Fiction and Critical Perspectives on Social Research

The Critical Theoretical Perspectives and the Health Care System Daisy Michelle Princeton Abstract Background of the study: The goal of healthcare system is to achieve a well-organized, safe and holistic patient care. However, the existing healthcare system of today remains fragmented and complex (St. Meld. Nr.47, 2008-2009). Hence, it is still unable to meet the patients´ complete integrated health care needs; and at the same time patients often experience extraneous disappointments due to unnecessary delays, disputes and complications (St. Meld. Nr.47, 2008-2009). Aim: The aim of this literature study is to show how critical theoretical perspectives influence the healthcare system through professional practitioners, institutional strategies and research methodology and/or policy; in order to meet the complete needs of the patients and guarantee health care services of quality and safety. Result: Health care is a set of complex phenomena that involves a vast of objective theoretical and scientific knowledge; professional's subjective ability to properly apply such knowledge; and a system of interaction that can ensure a well-coordinated, sufficient, efficient and safe health care service. There are three emerging levels of developing culture in health care that are addressing the health care needs of human beings today: 1 Professional level (provision of critical health care through professional´s subjective synthesis of knowledge; 2 Institutional level (provision of critical institutional multidisciplinary health care through facilitated socially construed team coordination); 3 Academic level (provision of critical academic health care through interdisciplinary research generating objective knowledge with ideological policies and approach). Conclusion: Critical theory embraces the scientific traditions that advocate proper objectivity and subjectivity in a manner that social construction of health care becomes more appropriate, effective, and complete. Critical perspectives in health care transform the system into an integrative multidisciplinary model that provide a more thorough patient care, which brings about emancipating social changes at the three levels of health care system. Critical competencies facilitate holistic-oriented, trustworthy and safeguarding individual professional independent practice, regulatory institutions and ideological academy. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/rah.v4n1a9

In 1987 the Pearce Committee, established by the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission (CTEC) to examine legal education in Australia’s then twelve law schools, made the following suggestion (“Suggestion 1”): That all law schools examine the adequacy of their attention to theoretical and critical perspectives, including the study of law in operation and the study of the relations between law and other social forces. This article considers to what extent feminist theoretical and critical perspectives have been incorporated into law school curricula, given the substantial period which has passed since the Committee’s suggestion was made. This is partly in response to the consistent expressions of disquiet from feminists who argue that, stemming from an androcentric perspective of life and law, legal education delivers inaccurate messages about women and is gender-biased. I have limited this study to a consideration of the curriculum of the first year introductory subject taught in Australian law schools. An examination of this subject is important as it is the commencement of an individual’s socialisation as a law student and a future practitioner of the law. In this article, I have identified and considered, from a feminist perspective, the treatment of the legal rules and doctrines normally taught in introductory courses and also considered what may be absent from the course contents. From my analysis, it is apparent that there has been a strong movement toward the incorporation of feminist (and other) theoretical and critical perspectives in the introductory courses. However, there is still a significant number of courses that approach the subject-matter uncritically with very little or no feminist content. I argue, in this article, that a law course that uncritically presents legal doctrines risks adopting and perpetuating the unstated point-of-view of a particular cultural group in our society. I discuss the constitution of this cultural group and conclude, as have others, that it is largely comprised of affluent, educated Anglo-Celtic males. I argue that legal education should be openly self-conscious of the culturally-specific point-of-view of the law, and should recognise and address its own partiality.

This Thematic Issue seeks to explore critical perspectives of an international nature on social innovation (SI), social enterprise (SE) and/or social solidarity economy (SSE). The aim is to examine the grand narrative, explore the ontological assumptions of the field, challenge the normative and present alternatives that draw attention to political economy, critical theory and critical management studies. Critical perspectives emerged in social innovation (SI) literature as a concerted effort sometime in 2008. A few voices sounded from the edges of the field much earlier. Ash Amin, Professor of Geography at Durham University, inspected the new favourite of public policy way back in 2002, discarded it as a "a poor substitute for a welfare state" and never returned to the subject. There were heated debates that challenged the grand narrative of SI at the International Social Innovation Research Conferences (ISIRC) (once called the Social Enterprise Research Conference before becoming ISIRC with the involvement of the social innovation theme from Skoll Centre). The Voluntary Sector Studies Network (VSSN) conferences picked away at the promise of unlimited performance and achievement of the upstart SE in a mature voluntary and charity network (

