Search results for: patriarchal themes

Authors: Bolanle Deborah Motilewa, E. K. Rowland Worlu, Gbenga Mayowa Agboola, Ayodele Maxwell Olokundun

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Several studies have proposed a one-size fit all approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices, such that CSR as it applies to developed countries is adapted to developing countries, ignoring the differing institutional environments (such as the regulative, economic, social and political environments), which affects the profitability and practices of businesses operating in them. CSR as it applies to filling institutional gaps in developing countries, was categorized into four themes: environmental protection, product and service innovation, social innovation and local cluster development. Based on the four themes, the study employed a qualitative research approach through the use of interviews and review of available publications to study the influence of institutional environments on CSR practices engaged in by three renewable energy firms operating in Nigeria. Over the course of three 60-minutes sessions with the top management and selected workers of the firms, four propositions were made: regulatory environment influences environmental protection practice of Nigerian renewable firms, economic environment influences product and service innovation practice of Nigerian renewable energy firms, the social environment impacts on social innovation in Nigerian renewable energy firms, and political environment affects local cluster development practice of Nigerian renewable energy firms. It was also observed that beyond institutional environments, the international exposure of an organization’s managers reflected in their approach to CSR. This finding on the influence of international exposure on CSR practices creates an area for further study. Insights from this paper are set to help policy makers in developing countries, CSR managers, and future researchers.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, renewable energy firms, institutional environment, social entrepreneurship

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Authors: Alison Brown

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Through stories, children make sense of their world, see themselves through the eyes of another, and process emotions and lived experiences in a non-threatening and indirect manner. Building on research around the use of narrative techniques with adults and families, this research looked directly at the use of narratives as a therapeutic technique with children in counseling. Based on individual therapy sessions with children over a six-year period, this work of collective case studies tells the story of a practice incorporating children’s narratives, of children’s experiences in writing and sharing their narratives, and of the clinical impact of the use of narratives with children. Not all stories were narratives of success or happiness. Children documented their fears and anger as well as their achievements and hope for the future. What emerged through this study was an awareness of recurring themes in the way children responded to the narrative process and in the benefits and limitations of story writing with children. Consistent with previous studies focusing on narrative work with adults and families, the use of narratives with children provided opportunities for healing, acceptance, developing greater understanding, externalizing, and re-authoring a preferred future. In terms of the children’s experiences in writing and sharing their narratives, consistent themes emerged again, with many children finding the experience cathartic and liberating, empowering and hopeful, but most importantly, an opportunity that allowed them to feel and understand that they were not alone. Whilst a small collection of case studies tells the stories of a limited number of children, it is hoped that this research provides both a model and inspiration for others to explore similar uses of narratives with children. As a greater number of children’s narratives are created, the potential to share and benefit from the many rich stories and experiences of other children becomes more of a reality. Across cultures, economic and social settings, rural and urban environments, and varying family structures, it is important that we hear the voices of our children – ‘In their own words’.

Keywords: narrative therapy children counselling, social, emotional, zone of proximal development, scaffolding

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Authors: Zafar Ali

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The aim of this research is to highlight problems that are faced by women at the hands of men. Males in Pakistani society have power and use this power for the exploitation of women. Further, the purpose of the study is to make societies like Pakistan and especially the young generation, aware and enable them to resist such issues, and the role of discourse in this regard is to minimize its political and social repercussions. The study finds out different discursive techniques and manipulative language used in the short story to construct gender identity. The study also investigates socio-economic roles in the construction of gender identity. This study has been completed with the help of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) principles. CDA principles have been applied to the text of the selected short story Saleema from Daniyal Mueenuddin’s collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders. Related passages, structures, expressions, and text are analyzed from the point of view of CDA, especially Norman Fairclough’s CDA approach. It was found from the analysis that women have no identity of their own in patriarchal societies like Pakistan. Further, it was found women are mistreated, and they have a very limited and defined role in Pakistan. They cannot go beyond the limit defined to them by men.

Keywords: gender issues, resourceful groups, CDA, exploitation

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Authors: Amber Salamanca-Blazek

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This paper explores the connection between gender ideology and the legality of same-sex marriage cross-nationally. The author questions what role gender ideology plays in the cultural shift concerning same-sex marriage currently underway around the world and the variations in the legal treatment of same-sex marriage at the national level. Existing literature on gender, gender ideology, the role of gender ideology in traditional and same-sex marriage, and the extent to which this connection has previously been examined is explored. Also, the author explores the relationship between gender ideology and the legality of same-sex marriage in three countries with the differing legality of same-sex marriage - The United States, where same-sex marriage was legalized in 2015, Australia, where same-sex marriage was legalized in 2017, and Iran, where the death penalty for homosexuality still exists. A comparison of gender ideology frameworks and an analysis of the political rhetoric surrounding same-sex marriage in each country are performed. It is argued that the important role of gender ideology in the legality of same-sex marriage has been greatly ignored and is in need of increased attention to assist gay rights activists in their framework. The link of gender ideology and patriarchal authority between the gay rights movement and the women’s rights movement are subsequently discussed. The author argues that because of this linkage between movements, there is a necessity for joint frameworks. Suggestions for future research are also provided.

