Broader Societal Context Research Articles

Representation of migrant workers in Chinese newspapers: combining topic modeling and critical discourse analysis

Abstract Chinese migrant workers have contributed greatly to the industrialization and urbanization of China and have thus long been a popular topic in news reports. Most previous studies on the news about this group have been qualitative or quantitative analyses based on small-scale datasets, with few based on large-scale corpus data. This study combined topic modeling and critical discourse analysis (CDA) to analyze 186,180 reports of migrant workers published by 906 Chinese newspapers between 2001 and 2021. We identified seventeen topics in the news that fell into five categories: “work and labor,” “support and care,” “rights and interests,” “homecoming,” and “social emergencies.” Overall, news reports on the group have become increasingly diverse, with various diachronic changes in the proportions of topic categories and specific topics. In addition, we found three major types of representation of migrant workers: as a disadvantaged group, as outsiders, and as a group vulnerable to risks. These negative representations might be closely related to government policies, ideology, media stance, and social reality (the broader societal context in which these individuals are situated).

Inequality as determinant of donation: A theoretical modeling and empirical analysis of Korea.

Recipient financial need is a crucial factor in donation decisions. This study proposes a novel model for determining financial donations, incorporating consumption levels of both donor and recipient within a societal context. Solving our model's utility maximization problem reveals how consumption, donation, and savings are interlinked. Empirical evidence reinforces these findings, aligning with prior research and showing that larger consumption gaps between donors and recipients lead to increased donations. Our findings point towards an inherent altruistic motivation in donation, where elevating the recipient's well-being ultimately enhances the donor's own utility. This reinforces the notion that consideration of the recipient's financial hardship, as reflected by their consumption patterns, is crucial when making donation decisions. Shifting beyond traditional models, this study introduces a groundbreaking approach to financial donations. Our novel model factors in consumption levels of both the donor and recipient, along with the broader societal context, using utility maximization to unravel the intertwined decisions of consumption, donation, and savings. Real-world data validates our model, confirming known donation factors and revealing a key finding: larger disparities in consumption lead to increased giving, suggesting an altruistic drive where helping others boosts personal satisfaction.

"Microbiology can be . . . " Student Competition to Develop Resources about Infectious Diseases that Improve Health Literacy.

The European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education emphasizes the importance of communication skills and teamwork for student success in clinical practice. Traditionally, many veterinary curricula lacked standardized formal training in acquiring these essential skills.Effective communication and collaborative teamwork are not only crucial for fulfilling the clinical responsibilities of the veterinary profession but also play a pivotal role in the broader societal context. Veterinarians, in their social role, serve as scientific communicators for the community. This role involves conveying scientific concepts, even complex ones, with a particular emphasis on their significance for public health, reaching a diverse audience. Currently, there is a growing public health necessity to improve health literacy, which refers to the ability to access, understand, appraise, and use information to support healthy choices by society, especially for topics like infectious diseases and vaccination. This became more evident during the global COVID-19 pandemic. This teaching tip describes the development, organization, and broad outcomes of a student competition introduced during a standard veterinary medicine course to design novel resources on microbiology and infectious disease-enhancing health literacy. Three separate events were organized during the academic years 2020-2023. The third-year veterinary medicine students attending the 3-month course on infectious diseases of small animals participated in a student competition aimed at promoting creativity and innovation. Their task was to develop novel resources that delivered informative content to the public concerning microbiology and infectious diseases. Participation was voluntary and students participated in groups of 5-6. Overall, 125 students created 22 projects on microbiology and infectious diseases that were able to enhance health literacy. This approach allowed students to engage with the content and convey foundational knowledge to others in an easily accessible way. This skill of communicating with the public using easy-to-understand language is essential for success in the veterinary medicine profession. The resources produced, such as drawings, comics, games, and videos, constitute informative sources. Thus, they were published online on a scientific journal to disseminate knowledge of infectious diseases to a broader audience.

