 Subjects -> SOCIOLOGY (Total: 553 journals)
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- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 79: Association between Community Attachment and
Prescription Drug Misuse among American Indian Adolescents in Arizona
Authors: Chao-Kai Huang, Shiyou Wu, Flavio F. Marsiglia, Ana Paola Campos
First page: 79
Abstract: Prescription drug misuse (PDM) has become a major health issue in the U.S. over the past decade. PDM affects all ethnic and racial groups; however, there is a higher prevalence among American Indian (AI) youths, and there is scarce information on the risk and protective factors driving this behavior. Using the Arizona Youth Survey 2018, we analyzed data from 2494 students who self-identified as AI (aged 13–18 years, 47.31% male). Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between community attachment with lifetime and the past-30-days PDM. Community attachment was negatively associated with AI youths’ lifetime PDM (OR = 0.78, 95% CI [0.65, 0.92]); however, it was not significant for the past-30-days users (OR = 0.91, 95% CI [0.72, 1.15]). For both lifetime and past-30-days users, a common protective factor was close friends’ negative perceptions of PDM, while a common risk factor included siblings’ prescription drug use and ease of access to substances. Lifetime users’ drug-free closest friends were also protective. The findings support similar community-oriented approaches showing a cumulative rather than immediate effect, and past-30-days PMD youths were strongly influenced by peers and family. PDM risk and protective factors can advance knowledge about AI youths’ social and cultural determinants of health and influence future prevention interventions.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-23
DOI: 10.3390/soc13040079
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 4 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 51: Lessons Learned from the Colorado Project to
Comprehensively Combat Human Trafficking
Authors: Annie Miller, Julie Laser, Annjanette Alejano-Steele, Kara Napolitano, Nevita George, Natcha Connot, Amanda Finger
First page: 51
Abstract: Countering human trafficking at a statewide level requires a combination of knowledge from lived experience, inter-sector collaborations, and evidence-based tools to measure progress. Since 2010, the nonprofit Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking (LCHT) has collected and analyzed the data on how partners and organizations across the state work toward ending human trafficking. LCHT uses Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to measure and illuminate promising paths toward ending human trafficking. Through CBPR, many collaborative working documents and activities have been created: Colorado Action Plans, Policy Recommendations, a Partnership Toolkit, and Partnership Convenings. This paper provides a single case study analysis of the Colorado Project, from 2013 through 2023, and offers a glimpse into the goals for the Colorado Project 2028. The ideas, strengths, and challenges presented here can guide other local efforts to support data-informed responses to trafficking. The CBPR methodology sheds light on the changes in Colorado’s anti-trafficking movement and the actions taken on behalf of partnerships (task forces and coalitions) across the state of Colorado. This paper offers a roadmap for collaborative design and decision-making among academic, nonprofit, and public sector partners seeking to conduct research on social movements utilizing a community-engaged process.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-22
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030051
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 52: Tenders for Institutional Communication
Campaigns in the Spanish Autonomous Communities: Transparency or Digital
Disinformation
Authors: Montserrat Vázquez-Gestal, Jesús Pérez-Seoane, Ana Belén Fernández-Souto
First page: 52
Abstract: With an investment of over 700 million euros, the public sector is the main advertiser in the Spanish market. Altogether, the central, regional, and local governments launch more than 5000 institutional advertising and communication contracts. In Spain, these tenders are governed by Law 9/2017 on Public Sector Contracts and Law 19/2013 on Transparency, Access to Public Information and Good Governance, in compliance with which governments have developed openly accessible websites that provide practical information on the contracts for interested individuals and companies. This paper compares all regional procurement platforms through the study of a hundred institutional communication public contracts launched in 2021, assessing the usefulness of the published content, detecting good practices, and identifying gaps and areas of improvement. The results obtained support the idea that these platforms do not provide exhaustive information on public contracts, which limits their potential as tools aimed at ensuring competition and transparency in public contracts. Based on this last criterion, a ranking is created among the regions analysed.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-24
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030052
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 53: Intimate Partner Violence in Vulnerable
Contexts: A Case Study
Authors: Carmen Mañas, María A. Martínez, Francisca Burgueño
First page: 53
Abstract: A case study of domestic abuse is presented from the perspective of the socio-structural basis of gender violence. The research analyzes gender violence based on the accounts of a group of 30 women who have suffered abuse and have filed reports at the Judicial Unit for victims of domestic violence in the city of Cuenca (Ecuador). Survivors agreed to express their voices and experiences voluntarily and in a natural context. The results demonstrate, on one hand, the enormous weight of social pressure and stereotypes, with the resulting fear, guilt, and sense of helplessness. On the other hand, the guarantees of safety and assistance from the institutions that should protect them have not always been within reach, nor have they been sufficient.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-24
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030053
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 54: Street Art in Aveiro: City Walls as Dialogic
Spaces of Collective Memories and Identity
Authors: Anabela V. Simões
First page: 54
Abstract: In urban centers around the world, street art has become an unavoidable element of the landscape. Located in west-central Portugal, Aveiro is no exception to this trend, and the art form has been used to enhance the cultural vibrancy of a place where tourism is one of the most important economic pillars. Seeking to look beyond the value of street art as a tourism product, by combining observations and photos from field research with bibliographic and documental data, as well as residents’ responses on social media, this paper adopts an autoethnographic approach to offer an exploratory, (self-)reflexive perspective on how street art has evolved into a phenomenon that has contributed to locals’ cultural identity (re)construction. Drawing on Jan Assmann’s cultural memory theory, it is argued that street art can be understood as a form of communicative memory, an ephemeral vehicle into our history, knowledge, traditions and practices, one that, by retelling the story of who we are, stimulates awareness of selfhood and a feeling of belonging to a place and a community.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-25
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030054
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 55: New Perspectives for Human and Artificial
Intelligence Interactions for Leadership e-Recruitment
Authors: Dan Anghel
First page: 55
Abstract: In order to adapt to the post-pandemic era, e-recruitment systems should change their requirements to search for a more competitive leader profile. These systems currently search for individual skills specific to leaders, taking into consideration whether a leader has the required skills and abilities for a certain job. The aim of this study is to improve e-recruitment searches for capable leaders in this new environment. In this regard, the study proposes to search for combinations of complementary skills. These skills, to be effective, should necessarily support each other in order to create successful management. The author’s proposal is to call this combination of skills: Leadership Complementary Skills (LCS). Understanding that some skills should be complementary in order to be viable, the LCS’ new insight into the hiring process was developed to comply with the aim of a performant organization. The idea was drawn from the author’s half a century of real-world experience and from several discussions with employers, employees, consultants and MBA students, debating cases along working and teaching. Statements are presented regarding proposals of appropriate combinations of skills to be implemented in the software of e-recruitment systems, their influence on employees’ behavior and the possible consequences on organizational outcomes. Consistent with the proposals, the author has also developed the Honeycomb Complementary Skills Model for Leadership as a first step in this endeavor, inviting future researchers to find other LCS to be added to the model and accomplish the actual ideal profile of a leader, opening as such a new field of research.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-26
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030055
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 56: A Qualitative Study on Barriers in Learning
Opportunities in Ecuadorian Higher Education
Authors: Gardenia Silva-Martínez, Marcos Jesús Iglesias-Martínez, Inés Lozano-Cabezas
First page: 56
Abstract: The university context is increasingly complex and diverse. Students’ individual circumstances in particular, whether personal or relating to family and work, are increasingly challenging. They are affecting their academic development or even leading to them dropping out of university. The objective of this study was to identify the obstacles to the completion of university studies based on students’ perspectives. Adopting a qualitative approach, we analysed the narratives of randomly selected students at UTE University of Santo Domingo (Ecuador). The main barriers identified by the students were the lack of reconciliation between academic and/or work life and family, as well as schedule incompatibilities—making it difficult for them to attend class. Participants also noted that teachers usually failed to incorporate curricular adaptations according to students’ personal or professional circumstances, which prevented them from experiencing a normal learning process like their classmates. To conclude, factors that continue to interfere with students’ university trajectories include the following: insufficient financial resources, family reconciliation issues, and lack of institutional support. Higher Education Institutions should therefore promote strategies and/or provide resources that guarantee equal opportunities for university students and contribute to the development of lifelong learning.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-27
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030056
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 57: Democratizing Higher Education: The Use of
Educational Technologies to Promote the Academic Success of University
Students with Disabilities
Authors: Maria de las Nieves Sanchez-Diaz, Beatriz Morgado
First page: 57
Abstract: The rise of information and communication technologies has not gone unnoticed in the university context. An increasing number of university faculty members are using technological resources in their teaching. However, the success of technologies in the teaching and learning process depends on the way they are used. This article analyses the actions of university faculty members who engage in inclusive teaching practices using educational technologies in their classrooms. A qualitative approach was followed using the biographical narrative method. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured individual interviews with 42 inclusive faculty members from 6 Spanish public universities. The results obtained reveal the technological resources used by these faculty members in their classrooms, the main uses they make of virtual learning platforms, as well as the actions that the faculty members implement to facilitate access and participation of students with disabilities through the use of technologies. These results allow us to detect some of the faculty’s training needs related to the use of educational technologies and offer practical keys that contribute to guaranteeing inclusive and quality learning for all students.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-02
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030057
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 58: Populism on the Web: Presidential Elections
in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia (2020–2022)
Authors: Maria-Ines Quevedo-Stuva, Gloria Tovar-Gil, Andrea Mila-Maldonado
First page: 58
Abstract: Populism has become one of the main features of political action worldwide. This research aims to characterize the populist discourse in the tweets of presidential candidates in the Andean Community in recent elections (2020–2022). Accordingly, we analyze the characteristics of their social network profiles, as well as the content and latent discourse of their tweets. We demonstrate that the differences and similarities of their discourse go beyond their right and left association. The differences result from how they construct their identity and establish their relationship with their electorate. Our analysis reveals that this type of discourse is ideological as well as performative. It is ideological because, in the candidates’ discourse, they recontextualize the actual meanings of “us” and “them”. It is performative because it is carried out by a charismatic leader who acts in a specific way to define himself or herself as the embodiment of “the people” and “the good”.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-05
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030058
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 59: Political Disaffection and Digital Political
Participation in Latin America: A Comparative Analysis of the Period
2008–2020
Authors: Ángel Cazorla-Martín, Juan Montabes-Pereira, Mateo Javier Hernández-Tristán
First page: 59
Abstract: One of the issues facing the field of political behaviour analysis in recent years has been the transformation of political participation among citizens, in a context of increasing change, profoundly marked by the spread of a new digital paradigm. Network society has brought with it new forms of political participation, where different types of participatory citizenship coexist in a process of increasing interaction which, in turn, creates new morphologies, and where online and offline modes are reciprocal, generating new patterns of behaviour. Of these different types of participatory citizenship, that of the disaffected is perhaps among the most important in recent years and, in particular, since the start of the so-called “Great Recession” around 2008, and the subsequent global COVID-19 crisis. This recent context can be characterised by a significant increase in political disaffection, resulting from a loss of trust in institutions and from the constant distancing of a certain section of the citizenry from politics as a coded punishment of those governments and institutions they see as ineffective. This paper provides an analysis of citizenship types in Latin America, particularly that of the disaffected, describing their relationship to the following of political information through digital media and social networks, and identifying patterns of evolution and development in some of the trends. Results show that a clear distinction exists between the different types of citizenship and associated forms of participation, both online and offline, while also describing differences in both political perceptions and attitudes, and between areas or regions in Latin America. Likewise, important differences are found according to citizen type in relation to the following of different social networks, especially among citizens categorised as critical or disaffected.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-05
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030059
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 60: “Refugees in the Amphitheatre”:
An Intercultural Action Research on Co-Educating Student Teachers and Peer
Refugees
Authors: Kostas Magos
First page: 60
Abstract: The contribution of action research to teacher education as well as to refugee education has been highlighted in the international literature. Through action research, teachers can link educational theories with everyday school practices. In addition, the participation of refugees in action research, especially in cooperation with members of the dominant ethnic and cultural group, could play a significant role in their empowerment and social inclusion. This article describes the content and the results of an action research, which took place in the context of an academic course in a Greek University. The aim of the action research was the interaction between students and peer refugees and, through it, the development of intercultural competence and empathy. The action research developed in three cycles, featuring the students and refugees’ participation in intercultural routes–walks. The action research findings showed that the participation in the abovementioned walks supported the intercultural communication and interaction among the group members, as well as the reflection on refugee identity stereotypes.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-06
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030060
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 61: Galvanizing Local Anti-Trafficking
Partnership Work Using Intelligence: Profiling the Problem and Building
Resilience
Authors: Juliana Rinaldi-Semione, Ben Brewster
First page: 61
Abstract: Prior research has evidenced the importance of collaboration and multi-agency partnership work in responding to human trafficking in both the UK and US. Three previous key studies are synthesized in this paper. We situate multi-agency anti-trafficking collaborative work within conceptualizations of “resilience” and mechanisms by which to achieve it, and draw comparisons between the structure, organization, and activities of anti-trafficking partnerships in the UK and US. We present results, reflections, and discussion regarding the utility of local-problem diagnosis and multi-agency, using collaborative intelligence analysis as a mechanism to galvanize and organize local partnership action, resulting from action research conducted in one police force area. We posit the replication of this “problem profile” exercise as a mechanism for anti-trafficking collaborators to galvanize their aims and day-to-day efforts to make their communities resilient to human trafficking. We close by arguing for resilience as a framing for this mechanism and for local collaborative efforts.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-07
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030061
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 62: How Does the Public Receive Information
about Vaccines during the COVID-19 Pandemic' A Nationwide
Cross-Sectional Study in Spain
Authors: Daniel Catalan-Matamoros, Andrea Langbecker
First page: 62
