becomes evident with the emergence of Edmund Husserl’sIdeas - general introduction to pure phenomenology (1913). At this point,psychologist James Mark Baldwin published a History of psychology,following its development from Aristotle to “the present”.

Watson's basic idea is that of a "mental geography": although themap is not the territory, its outline on the map leads to objectiveknowledge and so produces the path from subjective to the objective.Geopolitical imagery can be translated into a system of interpretationwith the help of "mental maps". If we ask two persons of close ages butdifferent professions to sketch from memory, on paper, a map of thearea where they live, we will be surprised to note the differences; suchdesigns are called, with some ease, "mental maps ". The case of twopeople living in Paris was studied, a baker and a salesman. While thebaker points out the residential areas, some institutions benefiting fromits services (hospitals, restaurants) and vaguely outlines the Seine, thecommercial agent, a graduate of an institution of higher education, is


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drawing representative areas of Paris. His area of residence, outside thecity, is drawn oversized.

In the wider context of the real landscape, we are indirectly awareof an important part of it and perceive directly even less. Our senses notonly retrieve information, but also filter some of it. According to itsmental processes and intellectual qualities, the individual has a simplifiedmodel of reality.

In the theoretical and experimental framework of psychologypracticed in the interwar period, behaviorism shares space with othertrends. In 1921, Bertrand Russell published one of the most importanttexts of modern philosophy of mind, Analysis of mind. Using ideas frompsychological behaviorism and abyssal psychology, Russell gives up thebody / mind dualism in favor of neutral monism. It is the year thatLudwig Wittgenstein publishes Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, his only bookpublished during his lifetime. Experimental psychology witnesses asignificant development with the emergence of dedicated personality test(projective tests). Psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach is the first to developthe ink stains test for diagnosing personality types and disabledpersonalities. In this context, psychologist Edward Chace Tolmanpublishes his article A new formula for behaviorism (1922).

Other basic texts on behaviorism include: A behavioralinterpretation of consciousness (1923) by neurophysiologist Karl Lashley,Behaviorism by JB Watson (the first edition appeared in 1924) and Mind,ego and society: the point of view of a social behaviorist (1924), an impressivestudy by George H. Mead.Mead.

Classical associationism is based in its associations on a first layerof introspection entities such as perceptual experience or stimuli, and ona second layer of thoughts and ideas that relate to the first layer.Psychological behaviorism, motivated by experimental interests arguesthat to understand the origins of behavior, one must refer to experienceswith direct reference to stimuli (physical events in the environment), andthat references to thoughts or ideas should be modified or eveneliminated in favor of references to reactions manifested through directbehavior. Although associationist behaviorism is psychological in nature,it disapproves any reference to mental events.

Human beings themselves resort to such analyzable entitiesthrough language, even though these are not recognized by behaviorism.


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From a behaviorist’s perspective, the practice of a subjects talking abouttheir moods and introspectively relating to those states is considered as apotentially useful psychological experiment, but does not help us inmaking assumptions about the physical presence or non-presence ofthese states. There are different types of psychological causes underlyingthe introspective reports and, starting from these causes, behavioristsinitiate a thorough behavioral analysis.

The assumed task of psychological behaviorism is primarily tospecify certain types of association and of understanding behavioralcontrol based on external events. Secondly, to uncover and explain thecausal regularities or laws and functional relationships governing theformation of associations. Based on this one can predict behavior changeaccording to environmental changes. The word "conditioned" iscommonly used to specify certain types of antecedents in the acquisitionof new associations. Animals, for instance, in the so-called "operantconditioning" (with learning experiments) are not forced to pull thelever, instead they acquire elements about the relation between events intheir environment: pulling a lever makes food available.

In its historical fundamentals, methodological and analyticalbehaviorism is influenced by positivism. One of the main objectives ofpositivism was to unify sciences natural psychology with exact science.Watson wrote :"psychology, from a behaviorist standpoint, is a purelyexperimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical objective is that ofprediction and control...” (Watson, “Psychology as a Behaviorist’s ViewIt” in Psychological Review, No. 20, 1913:158). The psychologist laterrestates the idea in Behaviorism (1930): the object of psychology is topredict, given the stimulus, what reaction will take place, or, given acertain reaction, what is the fact or stimulus that caused that reaction.

The features of the behaviorist currentThe history of twentieth century science brings to stage three

types of behaviorism: psychological, methodological and logical. Thepsychological behaviorism is the classic one released by William Jamesand C. Lloyd Morgan. The methodological behaviorism is a point ofview according to which public behavior is crucial in establishing eventsand mental states; According to the promoters of this trend, the internalstates of the psyche should be excluded from the study of psychology.


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The exclusion could be justified by the fact that a common language forthese internal states would be a utopian project. Methodologicalbehaviorism is seen as doomed by many psychologists, considering thatpsychology cannot abandon the introspective method, which clearlydifferentiate it from the exact sciences. Logical behaviorism focuses onthe meaning of mental verbs and sentences such as 'X believes that p ".Sadness, pain and many other feelings are negative, undirected, diffuseand vague. Some feelings such as "joy" or "wellbeing", are observedmore clearly from the point of view of public behavior, especially whendirected towards other people, but these induce diffuse and vague statestoo. In any case, although internal pain is a subjective experience, theperson that feels it can learn to associate the word pain to publicsituations. More than that, one can detect the criteria and techniques bywhich other people can be made responsive to one’s internal states.William J. Earle sees behaviorism as a point of view for which we canput forward a formula such as "X believes that p if and only if ..." wherethe empty space contains a description of an observable public behavior(Earle, 1999:138-140). In the above formula, X is an intelligent agent andp, a sentence. Moreover, instead of "believes" other mental verbs mayappear: "wishes", "expects", "fears", "threatens", etc.

As a doctrine, behaviorism can be subsumed almost entirely inthe following sets of requirements, which operate as assumptions: 1)psychology is a science of behavior, not of internal states; 2) behaviorcan be described and explained without reference to mental events or thedevelopment of internal processes; from here the requirement comes todeal with external sources of behavior (in the environment) and not withinternal ones (present in the mind); 3) during the development of apsychological theory, if at any time the mental terms or mental eventshappen to be "dislocated" in descriptions or explanations of behavior,then either: (a) these terms or concepts should be eliminated andreplaced by behavioral terms, or (b) it might or must be translated toconcepts or behavioral events, etc.

The three sets of assumptions introduce distinct logicalrequirements. Moreover, taken independently, each one helps to form atype of behaviorism. "Methodological" behaviorism is committed tofinding the truth on the path of assumption 1). The "psychological"behaviorism engages on the assumption path 2). "Analytical"


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behaviorism (referred sometimes as "philosophical" or "logical") iscommitted to an assumption similar to that of section 3), that is todescribe true mental events by using terms or propositions consisting ofbehavioral concepts. The translation to behaviorist language does notrepresent only a possibility for the behaviorist, but also an obligation:this way a major disambiguation of logical concepts takes place, thusfacilitating the application of all empirical methods.

Logical behaviorism moderates the flow of „internal states ofmind" by stating that we learn to use the words of a public languageusing criteria and rules that are under the scrutiny of linguisticcommunity members. In other terms, private language is a logicalimpossibility, like the private-ostensive definition, because language isbased on public or social situations. Private-ostensive definition wouldindicate a situation like "by pain I understand what I feel now."Ostensive are those indications that lead to the defined object. Ofcourse, "what I feel now," contains few indications for the interlocutor,from here resulting that the "definition" is devoid of content. Not thesame thing is happening when we say "let's go for picnic" – the indicatedspace is well defined by ostensive-public definitions.

There are scholars that introduce other classifications ofbehaviorism. Georges Rey classifies behaviorism in methodological,analytical and radical, the last term being used by Rey to describe thepsychological behaviorism of Skinner Burrhus (Rey, 1997:96). Indeed,giving up techniques specific to psychology for it to become a naturalscience is a radical attitude, which affects the whole of theinterdisciplinary research. Skinner uses the term "radical behaviorism" todescribe philosophical concepts in relation to behaviorism, employing aworking program in social and human sciences, leading to thecombination, from another perspective, of the three types ofbehaviorism (methodological, analytical and psychological).

There are several reasons for the attractiveness of behaviorism,reasons that are also attractive for a thinker such as Gilbert Ryle. Thefirst is epistemic in nature. There are enough prerogatives to enounce,through a statement in the third person, that an animal or a person is in acertain mental state, that, for instance the animal or person has a certainbelief or tendency to act, based on observable behavior variables.Moreover, it can be argued that a certain behavior justifies the attribution


39

of a belief and can be fixed as prior to belief. If, for instance, we look athow people use the terms and concepts of mental health, such as"belief", "desire", pre-conditions of use may occur inseparably related tobehavioral tendencies in certain circumstances. If the attributed mentalstate has a special link with the behavior, it is tempting to say that thementality consists only of behavioral tendencies.

The second reason can be expressed as follows: there is a bigdifference between mental traits considered native (already representedin the "cerebral structure") and those conditioned by association withbehavioral codes. Mental traits tend to have a strong nativist bias. This istrue even if there is nothing inherently nativist about mental content.From the outside we assume that the mind has at birth a set of internalprocedures, represented in the brain, for processing rules and proceduresand these are "dislocated" during learning or during the acquisition ofnew responses (Fodor, 1981:257-316). It is the argument of Jerry Fodorinside a nativist current whose initiator is Noam Chomsky.

The third reason for resorting to behaviorism, at least in thepopular version, is related to a mistrust towards relating to the innerpsyche, to the mental or to the accreditation of "inner information" ascauses of behavior. This distancing, being pushed to disregard issupported in the works of Skinner. At this point, a common attitude ofpsychologists and logicians is becoming obvious, Gilbert Ryle beingincluded in the second category.

Philosophical behaviorismWilfred Sellars (1912-1989) notes that a thinker can be labeled as

behaviorist, vaguely or in terms of attitude, if he or she insists onconfirming hypotheses about psychological events in terms of behavioralcriteria. A behaviorist is a theorist of psychology who demands proof.For such a person, there is no difference between two cognitive states ofmind unless there is a difference between behavioral variables associatedwith each state. From here to turning behaviorism into a whole doctrineis a long way, but this has already been walked.

Although distinct, logical, methodological, psychological andanalytical behaviorism have common features. Burrhus Skinner, in hisradical behaviorism combines all three forms. It aims to establishpossible analytic structures of behavior in terms of mental paraphrase


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when they cannot be eliminated from explanatory discourse. In Behavioralverbs (1957), and in other works, Skinner tries to show that mental termscan be given behavioral interpretations. In About behaviorism (1974), hestates that when mental terminology cannot be removed, it might still be"translated into behavior." Radical behaviorism strictly studies thebehavior of the human and animal bodies, and not the internal processprocedures. So it is a form of methodological behaviorism. Finally,radical behaviorism understands behavior as a reflection of the effects ofrepeated stimuli, which means that it is a form of psychologicalbehaviorism. Thus one can talk, in the case of Skinner, about a completebehaviorist doctrine.

Behaviorism of one kind or another has been a popular researchprogram and methodological engagement in socio-human sciences sincethe second decade of the twentieth century, at least until the beginningof the "cognitive revolution" (in the 70s). In addition to Gilbert Ryle andLudwig Wittgenstein, who manifested a clear sympathy for behaviorism,other philosophers concerned with adjacent fields are Rudolf Carnap,Hempel and Georg O. Willard Quine. The first attempts to translatepsychology in the language of physics; the second undertakes, in 1949, alogical analysis of psychology. Hempel affirms that all intelligiblepsychological statements, are translatable into statements which do notuse psychological concepts, but only for the physical concepts ofbehavior. The unintelligible ones cannot be classified inside scientificlanguage.

Finally, Quine approaches language and scientific language whichcan be categorized as behavioral (Quine, 1960:77). He argues that thenotion of mental or psychological activity disregards scientific reasonswhich have their origins in the discourse as communicative activity. Todiscuss in a scientifically disciplined manner about the meaning of asentence, one must refer to a stimulus to express the so-called"meanings-stimuli".

After the 70s, behaviorism has lost power and influence.Psychologists and scientists generally become free of complexes whenfaced with the "internal data of the psyche" and accept new models ofinformation processing. Cognition science develops based on acomparing the psyche with computer software, which means that,increasingly, the psyche is represented by a black or gray box model. The


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black box stands for non-algorithmic activities (or for which thealgorithm is of no interest) whilst the gray box stands for partiallyalgorithmic activities. Once the localization of the control signal in thebrain achieved, outstanding models of different physical processes haveintroduced "cognitive demons", represented by black boxes. Laboratorywork done in the fields of cognitive psychology and ethology requiredmethods in which behavior data is irrelevant to the study of both animalsand people in their natural or social environment. The traditional attitudeof relative indifference to neuroscience and of reverence towards eventsoccurring in the subject’s environment was abandoned in favor of directtechniques of brain study as the only way for behavior understanding.

But behaviorism has not completely left the scene of scientificevents, although was a staunch contester of neuroscience. Robustelements of behaviorism survived the therapies and laboratory animalstudy based on theories of learning. The influence of behaviorismdeclined primarily because of the declining of the idea that behavior canbe explained without reference to non-behavioral mental events(cognitive, representational or interpretive). According to this thesis, thebehavior can be explained only by reference to functional elementsrelated linked or in co-variation with the environment or with otherindividuals. Thus, it depends on the history of the subject’s medium ofinteraction. For Skinner, neurophysiologic and neurobiologicalconditions, support or implement these functional relationships. Butthese do not serve as exits from the system or independent sources ofbehavior. Behavior cannot be accounted for during its remaining inside[an animal]; finally, we must turn to forces operating on the organism,without which we could not understand it. If there is no weak link in thechain of causality, such that the second (neurological) element isadequately determined in relation to the first (environmental stimulus)and to the third (behavior) then the causal chain does not break. Is whatBurrhus Frederic Skinner says himself. Validation of information aboutthe second element of the chain sheds light on behavior, but thatrespective variable cannot change by itself: the external behavior variableis a function.


42

Gilbert Ryle and the behaviorist current.Ryle's critics agree that his analysis is not very convincing in

terms of the elements of conscious experience such as sensations,perceptions, representations or thoughts that occur routinely. Identitytheory is trying to defend, given the weaknesses of behaviorism, withoutturning to dualism, the status of mental states as relevant causalmoments for behavior. Australian psychologist and philosopher U.T.Place’s thesis is that the elements of conscious experience are identicalwith the processes and states of the brain. The identity thesis becomespopular and is the most debated thesis of the 60s.

Gilbert Ryle invokes behaviorism at the very end of the bookthat propelled him as a critic of dualism, The Concept of Mind (Ryle,1949:327-330), after reviewing some unfulfilled aspects of twentiethcentury’s psychology program. The above cited logical behaviorismversion proposed by Gilbert Ryle in his book it seems to E.J. Lowe(Lowe, 2000:50) sophisticated enough, without the author trying tojustify his claim. It is possible that this sophistication is due to thedifficulty of meeting the rigors of a formal expression of the form 'Xbelieves that p "applied to the description of behavior. Complications areamplified when instead of "believe" one uses other mental verbs to betranslated to physical or behavioral verbs. In Ryle's view, betweendescriptions of mental and bodily states, correlating and not opposingelements must be found, in a spirit of a "body" = "psychic" identity thatrequires the study of observable physical reactions as well as that of theways in which the psyche gets bodily dispositions or expressions. TheBritish philosopher primarily considers the corporeality of the spirit.

It is important that, on this occasion, Gilbert Ryle reopens thediscussion of body / mental identity theory as part of a very ambitiousphilosophical strategy: to present in a single concept matter and spirit.There are many theories of identity in mathematics and logic, whichmeans that: there is the language of theory a predicative symbol of 2nd

order, say P, called equality. We agree to write t = u instead of P (t, u).Of course, among the axioms of a equality theory there must be somethat imply the existence of the following theorems:

(1) Predicate P has the properties of an equivalence relation(reflexivity, symmetry, transitivity);


43

(2) u1

... unv

1... v

n(u

1= v

1 ... u

n= v

n) f (u

1, ...,

un) = f(v

1, ..., v

n)), for any functional symbol f of order n > 0; (3) u

1...

unv

1... v

n(u

1= v

1 ... un

= vn

) R (u1, ..., u

n) = R(v

1, ..., v

n))

for any predicative symbol R of order n > 0.The comment on Leibniz's principle of identity (if a = b, then P

(a) = P (b) for any predicate P) remains open and coincides with the tRproperty (considered for a single variable). The inverse relation, that is a= b, since P (a) = P (b) is called by Leibniz 'the principle of theindiscernible", not being always valid for a function. The equality, farfrom being a trivial equivalence, meets several criteria that make it apt to"attack" formally the material identity. The two principles of identity andof the indiscernible, indicates that theories with equality are at least ofthe first degree (with quantifier for individual variables), but, most often,of the second degree (with quantifier for sets). Thus, calculatingpredicates could be a minimal model for a "finer" representation ofreality.

More than a quarter of a millennium ago, Leibniz applied theidentity theory to build a body / mind parallel, in the sense that monads(the body entelechies endowed with psyche), although isolated from eachother, are like windows to the divine spirit. Will makes them turntowards this spirit and to recognize each other; on the other hand, thedivinity, in its wisdom, "matches" at birth the physical clocks of the bodyand psyche such that the two entities mutually recognize. One finds herean evocative comparison with the origin of a God made universe whichis left to "work" by virtue of a causality that we today are qualifying asmechanistic. In that era, the scientist could conceive a God as a brilliantwatchmaker.

Of course, an issue which was always of interest, regarding thehuman destiny, was if body and mind are consubstantial or not. Theanswer provided by scientific theories covered three options: yes, no andundecided. From this perspective, the psyche is seen either as a matter(by eliminative materialists) or spirit (by gnostics) or as an entity outsidethe matter / spirit coupling (the agnostic). There are philosophers wholeave the problem unresolved, such as the undecided John Locke. Thosewho recognize the matter / spirit interaction inside the body / psycheproblem can be called dualists. In the latter case it is called interactiondualism. Interaction dualists refer most often to the impossibility of


44

separation between body and psyche. But accepting separation leads tothe mind / body parallelism (an old concept, advocated by Leibniz in hisMonadology, but reiterated in recent decades) towards a extreme dualism ifbetween the two entities is admitted an accidental connection.

Body and mind are composed of matter, energy and information.The matter-energy-information model is put forward today in variousfields and the researcher in the social and human sciences is required toovercome inconsistencies resulting from poor correlation between broadconcepts, having categorical value and those specific to a certain field.For instance there are about 110 chemical elements, but what are thefeatures that distinguish the biochemical from the chemicals?

In a Boolean calculation with concepts, the identity "S E"extends only over a world made of matter and energy so the only validrelations are "substance substance" and "energy energy "; in thesyllogistic calculation an existential assumption on the concepts isintroduced and that adds to the world described above, in black andwhite, the "gray” nuance (marked in Venn diagrams with an asterisk,being either "substance" or "energy"). The existential assumption alsoapplies to notions ("there is energy"), and the relations between them (no"uncreated energy" in science, although there are uncreated energies andforces in religion). Considerations of this kind are preparing a broaderdiscussion of mind philosophy trends around an equality theory inwhich we could accept that "S E", if S and E describe the same aspectof reality, where S = "substance" and is = "energy". The interpretation isan intensive aspect (not extensive) of the "body = psychic" relation andit will make possible a discussion on how a theory can be based on anotion of axiomatic theory of sets. The widest conceivable relation ofidentity is: S E I, and the weaker relations are S E, E I, S I,when one accepts the identity of only two terms out of three.

In Boolean logic (two truth-values), the equivalence relation(simplified, reflexive, symmetric and transitive identity) determines aninitial partitioning of formulations, partitioning leading to a Booleanalgebra structure. In micro particle physics, the game of symmetry,reflexivity and transitivity leads to "populating" a world very differentfrom that of the macromolecular. In this world, the "bit" (an alternativebetween two states) does not have a stable value ("active" or "passive")but "remembers" two, even opposing, states. Thus, it is not surprising to


45

see the interventions around the Identity Principle, which, as stated onanother occasion, are rather meta-logical than logical, the same way as, ata moment in the history of knowledge (seventeenth and eighteenthcenturies), the non-contradiction principle and the principle of sufficientreason were an unavoidable teleological regulation, as pointed out byLeibniz.

Behaviorists have brought up again the body / mind discussion.Burrhus Skinner conceived this problem in a polemic againstneuroscience. For him, neuroscientists, identify more or less the physicalorganisms underlying the processes with their interaction environment.For many critics of behaviorism it seems clear that, at a minimum, theemergence of human characteristics and behavior (especially human)does not depend, first, on the repetition of a consolidating activity,although it is a factor, but on the learning environment with its historyand its representation method. That the environment is represented byme, for me, in-forms or constrains the functional relations between myaction environment and myself. It does not matter, for example, howconsistent I was in the act of eating ice cream and how often I repeatedit from one day to another; such a history does not matter if I do not seea potential stimulus in the ice cream, if I do not get the pleasure ofenjoying an ice cream or want to hide the fact that my ice cream wasprovided by someone else. My conditioning through the history of anevent is less important than my "genuine" behavior in the environmentor than the learning history I represented or interpreted.

Although undecided in the body / psyche problem, by denyingdualism, behaviorists are especially inclined to describe the body, and notthe spiritual side (with the exception made, of course, by Skinner'sradical behaviorism, with the assumption of a social "narrativeimagination"). The delimitation of his conception from behaviorism,made by Gilbert Ryle at the end of The Concept of Mind (cf. Ryle, ch.Tenth century), is supported by the British philosopher primarily by theidea that he did not accede to a mechanistic causality, resulting from thestudy of the stimulus-response relation.

On the other hand, it is very difficult to separate Ryle frombehaviorism as long as his "logical maps" are similar to the "mentalmaps" of J. Watson. Ryle's grip on key behavioral polemical themesshould also be considered: free will, body / mind separation and the


46

homunculi problem. In an article suggestively named Philosophy, Geographyand Logical Dilemmas, (Meyer (ed.), 1993:9-15) René Meyer tries to capturethe whole of Ryle's work, attempt in which the logical geography iscrucial. Although his mental maps are not limited to the spatial element,as it happens with behaviorists, but, crucially, introduce a temporal factorand a long-term intervention of reason, we should not forget that thelogic diagrams can be represented not only in algebraic or arithmeticform but geometric as well. We might even have coloring suggestions:white for true, black for false and gray for undecided. Or, why not, todescribe truth and falsehood one can use complementary colors: yellowand blue, for example. But the similarities end here, because it is difficultto represent both the sequences and the antecedents of reasoning onlogical maps (Meyer (ed.), 1993:9-15).

Calling Ryle a behaviorist remains a real problem: it hangsbetween a positive response and a doubtful one. In the terms of theBritish philosopher, it would be a categorical error, as William Lyonsnotes (Lyons, 1980:197-198). For Ryle addresses the essential question:"what is the correct logical form or the category of concept X?", tryingto give an answer like "a disposition is causing a behavior P, and not aninternal mental process", or: "the behavioral occurrence arose undersuch provision behavioral or an adjacent one". Let us remember thatbehaviorists ask the question: "what is causing my behavior in the Xmanner?". And from here the possible responses: "environment Y" or"the probabilistic calculation of my behavior in environment Y thatproduces the most credible results".

References

Earle, W. J. (1999). Introducere în filosofie, Editura All, Bucureşti.Fodor, J. (1981). The Present Status of the Inatness Controversy, in

Representations, MIT Press / Bradford Books, Cambridge (MA).Hume, D. (1987). Cercetare asupra intelectului omenesc, Editura Ştiinţifică,

Bucureşti.Locke, J. (1961). Eseu asupra intelectului omenesc, vol. I, Editura Ştiinţifică,

Bucureşti.Lowe, E.J. (2000). An Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind, Cambridge

University Press, Cambridge.


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Lyons, W. (1980). Gilbert Ryle. An Introduction to His Philosophy, TheHarvester Press, Sussex / Humanities Press, New Jersey.

Meyer, R. (ed.). (1993). Gilbert Ryle. Aspects of Mind, Basil Blackwell,Oxford.

Quine, W. (1960). Word and Object, MIT Press, Cambridge (MA).Rey, G. (1997). Contemporary Philosophy of Mind: A Classical Approach

Contentiously, Blackwell, Oxford.Ryle, G. (1949), Concept of Mind, Chicago Press, Chicago.Watson, J. (1913). Psychology as a Behaviorist’s View It, in Psychological

Review, No. 20.

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Policy Perspectives on Migration of Romanian HealthPersonnel

Irina CEHAN1

AbstractThe phenomenon of international migration of healthcare professionals has

increased in the last decade and, although it is not a reason for the world crisis oflabour in area of healthcare in some countries, it is indeed a major element of humanresource shortages. Romania is an example for a country where the significant scale ofemigration of healthcare professionals has severely added to the crisis of the healthsystem. So far, Romania has failed to formulate a comprehensive strategy to addressthe existing shortage of medical personnel and to retain medical professionals trainedin the country. The analysis has shown that there is a need to improve the currentpolicies to guarantee the access to healthcare services to everyone.

This paper underlines the necessity of improving the Romanian existingpolicies in health system to address the problem of migration of health personnel, as itis fundamental for the functioning of the whole health system and also proposes somerecommendations for future health policies.

Key words:migration, health personnel, policy, recruitment

1 Irina CEHAN - Centre of Ethics and Health Policies, University of Medicine andPharmacy “Gr.T.Popa” Iasi, Email Address: [email protected]


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Current ContextInternational migration of healthcare professionals has increased

in the last decade, emphasizing the question of medical staff crisis insome countries (Dumont, Zurn, 2007:163). According to the WorldHealth Organization (WHO), in 2006 there was a deficit of more than 4,3 millions of medical staff worldwide, the developing countries being themost affected by this. Under these circumstances, the lack of healthcareprofessionals is associated to the phenomenon of migration, althoughthe Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) and WHO reports underline other factors too, whichaccentuate the lack of human resources in the medical field, such as theworld economic crisis, pandemics, deficiencies in the healthcare systems,etc.

The human resource crisis in the health sector also has animportant ethical dimension, raising a variety of issues regardingRomania’s obligations under international human rights, individualhealth professional’s social responsibilities and international mobility(Cehan, 2012). Social responsibility involves two levels: global andindividual. The first deals with the relationship between the source andthe destination (host) country and refers to policies related to migration,interstate agreements, recognition of qualifications, pull and pushdetermining factors, while the second focuses on domestic issues relatedto the assimilation of values, moral principles, the option to exercise ornot certain rights, and the limits of exercising the rights by respecting theprinciple of not doing harm. The fact that the individual lives in acommunity with various connections between individuals leads to amoral dut (Damian et all, 2012) of each one of them and also to socialresponsibility (Necula et all, 2012). On this grounds, the higher socialresponsibility of the healthcare professionals can be accounted for bythese connections and the state of necessity, in which those who live inthe source country find themselves, the state of the vulnerable personswho demand a fundamental right: the right to healthcare. Therefore,sometimes individual social responsibility requires some limitations ofcertain rights (for example the right of freedom of movement) and asJeremy Snyder said, this could be even not a choice but an obligation(Dumont, Zurn, 2007: 163.) of doing so, in the light of the ethicalprinciple of doing no harm. So, doctors’ decision to leave the country

Policy Perspectives on Migration of Romanian Health PersonnelIrina CEHAN

51

has various echoes in personal plan (accommodation to other country,adapting to new requirements of work and to new environment,questions of identity and belonging) as well as in the social reality, astheir leaving has a deeply impact in the health system.

In this context, the international recruitment of healthcareprofessionals also became an usual practice for many countries, as asolution to cover their lack of staff, but, at the same time, it became aproblem for the developing countries, as Romania. The acceleration ofthe recruitment from these countries and the increased flow of migrationlead to destabilizing their healthcare systems, already in danger due tofinancial difficulties.

The rise, in the last decades, of the phenomenon of internationalmigration of doctors (especially to OECD countries) has drawn experts’attention to analyse the reasons of medical staff deficit worldwide and tostudy this phenomenon in order to understand its causes, consequenceson providing healthcare services and to make recommendations thatcould help improve the current policies.

After Romania joined European Union in 2007, the healthsystem struggled with an unprecedented migratory flow of healthprofessionals and consequences are visible in the impact on providingpeople’s access to health services, especially in rural areas. The realnumber of health care practitioners who left the country by now isunknown , it can only be estimated, because there are no records on thisissue. The only official data is provided by the Ministry of Health and theRomanian College of Physicians on the basis of diploma verificationcertification and requests for certificates of good standing. But this canonly highlight the intention of leaving the country and not stand up forthe actually number of those who really left to practice abroad. Themigratory flow (Netedu, Chmilevschi, 2012) is a dynamic one andmonitoring it could be a continuous difficult process that involvesvarious mechanisms and actors, as sometimes the decision to migrate isnot a final one (in case of temporary migration), or doctors that practicedabroad return in the country of origin (not excluding the possibility ofleaving the country again).

According to WHO, in 2006 in Romania there were 42538doctors registered and 9,4% (4 397) were working abroad before 2007,most of them in west European countries. A study conducted in 2010


52

showed that the number of doctors who left Romania in 2007 was 1500,in 2008- 2100, in 2009- 1800, and in 2010 approximate 2500.

Economic development and political opening have madepossible that people might move freely within the borders of theircountries and abroad. The freedom of movement is also guaranteed bythe Romanian Constitution and Romania has clinched a series ofagreements with the EU member states and started negotiations withother countries aimed at concluding bilateral agreements. These legalinstruments determined a controlled and protected access of theRomanian workers to the European labor market, but couldn’t stop theflow of migration of healthcare personnel.

Some EU stipulations and directives, such as Directive2005/36/CE relating to the recognition of the professional qualificationshave also facilitated the migration of Romanian medical staff in the EU.Until the apparition of this directive, the fact that the national studieswere not recognized or additional training was needed to practice thesame specialization as in the source country or procedures were difficultand took time, led to discouraging Romanian doctors to decide onpractice abroad.

The WHO and OECD reports have underlined in the last yearssome of the reasons (pull factors) of the international migration ofdoctors: salary raise, access to new medical technologies, possibility tooffer a better future to their children. Moreover, there are other specificfactors such as: increased specialization of the healthcare services, ageingof the population in some countries, increased access to information,improvement of the transport means. At the same time, emigration hasbeen a quick solution to covering the demand of medical staff in someOECD states, which had to cope or are coping with a lack of workforcein the medical field after the year 2000. The main destinations of doctorsworldwide are: New Zeeland, Ireland, Great Britain, USA, and Australiaas stated by OECD in 2010.

The analysis of the reasons for the migration of doctorshighlights the significant contribution of the socio-economic andpolitical environment in the country of origin when doctors decide to goand work abroad. This decision is not an easy, but a complex one due topersonal and external factors involved (like family, high aspirations forprofessional development, financial matters, lack of possibility of


53

practicing medicine in adequate conditions, social and political context,moral conduct in the society, adaptation to other country’s style of life,language, work, etc).

A 2010 report of WHO underlines that the financial/economicaspects do not represent the main cause for the healthcare personnel’migration, but the career opportunities and the will to obtainprofessional satisfaction. Hence, the society plays an essential role inensuring individual needs and in offering opportunities that may enablepersonal development and fulfillment. The same findings werehighlighted in a qualitative study with Romanian doctors who practicedabroad and returned in the country: the will for professional experiencein an efficient working environment was the main trigger to leave thecountry, the practice in foreign hospitals being a real source of personalsatisfaction and valorization (Teodorescu, 2011: 176). So, Romaniandoctors choose to practice abroad not as a question of survival, but as arecognition and confirmation of their personal knowledge and value.

The differences between the level of wages in Romania and thecountries of destination has been indicated by the health systemmanagers in Romania as one important reason for determining themigration in health system, in a survey done in 2007 with the help ofPublic Health Ministry. This is understandable as the Romanian wagesfor health personnel is way under the average level of Europeancountries for the same category of medical staff.

General Physician Job Average Salary- International comparison-2005-worldsalaries.orgCountry Net monthly job

incomeGross monthly job income

UK $ 6,045 5,106 poundsFrance $ 2,843 2770 eurosFinland $ 3,794 5,107 eurosItaly $ 3,294 4,336 eurosPortugal $ 1,591 1,720 eurosCzech Republic $ 961 32,349 corunasRomania $ 430 1,771 new lei(390 euros)


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For 2012, the president of The College of Romanian Physiciansspecified that in Romania a resident physician earns 200 euros and theaverage wage for a specialist is 495 euros, while in European countriesthe average is of 1100 euros for a resident and 7995 euros for a specialist.

The same study states that a main measure that would lead tolimitation of leaving and to stabilization of the situation could be asignificant wage growth, followed by improving working condition; inthe same time it emphasizes the need for a legislative framework in thehealth system that would support the existing problems. A wage growthmeasure could be feasible, but it requires a high mobilization ofresources, which may not be available in the context of the currenteconomic crisis. An advantage of such a measure will be a high degree ofretention of medical staff (Snyder, 2009) in the country, but in the sametime this should be correlated with improving working condition. Abetter legislative framework is the most feasible measure, but what ismore important is to have the power and resources to implement thenew legal provisions.

The above shows that the current public health policies inRomania have not been able to create and sustain an environment thatwould lead to developing medical professional (Manea, 2011; Plotnikova,2011; Runnels, Labonte, Packer, 2011) career and have failed to provideadequate wages for the work done and to provide sufficient professionalopportunities for all graduates that may enable personal developmentand fulfillment.

On the occasion of the G8 summits in Tokyo (Japan, 2008) andAquila (Italy, 2009) the necessity to remedy the world crisis of healthcareprofessionals was pointed out, and the World Health Organizationdecided to develop a practice code of international recruitment which, in2010, became The WHO Global Code of Practice on the InternationalRecruitment of Health Personnel. This code isn’t a completely newphenomenon, although its significance is granted by the worldwidedimension it wishes to assume and define. It highlights the practice ofbilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding for supportingethical recruitment. Such instruments were focused and efficient because ofa small scale of application, and an international consent on suchpractices was needed.


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The Global Code appeared in a context where the assumptionthat the recruitment process was ethically questionable, especially whentalking about recruitment from developing and poor countries so aninternationally agreed frame was necessary. This code aims to establish aseries of voluntary principles and practices for ethical internationalrecruitment of healthcare professionals, taking into account the rights,obligations, expectations of the source and destination countries, as wellas the interests of the migrant healthcare personnel. Besides theseprinciples, the Code stipulates a series of responsibilities, rights andrecruitment practices to assist an ethical recruitment, drawing attentionto some extremely important aspects. One of these refers to therecruiter’s understanding of the social responsibility of the healthcarepersonnel towards the source country, as an equitable contract ofservices and, consequently, recruitment is best to be avoided. For thefirst time, this Global Code recommends that active recruitment fromthe developing countries, which have an acute shortage of personnel,should stop, except the cases where states have bilateral and multilateralagreements between governments (Cehan, Manea, 2012: 19). In this waystates have a reciprocity position and the recruitment process will takeplace as it was established, a practical control of the phenomenon beingalso possible.

The code is supposed to serve as a reference point for the memberstates when they establish and improve the legal framework regardingthe international recruitment and also to act like a guide for theimplementation of international treaties and other legal instruments.

Although Romania is a member state of WHO, the Global Codehas not been yet incorporated into national legislation, so consequencesare seen in the active recruitment of foreign agencies, which offeralluring working packages to Romanian doctors at fair jobs organized indifferent cities to determine them to leave their country, contributing inthis way to the current shortage of personnel. Thus, not only inRomania, but in other WHO countries too, the support for these codeswas more symbolic then a real one, as no country developed by nowsome mechanisms for monitoring the compliance with code’s principles.Still the Code doesn’t have any sanctions for failure to comply with itsprovision, so its effectiveness is limited. In the same time, as it is not abinding tool and its disposal being voluntary, it is unlikely to attain its


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objectives. Even at the stage of recommendation, it represents animportant tool to influence the recruitment’s behaviours (Willetts, Martineau,2004: 4).

The appearance of the Global Code highlighted once again theclearer awareness that the ethical issues related to recruitment(Eckenwiler, 2009) should be an important element in elaboratingsuitable policies and tools by all the countries involved. No matter astate’s interest in covering its shortage of personnel, the balance in thehealth workforce (List, 2009; Lowell, Findlay, 2002) at international leveland the principle of not doing harm must be primary.

If this rhythm of migratory flow continues, and without no offsetof its negative effects, Romania will face major imbalances in theprovision of health services, in accordance with the current needs ofsociety. If nothing will change, a real collapse of the health (Zivotovsky,A., Zivotovsky, N., 2009: 16-18; Watkins, 2005:240-243) system couldbe possible. This is why urgent actions must be taken by all the actorsinvolved in the health system.