DINAMIKA IZIN LINGKUNGAN INDUSTRI DAN PENANGANAN PENCEMARAN DAERAH ALIRAN SUNGAI (DAS) CITARUM

This study explores the multidimensional dynamics of the prohibition of polyandry, a marital practice where a woman has more than one husband. Methodologically, the research is grounded in a qualitative approach, drawing on a diverse range of literature, including books, journals, and websites, which are analyzed descriptively and analytically based on the theory of Maslahah. The study aims to provide a deeper understanding and analysis of the dynamics surrounding the prohibition of polyandry and its relevance to the concept of Maslahah. The exploration reveals that the prohibition of polyandry is influenced by social, legal, cultural, economic, and health dimensions. From a social perspective, polyandry disrupts patriarchal structures and complicates issues of lineage and inheritance. Legally, the practice challenges administrative regulations and civil status, reflecting dominant religious and moral norms that support monogamy or controlled polygamy. Economically, while polyandry may address financial constraints in specific settings, it generally reduces economic efficiency and household financial management in the broader societal context. In terms of health, the practice poses risks related to sexual and reproductive health, potentially increasing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and complicating reproductive management. Additionally, through the lens of Maslahah in Islamic law, the prohibition of polyandry is considered an effort to protect the public welfare, minimize harm (mudharat), and enhance social and familial stability. It indicates that the prohibition policy is not only a manifestation of traditional or religious values but also the result of pragmatic and comprehensive consideration of its long-term impacts on the structure and function of society. Overall, the study provides a critical explanation of how the concept of Maslahah justifies the prohibition, ultimately aiming to preserve societal order and overall well-being.

EKSPLORASI SECARA MULTIDIMENSI SEBAGAI SUATU PERBANDINGAN TERHADAP DINAMIKA LARANGAN POLIANDRI

This study explores the multidimensional dynamics of the prohibition of polyandry, a marital practice where a woman has more than one husband. Methodologically, the research is grounded in a qualitative approach, drawing on a diverse range of literature, including books, journals, and websites, which are analyzed descriptively and analytically based on the theory of Maslahah. The study aims to provide a deeper understanding and analysis of the dynamics surrounding the prohibition of polyandry and its relevance to the concept of Maslahah. The exploration reveals that the prohibition of polyandry is influenced by social, legal, cultural, economic, and health dimensions. From a social perspective, polyandry disrupts patriarchal structures and complicates issues of lineage and inheritance. Legally, the practice challenges administrative regulations and civil status, reflecting dominant religious and moral norms that support monogamy or controlled polygamy. Economically, while polyandry may address financial constraints in specific settings, it generally reduces economic efficiency and household financial management in the broader societal context. In terms of health, the practice poses risks related to sexual and reproductive health, potentially increasing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and complicating reproductive management. Additionally, through the lens of Maslahah in Islamic law, the prohibition of polyandry is considered an effort to protect the public welfare, minimize harm (mudharat), and enhance social and familial stability. It indicates that the prohibition policy is not only a manifestation of traditional or religious values but also the result of pragmatic and comprehensive consideration of its long-term impacts on the structure and function of society. Overall, the study provides a critical explanation of how the concept of Maslahah justifies the prohibition, ultimately aiming to preserve societal order and overall well-being.

The intersection of religion and society: Inconsistencies in the practice of Catholicism among Filipinos

Religion, as an inherent part of individuals' identity, is intricately interwoven into the fabric of their lives, shaping their values, beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, and practices, and influencing their interactions within the broader societal context. With this, the study guided by a descriptive research design and a quantitative research approach aimed to investigate people’s perspectives towards selected practices that go against Catholicism in the Philippines being the only catholic country in Asia and the third largest in the world. A survey was conducted among Catholic Filipinos, and the results revealed that the majority do not adhere to all the teachings and beliefs of Catholicism. Despite being the dominant religion in the country, the practice has become selective. Most do not see cohabitation, extramarital sex, the punishment of death penalty for heinous crimes, and premarital sex as unfavorable, despite being sins in Catholicism. However, they had a negative perspective towards prostitution. The study also found that younger, male, and single individuals tend to be more accepting of cohabitation, premarital sex, and extramarital affairs. The study suggests that there is a need for the Catholic Church to reassess its teachings and find ways to better connect with the younger generation, while addressing the issue of selective adherence to its principles.

