Civic Life Research Articles

Connecting differential psychological motivations for WeChat use with civic engagement: the significant role of bonding and bridging social capital

PurposeThe primary objectives of this article are to systematically explore whether and how certain WeChat use motives could lead to bridging social capital, bonding social capital and civic engagement among young people.Design/methodology/approachThe data was collected from a large-scale online survey of 1208 young people in mainland China. Zero-order correlation analyses and structural equation modeling were carried out to examine the corresponding hypotheses.FindingsObtained findings show that WeChat use for informational and social motivations are positively associated with bonding and bridging social capital. Moreover, bonding social capital could mediate the relationship between WeChat usage for informational and relational motivations and civic engagement.Research limitations/implicationsTheoretically, this article underlines the unique social and technological affordances of WeChat by exploring mobile social media use and how it would contribute to the quality of democracy by fostering young people's engagement in civic life. Practically, bridging and bonding social capital play significant roles in enhancing young people's civic engagement, which could be the meaningful resource for mobile social media designers, managers and government officials.Originality/valueThese obtained outcomes underlined the vital role of these newly emerging communication technologies in fostering democratic involvement and production of social capital in contemporary socially networked society.

Powerful in pearls and Willie Brown’s mistress: a computational analysis of gendered news coverage of Kamala Harris on the partisan extremes

ABSTRACT This study uses a mix of traditional and computational content analysis to track digital news coverage of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris during and immediately after the 2020 general elections. It’s well documented that female politicians, especially women of color, face biased coverage in the political press. In this paper, we explore how these dynamics play out in the modern hyper-polarized digital media landscape. Our corpus includes roughly 17,000 stories published online between August 2020 and April 2021 by news organizations we categorized along a binary axis of partisanship between Republican and Democrat. Our findings show that sexist, racialized coverage of Harris is most prevalent in news sources shared by mostly Republican voters. Coverage in news sources shared by registered Democratic voters, meanwhile, tended to treat Harris as a celebrity, often fixating on her wardrobe and personal life. We ponder implications for both gender equity in civic life and future feminist media scholarship.

“We Know About Things Too”: Exploring the Labors of Love Involved in Cultivating Youth Voice in Online Youth Civic Engagement Programs With Youth of Color

Online youth civic engagement programs are often designed to support the cultivation of youth voice, yet working with youth of color who are particularly skeptical of civic life takes a certain form of labor that often remains unexamined in the scholarship of youth civic engagement. Drawing on concepts of invisible, emotional, and relational labor and the work of critical race theory (CRT), this article examines what is often termed the “labor of love” that characterizes the behind-the-scenes work. Utilizing a critical ethnographic approach, we identify three stages in the labor of love involved in cultivating youth voice in five different online youth civic engagement programs as we sought to highlight youth voice, perspective, and expertise with local policymakers. We argue that the behind-the-scenes invisible, emotional, and relational labor needs to be better understood to address the barriers youth of color face in relation to gaining full access to democratic participation.

Third places in rural America: Prevalence and disparities in use and meaningful use

Third places – the physical places where people meet, gather, and interact outside of home and work – have been linked to civic life and community well-being as well as individual-level benefits across dimensions of health, well-being, and social mobility. However, much of the research on third places in the U.S. focuses on urban areas, severely limiting the generalizability to rural contexts. Moreover, we have little understanding of how third places are used or if there are disparities in meaningful use of third places in rural areas. Therefore, in this paper, we use a nationally representative sample of 1135 rural working-age adults in the U.S. collected in 2022 to descriptively measure use and meaningful use of third places, and use logistic regression models to determine if use and meaningful use varies across socio-demographic characteristics of rural working-age adults. We draw on previous research to propose a definition of meaningful use as spending more than 30 min talking with other people in a third place. In addition, we categorize third places into free versus commercial third places. The results show that the most common third places that are meaningfully used for meeting, gathering, and interacting among rural working-age adults are religious organizations, dine-in restaurants, and parks/lakes. We also find that among working-age adults in rural America, use and meaningful use of third places is negatively associated with socioeconomic status and also varies by age, race and ethnicity, and political ideology. These findings provide the first nationally representative baseline measurement of third place utilization in rural America and provide an initial look at groups that may face barriers and facilitators to use and meaningful use of third places – an important resource for promoting civic life, well-being, and health.