Policy OptionsThe 2011 Report of the College of Romanian Physicians showed

that Romania has 2, 2 doctors to 1000 inhabitants, which is under theEuropean average of 3, 3. For that we can say that Romania hascurrently a shortage of doctors and that the present approaches couldnot prevent the massive leaving of doctors to practice abroad. Themedical migration (Connell, Buchan, 2011) is a phenomenon determinedby complex factors deriving from the current context, that cannot facethe expectations in job demands, educational standards, medicaltechnology.

The lack of investment in the health system in the last decade hasled to the endowment at a low level of public health units with modernmedical equipment and performance utilities and granting low wages tohealth personnel comparing to their own opinion of their status. Thishad an impact on the quality of medical services for the citizens. Thedifference between rural and urban areas is higher concerning theinfrastructure, in spite of changing policies over the years. The access tosome isolated rural areas and the rudimentary equipment are factssometimes where the poorest population needs the most medical care.


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Even today these disparities are still pronounced due to lack ofeffective investment policies in this matter. Also reduced financialinvolvement in initiating effective programs of public health andprevention have led to the result of a poor quality of people’s health.

Although recently, The Strategic Plan of Ministry of PublicHealth for 2008-2010 has set its objectives in the development of humanresources, in accordance with the needs of the population, the fact thatthe number of doctors who migrate is still increasing leads to theconclusion that the measures taken by the leaders in the system do notcorrespond with doctors’ needs and it is necessary to establish newdirections in health policies which should nationally be effectivelyimplemented.

A possible explanation of the fact that strategies approached bynow in the medical human resource couldn’t be more specific and aimed,is because there were not enough data on the situation of migratory flowof health personnel, the existing information are still poor anddisparately, and there aren’t studies and researches focused on thedeterminants of leaving, as the role of doctors in the society and theirresponsibility is higher than of other professions. The migrationphenomenon is a dynamic one and a focus on understanding itcompletely and observation on its effects supposes a mixture of forces incomplementarity, from government actions, policy makers’ strategies,actions of stakeholders, decisions of health personnel whether to leavethe country to practice abroad or not, the demand of patients inhealthcare services, etc.

The need of change must appear in the vision of the governmentand all the stakeholders, so that the measures taken not only in the healthsystem but in other sectors of activities connected with the medical areacollapses on doctors’ expectations and patient’s needs, as these arechanging due to the economic crisis and socio-political reality. There isan imbalance in the jobs supply for doctors and their demands, andbecause the system is under financed, both human and financialresources existing cannot sustain an operational system and guaranteethe basic human right to health. Because of that, even the access tohealthcare services is in danger to be jeopardized and the right to healthcould not be properly protected.


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Policy RecommendationsThe project findings suggest that the current health policies failed

to account the reality of Romanian medical migration, the determinantsof this phenomenon and the current needs and expectations of patientsand doctors. The consequences of these policies on people, that failed toachieve practical improving objectives, determined real problems in theaccess of the healthcare services.

Therefore the following recommendations are required;- Government strategies should focus on the retention of medical

personnel in the country- so that the investment in education ofhealthcare staff could be kept

- Human resource strategies need to take into consideration thefactors that contribute to the emigration of Romanian healthcareprofessionals and health personnel’s expectations regardingwages, working conditions, professional opportunities to limitthe migratory flow and decrease the intent of practicing abroad

- A comprehensive human resource management strategy in thenational health system needs to involve coherent sectorialpolicies, the development of a continuous training system andstrategies to allocate human resources in a balanced manner

- The World Health Organization’ Global Code of Practice on theInternational Recruitment of Health Personnel should beincorporated into the national legal framework to have a legalframe as a basis for ethical recruitment of Romanian doctors byforeign recruitment agencies and also into legislations ofdestination countries where they usually emigrate

- A systematic monitoring of emigration of health professionalsshould be put in place to foresee and respond to overallshortages of health personnel and address regional imbalances inthe allocation of medical doctors

- Romania as source country should demand substantialengagements from those who are offered education in the healthcare field and increased attention should be paid to resourceswhen people are given training in this field. The state loses itsinvestment when doctors migrate, and atonement of paying backfor the studies would at least afford other investments in thesystem so the financial resource is recovered


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- A global cooperation would be desirable between the source andthe destinationcountries, the latter helping the former to copewith the migration and to take action against the “brain drain”phenomenon all the while encouraging social responsibility ofdoctors.

ConclusionsThe investment in human and financial resources and keeping

the existing ones is an extremely important task for Romania, as forevery other country and crucial for the surviving of a medical system andpeople’s access to healthcare. A good strategy for better health policiesshould take into consideration all the factors determining the migratoryflow of health professionals, the expectations of the health staff andpatients’ current needs. To sustain sufficient personnel to correspond tothe demands in the providing of health services a monitoring process ofmigration flow outside the country is also needed. This would help keepthe balance between the health workforce that went to practice abroadand its substitution with imported health staff or training of newpersonnel. The practice of active recruitment of the destination countrieswhich harms a system already in need must be eradicated or limited onthe basis of mutual agreement.

The phenomenon of healthcare personnel migration is dynamicand complex, influenced by social and personal factors of decision. Morestudies and research on this theme might be of great importance, asunderstanding it better, actions could be made in accordance andnegative effects could be minimized. Its effects are crucial in a societywhere the health system is of maximum importance granting thefundamental right to health and measures should be taken to keep itunder control.

Bibliography

Cehan, I., (2012) Migration of Health Personnel: Source Of InequalitiesIn Health In Romania, Postmodern Openings, 3(4), pp:109-120

Damian, S., Necula, R., Caras, A., Sandu, A., (2012) Ethical Dimensionsof Supervision in Community Assistance of Chronic Patients,Postmodern Openings, 3 (3), pp: 45-69.


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Netedu, A., Chmilevschi, A., M., (2012) Migration and intergenerationalrelationships, Analele stiintifice ale Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Iasi,Socilogie si Asistenta Sociala, 5(1), pp: 208-219.

Necula, R., M., Damian, S., I., Gavrilovici, O., Bunea, O., (2012)Intergenerational conflict within the family and its efects, Analelestiintifice ale Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Iasi, Socilogie si Asistenta Sociala,5(2), pp: 205-218.

Cehan, I., Manea, T., (2012). International codes of medical recruitment:evolution and efficiency, Romanian Journal of Bioethics, 10/1, 19.

Connell, J., Buchan, J., (2011). The impossible dream? Codes of practiceand the international migration of skilled health workers, WorldMedical and Health Policy, 3, 4.

Dumont, J.,C., Zurn, P., (2007). Immigrant Health Workers in OECDCountries in the Broader Context of Highly Skilled Migration”,

International Migration Outlook, Editura Sopemi, OECD, pp: 163.Eckenwiler, L., A., (2009). The WHO Code of Practice on the

International Recruitment of Health Personnel: We have only justbegun [online text], (Guest Editorial, Developing World Bioethics,ISSN 1471-884, 9/ 12-5.

List, J., (2009). Justice and the Reversal of the Healthcare Worker ‘Brain-Drain’”, The American Journal of Bioethics, pp: 9 1-2.

Lowell, L., Findlay, A., (2002) Migration of Highly Skilled Persons fromDeveloping Countries: Impact and Policy Response, (Geneva, ILOInternational Migration Papers 44.

Manea, T., (2011). Romanian Medical Migration: An Issue of Trust?”,Romanian Journal of Bioethics 9, pp: 3-4.

Plotnikova, E., V., (2011). Cross-Border Mobility of HealthProfessionals: Contesting Patients’ Right to Health, Social Scienceand Medicine, p: 73

Runnels, V., Labonte, R., Packer, C., (2011). Reflections on the ethics ofrecruiting foreign-trained human resources for health, Humanresources for Health, pp: 2.

Snyder, J., (2009). Is Health Worker Migration a case of Poaching?, TheAmerican Journal of Bioethics, 9/3, pp: 3-5.

Teodorescu, C., (2011). Migration of Romanian doctors: A qualitativestudy on the perceptions of doctors who practiced abroad”,Political Spheere, XIX/12 (166), pp: 176.


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Zivotovsky, A., Zivotovsky, N., (2009). Are Healthcare workers chainedof their country of origin?, The American Journal of Bioethics, 9, pp:16-18.

Watkins, S., (2005). Migration of Healthcare professionals: practical andethical considerations, Clinical Medicine 5, pp: 240-243.

Willetts, A., Martineau, T., (2004). Ethical international recruitment ofhealth professionals: Will codes of practice protect developingcountry health systems?, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, pp: 4.

AcknowledgementThis paper is based on the findings from the grant research project

“Postdoctoral Studies on Ethics of Health Policies, Team project tittle: Ethical andSocio-economic Aspects of Romanian Medical Migration”. Identification Number:POSDRU/89/1.5/S/61879 which started in September 2010 and will end inmarch 2013. This project is co-financed by European Commission (European SocialFund through Sectorial Operational Program Human Resources Development 2007-2013), Romanian Government, Romanian Research and Education Department,University for Medicine and Pharmacy “Gr.T. Popa” Iași, Romania. This paperdoesn’t obligatory represent the official opinion of European Union or RomanianGovernment

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Social Action through Educational Strategies: Ethics andthe Election of Communication Etudies in Spain

Joan-Francesc FONDEVILA-GASCÓN1

Josep-Lluís del OLMO-ARRIAGA2

Marta CARRERAS-ALCALDE3

AbstractThe study of social action through educational strategies inspires the weight of

ethic factors to choose Communication studies. It allows aprioristic data about theethics in the future journalists and mass media professionals. It also collaborates in themarketing strategies. In our study we analyze the impact of ethics and values in thestudents’ choice of Communication studies in the Spanish University. We analyze theimpact degree of ethics and Christian values in the selection process. We observe a highinfluence of ethics (humanistic and holistic ethics in the training, religious orientation)as a factor considered to select the Communication studies.

Keywords:Ethics, Journalism, Communication, Strategies, Social Action, University

1 Joan-Francesc FONDEVILA-GASCÓN – PhD in Journalism (Journalism andCommunication Sciences), Director and Professor of the Department ofCommunication Sciences and Official Master in Digital Communication and NewTechnologies in Abat Oliba CEU University (UAO CEU), Principal Researcher in theResearch Group about Digital Journalism and Broadband (UAO CEU), CECABLE(Cable Studies Center) Director, Phone: 34932540900, E-mailaddress:[email protected] Josep-Lluís DEL OLMO-ARRIAGA – PhD in Marketing and Market Research,Professor in Abat Oliba CEU University (UAO CEU). Phone: 34932540900, E-mailaddress: [email protected] Marta CARRERAS-ALCALDE – Graduated in Classics. Researcher in the ResearchGroup about Digital Journalism and Broadband (UAO CEU) and in CECABLE (CableStudies Center), Phone: 34932540900, E-mail address:[email protected]


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1. Theoretical framework about ethics and the decision tochoose a university

Even though the choice of a university is an angular aspect in thepublic educational policies, in Spain, it has not been studied much andless social action through educational strategies. Likewise, there are nostudies on the impact of ethics and religion. In fact, there are no specificanalyses about these two items linked to the university in the Spanishand the European literature. Nevertheless, the chance to join religiousactivities is mentioned as a decisive factor to choose an institution(Roche, Peters et altri, 1987; Jonas, 1992), but it hasn’t been analyzed indeep perspective.

The Spanish case is relevant in a lot of senses in comparison withother countries. First of all, the effects of Franco’s dictatorship are stillpresent in Spain; among other things, at the time, the Spanish was aconfessional state and religion had a big influence in all the socials levels,including university. Catalonia, an historical nation in Spain, has been themost advanced in social, cultural and economic areas, and it is reflectedin the university evolution and the ethics and religion questions. Thetranslation of this framework to the decision process of choosinguniversity is an original study object.

In the theoretical framework, we find diverse approaches forthese studies, but not the ethical and the religious one. Some of theseapproaches include the gender (Frotuny et altri, 1991). Others haveapproached the access and the first year, which depends to a great extenton the success in the previous choice (Corominas, 2001), and goingdeeply into it, the academic performance into the transition from theSecondary level to university (Fita et altri, 2004). The impact oftechnology has been analyzed at the university and Secondary level, andcan determine the choice of higher education (Fondevila-Gascón andCarreras Alcalde, 2010), as well as the nearness of the university, theappearance and the condition of the facilities (West et altri, 1991).

Other investigations have tried to establish a standardization toanalyze the process of selection of university, based on 16 characteristicsof the university and quality ratios (Roszkowski & Spreat, 2010). For theuniversity, the image is fundamental from the very beginning. Thestudies have proved that the institutional characteristics weigh more in

Social Action through Educational Strategies....J. F. FONDEVILA-GASCÓN, J. L. del OLMO-ARRIAGA, M. CARRERAS-ALCALDE

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the process of decision than the interpersonal or information resourcesused by the students (Pampaloni, 2010).

Some studies have focused on ethics partially, usually not deeply,and never as a decisive factor in the students’ decision making. Thediscussion problems about ethics, teaching and research in theVenezuelan university (an ethical reflection of structural character inorder to rethink the relationship ethic-university by thephenomenological method), included the analysis of the values, theuniversity and the management (Mora, 2002). The topic of ethical-scientific-social responsibility of a university teacher in Latin Americaand the educational and cultural transformation, the social, technologicaland scientific changes (Soto, 2009) have been studied in relation to theethics, solidarity, tolerance, co-related of the university teacher’s profile.Other research reveals that the teaching style of professional ethics inuniversity studies is not only a demand that results from a social request,but also from the need to update the curricula and the nature ofknowledge in the University according to the guidelines of the BolognaReform, as well as the values, abilities and skills related to the specificcontents of each field (Agejas et altri, 2007).

In the context of European and Spanish universities, this analysischanges. Throughout the European Higher Education Area, there is aproposal about University functions in relation to the teaching of ethicalprofessional competences, and an ethical commitment of Europeanprocess to know and analyze professor’s attitudes towards ethicscurriculum and teaching (García López et altri, 2009).

The information that the students possess in order to choose auniversity is a basic factor. The lack of information has been reflected inuniversity failure in terms of low rate of success, frustration, or sensationof loss of time. In spite of the attempts to establish motivating factors ofchoice (Porto and Mosterio, 2000), the analysis of mass media impact is abarren scientific area that can contribute to pragmatic solutions for theinvolved entities.

The number of empirical investigations on the factors of choiceof university and the impact of mass media in this process is minimal ornon-existent. The identification of the process of information includesmass media as angular factor. Though in the process of informationthere exists an implicit phase across which consumers can manage to


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choose possible results, it is based on the assumption that the futureuniversity students are active at the moment of deciding on the productsthat they decide to buy. How students choose between the differentalternatives, how they look for information about the differentalternatives, how the mass media influence in their decision and whatsources they use for it are outlined as aspects of analysis. In decisivefactors (Bowe, Gewirtz and Ball, 1994), mass media could have aninfluence, like other factors such as the access to the information, theanticipation, the familiar negotiation, the calculation or the valuation(Veleda, 2002). Our mission is to detect the influence of ethics, valuesand religion in relation to other variables.

It is essential to have equitable distribution of the information.Assuming that criteria like the process of choice depend on theeconomic, cultural and social resources of the families (Ball, 1993,Crozier, 1997), it is interesting to detect the influence of the sources ofinformation.

Our hypothesis is that ethics, values and religion are not the mainfactors when students look for the necessary information to analyze theirdifferent alternatives in the process of choosing the university.Therefore, and in general, students do not have all the information whenchoosing a university.

As possible sources of information, the Broadband Society(Fondevila-Gascón, 2008) shows an increasing influence, that is to say,the web pages, the digital journals and the social networks. It should benoted that 59,1% of the Spanish homes have access to Internet (Ontsi,2011) and 64,2% of the Spanish population is considered to be anInternet user (the generations affected by our investigation lead thisclassification).

This investigation is especially relevant and even potentiallylongitudinal due to the lack of empirical studies that analyze the impactof ethics and values issues when choosing Communication studies. It cangive place to strategic marketing solutions that the differentCommunication Faculties, public or private, can adopt.


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2. The sources of information about the existinguniversities

On 2011, the Research Group of the Universitat Abat OlibaCEU (Barcelona, Spain) carried out a survey to analyze empirically theprocess of choosing Communication studies. The sample consisted offirst year students of the Journalism, Advertising and Public Relationsand other Social Sciences degrees from the Universitat Abat Oliba CEU.

One of the reasons why Spain is a representative case in the EUwhen it comes to analyzing the choice of university is its universitymodel: public and private universities coexist, but are in constantstruggle.

Over the last decade the European Union has developedTransnational Programs promoting and encouraging the mobility and theexchange of students and teachers and promoting the creation ofmechanisms to validate the credits (ECTS plan) between differentuniversities and institutions of European higher education.

We detect public policies in diverse ways, but not in the analysisof the causes of the election of university. It is necessary to improve thisanalysis, because without a good diagnosis it is not possible to improve.Public policies have had little influence on the structure and organizationof the European Higher Education Area. Each country maintains itsindependent education system, which makes the comparison is difficult.Therefore it is necessary to focus on the election factors of one countryat first, and we have chosen the Spanish case. In future studies, though,we could compare the Spanish case with those of other country.

Of all the influential factors, we consider ethics and religion to beparticularly interesting, because, in Spain, the private university (whichhas an ethical and religious important role) has a much higher impactthat in other countries.

The European Union, with the aim of building a commonEurope and a strong digital and knowledge society, considers theUniversity a tool to increase the quality of life of its citizens. Education isa value with a far-reaching impact on society, not only intellectually andtechnically but also in the social, cultural, economic and business aspectsof our society. Spain, as a member of the EU, participates in all thesethoughts and as sums the commitment to make the necessary reforms inits higher education system to achieve the appropriate quality and


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competitiveness levels. In sum, we must discover the factors that affectthe choice of university in order to properly change and adapt oureducation strategies.

Traditionally, the analysis about the Spanish University(Hernández, 2010) has been limited to public universities, for tworeasons: first, because of the homogeneity and comparability of thepublic institutions to allow the analysis of productive and financialrealities; and the second, due to the limited availability ofinformation from private universities. An added value of our researchis that our data is obtained from a private university, which is essential,because the ethics and religious motivations are centered in the privateframework.

The Spanish case is also relevant because it reflects some aspectsof the Mediterranean European universities. Studies in the last decadeand, especially, the rankings show forty of the fifty best universities inthe world are in North America, while the remaining ten are dividedbetween the United Kingdom, Continental Europe and Japan. None ofthe universities in prominent positions are from France, Italy and Spain,three essential countries for the development of European education andscience in general. Spain is a reference in the Mediterranean zone, andthe data obtained in this research could inspire new policies in otherMediterranean countries.

We consider the ethics and religion influence as factors ofdecision to choose Communication studies in a comparative way withthe following items: quality of teaching, studying environment, easinessto get to the university, variety of official offered degrees, prestige of theuniversity, international projection of the university, variety ofspecialized offered studies, humanistic/integral orientation of the studiesand religious orientation of the studies. We analyze these aspects inrelation to the gender, the intention of going to university, the locationand whether there is a university in the city of residence.

3. Relation between ethics and values and the decisionprocess

The decision process to choose Communication studies in theuniversity depends on the availability, the flexibility and the variety of theoffer. In addition, universities can also offer a program of extra-academic


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activities to promote their activities or academic programs. Theseactivities can be academic or not academic in their nature, and areexternal or complementary to the main program of the study selected bythe student. Several authors affirm that these activities are important forthe decision to attend a specific institution (Bucley et altri, 1996; Kellaris& Kellaris, 1988; Witthuhn, 1997).

The opportunity to take part in religious activities is alsoconsidered as a factor of decision to attend an institution. We haveobserved that some studies determine that the religious ambient isimportant for the students when selecting an institution (Roche, Peters& Nelson, 1987; Jonas, 1992). In Catalonia, there isn’t any specificuniversity that belongs to the Church, although most private universities(UAO, UIC and URL) have strong Christian roots. These universitiesoffer religious practices for students. However, except among thetheology students, this does not seem to be the main criterion ofelection. The use of a survey of interpersonal values and an ethicalposition questionnaire in a Catholic university (Migone de Faletty &Moreno, 1985) reflected a predominant religious value, followed by thesocial value, and it reflected that the ethical education and enhancementof the national culture were more important than university culture forthe Law students.

In this sense, we find a relation between values, religion andsecurity. A qualitative increase of the institutional main product is notcontrolled directly by the institution; however, the personal security ofthe students can have influence on the choice of institution. In Mullet’sstudy (1985), personal security was classified in 9th place of importanceto the future students and 8th place of importance to their parents.Considering that Mullet published this data in the 80s, it seems surprisingthat security, as a criterion, is not mentioned by more authors. Fromthen on, authors that quote security as a criterion have focused onseveral towns (Coccari & Javalgi, 1995; Harris, 1994), although others(Kellaris & Kellaris, 1988) quoted this factor in regard to students thatlook for the security perceived in an ambient of religious study. Some ofthe patterns that affect the decisions of the individuals are external to theeducational system, although we can identify other factors that conditionthe students’ decision with different intensity. These factors can bepsychological attitudes, intelligence quotient, ethics and religion, the


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number of siblings, the educational level of the parents or the directopportunity costs of the university or the scholarships system.

However, religion and values are not the factors in the firstpositions, like in other studies (Roche, Peters et altri, 1987; Jonas, 1992).Figure 1 shows the factors of decision to choose Communicationstudies, including the total values obtained for each one of theformulated propositions, organized from greater to lesser influence. Thevalues are in a range between the quality of the education (4,17), as amore representative value, and the religious orientation of the studies(1,65), that is the less valued attribute by the sample. The only twofactors that exceed the level of quite a lot of influence (4) are the qualityof the education (4,17) and the easiness of access by publictransportation (4,02); the first factor in the group of information aboutthe university and the second pertaining to the Campus. If we observethe factors to choose university (Luo & Williams, 2011), there arecoincidences in our research with the academic quality, attendance costand institution location. Personal advising is moderated. The group offactors varies in different types of students (Hossler et altri, 1989). Somefacts indicate a decrease in the religious practice in Spain, one of themost representatives in the Mediterranean area in this sense: going toMass, baptisms, communion, weddings and traditional religious activitiesare in diminuendo. The future university generations depict this generalperception.

Figure 1 Factors of decision to choose Communication studiesin the university

(AVERAGE 1 TO 5)Total

GROUPOrderNumberFACTORS OF DECISIÓN (2345)

Quality of the Education 4.17Informationabout theuniversity

1

Access in public transport 4.02 Campus 2


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Yearly cost of the studies 3.96Cost andfunding

3

Study ambient 3.88Informationabout theuniversity

4

Facilities of finance 3.86Cost andfunding

5

Facilities of access to the University 3.81Informationabout theuniversity

6

Practice orientation of the studies 3.79 Methodology 7Friendliness of the personnel of theuniversity

3.74Promotion andinformation

8

Accessibility of professors to thestudents

3.73 Professors 9

Quality in the advice services andattend to the student

3.68 Services 10

Attraction of the offered activities 3.68 Services 11Technological innovation level in theuniversity

3.66 Services 12

Attraction of the installations 3.66 Campus 13Professional experience of theprofessors

3.63 Professors 14

Pedagogic capabilities of theprofessors

3.58 Professors 15

Working of the Library 3.57 Services 16Services (bar, computer, copy...)working

3.51 Services 17

Variety of official offered tittles 3.50Informationabout theuniversity

18

Prestige of the university 3.48Informationabout theuniversity

19


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Nearness of the university to thecurrent home

3.47 Campus 20

International University protection 3.44Informationabout theuniversity

21

Efficacy of Exchange of Work Service 3.42Exchange ofWork

22

Variety of specialized offered studies 3.32Informationabout theuniversity

23

Academic level of the students 3.32 Students 24Proportion of approved by curs 3.30 Students 25Language to make classes 3.26 Methodology 26Promotion and direct information forthe potential students


27

Proportion of graduated with work inthe first year

3.25Exchange ofWork

28

Difficulties to accede to a publicuniversity

3.25 References 29

Research prestige of the professors 3.23 Professors 30Number of students per class 3.13 Methodology 31Recommendation from universitystudents

3.07 References 32

Possibility of living not at usual home 3.03 Campus 33Recommendation of the professor /tutor / orientation

3.03 References 34

The nearest university doesn’t makethe desired title

2.99 Campus 35

Family recommendation 2.96 References 36Attraction of the sport offer 2.95 Services 37Difficulties to accede to a privateuniversity

2.95 References 38

Recommendation of ex-students ofthe university

2.91 References 39


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Source: elaboration by the authors based on students with apotential intention of studying at university the following year

If we analyze the factor of decision “Information about theCommunication studies in the university, to go there” (Figure 2), we canobserve that the religious orientation of the studies (1,65) has a scarceinfluence in the decision. It seems coherent with the secular orientationof the public centers and the progressive decrease of religious beliefsamong youngsters. However, the humanistic and integral or holisticorientations of the studies show a more representative score (2,85). If weadd the ethic and values items we achieve a 4,50: then, the values andreligion factors are at the top of this accumulative table. In general, weconfirm the trend that institutional characteristics overcome theinterpersonal or information resources (Pampaloni, 2010), and thenearness of the university and the facilities (West et altri, 1991) are veryimportant, although the Broadband Society (Fondevila-Gascón, 2008)and the technology (Fondevila-Gascón and Carreras-Alcalde, 2010)should minimize the commuting aspects in the education.

Promotion of the university in themass media


40

Humanistic/integral orientation of thestudies

2.85Informationabout theuniversity

41

Recommendation of friends 2.84 References 42Proximity of the university to the notusual home

2.77 Campus 43

Link of the ex-students with theuniversity

2.49 Students 44

Familiar decision 2.49 References 45

Religious orientation of the studies 1.65Informationabout theuniversity

46


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Figure 2 Factors of decision: Information about theCommunication studies in the university, to go there

INFORMATIONABOUT THECOMMUNICATIONSTUDIES IN THEUNIVERSITY

Total

INTENTION TO GO TO THE UNIVERSITY

(Average 1 to 5) YesProbablyyes

Still Idon’tknow

NoProbablynot

Don’tanswer

FACTORS OFDECISION TOCHOOSE CENTER:INFORMATIONABOUT THEUNIVERSITY

(2345)(1336)

(422) (228)(223)

(125) (12)

Quality of teaching 4.17 4.27 4.07 3.98 3.95 3.95 4.21Study ambient 3.88 3.91 3.86 3.79 3.84 3.89 4.04Facilities to accede tothe university

3.81 3.70 4.06 3.80 3.89 4.07 4.01

Variety of officialoffered tittles

3.50 3.46 3.54 3.58 3.52 3.65 2.75

Prestige of theuniversity

3.48 3.61 3.32 3.22 3.29 3.26 4.08

Internationalprojection of theuniversity

3.44 3.57 3.26 3.14 3.28 3.19 3.83

Variety of specializedoffered studies

3.32 3.34 3.28 3.32 3.34 3.19 3.16

Humanistic/integralorientation of thestudies

2.85 2.84 2.95 2.81 2.68 2.86 2.96

Religious orientation 1.65 1.61 1.61 1.75 1.84 1.77 1.57


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of the studiesSource: elaboration by the authors based on students with a

potential intention of studying at university the following year

Another point of analysis of the impact of values and religion isgender (Figure 3). We can see that the women, in general, value morethan men this group of factors, except the religious orientation of thestudies (1,61), which has a slightly inferior influence than with men(1,68). About the humanistic and integral or holistic orientation of thestudies, women consider it with a 2,98. In both cases, men and women,the sum of the ethics and values heads this classification.

Figure 3 Factors of decision: knowledge of the Communicationstudies in the university, by gender

KNOWLEDGE OFCOMMUNICATION STUDIES INTHE UNIVERSITY

TotalGENDER

(Average 1 to 5) Men WomenFACTORS OF DECISION TOCHOOSE CENTER:INFORMATION ABOUT THEUNIVERSITY

(2345) (1050) (1295)

Quality of teaching 4.17 4.01 4.30Study ambient 3.88 3.77 3.98Facilities to accede to the university 3.81 3.64 3.94Variety of official offered tittles 3.50 3.33 3.63Prestige of the university 3.48 3.40 3.54International projection of theuniversity

3.44 3.39 3.47

Variety of specialized offered studies 3.32 3.19 3.42Humanistic/integral orientation ofthe studies

2.85 2.69 2.98

Religious orientation of the studies 1.65 1.68 1.61


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Source: elaboration by the authors based on students with apotential intention of studying at university the following year

To check these results, we have elaborated another surveycentered on the Universitat Abat Oliba CEU, in Barcelona, which has areligious base. When we ask if this University teaches about Christianvalues (Figure 4), it is remarkable that 168 of 188 are no answer. Only 20students answered this question, and the trend is to consider importantthis Christian values. If we observe the answers, the 40% of themindicate the top results. The importance students think that Christianvalues have at the university is proportional to the importance that theyhave for the student.

Figure 4 Importance of Christian values in the universityNote 1 Note 2 Note 3 Note 4 Note 5 (no answer) Total3 5 2 2 8 168 18815,00% 25,00% 10,00% 10,00% 40,00%

Source: elaboration by the authors based on the survey at theUniversitat Abat Oliba CEU (2011)

About the meaning of the findings and their relation with pastresearch, we observe that ethics and religion are still taken into accountto choose a University. It would be exciting to make longitudinal studiesto update this perception, crossing variables, universities and countries.An EU general project, or an intercontinental approach, could illuminatethis discussion from a global point of view.

Certainly, the classic factors (economic, cultural and socialresources of the families, defended by Ball, 1993, or Crozier, 1997) arethe first in a classification about university election. Nevertheless, ethicsand religion are not forgotten, despite the general negative perception inthe Mediterranean countries about these factors. The quality of theeducation is the more representative value; the religious orientation ofthe studies is the less representative. Another desired factor, the easinessof access by public transportation, reflects pragmatism in universitystudents as attendance cost and institution location showed in otherresearches (Luo, M. & Williams, J. E., 2011).


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4. ConclusionsWe can conclude that, in the Spanish case, ethics, values and

religion are a variable to be taken into account when students chooseCommunication studies in the University, and it will collaborate in socialaction thanks to these educational strategies. However, as a decisionfactor, we observe that the religious orientation of the studies and thehumanistic and integral or holistic orientations of the studies, altogether,overcome the other options.

On the one hand, the secular orientation of the public centersand the progressive decrease of the religious beliefs in the youngsters(despite the confessional tradition in Spain during the Franco’sdictatorship) explain a moderated position of ethics, values and religionin the factors to choose university; yet, on the other hand, these valuesremain a position to take in consideration. Ethics and religion do nothave a deep impact on the intention to go to Communication studies bygender.

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Faith Organizations and Social Economic Welfare inKenya

Richard Muko OCHANDA1

AbstractThis study contributes to the discourse on religion and development by

studying the contribution of the faith organizations to socio-economic welfare in Kenya.The studystarts by exploring the history of Christian and Muslim religions

in Kenya including their historicalpros and cons. It thenanalyses government datainthe light of the contribution of faith actors in education and health in the countrydeposited at the Kenya Open Data project. Lastly, it presents case analyses of theworks of the major umbrella religious organizations in Kenya.

The study found that religious actors have contributed in significant ways toKenya’s development despite the scourge of slavery and ultimate colonization. Onemajor contribution was the promotion and development of Swahililanguage whichenabled communication amongst different ethnic communities.Swahili language alsobecame a medium which enabled education and trade to take place. Secondly religiousactors have contributed immensely in the education, health and agriculture sectors.These actorshave also helped in tackling social exclusion of vulnerable populations,infrastructure building and also in promoting peaceful co-existence.

This study attempts to demonstrate that religious actors are silentdevelopment actors complimenting government efforts whose work traverses all spheresof the economy.

Keywords:Christian, Muslim, religion, faith based organizations,education, health,

religious/faith actors, Swahili.

1 University of Trento, School of Local Development, Trento, Italy, C/o EuropeanResearch Institute on Cooperatives and Social Enterprises, Via S. Giovanni 36, 38122,Trento (TN), Italy, [email protected]


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Faith based organizations have been involved in the social andeconomic development in Sub-Saharan Africa through their work withthe poorest and their presence in the most economically backward areasof the country (Kamaara, The role of the Christian Church in socio-economic and political development of Kenya, 2000). Olarinmoye,(2012) refers to religious actors as silent actors in development whoprovide alternatives to the secular approaches of addressing the socioeconomic issues. They do this through their spiritual teachings based ona transcendental power that gives hope, meaning and purpose to thepoor (James, 2012). They are also associated with the national strugglefor democratic and socio-economic transformation in the countriesdominated by oppressive regimes (Okulu, 2003). At the policy level,religious organizations are recognized for their work in advocacy leadingto the restructuring of local and international socio-economic andpolitical justice ordering.

According to Barro & Mcleary, (2003), religion just as cultureinfluences social interactions and economic outcomes by affectingpersonal traits such as honesty, work ethic and altruistic behavior.Different faiths have unique philosophical orientations as far as serviceand justice are concerned. For example Hinduism highlights socialservice; Judaism calls for justice; Christianity and especially Catholicisminvokes the preference the poor; Islam demands action and charity; whileAfrican Traditional Religion highlight mutual assistance (Mbiti, 1999).Different religions also have different symbols which according toDurkheim represented not only God, but the society as well. Hencereligion is not only a source of individual values but also of social identity(Gaduh, 2012). Religion is also associated with the cooperative attitudessuch as the willingness to help, to trust, and to tolerance.

The contribution of religion in Kenya can be seen on threefronds: first,it acts as a medium of facilitating connectivity betweenhumans and a higher deity; secondly it is a framework for morality andethics that appeals to people’s consciences; third it contributestoproviding the infrastructure that facilitates human welfare anddevelopment(Ochanda, Were, Wamalwa, & Kabugi, 2003). In concreteterms this means that religion has a mandate of contributing in solvinghuman and ecological problems. According to John Paul II (1997)religion invests in people’s hopes by addressing their sadness and

Faith Organizations and Social Economic Welfare in KenyaRichard Muko OCHANDA

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anxieties. It also promotes the common good by addressing thedistributive injustices, inequalities, corruption, underdevelopment andoppression through direct interventions or through advocacy. Thismission of religion is distinct but complementary to that of the state.

In capturing the role of religion in the promotion of socialwelfare activities in Kenya and Sub Saharan Africa (Okullu, 2003a)enunciated that religion has a role of intervening to help hungry childrencrying for food, refugees running from tyranny, provide water andsanitation to villages that need them, help beggars in the streets, and alsohelp those in the brink of hunger and death. According to Botchewey,(2007)faith actors play an important development role apart fromconnecting their followers to a deity. It is therefore the purpose of thisstudy is to discuss about religion and social economic welfare in Kenya.In doing so, this study will first examine the development of religion inKenya in the lightits positive and negative contributions to socio-economic welfare. Secondly it will analyse the contribution in health andeducation sector. Then by studying the umbrella religious organization’sactivities it will shed light on other contributions by religious actors inthe promotion of socio-welfare in Kenya.

Religion and Social Economic WelfareMost literature on religion and development has tended to focus

on relationship between economic development and Protestantism,Catholicism or Islam (Grier, 1997). This type of literature originatingfrom the Weberian time has tended to associate the propensity todevelop economically with certain religions which are associated withbetter work ethic, better personal moral values and entrepreneurshipabilities. It suffices to say that most studies have tend to only focus onreligion and economic development (Ajaegbu, 2012; Olarinmoye, 2012).The other strand of literature looks at secularization effect. As societiesbecome richer, religion becomes less significant to them hence thestudies provide evidence that there is a positive correlation between non-believing and affluence (Peterson, 2007). Other authors have studies thework done by religious organizations through theirpresence in localcommunities (Botchewey, 2007). Most authors contend that studies onthe contribution of religious actors in development is a challenge becauseof lack of data.


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Religion is also linked to community development on areas suchas social capital building, peace building, participation in health,education amongst others. On one hand religion can become a negativeforce degenerating into militancy and promoting horrific violence andprejudice hence limiting any progress towards social solidarity. Kim,(2007) contends that there is a dark side to religions for example; theremay be the bases for bastions of conservatism, religious bigotry orextremist reactionary groups. Nevertheless, despite the negatives,religion has the ability to offer the hope for the revitalization of society.Hence it is capable to either motivate or discourage participation in civicactivities and to reject or accept a particular social ordering (Escobar,1997). In discouraging civic participation it could make its adherentsconcerned more about the transcendental order other than their realityand hence religion becomes an alternative to the civic order other thanits component (Candland, 2000). A higher civic involvement enablesreligion to contribute social change which generates the social capital forcommunity development and social opportunities, complementing thestate and the market forces (Okullu, 2003b).