Using technology in family relationships lived apart

In the wake of war and displacement, families like Oksana’s and Anna’s have found solace and connection through the use of digital technology. This article explores the experiences of Oksana and Anna, a Ukrainian woman aged 51 and her 23-year-old daughter who currently live in Edinburgh, separated from Oksana’s husband (Anna’s father), extended family and friends due to the war in Ukraine. Through a narrative lens, Oksana shares her reliance on communication tools such as Telegram, WhatsApp, and Facetime to bridge the physical distance between loved ones. The family’s daily rituals, from shared dinners over video calls to collaborative board games, highlight the importance of maintaining familial bonds amidst adversity. Additionally, the article sheds light on the broader societal context, comparing the prevalence of digital communication practices in Ukraine versus Scotland. The narrative also touches upon the profound impact of technology on healthcare management, particularly in supporting Maria, Oksana’s daughter, who battles diabetes. Lastly, Anna reflects on the emotional complexities of maintaining family ties amidst war, emphasizing the significance of technology in preserving connection and providing a lifeline to loved ones in times of distress. Through stories about air raid alerts and family group chats, Anna underscores the resilience and adaptability of Ukrainian families facing adversity.

Идентификация дискурсов советских профессионалов: социологический анализ

The article presents a sociological analysis of the discourses of Soviet professionals, as well as the identifica-tion of their antagonism and hegemony. Soviet production brochures containing author’s narratives of profes-sionals of several specialties and industries are analyzed. The sequence of discourse analysis is developed according to the methodological model of E. Laclau and Ch. Mouffe. The following categories are identified: key signs, articulation, moments, elements, domain of discursivity, discourse structure, nodal point, subject, discourse, slippage, antagonism, hegemony. Within the overarching hegemonic Soviet discourse, the following specific discourses are identified: quantitative and qualitative indicators, collectivism and individualism, men-torship and apprenticeship, personal responsibility and public good. Social practices for shaping these dis-courses were identified, as well as mechanisms for forming, maintaining, and preserving the social patterns of Soviet professionals. A generalizing classification of the identified discourses has been developed. Through a rigorous sociological analysis, this study sheds light on the diverse discourses among Soviet professionals and their role within the broader societal context. Furthermore, the developed methodology provides a framework for future studies on discourse analysis in similar socio-political contexts.

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH AS A DIMENSION OF STATE POLICY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

This article explores the role of social determinants of health in the collaborative efforts across various sectors of state social policy, emphasizing their significance in promoting societal health and well-being. Public health policy is underscored as a critical social imperative, with a particular focus on analyzing key international treaties recognizing the right to health as a distinct human rights category. The authors argue that the social determinants approach, which considers health in a broader societal context, is crucial. This approach recognizes the impact of actions extending beyond the health sector on overall well-being.

Analysis of Social Values and Characteristics in the Short Story Tupai Si Never Give Up Written SDN 13 Kolo Kota Bima

This study aims to examine the social values and characteristics contained in the short story 'Tupai Si Pantang Surrender' written by SDN 13 KOLO BIMA. The theory used is the theory of humanism put forward by Abraham Maslow with a sociology of literature approach. The method used in this research is a descriptive method with a qualitative research form. The subject of this research is the short story Tupai Si Unyielding' which was written by SDN 13 KOLO BIMA. The research data is in the form of paragraph excerpts and sentence fragments that contain elements of social values. The results of the study show that the social values contained are, 1) unyielding attitude, 2) compassion, 3) respect not demeaning, 4) persistence and hard work produce results according to what we use, 5) struggle, 6) admiration, 7) Regret. This study delves into the analysis of social values and characteristics embedded in the short story titled "Tupai Si Never Give Up," authored by SDN 13 Kolo Kota Bima. The research aims to uncover the narrative's underlying themes, socio-cultural reflections, and character dynamics. Employing a qualitative approach, the analysis focuses on the portrayal of social values such as perseverance, resilience, and community bonds, as well as the depiction of various characteristics exhibited by the story's protagonists. Through a close examination of the narrative elements, the study seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of the cultural and social nuances presented in the short story, shedding light on the author's intent and the broader societal context in which the narrative unfolds.