Abstract: Spain has been one of the most severely impacted countries by COVID-19. Vaccination against COVID-19 is one of the most successful preventive strategies. However, some citizens show vaccine resistance, in part due to widespread disinformation that has been disseminated since the pandemic’s start. The objective of this study was to explore the characteristics of the Spanish population in terms of their use of traditional and social media for COVID-19 vaccine-related information. A countrywide survey was conducted in June 2022 following a descriptive cross-sectional analysis. Respondents declared that 80.4% had received the full schedule of COVID-19 vaccination, and over 60% would take the booster dosage without hesitation. The major reasons for not having the booster vaccine were possible health risks (37%), and a lack of trust in the COVID-19 vaccines (29%). More than 85% of respondents closely followed the news on this topic, with the journalistic media (27%) and health authorities (26%) considered to be the most important sources for pandemic information, while social media was considered by 9% of respondents. Further collaboration between the media and health professionals, as well as campaigns to enhance vaccination uptake of the COVID-19 booster dose, might be considered in future strategies.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-09
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030062
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 63: Disability, Rehabilitation, and Assistive
Technologies for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Italy: Policies and
Challenges
Authors: Marco Tofani, Silvia Iorio, Anna Berardi, Giovanni Galeoto, Antonella Conte, Giovanni Fabbrini, Donatella Valente, Maurizio Marceca
First page: 63
Abstract: Good health and well-being for all, including those with disabilities, is one of the main sustainable development goals. Data on refugees and asylum seekers with disabilities are limited. Refugees have poor access to rehabilitation and assistive technologies, although laws and policies in Italy guarantee this type of healthcare. However, there are several limitations to the successful implementation of these services. First, the national health system is regionally based, and therefore healthcare facilities and services vary in terms of quality in different regions. A link between reception centers and the healthcare system is therefore highly recommended, because only 10 out of 20 regions have specific services for refugees and asylum seekers with disabilities. Second, only 2% of the total available posts for hosting refugees are reserved for people with disabilities. The lack of a standardized vulnerability assessment represents the main barrier to the organization of specific services for migrants within the community. National stakeholders urgently need to collaborate in order to remove barriers to rehabilitation and assistive technology for refugees with disabilities. Initiatives should focus on health literacy and the empowerment of migrants, data collection on health, disability, and assistive technology, and the organization of community-based rehabilitation programs.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-09
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030063
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 64: Advancing Gender Equality in Schools through
Inclusive Physical Education and Teaching Training: A Systematic Review
Authors: Miguel A. Guerrero, Laura Guerrero Puerta
First page: 64
Abstract: The importance of achieving an inclusive education to ensure parity and equality between genders is a worldwide challenge. Consequently, it is essential to rethink the various places and spaces within the school environment where gender inequalities are produced. Physical education is one of these spaces which has been identified as a problematic area in the literature. In order to address this issue and respond to the needs identified in the research, this systematic review presents action initiatives aimed at applying certain teaching strategies highlighted in the study. The PRISMA method was used to review 274 studies which explore this topic at various levels of education, emphasizing the need for coeducational teaching of physical education and the necessity of proposing motivational tasks for both sexes. In particular, results show that some studies have focused on the need for physical education teachers to be aware of potential gender-biased structures when developing curricula, approaches and materials. Other research has highlighted that in order for physical education classes to be inclusive, equitable opportunities must be provided for all students to participate. In addition, strategies should be implemented which promote positive attitudes towards physical activity by addressing any underlying gender stereotypes and by breaking down traditional boundaries that exist between genders. In conclusion, this systematic review has identified a number of teaching strategies which could help teachers create an equitable learning environment within physical education classes. This could subsequently lead to greater success in achieving an inclusive education which promotes parity and equality between genders.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-09
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030064
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 65: Developing Employee Productivity and
Performance through Work Engagement and Organizational Factors in an
Educational Society
Authors: Nadia Abdelhamid Abdelmegeed Abdelwahed, Mohammed A. Al Doghan
First page: 65
Abstract: In today’s working environment, various organizations confront the significant challenges of productivity and performance. However, higher education institutes (HEIs) are also not free from this massive issue. Therefore, the present study investigates employee productivity and performance through work engagement (WEE) and organizational factors. The modes of study are quantitative and based on cross-sectional data. The study collects the response from academic and administrative staff from public and private HEIs of Saudi Arabia. The study applies convenience sampling and successfully proceeds 254 valid cases to conclude the findings. The applied structural equation model (SEM) path analysis demonstrates a positive and significant effect of WEE comprising vigour, dedication, and absorption factors on employee productivity (EPD). In addition, employee performance (EP) is predicted through organizational factors such as management support (MS), learning culture (LC), work environment (WE) and organizational commitment (OC). Finally, the study finds a significant and positive effect of EPD on EP among the employees of HEIs. The study findings would be guidelines for policymakers and the top management of higher education commissions to advance the knowledge and skills of EPD and EP of the organizations. The study would support achieving job tasks and goals through developing WEE and organizational factors for productivity and performance. Lastly, the findings will augment the literature and provide empirical evidence from Middle East countries. The study provides a vigorous model which connects the WEE theory and organizational factors towards EPD and EP in an integrated way.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-10
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030065
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 66: Team Approaches to Addressing Sex
Trafficking of Minors: Promising Practices for a Collaborative Model
Authors: Andrea Nichols, Sarah Slutsker, Melissa Oberstaedt, Kourtney Gilbert
First page: 66
Abstract: The extant research literature is lacking in its focus on community-based responses (CBRs) to sex trafficking involving minors in the juvenile justice system. To address this research gap, the present study draws from 35 interviews with social service and justice system practitioners who work with juvenile justice-involved minors experiencing sex trafficking to examine collaborative responses in two Study Sites. Specifically, protocols to respond to trafficking and collaboration with community partners are explored. Results indicate that a formal protocol engaging a team approach inclusive of multiple community partners is a promising mezzo level response to addressing the sex trafficking of minors involved in the juvenile justice system. Informal and formal relationships, establishing a shared goal, open and ongoing communication, and trust building were also found to enhance community-based responses. Implications include establishing a protocol to respond to sex trafficking in the juvenile court system when sex trafficking is suspected and/or confirmed, which would engage a CBR team involving the survivor, parent(s)/guardian(s), DJO, supervisor, investigator, judge, Children’s Division caseworker, and social services provider(s). Establishing a shared goal within the CBR team and developing a pattern of communication and follow up can facilitate trust building, ultimately benefitting CBRs addressing the sex trafficking of minors involved with the juvenile justice system.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-11
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030066
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 67: Family–Teacher Relationships and Child
Engagement in Early Care and Education
Authors: Hillary R. Lewis, Shannon T. Lipscomb, Bridget E. Hatfield, Roberta Weber, Beth Green, Lindsey Patterson
First page: 67
Abstract: Young children’s positive interactions with teachers and peers in early care and education (ECE) settings support the development of their social and academic skills. Identifying malleable factors that contribute to children’s positive engagement in these interactions is important in supporting early development. The current study examines one potential malleable factor that could be bolstered through supports for families and teachers alike: family–teacher relationships. We investigate associations between three specific domains of family–teacher relationships and children’s engagement in ECE, so that findings are specific and relevant to intervention. We examine data from Oregon’s Quality Rating Improvement System Validation Study; a diverse sample of 492 preschool-aged children in center-based ECE participated. Children’s engagement was directly observed; parents reported their perception of family–teacher relationships. Multilevel models examined the associations between family–teacher relationships and children’s positive engagement with teachers and peers in ECE classrooms. Results indicate a positive significant relationship between practices and children’s positive engagement with teachers. Although this association was not causal, it suggests that teachers who collaborate and communicate with families, respond to family feedback and cultural values, and demonstrate a family-focused concern may help children engage more positively with teachers. Findings are discussed, limitations addressed, and future directions provided.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-12
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030067
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 68: Putting Fairness into the Gig Economy:
Delivery Cooperatives as Alternatives to Corporate Platforms
Authors: Ernest Cañada, Carla Izcara, María José Zapata Campos
First page: 68
Abstract: Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, platform capitalism has expanded greatly in the delivery sector. The consolidation of an oligopoly controlled by a few corporate platforms has led to precarious working conditions for “gig economy” workers. Increasing protests and strikes have led to the reform of labour directives and to the emergence of alternative ways of organising work through platform cooperatives. This article examines how these emergent platform cooperatives are mobilised and their challenges and implications. Barcelona, the cradle of many platform economy and delivery sector start-ups, is a critical case for examining the recent birth of alternative delivery cooperatives. This article is informed by the cases of three cooperatives, organised by those working as riders, providing delivery services in the city of Barcelona: Mensakas, Les Mercedes, and 2GoDelivery. The paper shows how the embeddedness of these nascent platform cooperatives in favourable governance arrangements, a supportive social and solidarity movement, the knowledge and experience of workers, and the territory where the cooperatives are embedded are essential for their creation. This multi-layered embeddedness is necessary, but not sufficient, to explain how platform cooperatives thrive. The study concludes that the agency of platform workers, who triggered this transformation, was essential for the emergence of alternative ways of organising work in the platform economy.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-13
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030068
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 69: Murder on the VR Express: Studying the
Impact of Thought Experiments at a Distance in Virtual Reality
Authors: Andrew Kissel, Krzysztof J. Rechowicz, John B. Shull
First page: 69
Abstract: Hypothetical thought experiments allow researchers to gain insights into widespread moral intuitions and provide opportunities for individuals to explore their moral commitments. Previous thought experiment studies in virtual reality (VR) required participants to come to an on-site laboratory, which possibly restricted the study population, introduced an observer effect, and made internal reflection on the participants’ part more difficult. These shortcomings are particularly crucial today, as results from such studies are increasingly impacting the development of artificial intelligence systems, self-driving cars, and other technologies. This paper explores the viability of deploying thought experiments in commercially available in-home VR headsets. We conducted a study that presented the trolley problem, a life-and-death moral dilemma, through SideQuestVR, a third-party website and community that facilitates loading applications onto Oculus headsets. Thirty-three individuals were presented with one of two dilemmas: (1) a decision to save five lives at the cost of one life by pulling a switch and (2) a decision to save five lives at the cost of one life by pushing a person onto train tracks. The results were consistent with those of previous VR studies, suggesting that a “VR-at-a-distance” approach to thought experiments has a promising future while indicating lessons for future research.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030069
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 70: Use of Twitter during Televised Election
Debates: Spanish General Election (28 April 2019) vs. French General
Election (24 April 2022)
Authors: Julia Fontenla-Pedreira, Carmen Maiz-Bar, Talia Rodríguez-Martelo
First page: 70
Abstract: Social media have become key in political communication, playing a crucial role in election campaigns due to their fast, ubiquitous communication. This paper focuses on the comparison of the use of the social network Twitter in Spanish and French public and commercial television stations, during the last televised debates held during their general elections (2019 and 2022). It seeks to find whether conversation and interaction with their audiences take place, and whether these meet the dialogic principles set forth by Kent and Taylor adapted to Twitter by Ribalko and Seltzer to include usefulness of information, generation of return visits and dialogic loop preservation. To do this, the content of the general Twitter profiles of two French television stations, together with their profiles focused on informative content, were analyzed before, during and after the televised election debate held on 20 April. Likewise, the Twitter profiles corresponding to two Spanish television stations, together with the profiles corresponding to their news programs, were studied before, during and after the televised election debates held on 22 and 23 April. After screening all their posts, those referring to the debate and generating the largest engagement figures were selected, in order to compare the topics covered in the televised debates with those covered in Twitter. The results reveal that the information-focused accounts originate more posts whose content is linked to the televised debates, in contrast with the general accounts. Furthermore, both the unidirectionality of their content, and the lack of dialogue and interaction between these accounts and their audiences, become apparent, in addition to the minimal occurrence of “debate about the debate” flow among users.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-14
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030070
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 71: Job Expectations and Professional Role
Identity in Gambian Journalists: The Mediation Role of Job Satisfaction
Authors: Gabriele Puzzo, Maha Yomn Sbaa, Salvatore Zappalà, Luca Pietrantoni
First page: 71
Abstract: This study investigates, in a sample of journalists, the relationship between meeting job expectations and professional role identity. Specifically, job expectations concerning career development, remuneration, and relationships with users were examined, while professional role identity was contextualised to the field of journalism. Following Mellado, we conceptualized journalists’ role identity as composed by the three dimensions of watchdog, propagandist, and citizen-oriented. An online questionnaire was administered from December 2021 to January 2022 and 74 Gambian journalists living in Gambia and in European countries answered the survey. The results indicated that job satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between meeting the expectations of the relationship with users and the citizen-oriented role identity. Additionally, job satisfaction mediated the relationship between met expectations of career development and both citizen-oriented and watchdog professional role identities. These findings suggest that meeting expectations of career development and interaction with citizens is related to journalists’ role identities focused on controlling the political and economic establishment and empowering people. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-15
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030071
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 72: Digital Habits of Users in the Post-Pandemic
Context: A Study on the Transition of Mexican Internet and Media Users
from the Monterrey Metropolitan Area
Authors: Daniel Javier de la Garza Montemayor, Daniel Barredo Ibáñez, Mayra Elizabeth Brosig Rodríguez
First page: 72
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the transformation of digital interactions, a development that has been growing in the last decade. Digital platforms have become indispensable in the institutional communication of public and private organizations. The magnitude of this change was evident during the pandemic at a time when several countries implemented social distancing measures to contain the contagion. This situation caused a certain degree of user dependence on information and communication technologies. The objective of this research is to analyze the time of use, the changes, and habits of digital consumption at the beginning and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. Access to both social networks and digital entertainment platforms was examined during the period in which Internet users had resumed a large part of face-to-face activities, and 1500 questionnaires were conducted considering the current data of the population of the urban area according to what was reported by the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography). The results indicate that after COVID-19, a digital transformation was accelerated, and, in that period, social media helped to build trust according to the users consulted in the Monterrey metropolitan area. However, trust was given at an interpersonal level due to motivations such as the prior user relationships in offline spaces and not so much because of the institutional campaigns that were behind the digital transformation.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-16
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030072
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 73: Contributing to SDG Targets 4.5 and 5.5
during Physical Education Sessions: The Effect of a Collective Sports