In this chapter, I examine the necessary and important role that male teachers can play in boys’ lives in school, particularly with regards to interrupting hegemonic masculinity and in their capacity to function as ‘role models’. This analysis is set against a critique of dominant discourses about the call for male teachers as role models for boys as a response to the need to counter the detrimental effects of the increasing feminization of schooling. Such debates about male teachers often cite recuperative and idealized notions of hegemonic masculinity which rely on a narrowing rather than a broadening of what it means to be a man or a boy in changing social and economic times. I also undertake a review of significant literature in the field which draws attention to the tendency for male teachers to be complicit in perpetuating hegemonic heterosexual masculinity in their pedagogical relationships with boys in school. The costs of such complicity are highlighted in terms of the capacity of such pedagogical relationships to hamper boys’ commitment and or willingness to embrace a boarder repertoire of masculinities. Queer, feminist and critical sociological theoretical perspectives are drawn on as basis for elaborating a perspective on male teachers and schooling as embodied and pedagogical sites, respectively, for interrogating the limits of hegemonic heterosexual masculinities in boys’ and men’s lives.

ABSTRACTIncreasing globalisation, reorganisation of the Scandinavian welfare regimes and the awareness of increasing global roots of local social problems necessitated change in the curriculum of social work in three Scandinavian schools of social work in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Recent global transformations, increasing global inequalities, increasing forced migration and the emergence of glocal social problems make the traditional education and methods of social work ineffective and in some cases harmful for people in need of social work intervention. This article examines the need to provide critical, global and multilevel perspectives in social work education in order to prepare social work students for the increasing social problems with global roots. The article, which is based on cross-national collaborations in social work education between three Scandinavian countries, addresses global and critical components in theoretical courses, professional training and field practice in the social work education of the countries in question. It is argued that social work education should move beyond the old division of classical and international/intercultural toward including global and critical perspectives in an integrative manner in all programs.

Insights into social pedagogical research and discussion in Northern Europe – Report from NERA2018 Congress in Oslo

Drawing on transgender, queer and feminist theoretical perspectives, I critically analyze two children’s picture books featuring transgender and gender variant characters. With these critical theoretical perspectives in mind, this discourse analysis examines the ways the books, both visually and textually, depict gender embodiment and the experiences of the characters. Using questions derived from these theoretical lenses, I analyze concepts of power, normalcy, difference, the gender binary, gender fluidity, intelligibility and unintelligibility. These concepts contribute to the dominant discourse of ‘the gaze’, seen in varying ways in the books. Children’s story books largely underrepresent the experiences of transgender characters, particularly books outlining, and explaining, a social gender transition. The majority of picture books with LGBTQ+ themes focus on same sex families and feature boys in dresses, thus centralize around disrupting the constraints of masculinity. I conclude this paper with recommendations for selecting, reading, and discussing books with transgender and gender variant protagonists. The central themes outlined in the academic literature illustrate that ‘the gaze’ and regulation of knowledge have a significant impact on what is visible in children’s books. This may ultimately affect children’s understanding, and appreciation, of gender variance and, hence, social gender transitions in early childhood.

Drawing on transgender, queer and feminist theoretical perspectives, I critically analyze two children’s picture books featuring transgender and gender variant characters. With these critical theoretical perspectives in mind, this discourse analysis examines the ways the books, both visually and textually, depict gender embodiment and the experiences of the characters. Using questions derived from these theoretical lenses, I analyze concepts of power, normalcy, difference, the gender binary, gender fluidity, intelligibility and unintelligibility. These concepts contribute to the dominant discourse of ‘the gaze’, seen in varying ways in the books. Children’s story books largely underrepresent the experiences of transgender characters, particularly books outlining, and explaining, a social gender transition. The majority of picture books with LGBTQ+ themes focus on same sex families and feature boys in dresses, thus centralize around disrupting the constraints of masculinity. I conclude this paper with recommendations for selecting, reading, and discussing books with transgender and gender variant protagonists. The central themes outlined in the academic literature illustrate that ‘the gaze’ and regulation of knowledge have a significant impact on what is visible in children’s books. This may ultimately affect children’s understanding, and appreciation, of gender variance and, hence, social gender transitions in early childhood.

Conflict theory is a set of criminological theories that holds that those in society who possess the social and economic power, the ruling class, define antisocial behavior. Antisocial behavior results from class conflict and social and economic inequality. The ruling class uses the criminal law and the criminal justice system to protect their interests and to control the lower class. Conflict theory consists of the conflict theoretical perspective, the critical theoretical perspective, and the feminist theoretical perspective.

This article addresses efforts to build social work research in a manner consistent with good science and research. A critical perspective is applied to examine what does not work in building knowledge and how social work research can address factors that limit knowledge building. A critical perspective is imperative to social work knowledge building but this perspective has not been adequately understood and applied to the research enterprise.