An important element in social welfare is the promotion theaspect of justice and equality such asbreaking harmful social constructscreated as a result of prejudice. Kim (2007) gives an example of theIndian culture wherethese constructs tend to oppress groups of peopleor delineate them to castes (Kim, 2007). In the USA also religion didplay a great role in changing the construct of the masses against racismthrough leading civic campaigns in the 1960s. Hence gives the oppressedpeople a voice to stand against injustices while challenging them not toaccept social labels tagged on them but engender attitudes consonantwith a positive self-image. Hence religion can have an impact on thebelievers’ relationship to socio-political issues and also globaldevelopment.Religion’s effect in highly secularized contexts is in theform ofsupporting global development and strengthening activistpressures for social policies to end human miseries(Freston, 2007).

Kham & Bahar, (2008) find that the relationship between religionand development is likely to be complementary as long as the differentreligions promote attitudes of moderation as opposed to extremity. Theyalso find that peaceful co-existence of various religious groups withmultiple religious affiliations within a country is quite an essential


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prerequisite for development and so the people’s welfare. Religion has anethical contribution which is an important reputational signal precedingall social interactions. Accordingly therefore they argue that in societieswhere the belief in God is more prevalent values of honesty, hard workand integrity would be more prevalent leading to the reduction ofuncertainties and improving efficiency.

Religion therefore can enhance economic growth anddevelopment by promoting a positive attitude toward honesty. Since theconcept of ‘truthful living’ is a major emphasis in religious practice, italso induces people to bring a sincere attitude in all interactions anddealings. Religion may increase levels of trust and reduce levels ofcorruption and criminal activity. It may also encourage thrift, whichwould stimulate saving, investments and therefore economic growth.Besides, religion may lead to better health level by discouraging sinfulactivities as drugs, overeating, gambling, alcohol, etc (Ochanda, Were,Wamalwa, & Kabugi, 2003). Religion also promotes attention to thevulnerable and weaker members of the society amongst their members.Members are made to understand that sharing and caring are importantdimensions of being a religious person. Different religions in promotingthe sharing dimensions have introduced different dimensions such as theZakaatamongst the Moslems. Practically all religions of the world haveincorporated the aspect of charity as an important dimension (McCleary,2008).

Possible negative effects of religion on social economic welfareinclude religious restrictions on capital accumulation, profit-making,credit markets and interest. Religion may also increase resourceallocation including time towards faith activities, such as mosques, hallsand cathedrals, and thereby removing resources from market and socialwelfare activities (Grier, 1997). On the other hand when considerabletime is taken by attending to faith activities, economic and welfareproduction suffer.

Other negative effects of religion center on the belief of miracleson either health or financial well-being. The consequences of thesebeliefs have had adverse outcomes where people’s medical conditionsget complicated resulting in deaths as they won’t seek medical attention.On the other hand the rise of churches that are based on the “prosperitygospel” has been quite harmful as they tend to attract the poor looking


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for “deliverance from poverty” while at the same time ripping them offtheir income (Association of Bible Students, 2007). On the other hand,where care is not taken, religious followers could turn into dangerouscults. Such cults could degenerate into terrorist groups propagatingfundamentalist ideas (Magnus, 1996) or encouraging ritual deaths(McIntyre, 2012) or cultic deaths such as those of the doomsday churchof Uganda in 2000 (Wasswa, 2002).

Historical Background of Muslim and Christian Religionsin Kenya

The earliest history of overseas entry of religion in Kenya andEast Africa is associated with uneasy relationship between Islam andChristianity. This history is divided into various historical periods. Thefirst period is presumed to have started in the 6th ending in 13th century.This was a period of early settlement of the Arabs in the coastal areas ofKenya and East Africa. This period is also associated with Hijirawherethe convert Muslim Arabs were migrating from one place to anotherescaping animosity directed to them by the non-Muslims in theircountries. Several of these migrants had earlier trading relationship withEast Africa and hence when the persecution started, East Africa becamea place to seek for a safe haven. In the coastal towns of Eastern Africathey were welcomed by the Swahili people and the local Bantu ethniccommunities (Bosha I. , 1993). The new Arab migrants settled in Lamu,Mombasa, and other coastal settlements. With time interactions with theSwahili and other ethnic communities led to intermarriages. The Arabslearnt the Swahili culture and language and in turn, Swahiliadopted theIslam religion.

The second period commonly referred to as the Shiraziperiod isassociated with the settlement of Arab dynasties along the Eastern AfricaCoast and on the Comoros Islands between the 13th and the 15thCentury. While the early interactions were limited along the coastal areas,there are some evidence of penetration into the interior mainly for trade.Initially the wealth of the Shirazis was as a result of the sea trade withArabia and the Persian Gulf and not with the interior of the EasternAfrica (Vittori & Bremer, 2009). With time the Arabs in partnership withthe Swahili moved into the mainland communities trading in cloths fromIndia, beads, spices, and other items of trade made of metal like swords


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and daggers. From the mainland they got leopard skins, tortoise shells,rhinoceros horns, ostrich feathers, wax, ivory, slaves, cloves, and gold(Mukuthuria, 2009). There were no attempts at Islamization, howeverIslam was adopted by the voluntarily by local communities and theslaves.

This second period of Islamization ended with Portuguesecolonization of the region early 16th century. The Portuguese led byVasco da Gama were interested in trading with India and the Far Eastand also in diminishing the influence of Islam which had threatenedPortugal and Spain. To do this the Portuguese formed an alliance withPrester John who was a powerful Ethiopian Christian Priest-King thattime (Nthamburi, 1982). Initially Vasco da Gama encountered hostilityfrom the Muslims who had settled in all the places he went in theEastern Coast. Later he was welcomed in Malindi, partly because theruler of Malindi was always at war with his more powerful neighbor inMombasa. Later the Portuguese established that there were gold depositsin some towns of the Eastern Coast that were in the hands of hostileforces. In order to gain a monopoly over the gold trade, Portugal sent anarmy under the command of Francesco d’Almeida in 1505 whichmanaged to gain the control of the hostile territories. Little attemptswere made to convert the local populations to Christianity. Howeverthere were small episodes of conversions to Christianity between 1500 to1600. For example in 1506, 40 people were baptized, in 1591 an apparentheir to the Zanzibar Sultan was also baptized which caused muchtension. In 1599, 600 people were baptized including the exiled ruler ofPemba who was in Mombasa. The conversions to Christianity continuedthough in a slow pace as people loathed the Portuguese because theypracticed acts of outright theft and were reputed to be cruel andinhuman.

The behavior of Portuguese had a negative effect on their planstoconvert the East Africans to Christianity. In 1631, the Arabs made asuccessful offensive against the Portuguese. From then on the strugglefor dominance continued to 1729 when the Portuguese were defeatedand expelled from the East Coast. They went to Mozambique. After thedefeat of the Portuguese only a handful of Christians, mainly from Goaremained but not from the indigenous population. The fall of thePortuguese is mainly associated to the lack of local support as they


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sacrificed it in bling pursuance of commercial activities.Their denouncingof Islam too also played a part in creating major opposition against them.

The third period coincides with the defeat of the Portuguese andthe rise of the Sultan of Zanzibar who hailed from Oman during the1800s. The Sultan extended his hegemony to Mombasa after havingconquered it. The sultan promoted trade and hence Zanzibar became animportant port for spices, ivory, cloves, cowry shells, and slaves.Zanzibar on its part was in need of imports such as cloth, firearms andhardware (Vittori and Bremer, 2009). The Sultan of Zanzibar did notactively promote Islam to the interior, it nevertheless was slowly adoptedamongst both slaves and some of the inland ethnic communities,especially those most associated with trade.

Slave trade was quite horrific. It is estimated that 20 millionAfricans were sold as slaves between 1450 and 1880. Four times as manyon the other hand were killed during the hunt for the slaves all over thecontinent. The pains of slave trade in East Africa attracted the attentionof David Livingstone a missionary from the London Missionary Societybetween 1840 to 1843. Dr. David Livingstone came to Africa as amissionary cum explorer (BBC, 2012). Much of his work did help inpushing for the end of slavery.By 1863, slavery had been abolishedofficially in Europe and in America despite the fact that illegal slave tradestill went on.

The published works of Dr. David Livingstone had an aim ofopening the African continent through its waterways to trade andmissionaries activities(Livingstone, 1857). This works provided animportant impetus for colonization of Africa by European powers andalso to Christian missionary activities (Livingstone, 1865). During thissame period Dr. Ludwig Krapf in 1844 began his Missionary activitiesunder the courtesy of the church Missionary Society and later MethodistChurch. Krapf worked until 1862 during which he also managed totranslate the Bible’s New Testament to Swahili. The Catholic missionarieson the other hand made their way into Kenya in 1863 after establishingthemselves permanently in Zanzibar. The early efforts of the CatholicMissionaries during the time of Vasco da Gama in the 1400s had littleimpact on conversions after the defeat of 1700s by Arabs. The Catholicjoined the other missionaries in the reintegration and resettlement of theliberated slaves.


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The Christian presence in Kenya did not go well with the Arab-Swahilislave owners and was constantly under threat. The partition ofAfrica in 1884 to 1885 and eventual colonization had implications forreligious activities and helped in ending slave trade in East Africa.Penetration was also made easier into the interior, paving way for greaterdiffusion of both Islam and Christian religions (Nthamburi, 1991: Vittoriand Bremer, 2009). The Christian activities continued to increase withIndependent Churches of Africa and the Pentecostal Churches joininginto the fray by middle and late 1800s and more so during thecolonization and after independence. The independent churches aroseout of the desire to indigenize Christianity by incorporating Africantraditional religious world views. These indigenous religions resented thedecadence that they felt was tolerated by the mainstream Christianity,domination by European settlers, forced labor, segregation on the basisof color, and assault on African people, practices and culture(Imunde &Padwick, 2008).

Religion in Present KenyaChristian religion in Kenya is followed by approximately 83% of

the population. The majority of the Kenyan Christians are Catholics whoform about 23% of the population.The official body representing theCatholic Christians in Kenya is the Kenya Episcopal Conference (KEC).The protestant religion comprising of about 60% of the population isrepresented by the National Council of Churches in Kenya (NCCK)which is made up of 26 member churches, 11 associate members and 6fraternal members.

The NCCK membership is open to all churches constituted inKenya; the associate members of NCCK are the locally constitutedChristian organizations, fellowships or groups organized to promotesome definite Christian activities not directly under any particularchurch. Lastly the fraternal members consist of groups which for variousreasons cannot fit the basis of membership of the NCCK but would liketo be associated with it and allows them access to the services of theCouncil. The other Christians are numerous churches not representedeither by KEC or the NCCK. Some of these Christians are representedby the Organization of Independent African Churches.


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Table 1: Religion in Present KenyaReligion Number PercentageProtestant 18,307,466 47.66%Catholic 9,010,684 23.46%Other Christian 4,559,584 11.87%Muslim 4,304,798 11.21%No religion 983,361 2.56%Traditionalist 635,352 1.65%Other religion 557,450 1.45%Hindu 53,393 0.14%

38,412,088 100%Source: Kenya Bureau of Statistics 2010

African Independent Churches (AICs) draws its membershipfrom the grassroots Christian churches whose values and beliefs stemfrom African tradition and the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. Theyrepresent a continuation of many African traditional values into theChristian faith. The majority of these denominations are very small, andresistant to bureaucracy, but there are a few large churches withmembership numbering in millions. Members of Organization ofAfrican Independent Churches (OAIC) are generally drawn from thepoor and less well-educated inhabitants of the rural areas and theinformal urban settlements (shanty-towns or slums). The strength of theAfrican Independent churches lies in their spiritual and social capital,which is strongest at the grassroots (Imunde & Padwick, 2008). Thereare other churches that are not affiliated to NCCK, OAIC or KEC.These are churches could either be from the independent churches orthe evangelical churches. By 2007 the office of the attorney general inKenya had registered a total of 8520 churches in the country, with 6740applications for registration waiting to be processed. It was alsoestimated that by 2009 Kenya could have roughly 10000 registeredchurches (East African Standard, 2007).

Islam in Kenya is the religion of approximately 11.2 percent ofthe population, or approximately 4.3 million people. The Muslims inKenya are mostly found in the Coastal regions and North EasternProvince. Other areas in Kenya too have some representative


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populations. The majority of Kenyan Muslims are Sunni, followed by theShi'a Muslims who were either descendants or were influenced by theoceanic traders from the Middle East and India. The Shia Muslimsinclude the DawoodiBohra, who number about 6,000-8,000 in thecountry. Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) is the umbrellabody of all the Muslim organizations, societies, mosque committees anddifferent Muslim groups in Kenya. Membership to the Council does notinclude the individual Muslims but groups and associations.

All umbrella religious bodies in Kenya did join together in 1983to form the Inter Religious Council of Kenya (IRCK). The IRCK is notan umbrella body but a coalition of all faith communities in Kenya.IRCK encourages the faith communities seek to deepen interfaithdialogue and collaboration for common action whenever necessary aswell as mobilizing the moral and social resources of religious people toaddress shared concerns. In its work with the different religious bodies,IRCK places emphasis on the communitarian aspect.

Faith and Challenges in KenyaA horrendous reality that Africa faced as a continent was the

scourge of slavery. Slavery seems to have been sanctioned by the majorreligions of the world i.e Christianity and Islam. It is said that while 20million Africans were sold into slavery about four times on the otherhand died during the hunt for slaves. With time seeing the ills ofslavery,religious actors are known to have been amongst the greatestchampions against slavery. Their actions pushed their governments toact in order to stop the vice (Livingstone, 1857). Of course, their actionsdid not limit the actions to intervene against slavery but also contributedto eventual colonization of Africa. According to Nthamburi (2003), themissionaries did help in setting facilities for reintegration along thecoastal areas of East Africa including Zanzibar and the Comoros. Theyassisted different types of slaves: those who had escaped from theirmasters or those who had been bought back to freedom either by themor by the British naval forces plying the Indian Ocean. The reintegrationsettlements were governed with cruelty and little freedom was allowed tothe freed slaves. The freed slaves were subjected to bad treatment,beatings and scourging at the hands of the missionaries (Temu, 1972).


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Despite these atrocities faced by the freed slaves; they were also givenliterary education and were also taught skilled trades and manual work.

Several studies indicate that it was the missionaries whowelcomed the intervention of European governments which led to theeventual annexations of East Africa by the colonizing countries.Apologists for the missionaries contend that the missionaries wereconvinced that to effectively deal with slave trade, Europeangovernments had to assume responsibility of introducing legitimate tradeand education in the region. The missionaries believed that thegovernment’s work would be supplemented by their efforts (Nthamburi,2003). Dissenting views indicate that the missionaries had no differentplans from the colonizers, in fact they only came to prepare grounds forthem (Mukuthuria, 2009) and aided the colonization process at its initialstage. A common quote associated with President Jomo Kenyatta ofKenya was:

When the Missionaries arrived, the Africans had the Land andthe Missionaries had the Bible. They taught us how to pray with our eyesclosed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible(Walker, 2002 page 144).

Colonization was just as worse as slavery; it was first a greatassault on the African culture. It also to the occupation of African landsby white settlerswho condemnedAfricans to forced and cheap labor,high taxation, segregation on the basis of color(Kenyatta, 1965). Despitebeing associated with the colonialists, the missionaries undertookadvocacy on behalf of Africans to challenge the excesses of the colonialgovernment. When in 1919 the policy on forced labour was promulgatedby the colonial government, the missionaries protested to the BritishGovernment. These protests led to the issuance of the 1923 Devonshirepaper that asked the colonial government to consider the interest of theAfricans as paramount. In the wake of maumau uprising of 1952 themissionaries sided with the colonialists and refused to acknowledge thatmaumau was a liberation movement. The maumau movement was aKenyan liberation movement created to fight for the return of Africanlands from colonialists through armed struggle. The colonialgovernment used excessive force against the adherents of maumaurebellion and many people were tortured and killed brutally. Missionarieson their part never raised a voice in the face of these atrocities against


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the local populations. Their quietness painted the image that themissionaries were actually part of the huge colonial enterpriseand thatthey had to play it safe in order to continue benefitingfromcolonialism.

Faith and Contribution to Socio-Economic WelfareOne of the major contribution of the religions in Kenya has been

the proliferation of the SwahiliLanguage which has enabledcommunication amongst different ethnic communities, and acted as amedium through which education and trade are taking place (Bosha,1993). The Swahililanguage is spoken in some countries of East andCentral Africa such as Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda,Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo Brazzaville. Earlymanuscripts of the Swahili Language date back to 1780 and are written inArabic Alphabets. Originally Swahili was used to spread Islamic thereligion and hence it got influenced by the Arabic language (Bosha,1994). This is because the first Imams, who were of Arab origin,switched to Arabic words where the local languages and Swahili couldnot readily get equivalent words to translate their message. Throughreligion many Arab words became part of the Swahililanguage.

When the Christian missionaries came to Kenya they translatedthe bible into Swahili language and helped in the creation of the Swahilidictionary. They also introduced to Swahili words than had no equivalentmeaning. At the time of colonization, the interior of Kenya and EastAfrica was made open. This encouraged missionary activities amongstboth the Muslims and the Christians. Apart from the religious actors theproliferation of Swahili as a lingua franca in Eastern Africa is attributed tomany other factors such as trade, colonization and governmental policiesafter independence (Nthamburi, 2003; Mukuthuria, 2009).

Proper coordination and collaboration between faith and theState in Kenya on matters of socio-economic and welfare developmentstarted in 1900s. The faith organizations were mandated withimplementing education, health and other community developmentinfrastructure for the Africans and they depended on government aid.The FBOs introduced vocational training institutions, special schools forthe physically challenged and homes for the old people who had no oneto care for them. Todayover fifty per cent of medical work (hospitals andclinics) in the rural areas falls under the ambit of the faith actors and


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especially the churches. The faith actors are also heavily involved in ruraldevelopment programs in agriculture improvement throughcooperatives, farm input provision and in some instances field extensionservices. The faith community is hence seen as a partner with thegovernment in helping to alleviate human suffering.

After independence the religious organizations got moreimmersed in development and advocacy activities. They extended theirpresence in the most difficult areas of the country such as the arid andsemi-arid areas commonly referred to as the ASAL-regions. The ASALregions are considered to be remote and marginalized and constitutingthe poorest populations of Kenyans. Basic government welfare-servicessuch as education, health and water provision in these areas are lackingin the ASAL areas. The regions also suffer from constant disputesbetween agriculturalists and pastoralists. Some of these disputes havebeen very fatal at times leading to instant deaths of a hundreds of people(Mayoyo, 2012). The disputes arise from negative exploits of ethnicity,fighting for water points or animals being set free to destroy crops. Insituations such as these the faith based organizations have always beenpresent helping to maintain some calm, initiating a reconciliation processand where the fatalities are severe, they help in providing emergency andpsycho-social accompaniment.

Faith-based organizations have been engaged in a wide range ofservices as broad in scale as those delivered by secular and the statecounterparts. They range from education and health to financialassistance and in-kind support to the poor, as well as humanitarian reliefin crises and less conventional forms of services such as legal aid. Thescale of FBO service provision varies from one context to another.According to a report of the United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) quoted by the United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA), FBOs account for 50 per cent of health service provision inthe Democratic Republic of the Congo, 40 per cent in Kenya andLesotho, and 55 per cent in Uganda.

FBOs and Education in KenyaThe involvement of religious sponsors in the management of

Kenya’s education can be traced back to the colonial days. Eshiwani(1990), notes that formal education was introduced to the people of


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Kenya by missionaries as a strategy for evangelical success. Themissionaries dominated the provision and administration of educationthroughout the colonial period. Some of the centers they establishedgrew into large institutions and today are among the highest qualityschools in the country. According to Shidende (1996) protestantmissionaries mainly saw their role as that of reforming the social sectorof the African life and this was to be motivated through bringing theAfricans into membership of their churches with Christian education asthe major tool of evangelism. (Eshiwani, 1993)notes that a religiousorganization plays a big role in establishing educational institutions andcontinues to do so. It is for this reason that the government hasprovided for the inclusion of religious sponsors in the management ofpublic secondary schools in its policy of 1968 which was revised in1980(Mabeya, Ndiku , & Njino, 2010). Wainaina, (1991)indicates that thechurches were given the powers to sponsor their schools and also to takepart in the preparation of the syllabus for Religious Education.

Mosomi (2008), states that in carrying out their functions assponsors, the churches had to be consulted with regard to staffingrepresented in school committees and Board of Governors in theirsponsored schools and allowed the use of school buildings free ofcharge. The table below shows the findings on the religious basedSecondary schools versus their location (provinces) in Kenya.

Descriptive statisticsLocation and the number of Faith based Secondary schools in

Kenya

Source: Republic of Kenya open data project, 2011

Secondary schoollocation

No of Schools Percentage

Central 292 28.0Coast 12 1.2Eastern 202 19.4Nyanza 118 11.3Rift Valley 252 24.2Western 166 15.9

1042 100


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Most Secondary schools (28%) are located in central Kenya, andRift Valley (24.2%); while few (1.2%) are located in coast province.According to the government data a total of 1042 out of 1613 secondaryschools country wide excluding the province of Nairobi are beingsponsored by a religious body.

Sponsorship of Kenyan Secondary Schools


65% of school sponsors are faith organizations. However it isalso important to note that most of the religious sponsored schools i.e.967 are considered to be public schools meaning that there is acollaboration between the public and the faith organization in providingeducation. On the other hand 73 of the faith schools are considered tobe private and are on a 100% sponsorship by the faith organizations.

Location and the number of faith based Health facilities inKenya

Secondary schoollocation

No of Schools Percentage

Religious 1042 61.80Government 232 13.76Local Authority 30 1.78Community 136 8.07NGO/CBO 6 0.36Private 240 14.23

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ReligiousCentral 130 12.3Coast 91 8.6Eastern 230 21.7Nyanza 133 12.6Rift Valley 305 28.8Western 113 10.7North Eastern 10 0.9Nairobi 46 4.3


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It is clear that in every province in the republic of Kenya; there isa religious-based health facility; most facilities are located in Rift Valley(28.8%), and Eastern (21.7%) provinces, while the least number (0.9%)in North Eastern. The total number of religious sponsored healthfacilities in Kenya according to the government open data (2011) is1058. The total of all health facilities across all provinces with theexclusion of Nairobi is 4167.

Health Facilities Sponsors in Kenya


26.85% of health facilities sponsors are faith organizations. Afew of these facilities operate under the auspices of the ministry ofhealth. The government through the ministry of health runs 56.40% ofall the health facilities. 8.98% of the facilities are sponsored by theprivate practitioners while the CBOs and NGOs only sponsor 1.75%and other government ministries sponsor 3.20%. It is important to notethat data from Nairobi province lacks from the government statistics.

Health Facilities Types and Sponsorhip

Total 1058 100

Facility Frequency PercentageReligious 1058 26.85Government 2222 56.40Local authority 111 2.82NGO/CBO 69 1.75Private 354 8.98Otherministry 126 3.20

Facility Religioussponsor

Othersponsors

total

Hospital MoH and Mission District,sub districts

85 121 206

Referral Hospital and ProvincialHospitals

0 10 10


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The health facilities classification is in accordance with thegovernment of Kenya’s open data portal. The Faith based healthfacilities include 7.75% hospitals, 0.18% referral hospitals, 72.77%dispensaries and 12%health centers. Other facilities are 0.45% privatehospitals, 2.07% clinics and medical centers, 1.35% special treatmenthospitals and 1.17% institutional health facilities. The data excludes thefacilities from the province of Nairobi.

Faith interventions on HIV/AIDSOne controversial area of faith organizations intervention has

been in the area of HIV/AIDS. The religious leaders have been involvedin prevention, care and support programs around HIV/AIDS and withinthe churches and mosques, it is now natural to discuss HIV/AIDS andrelated issues (Diakonia, 2008). As a result, stigma of HIV/AIDS hasbeen reduced and more people are today seeking health services and livepositively. However faith organizations are also on the receiving endfrom critiques who claim that they did not openly discuss HIV/AIDSinitially as they considered it too controversial and hence indirectlycontributing to the pandemic’s escalation (Haynes, 2007). The blame isalso extended to the fact that the faith organizations did not accept thescientific efforts to prevent the spread of the disease (Ouko, 2007).Today however there are many structures both formal and informal toaddress the AIDS issue within the church (Amanze, 2010). Thesestructures address issues of stigma, psychosocial, material careandprevention (KARDS, 2003).

Health Centres 140 536 676Dispensaries 803 1640 2443Private Hospitals 0 1 1Private Clinics and Medical Centres 0 206 206Nursing Homes and MaternityHospitals

17 206 223

Special Treatment Hospitals 7 55 62Institutions Health Facilities-Schools, Universities, Employer

4 329 333


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Other initiatives by Faith Based OrganizationsThe Inter Religious Council of KenyaIRCK was introduced as the community of religious leaders who

came together to promote a common action. IRCK places the emphasison its communitarian aspect. IRCK’s programs are as follow: health andchildren, governance and economic justice, peace and conflicttransformation, women of faith, interfaith youth network and trainingsto religious leaders. The health programs mainly target children andwomen. IRCK provides psycho-social support to hundreds of peopleliving with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). These are assisted depending onindividual need. Of concern to IRCK are issues of maternal and childhealth and survival. The children survival needs are considered from thetime of conception. IRCK on this area runs a program known as Faithfor life and has a booklet that trains on the same.

In its economic and economic justice IRCK has programs onsocial budgeting and community monitoring on one hand and socialintelligence report on the other. The IRCK peace and conflicttransformation takes the form of arms down campaign. The communityyouth are taken through an alternative right of passage which includesboth formal and life skills education. This program involves the activeparticipation of religious leaders who meet regularly to iron out issuesthat could lead to violent community explosions. IRCK also trainsreligious leaders on various topical issues affecting the society. Thistraining is always done on the premise that those trained will take thetraining down to their followers. IRCK mostly stands for inter religiousdialogue and tolerance in all its training activities. The leaders reached byIRCK are not those who are independent and are bound to perpetuateprivate interests but those with institutionalized structures.

IRCK works on issues of promoting human dignity regardless ofgender. Main beneficiaries in this area are the survivors of gender basedviolence in the areas most prone to violence. In their gender programsthey also address issues facing the youth and have a network that cutsacross the youth of all faiths.

The Kenya Episcopal ConferenceThe Kenya Episcopal Conference is the top governance arm of

the Kenya Catholic Church. This arm is governed through 15commissions. Seven commissions are entrusted with matters relating to


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the Catholic faith doctrines and internal management. Two commissionsare dedicated to collaboration with other faiths. Other commissionsinclude education, justice and peace, development and social services,health, social communication, migrants and seafarers. Some of thepractical work pursued by the Catholic Church includes humanitarianactivities, school feeding programmes, construction of dams, peacebuilding activities amongst the pastoralists and farming communities inthe arid, HIV/AIDS mitigation and semi-arid lands.

The Catholic church also several universities and a number ofmajor hospitaland educational institutions in Kenya. The socialdevelopment activities of the Catholic church have been localized to thelocal dioceses through structures known as “Diocese Caritas” orDiocesan Development offices. These bodies implement programmesaccording to the needs of their dioceses. The Catholic secretariat on theother part engages at a national level in line with the themes of the abovecommissions.

National Council of Churches in Kenya (NCCK)National Council of Churches in Kenya (NCCK) established in

1913, is a protestant umbrella body bringing together 26 churchmembers, nine associate members made up of associations and interfaithinstitutions, and six fraternal members who only have a relationship withNCCK.

Some of the projects operated by NCCK include civic education,famine response, HIV/AIDS mitigation, gender empowerment, workingwith pastoralist communities, refugee project, peace building and conflicttransformation. NCCK has both national and grassroots programmes.The umbrella body implements national programmes while the localmember churches respond to local needs. It also runs a university andseveral training institutes on behalf of its members. The members ofNCCK on the other hand have many localized interventions accordingto the needs of their followers.

Supreme Council of Muslims of Kenya (SUPKEM)Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) is the umbrella

body of all the Muslim Organizations, Societies, Mosques Committeesand Groups in Kenya. The members of the Council are these


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Organizations, Societies and groups affiliated to it and not individualMuslims.

The council implements five major programmes in education,HIV/AIDS, civic education, civil society strengthening programme andlastly programmes in peace building and conflict transformation. Someof the practical programmes operated by the council include a home fordestitute children, schools, radio station and health centers. Supkemthrough the community mosques responds to the needs at the grassrootslevels.

ConclusionFaith organizations do help much in contributing to the social

economic welfare of Kenyans. Government data shows that they areinvolved in education and health. The case studies of the religiousumbrella organizations show that they are involved in peace building,assisting the socially excluded and the vulnerable, agriculture, water andin the development of remote and difficult areas. Faith organizations’contribution are also in other areas such of communities empowermentsuch as gender empowerment, economic empowerment, youthformation, civic participation, civil society strengthening and media.

Most importantly the faith organizations make a formidablecontribution in infrastructure building, solving practical issues such aswater and harmful cultural practicesand promotion of peacefulcoexistence, integration and also do provide humanitarian assistance.Through their work they help complement government efforts inproviding for the welfare needs of the masses.

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Research Studies

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Perceptions of Personal and Professional Values in SocialWork Training

Daniela ŞOITU1 2

Mihaela RĂDOI3

AbstractThe process of value formation is a gradual one, the stages evolving in close

connection with the individual's development. Values are formed, aredeveloped/strengthened, are modified or replaced. For the future social workers, one ofthe greatest challenges is to adapt their own values to the values of the profession.Values determine the way society is structured, the way families are organised andoperate, social relations, organisational relations, the operation of institutions.Institutions and rules are a translation into practice of dominant values that aremanifest in that particular community or society. When forces from outside thecommunity impose new rules, their observance and operation depends on how well theyoverlap with the existing values. Our study emphasis the challenges a student and anew social worker has to face one he /she has to confront, learn and balance personaland professional values. Two surveys were performed: one during 2003 and anotherone in 2011; the subjects were students from Social Work specialisation, from allyears of studies (386 respondents in 2003 and 230 students in 2011). The aim ofthe studies was to find the students' values that acted as grounds for their enrolment inthe social work courses, as well as the way these values are maintained, changed orreplaced during the years of study. We concluded that the students manage, in differentproportion, the transition from recognising professional values to internalising these,making also steps in confronting ethical dilemmas. There is a dynamic during years ofstudy. Transforming the knowledge acquired into behaviours is an important aspect ofprofessional development of students from social work studies. Further research can bedeveloped and focus on the professional development of the current students.

1 Postdoctoral researcher, Centre of Ethics and Health Policies, “G.T.Popa” University,Iaşi, [email protected] Associate Professor Ph.D. „A.I.Cuza” University, Faculty of Philosophy and Social-Political Sciences, Department of Sociology and Social Work, Carol I no. 11, 700506,Iaşi, Romania; tel.: 00 40 722837241, [email protected];3 Lecturer Ph.D., „A.I.Cuza” University, Faculty of Philosophy and Social-PoliticalSciences, Department of Sociology and Social Work, Carol I no. 11, 700506, Iaşi,Romania; tel.: 00 40 745953809; [email protected].


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Keywords:personal values, professional ethics, social justice, social work training, ethical

dilemmas, ethical balance, social worker

Introduction. The need of professional values in social worktrainings

The issue we aim to explore is the challenge the future socialworkers face when searching for balance between personal andprofessional ethics.

This challenge is the result of differing ethical systems, startingfrom early socialisation (Ingelhart, 1997, 2000, 2005), up to thesocialisation outlined and imposed by the education system, and thatsupported culturally and multi-culturally (Lee and Greene, 1999; asquoted by Miley, O Melia, DuBois, 2006:93).

Thus, the institutions involved in outlining ethical systems are,on the one hand, the family, socialisation groups, the community, themedia, and on the other hand, the formal ones: education institutions(kindergarten, primary and secondary school, high-school anduniversity), education and social protection policymakers, professionalorganisations (of social work school and of social workers).

As possible causes we have identified the ongoing search forarticulations between social policies, theoretical training (social workschools), the employers' demands, the challenges of professionalexperience, the demands of the national college of social workers as themain body of professional recognition and certification, all these on thebackground of each social worker's personal history.

Another possible cause of system inconsistencies is the recenthistory of the Romanian social work system, in terms of institutionalorganisation, policy design, training professionals according to thestandards outlined in the (European) states that have a tradition in thearea of social action and social work (Şoitu, D., Şoitu, C., 2011:107-122).The social work tradition in Romania, with noteworthy achievements inthe early 20th century, was interrupted first through the halt inprofessional training (1962), and later on through the forceful applicationof the ideologies supported by the political regimes of the 1962-1989period.

According to the Statues of the Romanian Social Worker, article19, the main aim of the social worker's activity is to assist individuals or

Perceptions of Personal and Professional Values in Social Work TrainingDaniela ŞOITU, Mihaela RĂDOI

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communities in need, becoming involved in the identification,understanding, accurate assessment and solving of social problems.Social workers uphold the principles of social justice and ensure equalopportunities for the assisted individuals' access to information, services,resources and their participation in the decision-making process, respectand encourage individual dignity, the uniqueness and the worth of eachperson.

The Romanian Constitution guarantees the right to socialassistance as a universal right, and Law 47/2006 concerning the nationalsystem of social assistance reconfirms this guarantee, as well as the rightto information concerning the contents of protection/welfare measuresand how they are applied. According to the law concerning the nationalsystem of social assistance, social assistance, through its specificmeasures and actions, aims to develop individual, collective or groupcapacities for meeting social needs, increasing the quality of life andupholding the principles of social cohesion and inclusion.

Social work has therefore the role to promote social solidarity.This social role contributes to the strengthening of unity and specificityof social work and is expressed through the giving of support, throughthe feeling of compassion, through the encouragement of understandingamong people, that is through the entirety of professional activitiesthrough which individuals can benefit from the assistance process inorder to find a solution to, or a mitigation of their problems, this being,in fact the social work/social assistance process (Roth and Rebeleanu:2007; Rebeleanu, Şoitu, 2012). Social work encourages or rebuilds amutually beneficial interaction between individuals and the society, inorder to increase the quality of social life, both at individual and familiallevel, as well as at group and community level (Hepworth and Larsen:1993).

The American National Association of Social Workers definessocial work as the professional activity aimed at providing assistance topeople – seen as individuals, families, groups or members of acommunity – in order to increase and/or rebuild their ability to functionin society and to obtain the resources that would ensure their lives arelived with dignity in a given social framework. Other authors (Bocanceaand Neamţu: 1999) define assistance action as a rebuilding or a"restoration" of the ability to function normally in society, the normality


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sought by social work being the opposite of deviance and of lack ofadaptation – the latter being viewed as the inability to adapt to therequirements of society, lack of employment, the commission of actsthat harm others, or other deviation from the expectations of the family,group or community.

The social worker's activity is thus an action that supports theassisted individuals in their efforts to identify and clarify their goals, inorder for them to choose the best option, and helps strengthen tiesbetween individuals in order to promote, rebuild, maintain and/orimprove the quality of life of individuals, families groups, organisationsand communities. The social worker acts honestly and responsibly withrespect to clients, institutions and society, according to the deontologicalrules of the profession adopted by the professional community (Şoitu-Gîrleanu, Rădoi-Ciurlică: 2008).

According to the Romanian Statutes of the social worker (Law466/2006, art. 6.), the training of social workers is carried out inaccredited higher education institutions specialised in social work.Universities offer in their curricula a number of theoretical andpractical courses, the foundations of the students' training asspecialists in the area of social action. These courses cover a largenumber of domains, from the analysis of social policies, the organisationof social work systems and the deontology of the social workerprofession, counselling in social work, to specialised courses that involvethe analysis of various protection systems for specific categories ofclients. The research carried out by Swindell and Watson (2007) point tothe fact that, when universities design curricula, they should take intoaccount the students' capacity to understand as well as theirreceptiveness concerning the issues in the practice of social work, so thatthe level of transmitted knowledge corresponds to them. On the otherpart, the theories of moral development (Gibbs: 2003; Kohlberg, Levineand Hewer: 1983) argue that the notions of good and evil are not innate,but instead shaped during various development stages, by copying thebehaviour of authority – family, teachers – or by learning norms – bethey moral or religious. By analogy, students – the future social workersand social services providers – are not familiar with the ethical standardsof the profession. They must understand these norms, as well as theconsequences that may follow in case these norms are not observed. The


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starting point in understanding them could be the ethical code or theregulations concerning the operation of social work institutions, asnorms to be followed, so that the social workers, once developedprofessionally, are able to make decisions in challenging situations(Kaplan: 2006). Decision making in ethical issues entails more thanknowledge, rules and their appropriate use, it also resorts to feelings suchas anger, fear, concern, empathy, emotions that are present naturally inany kind of human inter-relation (Gilligan: 1982). Emotionaldevelopment theories also suggest that emotional intelligence may becultivated through specific ways of learning – forming and developingself-awareness and social awareness, as well as forming the skills formanaging social relationships.