Keywords: gender ideology, same-sex marriage, same-sex marriage legality, women's rights movement

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Authors: Fung Sze Wai Veera, Peter W. Ferretto

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Gender functions as a principle in organizing society based on the cultural meanings given to males and females. It is an essential component in constructing the spatial reality, one that is in most cases in favor of men’s needs and disregards that of women’s. Similar to other minorities in China, men of the Dong community hold the primary position in policymaking, moral standards, social values, and, furthermore, the building of the physical environment. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the residential architecture of Dong through the lens of gender. Specifically, it examines how the patriarchal practice of Dong is manifested in terms of the spatial organization, the architectural feature, and the construction process of Dong houses in the southern dialect areas. While the residential architecture of Dong has been extensively researched, the role of gender culture in designing and constructing it deserves more research attention. Ultimately, the objective of this study is to challenge the notion of gender-inclusive design in the rural China context while opening up a cross-disciplinary discussion concerning Chinese minority architecture and gender studies.

Keywords: Dong minority residential architecture, gender study, built environment, male-dominated society, gender-inclusive design

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Authors: Harini Aiyer, Kalyani Premkumar

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Health professionals are the key players who can help achieve the goals of population health equity. Social accountability (SA) of health professionals emphasizes their role in addressing issues of equity in the population they serve. Therefore, health professional education must focus on instilling SA in health professionals. There is limited literature offering a longitudinal perspective of how students sustain the practice of SA in later life. This project aims to identify the drivers of social accountability among physicians. This study employed an exploratory mixed methods design (QUAL-> Quant) to explore alumni perceptions and experiences. The qualitative data, collected via 20 in-depth, semi-structured interviews, provided an understanding of the perceptions of the alumni regarding the influence of their undergraduate learning environment on their SA. This was followed by a quantitative portion -a questionnaire designed from the themes identified from the qualitative data. Emerging themes from the study highlighted community-centered education and a focus on social and preventative medicine in both curricular and non-curricular facilitators of SA among physicians. Curricular components included opportunities to engage with the community, such as roadside clinics, community-orientation programs, and postings at a secondary hospital. Other facilitators that emerged were the faculty leading by example, a subsidized fee structure, and a system that prepared students for practice in rural and remote areas. The study offers a fresh perspective and dimension on how SA is addressed by medical schools. The findings may be adapted by medical schools to understand how their own SA initiatives have been sustained among physicians over the long run.

Keywords: community-based work, global health, health education, medical education, providing health in remote areas, social accountability

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Authors: Rehana Khan

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Background: The study investigates the experiences of Tiger Teams within the Sydney Local Health District during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aim: The aims were to understand the experiences of the Tiger Team members, to evaluate the effectiveness of Tiger Teams, and to elicit any learnings for future implementation of Tiger Teams in a similar context. Methods: Tiger Team members who worked from March 2020 to January 2022 were approached, with 23 members agreeing to participate in the study. Individual interviews were undertaken by a researcher on a virtual platform. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Saturation was deemed to have been reached when no new themes or subthemes arose within the final three interviews. Results: Four themes emerged: diversity worked well in Tiger Teams; fear of the unknown and challenging conversations were the main challenges of Tiger Teams; improved use of resources and more structure around the strategy of the Tiger Team model would help in future implementations; and Sydney Local Health District’s response to the pandemic was uniformly considered effective in keeping the community safe. In relation to Sydney Local Health District’s response in future pandemics, participants suggested having a pool of staff in readiness to undertake Tiger Team duties when required; prioritise staff welfare at all levels of involvement during a pandemic; maintaining transparent communication and relationship building between Executive level, Tiger Team members and clinical floor level in relation to decision making; and improve documentation, including evaluations of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Implications: The study provides constructive insights into the experiences of Tiger Team members, and these findings will help inform future planning for surge and secondment of staff in public health emergencies.

Keywords: Tiger Team, pandemic response, future planning, COVID-19

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Authors: Leila Mohammadi

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This article discusses the technology of social egg freezing in the context of existing literature on medicalization, motherhood, and marketing. The social egg freezing technique offers to preserve some healthy eggs for age-related fertility decline in the future. The study draws on a qualitative analysis and participants observation of media publications, including text, images, or audio-visual about social egg freezing technology and postpone maternity, to identify and compare their communication strategies from a framing theory perspective. Using 442 surveys and 158 pieces of publications in Spanish media, this study demonstrated that the narratives used by these publications and their structures follow a marketing objective to medicalize motherhood. Within these frames, the market of preserving fertility is cast to show compassion and concern about women. In the opinion of participants, egg freezing technology liberates, empowers, and automates women from patriarchal control, and also gives them the responsibility of taking care of their body and reproductive system. This study showed this opinion is significantly influenced by media and their communication strategies supported by providers of this business.

Keywords: motherhood, social egg freezing, medicalization, marketing, media frames, fertility, assisted reproductive system

