Children's Engagement Research Articles

Reading ebooks and printed books with parents: A case study of children with autism spectrum disorders

Ebooks have become a ubiquitous presence in many classrooms today. Yet, empirical evidence on literacy development has not been well produced, especially for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This mixed-method case study aimed to explore how four children with ASD interact with ebooks and printed books with parents at home. Four children (age 5-7 years) with ASD and their parents read one animated ebook and another printed book over four separate sessions. Parents also explained preselected word meanings to their children. In this mixed-method case study, we examined multiple quantitative and qualitative sources of evidence related to reading with parents at home. Quantitatively, all four children with ASD learned more word meanings from ebook than from the printed book, and three demonstrated a higher engagement with ebook than the printed book reading. Qualitatively, the majority of parents felt their children's engagement was higher with ebook than with printed book. Children with ASD tend to have tactile-related experiences while reading the printed book and auditory-related experiences during the ebook reading. Qualitative data also demonstrated a particular feature reported to be beneficial in previous research could be distracting for some children with ASD. When parents are trained to explain critical word meanings to their children, animated ebooks can effectively improve the meaning-making skills of children with ASD. Findings also highlight the importance of individualized attention when choosing and using ebooks for children with ASD.

Cultivating Visualization Literacy for Children Through Curiosity and Play.

Fostering data visualization literacy (DVL) as part of childhood education could lead to a more data literate society. However, most work in DVL for children relies on a more formal educational context (i.e., a teacher-led approach) that limits children's engagement with data to classroom-based environments and, consequently, children's ability to ask questions about and explore data on topics they find personally meaningful. We explore how a curiosity-driven, child-led approach can provide more agency to children when they are authoring data visualizations. This paper explores how informal learning with crafting physicalizations through play and curiosity may foster increased literacy and engagement with data. Employing a constructionist approach, we designed a do-it-yourself toolkit made out of everyday materials (e.g., paper, cardboard, mirrors) that enables children to create, customize, and personalize three different interactive visualizations (bar, line, pie). We used the toolkit as a design probe in a series of in-person workshops with 5 children (6 to 11-year-olds) and interviews with 5 educators. Our observations reveal that the toolkit helped children creatively engage and interact with visualizations. Children with prior knowledge of data visualization reported the toolkit serving as more of an authoring tool that they envision using in their daily lives, while children with little to no experience found the toolkit as an engaging introduction to data visualization. Our study demonstrates the potential of using the constructionist approach to cultivate children's DVL through curiosity and play.

The Right to Resist: Childhood Agency in Julian Kulski's World War II Diary

The World War II diary of Julian Kulski, first published in 1979 and reissued in 2014 as The Color of Courage: A Boy at War: The World War II Diary of Julian Kulski, is one of few English-language primary accounts of the German occupation of Warsaw. Kulski's record merits investigation both as a historical record and as a literary and cultural document that gives voice to the children and teenagers who participated in the Polish resistance. This article considers the ways in which Kulski's agency converges with and diverges from that of the adults around him as he participates in and even leads individual and communal acts of resistance to the German occupation of Poland. Kulski's account helps illuminate a larger understanding of child soldiers as well as the revolutionary potential of children's engagement in the political process, even—or perhaps especially—under the extreme circumstances that Kulski faced.

The use of ‘Learning Stories’ in documenting preschool children's engagement with a milk provision and education intervention

The use of ‘Learning Stories’ in documenting preschool children's engagement with a milk provision and education intervention

Young Children's Engagement with Objects in Science Museums: A Rapid Evidence Assessment of Research

AbstractThis rapid evidence assessment (REA) of literature was conducted to aggregate knowledge about young children's engagement with objects in science museums. The review focuses on empirical studies published between 2000 and 2020 reporting on children in the age range from birth to eight years. Scrutiny of a final sample of 48 peer‐reviewed papers indicated that certain museum object characteristics may arouse children's curiosity more than others. Children's interest in museum objects is enhanced and sustained by dialogical and collaborative activity with peers and adults, by sensory, emotional and cognitive engagement with objects, and by children having choice and freedom to explore museum spaces on their own terms. The review identifies there is limited evidence pertaining to children's visits to STEM museums and a need for theoretically robust empirical research with children, museum educators, teachers and parents from diverse communities.