Opening Minds for a Career with Impact

This article provides an overview of the Global Leadership course, a 6-credit course integrated within the curriculum of all advanced master programs of Antwerp Management School and designed to align with the school’s overarching mission. The course challenges and facilitates students in developing their leadership as a basis for making career choices, explicitly framing it within a global perspective and focusing on sustainability. The course is built on the belief that career development should not occur in isolation. Rather, it should be interwoven within the societal context in which careers unfold, bringing opportunities and challenges. Concretely, students work in diverse cross-program groups on an Action Learning Project addressing one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Further, students follow a track within their program focused on personal development, culminating in the submission of a Personal Development Paper in which they integrate all course experiences as a basis for developing a vision of their career. Through this holistic approach, students develop career competencies beyond considering the “why, what, and how” of work but are stimulated to consider the broader societal context.

Ghostface Needs a Hug – Self-care and the Return of the Repressed in Scream (2022)

How does the combination of remake and sequel (requel) affect narrations of trauma and grief in the 2022 movie Scream? The film’s positioning as an inter-generational transition with the goal of targeting new horror audiences highlights the need for developing complex and yet gripping story arcs in a media climate marked by serialization. In my analysis, I examine how the 2022 instalment revolves around explorations of an unresolved past, which re-erupts in violent ways. In particular, I focus on the movie’s investment in a modified cyclical narrative, which offers detailed insights into how the requel formula builds on the engagement with traumatic memory and combines it with strategies aimed at reviewing and reframing the past. Robin Wood’s concept of the “return of the repressed” offers key anchoring points for this analysis through its focus on the mutually reinforcing dynamic between social oppression and deadly energy. By highlighting the personal dramas visited upon the key protagonist of the film, Sam Carpenter, I embed her struggles with the past in a broader societal context, showcasing how engaging traumatic memory is also nested within a larger communal consciousness. The strategies employed by the protagonist connect with the requel format in significant ways, as they offer avenues for modulating and emulating the past. Through this analysis, it is shown that the repressed can itself be channeled toward self-affirming strategies, which revolve around the renegotiation of gendered concepts of authority and agency. A further takeaway are the limitations of neoliberal self-care, which is shown to be an inadequate approach in the film, as the monstrous resides in the communal and cannot be fully evaded through strategies aimed at individualization.

The politics of attention in the paintings of René Tavares

René Tavares’s artistic production actively engages with political themes like migration and racism, simultaneously reflecting and inviting the deconstruction of the ‘alert attentional regime’. This term refers to our digital era's characteristic heightened state of alertness and fragmented attention, which scatters our focus across multiple streams of information. Rather than simply mirroring society’s fragmented attentional state, his work fosters more mindful and intentional engagement, encouraging viewers to transcend the transient attentiveness inherent in contemporary society. Central to his practice is the concept of rhythm, symbolizing the velocity of modern life and facilitating a shift to more sustained attention. This is achieved through patterns and colours that mimic swift information cycles, inherent to our times, captivating the viewer’s attention while setting the stage for a deeper, more mindful engagement with the artwork. Tavares intertwines elements like the ‘floating mark’, representing ephemeral meanings in our digital era; ‘polyfocality’, reflecting and addressing society’s fragmented attention through multiple focal points, and ‘pictorial syncretism’, which refers to the amalgamation of different painterly registers such as stains, graphic registers, splatters, layer overlay, word insertion and scrapings, blending visual traditions to highlight the fluid cultural boundaries in our globalized world. By doing so, it potentially opens up the possibility for a redistribution of the sensible, prompting critical thinking and an inherently political understanding of our place within a broader societal context.