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Authors: Diana Kwok

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Introduction: There is a rising concern on the educational needs of school guidance teachers, counselors, and sex educators to work effectively with students from multicultural groups, such as racial minorities, gender minorities, sexual minorities, and disability groups etc., and to respect cultural diversities. A specialized training model, the multicultural framework based on contact theory is recognized as necessary training model for professional training programs. Methodology: While the major focus of this project is on improving teaching and learning in teacher training courses within the department of Special Education and Counselling, it specifically aims to enhance the cultural competence of 102 participants enrolled in counseling and sexuality education courses by integrating the following teaching and learning strategies: 1) Panel presentation; 2) Case studies; 3) Experiential learning. Data sources from the participants consisted of the following: (a) questionnaires (MCKAS and ATLG) administered in classes; (b) weekly reflective journals, and c) focus group interviews with panel members. The focus group interviews with panel members were documented. Qualitatively, the weekly reflections were content analyzed. The presentation in this specific conference put focus on themes we found from qualitative content analysis of weekly reflective journals from 102 participants. Findings: Content analysis had found the following preliminary emergent themes: Theme I) Cultural knowledge and challenges to personal limitation. Students had gained a new perspective that specific cultural knowledge involved unique values and worldview. Awareness of limitation of counsellors is very important after actively acquiring the cultural knowledge. Theme 2 - Observation, engagement and active learning. Through the sharing and case studies, as well as visits to the communities, students recognized that observation and listening to the needs of cultural group members were the essential steps before taking any intervention steps. Theme 3 - Curiosity and desire for further inter-group dialogue. All students expressed their desire, curiosity, and motivation to have further inter-group dialogue in their future work settings. Theme 4: Experience with teaching and learning strategies. Students shared their perspectives on how teaching and learning strategies had facilitated their acquisition of cultural competence. Results of this analysis suggests that diverse teaching and learning strategies based on contact perspective had stimulated their curiosity to re-examine their values and motivated them to acquire cultural knowledge relevant to the cultural groups. Acknowledgment: The teaching and learning project was funded by the Teaching and Development Grant, Hong Kong Institute of Education (Project Number T0142).

Keywords: cultural competence, Chinese teacher students, teaching and learning, contacts

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Authors: Lai-Fen Yang

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In this increasingly visual world, how can we best decipher and understand the many ways that our everyday lives are organized around looking practices and the many images we encounter each day? Indeed, how we interact with and interpret visual images is a basic component of human life. Today, however, we are living in one of the most artificial visual and image-saturated cultures in human history, which makes understanding the complex construction and multiple social functions of visual imagery more important than ever before. Themes regarding our experience of a visually pervasive mediated culture, here, termed visual spectacle.

Keywords: visual culture, contemporary, images, literacy

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Authors: James Funsho Tope

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Being the prolific writer that he is, Gimba’s collection of Short Stories, A Toast in the Cemetery, brings out the themes of decay and corruption in the urban setting through the use of images, symbols, setting and character. Gimba seeks through these media to reveal the decay and corruption in the society. Gimba uses aesthetics to convey his message, thus making a call for change in the fabrics of society.

Keywords: corruption, decay, character, setting, symbolism, images, society

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Authors: Hossein Ghaedamini, Salman Farahbakhsh, Alireza Amirbeigi, Zahra Saghafi, Salman Daneshi, Alireza Ghaedamini

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Background: Assessing the challenges of clinical education of medical students is one of the most important and sensitive parts of medical education. The aim of this study was to investigate the views and experiences of Kerman medical students on the factors that facilitate and inhibit the quality of clinical education. Materials and Methods: This research was qualitative and used a phenomenological approach. The study population included medical interns of Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 1400. The method of data collection was in-depth interviews with participants. Data were encoded and analyzed by Claizey stepwise model. Results: First, about 540 primary codes were extracted in the form of two main themes (facilitators and inhibitors) and 10 sub-themes including providing motivational models and creating interest in interns, high scientific level of professors and the appropriate quality of their teaching, the use of technology in the clinical education process, delegating authority and freedom of action and more responsibilities to interns, inappropriate treatment of some officials, professors, assistants and department staff with their interns, inadequate educational programming, lack of necessary cooperation and providing inappropriate treatment by clinical training experts for interns, inadequate evaluation method in clinical training for interns, poor quality mornings, the unefficiency of grand rounds, the inappropriate way of evaluating clinical training for interns, the lack of suitable facilities and conditions with the position of a medical intern, and the hardwork of some departments were categorized. Conclusion: Clinical education is always mixed with special principles and subtleties, and special attention to facilitators and inhibitors in this process has an important role in improving its quality.

Keywords: clinical education, medical students, qualitative study, education

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Authors: Lynn Brunet

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In 2019 the author published a book-length study examining Jung’s Red Book. This study consisted of a close reading of each of the chapters in Liber Novus, focussing on the fantasies themselves and Jung’s accompanying paintings. It found that the plots, settings, characters and symbolism in each of these fantasies are not entirely original but remarkably similar to those found in some of the higher degrees of Continental Freemasonry. Jung was the grandson of his namesake, C.G. Jung (1794–1864), who was a Freemason and one-time Grand Master of the Swiss Masonic Lodge. The study found that the majority of Jung’s fantasies are very similar to those of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, practiced in Switzerland during the time of Jung’s childhood. It argues that the fantasies appear to be memories of a series of terrifying initiatory ordeals conducted using spurious versions of the Masonic rites. Spurious Freemasonry is a term that Masons use for the ‘irregular’ or illegitimate use of the rituals and are not sanctioned by the Order. Since the 1980s there have been multiple reports of ritual trauma amongst a wide variety of organizations, cults and religious groups that psychologists, counsellors, social workers, and forensic scientists have confirmed. The abusive use of Masonic rites features frequently in these reports. This initial study allows a reading of The Red Book that makes sense of the obscure references, bizarre scenarios and intense emotional trauma described by Jung throughout Liber Novus. It suggests that Jung appears to have undergone a cruel initiatory process as a child. The author is currently examining the extra material found in Jung’s Black Books and the results are confirming the original discoveries and demonstrating a number of aspects not covered in the first publication. These include the complex layering of ancient gods and belief systems in answer to Jung’s question, ‘In which underworld am I?’ It demonstrates that the majority of these ancient systems and their gods are discussed in a handbook for the Scottish Rite, Morals and Dogma by Albert Pike, but that the way they are presented by Philemon and his soul is intended to confuse him rather than clarify their purpose. This new study also examines Jung’s soul’s question ‘I am not a human being. What am I then?’ While further themes that emerge from the Black Books include his struggle with vanity and whether he should continue creating his ‘holy book’; and a comparison between Jung’s ‘mystery plays’ and examples from the Theatre of the Absurd. Overall, it demonstrates that Jung’s experience, while inexplicable in his own time, is now known to be the secret and abusive practice of initiation of the young found in a range of cults and religious groups in many first world countries. This paper will present a brief outline of the original study and then examine the themes that have emerged from the extra material found in the Black Books.