Ground Rules for Preschooler Exposure to the Digital Environment: A Review of Studies.

The range of digital technologies that children use from an early age has expanded significantly. Most studies demonstrate that preschoolers now spend substantially longer on digital devices and start using them at a younger age. Finding a solution for this challenge has research merits and relevance, as the data on benefits and harm of early preschoolers' exposure to digital devices is contradictory. This poses a need to determine theoretically sound and practically validated criteria that could guide the duration and quality of children's exposure to the digital environment. To review studies that contain recommendations on preschoolers' exposure to the digital environment, namely, exposure limits and evidence to justify the limitation of preschoolers' time on digital media. The analysis starts by identifying theoretical foundations that researchers use in their studies of children's behavior in the digital environment. This is followed by an overview of 40 studies that include research papers, official reports, and methodological recommendations made by healthcare and governmental organizations. The review identified the following ground rules for children's exposure to the digital environment: to provide for child's interaction with a digital device, to use educational applications that will develop skills appropriate to the child's age, to ensure mandatory supervision of children's engagement by an adult who limits the exposure according to child's age-related capabilities and creates conditions for active exploration of the real rather than a virtual world. Children's cognitive development suffers the most from passive intake of digital content. The data herein can help to develop strategies to promote healthy and educational engagement of children with digital devices and media; however, the review highlights the insufficiency of psychophysiological research that would make it possible to practically validate the recommendations on the duration of preschoolers' exposure to the digital environment.

Data analysis and spatial design study of children's activity sites in rural Gansu, China

<abstract> <p>This paper examined rural outdoor activity sites for children in Zhangye, Gansu Province, China. The study analyzed the characteristics of children's groups and their behavioral patterns during outdoor activities in rural areas, and explored the factors affecting children's engagement in outdoor activities. A questionnaire survey was conducted to assess the physical and mental health status of rural children in Gansu Province, the distribution of outdoor activity time, and the influence of activity venues on children. Based on the survey results in rural Zhangye, Gansu Province, activity venues and facilities suitable for rural children in Gansu were identified. Finally, five design principles were proposed (i.e., safety, fun, comfort, accessibility, and guiding) to cater to the activity preferences of rural children in Gansu, China and provide a nurturing environment that fostered their physical and mental growth.</p> </abstract>

The Pedagogy of Images: Depicting Communism for Children ed. by Marina Balina and Serguei Oushakine

Reviewed by: The Pedagogy of Images: Depicting Communism for Children ed. by Marina Balina and Serguei Oushakine Vita Yakovlyeva The Pedagogy of Images: Depicting Communism for Children. Edited by Marina Balina and Serguei Oushakine. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2021. xx + 568 pp. Cloth $95.00, e-book $95.00. In The Pedagogy of Images, the editors present sixteen chapters, conceptually divided into three parts—"mediation," "technology," and "power"—each focusing on a unique aspect of the social performance of children's books. "Mediation" envisions the book as an "institutional framework" for the transition to the new publishing reality (51), "technology" looks at the children's book as a medium for Soviet modernity (207), and "power" contrasts institutionalized modes of power and its everyday "tangible implications" (387), such as experiences of time (chapter 12). The collection illustrates representations of Soviet doctrine to children on gender roles, aesthetics, and other relations that the state constructed with children through publications. Media, technology, and modernization of natural environments are explored, using humor and satire, as sites of children's engagement with early Soviet realities. All contributions are examples of scrupulous research of textual and visual representations, supplemented by a rich selection of high-quality illustrations, many of which are unique and not readily available to either researchers or students, so the volume is visually stunning and entertaining to engage with. All contributions come together in a carefully [End Page 166] crafted selection somewhat favoring the mastery of aesthetic representation—particularly the avant-garde of Soviet modernism of the 1920–40s—and its manifestation in children's publications. The anthology develops an in-depth inquiry into the visual language cultivated by the artistic representations of Soviet modernism, aiming to move "beyond reductionist approaches to studying ideological phenomena" (41). To tackle this goal, the majority of scholars in the anthology seek to convey the sincerity of innovation and quality of its depiction in early Soviet visual art, arguing in favor of its complexity and artistic value. Works of Kazimir Malevich, El Lissitzky, Alisa Poret, Sergei Eisenstein, Dziga Vertov, Vladimir Tatlin, and others are evoked among the examples and influences of an idiosyncratic visual language of Communist discourse cultivated through the era's publications for children, alongside other media such as cinema (chapter 2), photography (chapter 3), and even paper (chapter 5). Although children are present throughout the book—and come forward as actors in the circle of production of Soviet everyday life through their engagement with its materiality (through paper, for example, or do-it-yourself play)—the "pedagogy" that the book analyzes is somewhat relationally reduced. It is a literacy-centered, not a child-centered, pedagogy. It is not reciprocal; it is authoritative and not dialogical. At times, children dissolve into the whirlpools of mechanistic ornamentation within the vast sea of visualizations of Soviet modernistic discourse, of which the child was an instrument (chapter 7). The book makes a contribution to the history of arts and exploration of publications for children as the ground for artistic representation. As such it would be especially interesting to researchers of early Soviet doctrine and its artistic visualization. However, a researcher of childhood studies may find themselves a little disappointed, attempting to grasp the actuality of children's life in the epoch under consideration. The book does not reveal much about the conditions of their lives or their experiences of Communism, or even their positionality within the Soviet "pedagogy." The book does not expand to cover Communist representations of the entire fifteen Soviet republics, either, with a small exception in chapter 5, which includes some data from Ukraine, and chapter 10, which forefronts the colonial "unevenness" of the Soviet Central Asian modernization. The rest of the book is focused on centralized, Russian-language, largely Moscow-based publications—an understandable and yet unacknowledged reality of the Soviet infrastructure, both material and symbolic. [End Page 167] Vita Yakovlyeva University of Alberta Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press