Intervention on Gender Attitudes
Authors: Lucía Martínez, Olalla García-Taibo, Alberto Ferriz-Valero, Salvador Baena-Morales
First page: 73
Abstract: In recent years, the sustainability of the planet has been undermined. Education is the basis for raising awareness and is the engine for achieving attitudinal change among citizens. In terms of the social dimension, gender inequality is increasing, with it being common among children, and co-education aims to address this. Likewise, physical activity favors education and gender issues. Therefore, studying how physical education (PE) affects gender stereotypes can be analyzed in depth. This research analyzed whether a co-educational PE intervention improved students’ gender beliefs, eliminated inequalities in universal education, and promoted women’s full participation. For this purpose, 91 primary school pupils (42 females) completed the research. The mean age was 11.5 ± 0.7 years. A quasi-experimental, pre–post study was carried out with a control group and an experimental group. The sample was distributed by convenience among the pupils, using two instruments already used in other research studies: attitudes towards gender equality among primary school pupils and data collection on the internalization of gender stereotypes. For three weeks, the experimental group carried out a didactic intervention of four sessions of “Colpbol”, among others. In turn, the control group followed the PE sessions without methodological variations. To analyze the normality of the results, the Shapiro–Wilk test was used and was confirmed to be non-parametric. To measure the effect of the intervention, the Mann–Whitney and Wilcoxon U tests were used. The statistics showed that the improvement in the experimental group was slightly more significant than in the control group after the intervention, with a significance of 0.022 for the social behavior variable, with a significance of 0.05. These results show the relationship between PE, sustainable development, and gender equality, linking to SDG 4 and 5 and contributing to targets 4.5 and 5.5.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-18
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030073
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 74: Planning for Health Equity: How Municipal
Strategic Documents and Project Plans Reflect Intentions Instructed by the
Norwegian Public Health Act
Authors: Monica Lillefjell, Siren Hope, Kirsti Sarheim Anthun, Eirin Hermansen, John Tore Vik, Erik R. Sund, Bodil Elisabeth Valstad Aasan, Mari Sylte, Ruca Maass
First page: 74
Abstract: The Norwegian Public Health Act (PHA) mandates municipalities to integrate a systematic, knowledge-based, cross-sectoral approach aimed at levelling the social gradient in health. This study aimed to describe and analyse how the intentions of the PHA are addressed in municipal plans and project-planning documents. A document analysis of municipal plans and project documents extracted from four municipalities in Central Norway was employed and complemented with deductive, qualitative content analysis. Findings indicate awareness of public health work as a whole-of-municipality responsibility. Systematic knowledge-based processes that make use of relevant data in planning and decision-making processes are described across municipality projects and plans. Multisectoral working groups are set up at a project level; however, opportunities for further improvements arise in respect to the anchor of these structures and systematic knowledge-based working procedures in the wider municipal context. Public health process aims (systematic knowledge-based approach, cross-sectoral governance) receive more attention than outcome aims (health equity) in both program documents and municipal plans. Only very rarely does the document hold operationalizations of how to achieve health equity. As such, effort placed on cross-administrative levels and sectors to promote structures for health equity is still needed.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-18
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030074
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 75: Low Job Market Integration of Skilled
Immigrants in Canada: The Implication for Social Integration and Mental
Well-Being
Authors: Mohammad M. H. Raihan, Nashit Chowdhury, Tanvir C. Turin
First page: 75
Abstract: Skilled immigrants are critical assets to the social and economic dynamism of Canada. However, they are less likely to find employment matching their skillset due to a lack of inclusive post-immigration professional integration policies and support. They generally earn less and often live below the low-income cutoff relative to their Canadian-born counterparts. This paper aims to review the current situation of low job market integration (LJMI) of skilled immigrants in Canada and its implications on their social integration and mental well-being. Skilled immigrants continue to face disparities in getting desired jobs, despite having sufficient skills and credentials similar if not superior to that of Canadian-borns. Based on the existing literature, this study demonstrates that low job market integration limits skilled immigrants’ productivity, and they experience a lower level of social integration and deteriorated mental well-being. Therefore, initiatives from multidisciplinary and multisector stakeholders are necessary to improve skilled immigrants’ mental well-being by providing equal opportunities devoid of social exclusion and marginalization.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-19
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030075
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 76: Strategic Competence Model for Understanding
Smart Territorial Development
Authors: Urška Fric, William O’Gorman, Borut Rončević
First page: 76
Abstract: In this paper, the authors propose a multi-level model for the strategic competence of territorial units, which can help explain why some territorial units manage to respond appropriately to global challenges and thrive while others fail. Strategic competence is defined by two components: substantive knowledge and strategic connections. This is the foundation for the development of four ideal types of strategic competences at the level of territorial actors—Conductor, Broker, Lone Wolf, or Rent Seeker—and four at the level of territorial units—Pioneers, Absorbers, Drifters, or Laggers. This multi-level model forms the basis for future research to transform the concepts into a set of measurable indicators to determine the current strategic competence of regions and territories. Additionally, it will provide the basis for research-informed policymaking for the purpose of co-designing, co-developing, co-implementing and co-measuring policy initiatives and their results.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-20
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030076
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 77: Justice System Contact and Health: Do
Immigrants Fair Better or Worse than the Native-Born after Arrest,
Probation, or Incarceration'
Authors: Casey T. Harris, Michael Nino, Zhe (Meredith) Zhang, Mia Robert
First page: 77
Abstract: Despite decades of both macro- and micro-level studies showing immigration to be unassociated or negatively linked to crime, research examining the consequences of justice system contact among immigrants has been comparatively underdeveloped. The current study examines whether justice system contact (arrest, probation, and incarceration) is linked to poorer health and, in turn, whether there were differences in how justice system contact is related to immigrant versus native-born health. Using data from multiple waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we construct both ordinal and Poisson regression models predicting poor self-rated health and the prevalence of chronic health conditions for both foreign-born and native-born groups, as well as different generations. The findings suggest important differences by nativity, immigrant generation, and type of justice system contact. Despite lower criminality than the native-born, the health of immigrants is deleteriously impacted by some types of justice system contact, especially incarceration, while probation is more strongly linked to poor health among the native-born. Our findings carry implications for the provision of care for individuals with histories of criminal justice involvement, as well as academic research examining the consequences of justice contact and the immigration–crime nexus.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-21
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030077
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 78: Refugee Students’ Psychosocial
Well-Being: The Case of a Refugee Hospitality Centre in Greece
Authors: Nektaria Palaiologou, Viktoria Prekate
First page: 78
Abstract: Education can be important for assisting the psychosocial well-being of marginalized communities such as refugees and contributes to the effective processing of feelings and isolation prevention by mitigating the long-term effects of trauma and developing strategies to manage life changes. A small-scale study was conducted on 21 students from a Refugee Hospitality Center in Greece to investigate their psychosocial well-being through questions about their life, daily activities, former and current school life, family relations, feelings about their past and present, and expectations from their new country of residence. The research was conducted through semi-constructed interviews by a specialist research team and certain sociological factors, such as gender, country of origin, and prior school experience, were examined. The results highlight the presence of severe traumatic histories in the lives of many refugee children, the need to escape from their countries of origin, missed school years, the impact of current schooling on their psychological well-being, and the limitations of camp life. Most children reported school experiences to be among their happiest moments, affirming the importance of schooling in helping children build mental health resilience.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-03-21
DOI: 10.3390/soc13030078
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 3 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 19: Assistive Technology and the Wellbeing of
Societies from a Capabilities Approach
Authors: Natasha Layton, Johan Borg
First page: 19
Abstract: This Special Issue considers two core facilitators of functioning: assistive technology and environmental intervention [...]
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-17
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020019
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 20: Acknowledgment to the Reviewers of Societies
in 2022
Authors: Societies Editorial Office Societies Editorial Office
First page: 20
Abstract: High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review [...]
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-17
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020020
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 21: Contemporary European Welfare State
Transformations and the Risk of Erosion of Social Rights: A Normative
Analysis of the Social Investment Approach
Authors: Gianluca Busilacchi, Benedetta Giovanola
First page: 21
Abstract: Over the last decades, there has been a huge debate on the transformations of the European Welfare State. The issue of its financial sustainability together with the emergence of new social risks has put under pressure the traditional model of social protection and created the conditions for a change in the gist of the welfare state provisions. In this context, the social investment approach has become an emerging reference paradigm to tackle new social risks and meet the need to recalibrate the European welfare state and ensure its economic sustainability. However, despite this success, social investment still seems to be a rather ambiguous concept, too vague to result in precise and univocal policy prescriptions and open to the risk of a stretch of its interpretation by neoliberal politics, to erode social rights. In this paper we propose a theoretical framework to better clarify the normative ground, the moral foundation and political justification of the social investment approach and to understand whether it can avoid the risk of the erosion of social rights.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-19
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020021
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 22: #NotDying4Wallstreet: A Discourse Analysis
on Health vs. Economy during COVID-19
Authors: Merve Genç
First page: 22
Abstract: This paper combines political/poststructuralist discourse theory with actor–network theory to explore dystopian visions in the context of a discourse around the hashtag #NotDying4Wallstreet. The call for protest against former US president Donald Trump’s demand to reopen the economy during lockdown dominates the discourse. The tweets were analyzed with quantitative discourse analysis and network analysis to identify key terms and meaning clusters leading to two main conclusions. The first (A) is an imaginary dystopic future with an accelerated neoliberal order. Human lives, especially elderly people, are sacrificed for a well-functioning economy in this threat scenario. The second (B) includes the motive of protest and the potential of the people’s demands to unite and rally against this threat. Due to the revelation of populist features, this (online) social movement seems to be populist without a leader figure. The empirical study is used to propose a research approach toward a mixed-methods design based on a methodological discussion and the enhancement of PDT with ANT. Thus, the article has a double aim: an update of contemporary approaches to social media analysis in discourse studies and its empirical demonstration with a study.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-20
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020022
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 23: “(De)constructing NASCAR Space”:
A Black Placemaking Analysis of Fan Agency, Mobility, and Resistance
Authors: Joshua D. Vadeboncoeur
First page: 23
Abstract: This article examines how blackness is not only situated within sporting spaces, but also, and more narrowly, experienced within a historically and predominantly White sporting space—that of NASCAR. To explore and define Black individuals’ racialized experiences and movements as NASCAR fans from their perspective, this article uses a qualitative approach as grounded in narrative inquiry. Findings suggest that Black fans shift the otherwise oppressive geographies of NASCAR into sites of belongingness, celebration, and enjoyment, which advances the theoretical understanding of how “White spaces” can be contested through processes of racialized resistance. Thus, through the process of Black placemaking, Black fans construct and employ practices to transform their geographic “immobility” (both discursive and physical) into a reality that subverts racism and White supremacy more broadly.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-23
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020023
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 24: Two Years of the COVID-19 Crisis: Anxiety,
Creativity and the Everyday
Authors: Raffaela Puggioni
First page: 24
Abstract: Doubtless, the COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely challenging in all aspects. However, rather than looking at COVID-19 exclusively as a catastrophic event, which has generated insecurity, anxiety, panic and helplessness, I suggest investigating this insecurity and anxiety through the prism of existential philosophy. Drawing, in particular, on the work of Søren Kierkegaard and the literature on the existentialist anxiety of international relations, this study suggested looking at anxiety not in terms of insecurity but as “freedom’s actuality”. In other words, the attention was focused not so much on the many restrictions and bans imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but on the many quotidian and minuscule creative interventions through which people attempted to counterbalance, respond and react to them by creating new possibilities of freedom. Special attention was devoted to the distinction between normal and neurotic anxiety. This distinction is especially important, as it connects to two different and opposing subjectivities. While normal anxiety encourages a proactive approach to life—inspiring individuals to change the present through new daily strategies—neurotic anxiety prevents it, as it tends to replicate the ordinary, the known and the familiar.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-25
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020024
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 25: On Politics and Pandemic: How Do Chilean
Media Talk about Disinformation and Fake News in Their Social
Networks'
Authors: Luis Cárcamo-Ulloa, Camila Cárdenas-Neira, Eliana Scheihing-García, Diego Sáez-Trumper, Matthieu Vernier, Carlos Blaña-Romero
First page: 25
Abstract: Citizens get informed, on a daily basis, from social networks in general and from the media in particular. Accordingly, the media are increasingly expressing their concern about phenomena related to disinformation. This article presents an analysis of the social networks of 159 Chilean media that, over 5 years, referred to fake news or disinformation on 10,699 occasions. Based on data science strategies, the Queltehue platform was programmed to systematically track the information posted by 159 media on their social networks (Instagram, Facebook and Twitter). The universe of data obtained (13 million news items) was filtered with a specific query to reach 10,699 relevant posts, which underwent textual computer analysis (LDA) complemented with manual strategies of multimodal discourse analysis (MDA). Among the findings, it is revealed that the recurrent themes over the years have mostly referred to fake news and politics and fake news related to health issues. This is widely explained on the grounds of a political period in Chile which involved at least five electoral processes, in addition to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding the multimodal analysis, it is observed that when the dissemination of fake news involves well-known figures such as politicians or government authorities, an image or a video in which such figure appears is used. In these cases, two phenomena occur: (a) these figures have the opportunity to rectify their false or misinforming statements or (b) in most cases, their statements are reiterated and end up reinforcing the controversy. In view of these results, it seems necessary to ask whether this is all that can be done and whether this is enough that communication can do to guarantee healthy and democratic societies.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-26
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020025
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 26: Typology of Teaching Actions during COVID-19
Lockdown in the Valencian Community (Spain)
Authors: María Jesús Perales-Montolio, Sonia Ortega-Gaite, José González-Such, Purificación Sánchez-Delgado
First page: 26
Abstract: The COVID-19 coronavirus affected all countries, changing living practices and patterns of social structures. Spain confined all citizens to their homes from 14 March until 21 June 2020. All schools were closed, and education was suddenly converted to an online format. This study is part of wider research and analyzes the ways in which teachers in the Valencian Community (Spain) have approached School at Home (SH) The approach of the study is based on mixed methods (quantitative surveys and qualitative focus groups) and has an exploratory aim. Multivariate profiles of the gaps (represented by composite indicators) in both groups are analyzed based on k-means cluster analysis, as well as the variables associated with each profile, using non-parametric tests. The results show three groups of teachers, established according to four types of gaps, with different perceptions of the situation. ICT proficiency was very important, as well as family situation and support during confinement. The main lines of research derived from this study in relation to CSE and teacher outcomes are proposed.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-27