According to one significant Romanian philosopher (Pleşu, 2008:14) "ethics has the connotation of an academic subject-matter andtherefore it may be subjected to sophisticated professionalization. Moralsis the circumstantial aspect of ethics, particular ethics, a subjectiveprocessing of the generic morality that ethics deals with". From otherperspective (Navran), ethics may be defined as the study of what weunderstand to be good and right behaviour and how people make thosejudgments. In common speech, the terms "ethics" and "values" are usedinterchangeably. In professional speech, they have separate meanings."Values" concerns the ideals to which the individual, the family, thegroup or the community aspires. "Ethics" concerns the rules that definetypes of behaviour as fair, allowed, desirable, or, on the contrary, asunfair or forbidden. Whereas "values" defines "what is good", "ethics"defines "what is fair" (Dolgoff, Loewenberg, Harrington: 2009).4

Concluding, we can say that whereas morals represents socialconventions (beliefs, practices) related to human behaviour, be it right orwrong, that are so widespread as to be almost universally accepted, ethics

4 The term "ethics" comes from Greek êthos – custom, tradition, habit. The Latinsynonym is "morals" (mores – mores). According to the Romanian dictionary, the termis defined as "the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty andobligation", the philosophical theory of moral, as well as the entirety of moral conductnorms corresponding to the ideology of a certain class or society. The term ethics is usedin order to designate a specialised, structured philosophical discipline dealing with thestudy of good and the values associated to it, whereas morals study day-to-day behaviourin relation to what is good and right at a given moment in time and for a givencommunity.


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entails a reflection and a systematic analysis of morality, a generic termfor the various ways of understanding what is moral.

Professional ethics outlines the practices, rights and duties of themembers of a certain professional group, warning about professionalmalpractice. Professionals relate to the virtues and the values of theirprofession as central elements of their professional model. From thisperspective, the physician upholds the value of health, the teacher – thatof personal growth, the social worker – that of welfare, the lawyer – thatof legality, and the psychologist – that of personal autonomy. In a broadsense, the deontology is an ethical discipline at the border between logic,philosophy and the rights of a profession. In a narrower sense,deontology is the entirety of rules that guide an organisation, institutionor profession or parts of these, through the activity of professionalorganisations, which become thus bodies that develop, apply andsupervise the application of these rules (Miroiu, Berbea : 2004).

The deontology of a profession establishes the norms thatgovern a certain institutional activity, in terms of what is allowed andwhat is forbidden, what is desirable and what is prohibited in thebehaviour of that particular profession's practitioners. The deontologicalnorms of a profession are formulated imperatively in deontology codes.As an instrument, a deontology code is a collection of special obligationsthat derive from the deliberate adherence to a profession. Highly-specialised occupations have formal codes, which prescribe explicitly theprinciples, values and norms that regulate that particular profession; theresponsibilities described usually concern clients, co-workers, authoritiesand various categories of the public.

In the process of assisting individuals in difficulty, it is oftentimesnecessary to involve several categories of specialists, each of them beinganswerable both to the user of the services, as well as to their ownprofession, each profession's ethical code regulating this relationship.

Most ethical codes are based on universally-recognised moralprinciples: the principle of respect for dignity, the principle of respect forautonomy, the principle of justice, the principle of equality, the principleof beneficence, the principle of nonmaleficence, the principle ofintegrity; and their goal is to guide the behaviour of practitioners inmoral issues, to establish a framework of professional discipline rules forthe members of a profession, as well as to protect the professional


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reputation of all the members of that particular profession, whilelegitimising a body with control and power rights (Roth-Szamoskozi:2003).

MethodologyThe challenges of the job market, the continued structuring of

the social welfare system and the large number of students that havechosen social work as a specialisation in the past 15 years havedetermined us to start investigating the interest for this domain. Thus,under the broader title "The students' interest for the profession", westarted in October 2003 a research for "The case of social work". Weopted for the questionnaire-based inquiry and, after pre-test stages andthe required adjustments, the team met with 386 students from the firstto the final year of study from the Social Work Department5 of theFaculty of Philosophy, "A.I.Cuza" University (Iaşi).

The researched aimed to find the students' values that acted asgrounds for their enrolment in this course, as well as the way thesevalues are maintained, changed or replaced during the four years ofstudy. These questionnaires had the role to highlight also the part thatthe education system plays in shaping, developing and changing thenotions and attitudes the student has when embarking on the first yearof study.

The Social Work student follows a set of values and ethicalprinciples. One of the specific ethical principles is the responsibility thesocial workers have to use to the maximum their human qualities andprofessional knowledge in order to help individuals, groups,communities, the society in their development and in solving conflicts atpersonal and society level. Sometimes the social workers are faced withconflict situations in the very heart of the system ("value clashes" orconflicting interests, ethical dilemma), and in these cases they must beable to rely on a solid culture, firm beliefs and a broad life experience.Confronting the values of social work and the general value system is an

5The Social Work Department of the Faculty of Philosophy at the "Al.I.Cuza"University in Iaşi was established in 1990, operating for a brief period as a three-yearCollege; in 2003, its curriculum spans eight semesters for full-time classes and tensemesters for distance learning. Beginning with the academic year 2005-2006, theduration of studies for all types of study organisation (full-time, extramural studies anddistance learning) started to be of three years (six semesters).


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essential way of solving such conflicts and of avoiding ambivalentsituations in social work, which generate stress and tensions in carryingout the activities specific to the domain. The social workers must respecthuman rights, defend privacy and confidentiality, use responsibly theinformation they receive while practising their profession, ensure self-determination, dignity and human growth etc. In the research thefundamental values and ethical principles of social work wereconsidered: social justice, the dignity and uniqueness of the individual,the integrity of the person, self-determination, confidentiality, theimportance of inter-human relations, and competent provision ofservices for the benefit of the clients.

During the year 2011, continuing with the hypothesis that theprocess of value formation is a lengthy one, strongly influenced by thestudents' social and cultural background, we attempted another survey,through which we aimed to find the values that constitute thefoundation of social work practice, as well as the students' expectationsconcerning the profession. At the same time we tried to see whether,throughout their studies, the students manage to transition fromrecognising professional values to internalising them.

Thus, a number of 260 questionnaires were applied to thestudents from the first, second and third year of Social Workspecialisation.

The items used in the questionnaire had their origin in thediscussions held with the second year students, starting from theconcepts of values, personal values and professional values; therespondents were asked to assess each of them on a seven points scale,going from complete disagreement to a complete agreement.

ResultsAn essential component of the social worker's professional

profile is the development of the capacity for knowing the self and forknowing the other. Indeed, during the first study we carried out, moststudents, irrespective of year, stated that one of the qualities required forthe social work profession – a quality they believed they had – wasempathy. Other qualities the future social workers believe they have are:patience (19.9%), active listening (7.8%), sociability (6.7%), desire to getinvolved (6.2%), communicativeness (5.7%). The qualities the students


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believe they have change from one year to the next, as the degree ofknowledge and awareness of values change; thus, empathy in the firstyear scores at around 18%, whereas in the second and third year thevalue is over 30%. Paraphrasing a Romanian adage, we can say that "thebest practice is a good theory", and this should not be ignored inorienting the professionalisation that is specific to the domain of socialwork. This is illustrated by the high percentages occurring for the secondquality listed (professionalism/theoretical training). One may also noticean increase of the degree of involvement in volunteer activities, from14.8% before enrolment to 37.6% after enrolment. An impressivedynamic develops along the study years concerning these activities, asinterest increases over the years from 15.5% in the first year to 67.4 % inthe fourth year. Almost one third (32.9%) of the students taking part inthe survey declared that they were not influenced in choosing theirspecialisation. Of those who acknowledged an influence, most werelistening to suggestions coming from their families: 27.1%; the next mostpersuasive categories are friends (23.3%), people working in the socialwork domain (13%), teachers (7.3%) and classmates (6.7%). One of thestudents chose this course because he had been moved by people'sproblems, one had followed the suggestion of a priest and another hadlisten to a neighbour's idea.

Despite these answers – better yet "alongside them" –87.8% ofthe students in the survey stated that the decisive elements in theirchoice of career were their qualities, skills and desires. A percentage of55.2% assumed there would be a demand for social workers on theemployment market, and nearly half of them believed and still believethat there are multiple opportunities for finding work in the domain.Thus, the majority – 97.7% – would like to work in the area of socialwork after graduation. Regarding self-assessed qualities, most studentsbelieve they have empathy, many of them want to prove at the beginningthey are calm and patient – a quality that no longer features thatprominently in the third and fourth year –, some of them state they aresociable, understanding, or that they possess other required skills. Thedynamic across the years of the self-assessed qualities related to thefuture profession provides a picture of the influence the studieddisciplines had on the students and of the acquired experience. Most ofthe interviewed students (83.2%) believe that, in order to become a good


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social worker one needs a great deal of practice in the domain, whereasone-fifth of them believe it is important to seek out as much informationas possible.

In the second complementary study, attempted during 2011,personal values and the values pertaining to family life (70% first year,90%– second year and 73,3% – third year), friends, happiness andpersonal fulfilment, as well as autonomy and the ability to makedecisions (76,6% – first year, 80% – second year and 70%– third year)are appreciated by all students. However, the values oriented to the other– specific to social work – such as social justice (63,3%– first year,56,6%– second year and 40% – third year), community responsibility(56,6% – first year and 50%– second and third year), freedom ofexpression, nature conservation appear as less important. Similar to thevalue attached to their future employment, material achievementsbecome less essential for the students (53,3% – first and second yearand 26,6%– third year).

When talking about their expectations concerning their futurejobs, students from all years would prefer a job that comes withappreciation rather than with high pay; nonetheless, prestige (36,6% –first year, 56,6% – second year and 26,6% – third year) is a lessappreciated value, the lowest scores being given by final-year students.For the years one and two, a well-paid job scored 43,3%, whereas anappreciated (rewarding) job scored 66,6% and 73.3% respectively; third-year students gave a score of 16,6% for a well-paid job and 46,6% for arewarding job.

In terms of climate in the workplace, students appreciate a job inwhich they can used their creativity (56,6% first year students, 73,3% –second year students and 63,3%– third year students), based on equality,where decisions can be made democratically (76,6% – first year, 80% –second year and 50% – third year); despite this, autonomy does not seemto be too much appreciated, recording lower scores: 53,3% – first year,56,6% – second year and 36,6% – third year. Although they recognisethe importance of rules ( 46,6% first year, 73,3% – second year and 40%–third year), students, especially those in the third year, give a low scoreto a job where the rules would be imposed by their superiors (43,3% –first year, 26,6% – second year and 23,3%– third year).


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DiscusionsEthics implies the existence of rules that dictate which types of

behaviour are appropriate and which are not. Applying these rulesdepends on how formalised they are and is carried out through theapplication of laws, established as a system of rules dictated and imposedby the state (governments, courts of law etc.). Many of these have ethicalgrounds (Knapp et al.: 2007).6 Identifying the aspects of a law that mayharm a certain population category, and altering them accordingly are keyaspects of the social workers' job – it is their obligation to uphold socialjustice (Furman, Langer, Sanchez, Negi: 2007).

Social work is carried out in an institutional framework in whichright and wrong are defined by laws, general norms, institutional policies,professional values, best practices. Taking on the role of social workermeans accepting responsibility in relation to the clients, to theprofession, to the employer and to society, and implicitlyacknowledging that confliction situations may occur (Banks: 1995).

According to the law, the Romanian national social work systemis founded on the following general values and principles (theFramework Law concerning social work 2011):

a) social solidarity – according to this principle, the entirecommunity takes part in supporting the vulnerable individuals thatrequire support and social protection measures in order to overcome ormitigate the effects of difficult situations, in order to ensure the socialinclusion of these categories of population;

b) subsidiarity – in the situations where the individual or thefamily cannot provide entirely for their own social needs, the localcommunity and its associative structures are called in to intervene, whilethe state acts complementarily;

c) universality – each person is entitled to social assistance underthe conditions stipulated by the law;

6 For instance, the laws that criminalise theft, kidnapping, murder and violence ingeneral, are founded on the ethical principle of not harming others. The laws thatregulate divorce are founded on the principle of the child's superior interest. Medicaland social services provided for individuals who have attempted suicide have as astarting point the principle of protecting life. Not all laws are founded on ethicalprinciples (for instance, the laws that discriminate against minorities or against variousethnic or cultural minorities), and in certain circumstances a law may be consideredethical only by a segment of the population.


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d) respect for the human dignity – each individual is guaranteedthe free and full development of his/her personality, his/her individualand social status is recognised, and he/she is entitled to privacy andprotection against any kind of abuse, be it physical, mental, intellectual oreconomic;

e) the individual approach – social protection measures need tobe adapted to the particular life situation of each individual; this principletakes into consideration the character and the causes of certainemergency situations, individual abilities, the physical and mentalcondition, as well as the level of social integration of that particularperson; the support provided in a situation of individual difficulty alsoincludes support measures for the user's family;

f) partnership – the central and local public authorities, the publicand private institutions, the nongovernmental institutions, the religiousinstitutions recognised by the law, as well as the members of thecommunity establish joint objectives, work together and mobilise all therequired resources in order to ensure decent and dignified livingstandards for vulnerable individuals;

g) user participation – the service users take part in theformulation and implementation of policies that directly impact them, indesigning individualised social support programmes, and become activelyinvolved in the life of the community, either through organisations thatare specific to the association movement, or directly, through volunteeractivities carried out for the benefit of vulnerable individuals;

h) transparency – guarantees the raise of the degree ofresponsibility in relation to the citizen of the central and local publicadministration, as well as the stimulation of the active participation ofclients in the decision-making process;

i) non-discrimination – vulnerable individuals are guaranteedsocial protection measures and actions without restriction or preferencedue to race, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, social category,opinion, gender or sexual orientation, age, political views, disabilities,chronic diseases, HIV infection or inclusion in a disadvantaged category,against any restrictions that aim to or would result in a restriction of useor exercise in conditions of equality of human rights and/or fundamentalliberties.


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j) efficiency – the use of public resources is based on the bestcost-benefit ratio;

k) respect for the right to self-determination, according to whichan individual has the right to make his/her own choices, irrespective ofhis/her social values or lifestyle choices, ensuring that the latter do notjeopardise the rights or the legitimate interests of the others;

l) activisation – the ultimate goal of social assistance measures isto encourage employment, with the purpose of integrating/reintegratingthe individual in the society and of increasing the individual's quality oflife;

m) lack of duplication in terms of welfare benefits – for one needor social risk situation only one welfare benefit can be paid;

n) proximity – services are organised as close to the user aspossible, for ease of access and in order to keep the individuals as muchas possible in their own environment;

o) complementarity and integrated approach – in order to ensurethe full potential of social functioning for the individual as a full memberof his/her family, community and society, social services must becorrelated with all the user's needs and provided in an integrated manner,together with a broad range of measures and services in the economic,educational, health, cultural domains;

p) competition and competitiveness – public and private socialservices providers must be constantly concerned with increasing thequality of the provided services and with having an equal treatment onthe social services market;

q) equal opportunities – the users, without discrimination, haveequal access to opportunities of personal fulfilment and growth, as wellas to social protection measures and actions;

r) confidentiality – in order to respect private life, the users areentitled to confidentiality on their personal data and on the informationconcerning their private life and the difficulties they are facing;

s) equity – all the individuals that have similar social andeconomic resources for similar types of need are entitled to equal socialrights;

t) focus – social assistance measures are directed towards themost vulnerable categories of individuals and are provided after theindividuals' income have been tested.


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These twenty principles are a real challenge for a new socialworker.

Rules specify what the social worker must or must not do, withoutleaving room for interpretation, whereas standards explain how the socialworker could or could not do certain things, based on the principles of theprofession. Adherence to the standard that says that the social workermust respect the client's right to self-determination suggest that thisprinciple may be subject to exceptions, practice showing that there aremany exceptions to it: the value of protecting the client's life is strongerthan that of respecting the client's self-determination. Due to the factthat values reflect, as a rule, what is perceived as "good" by people andnot what is right or fair, it falls to the social worker to listen to theindividual with open heart and mind even when there are significantdifferences between value systems (Reamer: 2006, Strom-Gottfried:2007). One method for seeing values in relative terms is to place valuesin a continuum instead of in a category.

Both the rules and the standards or the ethical principles areguidelines for the professionals' behaviour. Although the meanings ofthese concepts may be interchangeable, Beauchamp and Childress (2009)say that rules and standards tend to be guidelines, action avenues forprofessionals, whereas principles have a more general character,orienting the action. Most codes include both principles and standards;principles provide the general framework for action – they apply to mostwelfare systems – and standards point to the direction of action, the wayof applying rules in specific situations (Rădoi, 2008).

The relationship between the social services user and thespecialist includes in fact three main actors: the person specialising inservice provision (who has moral duties), the patient/client (who hasmoral rights and duties), as well as the society, which, through its bodies,contributes significantly to the success of the social intervention. Thus, thesystem of social policies founded on a set of principles regulates both theactivity of social assistance institutions, as well as the way they operate, atthe same time laying the foundation of the direct relationship between theuser and the social worker. The system of professional values guides thesocial worker's intervention in such a way so that as a result of the actionthe rights of the social services user are respected.


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Lipsky (1980: 17) points out that, on the one hand socialassistance services are based on direct human interaction, whereas onthe other hand the services are provided in a formalised, bureaucratisedframework, which implies detachment and equal treatment, given thatboth the human and the material resources are limited.

Most ethical dilemmas occur in the situations where socialworkers are place in the situation of defending at the same time theindividual's rights and the institution's values, in situations that involvethe simultaneous exercise of responsibilities to the client and ofresponsibilities to co-workers or to the institution, or in situations wheregranting the client the right to choose clashes with the institution'spolicies (McAulliffe and Sudbery: 2005). The principle of informationconfidentiality raises such ethical dilemmas, due to the fact that there aremany situations where upholding it can greatly harm the client.

Musil et al. (2004: p. 317) identify two ways in which socialworkers can solve the situations that involve ethical dilemmas: avoidingdilemmatic contexts and negotiating with the actors who created thesesituations in the first place.

The specialist's moral duties Moral rights of theservice user

Social policies

The duty to help, healThe duty to informThe duty to observeconfidentialityThe duty to respect lifeThe duty to respectautonomyThe duty to respect privacyThe duty to respect dignity

The right to high-qualityservicesThe right to be informedThe right to makedecisions on one's ownbehalfThe right to educationand healthThe right to autonomouschoicesThe right to privacyThe right to dignity

Institution rules

The specialist-client/patientrelationship


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ConclusionsBearing in mind the diversity of the manifestations of exclusion

present virtually at every level of society and in all the forms of the socialdomain, as well as the great variety of forms of support, the expectationsconcerning social work are manifested in all segments of society. In thiscontext social work/social assistance is an integral part of the socialfabric, subject to the confrontations between economy and politics,between personal and professional values, between personal andinstitutional options and resources.

The necessary funding of services provided by employersproduces new ethical challenges in the social action system: on the onehand the employers in the public system are conditioned by budgetallotments, and on the other hand the activity of the private system isdetermined by policies and by the possibilities of attracting funds.Oftentimes employers request previous experience in the domain, butare reluctant to recognise volunteer work as a source of legitimate andcertified experience. Other surveys carried out so far at national levelpoint out it is necessary that institutions know each other's capabilitiesand develop public-private, private-private and public-publicpartnerships, through more intense and concrete cooperation. There areattempts at such partnerships, but they are developed mostly unilaterally,through the subcontracting of services by local public authorities toprivate institutions – which are specialised in a distinct interventiondomain or in a service aimed at certain categories of users.

Continued education in social work, carried out in a coherentmanner, could also include applied courses in professional deontology.Currently no masters' degree exists in our country in this area.

The new social workers need support in chalenging ethicaldilemmas. From our research there are evidences of a dynamic ethicalbalance during years of study. The students manage, in differentproportion, the transition from recognising professional values tointernalising these, making also steps in confronting ethical dilemmas.

One of the paradoxes of social assistance is that, having as itsmain concern the most vulnerable categories of society, it also has therole of maintaining social balance and social order, preventing massmovements and crises of the social systems (Davies: 1994). This functionis expressed in reparatory actions (concerning social equity) as well as in


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coercive actions, aimed at regulating the behaviour of individualsaccording to the current legislation and to the rules of the organisations– support is provided only under certain conditions; their breach resultsin the loss of a certain form of welfare.

The changing of values, according to Rochon (1998) is a lengthyprocess, a continuous one. In any community, various groups maydevelop new values, which can then be adopted by the entirecommunity, becoming dominant values; in other cases, the values areadopted only by small groups, becoming characteristic of subcultures.Given this process of continuous change, in a single community therewill always be several types of values, their structure and forms ofmanifestation influencing social development, while the cultural featuresof societies will determine to a great extent the value orientations ofindividuals (Hofstede: 1980; Gavriluţă, 2011).

The goal of social workers trainers is to help them integrate in anaccurate and balanced manner their own values into the values andstandards of the social work profession. Transforming the knowledgeacquired into behaviours is an important aspect of professionaldevelopment; the fact that a social worker can find the correct solutionto an ethical problem does not necessarily mean that he/she will also actethically. Social workers know it is not ethical to impose their owncultural values to their clients; however, they may do it unwittingly;conversely, although they may know the correct way of action in a givensituation, they may act differently, out of fear of losing their job. For thisreason, the future social workers must learn how to act appropriately andto manage any possible negative feelings.

AcknowledgmentThis article was co-financed from the European Social Fund by the Sectoral

Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007 – 2013, within theproject “Post-doctoral Studies in the Field of Healthcare Ethics’ Policies”implemented by the University of Medicine and Pharmacy “G.T.Popa” Iaşi, thenumber of the identification of the contract is POSDRU/89/1.5/S/61879. Thismaterial does not necessary represent the opinion of the European Union or of theRomanian Government.


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The Discourse Analyse in the Romanian MediaRegarding the Organ Transplant – Systemic References

Adina Karner-HUȚULEAC1

AbstractNumerous articles which have evaluated the sources of information regarding

the organ donation observed that for a high percentage of the respondents, the first andthe most important resource is the mass-media (Reese, 2003). The approachedresearch problem in this study is the role of Romanian mass-media in building theattitudes towards the organs donations, starting from the idea that they have aformative role besides the informative role.

Systemic references capture the most details, sometimes contradictory, relatedto the relation between the effort to raise donation cases in Romania and theinstitutional ability to respond efficiently to this goal. The image of Romania regardingthe organs donation and transplant in the written press is characterised by: small riseof the donation rate, which still remains under the European average, the existence ofsome long waiting lists of patients who need a transplant, the very poor rate ofdonation from the patient found in cerebral death, the causes for this poor rate ofdonation are: the poor organization of the network of special medical services necessaryin the process of organs donation and transplant, and the general attitude of thepopulation.

Keywords:Romanian media, organ donation, attitude of the population, medical

services, health policies

1 post-doctoral Researcher, Center for Ethics and Public Healthcare Policies, Universityof Medicine and Pharmacy “Gr. T. Popa”, Iasi, Romania, Ph.D., Lecturer, Departmentof Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, ”Alexandru Ioan Cuza”University, Iasi, Romania, 3 Toma Cozma, Iasi, 700554, Romania, Tel.: +40-332-201297; Email: [email protected]


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IntroductionBecause of the European Commission encourages the

development of a coherent national policies with the purpose of raisingthe number of donates organs, the acknowledgement of the factors thatcould support the efficiency of such politics represent an extremelyimportant duty for researchers from the psycho-social area.

The approached research problem in this study is the role ofRomanian mass-media in building the attitudes towards the organsdonations, starting from the idea that they have a formative role besidesthe informative role.

As far as the organs donation and transplant are concerned, therealready exists a number of investigations - done especially in the contextof the western culture - that regards the emphasis on the portrayal waysof the donation and transplants of organs, using various analysis units-publications, TV programs, campaigns for encouraging organs donation-and theoretical concepts- social representations, themes, symbolicalframeworks, etc.

In 2011, Guden, Centinkaya and Nacar have evaluated thesources of information on the topic of organs donation in on arepresentative sample of students from Theology University (Guden,Centinkaya and Nacar, 2011). It has been observed that 70 % from therespondents use mass-media as a source of information, 42% use thereligious publications and only 15,3%, school education. Moreover it hasbeen observed that, despite the pro transplant attitude (90,8%), most ofthe theology students do not wish to be actively involved in thepromotion and donation of organs (98,9%), in the situation in whichthey have demonstrated that constant promotion of the transplant topicin mass-media especially if it is supported by representative priests withinfluence among the worshipers (population), can lead to a rise of thedonation rate from 200%-300%, phenomenon explained by parasocialinteraction and identification (Bae, Brown and Kang, 2011).

The immediate effect of the exposure to negative informationrelated to transplant by means of television, radio and newspapers hasbeen studied in Poland, when details about a number of controversialincidents have been broadcast, incidents that existed in the case of somesurgery interventions related to transplant. It has been observed animmediate deterioration of the public opinion regarding the organs

The Discourse Analyse in the Romanian MediaAdina Karner-HUȚULEAC

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donation and a sudden decrease of transplant numbers, aspects explainedby the lesser trust in the professional abilities and deontology of medicalstaff. The longitudinal evaluation of the attitude towards the transplanthas continued with a new stage of measure activities, after a few monthsfrom these incidents and it has been observed a permanent trait of thenegative attitude, even if this has decreased its intensity (explained by themechanisms of selective perception, memory and persistence effect(Misterska, Glowacki and Wlodarczyk, 2010).

Other authors have evaluated the effect of national healthpolicies (including mass-media information campaign) focused on thechange towards a positive attitude of the population as far as the organdonation is concerned. For example, the study done by Coppen et al.(2010) has evaluated the Duch national strategy of pro-donationeducation (1998-2008) and he observed that, although the program had areal success after 2 and then 4 months from implementation, there arestill 2 questions that remain: how much time does this effect really last(with what frequency should the campaign be done again) and which isthe magnitude of the attitude influence to which it is realistic to expect(Coppen, Friele, Gevers and Zee, 2010).

Colak et al. (2009) realized that a complex analysis of theinformation related to the donation and transplant that had appeared inthe national newspapers in Turkey throughout year 2008 and pointed outthat the percentage of the information related to the problematic oftransplant is very low and most of it represented by negative aspects ofcontroversial ones, which influences directly the perception of the readerand his attitude towards donation (Colak, Hekimoglu, Ersoy, Sozen andHaberal, 2009). Additionally, Pacheco et al. (2009) found significantpositive correlations between the quality of the information offered byThe National Strategy of Transplant Agency from Venezuela with thehelp of the mass-media (especially, newspapers, radio and TV campaignsduring 2005-2007) and the percentage of families which had refused thedonation (Pacheco et al., 2009).

The objectives of the researchThe theoretical arguments suggest the fact that the choice the

mass-media makes in the portrayal of its relevant subjects for donationand transplant of organs has certain consequences on the people’s


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attitudes and behaviour. The general goal of our research paper has beento know in details about the ways in which these subjects are reflected inthe Romanian mass-media, especially from a systemic perspective.

Gathering and analysis of dataWhen gathering data, we chose the segmentation of mass-media

in three separate categories - tabloid publications, general and localpublications - counting on the existence of some superficial aspects ineach of them, regarding the presentation discourses of the organstransplant. The selected publications from the three categories had thebiggest sales number in each category, such as: Click, Libertatea andCancan from the group of tabloids, Adevarul, Gandul and EvenimentulZilei (EZ) from the generalist category, and Ziarul de Iasi (ZI), FoaiaTransilvana (FT), from the local publications category.

The gathering of data procedure was the search on thepublications’ web sites and the selection of articles containing the phrase:‘organs transplant’ and ‘organs donation’. The group of articles coveredthe period of time from 2010-2011, including publicity materials in thementioned newspapers which refer to the subject of organs transplant, inall the contexts in which it has been mentioned. It includes 307 articlesfrom the mentioned 8 publications, separated in the following way:

- 139 articles from the 3 mentioned tabloids: 53 from Cancan, 69from Click, and 17 from Libertatea

- 124 articles from the 3 generalist newspapers: 68 from Adevarul,42 from EZ and 14 from Gandul

- 44 articles from the 2 local newspapers: 14 from FT and 29 fromZIThe gathered data has undergone three stages of analysis,

accordingly: in the first stage of the thematic analysis, the categories ofreferences (themes) form the selected articles have been identified andselected, then each thematic category has been explored in detail, in thepresent study the systemic references being presented in detail.

Throughout all the article, the average number of systemicreferences is 0, 68 references / article (standard error 0, 93).

Results and DiscussionsThe thematic analysis from the first stage has revealed the

existence of seven categories of themes in the Romanian mass-media


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discourses on the organs donation and transplant, such as: medical,psychological, ethical, religious, systemic, financial and juridicalreferences.

Each of these categories contains a set of references to certainrelevant aspects. This set represent the grid of analysis of the mediadiscourse on each of the seven themes, grid that has been built in aninductive manner, by exploitation of the gathered articles’ content andgrouping by units of significance of the text parts from them. Then wepresent this grid of analysis, including only the significant systemicelements (references):

The systemic references that have been identified are the onesconcerning: the extent to which the state supports the Romaniantransplant system (with two distinct possibilities: positive and negativereferences); the mentioning of the medical actors involved: the transplantteam leader, member of this team, transplant coordinators; negativereferences at the level of equipment of medical settings involved; lack ofmedical staff involved.

The state supports the creation of the medical graft transplantprocedure, by offering financial help to the patients and their families(‘The cost of the transplant have been supported 100% by the NationalTransplant Agency’ (Adevarul, 17.II.2011), ‘The money for theoperation, 65,000 euro, have been given by the Ministry of Health’ (EZ,13.I.2011)), as well as involvement if the selection of specialized clinicsaccording to certain types of transplant (‘Parents cannot afford to lookfor such clinics and pay for his treatment so they contacted the HealthDirectory from Bacau, which is looking for a clinic that could accepthim’ (EZ, 13.I.2011)).

There are mentioned some difficulties which could appear too,regarding the completion of the necessary file in order to receive thishelp (‘Doctors from Fundeni Clinical Hospital refuse to give him amedical letter.(…) The reason behind this act is that in Romania these transplantscan be done as well and that I have to queue up (…), the young lady said’), aswell as a certain feeling of insecurity related to the possibility to receivethis help (‘(…) I hope I am as lucky as she is that the state would pay for myoperation in Germany, the student added’ (Adevarul, 10.I.2011)).

Additionally, there contradictory information regarding thefinancing of transplant programs, on one hand having positive statement


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of the decision factors from the Ministry of Health (‘The allocated budget fortransplants did not decreased and I do not think it will happen in the following years(…), stated Cseke’ (FT, 20.06.2010)), and on the other hand there are thedoctors statements which deny the existence of this budget support .

There are negative aspects related to the health system involvedin transplant programs:

- The extent to which the involved medical settings are equipped:‘(…) there are medical settings where patients who suffer arecrowded and do not a shower (…).’ (EZ, 20.IV.2011)

- Lack of involved medical staff: ‘Insufficient financing and lack ofstaff do not allow hospitals to take care appropriately of apossible donor (…). Ionel Sinescu: We have real difficulties to ensurethe Intensive Care shifts of the nurses who unfortunately miss more andmore.’ (Adevarul, 22.I.2011)

- The absence of transplant coordinator job in COR ‘(…) at themoment the job of paid transplant coordinator in Romania.’(Adevarul, 30.I.2011)

- From the point of view of the medical actors involved, weobserved that most identified references (51-16.6%) were thoseregarding the transplant team leader.It can be easily observed that there are especially expressed

opinions of some doctors who have important managing jobs, beingvery well represented in the western regions (Timisoara), central (Cluj,Targu-Mures) and in the south (Bucharest) and extremely few referencesto specialists from Moldavian region. With an overwhelming majoritythere are presented positive information about knowledge,professionalism, courage and devotion of involved doctors in transplantprograms.

In synthesis, the most important messages associated with theseexperts have been:

- Prof. Dr. Mihai Lucan, the manager of Clinical Institute ofUrology and Kidney Transplant from Cluj, which in most of itsdeclarations offers medical and social details about patients withtransplants and he is described as a successful doctor, whosupports the effort of realization of transplant in Romania.

- Prof. Dr. Ionel Sinescu, the manager of the Clinic for KidneyTransplant and Urologic Surgery Fundeni, Bucharest, points out


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that transplant is a more efficient therapeutic method (financiallyand psychologically speaking) than dialysis and shows the mainfactor which slows down the donation rate increase: the weakmobilization of intensive care centres which should declarecerebral death and maintain the functions of the body.

- Prof. Dr. Irinel Popescu, the manager of the Centre of GeneralSurgery and Liver Transplant- Fundeni Clinical Institute,Bucharest, the president of National Transplant Agency ispresented as an exceptional doctor, with a great opening towardsthe support of transplant from Romania, who led variousmedical teams which have done successful surgery interventions,some of them for the first time in Romania.

- Prof. Dr. Dorel Săndesc, the manager of Anaesthesia andIntensive Care within the Timisoara Regional Hospital, has twotreated subjects repeatedly: (1) the martyrdom of doctors who,on a volunteer basis, do transplant and (2) the success of pro-transplant campaign from Timisoara, who explains that mainy byinformation and awareness campaigns for population with thehelp of mass-media and native faith and goodness of the peoplefrom Banat Region.

- Conf. Dr. Horațiu Suciu, the manager of Cardiovascular Clinicfor Adults and Children within the Emergency Regional ClinicalHospital Targu-Mures, points out the rise of the donation rate inRomania and expresses the fear that the medical system cannotcope with the big number of transplants.Only 29 articles (9, 4%) contain references to members of the

team:- ‘Doctors from Timisoara, together with a team of doctors from

Cluj, have removed the kidney of a man.’ (Adevarul, 11.III.2011)- ‘Doctors from Timisoara think that this progress is due to a

mentality of people from Banat Region, the people being moreinformed and understanding due to a high frequency of suchcases in the region.’ (Adevarul, 26.I.2011)

- ‘Another life saved by doctors from Mures’. (Adevarul,14.II.2011)


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- ‘Those saved from death thank, after the organs transplant, todoctors, because they are the ones who made their rebirthpossible’. (FT, 20.VI.2010)The teams of specialists doctors are mentioned in a smaller

number than managers of general surgery and transplant, being anassociation to only positive aspects:

- Professional attitude (which leads to a great rate of success ofsurgery transplant interventions)

- Dedication (rapid coordination to respond efficiently to anycircumstance in which a patient is in cerebral death, no matterthe time period or personal problems of the surgeon

- Modesty (awareness of the fact that the success of a transplantsupposes the effort of all involved factors, starting with thefamilies who give their permission for donation or alive donors)

- Moreover, the same disproportionate presence of informationrelated to the teams of specialist doctors taking into account thegeographical regions (Banat, Transylvania and Muntenia beingabove Moldova from this point of view).A number of 25 references (8, 1%) are regarding the transplant

coordinators:- ‘Family agreed with the organ removal, (…) said Raluca Neagu, the

coordinator of the Regional Transplant Centre.’ (Adevarul,31.I.2011)

- ‘(...) Family agreed to remove the kidneys and liver, said Dan Ilincariu,the coordinator of Timişoara Regional Transplant Centre.’(Adevarul, 1.III.2011)

- ‘The permission has to be obtained from the grad I relatives ofthe person, or, in their absence, by the closest relative, explainsdoctor Dan Luscalov, the executive manager of NationalTransplant Agency.’ (Adevarul, 5.XI.2010)

- ‘The preparations ‘get stuck’ during the process of declarationsof donor and when the consent of families is not present, thelack of inter-hospital coordination, as well as the lack of adonation culture which is obvious through the families’ refusals,explains Victor Zota, coordinator of Bucharest TransplantCentre.’ (EZ, 6.X.2010)


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We can notice the fact that in written media there are presentedthe points of view of other important members of the NationalTransplant Agency from Romania, maybe with a significant exception ofthe president of the agency, Prof.Dr. Irinel Popescu, who, although isvery active in other roles (specialist doctor in liver transplant, manager ofthe ‘Centre of General Surgery and Liver Transplant Dan Setlacec’-Fundeni Clinical Institute, surgery professor, The Faculty of GeneralMedicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy ‘Carol Davila’-Bucharest, the president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, thepresident of ‘Romtransplant’ professional organization’), is not presentwith a professional opinion from the role of NTA president.

With a higher frequency we see Dr Victor Zota, the formercoordinator or the National Program of Transplant who points out somebasic ideas as far as the transplant in Romania is concerned: (1) thedonation and transplant rate need to be supported because there are longwaiting lists; (2) the emphasis of the three factors which slow down therise of the donation rate: poor financing of the health system (lack oflogistics, lack of salaries for specialists), lack of inter-hospitalcoordination and lack of a donation culture which is found in the highrate of refusals of donation; (3) the emphasis on the paradox of thesituation from Romania, although there is a small rate of donations,there are organs exported to other countries who have well structuredwaiting lists and a well equipped health system. Negative informationrelated to the conflict from Saby Clinic is associated with this doctor aswell. He has been accused that he issued, in the name of NTA, an illegalauthorisation for the functioning of this clinic. The doctors from thisclinic have been arrested for ovules trafficking, aspect which led to hisdismissal and to relativization of the analysis’ value, published in themedia regarding the donation and transplant by losing credibility.