Is Birth Method Associated with Sensory Hyperreactivity in Children 3-4 Years in an Upper-Middle-Income Country?

Research has shown that pressure in the vaginal birth process aids the infant's neurophysiological adaption to extrauterine life, including their ability to regulate their responses to diverse sensory stimuli. As pressure is absent in elective caesarean section births, we hypothesised that these children may be at higher risk for developing sensory hyperreactivity (SHR), a sensory modulation difficulty which negatively impacts on the child's engagement in their occupations. This paper reports on a study which investigated associations between birth method and SHR. In this cross-sectional study, 91 children aged three and four years from various language, cultural, and socioeconomic groups were recruited and categorised based on birth method (caesarean section or vaginal birth). Caregivers of each child completed the Short Sensory Profile-2 and a demographic questionnaire. The prevalence of SHR between the birth method groups was compared. The prevalence of SHR was greater in the vaginal birth group (29%) than the caesarean section group (9%). Mothers in the vaginal birth group were younger (p ≤ 0.001), of lower-income level (p = 0.003), and more likely to be single (p = 0.037). During data collection with the vaginal birth group, comprehensibility of certain items in the Short Sensory Profile-2 proved challenging for many caregivers. The statistically significant higher prevalence of SHR in the vaginal birth group supported a null hypothesis. However, the results are questioned due to the challenges related to data collection. Given this, the study supports the need for further investigation of how sociocultural and socioeconomic factors influence the assessment of SHR in the South African context.

A mixed-methods examination of clinicians' perceived barriers to telehealth delivered applied behavior analysis.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians relied on telehealth to ensure continuity of essential healthcare services, such as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Identifying barriers and examining them in the context of other implementation outcomes is important to support appropriate adaptations and sustainability of telehealth-delivered ABA services. Convergent mixed methods design was utilized to identify barriers experienced by ABA clinicians (N = 388) when delivering ABA services over telehealth to autistic children and their families following the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, barriers were examined in relation to telehealth implementation outcomes and intentions for continued adoption. Findings reveal that clinicians rated providing direct services (M = 3.52, SD = 1.14) as more difficult than conducting assessments (M = 3.29, SD = 1.06), and both as more difficult than providing parent-mediated interventions [(M = 2.47, SD = 1.11), F(2, 381) = 162.26, p < 0.001]. A principal components analysis indicated a 3-factor solution of barriers related to: (1) technology (α = 0.82), (2) administrative tasks (α = 0.88), and (3) client characteristics (α = 0.88). The most frequently endorsed barriers were related to client characteristics, including increased difficulty providing telehealth services to children who elope (M = 4.37, SD = 0.81), children who exhibit challenging behaviors (M = 4.31; SD = 0.83), and children who are in the preverbal stage or use nonverbal language to communicate (M = 4.07; SD = 1.00). Fewer barriers related to client characteristics uniquely predicted implementation variables including acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility. Thematic analysis revealed challenges related to technology, caregiver involvement, child engagement, implementation of intervention strategies over telehealth, and administrative or logistical barriers. These findings highlight the need for targeted strategies that facilitate telehealth use to address specific client needs and support the implementation of telehealth services in usual care settings.