Towards a citizen development andragogy: Low-code platforms, design thinking and knowledge-based dynamic capabilities

Addressing the ongoing deficit in technical skills and talent necessitates an effective management approach that can harness the power of accelerating innovation. In response to the challenge, this paper presents a comprehensive learning model called Citizen Development Andragogy (CDA), specifically tailored for adult learners. CDA is an integrative learning framework, designed for an array of academic programs from micro-credentialing to four-year degrees, which combines leading-edge technology, such as low-code tools and platforms and generative AI, design thinking for creativity, and the institutionally oriented, knowledge-based dynamic capabilities (KBDC) model. Additionally, CDA is epistemologically rooted in the individually focused constructivist learning theory, providing a consistent structure that caters to the learning needs of working adults, enhancing their ability to conceive, design, build, and implement digital solutions. The andragogical learning theory is designed for adult learners and has important implications regarding teaching and program differences for reaching traditional aged college students, emerging learners, versus more seasoned individuals. Emerging strategic components conveyed in this paper—via a discursive style—represent some first steps towards considering and building a citizen development andragogy. An initial CDA framework conceptualization is detailed in this paper, which explores its theoretical constructs, practical considerations, current limitations, and it also shares insights from early implementation efforts, and presents a variety of potential future research avenues. Importantly, the paper emphasizes CDA's role as an accessible gateway for introducing citizen development into adult education and upskilling programs. In a broader societal context, citizen development, facilitated by CDA, can serve as a vital influencer for larger 'citizen' involvement movements like citizen scientists, human rights observers, and environmentalists. As such, an effective, scalable CDA prototype has the potential to yield meaningful benefits, empowering individuals, and organizations to achieve impact on an unprecedented scale, ultimately benefiting society at large.

Inclusion is in the Eye of the Beholder: A Relational Analysis of the Role of Gendered Moral Rationalities in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s economic objectives outlined in Vision 2030 have led to a significant increase in women’s participation in the workforce. By applying a relational lens on inclusion theories, we offer insights from women’s experiences of actively negotiating their inclusion in response to societal and organisational contexts as part of the first generation to enter the workforce. Our analysis of 56 interviews with Saudi Arabian working women reveals how women negotiate tensions between labour market participation and societal gender ideals. Applying the concept of gendered moral rationalities to capture the complexity of the interplay between women’s gender roles and work roles, we identified three orientations: traditionalists, pragmatists and trailblazers. Drawing from our findings, we emphasise the necessity for current theories of workplace inclusion to extend beyond organisational efforts and focus on ways individuals actively negotiate workplace inclusion in the broader societal context.

Effectiveness of bicycle helmets and injury prevention: a systematic review of meta-analyses

To mitigate the risk of injuries, many countries recommend bicycle helmets. The current paper seeks to examine the effectiveness of bicycle helmets by performing a systematic review focusing on meta-analyses. First, the current paper explores the findings of studies that employ meta-analyses using bicycle crash data. Second, the results are discussed considering the findings from research analyzing bicycle helmet effectiveness in a laboratory using simulation, and then are complemented with key methodological papers that address cycling and the overall factors contributing to the injury severity. The examined literature confirms that wearing a helmet while cycling is beneficial, regardless of age, crash severity, or crash type. The relative benefit is found to be higher in high-risk situations and when cycling on shared roads and particularly preventing severe head injuries. The results from the studies performed in laboratories also suggest that the shape and size of the head itself play a role in the protective effects of helmets. However, concerns regarding the equitability of the test conditions were found as all reviewed studies used a fifty-percentile male head and body forms. Lastly, the paper discusses the literature findings in a broader societal context.

Editorial: Politics is not a spectator sport: On the role of psycholinguists in a global crisis

Editorial: Politics is not a spectator sport: On the role of psycholinguists in a global crisis

The role of generalized trust in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.