Some points of view contradict the opinion of Dr. Victor Zota,especially as far as the population’s attitude towards organs donation isconcerned. Dr. Andrei Nica, assistant director of National TransplantAgency points out the existence, at least in the western part of thecountry, of a donation culture, expressed by the big number of familieswhich giver their permission for donation in the case in which a memberof the family receives the diagnosis of cerebral death, aspect alsosupported by Dr. Dan Ilincariu, coordinator of Timişoara Regional


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Transplant Centre, who explains that this situation through the positiveinfluence of mass-media, which informs and raises awareness among thepopulation from Banat Region.

An aspect emphasised by Dr. Raluca Neagu, coordinator of IasiRegional Transplant Centre, refers to the lack of financing of the healthsystem, which leads to the great number of specialist doctor who leavethe country (whose responsibility is to give the diagnosis of cerebraldeath and maintain the functions of the patient’s body).

The executive manager of NTA, dr. Dan Luscalov, appeared inthe press once with information about the informed consent of thefamily.

One could easily notice the fact that the number of doctorsinvolved in the support of the national network of transplant with thehelp of National Transplant Agency is extremely small, having only tworegional transplant coordinators who are active in the mass-media (fromthe three coordinators left at NTA, according to the NTA website), whoare not present with information each time a case of a possible donorcomes up. Moreover, there is not a clear analysis of the donation andtransplant situation in Romania, the reader being partially informed andsometimes in contradiction.

With a very high frequency, we can see the humanitarian appealsand campaigns for the support of causes of people who need atransplant urgently but they find it impossible to support themselvesfinancially in such a process:

- ‘My mother told me that it would have been very hard for us if‘From the heart, for the children’ campaign had not existed’’.(Click, 5.IV.2011)

- ‘The humanitarian messages are more and more every day. Moreand more young people go through hard times because ofillnesses.’ (Click, 3.IV.2011)

- ‘(…) Donations for the wonder girl can be made in the bankaccounts open at RCB bank (…)’. (Adevarul, 17.IV.2011)

- ‘With the help of donors, up to present, 14,000 euros have beendonated.’ (Adevarul, 12.IV.2011)

- ‘Impressed by the student’s case, the Association ‘Save Lives’which helped Cerasela to benefit from the lungs transplant,wants to help her live.’ (Adevarul, 24.III.2011)


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- ‘Oltenia Philharmonic makes available, starting from today, whenthe recitals and concerts are scheduled, a box for fund raising fora young man from Craiova, aged 35, diagnosed with leukaemia.’(Adevarul, 4.II.2011)

- One can notice the existence of some awareness campaigns ofpopulation, for example: the humanitarian campaign ‘From theheart for children’, organized by the ‘COSMIR’ Educational-Cultural Foundation, from “The Truth Holding’ AssociatedCompanies (Click, 21.IX.2010), campaign ‘Blood means life!Donate blood and/or stem cells!’ (Adevarul, 14.XII.2010),campaign ‘You can be someone’s hero too!’ (FT, 4.V.2010),campaign ‘An organ donor can save four lives’ (EZ, 6.X.2010).The main sponsors (besides the Ministry of Health) for the

patients who need a transplant are:- Common people- NGOs (egg. Association ‘Save Lives’, Association for the

Promotion and Development of Projects in the Field of Heath,National Union of All Students from Romania)

- State Institutions (Polytechnic University from Bucharest, TheNational Institute of Haematology, Oltenia Philarmonic etc.)Romania’s image regarding the transplant program is specially

negative, which is produced in two ways:- The presentation of different negative statistics regarding the

situation of donation and transplant from Romania:‘Romania is on the last place in the EU when it comes to organs

donation’. (Adevarul, 6.IV.2010)‘Romania is the last state in the European top regarding the

number of reported organs donors, concerning the rapport to onemillion people, on average, per year, Act Media informs.’ (id.)

- Commendatory description of the rate of donation from otherEuropean countries (which determines an explicit and implicitprocess of social comparison, from which Romania is negativelybrought to the fore)‘Spain is on the first place in the European top regarding the

organs donation, with 34 donors to 1 million people.’ (id.)


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‘Germany has a rate of 16 donors per 1 million people, France22 donors/ million, Ireland 20 donors/ million, Austria 21 donors/million then Greece 6 donors/ million.’ (id.)

In synthesis, the image of Romania regarding the organsdonation and transplant is characterized by:

- The little rise of the donation rate (2-3 donors/million), whichstill remains much more under the European average (19donors/million);

- The existence of some long waiting lists of patients who need atransplant (kidney, liver, heart, etc.);

- A very low rate of donation from the patient in cerebral death(almost 20% in the case of kidney transplant comparing to 95%which represents the percentage in most European states);

- The causes of this low rate of donation are: (1) the loworganization of the specialised medical services’ networknecessary in the process of organs donation and transplant(because of poor financing of the health system); (2) the generalpopulation’s attitude (there are contradictory arguments recordedrelated to the families’ refusal rate, which varies from 30% and60-70%).From this data one can conclude the fact that in today’s Romania

organs transplant seems to be a luxury medical intervention, under theconditions in which the health system does not have enough resources,not only for the basic medical assistance, without being taken intoconsideration the extra sums of money necessary to support thedonation program and coherent transplant, which implies sufficient andwell trained staff in ITA sections which could especially take care of thepatient in cerebral death, clear criteria of diagnosis of cerebral death andequipment which could make possible the compulsory investigations, aclear, a clear procedure of contacting the transplant coordinators indifferent regions, a number of dedicated doctors paid for theprofessional responsibility, specialization of coordinators in efficientcommunication methods with the family of the possible donor, clearrecord of potential patients who could receive a transplant fromRomania and abroad, clear rules of selection of patients who will receivean organ, financial support and good coordination of the teams whichwill perform the transplant etc.


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Despite these major difficulties, the transplant for patients fromRomania is still performed because:

- we have doctors who perform these surgery intervention on apro bono basis, from the need to do their duty and/or to gainexperience and professional reputation (even this determines amassive leave of the specialists)

- the pro-donation attitude, at least of the population from thesouth, west and centre of the country

- financial resources (poor) for the surgery interventions oftransplant abroad (for the types of transplant which cannot beperformed in the country).

ConclusionsSystemic references capture the most details, sometimes

contradictory, related to the relation between the effort to raise donationcases in Romania and the institutional ability to respond efficiently tothis goal. ‘(…) in Romania, as well as at European level, transplant is a priority’,declared the former Minister of Health, Attila Cseke (FT, 20.VI.2010),and that is why, the state supports through National TransplantProgram, the patients and their families by giving them financial help andby getting involved in the selection of clinics from abroad, clinicsspecialized in certain types of transplants which are not performed inRomania.

Despite this effort, numerous doctors discuss about the fact thatthere is poor financing for the transplant itself as well as for thetreatment with some medicine that need to be given for the rest of thepatient’s life after the operation. Moreover, the budget deficit determinesa number of important gaps related to the insufficient medical staff(nurses and specialists doctors who leave the medical system fromRomania because of the small salaries and work conditions),unsatisfactory equipment of the medical sections involved in thedonation and transplant, the extremely small number of transplantcoordinator who should organize and coordinate after extremely clearprocedures all the medical network necessary for such a complexprocess, the small number of pro-donation campaigns which are wellmanaged for the information and formation of the general publicopinion (there is recorded contradictory information regarding this


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aspect) etc. Although specialists discuss very much in the written mediaabout the very low rate of organs donation in Romania (especially fromthe donor found in cerebral death), there are more and more doctorswho raise the problem of real ability of the health system to cope(financially and from the human point of view) with a big number ororgans for transplants, under the conditions in which Romania alreadyexports these organs abroad because the networks of transplant fromEurope are better organized and because in the country certain types oftransplant interventions do not yet take place. Additionally, there arebrought to the fore long waiting lists of the patients who need immediateneed of a transplant, which represents a sufficient reason for thedonation rate to grow, although the medical network is not sure to bemore efficient in this situation.

Because of the poor budget support come from the part of thestate, one can observe a revival of pro-donation actions of the civilsociety, by getting involved in fund raising, initiating campaigns in mass-media, publication of humanitarian announcements, etc.

In synthesis, the image of Romania regarding the organsdonation and transplant in the written press is characterised by: (1) smallrise of the donation rate (2-3 donors/million), which still remains underthe European average (19 donors/million); (2) the existence of somelong waiting lists of patients who need a transplant (kidney, liver, heartetc.); (3) the very poor rate of donation from the patient found incerebral death (almost 20% in the case of kidney transplant, comparingto 95% which represents the percentage in most of the European states);(4) the cause for this poor rate of donation are: (1) the poor organizationof the network of special medical services necessary in the process oforgans donation and transplant (because of the poor financing of thehealth system); (2) the general attitude of the population (there arerecorded contradictions regarding the refusal rate of the families, whichvaries from 30% to 60-70%).

Despite these major difficulties, to Romanian patients thetransplant is performed because: (1) we have doctors who can performthese surgery interventions on a pro bono basis from the need to dotheir duty and/or gain experience and professional reputation (even ifthis thing determines as well, a massive leave of the specialists); (2) thepro-donation attitude at least from the population in the south, west and


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centre part of the country; (3) (poor) financial resources for the paymentof surgery interventions such as transplant abroad (for the types oftransplant which are not performed in the country).

AcknowledgementsThis study was supported by POSDRU/89/1.5/S/61879, ‘Postdoctoral

studies in the field of ethics of policy in public healthcare’, University of Medicine andPharmacy ‘Gr. T. Popa’, Iasi, Romania.

References

Bae, H.S., Brown, W., and Kang, S. (2011). Social influence of a religioushero: The late Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan's impact oncornea donation and volunteerism. Journal of Health Communication,16, pp. 62-78.

Colak, M.Y., Hekimoglu, D., Ersoy, K., Sozen, F., and Haberal, M.(2009). Health content analysis of organ donation andtransplantation news on Turkish television channels and inTurkish print media. Transplant Proceedings, 42(1), pp. 134-136.

Coppen, R., Friele, R.D., Gevers, S.K.M., and Zee, J. van der (2010).Donor education campaigns since the introduction of the Dutchorgan donation act: increased cohesion between campaigns haspaid off. Transplant International, 23(12), pp. 1239-1246.

Guden, E., Cetinkaya, F., and Nacar, M. (2011). Attitudes and BehaviorsRegarding Organ Donation: a Study on Officials of Religion inTurkey. Journal of Religion and Health [Epub ahead of print]

Misterska, E., Glowacki, M., and Wlodarczyk, Z. (2010). Mass-media andthe transplantation crisis: the example of Poland. TransplantInternational, 23(12), pp. 1239-1246.

Pacheco, Z., Alonzo, E., Venegas, I., Armas, S., Hernández, E., Milanés,C. L., and Rivas Vetencour, P. (2009). Presence in the media ofthe topic "donation and transplantation of organs and tissues"during the 2005 to 2007 period in Venezuela as a strategy toimprove its perception in Venezuelan society. Transplantationproceedings, 19(2), pp. 173-179.

Reese, S.D. (2003). Framing public life: A bridging model for mediaresearch. In S.D. Reese, O.H. Gandy, and A.E. Grant (Eds.),Framing public life. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,Inc., pp. 7–32.

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Aspects of Coping with Disease in some RomaCommunities of Romania

Andrada PÂRVU1

Laszlo FOSZTO2

Angela ENACHE3

Silvia DUMITRAS4

Stefana MOISA5

Rodica GRAMMA6

Gabriel ROMAN7

Radu CHIRITA8

Beatrice IOAN9

AbstractThe traditional Roma people live in a world filled with their taboos, cultural

values and laws that rule all aspects of their lives. In Roma culture, disease has acomplex and mystic significance. The disease, the hospital and medical stuff areconsidered impure (pollution).

1 Postdoctoral fellow - “Gr T Popa” Medicine and Pharmacy University, Iaşi, Assistantprofessor- “Iuliu Haţieganu” Medicine and Pharmacy University, Cluj-Napoca, Phone:0744658394, e-mail: [email protected] Postdoctoral fellow - “Gr T Popa” Medicine and Pharmacy University, Iaşi, Scientificresearcher- Romanian, Institute for Research on National Minorities, Phone:0748452219, e-mail: [email protected] Postdoctoral fellow - “Gr T Popa” Medicine and Pharmacy University, Iaşi, Phone:0722701755, e-mail: [email protected] Postdoctoral fellow - “Gr T Popa” Medicine and Pharmacy University, Iaşi, “SfantaMaria” Hospital, Iasi, Phone: 0740142536, e-mail: [email protected] Postdoctoral fellow - “Gr T Popa” Medicine and Pharmacy University, Iaşi, “SfantaMaria” Hospital, Iasi, Phone: 0740191407, e-mail: [email protected] Postdoctoral fellow - “Gr T Popa” Medicine and Pharmacy University, Iaşi, Associateprofessor- “NicolaeTestemitanu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Chisinau,Phone: 37369626210, e-mail: [email protected] Postdoctoral fellow - “Gr T Popa” Medicine and Pharmacy University, Iaşi, Phone:0740519723, e-mail: [email protected] Postdoctoral fellow - “Gr T Popa” Medicine and Pharmacy University, Iaşi, Lecturer-“Babes-Bolyai” University Cluj-Napoca, Phone: 07481250929 Associate professor - “Gr T Popa” Medicine and Pharmacy University, Iaşi, Phone:0744919461, e-mail: [email protected]


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Coping with disease is a complex process which can be effective orineffective,as it decrease or increase stress level, depression or anxiety.

The paper offers the doctors that provide medical care to Roma patientinformation about psychological problems caused by disease, religious coping and theimportance of family as a psychological resource.

There are presented the results of a qualitative study that consisted of taking48 semi-structured interviews within Roma communities residing in two of Romania’scounties, Cluj and Iaşi.

The results of the study could offer the medical stuff a better understanding ofRoma behaviour in case of illness and could facilitate pacient-centered medical careand cultural targeted care.

Keywords:Roma patient, Coping, Religious Coping, Psychological Resource

I. Introduction. Justifying the approach of the subject.Modern medicine requires a holistic approach of the patient, by

offering both specialised treatment for the disease itself andpsychological support for the patients experiencing difficulties inadapting to their disease. Studies in the field of medical psychology showthat patients regard their physician as the most important source ofpsychological support (Baileet all, 2000).

The modern approach to the patient requires the physician toadapt to the patient’s various characteristics, such as: age, sex, schooling,background, ethnicity, culture etc. (Schouten &Meeuwesen, 2006). Outof these, the cultural factors bear a special significance, making it so thatif the socio-cultural differences that exist between the person who offersmedical care and the one who receives it – the patient – are notacknowledged, explored and understood, it may lead to an inadequateapproach of the patient, followed by the latter’s dissatisfaction, adecrease in therapeutic compliance and a poor therapeutic outcome(Betancourt, 2003; Campbell, Ramsay & Green, 2001; Van Wieiringen etall, 2002).

Our choice of topic, the problem of psychological adaptation todisease in some Roma communities in Romania, is motivated by ourintention to assist the physicians caring for Roma patients suffering fromserious illness. This approach is also justified by the fact that the

Aspects of Coping with Disease in some Roma Communities .Andrada PÂRVU et. All.

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Romanian medical education curriculum don’t provide informationregarding the psychological challenges presented by disease, and inregards to the care of patients belonging to an ethnic minority, only oneuniversity in Romania has recently added to its curriculum anundergraduate-level course.

II. Psychological adaptation to diseaseIn terms of clinical psychology, coping is a sum of behaviours

and cognitive activities that occur in response to a „misfortune”, to anoverwhelming life event, with the purpose of defeating and overcomingit. This „response behaviour” developed by the patient after finding outtheir diagnosis arise as a subconscious way of fighting on a psychologicallevel, with the purpose of removing or eliminating the triggering factor –disease (Holland & Lewis, 2000). These reactions serve the purpose ofminimising the disturbance in the patient’s life brought on by learningthe diagnosis and beginning the treatment (Rebeleanu, Soitu, 2012).

All these coping mechanisms developed by the patient serve thepurpose of bringing the afflicted person back to the life they had beforethe disease occurred. To the extent that these means of coping weresuccessful, the person adjusts well to the experience of learning theirdiagnosis and beginning treatment. In terms of efficiency in removingnegative psychological consequences, the coping process can be eithereffective, by decreasing stress levels, depression or anxiety, or ineffective,the latter being associated with a poor outcome and high stress levels(Merluzzi et all, 2001; Pârvu, 2011; Spencer, Carver & Price, 1998).

During the development of psychological adaptation, the patientmakes use of the psychological resources that they have. Those could beinternal (patient’s personality, fighting spirit, spirituality, sense ofhumour) or external (resource person, profession, place of employment,social context, material situation etc.)(Koehler,Koenigsmann&Frommer, 2009; Mazanec et all, 2010;Pinquart&Frohlich, 2009). Religion is one of the resources mostindividuals resort to, the phenomenon being more intense and morefrequently encountered when dealing with disease (Dragănescu&Dima,2011; Pargament et all., 1988).

Out of the many coping strategies employed by differentindividuals, religious coping is one of the most frequently encountered


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patterns. When the patients face adversities in the form of grave, life-threatening disease, they frequently turn to coping patterns that areclosest to them from an emotional point of view, meaning spiritualityand religion. Religious coping allows finding a sense, cause or meaningthat the patients attribute to the disease, comfort, the sense of belongingto a community, a solution to problems and spiritual guidance(Karekla&Constantinou, 2010).

In classifying religious coping, Pargament (1997) identified ninepatterns, out of which the first five were efficient, while the last fourwere inefficient.

- Positive evaluation, redefining the stress factor as havingpotential benefits (discovering new religious meanings)

- Self-directed religious coping, the search to obtain controlthrough one’s own actions, associated with the feeling of spiritualprotection.

- Collaborative religious coping, the search for control through acollaborative partnership with the Divinity.

- The search for comfort and reassurance in Divine love andprotection.

- The search for psychological support from the Churchrepresentatives or the religious community.

- Religious waiting (passivity), meaning waiting for the Divinity totake control of the situation.

- Evaluating the stress source in terms of punishment, redefiningthe stress source as divine punishment.

- Interpersonal religious discontent, expressing confusion anddissatisfaction in regards to the relationship with the Churchrepresentatives or the members of the religious community.

- Spiritual discontent, expressing confusion and dissatisfaction inregards to the relationship with the Divinity.A physician’s knowledge of these aspects of coping is useful and

may help in recognising patients that develop psychological adaptationproblems when faced with illness. These patients can be addressed to aspecialist who, given the patient’s consent, may address them toindividual or group counselling programs.


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III. The medical approach to Roma patientsTreating a patient that belongs to an ethnical minority represents

a challenge for the physician, as the latter has to adapt to the patient’svalues, both from a linguistic and cultural point of view.

In Romania, the Roma represent a minority of approx 3.2% ofthe active population, according to the census from 2011. At their origin,the Roma were nomadic and spread throughout the world. Nomadicgroups exist even today, but most Roma are settled in differentcountries, showing different degrees of acculturation, from adhering totraditionalist, secluded communities, to integrating in the majoritypopulation. The traditionalists Roma are split up in clans, named aftertheir occupations.

The traditionalist Roma live in a world filled with its own taboos,rules and laws, which govern and dominate all of life’s aspects. Theircommunity is a static one, resistant to change, preserving magical beliefs,closed off from an open society’s influences. Anyone who is born andraised in such a society has to take on these beliefs and taboos and passthem forward. To the Roma, respect for tradition is sacred andinalienable, equivalent in value to a dogma (Banncroft, 2005; Grigore2001; Weyrauch 2001).

Patients belonging to the Roma ethnicity are known for havingcertain behaviours and specific beliefs regarding the act of medical careand the attitude towards disease: they don’t resort to preventivemedicine, but to the curative branch, they don’t pay for health insurance,they prefer addressing a medical service while accompanied by severalmembers of their community, they prefer emergency services to theoutpatient, they often take medicine that were prescribed to othermembers of the family for other diseases, and, being illiterate, often endup taking expired medicine (Földes&Covaci, 2012; Hajioff& McKee,2000).

The entire life philosophy behind the traditional Roma culture isbased on the opposition pure-impure, with ritual purity beingrepresented by respecting universal order and harmony by conforming tothe model, and ritual impurity, invisible, but pronounced from a spiritualpoint of view, being represented by deviating from the model, thusbreaking the community’s balance, the latter having been established


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through a series of behaviour and conduct laws, whose validity has beenextensively tested through experience (Grigore, 2001; Weyrauch, 2001).

Impure behaviour brings bad luck, an extremely dangerous thingfor both the perpetrator as well as the community, because luck, onceforged follows the individual and the family for a lifetime. It is possiblethat being impure can be limited to being tainted but also dangerous forthe community by possessing power that can become evil threateningthe balance of the community. Those declared impure are excluded fromthe community and do not eat with the others because impurity isconsidered as being contagious with touch, food and personal effects asvectors.

The concept of purity, involves, in Roma culture, a physicalaspect as well as a spiritual aspect, as the first requires the second. Purityof body is considered a reflection, cause and effect at the same time, ofmoral purity. Touching the impure, elements of gajii‘s world, dead menand their personal effects, impure parts of the body, tainted objectscauses a sort of contamination of the spiritual aspect and morals of theperpetrator. Respect of the laws of purity is among the most importantfactors of traditional control and protection of the community as well asit’s cohesion in traditional Roma society. Abiding by theses norms is aquestion of personal and collective responsibility and is insured by thesense of shame, which is cultivated in children and must not be violatedduring one’s lifetime (Grigore 2001; Wamsiedel, Vincze & Ionescu,2011).

Desease, doctors and health care facilities are agents of theimpure and this is why Roma consider it is normal for the doctor to beoutside the community, gaji (Grigore, 2001).

In Roma culture, caring for the ill is considered a sacred duty.The old and terminal patients are cared for by the family, the basis of theRroma community. The idea of institutionalising patients in hospices andnursing homes is rejected.

The Roma community supports and helps the members that aredeseased. The terminal patient’s suffering is acutely felt by the family,and they are capable of great sacrifice in order to make the end of life asbareable as possible for the patients (Grigore, 2001).

Knowledge of these norms and cultural values by the health carestaff can bring to the table a high degree of understanding for the Roma


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patient, an improvement of communication with them and to promotionof their dignity.

IV. MethdologyThis study is a part of an ample qualitative research that aims to

analyse for the first time in Romania perceptions and attitudes in regardsto death, terminal status and dignity within the Roma, in the context ofRomania’s health services.

The study received the ethical notice of the Committee of Ethicsof Research from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Iasi,Romania, and was held under its auspices.

The study was conducted amongst the Roma population thatresides within two areas of Romania – the counties Cluj and Iasi. 23interviews were conducted within 6 communities from Iasi (Morilor,Vântu, Dancu, Pietriş-Dolhineşti, Zanea-Ciurea and Zmeu-Lungani), 25interviews took place within 3 communities from Cluj (Cluj Napoca,Mera and Bonţida). 25 chronic patients and 23 carers were interviewed.

The criteria for including participants to the interviews were:adult; competent; suffering from serious chronic illness or caring for thechronic seriously ill adults; Roma ethnicity; given consent to participatein the interview. Participation in the study was voluntary, withoutconstraints or rewards. The participants signed the informed consentform after being informed in regards to the study and before applyingthe research tool. The respondents were given the right to opt out of theconversation whenever they wanted or to not answer questions that theyregard as pertaining to sensitive matters.

The investigating tool used was the individual phenomenologicalinterview. The interviews were recorded and transcribed in Romanian.The data that was obtained was coded according to passport data, theinterview’s number, the situation of the interviewed person and the castethey belonged to. Data collected from the focus groups were codedaccording to the interview’s number and the county where it took place.The results were analysed using a phenomenological approach, whichallowed us to identify the specifics of Roma psychological characteristicsdetermined by ethnic particularities.

The fact that there is a great degree of variability within theRoma population, depending on their degree of acculturation and thecaste they were a part of, we conducted the interviews within traditional


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communities belonging to several different castes: :Kalderash/bucketmakers (caldarari), coppersmiths (aramari/spoitori),bearhandlers (ursari), boyash/mine workers (rudari), goldsmiths(zlatari),silversmiths (argintari), spoon makers (lingurari), fiddlers (lautari), etc.(named according to their occupation) and acculturated Roma, integratedwithin the majority of the population.

The interviews were taken within communities in order to avoidthe psychological discomfort that could have been induced by thenecessity to adapt to an unfamiliar environment. We were givenmediators between the interviewers and the participants – thecommunities’ leaders (bulibaşii), as well as other individuals who aretrusted within the community (physicians, health mediators, people whoare helping the community, health organisations etc.). The questionswere raised using simple language, in accordance with the participants’level of education. Before conducting the interviews, the interview guidewas reviewed with the help of a representative of the Roma population,in order to avoid asking questions that would offend the culture andcustoms of the investigated population.

This article bases itself on the analysis of the specifics of theRoma chronic patient’s coping with disease and psychological resourcesof this ethnic minority patient.

The study received the ethical notice of the Committee of Ethicsof Research from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Iasi,Romania, and was held under its auspices.

The limitations of this research arise from the fact that the datawas collected using qualitative methods, therefore the results cannot begeneralised to the entire Roma population from Romania, but arerelevant to the communities in which the research took place.

V. Results and discutionsBefore we analyse psychological coping to disease and the

psychological resources used in the process, we need to describe theresults of this study on the complex mystic meaning that the Romapatients we questioned attributed to disease, and we need to describe theproblems disease brings with it which require themselves copingmechanisms (being in the impure world of the hospital, contact with the


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medical staff, discrimination and marginalization of the diseased in somecommunities).

Disease is more than just a biological disorder for the Roma andis perceived as a complex phenomenon, bad luck associated with mysticphenomena determined by touching the impure. Because of theseaspects attributed to disease, the coping process with disease for Romapatients is complex.

The interviews revealed that health facilities and anything havingto do with them is considered impure, so during the hospitalisation timethe patient has to adapt to living in a world that is mostly impure(medical personnel, the objects in the hospital, other patients, deadbodies). The hospital is considered an ‘unclean’, ‘cramped’ place: ‘There adead man dies, there’s blood, there’s nails, understand me? They fear the bloodbecause somebody died there… There’s more! All in all cramped! You just sit thereand think that it’s not somewhere clean…”SI.2-i13af2-rr.

A Roma male states something similar: “Roma do not eat in thehospital. That’s tradition (…). Someone died in the hospital… That is theimpression of the Roma, the older ones that have been admitted… It is an uncleanplace in other words. When we have someone who is sick we go to St. Paraschiva, tothe church, we take holy water, we take basil, we take holy oil, (...) we take sheets,even from our own home, it is no problem, a pillow or a bath robe. The food for thesick… We do not use the hospital’s cutlery or plates. We take to them from home aplate, a glass, towel, this and that… “SI.2-i20am1-bd

The association of disease-impure gives birth (particularly intraditional Roma communities) to a superstitious belief that the Romapatients should not interact with a doctor who had a patient whichrecently died, as the doctor is considered polluted. “If the doctor goes to acase and that case dies, he is not visited by Roma for a few days. Yes, that’s how it is!He touched the dead and he may not touch that living person. He may not touch thatgypsy…”SI.2-i5af2-cl.

Disease is associated in some communities with a sense of shameand in consequence with isolation from the community because diseaseis considered a depiction of spiritual and moral impurity. Because of this,some casts prefer hiding disease from the rest of the community. Fromthe interview of a young aculturalised Roma we understood that: ”They donot take disease as is. They, when they have a disease or something, they are nottaught to say ... they simply shut up and tell nobody...They simply want to not be seen


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as it were. A gypsy goes to the doctor and someone else sees him and says: Look, Isaw him. I think he has something. He is sick with something. They presume some ...If he wears glasses or if he’s sick with the liver, they laugh at him, they laugh at eachother. They want someone to come to them. You know, to compete like cars ... inriches and in spiritiual state and in physical state, for example to look as good aspossible...”SI.2-i1am1-cl.

When asked why Roma do not reveal the illnesses they sufferfrom, a Roma youth suffering from cancer and his proxy answer: ‘I don’tknow…Out of shame… That’s how some people are, yes.”SI.2-i36af1-cj. ”In ourvillage here, there is that tradition, that each hides his disease. Like they areashamed...They are ashamed...Don’t know, don’t know why...”SI.2-i35pm1-cj.

Regarding the marginalization and stigmatization of Romapatients by the community, the interviews revealed a recurring theme:”What he was and what he became...They no longer came to visit.”SI.2-i15af3-rr.”I prayed to God, I said: I am suffering with something, may I not fall from my feetso that the gypsies will not laugh at me!”SI.2-i9af1-cl.

Not all Roma communities have this attitude of marginalizationor stigmatization towards the ill. There are communities in which the illare taken care of and protected by the entire community. Also, withinthe community there are individuals that have either one or the otherattitudes towards the patients. Ideally doctors should know this variableattitude when treating Roma patients and to ask whether they wouldprefer to keep the diagnosis confidential.

V.1.Religious coping with diseaseThe interpretation of the meaning of illness within the Roma

community is influenced by the culture and the traditions maintained.From a religious standpoint, illness is perceived by Roma as apunishment inflicted on them by the Divine for evil deeds. For example,a patient originally from a community in Cluj who suffered from anumber of severe conditions explains away his struggle as a godlypunishment for presumed past mistakes. ”Every 6 months I would go and betested, and I was thinking: God, since you gave me all, I have to bear it because I didthings that You might not have liked, and You are making me go through all this.”SI.2-i27pm1-cj.

This outlook was confirmed by a woman of the Kalderash cast:’They think not because of the situation that they have. They think about


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sin. Why did this disese come and how it is happening ...They consider asin...draws a disease.” SI.2-i5af2-cl.

The perception of illness as a divine punishment constitutes anineffective pattern of religious coping (according to the classificationdone by Pargamet quated by Dragănescu & Dima, 2011), as it isassociated with self-blame for the emergence of illness, this copingpattern is also considered ineffective and intensely debated in psycho-oncological literature. These patients require pshychological counselingas this ineffective coping pattern is associated with increased levels ofstress and are correlated with a less favorable outcomes to illness(Spencer, Charles Carver & Price, 1998).

The interviews revealed that Roma ethnics, in the spirit of theirreligious interpretation of illness prefer an external control locus, theillness being brought upon them by the Divine, and they accept itpassively. This pattern was defined by Pargament as ‘religious waitingand passiveness’ and is interpreted by the same researcher aspsychologically ineffective. The mother of a patient suffering fromcervical cancer when asked why she thought why her daughter had to getsick answered: “She didn’t have to get sick ... but if God wanted to give it to her,she must suffer!” SI.2-i32af3-cj.

These religious coping paterns, regarding the stress agent as apunishment and passive coping was also discovered in the oncologicalpatients in the general population within a pshychological support grouporganized in the Cluj Hematology Clinic (Pârvu, 2012).

In some of the interviews the Roma have offered a scientificexplanation for the cause of their illness. This being said, they also haveassociated the religious explanation, of illness as a punishment. An 80year old woman, part of a community in Cluj, mother to a paralysedpatient offered a pathogenic explanation to the stroke her daughter hadsuffered, associated with the consecutive paralysis. Although she talkedabout hypertension, high fat consumption, leading to elevated levels ofblood cholesterol, both being clear causes of her daughter’s illness, thewoman added the religious interpretation she attributed to the illness:”She had high blood pressure. And blood sugar... and she always ate well. Fat meat,that was the problem, we all said to her don’t eat, stop eating, but her always fat andfat meat! And that’s the reason ... Maybe God wanted to punish her, I don’t know...” SI.2-i47af3-cj.


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Some interviews revealed that the illness was sometimesinterpreted as a test they were subjected to by the Divine rather than as apunishment. This creates an effective coping pattern as it causesinception of a will to fight in order to pass the test. For example the wifeof a prostate cancer patient being also the daughter of a patient withadvanced genital cancer offered us the explanation that: ”I have thoughtabout this many times, that these are tests from God”SI.2-i38af2-cj.

This pattern, illness interpreted as a trial constitutes a beneficialevaluation of the stress agent and redefines the negative event as havingpotentially beneficial aspects (a call to arms).

V.2. The Family – psychological resource for Roma patientsOur study has revealed that the family is the most important

psychological resource utilised for adapting to illness among Romapatients. The family has a number of rolls: they accompany the patient tosee the doctor, they take part in doctor-patient communication, theypsychologically shelter the patient by buffering bad news, participate indecision-making, and care for terminal patients.

An example of devotion in caring for a patient was shown by a27 year old woman who lived with a man that came down with a severeform of cancer (rhinofarinx cancer with cerebral metastasises). When theillness first manifested, the entire community expected her to leave himbut she cared for him. The young woman confesses that the members ofthe community did not understand why she was spending her youth witha dying man: ‘They kept saying…some people in the village… gypsies like us,Roma, they said… you are young and stay with him, with a sick man (…) and Ikept telling them that he was good for me when he was healthy and he has to keepbeing good for me even when he is sick.” SI.2-i36af1-cj. The patient told ushow the young lady encoraged him spiritually and cared for him. Herdevotion is particulary strong as, according to the unwritten laws of theRoma community, if the patient had died his family would have evictedher from their dwelling, as they were not married.

The imporance of family, in offering psychological support forthe patient is also mentioned by a young Roma woman from a family oftwelve. When asked how the family can help an ill member, she stressedthe role in communication with the patient: “Well, it’s support, you havesomeone to talk to. If you would be alone you would belong to no one… But it’s a


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very important role! You have someone to tell, you can’t keep it inside!”SI.2-i34af1-cj

The interview with a daughter, of a terminal patient reveals thatthe family shows empathy and identify with the patient’s suffering: ’Wellhe was complaining, and whining in front of us. Naturally we are children and we seeher plight. So we did the same. It affected us a great deal. Psychologically, too. Shewas crying and suffering. In my soul I felt an immense pain … An immense pain.We couldn’t sleep. Even thinking…” SI.2-i34af1-cj

A 66 year old woman, one patient’s relative, defines thepsychological support role that family has for the patient. Family being aforce that helps balance the patient psychologically and also bring a noteof optimism: ”You see the patient is having a (nervous) breakdown and theirrelatives comfort them and because the need arises they laugh with the patient.” SI.2-i13af2-rr

Supporting a Roma in need (illness, trial, conflict with theauthorities) is a duty of all the community members. To show thissupport the extended family accompany Roma to the hospital,courthouse or wherever they need a problem solved with the authorities.A 66 year old romanianised Roma woman explains this tradition: ”Amongus in regard to these things we are very united if you know! Even strangers are underobligation! If a stranger doesn’t come, it means he holds a grudge against us! But weare there side by side, like that! ...From the girl’s side the in-laws come, their relativesfrom 3-4 branches like that! We stick together you know? And when one is sick hehas to be accompanied ... Yes of course! If one side doesn’t come ... For example at mydaughter-in-law, her dad, mom, brothers, well, her brother came, but not his wife...His parents, his wife, so the in-laws up to second and third degree have to tap in tothe pain as it were ... It’s a belief: you must stand with that person! (...) If wecommunicate with one another, know that all that come if a lot of them come then itcomforts them and they are really good. They don’t have anything against the doctors.We are very united because you know why? For example if I don’t go to a problemthat has a relative of my sister, aaa! She didn’t come, did you see that she didn’t come!So... that’s how it is, when their time comes they don’t come either. And when we meetthey say: When we were at the hospital or when we were in court or when we werewherever you didn’t come either. Why would we ...? So they keep score for things likethese. SI.2-i13af2-rr We can deduce that within the community there is anunwritten account for this particular custom of accompanying themembers in need. If someone doesn’t support a Roma that has an issue


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with their presence they take a chance of not receiving that supportwhen they need it. This idea is very eloquently illustrated by a Rromapatient: “I come so that no one from the patient sais: Look, he didn’t come! Wait tilltheir turn comes! We do the same problem!’ SI.2-i20am1-bd

This solidarity, this ancient duty to provide support to thosesuffering is not known or understood among medical professionals andconflicts arise from they high number of Roma that accompany thepatient to the hospital. The interviews suggested that there have beensituations where the medical personnel violently rejected the presence ofsuch a high number of members from the community. There have alsobeen unfavourable resolutions as the Roma prefered to have the patientremoved from the hospital rather than leave them unaccompanied. Onesuch example is given by the mother of a sick child that was not allowedto stay in the hospital or bring the young one personal effects because ofthe strict rigors of that particular hospital, as the child required isolation.The medical personnel removed her from the premises showing lack ofempathy, and as such the mother requested that the child be released forhome treatment. “I said: - Give me papers to sign that I want to take my childhome from here, I will not stay , I even brought a toy because he’s a child ... 8 yearsold. – Why do you bring toys here, Is this your home? And I took the child, signed, Itook my child and came home.” SI.2-i16pf2-rr

In their effort to psychologically protect patients with a severediagnosis, especially if it’s malignant, the Roma family desires to knowthe diagnosis but to hide it from the patient. A 63 year old chronicpatient explains: ’Tell ‘cancer’ to the family! Well, the patient can have a heart-attack, something … or maybe something happens to him! But if it’s bad, tell thefamily.’SI.2-i12pm2-lg

Also against informing the patient directly about their status, amale patient suffering from chronic renal failure from the căldărari castexplains: ’You don’t tell the patient! His family! Not directly, because the patientcould be afraid or do something!’ SI.2-i3pm1-cl

Another point of note is the fact that the family nucleuscontribute to the decision-making process, encourage the patient,support him during treatment, and after some time theycommunicate the truth to the patient: “That’s how it should be! So they donot get flooded with fear or have a heart attack! … Tell a son, brother, nephew fromthe others in the family. Then the family make the decision without the patient, what


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treatment to does, where to go. A period go by then they tells him look, you have thisdisease this is what the doctor said you must do to get better, they decide whattreatment and where that disease can be treated. The family talk between them anddecide where they can get treatment or if it’s not treatable or if the treatment can helpthem live longer they tell them to take it and cooperate.” SI.2-i22am1-bd.