Putting the Cart Before the Horse? Developing a Blended Anatomy Curriculum Supplemented by Cadaveric Anatomy.

Cadaveric anatomy is frequently described as the gold standard for anatomy education. Increasingly and especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, there is acceptance that a blended approach for anatomy curriculum delivery is optimal for learners.Setting up a new UK Medical School in 2019 necessitated building a new cadaveric anatomy facility. To enable anatomy curriculum delivery during the construction period (2019-2021), a technology-enhanced learning (TEL) anatomy curriculum was developed, as well as an anatomy laboratory suitable for TEL. Development of a TEL anatomy curriculum with the later inclusion of cadaveric anatomy is unusual since the typical model is to supplement cadaveric anatomy with TEL approaches.TEL solutions that provide digital visualisation of anatomy may support learners by reducing cognitive load. Examples include using colour and/or translucency features to highlight and signpost pertinent anatomy and constructing virtual anatomical models in real time, rather than dissection. Radiology and portable ultrasound provide clinically contextualised visualisations of anatomy; the latter offers a haptic learning experience too. A TEL anatomy laboratory can provide interactive learning experiences for engagement and outreach activities for young school children, where cadaveric anatomy is not suitable.

How Does Joint Media Engagement Affect the Development of Executive Functions in 5- to-7 year-old Children?

Executive functions are actively developing in children of preschool age. Executive functions' development is also influenced by the way children are using digital devices. Joint media engagement is one of the parameters of digital device usage that has been poorly studied so far, although this is of great importance from the point of view of cultural-historical psychology. Our research aimed to explore the association between young children's development of executive functions over a year, and their joint media engagement with parents and siblings in preschool children. Four hundred ninety (490) typically developing children (52% of them were boys) participated in the study. It was a longitudinal study: during the first stage, the children were 5-6 years old; the second stage followed one year later. The NEPSY-II subtests (Inhibition, Statue, Memory for Designs, Sentences Repetition) and the Dimensional Change Card Sort were used to assess executive functions. A questionnaire for mothers was used to get information about the children's joint media engagement and screen time. Children who watched video content and played video games together with their siblings developed more inhibitory control over the year than those children who did it alone. Co-viewing of video content with parents was associated with a decrease in cognitive flexibility over the year, as opposed to watching it alone. The obtained data allows us to conclude that joint media engagement is important for executive functions development, and that there are optimal formats of joint media engagement. Based on the limitations of this study, recommendations for future research were suggested.

The importance of sensorial and spatial aspects in family reading at home: Insights from a national survey in Norway

PurposeThe study investigated the relationships between spatial, multisensorial, and structural factors in family reading routines. Materials1001 survey responses and 926 open-ended answers of parents of 3- to 6-year-olds living in Norway, were analysed. ResultsParents who reported having a reading routine with their child valued more highly the spatial aspect of reading than parents who didn't have established reading routines at home and fathers valued the spatial aspect more than mothers. Highly educated parents valued more the visual sensorial aspect of the reading experience and described the book's visual appearance as salient for prompting reading conversations. The auditory aspects of reading were perceived negatively, while child's haptic engagement was rated as motivating for children's book interest. ConclusionParents have a hierarchical perception of the role of senses in children's reading and place a high value on the place where they read with their child. These aspects need to be integrated into future SBR studies and home interventions.