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020026
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 27: Athlete Activists, Sports Diplomats and
Human Rights: Action versus Agency
Authors: Stuart Murray, Gavin Price
First page: 27
Abstract: A glance at the international sporting landscape suggests that more athletes are representing human rights causes and engaging in off-the-field activism. The 21st century athlete, apparently, does much more than “shutting up and just playing”. This article examines how, where, and why athletes represent, communicate and negotiate complex human rights issues. It finds, and argues, that both the theory and practice of athlete activism—as a means to achieving measurable, sustainable diplomatic and human rights outcomes—needs to be reviewed, re-imagined and re-branded, particularly in international relations. Currently, the practice is only open to the privileged few, occurs almost exclusively within Western societies, and its track record of affecting lasting policy change amongst those it targets is dubious. This paper prefers, and introduces, a new label for sportspeople wishing to affect change in human rights, politics, and diplomacy: the sports diplomat. This paper reviews the concept of the athlete activist and suggests how they differ from the sports diplomat. In terms of sportspeople using diplomacy to solve human rights issues, it asks is there a best practice model that can be identified' Furthermore, assuming the practice of sports diplomats representing human rights issues is good, how might scholars and practitioners better understand and promote the practice'
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-27
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020027
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 28: Let’s Play Democracy, Exploratory
Analysis of Political Video Games
Authors: Angel Torres-Toukoumidis, Isidro Marín Gutiérrez, Mónica Hinojosa Becerra, Tatiana León-Alberca, Concha Pérez Curiel
First page: 28
Abstract: In current times, the concept of democracy has been transformed due to the ups and downs of the hyperdigitalized society, modifying its discourses and forms of participation. Recognizing that video games maintain a prominent role in the new generations, this research has the objective of analyzing independent video games related to the notion of democracy. For this reason, 26 video games were analyzed according to their democratic principles, their typology and their key components, resulting in a tendency towards the guarantee of civil liberties, political pluralism and separation of powers; likewise, there is a clear differentiation between persuasive and expressive video games, the former linked to polarization and criticism, while the latter responded to a reflexive conceptual line, added to the use of reward systems and progression in their key design components. It can be concluded that video games linked to democracy respond to an innovative interactive dimension that converts the traditional political canons by the creativity, freedom, and autonomy of the current audiences.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-28
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020028
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 29: Inclusive Active Methodologies in Spanish
Higher Education during the Pandemic
Authors: Fernando Lara-Lara, María Jesús Santos-Villalba, Blanca Berral-Ortiz, José Antonio Martínez-Domingo
First page: 29
Abstract: The period of pandemic caused by the arrival of COVID-19 had a series of repercussions at the personal, social, cultural and educational levels. The confinement declared by government agencies caused a shift from face-to-face to virtual learning, which led to certain adaptations and the use of digital tools in order to carry out the teaching-learning process. This technological proliferation became a challenge for the educational community and for the development of pedagogical and inclusive models that could ensure pedagogical continuity. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to analyse the scientific production on active and innovative methodologies that were used during the COVID-19 pandemic period and their effect on the personal, academic and social performance of Higher Education students in the Spanish context. A systematic review of the scientific literature was carried out in accordance with the criteria established in the PRISMA declaration. Among the results obtained, flipped learning stands out as the most used methodology, which increases motivation among other aspects. In terms of knowledge areas, Social Sciences prevails. Finally, it should be noted that the use of active and innovative methodologies improves performance at academic, personal and social levels.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-29
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020029
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 30: Rethinking Sense of Place Interpretations in
Declining Neighborhoods: The Case of Ami-dong Tombstone Cultural Village,
Busan, South Korea
Authors: Sreenidhi Konduri, In-Hee Lee
First page: 30
Abstract: In recent years, urban regeneration strategic plans have been implemented across South Korea to curb the negative impacts of depopulation, physical deterioration and economic decline. By adopting a people-centered regeneration process, context-sensitive plans are formulated by integrating local people’s perceptions and expectations. This paper examines urban regeneration plans implemented in Ami-dong Tombstone Cultural Village, a declining hillside village in Busan, using “people–place–process framework of place attachment” to analyze the process of articulating “sense of place” through community-driven approaches. Based on archival research, site investigations, secondary data and semi-structured interviews, the paper explores the revival of social capital, integration of place-sensitivity and improvement of everyday landscapes through affective, behavioral and cognitive responses of urban professionals and community members involved in the project. Findings of the study show that place attachment, sense of community and community participation in regeneration can help in re-creating meaningful places. Lessons from Ami-dong offer insights on ways to strengthen people–people and people–place relationships through design and planning processes in a declining context with an aging population.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-30
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020030
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 31: Barriers to Educational Inclusion in Initial
Teacher Training
Authors: Pilar Arnaiz-Sánchez, Remedios De Haro-Rodríguez, Carmen María Caballero, Rogelio Martínez-Abellán
First page: 31
Abstract: Initial teacher training within the framework of an inclusive school constitutes a fundamental challenge in order to meet the needs of 21st century society. The 2030 agenda establishes in the target of goal four the need for well-qualified teachers, capable of developing inclusive educational responses to the diversity of the needs of the students enrolled in their centres. The objective of this article is to analyse the perception of the school community regarding the initial training of future teachers in providing an inclusive and quality educational response for all students. The design was qualitative, non-experimental and descriptive. The participants were 78 people involved in teacher training and the educational exclusion–inclusion processes in the region of Murcia (Spain). The information collection techniques were 39 semi-structured interviews and 10 focus groups. The analysis of the information was carried out through an inductive categorization process, classifying the information into different analysis codes with the Atlas.Ti program (V. 8). The results of the work indicate that with regard to inclusive education, there is a clear shortfall in the initial training of teachers, a limitation in the acquisition of competences regarding attention to diversity, the presence of theoretical learning which has limited relevance to practical intervention, and a training approach anchored in models from the past which refers to student deficiencies. This work has the value of providing an insight into the barriers present in initial training from the perspective of all the educational actors involved in the educational system, which has not been sufficiently investigated in this field of study.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-31
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020031
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 32: Ambiguous Facilitation: An Ethnographic
Study of the Contextual Aspects of Participation in Group Activities in a
Norwegian Healthy Life Centre
Authors: Tonje Cecilie Indrøy, Lisbeth Kvam, Aud Elisabeth Witsø
First page: 32
Abstract: Background: Participation is essential in health promotion initiatives such as the Norwegian Healthy Life Centres (HLCs) which offer lifestyle-related guidance to people with lifestyle-related diseases or at risk for such diseases. While participation has been studied in this setting from the perspectives of health personnel or service users, no studies have been conducted on the contextual aspects of participation through studying the interactions between the actors involved in group activities within the service. To lead group activities requires competency in facilitation of learning in groups. The aim of this study is to explore participation in group activities in the context of a Norwegian HLC by studying the interaction between the various actors involved in the activities there. Methods: An ethnographic study was designed based on participant observation of physical activity groups and a healthy nutrition group in a Norwegian HLC over a period of three months. Findings: The findings suggest that (1) the multiple roles of the Health Professional (HP), (2) the process of goal setting, and (3) time frames and the physical context are central contextual aspects of participation in this setting, leading to an ambiguous facilitation of group activities.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-31
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020032
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 33: Children’s Participatory Capability in
Organized Leisure: The Mediation of Transactional Horizons
Authors: Daniel Stoecklin, Ayuko Berchtold-Sedooka, Jean-Michel Bonvin
First page: 33
Abstract: This research conducted in Switzerland addresses the participatory capability of children regarding their organized leisure activities. Observations were made in 2016 in three French-speaking counties in Switzerland within 11 leisure facilities differentiated by their structural organization. Individual interviews were conducted with 34 children aged 13 to 16 as well as 11 managers of the leisure centers and three county-level child and youth policy-makers (Fribourg, Valais, Vaud). The findings are that children’s participatory capability in organized leisure facilities depends on a combination of factors that are both societal (economical, political, organizational) and personal. Three forms of participatory capability emerge around the opportunities for effective participation that are provided by the children’s social environment, corresponding to (1) the adaptive participation, (2) the innovative participation and (3) the cooperative participation. However, there is no strict correspondence between the types of organization of leisure structures and forms of participatory capability. This is due to the mediation of “transactional horizons”, acting as symbolic landscapes that are channeling social interactions and the negotiation of forms of participation. This confirms the relevance of an interpretive approach to children’s rights in order to better understand how they actually translate into practice.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-31
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020033
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 34: Communication of Results of Educational
Policies: Impact Levels of Educational Policies in the Digital Society
Authors: Javier Vega-Ramírez, Paola Castro-Duarte, Claudia Quintana-Figueroa
First page: 34
Abstract: The levels of adherence to results in the implementation of public policies within educational communities can vary greatly depending on several factors: program coverage, funding level, the level of understanding of program goals, the duration of implementation, and the dissemination of results. In today’s digital society, the most relevant factor is precisely the communication of results, even when the way in which these are reached is overlooked. As a result, non-causal, high-impact relationships are installed in the collective consciousness. This article presents the results of a study that aims to measure the level of impact of the implementation of a public policy developed over two years in educational establishments in the Los Ríos Region of Chile, and it looks into the level of adherence to results three years after its implementation. The results explain that the differentiating factor is the type of dissemination of results, in direct correlation to the digital media used and the digital culture of the establishment, which allows to previously project the conditions of possibility for a type of adherence, even though we need larger scale measurements to determine with certainty this point of causality.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-31
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020034
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 35: Family Leisure in Rural and Urban
Environments: A Question of Context
Authors: Mª Ángeles Hernández-Prados, José Santiago Álvarez-Muñoz
First page: 35
Abstract: Family leisure increasingly plays a fundamental role as an educational resource that enhances human development and enriches intrafamily relationships. Theoretically, the conceptualization of free time and leisure, the typologies and agents of family leisure, and the benefits, difficulties, and satisfaction are discussed at home. This empirical study aims to describe the family leisure patterns shown by adolescents according to the context in which they reside, allowing a comparison of the rural leisure profile with the urban leisure profile, which are traditionally considered as differentiated contexts. The sample consisted of 1054 adolescents (51.6% boys and 48.4% girls) from Spain, stratified by place of residence (48.2% urban and 51.8% rural), who were administered the questionnaire “Evaluation of family leisure practices”. The data were processed using SPSS, and the results indicate that scarcity of time and economic resources in an urban setting and repetition and family conflicts in a rural setting are the most representative difficulties. In addition, the adolescents living in urban environments identify more benefits, have a more diversified practice, and have greater family satisfaction than the adolescents in rural areas. Both coincide with the importance of the family itself as a promoter of family leisure. In conclusion, the reconversion of social policies and the promotion of family educational procedures in rural areas to reduce the differences between the two contexts are highlighted.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-02
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020035
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 36: XR Embodiment and the Changing Nature of
Sexual Harassment
Authors: Erick J. Ramirez, Shelby Jennett, Jocelyn Tan, Sydney Campbell, Raghav Gupta
First page: 36
Abstract: In this paper, we assess the impact of extended reality technologies as they relate to sexual forms of harassment. We begin with a brief history of the nature of sexual harassment itself. We then offer an account of extended reality technologies focusing specifically on psychological and hardware elements most likely to comprise what has been referred to as “the metaverse”. Although different forms of virtual spaces exist (i.e., private, semi-private, and public), we focus on public social metaverse spaces. We do this to better explain how the concept of sexual harassment must be adjusted to such spaces and how approaches aimed at mitigating harassment must be sensitive to the type of metaverse spaces users utilize. We then offer a typology of sexual harassment for the metaverse focusing on three distinct forms of sexual harassment: (1) invariant (2) mixed variance or modified and (3) unique or metaverse specific. Although existing normative and legal frameworks may function well with respect to the first and, possibly, second forms of harassment, we argue such frameworks will not helpfully address metaverse-specific harassment. Ultimately, the changing nature of privately owned public spaces (POPS) which metaverses are likely to represent pose distinct ethical and regulatory challenges.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-02
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020036
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 37: The Politicization of COVID-19 Origin
Stories: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Survey in China
Authors: Annah Lake Zhu, Ruishan Chen, Jessica Rizzolo, Xiaodan Li
First page: 37
Abstract: The search for the origins of COVID-19 has yielded no conclusive evidence. In the face of this uncertainty, other social and political factors can influence perceptions of virus origins, which in turn can influence policy formation and global efforts to combat future pandemics. Vastly different COVID-19 origin stories may circulate both within the same country but also between different countries. This article examines COVID-19 origins debates as they circulate in China, drawing from a 974-respondent survey conducted in mainland China. Our results show that within China there is a strong belief that COVID-19 originated outside the country, either in the United States or Europe. This contrasts with mainstream media coverage in the United State and Europe, which generally holds that the virus most likely originated in China. Given such global dissonance, moving forward with pandemic prevention reforms is challenging. Yet, even in the face of such diverse beliefs, building support for reform is still possible. As the search for COVID-19 continues, policy reform can be pursued across a plurality of domains, including wet markets, the wildlife trade, cold-chain products, and gain-of-function virology research, all in the interest of preventing the next global pandemic.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-04
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020037
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 38: Perceptions of the Benefits and Barriers to
Anti-Human Trafficking Interagency Collaboration: An Exploratory Factor
Analysis Study
Authors: Tonisha Jones
First page: 38
Abstract: To effectively address human trafficking, it is increasingly recognized that anti-human trafficking efforts need to include a collaborative approach between agencies most likely to come into contact with human trafficking victims and offenders. While literature is available that discusses the benefits and barriers to such collaboration, there is limited empirical research on the topic. Surveying professionals engaged in anti-human trafficking interagency collaboration in a Midwest state in the United States, this exploratory factor analysis study explores their perceptions of the benefits and barriers to such collaboration. Based on the results, professionals’ perceived benefits and barriers to anti-human trafficking interagency collaboration, with capacity perceived as the underlying benefit and collaborative uncertainty, agency incongruence, an unfavorable collaborative environment, and inadequate problem framing perceived as the underlying barriers. These findings can inform anti-human trafficking interagency collaborative practice, leading to more successful collaborative outcomes. Future research should include a confirmatory factor analysis to validate the factor structure found in this study.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-07