All the previous examples demonstrate the primordial role of thefamily in the physical care and psychological support of the Romapatient. This is a traditionalist health-care model for the peoples ofCentral and Eastern Europe, Asia, South America and some Africanpeoples (Ioan, 2012).

In Romania this model is sometimes at odds with the lawsregarding informed consent and patient autonomy. These laws are ofAnglo-Saxon ascent. As such, the physicians responsible for thehealthcare of Roma patients can sometimes find themselves in delicatesituations. The family pressures the practitioner not to communicate thediagnosis to the patient in order to prevent psychological harm. Theyalso wish to be involved in the decision-making process. This practicereduces patient autonomy and infringes on some of their rights. In orderto overcome this setback it is recommanded that the practitioner respectthe family’s wishes to offer the patient their support by informing thepatient and family about their rights and offering the patient the right todecide if they wish to designate a proxy from their family or if they wishthe family to be part of the decision-making process.

VI.ConclusionsRoma people attribute complex meaning to illness. Illness,

doctors, hospitals are elements of the impure, evil elements that candamage the balance of the whole community.

Roma people develop either an ineffective religious copingpattern by interpreting illness as Divine punishment, or an effectivecoping pattern by considering illness a test by the Divine.

Family represents an important psychological resource for theRoma patient, the family’s desire to protect the patient from bad newscan lead to misunderstandings between them and the medical team.

Knowledge and respect for the traditional Roma cultural values isnecessary to create a successful therapeutic relationship with Romapatients, but mostly to support the patients in their struggle with the


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illness, in generating an effective coping pattern that can lead to animproved quality of life an maintain the patients’ dignity.

AcknowledgementsThis paper is a part of POSDRU/89/1.5/61879 Project (‘‘Postdoctoral

Studies in Health Policy Ethics’’) cofinanced from European Social Fund throughHuman Resources Development Sectorial Operational Program 2007–2013.

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Influence of Personality Traits on Leadership Styles: ASecondary Level Study

Ijaz Ahmad TATLAH1

Rahila NIZAMI2

Kamran Ahmad SIDDIQUI3

AbstractPurpose – Teacher must act as a leader because his/her role is very

effective in educational change. Influence of personality traits on leadership styles hasbeen a significant topic in management but no research emphasis has been given toteacher’s personality influence on their leadership behaviors. This research investigatesthe correlation between these two aspects.

Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative research is done bymeans of survey to a convenient sample of 228 teachers of public elementary and highschools of Lahore.

Findings – The dominant traits are associated with both leadership stylesthus showing that both people and task oriented leadership styles are effective.

Research limitations/implications – This research can begeneralized to other areas.

Practical implications – The research emphasizes the importance oftraits and their influence on behavior. Further researches should examine the traitswhich are needed for an effective leadership styles.

Originality/value – The major contribution of this paper is that itcorrelate personality traits with leadership styles and high light those traits which areassociated with effective leadership styles i.e. people oriented so teachers become moreaware to adopt those traits which produce effective behavior and change.

Keywords:Traits, Personality, Leadership, Secondary Level.

1 Lecturer, University of Education, Division of Education, Lahore, Div of EducationUE College Road Township Lahore, Pakistan, Phone: 99-333-4319981, Email address:[email protected] PhD Scholar, University of Education, Division of Education, Lahore, Pakistan,3 Assistant Professor, University of Education, Division of Education, Lahore, Pakistan


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INTRODUCTIONThis study investigates school teacher’s personality traits and

their influence on their leadership styles. As (Ford, 1987) says thatpersonality can influence person’s behavior and performance so it can beconsider as a criteria for selection of a members. The present work istherefore a more comprehensive research of the personality and itsinfluence on leadership styles of teachers. It will also very helpful inpredicting teacher’s capacities and behaviors. Data is collected from 228teachers these teachers are from public elementary and high schools ofLahore. This article will briefly review the literature which explains howand to which extent personal variables could affect the styles ofleadership. Different research studies are helpful in explaining the effectsand relation of personal traits with leadership styles. After outliningdetails of the method adopted for the study, its results will be presentedand discussed and their implications will be explored. A summary andthe conclusions of the study will finally be highlighted.

Literature ReviewMany studies which are conducted on personality and its

correlation with leadership styles show the interaction betweenpersonality and behavior (Larsen & Buss, 2005). Extraversion is relatedto social leadership (Costa and McCrae, 1988). Extraversion andagreeableness are predictors of transformational leadership (Judge &Bono, 2000). Creativity is related with effective leadership (Sosik, Kahai& Avolio, 1998). Some researchers have distinguished justificationsabout agreeableness and leadership so this relation is not very clear(Judge & Bono, 2002). Some researches prove that high agreeablenesstrait shows several leadership behaviors because they are interested fortheir own and other’s growth and development needs (Bass, 1985).Individuals those who shows high neuroticism are not able to lead anddo not work with subordinates (Bass, 1985).They don’t willing to takeleadership roles and have negative view of the future so it is impossiblethat they become transformational leaders(Judge & Bono, 2004). Judgeand Bono (2000) linked openness to experience with transformationalleadership. Those who score high in openness to experience areintellectual. Combination of high conscientiousness & low neuroticismare predictors of better academic performance (Chamorro-Prenwzic &

Influence of Personality Traits on Leadership Styles..Ijaz Ahmad TATLAH, Rahila NIZAMI, Kamran Ahmad SIDDIQUI

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Furnhm, 2003). Another study indicates that high neuroticism, lowconscientiousness and low agreeableness are linked with HIV riskbehaviors and many partners (Trobst, 2002). High extraversion and lowconscientiousness are the predictors of excessive alcohol drinking(Paunonen, 2003). High extraversion and low neuroticism predict higherachieving athletes (Egan & Stelmack,). Individuals who show opennessare effective leaders and this is right about conscientious individuals(Judge & Bono, 2002).

After going through literature it is proved that there is no suchresearch about teacher’s personality traits and influence on theirleadership styles. There are many researches which show co relationalanalysis of personality traits and leadership styles of managers. Muchwork is done on head teacher’s leadership styles, women leadership,teacher’s leadership and student learning (Yildirim, 2008).

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between

teacher’s personality traits and leadership styles.

METHODOLOGYThe hypothesis of this research is that the Big-Five personality

dimensions i.e., Extraversion, Neuroticism, Openness, Agreeablenessand Conscientiousness and their facets have a significant influence onteacher’s leadership styles. To investigate this relationship a surveyresearch design has been adopted.

SampleThe sample used in this study was comprised of 120 male and

108 female (N=228), employees of public elementary and high schoolsof Lahore, Pakistan on convenient basis. Demo graphs shows that 52%are males and 47% are females. 37% are single and 62% are married.19% are 25 years old, 25% are above 25 years, 35% above 35 years,14%are above 45 years and 6% are above 54 years of age.12% areintermediate, 37% are graduates, 49% are postgraduates. Professionalqualification of these teachers is CT 12%, B.Ed 39%, 33% is M.Ed and14% have other qualification. 23% teachers have less than 5 years ofexperience, 30% have above 5 years, 25% have more than 15 years and9% have more than 20 years of experience. 28% are elementary school


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teachers, 41% are secondary school teachers and 29% are subjectspecialists. Total of 300 teachers were contacted personally during thisstudy and 228 of them willingly participated in the survey. The samplesize, response rate and demographic mix were considered sufficient toperform meaningful statistical analyses and develop appropriate sense.

Research InstrumentsPersonality instrumentThis study used Goldberg’s IPIP-NEO inventory instead of the

standard NEO-PI-R inventory. There are some reasons for choosingthe IPIP-NEO. It measures the FFM and its facets, required shorttime to complete and freely available on the web site ofhttp://ipip.ori.org this instrument was designed to measure fivepersonality factors Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness,Extraversion and Openness to Experience. Neuroticism is made upof six lower order factors commonly known as facets which includeAnger, Anxiety, Depression, Immoderation, Self-Consciousness, andVulnerability. The Agreeableness factor include six facets namely;Altruism, Cooperation, Modesty, Morality, Sympathy, Trust.Conscientiousness is represented by six facets, namely Achievement-Striving, Cautiousness, Dutifulness, Orderliness, Self-Discipline, andSelf-Efficacy. Extraversion is also composed of six facets namelyActivity Level, Assertiveness, Cheerfulness, Excitement-Seeking,Friendliness, and Gregariousness. Intellect (Openness toExperience) is made up of the facets of Adventurousness, ArtisticInterests, Emotionality, Imagination, Intellect and Liberalism. A fivepoint Likert scale with responses ranging from strongly disagree tostrongly agree was used for all items. The Cronbach`s alpha werecalculated and the acceptable value is 0.79.

2. Leadership Instrument for the assessment of leadershipStyle (T-P Leadership Questionnaire adapted by Ritchie and Thompson,1984). With the help of this questionnaire one can identify its emphasison two dimensions of leadership; Task orientation (T) and peopleorientation (P). These are not opposite approaches, and an individual canrate high or low on either or both. The Cronbach`s alpha werecalculated for people oriented and task oriented leadership style items


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used in the questionnaire and found the acceptable values 0.69 and 0.81.The questionnaire was given to the teachers of Public and private sectorelementary and secondary schools in Lahore, Pakistan during themonths of April and May 2009. A total of 300 questionnaires weredistributed and 228 were returned. All respondents indicated that theyhad no problems in completing any of the items.

Data AnalysisA series of factor analyses was conducted for the leadership

styles. In this analysis (a) extracting the factors; (b) labeling thefactors; c) creating summated scales and examining the descriptivestatistics (Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, Tatham, 2006).The data wasanalyzed stepwise. Exploratory factor analysis, using the principalcomponent matrix, extraction method, was used to determine thefactor structure of 10 items related to people-oriented leadershipstyle. Second an exploratory factor analysis using 13 items related totask-oriented leadership style of teachers using the principalcomponent method of extraction. Finally, using the Goldberg’spersonality inventory and leadership questionnaire linear regressionwas used to investigate the co-relation of teacher’s personalityfactors with their leadership styles.

Exploratory factor analysis for people-oriented leadershipstyle.

All of the data collected on the people-oriented leadership stylevariables was analyzed, using the principal component extractionmethod. It was examined to determine whether the factors satisfiedthe Kaiser criterion (eigenvalues ~ 1) the KMO= 0.50, Cronbach`sAlpha=0.69, Eigenvalues=1.00, Variance= 92.32, Mean= 49.93 andStandard Deviation= 9.60 were found. As stated by a prior knowledgea single-factor solution was expected. As per the obligation, that thefactor content must cohere for people oriented leadership characteristics.Individual items seemed to cohere to some degree were included in thefactor. Subsequently the single factor was named as per a precedingknowledge and according to the nature of the highest loading items.Table 1.2 shows factors, eigenvalues, and percentages of variance andloadings of people-oriented factors from a principal componentextraction method


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Exploratory factor analysis for task oriented leadershipstyle.

All of the data collected on the task oriented leadership stylevariables was analyzed, using the principal component extractionmethod. It was examined to determine whether the factors satisfiedthe Kaiser criterion (eigenvalues ~ 1) the KMO= 0.50, Cronbach`sAlpha=0.81, Eigenvalues=1.04, Variance=36.19, Mean=32.09 andStandard Deviation=6.01 were found. As per a prior knowledge a

Table 1.2Factor Analysis People oriented Leadership Style N=228Eigenvalue 4.26Variance Explained 30.40Mean 49.93Standard Deviation 9.60

ItemsFactorLoading

I would allow the group/staff members a high degree of initiative. 0.65

I would be willing to make changes. 0.64

I would let (staff) members do their work the way they think best. 0.62

I would trust the group/staff members to exercise good judgment. 0.61

I would needle (staff) members for great effort. 0.55

I would allow members complete freedom in their work. 0.50I would ask that group/staff members follow standard rules andregulations.

0.42

I would permit members to use their own judgment in solvingproblems

0.40

I would permit the group/school to set its own pace. 0.36

I would represent the group/school at outside meetings. 0.34Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.KMO & Barlette 0.50Cronbach Alpha 0.69Split Half


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single-factor solution was expected. It was prerequisite, that the factorcontent must cohere with task oriented leadership characteristics.Individual items seemed to cohere to some degree were included in thefactor. Subsequently the single factor was named as per an earlierknowledge and according to the nature of the highest loading items.Table 1.3 shows factors, eigenvalue, percentages of variance and loadingsof taskoriented factors from a principal component extraction analysis.

Table 2Factor Analysis Task Oriented Leadership Style , N=228Eigenevalue 1.04Variance Explained 36.19Mean 32.09Standard Deviation 6.01

ItemsFactorLoading

I would assign group/staff members to particular tasks. 0.71I would push for increased production/output. 0.69I would decide what should be done and how it should bedone.

0.69

I would schedule the work to be done. 0.64I would ask the (staff) members to work harder. 0.59I would settle conflicts when they occurred in thegroup/school.

0.57

I would speak as a representative of the group/school. 0.54I would be working hard for a promotion. 0.54I would persuade others that my ideas are to their advantage. 0.50I would urge the group/school to beat its previous record. 0.47I would keep the work moving at a rapid pace. 0.46I would speak for the group/school if there were visitorspresent.

0.45

I would try out my ideas in the group/school. 0.33Thing would usually turn out as I had predicted. 0.32Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.


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Regression analysis involving personality factors aspredictors and leadership behavior as criterion variable.

The regression analysis was performed to explore therelationships between personality factors (predictor variables) andleadership behavior variables (criterion variables). In the analysis, thepredictor variables used were the five higher order personality factorsi.e., Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to experience, Agreeablenessand Conscientiousness.

Regression analysis of personality factors and TaskOrientation

This analysis shows that personality factors on mean scores fortask oriented leadership yielded altruism, Assertiveness, cautiousness,cooperation are significantly associated with satisfaction with taskoriented leadership

Regressing personality factors on mean scores for taskorientation yielded altruism as a single predictor with an adjusted R² of0.13 and a β value of 0.36. It was considered as significant (F = 34,p<0.0001).

Regressing personality factors on mean scores for taskorientation yielded assertiveness as a single predictor with an adjusted R²of 0.17 and a β value of 0.22. It was considered as significant (F = 23,p<0.0001).

Regressing personality factors on mean scores for taskorientation yielded cautiousness as a single predictor with an adjusted R²of 0.19 and a β value of 0.14. It was considered as significant (F = .17,p<0.0001).

Regressing personality factors on mean scores for taskorientation yielded cooperativeness as a single predictor with an adjustedR² of 0.21 and a β value of -.14. It was considered as significant (F = 15,p<0.0001).

KMO & Bartlett 0.50Cronbach`s Alpha 0.81Split Half


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Table- 1.4Summary of regression analyses of personality factors predicting

Task orientation (N=228)

Regressing personality factors for People OrientationRegressing personality factors on mean scores for people

orientation yielded gregariousness as a single predictor with an adjustedR² of 0.21 and a β value of 0.21 It was considered as significant (F = 62,p<0.0001

Regressing personality factors on mean scores for peopleorientation yielded friendliness as a single predictor with an adjusted R²of 0.27 and a β value of 0.26. It was considered as significant (F = 42,p<0.0001).

Regressing personality factors on mean scores for peopleorientation yielded cooperation as a single predictor with an adjusted R²of 0.31 and a β value of 0.30. It was considered as significant (F = .34,p<0.0001).

Regressing personality factors on mean scores for peopleorientation yielded morality as a single predictor with an adjusted R² of0.35 and a β value of .22. It was considered as significant (F = 29,p<0.0001

Regressing personality factors on mean scores for peopleorientation yielded assertiveness as a single predictor with an adjusted R²of 0.37 and a β value of .17. It was considered as significant (F =26,p<0.0001).

Regressing personality factors on mean scores for peopleorientation yielded vulnerability as a single predictor with an adjusted R²of 0.39 and a β value of .11. It was considered as significant (F = 24,p<0.0001).

DependentVariable

Independentvariable

Rsquare

AdjustedR square

β F Sig

TaskOrientation

Altruism .13 .12 .36 34 .000Assertiveness .17 .16 .22 23 .000Cautiousness .19 .18 .14 17 .000Cooperativeness .21 .20 -.14 15 .000


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Table- 1.5Summary of regression analyses of personality factors predicting

People Orientation (N = 228)

ResultsReported in Table 1.4 and 1.5 are the findings of the study.

Shown in the both tables are the independent and dependent variableswhich are showing significance relationships with each otheri.e.pesonality characteristics and the two leadership behaviors, the valueof r square, beta and F for each relationship is showing positiverelationship expect the relationship between personality factorcooperation and task oriented leadership behavior which is negative andthe relationship between personality factor cooperation and peopleoriented leadership behavior is also negative because its beta value is -.20and all the other relationships are significant (p < .001).

Findings and ImplicationsThe findings of this study clearly indicate that personality

variables gregariousness, cooperativeness, morality, assertiveness andconscientiousness are showing people oriented leadership behavior.Vulnerability is not related with people oriented leadership style.Personality traits like altruism, assertiveness, cautiousness andcooperation are showing task oriented leadership styles. Thusextraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness are related with bothpeople and task oriented leadership styles. These results are proving theprevious researches that suggest that individuals scoring high on bothdimensions perform better as leaders (e.g., Blake and Mouton, 1964).Neuroticism is not related with people and task oriented leadership style.

DependentVariable

Independentvariable

Rsquare

AdjustedR square

β F Sig

Peopleorientation

Gregariousness .21 .21 .46 62 .000Friendliness .27 .26 .27 42 .000Cooperation .31 .30 -.207 34 .000Morality .35 .33 .22 29 .000Assertiveness .37 .35 .17 26 .000Conscientiousness .38 .37 .17 23 .000Vulnerability .39 .38 .11 24 .000


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Openness to experience is not showing any relationship with peopleoriented and task oriented leadership styles.

References

Bass, B.M. (1985), Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations, NewYork: The Free Press.

Bono, J. E., & Judge, T. A. (2002). Personality and Leadership: A Qualitativeand Quantitative Review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 765-780.

Bono, J.E., & Judge, T.A. (2004). Personality and transformational andtransactional leadership: A meta-analysis. Journal of AppliedPsychology, 89, 901-910.

Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A. (2003). Personality predicts academicperformance: Evidence from two longitudinal university samples, Journal ofResearch in Personality. 37, 319-338

Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1988). Personality in adulthood: A six-year longitudinal study of self-reports and spouse ratings on theNEO Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality and SocialPsychology, 54, 853–863

Ford, N.M., O.C. Walker, G.A. Churchill, and S.W. Hartley (1987),‘‘Selecting Successful Salespeople: A Meta-Analysis of Biographicaland Psychological Selection Criteria,’’ in Review of Marketing1987, M.J. Houston, ed., Chicago: American MarketingAssociation, 90-131.

Hair, J.F., Black, W.C., Babin, B.J., Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L., (2006)Multivariate Data Analysis, 6th Edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

Larsen, R.J., & Buss, D.M. (2005). Personality Psychology – Domains ofknowledge about human nature, (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill, NewYork Iordanoglou, D (2007). The Teacher as a Leader. Journal ofLeadership Studies, 1(3), 57-66.

Judge, T. A., Bono, J. E., Ilies, R., & Gerhardt, M. W. (2002). Personalityand Leadership: A Qualitative and Quantitative Review. Journal ofAplied Psychology, 87(4), 763-780.

Paunonen, S.V., (2003). Big Five factors of personality and replicatedpredictions of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,84, 2, 411-424.


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Sosik, J.J., Avolio, B.J. and Kahai, S.S. (1997). Effects of leadership styleand anonymity on group potency and effectiveness in a groupdecision support system. Environment Journal of Applied Psychology,82(1): 89–103.

Yildirim, Osman, Acar, Ahmet Cevat, Bull, Susan and Sevinc Levent(2008)'Relationships between teachers' perceived leadership style,students' learning style, and academic achievement: a study onhigh school students', Educational Psychology, 28:1, 73 — 81

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Graduate Competency,Teaching Effectiveness andFaculty Performance Evaluation: An International

Perspective

Minga NEGASH1

AbstractThis paper examines the relationship between graduate workplace competency

standards and teaching effectiveness (competency) evidences used in colleges anduniversities. The cognitive, emotional and soft skills of students and academics, andteaching performance evaluation systems at two unrelated tertiary institutions werestudied. The paper documents that teaching effectiveness instruments in use at twoinstitutions, and by extension in several institutions do not measure the cognitive skills(core competency) of the professor2, and the summative questions appear to relate to theindividual’s soft skills. The diagnostic feedback given to the professor neither logicallyconnect to improved teaching and learning outcomes, nor does it enable the individualto obtain improved scores in key summative performance evaluation questions. Theimplications of the finding for quality assurance in teaching and learning, graduatecompetency, faculty tenure and promotion, and international comparisons of academicqualifications are discussed.

Keywords:Accounting education, teaching quality, hard skills, soft skills, student

perception, faculty performance evaluation, United States, South Africa.

1 PhD, Department of Accounting, School of Business, Metropolitan State Universityof Denver and the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg , email:[email protected]. I have a European/Belgian doctorate. It is called "Doctorof Economic Science (DEconSc)". I am a full professor of Accounting. Hence, I preferthe footnote to read as "Professor of Accounting, Metropolitan State University ofDenver and the University of Witwatersrand2 In this paper the terms professor, lecturer and instructor are used interchangeably. Inthe English speaking world, generally a tutor, an instructor and a teaching fellowsuggest that the individual is holding a lower academic rank and engages only in ateaching activity. Academic ranks such as lecturer, senior lecturer, assistant professor,associate professor, reader, and professor generally suggest both teaching and researchresponsibilities.


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IntroductionIn recent years outcomes based education and competency based

assessment have been popularized. Course outlines and assessmentschemes contain rubrics that aim to measure competencies. Graduaterecruitment interviews often focus on questions that purport to capturethe situational behavior (emotional quotient), communication andpresentation skills, team work, leadership, time management, etc. abilitiesof candidates. The hard core cognitive competency in specific areasappears to be evidenced by the assessment/examination standard, thedegree (reputation of the institution) and the grades shown in theacademic transcript. Colleges and universities grapple with the issue ofwhether assessment in a course can effectively combine both hard skillsand soft skills, and whether the grades shown in the student’s transcriptfairly reflect the student’s competence in the hard skills taught in aparticular course. Additionally, it is important to note that the termcompetency appears to have different interpretation in academia and inthe workplace. In this respect, for instance, the University of Purdue’sengineering department defines the aims of graduate competency as anattempt “to help each student develop the ability to create and synthesizeknowledge; think critically and reflectively; master written and oralcommunication skills; demonstrate engineering skills, engage inprofessional development; participate actively in professional field orengineering education..”. In this objective, though aspects of soft skillsare noted, the emphasis is on hard skills. In the medical education,Talbot (2004) provides a critique of competency based education in theUnited Kingdom.

The International Federation of Accountant’s (IFAC) attemptsto set international education standards. Paragraph 23 of InternationalEducation Standard (IES # 6) relates competence with assessment ofprofessional capabilities, and states that “professional capabilities andcompetence may be assessed through the strength of pre-qualification(undergraduate university education) programs. It states that theassessment needs to cover enough body of professional knowledge,professional skills, professional values, ethics and attitudes necessary todemonstrate that the individual has the capabilities and competence toqualify as a professional accountant”. The American Institute ofCertified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) competency framework provides

Graduate Competency,Teaching Effectiveness and FacultyMinga NEGASH

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additional evaluation tools for assessing the effectiveness of individualcourses or an entire accounting program. The evaluation tools aresupposed to be mission-based, and guide the assessment of studyoutcomes (competency).

In South Africa, the South African Institute of CharteredAccountants’ (SAICA) new competency framework, which itself is anadaptation of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA),defines the term competence as “a broad range of knowledge, skills,attitudes and behavior that together account for the ability to deliver aspecified professional service” (SAICA, 2008:12). The document furtherdefines specific competencies in areas such as strategy, risk management,governance, accounting, external reporting, auditing, assurance, financialmanagement, decision making, control, and taxation. Hence, with theincreasing trend in financial globalization (integration) and theinternational entrenchment of the audit industry, accounting education incolleges and universities is more than likely to be influenced byworkplace competency standards. The trend in South Africa, anemerging economy, appears to be consistent with approach in the UnitedStates. The Pathway Commission, a joint establishment of the AICPAand the American Accounting Association (AAA), which is tasked withcharting the future structure and content of accounting education, ismore than likely to be driven by the human capital needs of the nexteconomy. The interesting question is whether academics are evaluatedfor implanting the cognitive knowledge and soft skills for the nexteconomy.3

With regard to faculty teaching evaluation instruments, Emery,Kramer and Tian (2003:43) questioned whether higher education isevaluating popularity contests of lecturers or teaching and learningoutcomes (cognitive competency), and argued that academics thatperceive performance appraisals as popularity contests will treat theirstudents as customers rather than products.4 Notwithstanding this,

3Soft skills relate to a person's personality characteristics. The literature provides a longlist of attributes/characteristics that attempt to capture the individual’s relationshipability with social groups. The measurement is largely subjective. It is based onperceptions.4 The customer-product analogy may not be appropriate in that despite thecommoditization of higher education, the private and social returns cannot be assessed


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academics working under this environment might see both the rating ofuniversities and instructors as process leading to the Keynesian beautycontest metaphor, and not align their activities to hard core competencyoutcomes. In other words, academics will invest more time in developingtheir soft skills, attempt to create a “happy classroom” with a view toscore high in survey results that involve students. That is, they mightreduce their effort in implanting hard skills and scholarship (knowledgeproduction) activities. In environments where the returns to highereducation are predominantly private, and higher education iscommoditized, like most business organizations higher educationinstitutions might be pressurized to focus on impression managementand performance evaluation gamesmanships (Di Maggio and Powell,1983; Crumbley and Smith, 2009). In a seminal paper on quality anduncertainty, Akerlof (1970) shows how employers attempt todifferentiate between lemon products (schools) and good schools. Thisanalogy has important bearings for competency based educationalstandards, graduate recruitment, teaching and learning effectiveness(strategies), student assessment, and faculty evaluation.

Akerlof’s (op cit) lemon principle and the Keynesian beautycontest metaphors can be supported by critical social theory. Accordingto the Journal of Critical Perspectives, critical accounting examineswhether conventional wisdoms best describe “reality”, and whetherpractice that is assumed useful is well suited to the challenges of postmodern institutions. The term “reality” normally relates to ontology.Latour (1999:1) argues that reality is “what the mob thinks is correct at agiven point in time”. As professional-vocational education continues tobe commoditized, academic institutions also attempt to build images forthemselves. For this they hire publicity managers, conduct commercialadverts, and attempt to maintain and expand clienteles. Hence, bothscience studies and critical social theory attempt to reformulate humanactivity. By extension, critical accounting can provide new insight byreexamining the old debate of effective teaching in the tertiary educationsector and, whether competency based educational standards areentrenching vocational education into the tertiary sector where critical-lateral enquiry is supposed to thrive.

using short term product-service markets. Furthermore, evidence of market failure inhigher education, including professional education is, abundant.


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This paper examines the link between graduate competency,teaching effectiveness, survey instruments that purport to enhanceteaching quality, and faculty performance evaluation in higher education.The paper follows a qualitative and action research method, uses twocases from unrelated tertiary institutions in two countries that the authoris associated with. The two institutions fairly represent the highereducation sectors in two countries. The first is the Metropolitan StateCollege of Denver (Metro State) in the United States. Its studentenrolment in 2011 was about 25000. It has one of the largestundergraduate accounting programs in the State of Colorado (UnitedStates). In August 2010 a new Masters program in accountingcommenced. Located at down town Denver, sharing the Auraria HigherEducation Campus with the University of Colorado and CommunityCollege of Denver, its graduates occupy important positions in businessand industry. In March 2012, the Colorado law makers (Congress andSenate) are considering a draft bill that aims to upgrade the college to astatus of a university.

The second institution is the University of the Witwatersrand(Wits) in South Africa. By the end of 2011 its student enrolment wasabout 26000. Located at the center of the City of Johannesburg, itsSchool of Accountancy (SOA) is one of the largest academic units in theUniversity. The school offers a three-year undergraduate accountingdegree, a four year chartered accountancy program, two MastersPrograms (Accountancy and Taxation) and a PhD degree in selectedareas of accounting and finance. Both the Department of Accounting atMetro State and the School of Accountancy at Wits are undergraduatedominated teaching units. They face similar pressures from theaccounting profession in their respective jurisdictions. Both attempt tofollow competency standards prescribed by the professional bodies.Both use student survey results for the evaluation of facultyperformance. This paper examines the teaching competency assurancemechanisms used in the two institutions. It compares the similarities anddifferences between the survey instruments that are used by the twoinstitutions, and analyzes the implication of the survey instrument forassessing teaching effectiveness, performance evaluation,probation/tenure and post tenure review decisions.


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The findings of the paper are threefold. First, consistent withEmery et al’s (op cit) conclusion which states that academia might bemeasuring popularity contests rather than teaching outcomes(competency), the paper finds that the instruments in use do notmeasure the cognitive competence of the faculty member that is teachingthe course. The instruments’ questions rather relate to the instructor’ssoft skills and mundane classroom activities.5 Hence, the instrumentsface both construct validity and internal consistency problems. Second,the soft skills have a number of confounding variables, and thepersonality attributes of the individual are endogenous. In other words,student opinion about a professor’s teaching effectiveness have severalendogenous variables that might relate to culture, gender, style, and thepersonality attributes of the individual. Furthermore, the student’s abilityto evaluate a professor is even more contentious. This findingcontradicts Seldin’s (1999) conclusion which states that student opinioncan be used for formative assessment. In short, the instruments that are(were) in use at the two institutions can neither be used for formativenor for summative purposes. The finding has important policyimplication for competency based teaching, faculty performanceevaluation and international comparison of educational standards.

The remaining section of the paper is organized as follows.Section II reviews the relevant literature. Section III describes the caseand defines the research question more succinctly. It explains theresearch methodology that was followed. Section IV analyses the casefrom the perspectives of competency (product outcome), constructvalidity and internal consistency, statistics and problems in theadministration of the survey instrument. The implications of the resultfor teaching and learning quality assurance and for tenure decisions areexamined. Section V contains concluding remarks and indicates thedirection(s) for future research.

5 In August 2011 Metro State decided to replace the survey instrument that is beingexamined in this paper. The new instrument contains only two questions. Both aresummative. The summative questions are taken from the old instrument. The oldinstrument contained 22 questions. Whether the move is achieving its intended purposeremains to be seen. See the specimen in Appendix I.


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Literature ReviewRainsbury, Hodges, Burchell and Lay (2002:8) relate competency

with an output or an outcome of the teaching and learning process.Birkette (1993) observed that skills can be classified into cognitive skills(hard skills and knowledge) and behavior skills (soft skills). For himcognitive skills require specific expertise, analytical/constructive thinkingand involve complex judgment. Behavioral skills in turn includeinterpersonal relation such as securing an outcome through interpersonalinteractions and social networks. Though hard skills and soft skills arecomplimentary in most cases, there is an entrenched view in therecruitment community which states that hard skills are learned incolleges and universities but graduates in general lack soft skills. As aresult recruitment interviews and online tests attempt to evaluatecandidates using their so called intelligence quotient and emotionalquotient questions. The trouble with this approach is that most skills(hard and soft) can be learned or mimicked. Furthermore, asorganizations are unique in their culture, a given soft skill may or maynot fit every social construct.6

Boyatzis, Stubbs, and Taylor (2002) examined the cognitive andemotional competence of Master of Business Administration (MBA)graduates. Professional organizations also distinguish between hard skillsand soft skills. For instance, SAICA’s 2009 pervasive competencies areethics and professionalism, professional attributes and professional skills.Specific competencies refer to knowledge such as financial reporting,auditing, tax, management accounting, control and finance. Boyatzis et al(op cit) specifically examined leadership, relationship, helping, sense-making, information-gathering, information analysis, theory-building,quantitative technology, goal-setting, action and initiative. Spencer andSpencer (1993) and Rainsbury et al (op cit) list 20 items that theydescribe as “generic competencies” which account for 80-95% of thedistinguishing features that explain superior performance in the

6 This has implications for performance evaluation. University administrators thus faceadditional challenges of decoupling measurement systems that focus on soft skills andhard skills, and examine whether culture has a role in classroom dynamics. In thisrespect Hofstede (2009), writing in the context of international business, observes thatculture is a source of conflict than of synergy. In contrast, in his famous book onidentity and violence and governance Sen (2006:105) argues that culture and identitycontrast cannot be used to justify failure in public policy.


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workplace. Out of the 20 generic competencies only three (analyticalthinking, conceptual thinking and technical expertise) were classified ascognitive (hard skills). The rest were classified as soft skills.

However, there are a number of issues with Spencer andSpencer’s (op cit) classification. First, the 20 indicators have strongassociations among themselves. Second, whether soft skills can belearned in classrooms and to what extent higher education canincorporate the “generic” ones in its curriculum is another issue.Analyzing the trade off (due to resources) between hard skills and softskills requires a separate work. How competency in soft skills is going tobe assessed is even more interesting. When one invokes Hofstede’s(2009) argument which states that culture is the “software” of the mind,the foundation on which soft skill theory is based collapses.

Graduate competency (both hard and soft skills) however is inpart determined by a faculty member’s competency in these skills. Recenttrends however indicate that higher education authorities appear tosubscribe to the idea that the lecturer’s role is disseminating existing(textbook) knowledge, and university administrators monitor the waythis information is disseminated. This dissemination is being donethrough the creation of big classrooms and profit center campuses,nationally and globally. Colleges and universities use adjunct (part timefaculty) to cut direct costs and overcome shortages. There are manyuniversities that refer to themselves as global universities. They useinternet technology, distance and online programs for mass delivery inlarge virtual classes. The impact of this trend on the chaotic highereducation market, graduate competency, education quality andscholarship is unclear. In other words, student opinion (satisfaction) mayor may not be driven by the extent to which critical-lateral thinking andhard skills are implanted in the traditional classroom.

Seldin (1999) observed that student evaluation of teachingeffectiveness (SETE) has been the primary measure of teachingeffectiveness in the United States. It is also one of the most widely usedindicators of performance for promotion and tenure decisions (Emery,Kramer & Tian, 2003). Boyer (1990) citing Carnegie Foundation’s survey(Tables A-6 and A-7) indicates that academics perceive that studentevaluation of instructor is more important than peer evaluation fortenure decisions. Seldin (op cit) also indicates that about 88% of all


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liberal arts colleges in the United States use student ratings forsummative decisions. Berk (2005) citing the US Department ofEducation information survey of 40,000 department chairs, stated that97% of the chairs (Heads of Departments) used “student evaluations” toassess teaching performance of instructors. This trend in also observedinternationally. However, the degree to which they are used forperformance evaluation purposes differ. For instance, in South Africa,the formerly advantaged universities to a greater extent use SETE. Priorresearch that compared South African teaching effectiveness measureswith China and the United States revealed the similarities of opinionsamong instructors and students about the effectiveness of instructionalsurvey instruments (Miller, Dzindolet, Weinstein, Xie, and Stones; 2001).There is similarity between the type of questions that students are asked.Whether this is a result of coincidence or a result adaptation of USinstruments remains unclear.