Immunization by vaccination is one of the most important tools for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet in many countries, immunization campaigns have been hampered by vaccine hesitancy within the population. Building on the idea that vaccination decisions are embedded in the broader societal context, we study the role of generalized trust-the belief that most people can generally be trusted-in vaccine acceptance. Immunization campaigns face an inherent collective action problem: As all individuals benefit collectively from high immunization rates regardless of individual contribution, especially those with a low risk of severe COVID infection have an incentive to decide against the (perceived) costs and risks of vaccination. We argue that generalized trust may help to overcome this problem by encouraging the belief that cooperation for the common good is achievable and that those who cooperate are unlikely to be exploited by others. We further argue that the positive effect of generalized trust on vaccination decisions is weaker among individuals who are at higher risk of severe outcomes from the disease, as the collective action problem is less pronounced in this group. To test our predictions, we used data from the SOEP-CoV survey, which queried a representative probability sample of Germany's population between January and February 2021 on topics connected to the pandemic. Using multiple logistic regression models, and in line with expectations, we found a positive and robust link between generalized trust and the willingness to accept vaccination as soon as offered. However, overall, our examination of heterogeneous effects does not unequivocally support the idea that the role of generalized trust varies according to individual COVID risk.

Reimagining Preparedness of Health Professional Graduates Through Stewardship

Issue: Preparing health professional students for practice matters and is an important objective of health professional education. But although health professional courses grow in number and continue to graduate entry-level practitioners annually, there are signs that health professional education is not quite hitting the “purpose” mark. Preparedness is a term encountered often in health professional education, but it is besieged with challenges. Those challenges relate to whether graduates are prepared for their future careers and how preparedness for practice is understood; understandings of preparedness influence what curriculum, teaching, and learning prepares graduates about and for. Evidence: There is a wealth of the literature that suggests that graduates are not prepared for practice or believe they are not. This literature tends to grow rather than diminish, with arguments about preparedness materializing time and again. Preparedness means different things to students, academics, and practitioners and this creates misunderstanding as well as lessening the construct’s value to research, education, and practice. What it means to be prepared is in fact not a static construct but changes in response to the needs of individuals and communities and broader societal context. When preparedness is defined as competence in skills or knowledge, graduates will be ill equipped to operate in the chaotic, ambiguous times we now face as competencies tend to oversimplify and reduce the demands of practice. Implications: Preparedness is only one purpose that could be attached to the educational formation of university graduates. It is time we expand our thinking about what is valuable and necessary to learn in order to become health professionals equipped to address the health and social care problems now and to come. Furthermore, continuing to address the challenges of preparedness for practice in the same ways as we have done for decades will not result in change; new and different educational approaches are required to meaningfully reimagine health professional education. We need to value education as a scholarly field in its own right, as much as we do evidence-based healthcare. A concept that prompts us to think and act in these reinvigorated ways is stewardship, which I offer as an expansive way to think about the purposes and desired outcomes of health professional education. Stewardship is an idea that sustains and cares for the professions, and therefore is highly relevant to the preparation of healthcare practitioners.

Learning clinical skills: an ecological perspective

The pedagogy underpinning clinical psychology training is often reliant upon the acquisition and transmission of knowledge and the practice of skills. The dominant paradigm in the training of clinical psychologists emphasises competence-based training drawing upon a scientist practitioner model of practice, often underpinned by knowledge of evidence-based interventions. Little has changed over the past 40 years. Training is predicated upon the assumption that effective therapy is attributed to the therapist’s skills to implement specific therapeutic processes and her or his capacity to form an effective working alliance with the client or patient. We provide an argument for an alternative paradigm in which ecological principles are privileged with a view to enhancing clinical training of psychologists in health settings responsive to the trainee as well as the broader societal context in which they practice, by adopting a pedagogy which prioritizes the relationship between the person and the environment. The proposed approach brings an ecological set of assumptions to the learning experience in clinical contexts. Key principles, drawn from an ecological perspective includes: affordances, the emergence of self-organisation in clinical learning, constraints and rate limiters. The approach is supported by examples applied to clinical learning contexts. Implications for clinical training are discussed. The ways in which an ecological approach may contribute to more effective learning outcomes through the use of representative learning contexts may inform learning design, how learning is actioned in clinical psychology as well as future research on the pedagogy of clinical training.