Accident Proneness: Research in the Occurrence, Causation, and Prevention of Road Accidents deals with concept of accident proneness. The concept has had a checkered career, from the early British work whose high scientific standard has been universally acknowledged, through a period when the concept was extended beyond the sound basis which had been laid, to a period of reaction when doubt was thrown on the very existence of such a notion. The book examines in detail the arguments brought forward by the proponents of both sides, and, more importantly, studies in detail the facts and figures quoted in support. The book is organized into two sections: the first deals with the validity and usefulness of the concept of accident proneness; the second discusses new statistical techniques to evaluate the concept of accident proneness. The book demonstrates the existence of personality-related behavior patterns, which make people differentially prone to traffic accidents. This book is an important contribution to an important field. It is written in a style which should make it understandable (and even enjoyable) to more than the psychological experts to whom it is addressed in the first place.

Originally published in 1977, the aim of this volume was to demonstrate in a concrete way the relevance of some of the most important individual variables for various domains of social behaviour. Eminent researchers at the time contributed original chapters that provided an up-to-date perspective on theory and research on important and widely used personality constructs. This volume should serve as a text for advanced level students seeking a historical introduction to specific personality variables and a survey of theory and research on the most widely used personality dimensions of the time.

This book is intended to assist individuals in dealing with change occurring externally to the person, as well as change that the individual attempts to bring about in themselves. The approaches taken attempt to organize the concepts of change within a broad framework, a continuum (or gradient) which will enable the person to see changes in life as existing on a spectrum from those change phenomena which are external to the individual (e.g., economic or environmental events) to those within the person (e.g., stopping smoking or changing one’s behavior). Within an overarching framework of general systems theory, which emphasizes a holistic view of change, the book describes a number of conceptual structures or what are conceived as “models.” The volume focuses on helping the reader to recognize the way these models appear in the person’s environment, as well as in the individual’s own functioning. Further, the book indicates how the person can apply these models in his or her own efforts to deal with life and change. Thus, each chapter describes the essential idea of a particular model and then provides a section on the applications of that model. The beginning chapters describe several abstract “models” followed by a chapter which presents John Bowlby’s attachment theory and his concept of “internal models,” which reflect individuals’ core perceptions of themselves and others; finally, the book includes a discussion of James Prochaska’s stages of change model which describes the ways in which individuals proceed to make changes in their own behavior and functioning. The book presents a unified view of change in life as it occurs external to, and within, the person and concludes with a discussion of ways the individual can consider these various concepts in efforts to make change. The book is appropriate for three audiences. First, the volume is suitable for mental health professionals for whom the book can provide a unique view of the change process in the treatment they offer and they might request that their patients read the book. Second, the book is relevant for individuals interested in a process of self-change, whether they are contemplating or are in a psychotherapeutic relationship or simply want to make changes in themselves on their own. Third, the book is also relevant for managers in organizations who deal with the concepts of change in the individuals they supervise.

Despite the many strides that have been made in diversity, equity, and inclusion, many educational systems across the world continue to struggle with equality in education for all students regardless of race, gender, or socioeconomic status. This struggle within education inevitably negatively impacts society, as only select groups are given the opportunity to excel. It is essential for school systems to be proactive when dealing with student learning outcomes and student retention for all student populations. Using Self-Efficacy for Improving Retention and Success of Diverse Student Populations discusses the best practices in supporting students during their educational journey and examines the current efforts to improve student retention. Covering topics such as computing education, academic counseling, and student success prediction, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for faculty and administrators of both K-12 and higher education, pre-service teachers, teacher educators, school counselors, sociologists, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

Technology demands uniformity from human beings who encounter it. People encountering technology, however, differ from one another. Thinkers in the early twentieth century, observing the awful consequences of interactions between humans and machines—death by automobiles or dismemberment by factory machinery, for example—developed the idea of accident proneness: the tendency of a particular person to have more accidents than most people. In tracing this concept from its birth to its disappearance at the end of the twentieth century, Accident Prone offers a unique history of technology focused not on innovations but on their unintended consequences. Here, John C. Burnham shows that as the machine era progressed, the physical and economic impact of accidents coevolved with the rise of the insurance industry and trends in twentieth-century psychology. After World War I, psychologists determined that some people are more accident prone than others. This designation signaled a shift in social strategy toward minimizing accidents by diverting particular people away from dangerous environments. By the 1960s and 1970s, however, the idea of accident proneness gradually declined, and engineers developed new technologies to protect all people, thereby introducing a hidden, but radical, egalitarianism. Lying at the intersection of the history of technology, the history of medicine and psychology, and environmental history, Accident Prone is an ambitious intellectual analysis of the birth, growth, and decline of an idea that will interest anyone who wishes to understand how Western societies have grappled with the human costs of modern life.