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020038
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 39: A Conversation about Ethics: A Deliberative
and Practice-Based Approach to Ethics in Arts Education
Authors: Samantha Broadhead, Karen Tobias-Green, Sharon Hooper
First page: 39
Abstract: This article reports on a practice-based research project that examined the various orientations of practice to ethical deliberation. The aim was to produce a film that captured ethical debate between two creative practitioners as they walked through their local streets. The film would be a catalyst for staff and students at an arts institution to think about their own ethical practices. The approach taken was based on Aristotelian notions of phronesis or practical wisdom, which is concerned with making ethical judgments based on deliberation. Issues were raised by the project, such as the tensions between policy and practice and the tensions between aesthetic considerations and ethical practice. Questions about the value of narrative, representation, and learning through doing were raised by the work.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-07
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020039
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 40: At the Origins of Migration Choices: A
Survey of Students at Two South European Universities
Authors: Felice Addeo, Rocío Blanco-Gregory, Domenico Maddaloni, Grazia Moffa
First page: 40
Abstract: Migration research has long highlighted the role of factors influencing migration flows at the structural level. Recent literature has shifted researchers’ attention to the individual drivers influencing the definition of migration strategies and, before that, the individual propensity for mobility. In this paper, we present the results of a multiple regression model applied to data collected by means of an online survey of students at the universities of Salerno (Italy) and Extremadura (Spain). The model highlights the low prominence achieved by factors such as gender and parental cultural capital on this propensity. A more important role is played by the personal experience of living abroad, a proactive attitude toward the future, and the propensity to seek professional self-fulfillment even at the price of sacrificing one’s territorial affiliation.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-07
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020040
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 41: Young Adults’ Perception of
Breadcrumbing Victimization in Dating Relationships
Authors: Vivek Khattar, Shreya Upadhyay, Raúl Navarro
First page: 41
Abstract: Background: Breadcrumbing is an unexplored dating trend disguised in the form of subtle manipulation in relationships. With the increase in online dating apps, people have started to initiate, maintain and end relationships, and the use of manipulative tactics have increased on such platforms. The present study explores the meaning of breadcrumbing and its effects on the breadcrumbie’s mental health and wellbeing. Method: The research design was qualitative in nature through the use of focus group discussions. Two focus group discussions were conducted including nine participants in total (one male, eight females). Results: After the data analysis, five major themes emerged defining breadcrumbing—charm, leading on, incongruence, avoiding emotional investment and commitment uncertainty. Conversational fragments also revealed that breadcrumbing had an impact on the breadcrumbie’s future relationships, emotional disturbance, self-concept, and signs of depression. The red flags and effective coping strategies were also discovered with the help of a thematic analysis. Further research on personality correlates of breadcrumbing perpetration and victimization is recommended.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-08
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020041
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 42: A Critical Lens on Health: Key Principles of
Critical Discourse Analysis and Its Benefits to Anti-Racism in Population
Public Health Research
Authors: Jessica Naidu, Elizabeth Oddone Paolucci, Tanvir C. Turin
First page: 42
Abstract: Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is an interdisciplinary research methodology used to analyze discourse as a form of “social practice”, exploring how meaning is socially constructed. In addition, the methodology draws from the field of critical studies, in which research places deliberate focus on the social and political forces that produce social phenomena as a means to challenge and change societal practices. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the benefits of CDA to population public health (PPH) research. We will do this by providing a brief overview of CDA and its history and purpose in research and then identifying and discussing three crucial principles that we argue are crucial to successful CDA research: (1) CDA research should contribute to social justice; (2) CDA is strongly based in theory; and (3) CDA draws from constructivist epistemology. A key benefit that CDA brings to PPH research is its critical lens, which aligns with the fundamental goals of PPH including addressing the social determinants of health and reducing health inequities. Our analysis demonstrates the need for researchers in population public health to strongly consider critical discourse analysis as an approach to understanding the social determinants of health and eliminating health inequities in order to achieve health and wellness for all.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-08
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020042
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 43: Bottom-Up Approach to Language Policy and
Planning in Kazakhstan
Authors: Dinara Tlepbergen, Assel Akzhigitova, Anastassia Zabrodskaja
First page: 43
Abstract: National and world news is constantly accompanied by inter-group dramas which are permeated by the dynamics of language use and attitudes. Conflicts can arise between the state insisting on an official language and the family and community who may support the preservation or revitalisation of heritage languages. Kazakhstan is an example of how languages (official Kazakh, the language of communication Russian and international English) coexist peacefully. Language policy and planning depend on the ability and willingness of individual members of the speech community to adopt a language. Language planning is often seen as a top-down, government-controlled activity. This paper shows that language planning can also be carried out from below. Here, we analyze the main initiatives of grassroots movements in promoting the status of the Kazakh language and the emergence of new bottom-up approaches facilitated by the Internet and present sociolinguistic survey results regarding the roles, importance and prestige of languages for the people of Kazakhstan. The focus of the study reported in this article is to monitor the transformative character of bottom-up approaches to language-policy study in Kazakhstan.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-13
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020043
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 44: Exploring Private Investigation
Agencies’ Experience of Collaboration with Law Enforcement in
Investigations of Human Trafficking Cases
Authors: Charles Hounmenou, Sachi Toepp
First page: 44
Abstract: In their forefront role to address human trafficking, law enforcement agencies (LEAs) have often faced challenges in efforts to investigate this crime. Non-traditional partnerships should be explored to improve strategies to investigate human trafficking. Could private investigation agencies (PIAs) collaborate with LEAs to help improve human trafficking investigations' The present study examines PIAs’ experiences of collaboration with LEAs for human trafficking investigations. A mixed research method design was used. Purposive sampling was used to select 81 participants representing 81 PIAs for a survey. Follow-up semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 of the 39 survey participants who reported that their agencies had collaborated with LEAs for human trafficking investigations. The findings show varying levels of success and challenges for PIAs in interagency collaboration with LEAs. The challenges to collaboration identified could be mostly explained by LEAs’ misperceptions of private investigators, their over-reliance on a criminal approach instead of a victim-centered one in investigating trafficking cases and recovering victims, and legal or ethical limitations. Positive aspects of PIA–LEA partnerships regarding human trafficking investigations were discussed and so were strategies to address inherent challenges to interagency collaboration. Several policy implications were discussed for developing and improving partnership initiatives with law enforcement in an effort to prevent human trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute trafficking cases.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-13
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020044
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 45: Use of Instagram as a Resource for the
Adoption of Behaviors Related to Health and Well-Being of Young College
Students: Associations between Use Profile and Sociodemographic
Variables—A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Kaline Pessoa, Cícero Alves, Ana Cláudia Coelho, Ana Bastos, Isilda Rodrigues
First page: 45
Abstract: The use of Instagram and content from digital influencers to gain information and adopt behaviors related to health and well-being may be associated with sociodemographic variables. Few studies have been conducted in different contexts regarding the use of Instagram to obtain information about health and well-being and its relationship with sociodemographic variables. A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed with a convenience sample of the population of students attending a degree course in physical education, in the northeast region of Brazil, to assess the prevalence of Instagram use as a resource for the adoption of behaviors related to health and well-being, as well as to understand the associations between use profiles and sociodemographic variables. An online validated questionnaire was completed by 162 students from March to June 2021. Descriptive statistics and analysis of artificial networks were used. Results indicate the profile of using Instagram to obtain information about health and well-being is impacted by sociodemographic variables such as gender, age, monthly income, and the semester the student is attending. Specifically, although men adopt health and well-being behaviors more frequently, the relationship between variables such as age and monthly income and the variables of the Instagram use profile is stronger among women. However, the adoption of behaviors and the belief in their contribution to self-care establish a strong relationship among both genders. It is concluded that sociodemographic variables can contribute to a better understanding of the use of Instagram to adopt behaviors related to health and well-being.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-14
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020045
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 46: Does Civic Engagement Support Relational and
Mental Health of Urban Population'
Authors: Michal Hrivnák, Peter Moritz, Katarína Melichová, Soňa Bellérová
First page: 46
Abstract: There is a general assumption that there is a relationship between civic engagement and mental health, but it has still received limited attention in empirical studies. This study provides estimates of the impact of civic engagement (measured in terms of political and community engagement) on the health of individuals in the case of a medium-sized urban settlement within the context of a post-socialist country. The impacts of civic engagement on mental and relational health are distinguished, which have received little attention in studies on the topic. Using primary data and utilising the tools of econometrics, we found positive effects of the population’s community engagement, including positive effects of volunteering, on relational health. Political participation of the population contributed to the reduction of depressive symptoms, but the relationship between community engagement and mental health was not found. A relatively high propensity towards participation in health and well-being projects, leading to improvements in the collective approach to public health and addressing unhealthy conditions in communities, was identified in the sample.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-17
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020046
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 47: Children’s Online Safety: Predictive
Factors of Cyberbullying and Online Grooming Involvement
Authors: Antonio Tintori, Giulia Ciancimino, Ilaria Bombelli, Daniele De Rocchi, Loredana Cerbara
First page: 47
Abstract: The increase in the use of the Internet, strongly boosted by the spread of COVID-19, has amplified the risk of involvement in cyberbullying and online grooming among minors. To date, most research on these phenomena has focused on middle and high school students, with fewer studies on younger children. The present study aims to fill this knowledge gap by measuring the spread of cyberbullying and online grooming in a sample of 410 primary school students in the city of Rome and by identifying the main individual and environmental predictors associated with the involvement of children in these phenomena using factor analysis. Results indicate that both cyberbullying and online grooming are widespread among respondents, showing common traits within the four latent dimensions identified. Screen time is among the main predictors of children’s involvement, together with parental supervision, phubbing behaviours, prosocial tendencies and family socio-economic background. These findings highlight the need for further studies on representative samples of this age group, as well as for a greater cooperative effort among schools, parents and caregivers to keep children safe in the virtual world.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-17
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020047
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 48: How He Got His Scars: Exploring Madness and
Mental Health in Filmic Representations of the Joker
Authors: Jeff Preston, Lindsay Rath-Paillé
First page: 48
Abstract: In May of 1939, DC Comics introduced their popular Batman series, but it was a year later when the iconic villain, the Joker, entered the story. What began as a lighthearted pulp comic has since evolved, with Batman’s enemies growing darker and more sinister. In the film, the Joker is now less “clown prince” than violent madman, determined to wreak havoc and spread his warped view of society. Through a thematic discourse analysis, this article explores how Batman films featuring the Joker routinely naturalize and reinforce sanist beliefs about mental illness and are deployed as narrative prostheses to rationalize his heinous crimes. Blending work from both disability studies and mad studies, we explore the cultural construction of madness as animated by filmic representations of the Joker and consider how these narratives inform perceptions of mental illness and subsequently rationalize the disciplining of mad people.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-17
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020048
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 49: Examining How Equalities Nonprofit
Organizations Approach Policy Influencing to Achieve Substantive
Representation in Sub-State Government Policymaking
Authors: Amy Sanders
First page: 49
Abstract: This article is concerned with equalities nonprofit organizations’ activities to achieve substantive representation in policy-making through a sub-state government. It draws on three strands of the interest representation literature from equalities theory, nonprofit sector studies, and social movements theory. The analytical framework synthesizes these to provide a new approach for examining equalities nonprofit organizations’ policy influencing. Drawing on equalities theorists’ accounts of mainstreaming, and understandings of campaigns from social movement literature, it explores nonprofit organizations’ positioning in relation to government in order to advance equality. This analysis engages with questions raised by nonprofit scholars about nonprofit organizations’ independence from government and their capacity to retain a critical voice. An overarching institutionalist lens enables an examination of the formal and informal facets that shape policy influencing approaches. The research question is: How have equalities organizations engaged with the institution of a nonprofit-government partnership to promote substantive representation in policy' This research uses semi-structured elite interviews to explore key policy actors’ accounts. The case study is the statutory Welsh nonprofit sector–government partnership. Findings suggest the equalities nonprofit organizations involved in this partnership deploy a sophisticated array of action repertoires as part of an interrelated web of nuanced, multi-positioned influencing activities. This agility enables the sector to maintain some capacity to be critical of the state whilst sustaining informal relations with state policy actors.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-20
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020049
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 50: Conceptualizing Task Force Sustainability
Authors: Jennifer Paul Ray
First page: 50
Abstract: In the anti-human trafficking movement, multi-disciplinary teams have emerged as a best practice for collaborating and coordinating efforts in combating human trafficking. Many multi-disciplinary teams are comprised of federal, state and local partners representing law enforcement, prosecutors and service providers. The concept of sustaining the multi-disciplinary teams is a relatively new area of discussion in the anti-human trafficking movement. This paper explores the Greater New Orleans Human Trafficking Task Force sustainability process as an illustrative example to shed light on the issues that arose during the process for this Task Force, and which may be salient for other Task Forces. This retrospective presentation of the comments and observations made by the Greater New Orleans Human Trafficking Task Force members suggest emerging themes that may help to clarify the concepts other Task Forces should consider and to predict the sustainability outcomes. The members’ accounts incorporated in this article are presented as valid points of view for framing conclusions that may be applicable in other contexts and to further the conversation in this understudied area of sustainability. The key focal points related to sustainability explored in this conceptual paper include leadership, funding, collaboration, trust and relationship building, and change is constant.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-02-20
DOI: 10.3390/soc13020050
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 2 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 14: The Dual Nature of Opportunity Structures
Amid the Global Pandemic
Authors: Siyka Kovacheva, Xavier Rambla
First page: 14
Abstract: We are living at a time of educational expansion in most parts of the world, which creates new opportunity structures for young people [...]