Ethnographic collections in Northern Ireland and the Solomon Islands tomako (canoe) at the Ulster Museum, 1898–2023

AbstractThe World Cultures collection at National Museums Northern Ireland is an essential source for the study of Irish collecting in the wider British Empire. The 2022 redisplay of the collection in the Ulster Museum's exhibition, Inclusive Global Histories, is part of a staged engagement with local and source communities. Given the critical importance of the global museum decolonisation work of which the exhibition is an example, a fresh consideration of this ethnographic collection's history is timely. This article reviews the collection within the context of the three museums that have housed it, and investigates how curators within the institution understood, represented and displayed the collection. It does so through a case study of a war canoe (tomako), that was taken from the Solomon Islands, by John Casement, a captain in the Royal Navy, and is the largest and among the most significant items within the collection. The canoe's centrality to the gallery — built around it in 1925 — that now contains Inclusive Global Histories reveals complex social networks between nineteenth- and twentieth-century collectors, curators and photographers, and aids understanding of how global human cultures have been regarded in Northern Ireland's civic life.

Role of Cyber Security in Building Smart Bangladesh by Ensuring Smart Bangladesh Vision, 2041: A Critical Analysis

The promise made by the Awami League in its election manifesto before the 2008 National Parliament elections to form 'Digital Bangladesh' by 2021 is now visible. This digital Bangladesh has changed the course of development progress in the country. Looking ahead to the year 2041, the new challenge is smart Bangladesh. This smart Bangladesh will make people's lives easier; everything will be at hand. Bangabandhu is the dreamer of digital Bangladesh. The fairy-tale country 'Smart Bangladesh' will come into the hands of Sheikh Hasina. Now the question is: What is smart Bangladesh? Why is it necessary? How will it be implemented? Smart Bangladesh refers to a technology-based lifestyle where everything from all types of civic services can be done smartly. Every citizen will get guaranteed rights and an excellent opportunity to fulfill duties without suffering. The Awami League government, under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina, has taken up the future action plan by dividing the outline of that smart Bangladesh into four parts. It is possible to realize the Smart Bangladesh Theory through the proper implementation of the words smart citizen, smart economy, smart government, and smart society. A step forward from digital Bangladesh, the new vision of smart Bangladesh is expressed here to further advance the services of citizen life. Special sectors have been chosen to further modernize civic and social life, such as smart citizens, smart economies, smart governments, and smart societies. In order to develop the mentioned issues in a smart way, there must be a guarantee of safe and dynamic information technology, so there is no substitute for safe technology or cyber security in building a smart Bangladesh.

“Please don't let me become a statistic in this grocery store”: Civic engagement among older Americans since the COVID-19 pandemic onset

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted civic life and upended daily routines. Coffee shops, restaurants, recreation centers, parks, and other ‘third places’ that facilitate communal gathering, interpersonal connection, and meaningful activity closed or operated under tight restrictions. Little is known about longer-term impacts on older adults' civic life since the pandemic's onset. The COVID-19 Coping Study conducted semi-structured interviews in April–July 2021 with 57 adults aged ≥55 across the United States (mean age 71). Reflexive thematic analysis identified heightened sociopolitical tensions and complex community experiences since the pandemic's onset. Participants shared nuanced perceptions of greater physical and emotional distancing, siloed communities, politicized public health adherence, fears of gun violence, and experiences of racial discrimination in shared spaces. Hopeful efforts to re-engage in civic life involved cautious social activities post-vaccination, altered daily routines, and finding a “new normal.” The novel results explore how a large sample of racially and socioeconomically diverse older adults perceive and experience American sociopolitical tensions anchored in shared everyday spaces. Results may inform practical opportunities for policymakers and community service providers to strengthen social infrastructure, support wellbeing, and bolster civic life.

Freedman Courtiers in Civic Life and Administration outside of Rome during the Principate


 
 
 
 The relationship between ‘secretarial’ and ‘domestic’ freedman courtiers and the external world in the Principate, especially with provincial society and administration is still unclear. I aim to analyze traces of freedman courtiers’ activities outside of Rome and present some ties between the court and local administrations and societies.
 
 
 

Measuring Civic Engagement in Young Children

There is a dearth of studies exploring how younger children engage in civic life, what may be expected of them given their age, and what instruments may be used to capture their levels of civic engagement. Addressing these questions, this article presents key findings from a pilot study that aimed to create a validated instrument designed to measure the civic engagement of primary school children. Based on a survey administered to 655 primary school children aged 9–11 across England, this article focuses on the new measure that was specifically designed, and then tested and validated through both exploratory and confirmatory analyses. The findings validate a tripartite measure of civic engagement that assesses the civic attitudes, actions and awareness of 9–11-year-olds. This measure was found to be both practical and efficient in its administration, and it has been shown to be easily comprehensible by this age group. This new measure addresses an important gap in the literature on civic engagement in children, providing researchers with a validated tool to effectively measure civic engagement in 9–11-year-olds. The findings have implications for both researchers and educators interested in designing and evaluating interventions aimed at promoting civic engagement among younger children.