Keywords: C. G. Jung, the red book, the black books, masonic themes, trauma and dissociation, initiation rites, secret societies

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Authors: Tecla Rita Karendi, Andy Cons Matata

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Although before and at the advent of colonial administration, several women such as Mekatilili wa Menza and Muthoni Nyanjiru took up leadership positions in resisting the colonial administration. Kenya is generally considered a patriarchal society. Many women who tried to take up positions of leadership in postcolonial Kenya, such as the Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, were branded as prostitutes or generally immoral women. However, the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, has since made a huge impact not only in the area of affirmative action but also in various aspects of the feminist legal theory such as the constitutional requirement that no more than two-thirds of the members of the elective or appointive bodies should be of the same gender. This favours women who are often sidelined in elective posts such as parliament or county assemblies and state-appointed posts in the parastatals and commissions. The constitution also recognizes the right to abortion, which was outrightly outlawed in the independence constitution. Certain practices adverse to women’s health, such as wife inheritance, female genital mutilation, and property rights, are either outlawed or framed to recognized women’s rights. The education of the girl-child is also now considered a priority, unlike in the past. Despite these developments, a lot remains to be done.

Keywords: feminist legal theory, constitution of Kenya, 2010, affirmative action, leadership

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Authors: Akanksha Lohmore, Devanshu Arya, Preeti Kapur

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Rarely does the human mind look at the positive fallout of highly negative events. Positive psychology attempts to emphasize on the strengths and positives for human well-being. The present study examines the underpinning socio-cognitive factors of the protest movements regarding the gang rape case of December 16th, 2012 through the lens of positive psychology. A gamut of negative emotions came to the forum globally: of anger, shame, hatred, violence, death penalty for the perpetrators, amongst other equally strong. In relation to this incident, a number of questions can be raised. Can such a heinous crime have some positive inputs for contemporary society? What is it that has held people to protests for long even when they see faded lines of success in view? This paper explains the constant feeding of protests and continuation of movements by the robust model of Collective Hope by Snyder, a phenomenon unexplored by social psychologists. In this paper, mixed method approach was undertaken. Results confirmed the interaction of various socio-psychological factors that imitated the Snyders model of collective hope. Emergence of major themes was: Sense of Agency, Sense of Worthiness, Social Sharing and Common Grievances and Hope of Collective Efficacy. Statistical analysis (correlation and regression) showed significant relationship between media usage and occurrence of these themes among participants. Media-communication processes and educational theories for development of citizenship behavior can find implications from these results. Theory development as indicated by theorists working in the area of Social Psychology of Protests can be furthered by the direction of research.

Keywords: agency, collective, hope, positive psychology, protest, social media

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Authors: Ivy Angelique Malit, Marion Nicole Dela Vega, Marjorie Mae Mendoza

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Death practices and rituals of the Philippines is rich with facts about our history mostly on our beliefs of the afterlife before the arrival of the western culture which is still being practiced by the indigenous people of the Philippines. The death practices and rituals are acts of showing the inner thoughts, and feelings towards the person who died. The meanings behind those practices and rituals become the reason why the indigenous people still treasure these death practices and rituals as a part of their culture. This study seeks to know the experiences of the death practices and rituals of one of the Indigenous groups in Apayao, the Isnegs and the meaning of those experiences. The researchers aimed to look at it on a psychological lens. In which the researchers aim (1) to know their experiences of their death practices from the perspective of their thoughts, feelings and actions, and (2) to seek the meaning behind their death rituals. The design used in the research is a qualitative design and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The participants were gathered by using purposive sampling. The researchers gathered the data from a form of a semi-structured interview with guide questions. The researchers used Thematic Analysis to analyze the verbatim transcriptions from the interview. The experiences of death practices and rituals of the Isneg people have been presented in the aspects of their thoughts, feelings and behavior. The experiences were presented with 7 superordinate themes namely, (1) Refusal of Reality (2) Feelings of mixed emotions (3) Oblivious Acts of the participants (4) Conflict with self and culture (5) Negative thinking of the participants (6) Process of Acceptance (8) Act of Love. The make meaning behind the death practices and rituals of the Isneg people have been presented with 2 superordinate themes, (1) Act of Respect and (2) Act of Loyalty. The results of the research show that the experiences and meaning behind their death practices and burials were being based more by their own beliefs. In their culture, which has been passed through by their ancestors and becomes the foundation of their beliefs and their newly found religion which was introduced by the travelling missionaries. Doing those death practices and rituals is their way to show their affections, like respect and loyalty towards the person who died.

