The lack of official data on rape has been a challenge for researchers in Brazil. Two

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Studies on the association between religiosity, spirituality, and happiness in the Buddhist context remain scarce despite the great number of followers of this religion around the world. Theravada Buddhism, as the dominant Buddhist sect in Thailand, has a strong influence on Thai people's attitudes, thoughts, and way of life. The purpose of this study was to explore the link between religiosity and spirituality and level of happiness among the Thais. Data were pooled from national surveys on social and cultural issues in 2008 and 2011. The samples were 25,950 and 23,671 Thai people aged 15 years or older. The results revealed frequency of religious and spiritual practices was significantly associated with greater level of happiness, even after controlling for study year, demographic factors (age, sex, and marital status), and socioeconomic factors (education and occupation). Respondents who abided by the five precepts of Buddhism and meditated on Buddhist holy days reported higher levels of happiness. Those who regularly expressed gratitude, gave an opportunity to others before oneself, and made donations were more likely to consider themselves happy compared with those who never or rarely engaged in these Buddhist-inspired practices. These findings support the idea that religiosity and spirituality play a relevant role in the level of happiness among Thai people.

Because countries with the highest Human Development Index (HDI) have low rates of violence, it is common to assume that the increase of HDI may correspond with lower rates of violence in a country. This study examined the relationship between the Municipal Human Development Index (MHDI) and violent deaths in the Brazilian States between 1991 and 2010. We tested whether the increase of MHDI indirectly reduces violence or whether the reduction of violence predicts higher MHDI in later years. The raw data were obtained from three sources online, Atlasbrasil, IPEAdata and Map of violence. The analyses do not support the assumption that the increase of MHDI leads to a reduced level of violence. However, there are indications that the decrease of homicides over the years results in improved MHDI rates in 2010. The results suggest that taking measures aimed at development does not automatically imply a lower level of violence, but fi ghting against violence may increase MHDI.

SOARES, 2014) fomentaram a discussão, no Brasil, sobre o tema da agressão sexual em estudantes universitários. Apesar de o assunto ter sido até então negligenciado no país, o problema não parece ser novidade para pesquisadores da área. Uma revisão bibliográfica em cinco diferentes bases de dados (Scielo, PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO e Web of Knowledge) revela que pelo menos cinco estudos têm abordado a ocorrência de agressão sexual exclusivamente em estudantes universitários no país (