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-03
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010014
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 15: Materiality, Corporeality, and Relationality
in Older Human–Robot Interaction (OHRI)
Authors: Lucie Vidovićová, Tereza Menšíková
First page: 15
Abstract: This article presents interdisciplinary research on the social and technological aspects of interactions between older adults and the humanoid robot Pepper (SoftBank Robotics). Our case study is based on the regular meetings that are a part of an experimental intervention taking place at the Active Ageing Centre for older adults in Prague, run by the NGO Life 90. Through the methods of participant observation, unstructured interviews, analyses of video recordings from interventions with Pepper, and subsequent reflections on the “user” experience with the robot, we have unpacked the complexity of materiality and corporeality in older human–robot interactions (OHRI) in the context of age and gender. The project brings new applied knowledge, exploring OHRI using concepts relevant to gerotechnologies, informed by studies of materiality and ageing studies.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-04
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010015
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 16: Cultural Tourism in a Post-COVID-19
Scenario: The French Way of Saint James in Spain from the Perspective of
Promotional Communication
Authors: Clide Rodríguez-Vázquez, Pablo Castellanos-García, Valentín Alejandro Martínez-Fernández
First page: 16
Abstract: Tourism has been one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the side effects of the pandemic is the demand for safe and quiet spaces, giving rise to the search for a new lifestyle, “slow living”, which could represent an opportunity for cultural tourism. In this context, the main objective of this article is twofold: (i) to establish the relevance of cultural tourism for residents in Spain for the autonomous communities along the French Way of Saint James and (ii) to determine their behaviour on their institutional tourism promotion websites. For our analysis, we use equality of means tests and ANOVA (for data from 2002–2020), as well as measures of positioning, engagement, origin of the audience and access devices (for data from 2020–2021). The main conclusion is that the Way of St. James does not act as a driving force for cultural tourism, even though the websites of tourism promotion organisations have experienced a remarkable growth in their use. This article develops an original relation of cultural tourism through an analysis of the French Way of St. James in Spain and the web positioning of official tourism promotion organisations before and during COVID-19.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-07
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010016
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 17: Old and New Actors and Phenomena in the
Three-M Processes of Life and Society: Medicalization, Moralization and
Misinformation
Authors: Violeta Alarcão, Sónia Pintassilgo
First page: 17
Abstract: Medicalization has been a key concept in the field of the sociology of health and illness over the past 50 years, capturing the expanding social control of everyday life by medical experts [...]
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-12
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010017
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 18: What if a Bioterrorist Attack
Occurs'—A Survey on Citizen Preparedness in Aveiro, Portugal
Authors: Helena Santos, Maria de Lurdes Pinto, Luís Cardoso, Isilda Rodrigues, Ana Cláudia Coelho
First page: 18
Abstract: Introduction: A bioterrorist attack is the intentional release of pathogenic micro-organisms, such as viruses, bacteria, or their toxins, with the aim of causing illness or death in people, animals, or plants. In this study, we investigated the knowledge and practices related to bioterrorism preparedness in Central Portugal. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed with a convenience sample in the population of Aveiro, Central Portugal, to assess their knowledge about bioterrorism, self-perceived preparation to act in case of bioterrorism and pet owners’ preparation. An online validated questionnaire was completed by 198 participants from January to February 2020. Results: In this study, 46.0% of the respondents answered that they knew nothing about bioterrorism or had never heard about the possibility of bioterrorist attacks. In the case of an attack, 77.8% participants did not consider themselves prepared to act, and 62.1% did not know how to use personal protective equipment. More than half of the respondents (60.6%) were not familiar with the local emergency response system in response to catastrophes/bioterrorist attacks. Almost all respondents (95.6%) assigned high importance to drinking water and food for pets, but only 22.9% of respondents attributed high importance to pet carrier boxes, an item essential for cat evacuation. Conclusion: This is the first survey of this kind in Portugal concerning bioterrorism preparedness in citizens and animals. Results suggest that Portuguese knowledge is limited, and people have inadequate preparedness for a bioterrorist attack. These results reinforce the importance of further studies to better understand the existing gaps in knowledge of Portuguese citizens, strengthen the need to adopt the One Health concept in preparedness plans and emphasize the crucial role of health education in prevention.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2023-01-14
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010018
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 1: Documenting Local Food Knowledge at
Hindukush: Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Muhammad Abdul Aziz
First page: 1
Abstract: Local knowledge on food heritage is an important asset of communities in Hindkush Mountains of Pakistan. Literature is scarce on recording local food knowledge (LFK) and the associated challenges; therefore, to partially fill this gap of knowledge, the current research study presents an overview of some of the prominent challenges that curb documenting local knowledge on food heritage among various communities in the region. Qualitative data were gathered through direct observations during ethnobotanical research work across the region. The current research reveals that the complex sociocultural and political circumstances, in one way or another, might be impacting the recording of the LFK in the study areas. For instance, I have found that the fragile security circumstances in the western belt of the country is one of the obstacles that do not fully allow researchers to get access to the local communities. The lack of educational understanding among the local communities, especially those who are living in rural areas, has been creating a gap of communication between researchers and the communities. It is worth mentioning that globalization and social change have also changed the perception of the people regarding the local food resources and attached local knowledge. In addition, the policy issues linked to social science research in the country also have an indirect effect on community-based research, which does not encourage researchers to explore meaningful research findings. Hence, to deal with all these challenges, in this article, I propose some possible solutions to protect the local food heritage and practically revitalize the local/traditional knowledge through future development programs, as this knowledge is very important for combating future food insecurity.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-21
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010001
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 2: Racism as a Social Determinant of Health for
Newcomers towards Disrupting the Acculturation Process
Authors: Jessica Naidu, Elizabeth Oddone Paolucci, Tanvir Chowdhury Turin
First page: 2
Abstract: Previous research has demonstrated that racism is a social determinant of health (SDOH), particularly for racialized minority newcomers residing in developed nations such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and European countries. This paper will focus on racism as a SDOH for racialized newcomers in these countries. Racism is defined as “an organized system of privilege and bias that systematically disadvantages a group of people perceived to belong to a specific race”. Racism can be cultural, institutional, or individual. Berry’s model of acculturation describes ways in which racialized newcomers respond to their post-migration experiences, resulting in one of several modes of acculturation; these are integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization. After examining the definition and description of racism, we argue that racism impacts newcomers at the site of acculturation; specifically, the paths they choose, or are forced to take in response to their settlement experiences. We posit that these acculturation pathways are in part, strategies that refugees use to cope with post-displacement stress and trauma. To support acculturation, which is primarily dependent on reducing the effects of cultural, institutional, and individual racism, health policymakers and practitioners are urged to acknowledge racism as a SDOH and to work to reduce its impact.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-21
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010002
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 3: Medicalization of Sexuality and Trans
Situations: Evolutions and Transformations
Authors: Alain Giami
First page: 3
Abstract: This article explores the evolution of the definition and the process of medicalization of sexuality during the second half of the 20th century. After a review and discussion of the notion of medicalization, the application of this notion to a few examples is discussed, including the emergence of sexuality, the demedicalization of homosexuality, the treatment of “sexual disorders”, the prevention of HIV infection, and the gender-affirmation pathways for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people. The analysis of these situations—in the light of the notion of medicalization—allows us to better understand the multiple facets of this notion. In particular, we observe processes of medicalization and demedicalization, depathologization, and pharmacologization. The notion of medicalization of sexuality appears here as a useful concept for understanding the conceptualization and treatment of diversities in the field of sexuality and gender.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-22
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010003
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 4: Online Commerce Pattern in European Union
Countries between 2019 and 2020
Authors: Cristina Burlacioiu
First page: 4
Abstract: The development of information technology, along with the high growth and diversification of consumer needs, has revolutionized the way in which business-to-consumer transactions occur. All this progress was boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic period in a different manner in each EU country, depending on different local aspects. The main goal of this paper is to determine the key characteristics of e-commerce in European Union countries in a pandemic context, based on Eurostat Digital Economy data for 2019–2020. Therefore, for an easier visualization, based on PCA, using 27 analyzed variables, new unique dimensions were revealed: 1. heavy online purchasers, 2. triggers for embracing digital purchasing, 3. perceived barriers against buying online (privacy concerns, security, or not having a card), 4. dynamics of online interaction with public authorities, and 5. enterprise online sharing. Moreover, clustering techniques set four groups of countries with different online commerce patterns that might require attention, according to their specificities, both from a government level and from a business perspective. Special attention is paid to Romania, which has one of the biggest e-commerce industries in Southeastern Europe, but with the share of e-commerce in total retail still quite low, despite this great increase. The models of other countries could be important in helping Romania to catch up with the most successful economies in terms of e-commerce.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-22
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010004
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 5: Positive Resources for Flourishing: The
Effect of Courage, Self-Esteem, and Career Adaptability in Adolescence
Authors: Anna Parola, Jenny Marcionetti
First page: 5
Abstract: Flourishing is defined as an optimal state of functioning in which individuals pursue their goals and aspirations. Hence, flourishing seems to be a protective factor for career transitions in adolescence. This study aimed to analyze the predicting role of self-esteem, courage, and the four career adaptability dimensions, i.e., concern, control, curiosity, and confidence, on flourishing. The sample consisted of 221 Italian adolescents attending the last year of middle school. The preliminary analyses showed gender differences in courage and flourishing, reporting females higher scores than males on both variables. The SEM path model showed that courage, self-esteem, and confidence predict flourishing, and suggested that confidence partially mediates the relationship between courage, self-esteem, and flourishing. Findings have also permitted us to draw practical implications for interventions in adolescence.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-23
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010005
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 6: Children’s Perception of Climate Change
in North-Eastern Portugal
Authors: Ricardo Ramos, Maria José Rodrigues, Isilda Rodrigues
First page: 6
Abstract: Despite the impact that climate change is having on our planet and considering its consequences for future generations, much of the academic literature focuses on adolescent and adult perceptions, giving little relevance to children’s perceptions. Children’s voices have the potential to influence public opinion, which may in turn determine the direction of a new policy on the climate crisis. In this context, it is urgent that we understand how children perceive this problem. This quantitative study was based on the application of 245 questionnaires to children aged between 9 and 13 years old from five schools in north-eastern Portugal, more specifically in the region of Trás-os-Montes. We can say that this study was a convenience study because we delivered the surveys in the schools closest to the working area of the researchers. We used a questionnaire with 26 questions, 24 of which had closed responses (like the Likert type), one open response, and one with multiple choices. In this work, we conducted a descriptive and inferential statistical analysis, and prepared a database, using the statistical software IBM SPSS, which allowed us to conduct some statistical tests, selected according to variables. For the descriptive analysis, several parameters were used for the distribution of variables, namely, frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. We rejected the null hypothesis (H0) and assumed for the inferential analysis that the sample does not follow a normal distribution, considering the fulfillment of the necessary criteria for parametric tests and after performing the Kolmogorov–Smirnov normality test, whose null hypothesis (H0) is that data are normally distributed, and given that the p-value for the variables under study was p < 0.05. In this regard, non-parametric tests were used. The Mann–Whitney test was used to compare the degree of agreement with climate change statements as a function of the student’s gender and year of schooling, which is a non-parametric test suitable for comparing the distribution functions of an ordinal variable measured in two independent samples. The results show that most of the children expressed concern about the study’s potential problem, and (42%) said they are concerned about climate change. However, they show some doubts and a lack of knowledge about some of the themes, like (33.5%) cannot name only one consequence of climate change. We also found differences between the two study cycles, with children in the 6th grade having a higher average in their understanding of the phenomenon (p = 0.049), as well as the level of education of the parents being positively correlated with a more ecocentric posture, we can see this when we considering the variable parents. We also found that 46.6% of the students say that television is where they learn more about climate change. From the results obtained, we can open new paths for future research and contribute to the definition of policies and educational practices since the school has the responsibility to cooperate in the production of values, attitudes, and pro-environmental behaviors.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-24
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010006
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 7: Assistive Technology Is a Resource for
Building Capabilities, but Is It Just Addressing the Symptoms of
Inequality'
Authors: Emily J Steel
First page: 7
Abstract: Advocacy for assistive technology interventions is compatible with the capabilities approach but is insufficient for addressing the disadvantage experienced by people with disability. This paper reflects on equality as an objective of the capabilities approach arising from economics, and it summarises how assistive technology and accessibility are mechanisms for achieving equality in the contemporary legal context of international disability rights. Research and advocacy for assistive technology have failed to communicate a coherent set of actions for policy makers to adopt. Defined concepts and interventions are required to prioritise and coordinate action to support individuals with assistive technology in parallel with improving collective resources by improving accessibility. Radical change in economic paradigms and societal structures that drive poverty and disability may be required for the effective adoption of assistive technology and closure of capability gaps.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-25
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010007
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 8: Informal Disaster Diplomacy
Authors: Duda, Kelman
First page: 8
Abstract: This paper develops a baseline and definition for informal disaster diplomacy in order to fill in an identified gap in the existing research. The process adopted is a review of the concept of informality, the application of informality to diplomacy, and the application of informality to disasters and disaster science. The two applications of informality are then combined to outline an informal disaster diplomacy as a conceptual contribution to studies where processes of conflict, peace, and disasters interact. Adding informality into disaster diplomacy provides originality and significance as it has not hitherto been fully examined in this context. This exploration results in insights into disaster, peace, and conflict research through two main contributions. First, the paper recognises that informal disaster diplomacy has frequently been present in disaster diplomacy analyses, but has rarely been explicitly presented, accepted, described, theorised, or analysed. Second, by explaining the presence of and contributions from informality, the discussion assists in re-balancing much of disaster diplomacy research with depth from conflict research, peace research, international relations, and political science.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-28
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010008
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 9: Populism in Times of Spectacularization of
the Pandemic: How Populists in Germany and Brazil Tried to ‘Own the
Virus’ but Failed
Authors: Erica Resende, Sybille Reinke de Buitrago
First page: 9