The association between SETE scores and grade performancehas been documented in several studies. For Kolevzon (1980) gradeinflation is related to “perceived and/or actual increases in the demandsor pressures placed upon the lecturer, to greater flexibility in gradingoptions and, in particular to the use of more subjective SETE basedperformance evaluation”. In article titled "The Happy Classroom: GradeInflation Works," Reeves (2009) wrote about grade inflation trends inthe United States. He documented that between 1991 and 2007 in publictertiary institutions the average grade point average (GPA) rose on afour-point scale by about 6% (from 2.93 to 3.11). In private colleges anduniversities the average GPA moved from 3.09 to 3.309 or 6.4%. Inanother related work Williams (2009) identified specific institutions andnoted that at Brown University about 66% of all grades are A's and atHarvard University, 50 percent of all grades were either A or A minus,and 91 percent of third year students graduated with honors. A similartrend was observed at Columbia, Illinois and Stanford. Universities inturn dismiss the grade inflation allegation and argue by stating that theirstudents brighter than students in other universities.

The messages of Reeves (op cit) and Williams (2009) howeverare many. First, they confirm that student examination scores are notnormally distributed in many institutions. Indeed it is a common practiceto find bimodal and tri-modal distributions at the end of many


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examination sessions. Their observation also suggests that certainuniversities, perhaps inadvertently, have simply shifted the curve overtime and the market has not noticed the inflation. Third, a series ofpolicy related issues can be raised. They are whether (i) academia isindeed producing the required human capital for the next economy; (ii)whether the “happy classroom” situation is in the public interest andindeed to the best interest of the student in the medium to long term,and (iii) whether grade inflation has any bearings on how theprofessoriate perform their jobs.

With regard to the attitude of academics about SETE, Berk (opcit) states that at present, a large percentage of faculty in all disciplinesexhibit “moderately positive attitudes” towards its usefulness forimproving classroom instruction. Berk (op cit) examines twelve potentialsources of evidence for measuring teaching effectiveness. They arestudent ratings, (b) peer ratings, (c) self-evaluation, (d) videos, (e) studentinterviews, (f) alumni ratings, (g) employer ratings, (h) administratorratings, (i) teaching scholarship, (j) teaching awards, (k) learning outcomemeasures, and (l) teaching portfolios. He argues for the use of multiplesources of evidence, such as student ratings, peer ratings, and self-evaluation, to provide a reliable base for formative and summativeassessments. Seldin (1999:50) argues that student rating is a necessarysource of evidence of teaching effectiveness. He concludes by statingthat SETE is an essential component of any faculty evaluation system.

Stinger and Irwing (1998) used structural equation modeling toexamine the usefulness of SETE in the United Kingdom. Stinger andIrwing (op cit) used a sample of 1708 full-time undergraduate studentsundertaking degree courses in health and social science at the Universityof Ulster. Result indicated that “perceived teaching quality” was found tobe related to course characteristics such as lecturer, course content, andstudent characteristics; which together explained 88 per cent of thevariations in students' overall evaluations. Teaching quality, course andstudent characteristics respectively explained 42 per cent, 18 per cent and28 per cent of the variations. The authors concluded that the empiricalresults suggest that questionnaire items derived from American studiescan be used effectively in the United Kingdom. The conclusion of thepaper however is conditioned by how one perceives the limitation ofstructural equation models in that the results are showing perception


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rather than the final product/outcome (graduate competency).Furthermore, even if one assumes that the regressions are reliable, it isinteresting to note that more than half of the variations in studentopinion can be explained by factors that are unrelated to the lecturer’scompetency (hard and soft).

Snowball and Wilson (2006) examined the characteristics ofstudents taking macroeconomics course at Rhodes University (SouthAfrica). They cautioned that SETE scores are affected primarily bygrades, student attitude to the course, class and tutorial attendance andconcluded that the scores cannot be used for summative purposes. Theyreported that poor lecture quality, as reflected in SETE, is often blamedfor lack of attendance and consequent poor examination performance.They argued that student input and attitude to the course are equallyimportant. As regards using SETE for performance evaluation, theauthors argue that some students somehow get the idea that theirlearning (passing) is the lecturer’s responsibility. That is, failure in thecourse is interpreted as an instructional failure rather than theincompetence/underprepared-ness of the student. In contrast toSnowball and Wilson’s (op cit) conclusion, though dated, Orpen (1980)studied mathematics students at the University of Witwatersrand, andstated that his initial tests of 128 students resulted in significantlypositive correlations between average student performance and averagestudent evaluations of lecturers across the various sections of the course.Orpen (op cit) argued that SETE scores can be used as a measure ofinstructional effectiveness under “appropriate conditions”

The findings of Snowball and Wilson (op cit) and Orpen (op cit)must be examined in the context of the higher education quality controlsystem in force in the country. In South Africa nearly all universities areaccredited by the government, and there is a quality assurancemechanism that involves external accreditation audits. Every course inaccredited institutions has an external examiner. The external examinerhas to agree (i) at the content and degree of difficulty of the exam paperand (ii) the grade distribution for the course. The grades are furtherconfirmed by Department Heads/Heads of Schools, and finallyapproved by an examinations committee that is usually chaired by theDean or his/her representative. The examinations committee usuallyholds a long meeting for consideration of grades and deliberating on


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each student. Grade distributions are usually skewed and are nevernormal. Nonetheless, distinctions are rare and the final class average,usually after an upward adjustment of the “raw” marks, is usually withinthe 50 to 59 percent range. Hence, comparing a South African transcriptwith an American transcript objectively is a difficult task.

Steenkamp, Baard and Frick (2009) examined poor pass rates infirst year financial accounting course at the University of Stellenbosch(South Africa). Instructors assumed that poor student throughput rateswere attributable to various factors, including the influence of whetheror not the student was introduced to accounting in his/her high school,the language of instruction used, poor class attendance and lack ofpreparation by students for assessment opportunities. Theseassumptions were compared with student perceptions of factorsinfluencing success in the course. The student perceptions werecompared to institutional data, such as grade scores. The resultsindicated that poor class attendance, inadequate preparation, insufficienttime and absence of tuition in the English language at the Universitywere the main factors that led to poor performance. The evidence alsoshows that freshmen were more critical of their lecturers thansophomores and so on.

The above literature review leads to a number of interestingresearch questions. The first central question is whether the SETEinstruments in use in many colleges and universities are aligned to thecompetency requirements (core competency) and soft skills (non corecompetency). That is whether the evaluation of the teaching and learningprocess is multidimensional or not is an interesting question. The secondquestion is about understanding the variables that the current SETEinstruments are trying to measure. In other words, the first question askswhether the instruments used in colleges and universities measureteaching-learning effectiveness (product quality outcome:- a graduate’scompetency in hard skills). The second question relates to the extent towhich academics manage their own soft skills without adversely affectingteaching and learning outcomes. These questions are indirectly examinedin the 13 papers that were included in the recent publication of theTeaching, Learning and Curriculum Section of the American AccountingAssociation (AAA 2009; eds Flinn and Crumbley). The messages that


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came out of the 13 papers put serious doubts on the reliability of SETEscores.

Research questions and methodologyFrom the review of the prior research we note that ideally,

graduates and individuals who teach at tertiary institutions should haveboth hard and soft skills. However, though the two types of skills arecomplementary, they do not necessarily move in the same direction.With regard to hard skills, they are the primary competencies requiredfor the job. That is, the instructor will not be recruited in the first placewithout having the requisite competency in the discipline. The corecompetency is evidenced by the credible senior academic degree that thelecturer holds and his/her research track record. In professionaldisciplines such as in accountancy credible professional certification is analternative entry level qualification for a career in academia. Assumingthat students are able (competent enough) to evaluate their professors,the question therefore is whether the SETE instruments in use areasking questions that relate to the instructor’s core competencies.

Once one knows what the existing instruments are measuring,the implications of the instrument for instructional innovation andinstructor performance assessment can be studied. Internationalcomparison of educational standards can be contemplated. This paperexamines whether the SETE instruments used by two unrelatedinstitutions advance competency (outcome) based education system,measure the hard core competency of the instructor, and whether theSETE results can be used for formative and summative (facultyworkplace performance evaluation) purposes. In short the paperexamines whether SETE instruments can be used for graduatecompetency (output quality) assurance purposes. The paper examines theconstruct validity, internal consistency and statistical validity of results.The implication(s) for employment contract, tenure, promotion and posttenure review decisions are discussed.

Methodology is a roadmap. For Campbell and Stanly (1966)internal validity is critical for scientific research. Workplace success andworkplace competency (core and non-core) measures are oftenunobservable in the short term. The subject therefore is less suited forlong term and summative empirical research. Previous research is


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dominated by behavioral theories, and mostly contains perceptions ofmanagers. This paper follows a qualitative, case and action basedresearch method. Case based studies allow the researcher to examine theissue from close proximity. For Wikipedia “action research is a reflectiveprocess of progressive problem solving led by individuals working withothers in teams or as part of a community of practice to improve the waythey address issues and solve problems.” Critical perspective follows asimilar reasoning. Hence, two institutions that the researcher is affiliatedwith were selected for the study. The first is Metropolitan StateCollege/University of Denver (Metro State) and the second is theUniversity of Witwatersrand (Wits). The paper compares and contraststwo SETE instruments and two performance evaluation systems toexamine whether the instruments in use measure the core competenciesof graduates, academics and the resultant problems. The two institutionswere chosen for a number of reasons. First they face similar pressuresfrom the profession with regard to competency standards. Second, theyare both undergraduate heavy schools. Third the researcher’s familiaritywith the workings of both institutions was an additional factor.

Case study4.1 IntroductionIn 2010 the Wits School of Accountancy (SOA) was reviewed by

SAICA and the chartered accountancy program was restored to its 2007status. In 2011 the Department of Accounting of Metro State wasreviewed by an external expert (consultant). The School of Business isalso in the processes of finalizing accreditation from the AmericanAssociation of Collegiate Schools of Businesses International (AACBSInternational). Except for research and the qualifications of theprofessoriate, the generic accreditation criteria used by both AACBS andSAICA are similar. Resource allocation to schools/programs and facultycompetence and sufficiency are central issues addressed by theaccreditation agencies.

With regard to the institutions’ mission, strategy, shape and sizedifferences, Wits aims to be one of the top 100 universities in the world.7

Metro State aims to be “a teaching institution where excellence in

7 For a critical review of the strategic plan and its effect on the school of Accountancy,see Negash (2011)


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teaching and learning is accorded the highest priority” (Board ofTrustees manual page 6 section 1.1). As of late, Metro State also aims togrow its postgraduate programs in professional disciplines suchaccountancy, social work, hospitality management and education. Thereare also additional differences between the two institutions and theiroperating environments. Unlike in South Africa, in the United States theprofessional body does not formally accredit schools and programs.Instead, schools and programs have their own voluntary accreditationagency:- for instance the AACBS. In South Africa the profession directlyaccredits universities, sets the syllabi, publishes annual qualifyingexamination results by university and allocates annual salary subventionsto universities based on the number of students that pass the qualifyingexamination. Hence, an accounting department’s activity in South Africais significantly influenced by the powerful professional association andits affiliated audit firms.

Another interesting difference is the profiles of the professoriatein the two institutions. In terms of the AACBS International criteria foraccreditation, a school/department must balance between itsacademically qualified (AQ) and professionally qualified (PQ) faculty,and about 90% of the courses in the program must be taught by AQpersonnel. PQ personnel are considered to be supports, and currentCPA or equivalent qualifications. AQ personnel normally have terminaldegrees (PhD) and should be able to produce two papers during a fiveyear review period. In South Africa the primary criteria for employmentin academia is the chartered accountant (CA) qualification. The percentof faculty with PhD level qualifications in South Africa range between10% and 20%. Nieuwoudt and Wilcocks (2005) observed that salaryhas been the driving force for academics reaching senior ranks withouthigher degrees and publications.8 By contrast at Metro State nearly all ofthe tenure track and tenured faculty have terminal degrees and about40% of the accounting courses are taught by full time temporary (oneyear renewable contract) and part time (adjunct) faculty. All academics,

8 In this respect, in 2009 primarily because of SAICA’s threat to de-accredit theprogram, Wits was obliged to make mass promotion and raise the academic rank ofnewly qualified CA (SA)s to the rank of senior lecturer. The salary impact for new hireswith CA qualification was an increase by about 40%.


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including tenured ones, sign new contracts at the beginning of everyyear.

With regard to performance evaluation, both institutions haveevaluation and tenure systems. Both use SETE results for formative andsummative assessment of teaching performance. Tenure (job security) atboth institutions is conditioned by the new recruit’s ability to meetminimum teaching and research expectations. The normal probationperiod in the United States is six years. In South Africa the probationperiod is three years and, the term “tenure” is not normally found in thehuman resource policy documents. Like most public universities, MetroState has a five year post tenure review system for all ranks. In SouthAfrica there is no formal post tenure review system, and high accountingfaculty turnover rates have reduced the value of job security (tenure).

At Wits SETE scores are confidential. They are the “property”of the lecturer. As the University was going through turbulent times inthe late 1990s, SETE was discredited. The instrument used to beadministered on ad hoc basis. Notwithstanding this, faculty memberswhose probation period were due or those who wished to apply forpromotion had no choice other than administering the instrument. Aftersome persuasion, Deans and Head of Schools were “permitted” to haveaccess to the results of the survey instrument. In SOA the surveyinstrument was reintroduced in 2005 after an extended consultation withfaculty members. The consultation revealed that accounting lecturerswere consistently scoring lower rating when compared to their peers inother schools. Hence, in mid 2004 the old university wide SETEinstrument was revised by an Associate Professor and this author.Appendix II contains the modified School of Accountancy SETEinstrument.

The revised SETE instrument has 15 questions. By mutualagreement with the accounting faculty three questions were classified as“core” while the rest were classified as “normal” items. The corequestions require the student to rate the lecture in a likert scale of 1 to 9.The ratings were whether the lecturer “makes clear the purpose of thelecture”; whether he/she is “always well prepared for class”, and whetherhe/she is “available for consultation outside of lectures”. The coreteaching competency question, which in any case students are unable toevaluate, was put under “normal” items. One of the 12 ‘normal”


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questions (Question #4) asks the student whether the lecturer “showsthorough subject knowledge”. The remaining 11 questions have more ofcompliance (tick box) stance rather than competency stance. No specificquestion or group of questions is (are) tied to the employee performanceevaluation system. However, though less vigorously enforced, SETEscores are used for both formative and summative purposes especiallyduring times of probation reviews and promotions.

In contrast to the South African environment, SETE scores atMetro State are not confidential. Students use blogs to praise/defametheir instructors. In addition, they rate their professors usingcontroversial websites such as www.ratemyprofessor.com. SETE scoresare part of the official record. From a human resources managementperspective, they are part of the employment contract and therefore havelegal basis. Haskell (1998) summarizes the down sides of SETE in theUnited States, and notes three reasons why university administratorsoppose the elimination of SETE. The reasons are (i) lack of alternativemonitoring methods to SETE, (ii) management’s wish to have controlover the teaching and learning process, and (iii) the belief that studentinput facilitates student retention. Holding the validity of these reasonsaside, among the 22 questions contained in Metro State’s SETEinstrument (Instructional Assessment System Question Sheet G), fourquestions aim “to provide a general evaluation”. Eleven questions aim“to provide diagnostic feedback to the instructor”. Seven questions aim“to provide information about the course to other students”. From thegeneral evaluation questions, two questions are important for annualperformance evaluation and tenure/promotion/post tenure retentiondecisions. On a likert scale of 1 to 6, question # 3 asks the student torate the instructor’s overall standing. Question #4 asks the student aboutthe instructor’s contribution to the [student’s] understanding of conceptsand ideas. For third year courses the important question changes to theinstructor’s “effectiveness in teaching the course”. According to theHand Book for faculty, an instructor has to score a mean value of 4, and“no course should score below 3.25”. In other words, the SETEinstrument is used for both formative and summative purposes.9

9 As noted earlier Metro State changed its SETE form in Fall 2011. In addition as peerobservation reports were contradicting SETE scores, the board decided that in futureall peer observations should be made by trained peer observers.


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There are four types of performance reviews at Metro State.They are annual performance evaluation, midterm tenure review, tenurereview and a five year post tenure review.10 Annual performanceevaluation and post tenure reviews start with goal setting and end withan elaborate documentation. Faculty members are evaluated in respect ofteaching (50%), professional development defined as scholarship andpublications, (30%), student advising (10%) and service (10%). Theseweights might be slightly changed “by agreement”. Within the teachingfunction, SETE scores have 25% weight and the rest is allocated tomandatory peer observation and teaching portfolio. For each section afaculty member is rated as “Needs Improvement”, “Meets Standards”and “Exceeds Standards”. According to the Hand Book, a “MeetsStandards” grade does not guarantee tenure, while “NeedsImprovement” generally is interpreted as an indication ofunderperformance. An instructor who obtains a “Needs Improvement”rating in any one of the performance dimensions will not qualify forannual bonus payment and salary increases (if any), and the professor’searned tenure can be at risk. Furthermore, tenure appears to be asensitive issue at Metro State. In 2009 the union announced its success inbrining law suit against the Board of Trustees of the College in respect ofa professor whose tenured was cancelled.

The term tenure is not found in the employment documents ofthe University of the Witwatersrand. Academics at Wits are classified aseither permanent or probationary or fixed term contract employees. AtWits formal university-wide annual performance evaluation wasdiscontinued for a number of years. Salaries are negotiated centrallythrough the unions. Notwithstanding the general climate in theUniversity, the School of Accountancy had criteria for the allocation ofSAICA’s annual subvention.11 The subvention committee is composedof five people. Three are from the audit firms and SAICA and two arefrom the University. The subvention is aimed at encouraging CAproduction and reducing the gap between academic salaries and industrysalaries. In 2010 the new Head of School has announced her intention toresume the use of SETE for the purposes of the allocation of SAICA’s

10 From August 2011 onwards tenured faculty were no longer required to have annualreviews and instead are requested to update their vitas.11 The subvention was about 7% of the total payroll cost for the school.


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supplementation to those who teach in the chartered accountancyprogram. Hence, the new trend in SOA appears that the SETEinstrument is more than likely to be enforced for both formative andsummative assessments.

The following excerpts from email circulars at Metro Stateindicate the kind of concerns academics raise about SETE. In the FallSemester of 2009, an instructor who is on probation wrote the followingin the College-wide email circulation list.

“A colleague who has since retired always claimed he couldmanipulate his evaluations by when he handed out the forms, givingthem out after he had returned an exam was never a good idea. Ipersonally know that teaching those required courses students loathtaking and struggle to pass because they have been advised to take themdespite lack of prerequisites, doesn't do much for my evaluations.”

In response to the above email an instructor from anotherdepartment wrote the following:-

“Check the grades your students received. I teach two onlineidentical classes. There was more than a one point difference in myevaluations (one a 5+ and one a 4+). The 4+ students received muchlower grades. For online, I think it makes a difference when they enrollas to what kind of student you get. And I definitely think their evaluationof us reflects the grade they are receiving in the course.”

In an unrelated correspondence another new professor whotaught a course where about 50% of the students used to score As andBs, wrote the following to the department chair. The letter was aresponse to a student complaint that was addressed to the head of thedepartment.

“The first test result was not really poor but students insisted thatthe scores should be high (80s and 90s). As the second test approachedgrade anxiety increased and class attendance declined. I did not negotiateand curve the test grades. The student survey was taken at about then.After the survey was taken one student whispered to me and said ‘take iteasy’. I later learned that there was some kind of mob behavior in myclassroom.”

The Metro States’ events are by no means exceptional. In its May16, 2010 edition the Chronicles of Higher Education carried thefollowing story:-


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“Dominique Homberger says she was pulled from her biologyclass because she demanded a lot of her students; administrators blameher classroom performance… On March 25 Dominique G. Hombergergave an exam to her section of Biology 1001, a large introductory courseof nonscience majors at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. Itwas the semester’s second exam. On the first one, five weeks earlier, thestudents had bombed. When Ms Homberger filed her midterm grades,on March 12, more than 60% were failing, and not one student hadearned an A. She never had a change to find out how much they mightimprove..”

AnalysisAnalysis of the implications of the above emails for graduate

competency, course content diminishment, examination (assessment)standards, grades shown in transcripts, work pressure on academics, andperformance evaluation is beyond the scope of this paper. Below wefocus on the examination of the construct validity, internal consistency,statistical validity, and the effects of confounding variables (such asgrades, student behavior, soft skills and the personality attributes of thelecturer). A closer inspection of the two instruments (Appendix I &Appendix II) suggests that either instructor core competency questionsare absent or the student is not asked whether his/her competency in thehard skills and soft skills have actually improved as a result of taking thecourse. In other words, the instruments do not adequately capture theissues of lecturer competency.

With regard to internal consistency of the survey instruments, itis not obvious that the maximization of all or some of the teachingdiagnostic questions will lead to high score in the key performanceevaluation questions. That is, it is not evident that an instructor whoincreases effort in improving the weaknesses in the teaching diagnosticquestions will obtain high rating in the summative assessment questions(Questions #3 and #4 of Metro State and the core items of SOA’squestionnaire). In other words there is no direct logical relationshipbetween the two sets of responses.

Confounding variables are additional factors that affect thereliability of the survey result. As indicated in Snowball and Wilson’s(2006) work, in the short term, a student whose performance in a course


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has been poor is more than likely to blame the lecturer than acceptresponsibility for his/her failure. By extension if a student obtains goodgrade in a course, he/she is more than likely to claim the success alone,and discount the role of cooperative learning. When one invokes otherconfounding variables, such as race, gender, culture, identity, accent,style, etc. the decoupling problem becomes complex.

The statistical validity of results is affected by an additionalfactor. SETE instruments use likert scales. Likert surveys however havebeen a source of distress for many researchers. The problem with thescales is that they are ordinal or interval responses, and how one modelssuch responses and uses them is important. Furthermore, if the aim is toget the inner most student opinion, the median value might be a betterindicator. If however the aim is to assess what most students are sayingabout the instructor, the modal value might be useful. Most statisticalsummaries however use mean values, and evaluators may or may notexamine the variations in opinion. Additionally, like a voting statistics, agood student’s opinion is equally weighted with a weak student’sopinion, and the respondents’ demography is not considered. Finally, thefact that students discuss their instructors during the semester makes thestatistical parameters problematic in that the survey was taken from un-randomized observations (herd).

The likert scale in use has one additional problem. For examplein the Metro State survey instrument, the terms that indicate midpointsare difficult to interpret. It uses terms like “fair” and “good”. TheEnglish thesaurus defines the “fair” as adequate, passable, average, quitegood, reasonable, decent, moderately good, and fair to middling. Hence,given the current performance evaluation system, an instructor whoscores a fair point (i.e. less than 4) is more than likely to be rated asperson who “needs improvement”.

The administration of the survey instrument also requiresattention. First, as noted earlier the response is anonymous, and hencethe response has no consequence to the respondent. Whether therespondent will repeat the same opinion if he/she were asked to disclosehis/her identity is interesting. Furthermore, the survey is taken in theabsence of the instructor, and in some cases there is no representationfrom the administration. In other words, the instructor is vulnerable tosmear campaign especially if he/she is not favored by opinion leaders in


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the classroom. Furthermore, from a feed forward perspective, the surveyis conducted towards the end of the semester and results arrive only inthe following semester. Hence, for students taking the course, the systemhas no feed forward characteristics.

From the above discussion one can safely surmise that the twoSETE instruments examined in this paper do not capture the corecompetency of the lecturer and, by extension contribute little (if any)towards improving graduate competency. What is at best reflected in theSETE surveys is compliance to the mundane activities that a lecturerdoes or does not do in the classroom. Unfortunately, the teachingdiagnostic feedbacks are not the key performance evaluation variables,and their association with key performance evaluation variables in notevident. Furthermore, there are a number of confounding variables thataffect the primary performance variable that is being measured. How theinstrument is administered is an additional concern. Therefore, theanalysis leads to the conclusion that the present SETE instruments thatare (were) in use in the two institutions, and by extension in otherinstitutions, require revision.

Concluding Remarks and Directions for Future ResearchThis paper attempted to examine the link (if any) between

graduate competency and teaching competency (effectiveness) measuresused in two higher education systems. Following the trend in theprofession, graduate competency was examined in the context ofinternational accounting educational standards, hard knowledge and softskills (interpersonal skills, communication skills, ethics, team work,leadership and other desirable workplace behavior). The discussion onthe two types of graduate competencies led to the qualitative analysis ofthe input factor, faculty members’ competencies. This raised pertinentquestion of whether SETE instruments in use in most of our highereducation institutions measure the hard core competencies of lecturers.To answer this and related questions, a case study that involved twoinstitutions from two education systems was conducted.

The findings of the study were threefold. First, the twoSETE instruments in use face construct validity problems. They do notdirectly ask the student whether his/her competency level has improvedas a result of taking the course. They do not focus on measuring the hard


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skills of the instructor. That is, whether the instructor has adequateknowledge in teaching the subject matter is not considered to be a corecompetency (teaching effectiveness) question. Out of the 15 and 22questions, respectively in the Wits and Metro instruments only onequestion in each instrument refers to the core competency of theinstructor. Question # 1 of the “normal” items of Wits asks therespondent whether the lecturer “Shows thorough subject knowledge”.Similarly, Metro State’s Question #11 (Form A) asks about “Studentconfidence in knowledge base of the instructor”. Note that bothquestions are considered to be either a “normal item” or a “diagnosticfeedback”. They are not performance evaluation or summativequestions. Second, the instruments showed internal consistencyproblems. That is, an effort to improve for example the diagnosticfeedbacks or normal items may or may not lead to high score in the keysummative questions especially when confounding variables are notcontrolled. SETE scores have several confounding variables. Moreparticularly the association between grades and SETE scores is welldocumented.

The third finding is that despite the evidence presented by priorresearch which states the problematic nature of SETE scores, evidenceshows that student opinion though to a varying degree, is vigorouslyused for both formative and summative purposes in the United Statesand South Africa. The implications of this for graduate competency andperformance evaluation of academics is serious. The implications of thefinding for the international harmonization of graduate competencystandards need to be examined. In other words, whether educationsystems that emphasize on SETE will remain competitive with systemsthat focus on building hard skills and scholarship remains unclear.

There are a number of avenues for future research. Determiningthe balance between core competencies and soft skills is one avenue.Designing an instrument that better captures the core competencies ofstudents and a faculty member’s teaching effectiveness, and betterlearning outcomes is another direction. Assessing the impact of “happyclassroom” and short term-ism for course diminishment, graduateemployment and academic standards is another direction. How toinfluence the administrators of colleges and universities so that theyobserve the fallacy of SETE instruments in promotion and tenure


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decisions is another research avenue. Addressing the ethical dilemma andpotential gamesmanship in performance evaluation requires a separatework.

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Appendix I

Metro State, School of Business, Department ofAccounting: Instructional Assessment System,Form ASenior courses (FORM A)1The course as a whole2 Course content3 Instructor’s contribution to the course4 Instructor’s effectiveness in teaching the subjectmatter5 Course organization6 Clarity of instructor's voice7 Explanation by the instructor8 Ability to present alternative explanation9 Use of examples and illustrations10 Quality of Questions/problems raised11 Student confidence in knowledge base12 Instructor's enthusiasm13 Encouragement for students to expressthemselves14 Answers to student questions15 Availability of extra help16 Use of class time17 Interest whether the student has learned18 Amount learned in the course19 Relevance & usefulness of course content20 Evaluation & grading techniques21 Reasonableness of assigned work22 Clarity of student responsibilities &requirements


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Sophomore courses (FORM G)1 The course as a whole2 Textbook overall3 The Instructor overall was4 The instructor’s contribution to yourunderstanding of concepts and ideas was5 Course organization6 opportunity to ask question7 Explanation by instructor8 Contribution to your ability to solve problems9 Use of examples & illustrations10 Length & difficulty of homework11 Contribution of exams to understanding ofcontent12 Instructor's enthusiasm13 Concern for welfare of students14 Answers to questions from class15 Relationship between lecture & text16 Availability for extra help17 Interest whether the student is learned18 Length & difficulty of homework19 Relevance & usefulness of course content20 Relevance & usefulness of homework21 Reasonableness of assigned work22 Relationship of exams to course material

Rating scale:- 1 to 6Statistical output: Mean, median deviation andpercentages, comparison with departmental andcollege averages for the same year. Commentsseparately sent to the instructor.


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Appendix IISchool of AccountancyUniversity of the WitwatersrandCore Items:-1 Makes clear purpose of the lecture2 Always well prepared for class3 Available for consultation outside of lecturesNormal Items:-4 Shows thorough subject knowledge5 Clear, understandable explanation6 Makes good use of examples7 Gives alternative explanations8 Summarizes main points effectively9 Punctual and reliable in attendance10 Lecturer has enthusiasm for subject11 Lecturer's language understandable12 Lecturer provides clear objectives13 Speaks at a comfortable pace14 Lectures generally well presented15 Lecturer helped me understand

Rating scale range:- 1 to 9Statistical Output: mean, median, deviations,comparison of means and medians for large class,small class and five year average score for thecourse.

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Cultural Capital Accumulation Mechanisms and TheirEffects on the Professional Habitus of Romanian Nurses

Silvia POPOVICI1

Abstract:Limited resources and no research exist on the Romanian nursing

educational programs during the last decades and on the consequences of theeducational changes for the nurses profession and for the medical field.

This qualitative research focuses on various forms of formal education thatnurses attended in order to obtain professional competences in the last 70 years. Theparticipants to the study were 10 senior nurses and leaders in nursing education fromIasi county and from national level with more than 20 years of clinical practice orinvolvement in negotiating nursing education in various phases.

The study also investigated the characteristics of the social actors in relationto the mechanisms of constructing the cultural and professional habitus and acquiringcultural capital, the impact of the diversity of scolarization forms on the nursescollective identity and group cohesion, as well as the implications on the medical fieldfrom the theoretical perspectives of Pierre Bourdieu and Claude Dubar.

The findings of this research may shed further light on the effects produced bythe changing contemporary nursing education on the reconfiguration of the clinicalpractice and on the autonomy and internal coherence and cohesiveness of the nursesprofessional group.

Keywords:nurses, vocational education, professional competences, socialisation, cultural

capital, professional identity

1 Silvia Popovici - Ph.D. student in Sociology at the University ’’Alexandru Ioan Cuza”of Iasi, Telephone: 0040756087291, E-mail address: [email protected]


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IntroductionIn Romania, medical doctors had an almost unchanged general

framework for the university education for the last 150 years until theBologna process. Several exhaustive studies deal with the history ofmedical profession from various perspectives and numerous articlesapproach the educational challenges and transformation of thisprofession along time.

Even if at least as old a profession as doctors, the nursesprofession is much less documented in the Romanian medical field. Theliterature review has not revealed any study or research on the history ofRomanian nursing or dealing with the various training programs that hadprovided the professional competences to Romanian nurses during thelast decades.

The diachronic reconstitution of the Romanian nursingeducation was only possible by interviewing members of the nationalregulation body of nurses who have made extensive research efforts togather official documents and legislative regulations given over time inorder to lay the foundations of the European standards in nursing and ofthe academic education.

According to a presentation given in 2008 at the EuropeanFederation of Nursing Regulatory Organizations meeting in Rome by thepresident of the Romanian Order of Nurses and Midwives, theprofessional education for nurses experienced about 15 different types ofeducational programs. (Iordache, 2006).

The Romanian integration in the European Union in 2007 raisedan important and urgent issue for the nursing profession and implicitlyfor the Order of Nurses and Midwives of Romania, that was theprovision of a proper level of qualification and competences for nursesin order to provide good quality healthcare services to patients accordingto the European Union standards of practice. This requirement had tobe fulfilled in order to allow the free circulation of nurses in theCommunity area.

Conceptual frameworkFor Pierre Bourdieu determinant structures have explanatory

value, not expressions and opinions of individuals. ’’Beyond of what thedescription of the attitudes, opinions and aspirations of the individual

Cultural Capital Accumulation Mechanisms and Their EffectsSilvia POPOVICI

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can bring to the explanatory principle in the functioning of anorganization, the understanding of the objective logic of the organizationleads to the explanatory principle of attitudes, opinions and aspirations ..."( Bourdieu, 1986)

Bourdieu refuses to treat individuals as mere reflections ofobjective structures and focuses on the analysis of determining structure,explaining in what ways social learning (formal and non-formal, spokenand unspoken) inculcate modes of perception and behaviour to socialagents.

The social world is made of structures, objective structures ofculture and language, built by agents and when these structures are buildthey condition the actions of the agents.

Each participant to the ’’social game’’ has not only materialresources but also social resources (relationships, family), culturalresources (certificates, qualifications, knowledge) and linguistic resources(mastery of the language legitimate usage). These resources represent,’’capitals’’, because they are subject to the same laws of accumulation asthe economic capital and these different capitals can be converted intoeconomic capital (relationships, an academic degree, eloquence can beconverted).

These resources are invested in various social fieldscorresponding to different social practices. Each field is hierarchical andthese hierarchies are related, but also possess a certain autonomy whichexplain the specific history of each field. Any emerging social demandwill create a body of specialists, which, in turn, will create or form otherneeds that will allow them to establish their dominance and expand thenew field. (Bourdieu, 2000)

The logic of the internal functioning can be described using themetaphor of the market: economic markets trade goods, while socialmarkets ’’create and distribute meaning’’. This meaning gives a socialidentity and differentiates actors and the concern for differentiationdrives the social game. To succeed in the field is always more than tosucceed in material terms. Not all individuals make their way with thesame opportunities, they are conditioned by their belonging.

Social agents, as any entrepreneur try to maximize their profit.This common strategy customizes in finer strategies, and those whooccupy dominant positions in the different fields will adopt conservation


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strategies of the field status. On the symbolic level, these strategiesinclude strengthening the common norms of what is self-understood, ofpreferences and inconveniences in all practices. Except for mastering thenorm, this system also allows the field dominance.

Bourdieu introduced the concept of habitus in his attempt toexplain how the external cultural constraints are progressivelyinternalized so that these constraints appear to be natural. Thus, habitusis the result of a set of practices that have been capitalized in time, andare transmitted from generation to generation, showing individuals howto be and to behave in different social situations. The transformation ofexperience into meaning and meaning into experience simulates the closeconnection between habitus, field and social structure.

Habitus is a system of lasting dispositions acquired by individualsduring the socialization process through implicit or explicit learning. Itoperates as a system of cognitive and body schemes and is at the sametime, the product of past social conditions and the generator principle ofpractices and representations that allow individuals to build anticipatorystrategies. During the socialization process, traces accumulate andcombines, harden, ’’interiorizing always deeper and transforming ingeneral dispositions." (Bourdieu, 1984)

Dispositions refer to the readiness (predisposition, preference,inclination) of social agents for certain and not other perceptions,judgements and actions. They relate to the field of praxis not as an imagebut as an instrument that performs certain operations as it is necessary orneeded and thus interferes into the field.

In the current paper we intend to focus especially on howcultural habitus influences professional habitus. The naturalization of thehabitus as sustainable and reproducible dispositions has an impact on theactors facing higher social class than their own or trying to enter a higherclass by accumulation of cultural capital in the form of formal education.They undergo a process of detachment, output of habitus. They have tochange their preferences, habits, way of being, clothing, language, to gainaccess to knowledge and ways to be characteristic of the dominantculture.

All this work involves implementing a radical and profoundchange of the way of life and can lead to what Vincent de Gaulejac called


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’’class neurosis’’, manifested by conflicts caused by the transition fromone social class to another.

Claude Dubar theorizes the concept of professional identity onwhich we’ll rely in analyzing the construction and the evolution of thenursing profession, of its autonomy and coehion in report to otherprofessions from the medical field.

According to C. Dubar, identity can be defined as a system ofself-representations, in connection with systems of values and collectiverepresentations. The values system focuses on what justifies andmotivates practices and views expressed by a group, which has to becongruent with the moral practice, the organization and functioning ofsocial and economic life.

In his book The socialisation, C. Dubar discusses how actorsidentify with each other, given the definition of the action context whichis the context of defining self and others, as each actor has a particulardefinition of the situation. This takes the form of an argument involvinginterests and values, positions and statements. On the other hand, theseself-definitions in a given context, are not strictly determined by thecontext itself. Each of the actors has a history, a past which influences itsidentities. The social actor is not defined only by its current partners, thedirect interaction within a field determined by practice, it is defined bothby its personal and social trajectory. This subjective trajectory, ’’results atthe same time from an interpretative reading of the past and from aforward-looking projection of the future'' (Dubar, 1998).

The notion of identity creates a framework for the relationsbetween the legitimate social categories (social and professional statuses)and the subjective representations that individuals have about their socialpositions. The notion of identity is linked to the concept of socialization,to the process of identification, to the construction of identity, tobelonging and relationships. C. Dubar states that ’’to socialize is toassume the belonging to a group''. The decisive sign of belonging to agroup is the acquisition of an intuitive knowledge which includes at leastpart of the past, present and future projects of the group, ’’as expressedin the common symbolic code that underlies the relationship between itsmembers.'' (Dubar, 1998)

Claude Dubar (2001) defines professional identity as a waysocially recognized by individuals to identify with each other in the field


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of work. The construction of the professional identity involves a senseof belonging to a professional group, a life project design anchored inthe work environment, the availability of becoming a productive socialactor. These changes involve profound transformations of identity and areorganization of activities and priorities hierarchy.