Occupational therapy treatment of complex regional pain syndrome in children and adolescents: a scoping review protocol

This scoping review will explore the literature related to occupational therapy interventions and delivery methods for pediatric complex regional pain syndrome. Complex regional pain syndrome is a debilitating pain condition that is becoming increasingly diagnosed within the pediatric population. Untreated, it can negatively impact a child's occupational engagement and participation, social functioning, and family dynamics. A multidisciplinary treatment approach is typically recommended, with occupational therapy as an essential component. Occupational therapy interventions for pediatric complex regional pain syndrome usually promote a child's ability to participate in daily activities to prevent further impairment and disability. Despite evidence that occupational therapy practitioners treat this population, no review has been conducted of the available literature on occupational therapy interventions for pediatric complex regional pain syndrome. This review will consider studies that include any form of occupational therapy interventions for participants with complex regional pain syndrome who are 18 years or younger. Quantitative, qualitative, and observational studies, and text and opinion papers will be considered. The JBI methodology will be used to conduct this scoping review. MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, APA PsycINFO, CINAHL, OTDBASE, OT Search (AOTA), OTseeker, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global will be searched for studies in English, with no limit on publication date. Two independent reviewers will screen the titles, abstracts, and full texts of the selected studies. Data collection will be performed using a tool developed by the researchers based on the standardized JBI tool. Data will be presented in a comprehensive narrative summary.

Contribution of Indian philosophers in early childhood care and education during the pre-independence period

For the past decades, India has witnessed a drastic change in the field of early childhood care and education. Existing policies and programs in India had ensured considerable growth in investments together with improvements in children's school engagement. But the situation of ECCE during the pre-independence period remained dispersed, concentrated in cities, limited to specific regions of the nation, and only available to those who could afford them. Many philosophers have given their souls to develop a better education system in India. Gijubhai Badheka, Tarabai Modak, Gandhiji, and Tagore are some of the pioneers of the development of ECCE. The study aims to explore the contributions of Indian philosophers to Early Childhood Care and Education before the independence of India.

Faculty Perceptions of Virtual Field Experience Placement in a Teacher Preparation Program in the UAE

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine faculty perceptions of virtual field placement of preservice teachers at a university in the United Arab Emirates and to explore the factors that promote or hinder the success of this experience. Vygotsky’s concept of scaffolding was used as the theoretical framework of this study and to explain the faculty’s engagement with the field placement experience. Background: The global pandemic of COVID-19 has affected the provision of teacher education programs around the world. It forced many universities to implement emergency remote teaching strategies including virtual field experiences. Methodology: Considering the novelty of this phenomenon, an exploratory qualitative research design was followed to arrive at an in-depth description of the faculty’s perceptions. A convenience sampling, which is characterized by the deliberate targeting of information-rich participants, was used to select five faculty members who supervised 40 Emirati preservice teachers during their virtual field experience. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Contribution: The framework put forth in this study could serve as a guideline for teacher education programs, especially field experience preparation. Findings: It was found that faculty had different perceptions of virtual field experiences. Although preservice teachers were faced with unprecedented virtual field experiences, collaboration with different stakeholders helped them achieve the learning outcomes. A main drawback of the virtual field experience, however, impacted preservice Emirati teachers’ motivation about online teaching. Recommendations for Practitioners: Preservice teachers’ technological skills should be reinforced and built to enable purposeful and practical technological integration in the teaching and learning process. Therefore, a holistic inclusion of all stakeholders’ approach is needed to upskill and develop the competencies of all parties involved in the process taking into consideration a more enriching collaborative manner. Such a redesign should be examined to assess its validity and efficiency on a wider and more diverse sample to ensure its reliability and success. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers are recommended to explore the impact of virtual field experience on young children learning and engagement by including all stakeholders involved in the teaching and learning process, especially young students’ parents since findings showed that children under the age of eight are at a disadvantage in online learning. Impact on Society: Implications of the findings of this study show that sustainable virtual field experiences can be attained through a collaborative approach. Collaboration is essential as it enables preservice teachers to succeed in implementing inclusive pedagogical approaches. Future Research: Further studies can enrich the findings of this paper by expanding the collected data to provide deeper and more generalizable results. For example, virtual student teachers’ and school students’ scores should be collected and compared to face-to-face scores in order to assess and evaluate the learning itself.