Abstract: Populism has been at the center of recent debates in political science and international relations scholarship. Recognized as a contested concept and framed as a new global phenomenon, populism emerged in the context of liberal democracies, where political actors inflate social antagonisms by putting the people against the elite. Facing a global health crisis where a sense of threat, uncertainty, and emergency has pushed normal politics into the realm of politics of crisis, populists have actively engaged in creating a spectacularization of failure—of science, institutions, experts, governments—vis-à-vis the new Coronavirus, and in creating doubts about and devaluing scientists, experts and governments. Issues such as mask mandates, lockdown measures, compulsory vaccination, medicine effectiveness, and vaccine certificates became politicized. That is, they have been taken from normal politics and made contingent and controversial in order to deepen already existing political divisions and polarization. Exploring the case of Germany and Brazil, we will show how populists tried to use the pandemic to forge divisions between the people and the elite (represented by scientists, health experts, and the press). This conceptual-empirical paper wishes to make a contribution to the debate on how populists brought scientific public health issues into their black-and-white, antagonistic vision of society and hence instrumentalized COVID-19 for their own political gain.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-29
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010009
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 10: Analysis of Profiles of Family Educational
Situations during COVID-19 Lockdown in the Valencian Community (Spain)
Authors: Jesús Miguel Jornet-Meliá, Carlos Sancho-Álvarez, Margarita Bakieva-Karimova
First page: 10
Abstract: Due to the pandemic (COVID-19), the education system in Spain was forced to close for three months, creating an unprecedented situation: improvised distance schooling. Family characteristics and their life situations with Information and Communication Technology use would be aspects to be studied as educational conditioning factors. This paper presents the ways in which a representative sample of families in the Valencian Community (Spain) assumed the education of their children during the lockdown. Mixed methods (quantitative -surveys-/qualitative -focus groups-) are used. Multivariate profiles are studied (k-means cluster) that summarise the life circumstances, represented by composite indicators resulting from the families’ responses to specific items describing their way of life and educational performance. Associated variables, such as demographic or life situation characteristics, are analyzed for each profile. Some gaps (described by indicators that synthesize the functioning of the families) are observed due to life circumstances that correspond not only to vulnerable groups but also to upper-middle-level families.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-30
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010010
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 11: Children’s Vulnerability to Digital
Technology within the Family: A Scoping Review
Authors: Tove Lafton, Halla B. Holmarsdottir, Olaf Kapella, Merike Sisask, Liudmila Zinoveva
First page: 11
Abstract: Children today experience digital engagement from a young age, and information and communication technology (ICT) use impacts how the family, seen as a social–relational structure or network of two or more people, communicates and interacts in daily life. This review broadly encompasses how children and young people are vulnerable regarding digital technology, focusing on diverse aspects of the family. The scoping review includes a final corpus of 100 articles broadly focusing on the term ‘vulnerability’ as it relates to digital technology and the family. The themes identified originate from the articles and describe five domains of vulnerability: (1) extensive Internet use, (2) age and gender, (3) risky online behaviour, (4) social networking as a social lubricant, and (5) parental mediation and care. The studies identified lean heavily on quantitative studies measuring time, whilst depth and context are less visible. Despite a growing body of research, there is a lack of both qualitative studies and research examining the role of technology in the lives of children and young people and how family dynamics are affected in the digital age.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-31
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010011
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 12: Volunteering: A Tool for Social Inclusion
and Promoting the Well-Being of Refugees' A Qualitative Study
Authors: Silje Sveen, Kirsti Sarheim Anthun, Kari Bjerke Batt-Rawden, Laila Tingvold
First page: 12
Abstract: Background: The Norwegian government’s increased expectations that volunteering can be used as a means of integration and the scarce research regarding refugees’ experiences with volunteering is taken as the background for this study. Our purpose is to adopt a salutogenic perspective to investigate whether and how formal volunteering contributes to developing a sense of social inclusion and well-being among refugees in Norway. Methods: Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 volunteers with refugee backgrounds in a semi-rural district in Norway. Stepwise deductive induction was used for analysis. Results: Three themes were identified as a result of the analysis: (1) feeling safer due to increased knowledge regarding cultures, values, and systems and achieving mutual acceptance; (2) feeling more confident when communicating in Norwegian and contributing to society, and (3) feeling more connected via social relations. Conclusions: Our study indicates that participation in volunteering may contribute to social inclusion and that the participants’ resources and volunteering experiences may have a health-promotive impact under certain conditions.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-31
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010012
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 13, Pages 13: Beyond Ageism: A Qualitative Study of
Intersecting Forms of Prejudice towards Retired Older People
Authors: Mandy H. M. Lau
First page: 13
Abstract: Negative stereotypes of older people can have detrimental impacts on their mental health, hence better understanding of ageism is needed to combat ageism more effectively. Nevertheless, existing studies on ageism largely focus on the workplace, while relatively less is known about younger people’s generalizations of older people in everyday neighbourhood contexts. This study investigated young adults’ stereotypes of retired older people in the context of high-density residential neighbourhoods in Hong Kong, through 23 qualitative in-depth interviews. The findings counter the misconception that ageism is less prevalent in Asian societies, while uncovering young adults’ novel interpretations of traditional cultural norms of respect towards older people. The findings also reveal more complex intersections between ageism, classism, and prejudice towards worldview-dissimilar older people. These findings suggest the need to broaden the scope of ageism-reduction interventions, to tackle not only age-related prejudice but other forms of prejudice. Paying closer attention to intersectional forms of prejudice can also facilitate the design of more inclusive intergenerational programs and intergenerational public spaces, both locally and internationally.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-31
DOI: 10.3390/soc13010013
Issue No: Vol. 13, No. 1 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 174: Food Insecurity Levels among University
Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Bebiana Marques, Jorge Azevedo, Isilda Rodrigues, Conceição Rainho, Carla Gonçalves
First page: 174
Abstract: Background: University students may be vulnerable to food insecurity (FI) due to limited financial resources, lower purchasing power, and increasing housing and food costs. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and severity of FI and its associated factors among university students attending a public Portuguese university. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was designed, and data were collected using a self-reported online questionnaire validated for the Portuguese population. The study population included students from all levels of study and the assessments were conducted during the winter semester (December 2021 to February 2022). Chi-square tests were used to determine the associations between FI and sociodemographic variables. Bivariate logistic regression was further used to assess factors associated with FI. Results: From the 284 participants, 17.3% of students were classified as food insecure, consisting of 14.1% with mild FI, 2.1% with moderate FI, and 1.1% with severe FI. FI was significantly associated with nationality (p = 0.028) and the number of unemployed household members (p = 0.001). In comparison to Portuguese students, students of other nationalities were 4.1 times more likely to be food insecure (OR = 4.089, 95% CI:1.057–15.821, p = 0.041). Students in households with a higher number of members (OR = 2.537, 95% CI:1.231–5.230, p = 0.012) and a higher number of unemployed members (OR = 3.192, 95% CI:1.681–6.059, p < 0.001) were also 2.5 and 3.1 times more likely, respectively, to be food insecure. Conclusions: This study provides an insight into the FI levels of university students in a Portuguese university. Further future studies are needed to use objective measures of food insecurity (availability, access, and utilization of food) and explore interventions addressing food insecurity in this population.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-11-26
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060174
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 175: Gender Barriers in Academia: Perceptions of
Inequality in Professional Development among Female Academics in the
Faculty of Education, University of Alicante, Spain
Authors: Andrea Dominguez, Rocío Diez
First page: 175
Abstract: Spanish universities have been implementing gender equality policies for over a decade. The research presented here aims to determine the barriers and challenges perceived by female academics in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alicante. The study used a seven-point Likert-type scale survey consisting of 10 items, which were validated by specialists from different universities. One of the key findings was that often barriers have ceased to be seen as such and are understood instead as a normalized reality. Nevertheless, participants stress that women face greater barriers than men when it comes to reaching top-level positions; highlighting issues such as a lack of mentorship, delayed motherhood, experiencing sexist behavior and comments from male colleagues; and a lack of consensus around measures, such as reconciling work–life balance, as a means of largely eliminating the barriers they face in the university.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-11-28
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060175
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 176: “Polish People Are Starting to Hate
Polish People”—Uncovering Emergent Patterns of Electoral
Hostility in Post-Communist Europe
Authors: Anne-Sophie Neyra
First page: 176
Abstract: Like many societies, Poland seems to be increasingly split by the negative feelings many of its citizens feel towards one another because of the ways in which they vote. This phenomenon is known as electoral hostility. This paper sheds light on what it entails in political and psychological terms. A unique feature of this research is its methodological approach, combining family focus groups and individual interviews of up to 70 participants. This enables us to uncover critical insights into the perceptions and experiences of first-time voters and their families. It informs us of Poland’s fractious and emotional political atmosphere, but also on the way in which electoral hostility shapes lives in Poland. The findings highlight the importance of mirror perceptions (the perception that others’ hatred justifies our own) in shaping electoral hostility as an emotional sequence which makes many voters progressively see their emotions towards opposite voters deteriorate from misunderstanding to frustration, anger, disgust, and ultimately hatred. Finally, the analysis foregrounds the ways in which Polish voters adapt their behavior in accordance with their own preconceived notions of hostility. These preconceptions can manifest themselves via three possible routes: (1) avoidance, (2) aggression, and (3) a sense of doom, deterioration, and hopelessness.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-11-28
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060176
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 177: Analysis of the Links between Social
Intelligence and Coping Strategies of Business Managers in Terms of
Development of Their Potential
Authors: Lucia Zbihlejova, Zuzana Birknerova
First page: 177
Abstract: The social as well as psychological development of individuals’ potential is influenced by many factors, including managerial competences such as social intelligence and ways of coping with stress. This paper presents the links between social intelligence and strategies for coping with demanding situations by business managers, as well as gender differences in the perception of social intelligence and in the preference for coping strategies between male and female business managers. The research sample consisted of 149 business managers, of which 76 (51%) were male and 73 (49%) were female managers. The results were obtained through research based on two methodologies: MESI for the detection of social intelligence, and Brief COPE, designed to identify coping strategies. Based on the research results, it can be concluded that the links between the social intelligence factors and coping strategies, as well as gender differences in the perception of social intelligence and coping strategies by male and female business managers, have been confirmed. Research into the relationship between these two aspects and its results could contribute to the elimination of undesirable factors influencing the work process and to the subsequent development of the psychological, social and work potential of business managers.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-11-29
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060177
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 178: Cultural Competence in Healthcare and
Healthcare Education
Authors: Costas S. Constantinou, Panayiota Andreou, Monica Nikitara, Alexia Papageorgiou
First page: 178
Abstract: Cultural competence in healthcare has been defined in many ways; however, it generally refers to knowledge of social and cultural factors that influence illness and related behaviour, and actions taken to provide the best of quality care considering each patient’s background [...]
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-11-29
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060178
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 179: Is It All about a Science-Informed
Decision' A Quantitative Approach to Three Dimensions of Justice and
Their Relation in the Nuclear Waste Repository Siting Process in Germany
Authors: Lucas Schwarz
First page: 179
Abstract: Nuclear waste management is a contested challenge that lasts for decades. Especially in Germany, the history of the usage of nuclear energy is conflictive and notions of justice are therefore omnipresent in the ongoing site selection process for a nuclear waste repository. Against the background of injustices caused by the deployment of nuclear energy, such as the obligation for current generations to deal with nuclear waste, questions of how to justly deal with nuclear waste and to find a just repository site arise. By conducting a survey among people that participate in the site selection process as well as people living in or representing an area that is still considered suitable, the assessment of different aspects of justice was evaluated. The role of a science-informed site decision without any political bias is considered highly important for a just site selection. Distributional aspects, such as notions of utilitarianism, retribution, or the exemption of environmentally burdened regions are generally not approved but more detailed questions have shown that such notions cannot be dismissed at this early stage of the site selection process. The difference for general agreement can also be observed for intergenerational recognition, as the recognition of future generations is regarded as necessary, but concrete implications (retrievability or enclosure) are assessed ambiguously. Although some factors of justice are assessed more importantly than others, the analysis has shown that the interrelations between the different dimensions of justice are manifold and the argument that one dimension can be substituted for another one is too reductive.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-11-30
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060179
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 180: ‘You Know Them
All’–Trust, Cooperation, and Cultural Volunteering in Rural
Areas in Germany
Authors: Thi Huyen Trang Le, Nina Kolleck
First page: 180
Abstract: (1) Background: Rural areas are characterised by a higher number of volunteers compared to urban centres in Germany. In this context, cultural and arts education is one of the largest voluntary sectors. However, an increasing decline in (cultural) volunteering can be observed. To counteract the decrease, it is important to strengthen regional cooperation and social networks, which are based on trust. The connection between trust, volunteering, and social networks has already been examined, but we still do not fully understand the emergence of trust in the link of cultural education cooperation and networks in rural areas. (2) Methods: A total of 34 semi-structured interviews in combination with egocentric network maps were conducted in four rural regions. The interview data were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed using qualitative content analysis. (3) Results: Four dimensions of trust-building were identified: 1. presence and spatial proximity, 2. multiplexity, 3. third party, and 4. community spirit.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-01
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060180
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 181: Family and Youth Development: Some Concepts
and Findings Linked to The Ecocultural and Acculturation Models
Authors: John W. Berry
First page: 181
Abstract: Much research on migrants has focused on single individuals; however, the large-scale movement of people from one society to another often includes families made up of parents, their children and other relatives. Over time, these families and their members settle into their new society; they experience the process of acculturation and eventually adapt to their new circumstances. The processes of acculturation and adaptation are highly variable across cultural groups, societies of settlement, families and individuals. Sometimes this process is challenging, and may engender disagreements and conflicts among members of a family about how to acculturate. Variations in these patterns allow for the examination of which acculturation experiences and strategies lead to better adaptations. This paper reviews some of the core concepts and frameworks for examining them, and presents some findings on how families and youth acculturate and adapt. It concludes with some suggestions for how to acculturate using the integration strategy to improve family and individual adaptations.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-02
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060181
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 182: The Assistive Technology Passport: A
Resource for Enhancing Capabilities as a Result of Better Access to
Assistive Technology
Authors: Mohamed I. Maalim, Malcolm MacLachlan
First page: 182
Abstract: The value of Assistive Technology in enabling active and equal participation in political, social, economic, and cultural life of people with disabilities, people ageing, and people with chronic conditions is broadly accepted. However, most of the global population who need assistive technology (AT) lack access to it, hence the call for international efforts to improve access to AT. Drawing from the capability approach (CA) developed by Amartya Sen and Martha C. Nussbaum, we explore factors that may hinder or facilitate access to AT. We examine the idea of an AT Passport as an innovative user-centered approach for improving access to AT. We used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore service users’ lived experiences of access to AT and their understanding of the AT Passport concept. We identified the core values of human diversity, equity, access to opportunity, and individual freedom to choose a life of significance to them. Access to AT is central to expanding these capabilities subject to conducive personal and social-contextual issues. The AT Passport could be developed as a capability-enhancing resource by facilitating access to AT, harnessing the diversity of people’s personal, social, and environmental factors to enrich peoples’ capability sets. Further research is required to identify core AT Passport functionalities, usability, and acceptability features.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-02