Identity construction involves two heterogeneous complex butautonomous identity processes. The first is the identity for itself and isbased on the biographic process. Basic professional identity is not onlyan identity in the workplace, but also a projection of themselves in thefuture with the anticipation of a professional trajectory andimplementation of a logic of learning or training. The second process isthe identity for others which appeals to the relational process. Buildinglabour relations, participating in collective activities within theorganization and intervening in the games of the actors, individualsbecome able to build a specific professional identity.

Objectives of the researchThe study aims to find answers to the following questions:What have formally been the forms of obtaining professional

competences in Romanian nursing during the last decades?What is the impact of the diversity of educational nursing

programs on nurses professional identity and on the cohesion of thenurses professional group?

What are the professional implications of the existence of paralleldifferent educational training programs for nurses for the medical field?

MethodsThis paper deals with interview data from a sub-sample of 10

senior nurses and leaders in nursing education from Iasi county andfrom national level. The interviews were solicited to nurses having morethan 20 years of clinical practice or involvement in negotiating nursingeducation to the university sector and application of EuropeanCommittee directive regulating nurse education in Romania because oftheir status and nature their position, thus gaining access to accurateinformation concerning nursing educational changes and their impact onthe professional group. In the course of the interview participantsevaluate and interpreted the educational trajectory of the Romanian


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nursing, produced knowledge and at the same time displayed theirprofessional orientations (Pithouse, Atkinson,1988).

The nature and purpose of the study was communicated to allparticipants orally. When requested further information was provided inorder to fill in the missing data in the research.

Data processingInterview data were digitally audio-recorded, transcribed, then

the audio files have been deleted in order not to be identifiable, inaccordance with a commitment given to participants. The average lengthof the interviews was 65 minutes, the shortest being of 40 minutes andthe longest of one hour and a half. Transcripts were organized, the nextstep was data reduction and in order to identify which data are relevantto the research’s focus. Initial analytic categories, themes, and patternswere identified and data was coded (Marshall, Rossman, 1999). Thestructure thus developed allowed discerning patterns, identifyingpotential interrelationships, identify higher-order categories or themes,and drawing the conclusions (Miles, Huberman, 1994).

Data analysisFormal educational programs through which Romanian nurses

acquired cultural capital during the last decadesBack in the 1950’s there were functioning Special Schools for

’’charity sisters’’ and Special Schools for ’’health officiants’’. In 1955 theschools changed their names and became health vocational schools. Theduration of the educational program was of two years. The femalegraduates had the qualification of ’’nursing sisters’’, while the malegraduates were ’’health officiants’’. In the next few years new specialtiesappeared, such as paediatrics and nursing care. Around 1960 thetechnical nursing schools were established, with a duration of 2 andrespectively 3 years. They could be attended after a four years bachelor’sdegree. The number of specializations diversified: paediatrics, obstetricsand gynaecology, hygiene, laboratory, care, pharmacy, physiotherapy.The school directors were generally medical doctors, while the teacherswere ’’experienced and highly professional nursing sister.’’

Nursing was a highly praised occupation and the scolarizationdemand was quite high, fact proved by the great competition at theentrance examinations at the technical nursing schools. It was the period


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when the number of new hospitals and health facilities was rapidlygrowing in the urban, as well as in the rural areas.

The nursing phase before 1990 is regarded with nostalgic feelingsby most of interviewed nurses and considered a ’’golden age ofRomanian nursing’’, their explanation residing in the high level ofmorality, the focus on practical skills and severe discipline and less ontheoretic knowledge.

Later on, beginning with 1974 until 1990 the nursing 4-years highschools were founded on the Russian model. Their duration was of fouryears. Even if the students had to choose very early their path in life, thenursing career was most of the time chosen from altruism and helpingvocation. The humanitarian motivation of practicing the professionassured them the respect of the population and a good status in society.In fact, they represented resource persons in their families, villages orneighbourhoods.

However, the difference in education in comparison to doctorswas important and they were always hierarchically subordinated to them.Moreover doctors were highly respected unless their professionalcompetences or moral behaviour were not accurate. The strict control ofthe information by the security services of the Communist Party madenot possible out of the normal professional or personal behaviours.

The year 1989 was a turning point in the education of nurses, aswell. In 1990, by Government Decision there were established the post-secondary nursing schools according to the European Union standardsand to the recommendations of the World Health Nursing conference inVienna. Thus, high school graduates could attend a three year programconsisting in a total of 4600 hours, for the generalist nursespecialization.

New education programs were developed by a team of theMinistry of Health, with specialists from several European countries.The European professional training standards for nurses were followed.Other changes introduced by this program were the minimum age limitof 18 years old for starting the nursing professional training and the ratiotheory / practice in the educational programs. At that time there were 41post-secondary nursing schools in Romania, one in every county.

In 1990 there were established the first private post-secondarynursing schools. During the following years the relevant legislation was


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not clear and that is why some confusions produced, especially regardingthe rights of the private education providers and of their graduates. In1995 when the Education law was approved many issues were clarified,but others emerged and needed to be resolved in time.

In 1998 new directions opened in the professional training ofnurses, Romania increasingly following the European tendency ofproviding to nurses academic education. An order of the Ministry ofEducation established the University Medical Colleges within theUniversities of Medicine and Pharmacy. The duration of the studies wasof three years.

At first a series of difficulties came up: the curricula did not meetthe number of hours required by European standards, the lack oftrainers, the lack of specific material base. Despite those difficulties,most medicine and pharmacy universities in the country established thenursing educational program, but with a small number of students (25 –50 students/year).

Obtaining the College graduation diploma did not bring theinitially expected change because these graduates could not continuewith masters or doctoral studies, they could not become academics. Inthese circumstances the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharestinitiated the Faculty of Nurses and Midwives with a duration of fouryears. Graduates could finally get a license degree in nursing.

The Bologna process changes the concept of university studies.A new law aligned Romania to the Bologna regulations beginning withthe academic year 2005/2006. The credit accumulation and transfersystem is enforced. Thus nurses had to accumulate 180 points in threeyears of studies completed by the license examination. After graduation,theoretically, any nurse could follow the masters degree and doctoralstudies.

In 2002 the Romanian Parliament adopted the Law on theRatification of the European Agreement on the education and trainingof nurses concluded in Strasbourg and adopting the Directive 36/CEconcerning nurses.

Since 2004 the professional education of nurses has beenprovided through post-secondary public or private education oruniversity degree diploma both lasting for three years.


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This parallelism of the nursing educational programs has notbeen beneficial for the education of nurses, causing confusion amongcandidates who intend to enter this profession. There were weaknessesand strengths in both types of training.

The effects of the dynamics of the nursing educational programson their profession and on the medical field

With these educational changes the habitus of the nurse began tochange significantly: A change of focus produced from the importanceof the practical preparation and manual skills to the theoreticalknowledge. The professional continuous education program becamemore and more important and attracted more and more nurses for thirstof knowledge and real interest in improving professional abilities andknowledge. Many students and nurses became more and moredemanding regarding the quality of the initial and continuous educationalprograms and the mentality that ’’ after finishing school they didn’t haveto learn any more’’ began to fade out.

The coexistence of two mentioned forms of education in nursinggenerated cleavage and affected the nurses professional group cohesion.Nurses raised numerous complaints, which sometimes led to thedeterioration of the relations between nurses, on one hand, betweennurses and their professional association on the other hand, because itgave them the impression that it failed in representing their interests.

On the other side, The Ministry of Health did not continue thealignment to European standards in hospitals and medical units, meaningthat it had not differentiate different nursing positions on the levels ofskills. Job descriptions are still identical for all nurses, regardless of theskills acquired from education, while recruitment and employment arerandomly done, ignoring the criterion of the skills assessment for theavailable positions.

In contrast the pay scale for nurses has been differentiated basedon completed level of education. This incomplete reform has generated anumber of social and professional inequities, which after repeatedcomplaints and alerts from the nursing professional organisation havebeen drown failed attempts to remedy the situation by not increasing thesalaries of the university graduates since 2010, unless hospitals considerthey need to hire licensed nurses after internal evaluation.


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Thus the enthusiasm of the newly graduated licensed nursesfaded out, especially that many of them were experienced registerednurses who chose to improve their competences by following anacademic program looking for professional recognition and a salary raise.None of these was possible at the graduation on the background of newregulations and the economic crisis which prevented hospitals and othermedical units to promote them on licensed nurse positions. Thedisappointment was even higher in the conditions in which in manycases they had to pay tuition for the nursing educational program andthey were eager to earn back at least partially the money invested ineducation.

According to the academic training the new clinical andmanagerial roles of nurses has differed significantly from the previousones, the same was with the assumed responsibilities and the taskscarried out.

The Romanian nursing university programs inspired curricula oflarge tradition universities from Western Europe, such as UnitedKingdom, where the professionalization of nurses began 120 years agoand where the formal authority given to nurses is much higher than inthe Romanian health system.

A ’’professional ideal’’ has outlined. The main goal was alreadyobtaining the professional autonomy which would give them the right totake decisions that are consistent within their scope of practice and thefreedom to act on those decisions and even to provide care services inindividual practices without supervision of a doctor.

In these conditions, important consequences could be noticed atthe level of the professional autonomy, of the relationships with medicaldoctors and of the professional group cohesion.

During the last ten years, at least, the nursing professionalassociation struggled to create cores of professionals in every countyhighly promoting the academic education in nursing in the strategy thatstrengthening the professional elites, together with obtaining the formalEuropean professional regulations would substantially contribute to thenurses professionalization and to the acquisition of a higher social status.

However the regulation that blocked the recognition of thenurses academic diploma showed a new discrepancy in the nationalstrategy of correlating the policy of scolarization with the medical units


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functioning and employment regulations, increasing the nurses’discontent on the healthcare system, already at high rates because of thestaff shortages, of the low salaries and of the work conditions.

Thus another wave of protests has sparkled and renewedpressures appeared to remedy the situation created.

ConclusionsThe diachronic and synchronic existence of different nursing

educational programs made the nurses profession less and lesshomogenous and quite un cohesive, so that it comes to set differentgoals based on representations of different nurses typologies dependingon their education, professional trajectories and interactions with thehealthcare system thus justifying their position regarding professionalissues and their practices.

The nurses profession is in a period of interrogation over theirown profession and becoming. It is the central pivot of the careactivities, but its function tends to evolve. Nurses active presence at thepatient’s bedside is to be completed with additional roles such as takingpart in decision making and offering integrated patient care.

Nurses have constructed their profession and professionalidentity which is still diffuse and requires clarifications regarding theskills, professional practice, implications and aspirations. Nursing is stillin a protesting process, but the identity nurses claim also depends onothers (political and legal environment, economic system, lobbyexercised by other professionals, patient associations, media), as well ason their own orientations and self-definitions.

In the context of the underfunding health services, of thepatients and press complaints about the Romanian health system, of theoverload and professional exhaustion, most nurses see the need forurgent legislative changes regarding the correlation between educationand professional practice, for the transformation of the professionalhabitus and of the medical field in order to gain a higher status and to berecognized professionally. However the process of rebuilding nurses’professional identity should have as starting point the need ofbecoming aware of it.


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References

Bourdieu, P., (1986). Economia bunurilor simbolice, Editura Meridiane,Bucuresti, Romania.

Bourdieu, P., (1979). La distinction. Critique sociale du jugement, Minuit, Paris,France

Bourdieu, P., (2000). Esquisse d'une théorie de la pratique, Seuil, CollectionPoints Essais, Paris, France.

Bourdieu, P., (2000). Simţul practic, Editura Institutul European, Iaşi,Dubar, C., (1998). La socialisation. Construction des identités sociales et

professionnelles, Armand Colin, Paris, France.Dubar, C., (2001). La crise des identités. L’interprétation d’une mutation, PUF,

Paris, France.Gaulejac de, Vincent (1987), La névrose de classe, Editions Hommes et

Groupes, Paris, France.Iordache, L.-L., (2008). Scurt istoric al formării nurselor în România,

presentation at the FEPI- European Federation of NursingRegulators Confernce in Rome.

Lucas., Y., Dubar, C., (1994). Genèse et dynamique des groupes professionnels,Presses Universitaires de Lille, France.

Gheorghiu, M., D., Guillemot, D., Moatty, F., (2007). Les changementsorganisationnels et leurs outils : Entretiens avec les dirigeants d’hôpitaux.Document de Travail de la Direction de la recherche, des études,de l’évaluation et des statistiques, Série Études, n° 72 –novembre, Paris, France. Available at

http://www.sante.gouv.fr/drees/serieetudes/pdf/serieetud72.pdf.Marshall, C., Rossman, G., B., (1999). Designing qualitative research,

Thousand Oaks, USA.Miles, R. P., Huberman, A., (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded

sourcebook (2nd ed.), Beverly Hills, USA.Pithouse, A., Atkinson, P., (1988). ‘Telling the Case: Occupational Narrative in

a Social Work Office’, in Nikolas Coupland (ed.) Styles of Discourse,Croom Helm, London, UK.AcknowledgementsThis work was supported by the the European Social Fund in Romania,

under the responsibility of the Managing Authority for the Sectoral OperationalProgramme for Human Resources Development 2007-2013 [grantPOSDRU/107/1.5/S/78342]

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Education through Migration. How the Experience ofLiving Abroad Can Be an Educational Factor

Teodora MANEA1

Abstract:The experience of intercultural migration is one of the oldest forms of

population movements. Through this phenomenon, different cultures come in contact,interaction and transformation. The individuals involved experience new ways oflearning from the new cultures. I studied medical migration from Romania to the UK.The fact that medical migration is part of an intra-European highly skilled migrationadds two distinctive notes. First, physicians are highly qualified and more aware of thecultural processes involved and second, the European culture, although sharing arather small territory, has different values and socio-political particularities. Thelearning processes are continuous and may be not specific for migration. But educationis it somewhat more. I will understand education as a learning process where theindividual is made aware of the cultural differences, and his or her behaviour,perceptions, or basic values are changed (implying the representations of freedom, socialand civil rights, dignity, solidarity, religion etc.).

Keywords:Education, medical migration, culture, language, customs, values

1 Teodora MANEA - Researcher at University of Medicine and Pharmacy, “Gr.T.Popa” Iasi, Romania, Centre of Ethics and Health Policies, Address: 19 Saxon Road,Exeter, EX1 2TD, UK, E-mail address: [email protected]


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Introduction

The title, “Education through migration” does not refer tolearning programs for emigrant citizens. There are such programsespecially designed for the integration of emigrants, but it is not my aimto speak about this here. Also, it does not refer to the right of migrants tohave education in the destination countries (Aarrass , 2012). I understandthe experience of migration (Toader, 2011) as an important part ofeducation surpassing the institutional limits of education, like schools,universities, academies etc. to the interactional education processes in thesociety as whole. John Dewey in his Democracy and Education (1916)defined education as a form of learning in which knowledge, habits, andskills of a group of people are transferred from one generation to thenext through different practices including teaching, (self) training,research, etc. I am interested in the formative effect of the migrationexperience on the way the migrants think, feel, and act. Studying thephenomenon of medical migration from Romania to the UK (Manea,2011), I came in contact with different aspects of it, but one of the mostimportant aspects regards the cultural adaptation and the educative effectof migration. Habits, knowledge and skills are achieved or changethrough this experience. Language, customs, values are added to theones that the migrants already had in the origin country. Sometimes thenew values or customs conflict with the old ones and there is acomplicated process of revision and rearrangement of the personalvalues for each individual.

It is true and quite common that the whole life experience is alearning experience. This fact plays a major role in the evolution ofhuman species through the cultivation of flexibility, adaptability andother essential aspects involved in living in a certain habitat. So far,migration seems to be not a special case of learning compared to otherexistential experience of human kind. But in the existential experience ofleaving your own country and going to a foreign place (Madison, 2010)two cultures are confronted. Heidegger interpreted culture as paideia(Heidegger, 1996), insisting on the formative role of culture. Two differentcultures may have different formative patterns. I make a distinctionbetween institutionalized aspects of culture and non-institutional ones. Theinstitutionalized culture covers schools, universities, museums etc. placeswhere public life take place. The private life of individuals and families

Education through Migration. How the Experience of LivingTeodora MANEA

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(although the family can be seen as an institution in a different context) Iprefer to put in a different category. The reason is that for the case ofmigration, the original culture may resist in non-institutionalized, privateforms, while the new culture impacts especially through institutionalaspects necessary for the social integration and functionality.

Methodology:

The methodology of this chapter combines a theoreticalapproach, encompassing hermeneutics, existential analysis of migrationand phenomenology, with a qualitative study providing information from7 in depth interviews with migrant Romanian physicians and dentists tothe UK. The participant observation of four Romanian physicians’ anddentists’ families over four years and media analysis consisting in 20online available testimonies of Romanian physicians working in the UKcompleted the empirical data.

Language: learnt language, lived language, family languageheritage language

For the highly qualified migrants, like doctors, the languageseems not to be an issue for adaptation. The doctors arrived in the UKwith a good or very good level of English. This level covers medicalterminology, conversation, grammar and understanding. This may be thecore of language, but it is not everything. Language is like an organism,continuously developing and having various faces. The tonality of voice,the verbal debit, the illocutionary and perlocutionary aspects of thelanguage (Searle, 1969) are hard to know a priori. Language blends in theway people behave, in celebrations, in the functioning and meaning ofinstitutions. Language shows the belonging to a specific social class orthe status of a person. Language is nuanced in different social roles. Theway an MP addresses you is different from the way a banker or a teacherdoes.

In the communication with patients, it is not only the message, butthe way this message is delivered, the intensity of the voice, the manneryou formulate and reformulate a thing that makes all the difference.Social conventions may statute a particular way of dealing with feelings,or privacy of patients. Institutional written or unwritten rules are to befollowed. For an outsider, all those things are overwhelming at the


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beginning. “At the beginning you are scared, you don’t know what to tell (to thepatients), if you can tell this and that. We were warned that the Romanians andGermans were too direct…” (Maria).

This fact brings discomfort and fear to the migrant doctors andthis is the reason I focus on the existential dimension of migration. Theprocess of achieving this informal knowledge in a new culture can bevery long and threatens to tear apart the individual. Less socio-culturalknowledge, less integration in the new country: “You are the first migrantgeneration and you are not really integrated. Neither in the country nor somewhereelse… What you (still) have is only the language and some people you know, but youare like “neither horse nor donkey” (Ioan).

Language is not all about knowing the meaning of the words. Asan interactive process, language is strongly connected with customs andtherefore entrenched with a lot of other cultural aspects. For example, toanswer a question only with yes or no can be quite an elegant andparsimonious way of conversing in Romanian. It may be a mark of avery well educated person, who spares useless words. In contrast, inBritain saying just yes or no is considered rude. Even in a supermarket,when you are asked whether or not you would like a plastic bag, youshould answer “Yes please!” or “No thank you!” Those forms are thefirst a child will learn in an English nursery. But a migrant already has astyle of speaking that may be different from the manner of the nativesand that is not easy to change.

Sometimes the words do not mean what is written in adictionary. The illocutionary aspects of language (Searle, 1969: 22-54) areequally important. If you speak with an English person and yourinterlocutor will say something like “Interesting!” without looking intoyour eyes, this may mean “you are boring or weird; I’d rather you stoptalking about this.” If you are invited by someone at home for tea and itis getting late, the host will ask you politely if you would like another cup oftea, which may mean: “it is time to go”. These illocutionary aspects maydiffer from one region to the other or according to the social hierarchy.To know those subtle meanings and to act accordingly is an element ofthis informal education.

Kerswill speaks about the complex interaction between migrationand language and about the fact that migration leads to new language ordialect contact (Kerswill, 2006: 19). In our case, because of the


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dominance of the English language, it is hard to imagine the Romanianmigrants having any effect on it. Language, like a living organism, needsa habitat. For the category of migrants we studied, this habitat isrestricted to Romanian families. If something like a Romanian shop orrestaurant appears, another form of institutionalized language will result.For example, in a Polish shop, it became necessary for me to pronouncethe Polish word for some kind of food behind the counter, in order todifferentiate and specify the product I wanted. In the same shop I canhear forms of salutation, polite questions etc. For someone outside thePolish community this may be the most relevant linguistic interaction.The language used within the family is quite a limited one. The everydayconversation uses a limited amount of words, because it refers to thedaily routine. One of the interviewees speaks about the children and theexperience of language: „My children are born and bred here (in the UK). Theyunderstand and speak Romanian, because we travel frequently to Romania, butbetween them they communicate in English, and everything connected with school is inEnglish.” (Ioan)

The vocabulary children acquire in school (Valdes, 1998) duringlessons or by playing with their peers will be in English as theinstitutionalized language of school. Even for the bilingual home-schooled children, the language of playing with English children, Englishlullabies, children songs and particular interjections will not be mirroredin the native language. In eight families with bilingual children, where thebilingual children were exposed to the English language younger thanthree years old, the children used to speak predominantly English, evenif they were able to understand the mother tongue. The situation isdifferent for children arriving in the UK older than five. They alreadylearned their native language properly and they have acquired enoughcommunication skills in the origin country to give them the confidenceand the motivation to communicate in their mother tongue.

The interviewed doctors, as parents, remarked the asymmetry oflearning the language in their own case and in the case of their children.The children are able to acquire and to operate the new language muchfaster and with better results than the parents, although the parents hadan initial advantage of knowing the language (Ryan et all., 2010). Ofcourse this fact is age-related (the children have a better ability oflearning a new language), but in my opinion it is influenced by what I call


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world building processes. The world of an adult is already built. The way westructure, understand and categorize our experience is quite formed with30 years of age. By learning a new language, normally we construct aparallel world, a duplicate. We try to mirror all the knowledge we alreadyhave and to find equivalents in the new language. It is almost as if wehad two skeletons in our body. When the second skeleton is completed,the new language gets over the translation processes and becomesautomatized. But now and then there will be bones in the old skeletonwith no equivalent in the new one and vice versa. I use the metaphor ofthe skeleton, because the form and the anatomy of our bones areinfluenced by, and are strongly connected, with the way we function. In asimilar way our language is influenced by our activities. Becausechildren’s experience of learning is very broad, regarding quite everyaspect of life, the new language will build up consistently andharmoniously, integrating and mirroring the experience of world buildingand discovering.

Learning customs:Another interesting thing is to learn the customs of the new

culture. This begins with the way you dress, the way you have to saluteother people, the way of queuing etc. The precise distance of theinterpersonal space is something you have to learn in situ. It depends oncircumstance: if you speak with someone, or if you queue. Even if you justqueue, it might be different in a shop than in a bus station. Theinterpersonal distance depends on the weather conditions outside, onnot being in the way of other people, or in protecting the confidentialityof money transactions on the till. This process of learning depends onone’s skills of learning and empathy. If you do something wrong, you maysee the disagreement in the expression of the others. Although Englishpeople are so polite and tolerant, they will rarely amend your behaviourdirectly.

Through the participant observation of Romanian families andinformal talks with Romanian doctors, I was made aware of the topic ofdressing. They told me that the way they dress in the UK changedcomparing with the Romanian standard of dressing or using make up.What in Romania will be usually classified as elegant, may be too much inthe UK. The way you dress in the UK has to be more functional and


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more casual. There are exceptions, of course, especially connected withsome professions with strict dressing codes (bankers, solicitors etc.) orspecific events. The way you dress may not only be owed tofunctionality, but also to some conception about the intimacy of the body.For example, even toddlers on the beach should wear some kind ofclothing. In Romania or in Germany it is quite normal to see a two yearold naked, but this hardly ever happens in the UK. It is hard to explainexactly all the reasons for this; there may be a health issue (sunprotection) and a privacy and safety concern (the nudity of little childrenis not exposed in an open environment, where someone may take apicture of them etc.). Dressing young girls and boys (0-6) is extremelygendered, girls are pink, and boys are blue. A boy wearing pink clothes willbe an extremely rare thing.

Another problem is caused by the way the institutions and thehuman relations in the institutions work in the UK: „The colleagues are nice;the superiors are false (she laughs). They smile in your face, but they devour youbehind your back” (Maria). For example, if someone makes a professionalmistake, it is not for a colleague to mention it. This is the problem asuperior has to deal with. From the Romanian mentality this fact is veryupsetting and strange. If someone tells you that you are wrong, this willbe easier to accept from a colleague rather than a superior. But in theUK, if the colleague will do it, this will be taken as an indication that heor she knows better and that they want to show you that they aresuperior to you in a way. In order to avoid offending you, they will useinstitutional channels to deal with the problem. At the beginning thewhole process seems to be non-transparent, and the people look false.„It was difficult for me to work at the beginning, after registering with GMC(General Medical Council) I was not at the required level. Without knowing thesystem at all it was very hard for me. I was put back one year (...). Do you knowwhat is so complicated here? If you make a mistake, or if there is something theydidn’t like, they will not speak with you directly, and then you are called before one ofthe big bosses. But it would have been possible for them to speak with you beforehand,a colleague should be able to tell you things like that ... not like this, behind yourback” (Camelia).

Being direct is considered the default mode of dealing with peoplein Romania and in Germany, for example. But in the UK, directness isnot valued; it is normally considered to be rude. So the doctors have to


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learn different ways of behaving or telling the patients some evidenttruths. And so the customs are intrinsically connected with professionalactivity and learning process.

„The patients... I don’t know, some of them are nice, but you do not knowwhat they really think. It is strange. It is strange, but after a while you start tounderstand them. At the beginning you look at them and you do not know what todo. You don’t know what to tell them, if you can tell them this or that. Of course wewere warned that the Romanians and the Germans are too direct. I asked what itmeans, because I don’t know. Practically you must not say loudly what you think.Like, if a doctor has a patient, they cannot tell them: „Sir, you have a lot of dirt onyour teeth, I cannot see you!” You may say it in a different form. You are not allowedto be direct. You can say: „you have this and that, but you may improve your dentalhygiene a little bit.” A little bit... when there is a disaster! In Romania I practicallyshow him the door and say: „Sir, you came back after you have brushed your teeth!”This is what I have said in Romania.” (Maria)

Professional learning“There is uncertainty of two kinds. One is that of a man who leaves behind

his family, his world, his country, his friends, everything that is familiar and thatmakes your life easier. And the profession you somehow knew (…) everything goes.And what is more; you have an uncertainty connected to the way you practice medicinehere” (Ioan)

For the medical migration, the professional learning(Teodorescu, 2012) concerns also the direct interaction with the people,both linguistic and as a physical presence. The way you are able tounderstand the symptoms, to explain a diagnostic or the treatment iscapital. But the physical presence and the medical acting, once againimplying taboos, is crucial. A Romanian dentist, Horia, told me that hehad to apologise for keeping the patient with his mouth open for toolong. Having one’s mouth open seems to be required for dentistry, butbecause this kind of physical request may create a discomfort to thepatient, you have to apologise.

Language was present as a topic connected with professionallearning as well. One participant in our study answered the questionabout adaptation to the actual work place: “I needed about three, four monthsto adapt. It takes time to learn the system, to understand what you have to do, tounderstand the people, the idea about complains. Well, there were about three mounts


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for adaptation” „What was the most difficult fact?” “The language. Theabsence of communication because of the language. I did not have enough knowledge.”(Maria). I have to mention that Maria actually passed the specificlanguage test before emigrating with flying colours.

Even if the practice of medicine, especially stomatology, in itselfis perceived to be the same, the way the English patients understand itseems to be different in the UK: “Regarding the practice of stomatology nothingchanged, so it wasn’t necessary to adapt. But regarding the relationship with thepeople, with the patients it was quite hard. I still cannot say that I adapted onehundred per cent, and I cannot understand the way stomatology is regarded here. It iscompletely different. It is like in a superstore. The patients have the right to complainfor any little thing, for nothing. They complain even if they are not right about it atall, but you have to say they are right. This is not a good thing, but so it is. (…)There are some principles, some medical rules you have to respect, so you have toexplain this to the patient and the patient should understand it. But no, they justignore what you tell them, if they want something you have to do it, even if the medicalsituation is not right for it. (…) Stomatology is like business, so the medical partdisappears and this is bad. The patient is transformed into a customer and this isbad.” (Horia)

Not only the medical system is different (NHS, The NationalHealth Service is free for everyone), but the practice of internationalrecruitment of medical personnel, although well regulated from therecruitment ethics (Cehan, Manea, 2012), brings together doctors withdifferent backgrounds, expectations and skills. The way the system isorganized is something new for Romanian doctors and they have tolearn it first. The recruitment agencies emphasise salaries, but they donot warn about the possibility of working under the actual qualification(Dornescu, 2010). Other aspects regarding drugs are mentioned ininterviews: „At the beginning, when I came here I had to adapt to a totally differentsystem. The difficulty is connected with the fact that here the practice of medicine isslightly different: the drugs have different names or there are different drugs than thoseused in Romania. There are differences in how you address and treat the patient. Imanaged to overcome them successfully” (Irina).


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Education and valuesPersonal values are a diffuse matter. They are hard to be grasped,

because normally we do not reflect on them, even when we actually actaccording to them. Everyone has a set of values: moral, aesthetic, social,politic etc. which are translated into principles, and they direct ouractions. For example, a value like human dignity can be reflected in aprinciple like: “do not use other people as means for your interests,respect their interests as well, and respect their feelings and personality!”So, my actions will be guided by this principle, and I hope none of myfriends or colleagues will ever have the impression that I used them.

The children in English schools and nurseries learn quite soon,by the age of four, about “feelings”. They are encouraged to speak aboutit and the main thing is: “Do not hurt other people’s feelings”. Thisextraordinary moral imperative, incorporating moral values as empathy,tolerance, dignity etc. is, in my opinion, one of the corner stone of Englisheducation. This principle has the following consequences: 1. First, youdo not discriminate someone because of skin colour, disabilities orintellectual capacities. 2. You will not express directly your critique, if youthink that it will hurt the person too much. 3. You have to find non-directways to speak with someone, if the direct ones are upsetting, hurtful ordistressing etc. Because in the English society the children learn it soearly, those norms of behaviour will be internalised and automatized.

Aesthetic values will be reflected for example in the love for aparticular kind of art. The experience of new places or a new culture willbring you in connection with other artistic expressions you did notacknowledge before and which may change your artistic taste. InGermany, someone may discover the architectural elegance of ArtNouveau or the particular architectural style of Hundertwasser. In theUK, the beauty of “Arts and Crafts” may change the way we buy orcollect things, or even decorate our house. All those elements arecomposing our human habitat and the aesthetic education completes thegeneral education.

„My children are very young; they practically opened their eyes in this world,in England. The older one learns another language than the one used at home.Everything will change soon (they went back to Romania two months after theinterview) and it will be a shock for them both. I hope they will adapt. To be honest,we all have to adapt when we will be back home. If something goes wrong, especially


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concerning the children, if I’m not able to provide for them, I will come back here, butthis time for good. I will never go back home (to Romania)” (Horia). The familymoved back to Romania in August 2011, and in October 2011 theydecided to return to England. Now they are all back in England settleddown for good. Somehow, they told me, when they came back, it wasnot what they expected. There were tensions and conflicts with theirextended family, as well as disappointment, and they missed theirlifestyle in the UK. They did not feel at home (Madison, 2010: 21) inRomania. Maybe the life experience in the UK and the different set ofvalues acquired in this period was responsible for putting a distancebetween their expectations and the reality in the origin country. One factis clear; the experience of migration changed them in a significantmeasure. Their perception of the Romanian society and the life there waschanged. I do not want to say that this fact is good or bad, or to say thatthe English lifestyle is better or more desirable compared to theRomanian one. I just wanted to show that during the experience of livingabroad, new values are acquired, and those values will direct theperceptions and the actions of the individuals and will definitively bereflected as existential experience.

Conclusions:The process of migration implies a multidimensional learning

process, starting with the language, customs, professional learning andmaybe culminating with a change of lifestyle and personal values. Theindividuals are situated at the point of confrontation between twocultures, and the “adaptation process” is actually a continuous dialoguebetween those cultures. The individual efforts of understanding the newculture and to understand her or his own, or to situate her- or himself inthis new socio-cultural landscape is trapped in a hermeneutic circle. Themigrant person understands her or himself as part of a nation, or asbelonging to a professional branch, and may notice differences that wereinvisible before migration. The learning processes are socio-criticalprocesses as well, and sometimes the acknowledgement of one’s own valuesor principles is an important stage in the process of changing, or oncontrary accentuating them.


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Valdés, G., ( 1998). The World outside and inside Schools: Language andImmigrant Children, Educational Researcher, 27(6), pp: 4-18.

Acknowledgments:This paper is supported by European Social Fund through

Sectorial Operational Programme Human Resources Development2007-2013 (SOP HRD), under the project "Postdoctoral Studies in theField of Health Policy Ethics”, implemented by "Gr. T. Popa" Universityof Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, Romania, contract numberPOSDRU/89/1.5/S/61879. This paper doesn’t obligatory represent theofficial opinion of European Union or Romanian Government.

I like to thank to our research coordinators: Cristina Gavriloviciand Liviu Oprea for their constant academic support andencouragements. We are grateful to Prof. Dr. Vasile Astarastoae who isthe heart of this project. As well, I’d like to thank to my colleagues: IrinaCehan, Valeriu Dornescu, Mihaela Hnatiuc, Cristina Teodorescu andElena Toader for the team work on this project, and to MichaelHauskeller for reading and correcting my article.

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Aims and Scope of Revista Românească pentru EducaţieMultidimensională / Romanian Journal for Multidimensional

Education

Our publication is a Romanian Scientific Review which is risingin the domain of education, which has in site to promote the newmultidisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives both in terms of thetheories on children and/ or adult education, of educationalmethodology, of partnership between the educator and educated one,and the special dimension on continuous education and social actionthrough educational strategies.

Call for Papers for the Revista Românească pentru EducaţieMultidimensională / Romanian Jounal for Multidimensional

EducationRomania January 2013: Lumen Publishing House announces

the call for papers for the Romanian Review for MultidimensionalEducation. There are expected professors, teachers and researcherswhich are passionate by this domain. The selection will be on period the1st of January 2013 to 30th of May 2013.

Guidelines for ContributersAll manuscripts should be submitted online at

[email protected]

Manuscripts should be no more than 6.000 words all-inclusiveand should be double spaced, preferably written in English, Romanian orFrench. Submitted papers will be screened by the volume editors beforethey are entered into the Peer Review Process.

Submissions should be sent by email as an attachment of a singlefile that includes all images and figures. The preferred format is MSWord for Windows. All manuscripts should be generally outlined andedited to conform to the APA writing style.

All submissions will be peer reviewed before entering intopublication process. Authors are expected to participate in the PeerReview process for further numbers of this Journal.

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Individuals interested in contributing to the Book Reviewssections should contact the relevant section editor prior to submitting amanuscript.

TitlesShould be in English or bilingual when the article is in other

language than English.AbstractThe abstract is complete if it is able to stand alone and

adequately describe the paper by providing just enough backgroundinformation to make the results understandable. Normally an abstractshould only be 100–250 words long. The abstract in English arerequired. Each of them must have no more then 250 words.

Article ContentThe articles must have a consistent heading and also they have to

be well structured. If possible the articles should contain methodologyand conclusions.

KeywordsThe keywords (5-6 keywords) should follow the abstract without

a blank line, accompanied by the heading "Keywords:" in Times Roman12-point boldface, initially capitalized. Leave two blank lines after thekeywords, and then begin the main text.

Author's biographical informationTexts must be accompanied by: the author's biographical

information (professional title, didactic position, institutional affiliation,contact information, and email address), a list of the author's mainpublications (1/2 page), a digital photo in .jpeg or .jpg format (optional).All of these will be public information for selected authors.

The submission of a manuscript implies that the author certifiesthat the material is not copyrighted and is not currently under review forany refereed journal or conference proceedings. If the paper (or anyversion or part thereof) has appeared, or will appear, in anotherpublication of any kind, the details of such publication must be disclosedto the editors at the time of submission.

There are expected articles which refer to the domain above, butalso from related areas. There are those persons which are interested inpromoting the new perspectives of law or legal studies. This selection isopened for any scholars or researchers in field or from close areas to thelegal one.

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Important DatesDeputy Chief Editor Ph.D. Antonio SANDU –[email protected] expect your articles along with a CV and an Intention Letter

at the email address [email protected] mentioning „Pentru RevistaRomânească pentru Educaţie Multidimensională / For RomanianJournal for Multidimensional Education“

www.revistaromaneasca.roPh.D Antonio SANDU

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Subscription involves the following services:Subscription entitles any researcher or teacher affiliated to the

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