Keywords: death practices, interpretative phenomenological analysis, isneg people, rituals, theory of grieving

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Authors: C. Peeper McDonald

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Despite the multiracial population growing exponentially in the world and especially in the U.S., there continues to be a lack of culturally responsive research addressing the unique experiences and needs of this population, especially within counseling and counselor education settings. It is evident that their unique racial microaggressive experiences need to be better understood within the field of professional counseling to not only underscore competent training and practice but also culturally responsive training and practice. The participants of this study were 13 (n=13) individuals from the United States who identified as multiracial and said they had a microaggressive experience with either their counselor or counseling professor. Data were gathered through one-on-one, semi-structured interviews. The analysis employed phenomenological methods based on the transcendental approach, resulting in themes that encapsulated the core of the participants' experiences, including multiracial microaggressions that are derogatory and perpetuate privilege/oppression; counselors and their training programs should embody safety, support, attentiveness, inter-personal sensitivity, and awareness of the impact on others; microaggressions negatively affect the counseling relationship and outcomes; awareness surrounding the emotional impact of microaggressions; strength-based responses and future responses to microaggressions; and advocacy and suggestions for counselors and counselor educators. These themes are discussed in detail, and recommendations for researchers, counselor educators, and professional counselors to improve training and practice are provided. This U.S. study's insights into the Multiracial experience of microaggressions within the mental health profession can inform global mental health practices by highlighting the need for culturally responsive counseling that recognizes and addresses racial nuances. Such knowledge is transferable to international settings where multiracial populations may also encounter similar challenges, aiding in the development of global standards for culturally competent counseling practices.

Keywords: culturally responsive training and practice, mental health, microaggressions, multiracial

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Authors: Mohammed Ibahrine

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One of the prominent trends in the Saudi digital space in recent years is the boom in the use of social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. As of 2016, Twitter has over six million users in Saudi Arabia. In the wake of the recent political instability in the Arab region, digital platforms have gained importance for both, personal and professional purposes. A conspicuously observable tide of social activism has risen, with Twitter playing an increasingly important role. One of their primary goals is to enforce the logic of public visibility, social mobility and civic participation in the Saudi society. Saudi women use Twitter to disseminate specific and relevant information and promote their social agenda that remained unrecognized and invisible in the mainstream media and thus in the public sphere. The question is to what extent does Twitter empower Saudi women or reinforces their social immobility and invisibility? This paper focuses on three kinds of empowerment through Twitter in the religiously conservative and socially patriarchal Saudi society. It traces and analyses how Saudi female hashtactivism is increasingly becoming a site of struggle over visibility, mobility, control, and civic participation. The underlying thesis is that Twitter makes a contribution to the development of participatory culture, especially in the lives of women.

Keywords: civic, hashtactivism, Saudi Arabia, Twiterverse

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Authors: Mikael Soini, Kari Björn

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Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (MUAS) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Degree Programme provides full-time Bachelor-level undergraduate studies. ICT Degree Programme has seven different major options; this paper focuses on Health Technology. In Health Technology, a significant curriculum change in 2014 enabled transition from fragmented curriculum including dozens of courses to a new integrated curriculum built around three 30 ECTS themes. This paper focuses especially on the second theme called Customer Oriented Software Applications. From students’ point of view, the goal of this theme is to get familiar with existing health related ICT solutions and systems, understand business around health technology, recognize social and healthcare operating principles and services, and identify customers and users and their special needs and perspectives. This also acts as a background for health related web application development. Built web application is tested, developed and evaluated with real users utilizing versatile user centred development methods. This paper presents experiences obtained from the first implementation of Customer Oriented Software Applications theme. Student feedback was gathered with two questionnaires, one in the middle of the theme and other at the end of the theme. Questionnaires had qualitative and quantitative parts. Similar questionnaire was implemented in the first theme; this paper evaluates how the theme-based integrated curriculum has progressed in Health Technology major by comparing results between theme 1 and 2. In general, students were satisfied for the implementation, timing and synchronization of the courses, and the amount of work. However there is still room for development. Student feedback and teachers’ observations have been and will be used to develop the content and operating principles of the themes and whole curriculum.

Keywords: engineering education, integrated curriculum, learning and teaching methods, learning experience

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Authors: M. D. Antoine

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Despite the widespread use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for autistic children, little is known about the communication flow between the different parties involved in autism care (e.g., parents/caregivers, conventional providers, alternative practitioners). This study aimed to describe how communication occurs through the first year following an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis to identify challenges and potential barriers to communication within the healthcare system in Ottawa, Canada. From an ecological perspective, we collected qualitative data through 12 semi-structured interviews with six parents/caregivers, three conventional providers (e.g., family doctor, neurodevelopmental pediatrician, psychologist), and three alternative practitioners (e.g., naturopath, occupational therapist, speech and language pathologist) operating in Ottawa. We interpreted the data using thematic analysis. Findings revealed communication challenges between the parents/caregivers and conventional providers while they experience better communication flow with fewer challenges in alternative care settings. However, parents/caregivers are the only links between the health professionals of both streams. From the five contexts examined: organizational, interpersonal, media, cultural, and political-legal, we found four themes (provider knowledge, care integration, flexible care, and time constraints) underlining specific barriers to communication flow between the parties involved in the care of autistic children. The increasing interest in alternative medicine is forcing changes in the healthcare system. Communications occur outside the norms making openings for better communication and information-sharing increasingly essential. Within the identified themes in the current study, the necessity for better communication between all parties involved in the care of autistic children is evident. More ASD and CAM-related training for providers would support effective parent/caregiver-provider communication. The findings of the current study contribute to a better understanding of the role of communication in the care management of autism, which has implications for effective autism care.