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060182
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 183: Children and Drug Trafficking in Brazil:
Can International Humanitarian Law Provide Protections for Children
Involved in Drug Trafficking'
Authors: Veridiana Bessa Franciozo Diniz, Jody Lynn McBrien
First page: 183
Abstract: Brazil has seen a rise in children in narco-trafficking due to increased conflicts between factions and local law enforcement. Mainstream media and scholars tend to frame actions of these factions as organized crime, ignoring the generalized violence the communities and children experience. The aim of this study is to conduct a scoping review to consider whether or not Brazilian children involved in drug trafficking can be classified as child soldiers. Drawing from the international definition of Armed Conflict in Article 3 of the Geneva Convention of 1949 and Article 1 of the Additional Protocol II, and comparing situations of realities faced by Brazilian children involved in narco-trafficking, we argue that their reality is analogous to that of child soldiers, as defined by the Paris Principles on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict 2007; thus, going beyond the organized crime definition. In characterizing them as child soldiers, we argue for improving the children’s ability to be reintegrated into society, with the collective help of the international community.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-06
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060183
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 184: Towards Inclusive Higher Education: A
Multivariate Analysis of Social and Gender Inequalities
Authors: Mayte Gómez Marcos, Marcelo Ruiz Toledo, Claudio Ruff Escobar
First page: 184
Abstract: Universities are a key element in preventing any form of discrimination. Therefore, the United Nations 2030 Agenda recognizes their role through goal 4 regarding the quality of education. The 2030 agenda also includes goals 5 and 10, regarding gender equity and reducing inequalities as cross-cutting elements to boost social inclusion. The purpose of this research is to carry out a multivariate and dynamic analysis of the most outstanding universities in the global list of the THE Impact Rankings, which is the only tool that classifies these institutions in terms of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) to study how they are positioned in the indicators related to inequality. We also examine its evolution in the last three years and the relationship between goals 4, 5, and 10. The results show that less than half of the leading universities in sustainability carry out an active social inclusion policy. Additionally, most of them underwent significant changes in their trajectories to approach the indicator of gender equity. The research suggests there is still a long way to go to achieve social justice.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-07
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060184
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 185: Using the Capability Approach to Review the
National Legislative Frameworks for Support Services for Persons with
Disabilities in Four Countries in Asia
Authors: Shivani Gupta, Agnes Meershoek, Luc P. de Witte
First page: 185
Abstract: Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (UN CRPD) requires countries to harmonise their legislative frameworks with it. This paper investigates the national legislative frameworks of four Asian countries to see the extent to which they provide support services in accordance with Article 19 of the UN CRPD. The UN CRPD requires persons with disabilities to have access to and choice and control over support services. To analyse the policy alignment with the UN CRPD, an analytical framework based on the Capability Approach (CA) was developed. The results show that most countries address support services, including assistive devices, only from the perspective of a social security measure for persons with disabilities living in poverty, failing to uphold the rights of those not meeting those eligibility criteria. However, while support services are inseparably linked to social security, they also are a right for persons with disabilities. Therefore, a paradigm shift is required in the approach of support services and the distributive systems of countries, from one that addresses persons with disabilities as those requiring care considered a burden, to one that considers them rights holders with equal opportunities, for which, support services are a pre-requisite.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-08
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060185
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 186: Staff Stress and Interpersonal Conflict in
Secondary Schools—Implications for School Leadership
Authors: Patrick Bruce, Carol Bruce, Victor Hrymak, Niamh Hickey, Patricia Mannix McNamara
First page: 186
Abstract: The importance of school leadership and workplace stress is a recurring theme in education-based research. The literature reports that workplace stress in teaching is a difficult matter to resolve, with mixed outcomes from interventions. The aim of this initial scoping study was to report on the experiences of school leaders with interpersonal conflict (IPC), a known cause of this workplace stress. Accordingly, a sample of twelve school leaders working in Irish post primary schools were recruited to participate in this study using semi-structured interviews. All twelve participants reported experiencing workplace stress and linked other people as a source of this stress. Nine out of twelve had experienced IPC as a school leader. School leaders also noted a fear of reporting workplace stress. Half of the participants reported becoming ill from workplace stress and had taken time off from work. Participants also reported ‘balkanisation’ of like-minded cliques that tried to exert control over other groups. None of the participants expressed confidence in organisational strategies to resolve workplace stress or IPC. This study demonstrates that resolutions for IPC were scant. Further research is needed to conceptualise this phenomenon in the school environment and to support school leaders to effectively manage IPC as a cause of workplace stress.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-09
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060186
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 187: The Post-COVID-19 Era, Fourth Industrial
Revolution, and New Globalization: Restructured Labor Relations and
Organizational Adaptation
Authors: Theodore Koutroukis, Dimos Chatzinikolaou, Charis Vlados, Victoria Pistikou
First page: 187
Abstract: This paper explores the directions of adaptation for socioeconomic organizations in the current global crisis and restructuring. We carry out an integrative and critical review, presenting the main questions—and possible directions of response—concerning how the post-COVID-19 era, the fourth industrial revolution, and new globalization seem to affect contemporary labor relations. We focus on the different levels of their manifestation (macro, meso, and micro levels), emphasizing worsening inequality trends in the work environment and the resulting organizational readaptation that seems to be required nowadays. The restructured labor markets can benefit from the diffusion of institutional innovations based on integrated social partnership schemes at the macro–meso–micro levels. We emphasize organizational adaptation at the microlevel, as the innovation and change management mechanisms it enables, presupposes, and harnesses are imperative for exiting any crisis.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-10
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060187
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 188: House of Golden Records: Portugal’s
Independent Record Stores (1998–2020)
Authors: Paula Guerra
First page: 188
Abstract: In this article, we explore the importance of Portuguese independent record stores by highlighting their role as catalysts of scenes and sociabilities, specifically in the major cities of Lisbon and Porto. We examine how these stores can be understood not only as spaces of consumption, but also as places where rituals are enacted and communities of taste are built. We focus on several levels of analysis: the emergence of a new economic rationale based on curation and collecting, the vinyl revival and the stores’ complex relationship with the technological and digital revolution. The methodology used is ethnographic analysis, with observations carried out in ten stores, complemented by interviews with owners and customers. We demonstrate that record stores began to offer not only objects for purchase, but experiences associated with cultural objects and new cultural practices based on the valorization of the object and craftsmanship, as well as the phenomenon of curation in the cultural world. We then analyse independent record stores as spaces of resistance against the dematerialization of music. The emergence of a new aspirational economy is explored, based on curation and on being in the present, rebuffing the Veblenian rationale of ostentation. In music scenes, curation demands legitimacy, so in the independent record stores studied, curation strategies are developed on three levels: spatial, individual and local. In the third section, we examine independent record stores as spaces of rituals because they combine the existence of a totem, the relevance of a space loaded with symbolic density and the presence of social actors who carry out the rituals in this symbolic space—that is, social actors with subcultural capital in the music scene(s). In the last section, we dissect the relationship between independent record stores and their local context, exploring issues of local curation, in particular, the legitimacy associated with belonging to a specific place.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-14
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060188
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 189: Racial and Ethnic Inequalities, Health
Disparities and Racism in Times of COVID-19 Pandemic Populism in the EU:
Unveiling Anti-Migrant Attitudes, Precarious Living Conditions and
Barriers to Integration in Greece
Authors: Theodoros Fouskas, George Koulierakis, Fotini-Maria Mine, Athanasios Theofilopoulos, Sofia Konstantopoulou, Fabiola Ortega-de-Mora, Dimitrios Georgiadis, Georgia Pantazi
First page: 189
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact particularly on the most vulnerable populations, including immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in the EU. The article depicts the results of the comparative research project “Local Alliance for Integration (LION/GSRI/University of West Attica/81018): Migrant and Refugee integration into local societies in times of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain and Greece” implementing a qualitative methodology. This article analyses via 32 in-depth interviews the experiences of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Greece, the increased barriers towards integration due to racial and ethnic inequalities, precarity and health disparities during this period which function as a means of perpetuating exclusion in five sectors: (a) formal employment, (b) healthcare, (c) formal education and language training, (d) housing and social care/protection, and (e) intercultural coexistence as well as the new rise of a hostile rhetoric and anti-migrant attitudes under a COVID-19 pandemic populism. The unravelling of the narratives revealed perceptions and practices of inequality and uncertainty as well as of hope. The socioeconomic impact of the pandemic on immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees, similarities and differences that occurred and evidence of the ongoing obstacles they encountered during the pandemic are presented. Policy and practice implications include the implementation of prevention measures by the institutions that are tasked with the responsibility to remove hindrances, address unequal treatment, racial/ethnic and social inequalities and raise awareness on multiple ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified vulnerability.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-14
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060189
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 190: Human Resource Professionals’
Responses to Workplace Bullying
Authors: Kelly Rae, Annabelle M. Neall
First page: 190
Abstract: Workplace bullying manifests in significant costs to individuals and organisations. The obligation to resolve such cases largely falls on Human Resource Professionals (HRPs). Little is known, however, about the antecedents to HRPs’ helping behaviour in these scenarios. Using the attribution–emotion model of stigmatisation, this study explored how HRPs are influenced in their response to workplace bullying. Australian HRPs (n = 84) were assigned to one of four experimental vignette scenarios, differing in target (approach/avoidance coping) and perpetrator (effort vs. non-effortful response) behaviour. The results revealed that targets who fail to act to resolve situations of bullying were regarded as more responsible and less likely to receive help, but HRPs were more sympathetic and inclined to help non-responsive perpetrators when the targets also avoided the situation. The findings indicate two key areas for training and development that could improve HRPs evaluations and management of workplace bullying.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-15
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060190
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 191: An Image-Based Approach to Measuring Human
Values
Authors: Valters Kaže, Gatis Bolinskis, Jevgenijs Kurovs
First page: 191
Abstract: This study aims to explore the potential of using a novel image-based approach to measuring individuals’ human values. This could result in higher-quality measurements by circumventing the drawbacks of the text-based methods prone to social biases affecting the truthful interpretation of complex verbal constructions and a low respondent engagement due to lengthy interviews. A review of the academic literature on image-based research into human values is performed and validated by our own empirical research on a representative sample of the Latvian population to compare the results of our image-based approach with the text-based approach. Our findings suggest that currently, most image-based methodologies for measuring the values and motivations of individuals lack structure and verified application. There is no precise and widely accepted methodology. However, a well-developed image-based research methodology has the potential to fill in this gap. The results confirm that an individual’s values can be identified and structured into a personal hierarchy by applying both text-based methods (asking respondents to evaluate written statements) and image-based methods (evaluation of selected images representing specific values). Our study employs a new image-based approach that seems to offer a more straightforward and more precise way of measuring values compared to the text-based approach.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-15
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060191
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 192: Leadership Styles, Organizational Climate,
and School Climate Openness from the Perspective of Slovak Vocational
School Teachers
Authors: Silvia Barnová, Silvia Treľová, Slávka Krásna, Eleonóra Beňová, Lívia Hasajová, Gabriela Gabrhelová
First page: 192
Abstract: The aim of the proposed study is to present the partial results of a research study on the organizational climate in vocational schools as perceived by teachers. Special attention is paid to the applied leadership style by school leaders, and the existence of associations between school leaders’ and teachers’ behaviour in schools. Organizational climate was measured by the standardized OCDQ-RS adapted to the conditions of the Slovak educational environment on the sample of 474 vocational schoolteachers. The scale measures five dimensions: Supportive principal behaviour; Directive principal behaviour; Engaged teacher behaviour; Frustrated teacher behaviour; and Intimate teacher behaviour, allowing for calculation of the Index of school climate openness, which is an indicator of the quality of the organizational climate. The obtained results confirmed the existence of associations between teacher and principal behaviour and school climate openness. It can be assumed that the applied leadership style in an institution can affect the quality of interpersonal relationships and teacher behaviour both in positive and negative directions. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to building favourable organizational climate in schools, which represents a challenge for school leaders and educational systems that should provide school leaders with sufficient learning opportunities in the field of school leadership.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-17
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060192
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 193: Digitalization of Educational
Organizations: Evaluation and Improvement Based on DigCompOrg Model
Authors: Ángel David Fernández-Miravete, Paz Prendes-Espinosa
First page: 193
Abstract: The digitalization of educational organizations is a political and social priority at European level and the model which is the basis for the analysis is DigCompOrg as part of the European Framework of Competences. This article summarizes the results of a longitudinal evaluative research (from 2018 until 2022) around the digitalization process of a compulsory secondary education center. We have applied a mixed method and an evaluative research design based on the use of questionnaires, focus groups and a research diary. This article is focused on data from the last evaluation (2021–2022) where the participants are 26 members of the management team, 46 teachers and 374 students. Our results show that progress has been made in the digitalization process, especially in some areas such as leadership, infrastructure/equipment and pedagogy/support/resources, which have obtained high scores. On the other hand, the data also show other areas where there is more scope for improvement, such as collaboration, digital networks and also innovative assessment practices. This research can be valuable as an example of a good practice around the digitalization of institutions of formal education.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-18
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060193
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
- Societies, Vol. 12, Pages 194: Individual Attitudes towards Immigration in
Turkey: Evidence from the European Social Survey
Authors: Esra Karapınar Kocağ, Simonetta Longhi
First page: 194
Abstract: One of the reasons why people hold anti-immigration attitudes is the fear that immigrants “rob jobs” of natives and decrease wages. However, academic literature finds that this is not the case. Nevertheless, in various countries, people still tend to oppose immigration. Opposition to immigration was particularly high in Turkey in the early 2000s, where almost half of the respondents to the Turkish part of the European Social Survey reported they would prefer to allow no immigrants into Turkey. This is although immigration to Turkey is very low. Turkey is becoming an important destination country as conflicts in neighboring countries force many people to flee. Therefore, understanding the opposition to immigration in Turkey is crucial for managing age immigration flows efficiently. For this purpose, we investigate the determinants of attitudes towards immigration in Turkey using the European Social Survey and Turkish population census data. The findings of the ordered probit model reveal that Turkish people tend to hold more negative attitudes towards immigration where the regional share of immigrants is higher. The little chance of contact with immigrants in Turkey through a lower share of immigrants compared to other European countries seems to influence natives’ pro-immigrant attitudes negatively.
Citation: Societies
PubDate: 2022-12-19
DOI: 10.3390/soc12060194
Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 6 (2022)
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