“Like it’s wrong,but it’s not that wrong:” Exploring the normalization of risk-compensatory strategies among young drivers engaging in illegal smartphone use

Introduction: Young drivers are the most vulnerable road users and most likely to use a smartphone illegally while driving. Although when compared with drink-driving, attitudes to illegal smartphone risk are nearly identical, smartphone use among young drivers continues to increase. Method: Four in-depth focus groups were conducted with 13 young (18–25 years) drivers to gain insight into their perceptions of the risks associated with the behavior. Our aim was to determine how drivers navigate that risk and if their behavior shapes and informs perceptions of norms. Results: Three key themes emerged: (a) participants perceived illegal smartphone use as commonplace, easy, and benign; (b) self-regulatory behaviors that compensate for risk are pervasive among illegal smartphone users; and (c) risk-compensation strategies rationalize risks and perceived norms, reducing the seriousness of transgression when compared with drink-driving. Young drivers rationalized their own use by comparing their selfregulatory smartphone and driving skills with those of “bad drivers,” not law abiders. Practical Applications: These findings suggest that smartphone behaviors shape attitudes to risk, highlighting the importance for any countermeasure aimed at reducing illegal use to acknowledge how a young person’s continued engagement in illegal smartphone use is justified by the dynamic composition of use, risk assessment and the perceived norms.     

Social Capital and Fisheries Management: The Case of Chilika Lake in India

This article shows how social capital impacts fisheries management at the local level in Chilika Lake, located in the state of Orissa in India. In Chilika, the different fishing groups established norms and “rules of the game” including, but not limited to, spatial limits that determine who can fish and in what areas, temporal restrictions about when and for how long people may fish, gear constraints about what harvesting gear may be used by each group, and physical controls on size and other characteristics of fish that may be harvested. A survey of the members of fishing groups has shown that the bonding social capital is strong within the Chilika fishing groups. Bonding and bridging social capital keeps the fishers together in times of resource scarcity, checks violations of community rules and sanctions, and strengthens the community fisheries management. In contrast, linking social capital in Chilika appears to be weak, as is evident from the lack of trust in external agencies, seeking the help of formal institutions for legal support, and increasing conflicts. Trust and cooperation among fishers is crucial in helping to build the social capital. A social capital perspective on fisheries governance suggests that there should be a rethinking of priorities and funding mechanisms, from “top-down” fisheries management towards “co-management” with a focus on engendering rights and responsibilities for fishers and their communities.     

Analysis of livelihood security: a case study in the Kali-Khola watershed of Nepal

This paper examines household livelihoods in highland and lowland communities of the Kali-Khola agricultural watershed in western Nepal on the basis of economic, ecological and social security indicators. Significant differences were found in soil fertility status, pests and diseases management, risk and uncertainties, use of agrochemicals and access to social services. No remarkable variations were found in crop diversification, annual agricultural income and food sufficiency. However, uncertainty and risk in agricultural production is relatively low in highland communities. The findings reveal that agriculture production alone is not a viable livelihood option for agricultural watershed communities in Nepal. The households growing crops with hired labour have relatively sustainable livelihoods in Nepal's agricultural watersheds. Insufficient agricultural land, insufficient working manpower within a family, and lack of access to ecological agricultural services are prime factors in being livelihood insecure in agricultural watershed communities. Therefore, long-term policies and plans need to be developed for the empowerment of local farmers and to support rural livelihoods with adaptable and flexible income-generating strategies, resilient resource management institutions and enhancement of knowledge, skills and social capital.     

Understanding the social impacts of enforcement activities on illegal wildlife trade in China

Illegal wildlife trade enforcement is a cornerstone conservation strategy worldwide, yet we have a limited understanding on its social impacts. Using Chinese online wildlife seizure news (2003–2018), we evaluated the interactions among enforcement operations, news frequency, and social engagement (i.e., whistle-blowing) frequency. Our results showed that intensive enforcement operations, which commenced after 2012, have social impacts by increasing the frequency of all seizure news significantly by 28% [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 5%, 51%] and those via whistle-blowing by 24% [95% CI: 2%, 45%], when compared to counterfactual models where possible confounding factors were accounted for. Furthermore, we revealed the potential interaction between enforcement seizure news with and without social engagement, and the consequential social feedback process. Of the species identified from ‘whistle-blowing’ news, up to 28% are considered as high conservation priorities. Overall, we expanded our understanding of the enforcement impacts to social dimensions, which could contribute to improving the cost-effectiveness of such conservation efforts.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01686-9.