Keywords: alternative medicine, autism care management, autism spectrum disorder, conventional medicine, parent-provider communication

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Authors: Maria L. Ulloa, Ruth M. Crawford, Stephanie Kelly, Joey Domdom

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In recent decades health and social service delivery have become more collaborative and interdisciplinary. Emerging trends suggest the need for an integrative and interprofessional approach to meet the challenges faced by professionals navigating the complexities of health and social service practice environments. Terms such as multidisciplinary practice, interprofessional collaboration, interprofessional education and transprofessional practice have become the common language used across a range of social services and health providers in western democratic systems. In Aotearoa New Zealand, one example of an interprofessional collaborative approach to curriculum design and delivery in health and social service is the development of an innovative Masters of Professional Practice programme. This qualification is the result of a strategic partnership between two tertiary institutions – Whitireia New Zealand (NZ) and the Wellington Institute of Technology (Weltec) in Wellington. The Master of Professional Practice programme was designed and delivered from the perspective of a collaborative, interprofessional and relational approach. Teachers and students in the programme come from a diverse range of cultural, professional and personal backgrounds and are engaged in courses using a blended learning approach that incorporates the values and pedagogies of interprofessional education. Students are actively engaged in professional practice while undertaking the programme. This presentation describes the themes of exploratory qualitative formative observations of engagement in class and online, student assessments, student research projects, as well as qualitative interviews with the programme teaching staff. These formative findings reveal the development of critical practice skills around the common themes of the programme: research and evidence based practice, education, leadership, working with diversity and advancing critical reflection of professional identities and interprofessional practice. This presentation will provide evidence of enhanced learning experiences in higher education and learning in multi-disciplinary contexts.

Keywords: diversity, exploratory research, interprofessional education, professional identity

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Authors: Mohammad H. Yarmohammadian, Masoud Ferdosi, Abbas Haghshenas, Fatemeh Rezaei

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Surgical procedures aim at preserving human life and improving quality of their life. However, there are many potential risk sources that can cause serious harm to patients. For centuries, managers believed that technical competence of a surgeon is the only key to a successful surgery. But over the past decade, risks are considered in terms of process-based safety procedures, teamwork and inter departmental communication. Aims: This study aims to determine how the process- biased surgical risk management should be done in terms of project management tool named ABS (Activity Breakdown Structure). Settings and Design: This study was conducted in two stages. First, literature review and meeting with professors was done to determine principles and framework of surgical risk management. Next, responsible teams for surgical patient journey were involved in following meeting to develop the process- biased surgical risk management. Methods and Material: This study is a qualitative research in which focus groups with the inductive approach is used. Sampling was performed to achieve representativeness through intensity sampling biased on experience and seniority. Analysis Method used: context analysis of interviews and consensus themes extracted from FDG meetings discussion was the analysis tool. Results: we developed the patient journey process in 5 main phases, 24 activities and 108 tasks. Then, responsible teams, transposition and allocated places for performing determined. Some activities and tasks themes were repeated in each phases like patient identification and records review because of their importance. Conclusions: Risk management of surgical departments is significant as this facility is the hospital’s largest cost and revenue center. Good communication between surgical team and other clinical teams outside surgery department through process- biased perspective could improve safety of patient under this procedure.

Keywords: risk management, activity breakdown structure (ABS), surgical department, medical sciences

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Authors: Invernizzi Agostina

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From the 1930s, it is possible to find a phenomenon that persists through to the sixties in the national filmographies of different southern latitudes (Spain, Mexico, Argentina): the proliferation of ensemble films of groups of women who serve base to elaborate broader social conflicts and to construct imaginaries of the nation and of genders. This paper will address the modes of figuration of some affective imaginaries among women where the forms of sociability and the bonds of sisterhood are determined by the spaces in which the women are grouped. In these films, there are forms of affectivity that dispute the meanings of the patriarchal order of the time. One of the hypotheses is that these films formulate communities of women that carry out a reconfiguration of affective and transnational spaces. This research presents a multidisciplinary approach that simultaneously combines film and audiovisual studies, gender studies, decolonial feminist theories, and affects theories. The study of this phenomenon will provide us with keys for articulating with current problematics, such as the genealogies of women's movements, of which the cinema offers echoes and is a privileged medium for reflection and social change, as well as the international contact flows between these three geographical points, their migratory processes and cultural exchanges, transnationalism and integration.

Keywords: affects, feminisms, film studies, gender

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Authors: Divya Sharma

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Nic Pizzolatto’s True Detective offers profound mythological and philosophical ramblings for audiences with literary sensibilities. An American Sothern Gothic with its bayon landscape of the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, where two detectives Rustin Cohle and Martin Hart begin investigating the isolated murder of Dora Lange, only to discover an entrenched network of perversion and corruption, offers an existential outlook. The proposed research paper shall attempt to investigate the pervasive themes of gothic and existentialism in the music of the first season of the series.