With the national emphasis on engaged and action research approaches to enhance research with communities and improve research translation, conventional social science and health researchers will benefit from greater knowledge and skills in line with the underlying principles of collaboration and participation. One prominent competency is to ensure that researcher and community interests and priorities coalesce and shape all stages of the research and dissemination process. This article includes our reflection on the unique role and purpose of key informants in community-engaged research. Taking a critical social science perspective, we consider the value and challenges involved in selecting and relying on key informants to represent the community and its perspectives. Because key informants inhabit social and professional roles in communities, they are often sought by researchers to provide knowledge and information related to health promotion and education within a community. However, their identification and selection – and their perspectives about what is important and would work best for a community – must be carefully considered. We conclude this article with several recommendations for enhancing community engagement in translational research.

This article brings together feminist and critical theoretical perspectives on vulnerability to critique normative framing of vulnerability in housing. Vulnerability is often positioned as the problem affordable housing policies and programmes are designed to address). Feminist conceptions of vulnerability, by contrast, consider vulnerability as a universal condition. From a feminist perspective, I explicate the ways in which the Canadian housing regime constructs precarity in three ways: a reliance on precarious employment, positioning vulnerability as an inherent characteristic of populations, and finally through an imagined separation between nonmarket housing and (transnational) market practices. I suggest feminist conceptions of vulnerability offer a potent way forward to rethink the housing system. This recognition of shared vulnerability that is differentially felt might turn us away from targeted and population-specific interventions and instead direct attention to the housing regime itself.

As occupation-focused discussions and applications of critical theoretical perspectives increase, attention must also be paid to how different spaces of knowledge dissemination, exchange, and production support critically informed learning and knowing about occupation. This paper presents the reflections of a group of international scholars and lecturers whose shared interest in critical theoretical perspectives prompted the incremental co-development of a series of conference engagements. We describe how our group came together, what kinds of learning experiences we developed to promote and support engagement with critical theoretical perspectives, and what understandings we gained through ongoing critical reflexivity about those learning experiences. Our discussion addresses two problematics related to conferences as learning spaces: inclusion, and sustained engagement with epistemic communities and ideas that may form through critically oriented conference sessions. We also discuss how enacting critical pedagogies and principles of ‘unconferencing’ may better promote critically informed ways of learning and knowing occupation than typical conference structures. The paper ends with a call for continued integration of varied critically informed teaching and learning opportunities at conferences, as a means of further encouraging diverse types of knowledge production, sharing, and learning about occupation.

Foreword James K. Galbraith 1. Critical Perspectives on Financial and Economic Crises: Heterodox Macroeconomics Meets Feminist Economics Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, James Heintz, and Stephanie Seguino 2. Global Financial Governance and Development Finance in the Wake of the 2008 Financial Crisis Ilene Grabel 3. Austerity Measures in Developing Countries: Public Expenditure Trends and the Risks to Children and Women Isabel Ortiz and Matthew Cummins 4. Economic Crisis, Gender Equality, and Policy Responses in Spain and Canada Kathleen A. Lahey and Paloma de Villota 5. Economic Recession and Recovery in the UK: What's Gender Got to Do with It? Ailsa McKay, Jim Campbell, Emily Thomson, and Susanne Ross 6. Race, Gender, Power, and the US Subprime Mortgage and Foreclosure Crisis: A Meso Analysis Gary Dymski, Jesus Hernandez, and Lisa Mohanty 7. Financialization, the Great Recession, and the Stratification of the US Labour Market Philip Arestis, Aurelie Charles, and Giuseppe Fontana 8. Estimating the Impact of the 2008-09 Economic Crisis on Work Time in Turkey Secil A. Kaya Bahce and Emel Memis 9. Time Allocation of Married Mothers and Fathers in Hard Times: The 2007-09 US Recession Gunseli Berik and Ebru Kongar 10. Impact of the Global Financial Crisis in Rural China: Gender, Off-farm Employment, and Wages Huayong Zhi, Zhurong Huang, Jikun Huang, Scott D. Rozelle, and Andrew D. Mason 11. Gender Dimensions of the Global Economic and Financial Crisis in Central America and the Dominican Republic Alma Espino

The study of gender and leadership has grown and we have a greater understanding of the role of gender in leadership. Yet, there is much left to explore, interrogate, and transform. This chapter seeks to inform a research agenda for gender and leadership that: (a) centers gender in the study of leadership, examining more deeply the role that gender plays in one’s life; (b) examines how the social construct of gender shapes one’s experiences and the social systems and structures in which we live and lead; and (c) considers how one’s gender identity intersects with other forms of identity to shape one’s meaning making and experiences. In this chapter, key critical theoretical perspectives and considerations for centering gender in the study of leadership are discussed. Specifically, intersectionality, the social construction of gender, critical feminist perspectives, masculinities, and a third wave of theorizing and research focused on gender and leadership.