Corrigendum to “Developing a Child and Adolescent Chorister Engagement Survey: Probing Perceptions of Early Collective Experiences and Outcomes”

Corrigendum to “Developing a Child and Adolescent Chorister Engagement Survey: Probing Perceptions of Early Collective Experiences and Outcomes”

Physical activity and asthma symptom control in children during COVID-19 lockdown: A feasibility study.

The aim was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on physical activity (PA) and asthma symptom control in children. We conducted a single-cohort observational study on 22 children with a median age of 9 (8-11) years with a diagnosis of asthma being included in the study. Participants were asked to wear a PA tracker for 3 months; during the same 3-month period, the Paediatric Asthma Diary (PAD) was administered daily and the Asthma Control (AC) Questionnaire together with the mini-Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life (AQoL) Questionnaire administered at weekly intervals. Compared with the pre-lockdown period, there was a significant reduction in PA levels after the lockdown began. Daily total steps reduced by about 3000 steps (p < 0.001), very active minutes by 9 min (p < 0.001) and fairly active minutes almost halved (p < 0.001); while asthma symptom control marginally improved, with the AC and AQoL score improving by 0.56 (p < 0.005) and 0.47 (p < 0.05), respectively. Further, for those with AC score higher than 1, PA was positively associated with asthma control both before and after the lockdown. This feasibility study suggests that PA engagement of children with asthma is negatively affected during the pandemic, but the beneficial effect of PA on asthma symptom control potentially sustains even during a lockdown period. These findings emphasize the importance of wearable device to monitor longitudinal PA and thus better management of PA for achieving the best outcome of asthma symptom control.

Exploring the needs of children and caregivers to inform design of an artificial intelligence-enhanced social robot in the pediatric emergency department.

Socially assistive robots (SARs) are a promising tool to manage children's pain and distress related to medical procedures, but current options lack autonomous adaptability. The aim of this study was to understand children's and caregivers' perceptions surrounding the use of an artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced SAR to provide personalized procedural support to children during intravenous insertion (IVI) to inform the design of such a system following a user-centric approach. This study presents a descriptive qualitative needs assessment of children and caregivers. Data were collected via semi-structured individual interviews and focus groups. Participants were recruited from two Canadian pediatric emergency departments (EDs) between April 2021 and January 2022. Eleven caregivers and 19 children completed 27 individual interviews and one focus group. Three main themes were identified: A. Experience in the clinical setting, B. Acceptance of and concerns surrounding SARs, and C. Features that support child engagement with SARs. Most participants expressed comfort with robot technology, however, concerns were raised about sharing personal information, photographing/videotaping, and the possibility of technical failure. Suggestions for feature enhancements included increasing movement to engage a child's attention and tailoring language to developmental age. To enhance the overall ED experience, participants also identified a role for the SAR in the waiting room. Artificial intelligence-enhanced SARs were perceived by children and caregivers as a promising tool for distraction during IVIs and to enhance the overall ED experience. Insights collected will be used to inform the design of an AI-enhanced SAR.

Working-Class Women and the Buying and Selling of Stolen Goods in Urban Communities in the North West of England and Belfast, 1918–1960

Abstract The buying and selling of stolen goods by working-class women was a relatively widespread and accepted practice in some inner urban communities in the North West of England and in Belfast between 1918 and 1960. It relied on the training and engagement of children and the co-operation and compliance of neighbours, and was facilitated by the spatial dynamics within inner urban terraced homes. This article analyses local court records, memoirs and contemporary social surveys to demonstrate that, after 1918, the buying and selling of stolen goods by working-class women did not just play a part in people’s economic lives. It argues that, even outside times of poverty, in certain neighbourhoods the practice reinforced strong community bonds and allowed some women to contest the inequalities they experienced by consolidating their position within strong supportive networks against a society that afforded them little formal power. Together, these sources present a quotidian culture of minor criminality that challenges received views of working-class cultures of domesticity, family life and ‘respectability’, suggesting that trading in stolen goods could afford women offenders status and respect within their neighbourhoods. The article highlights the enduring practice of home-based buying and selling of stolen goods across the period, particularly in areas untouched by housing clearance and redevelopment. Despite significant developments in the state provision of welfare and greater scrutiny of working-class families, the offence endured as a way to bolster close-knit community bonds in protest against the harsh living conditions and persistent inequities many still experienced.