Keywords: gothic, music, existentialism, mythology, philosophy

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Authors: Adekunle Saheed Ajisebiyawo, Christie Omoduwa Achime

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In Nigerian society, women have very little or no involvement in the decision-making process and this is large because women are objectified as effective means of reproduction and provision of emotional support to the society. Despite the movements and awareness by international, national and local bodies to promote and encourage women's empowerment, there are still many factors daunting to the efforts of women in society. This paper examined the critical role of feminism in the quest for women's emancipation in public life. Guided by African feminism theory, this paper utilizes both historical and descriptive methods to examine these factors. The paper argues that gender bias in Nigeria's public life is often traced to the onset of colonialism in Nigeria. Thus the Western cultural notion of colonialism woven around male superiority is reflected in their relations with Nigerians. The study outlines how women have strategized pathways through patriarchal structures by deploying their femininity. The paper concludes that women are strong, courageous, natural leaders and indeed have a major strategic role to play in public life; thus, women's movements and groups remain an important and necessary means of social cohesion and strength, especially in a country such as Nigeria.

Keywords: African feminism, democratic governance, feminism, patriarchy, women emancipation.

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Authors: Narash Narasimman, Calvin Leong Jia Jun, Raksha Karthik, Paul Englert

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Background: Project Grit, a 12-week youth resilience program implemented by Impart and Spartans Boxing Club, aimed to help at-risk adolescents develop resilience through psychoeducation and mental health techniques for dealing with everyday stressors and adversity. The programme consists of two parts-1.5 hours of group therapy followed by 1 hour of boxing. Due to the novelty of the study, 6 male participants, aged 13 to 18, were recruited to participate in the study. Aim: This case study aims to examine the effectiveness of Project Grit in building resilience among at-risk adolescents. Methods: A case study design was employed to capture the complexity and uniqueness of the intervention, without oversimplifying or generalizing it. A 15-year-old male participant with a history of behavioural challenges, delinquency and gang involvement was selected for the study. Teacher, parent and child versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were administered to the facilitators, parents and participants respectively before and after the programme. Relevant themes from the qualitative interviews will be discussed. Results: Scores from all raters revealed improvements in most domains of the SDQ. Total difficulties scores across all raters improved from “very high” to “close to average”. High interrater reliability was observed (κ= .81). The participant reported learning methods to effectively deal with his everyday concerns using healthy coping strategies, developing a supportive social network, and building on his self efficacy. Themes from the subject’s report concurred with the improvement in SDQ scores. Conclusions: The findings suggest that Project Grit is a promising intervention for promoting resilience among at-risk adolescents. The teleological behaviourism framework and the combination of sports engagement and future orientation may be particularly effective in fostering resilience among this population. Further studies need to be conducted with a larger sample size to further validate the effectiveness of Project Grit.

Keywords: resilience, project grit, adolescents, at-risk, boxing, future orientation

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Authors: Sharmila Parmanand

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This paper examines dominant media representations of prostitution in the Philippines and interrogates sex workers’ interactions with the media establishment. This analysis of how sex workers are constituted in media, often as both innocent victims and immoral actors, contributes to an understanding of public discourse on sex work in the Philippines, where decriminalisation has recently been proposed and sex workers are currently classified as potential victims under anti-trafficking laws but also as criminals under the penal code. The first part is an analysis of media coverage of two prominent themes on prostitution: first, raid and rescue operations conducted by law enforcement; and second, prostitution on military bases and tourism hotspots. As a result of pressure from activists and international donors, these two themes often define the policy conversations on sex work in the Philippines. The discourses in written and televised news reports and documentaries from established local and international media sources that address these themes are explored through content analysis. Conclusions are drawn based on specific terms commonly used to refer to sex workers, how sex workers are seen as performing their cultural roles as mothers and wives, how sex work is depicted, associations made between sex work and public health, representations of clients and managers and ‘rescuers’ such as the police, anti-trafficking organisations, and faith-based groups, and which actors are presumed to be issue experts. Images of how prostitution is used as a metaphor for relations between the Philippines and foreign nations are also deconstructed, along with common tropes about developing world female subjects. In general, sex workers are simultaneously portrayed as bad mothers who endanger their family’s morality but also as long-suffering victims who endure exploitation for the sake of their children. They are also depicted as unclean, drug-addicted threats to public health. Their managers and clients are portrayed as cold, abusive, and sometimes violent, and their rescuers as moral and altruistic agents who are essential for sex workers’ rehabilitation and restoration as virtuous citizens. The second part explores sex workers’ own perceptions of their interactions with media, through interviews with members of the Philippine Sex Workers Collective, a loose organisation of sex workers around the Philippines. They reveal that they are often excluded by media practitioners and that they do not feel that they have space for meaningful self-revelation about their work when they do engage with journalists, who seem to have an overt agenda of depicting them as either victims or women of loose morals. In their assessment, media narratives do not necessarily reflect their lived experiences, and in some cases, coverage of rescues and raid operations endangers their privacy and instrumentalises their suffering. Media representations of sex workers may produce subject positions such as ‘victims’ or ‘criminals’ and legitimize specific interventions while foreclosing other ways of thinking. Further, in light of media’s power to reflect and shape public consciousness, it is a valuable academic and political project to examine whether sex workers are able to assert agency in determining how they are represented.

Keywords: discourse analysis, news media, sex work, trafficking

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Authors: Nuray Okcum, Jenny Sharples

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While the scrutinization towards marginalized groups throughout the globe has been existent for decades, prejudice towards Muslims in Western countries has been increasing dramatically. The vicious attacks across the globe by perpetrators who identify with Islam as well as popular political discourse by politicians in Western countries claiming and portraying Muslims as being dangerous, oppressed, or lacking the ability to assimilate into the community, adds to the exclusion and lack of belonging Muslims living in Western countries experience. The early stages of adulthood which have recently been conceptualized as emerging adulthood is a critical and socially ambiguous transition. For a young Muslim emerging into adulthood in a Western country, a variety of different challenges and demands that can exceed their coping abilities can arise. While in search for their identity and in a bid to structure themselves with their past childhood experiences together with their newly forming values, the emerging adult may attempt to direct or change the way in which they are viewed by others. This can be done to gain approval from others and to feel a sense of belonging. A change in the emerging adult’s interpersonal interactions and relationships, the way in which they view themselves and others, their sense of belonging, and their identity, also occurs during this developmental stage. To explore the manner in which Muslims emerging into adulthood carve their identity, their experiences, and representation of their Muslim identity, social identification, and their sense of belonging in Australia, an interpretative phenomenological methodology was utilized. This allowed participants to offer their own subjective experiences. A total of eight emerging adults took part in the study whilst four adults who work with emerging adults took part. Adult participants who work with emerging adults took part in the study to bring forth their insight and experiences. Common experiences were organized into themes. Themes included identifying as a Muslim, social identification, and belonging. Identification included visual identification and name, discrimination and resilience. Findings clearly indicated that Muslims emerging into adulthood in Australia do face various hurdles while they try to retain and represent their religious identity. Despite the unique challenges that they face, they still feel a sense of belonging and identity as being Australian.

Keywords: Muslim, Islam, emerging adulthood, Australia

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Authors: Priyanka Tiwari, Uma Devi Ranjit, Ritesh Thapa

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Background and Significance: Cerebral Palsy (CP) influences not only the child's everyday functioning but also the functioning of whole family. Application of study findings can be used in clinical or community setting to screen the parents of children with cerebral palsy in order to identify the compromised domain of stress which in turn will help to improve the interaction between parent and child with disability and thus ultimately affect the progress that a child makes in his or her therapeutic or educational programs. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the level of stress in mothers of children with CP by adopting mixed method design. Methodology: Cross-sectional descriptive design was adopted in the quantitative design where Parental Stress Scale (PSS) was utilized to collect data from a convenient sample of 40 mothers of children with CP who were under regular follow-up by home visitor of Self-help Group for Cerebral Palsy while embedded qualitative design was used to explore the stress of mothers of CP affected children. From the parent population of quantitative sample 4 mothers were chosen for in-depth exploration, regarding their stress by means of case study method. Descriptive statistics like frequency, percentage, mean, median, standard deviation, correlation and inferential statistics like Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis H test were used to describe and assess relationship between variables. Findings: The mean stress experienced by mothers of children with cerebral palsy was 53.62±9.53 with 15% percent of the mothers experiencing severe stress. There was significant association between age group of mother and total stress score and negative themes of stress. Similarly, signification association was found between educational status of the mother and positive themes of stress which was convergent with the qualitative finding as well, where literate mothers had more positive view of their child's disability which could be attributed to their educational level as education provides us with a broad perspective to look at a situation. Conclusions: Still one-sixth of the mothers experienced severe stress so if we want to ensure the well-being of the children affected by cerebral palsy, then parents caring for them need to be looked after as well.

Keywords: stress, cerebral palsy, mothers, mixed method

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Authors: Thomas P. Carroll

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The phenomenon of mindfulness has become ever more popular in an increasingly pluralist Western society. Mindfulness practice has penetrated secular contexts that would otherwise be closed to religious influence, including state schools, hospitals, and commerce. The contemporary understanding of mindfulness has its origins in Buddhist meditation. However, since Jon Kabat-Zinn’s pioneering work in Mindfulness-Based Interventions, the concept has developed and sometimes mutated into various forms of practice which are disembedded from their original spiritual philosophy. This project will explore the spiritual climate within which mindfulness is currently flourishing through dialogue with three interlocutors. The first interlocutor is the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor whose seminal work, ‘A Secular Age’, outlines three distinct modes of secularity. Taylor examines how the conditions of belief have changed and how the self seeks meaning in an age where belief in the divine is no longer axiomatic. The next interlocutor is Czech theologian and psychotherapist Tomáš Halík who offers a unique perspective of a Catholic who belongs to a section of society outnumbered by secular counterparts, with a theological hermeneutic best described as 'Den Fremden verstehen- understanding the stranger'. Finally, Irish theologian Michael Paul Gallagher offers a theological perspective on how the Christian faith can be translated into dialogue with Irish secular culture, as well as addressing the crisis of imagination and culture rather than the crisis of faith in Ireland. These interlocutors will illustrate that there are sometimes striking differences in how to interpret the religious signs of the times. However, these approaches also reveal significant similarities in how they address and explore the meaning of religious belief and experience today. In this way, themes will emerge that will help to frame the conversation about mindfulness in the West. These themes will include; the failure of the secularization thesis to pass, the growth of a diverse marketplace of religions and beliefs and the growth of a demographic who identify as spiritual but not religious. Such research is paramount in enabling a richer dialogue between Christian faith and mindfulness in a fragmented, postmodern Western context.

Keywords: culture, mindfulness, secularism, spirituality

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