Decision-Making Instruction: Rural Teachers’ Challenges and Perceptions of Robert Stahl’s Decision-Making Materials in the Social Studies Classroom

This qualitative case study investigated rural high school social studies teachers’ perceptions of Robert Stahl’s decision-making materials within their content area and the relevance of curricular implementation. The primary questions addressed in this study focused on high school social studies teachers’ perception of current instructional practices, inquiry-based learning, state standards, and national frameworks regarding content and classroom instruction. Findings indicated that: a) decision-making materials, developed by Robert Stahl, are valued as a pedagogical approach towards learning; b) standards-based curriculum and accountability hinder student inquiry; c) rural participants perceived social studies education to be placed on a back burner; and d) The National Council for the Social Studies College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework’s influence is largely unknown and unrealistic among rural social studies teachers.

Preparing Youth for Civic Life and Leadership: Evaluating the Washington County 4-H Youth Officer Program

Preparing Youth for Civic Life and Leadership: Evaluating the Washington County 4-H Youth Officer Program

Mobilising Against Insecurity, Engaging in Local Civic Life: The Collective Action of Chinese and South-East Asian Inhabitants in a Paris Suburb

Based on a social action research, this article discusses the collective action taken by inhabitants of Chinese and South-East Asian origin in a north-eastern suburb of Paris: targeted by violent attacks, these residents occupied the public space at the base of their residences and demanded the intervention of public authorities. In recounting the different steps of the mobilisation, this article demonstrates how an ethnocentric dynamic was created around security issues and how an ethno-spatial minority was formed within the neighbourhood and the city. It also shows in what conditions this ethno-security action transforms itself into an associative and citizen commitment within the neighbourhood and the city and modifies the perceptions of the actors, their capacity for action and their relations with the neighbourhood and with politics. At the intersection of several fields of research, including the sociology of migration, urban sociology and political sociology, the article shows how ordinary inhabitants of Chinese and South-East Asian origin participate in their neighbourhood's local civic life.

Gender Segregation in Civic Life: Women’s and Men’s Involvement in Voluntary Associations

The pervasive persistence of gender segregation has been documented in a myriad of social settings, implying that women and men primarily encounter peers of their own gender in daily life. While voluntary associations are often praised for their ability to bridge other social divides, previous research indicates substantive gender disparities in voluntary involvement. Yet we still know relatively little about the extent and origins of gender segregation in civic life. In this article, we study gender homophily in voluntary involvement and examine how structural features of friendship networks and traditional gender norms bring about gender segregation. Employing data from a German panel study (SC6-NEPS), we analyze cross-sectional patterns of gender segregation and run multinomial and binary logistic regressions to model joining and quitting transitions. Our results indicate substantive gender segregation across and within types of voluntary associations. The overall gender segregation is driven by homophilous transitions into associational contexts, not by selective quitting decisions. Gender-segregated friendship networks partially explain the tendency to join organizations dominated by one’s own gender. Traditional gender norms are associated with more homophilous joining transitions among men, but not among women. Overall, these findings imply that civic life perpetuates the structural significance of gender.

Occupational Performance 1 Year After a Distal Radius Fracture From the Perspective of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health.

Distal radius fractures (DRFs) frequently compromise independent functioning. To analyze occupational performance post-DRF using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and related interviews, guided by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). COPM score was compared with standard metrics: Patient-Reported Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) and Participation Behavior Questionnaire (PBQ). Through a semistructured COPM interview, participants highlighted self-care, productivity, and leisure. They completed the PRWE and PBQ, linking results to ICF sets. Prospective cohort. Outpatient hand surgery clinic at a trauma center. Patients (N = 120), 1 yr post-DRF. Incorporated COPM, PRWE, and PBQ, linked to ICF. Analysis identified 73 codes, aligning with 30 ICF Hand Conditions codes. Main concerns related to self-care (15.21%), leisure (12.16%), and productivity (16.22%). Major challenges pertained to domestic (67.00%) and civic life (64.53%) within ICF. Occupational performance was positively correlated with participation (r = .62) and inversely with disability (r = -.62). DRFs result in varied occupational challenges that are not always reflected in standard measures. The COPM offers a comprehensive insight into post-DRF patient challenges, emphasizing the value of diverse clinical assessment approaches. What This Article Adds: This study highlights the importance of a holistic approach in occupational therapy for DRF patients, revealing that standard measurements might overlook key challenges that they face. By adopting broader evaluative methods, occupational therapists can better address patient-specific needs and enhance their rehabilitation outcomes.

Using the Sustainable Development Goals in undergraduate leadership programs.

Undergraduate leadership education prepares students for meaningful roles in various aspects of civic and professional life. In this article, the authors explore the contextual facets of undergraduate academic leadership programs and courses utilizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework for addressing local and global challenges through leadership education and development at two higher education institutions. Each example is described contextually followed by promising classroom practices embedded through the use of the SDG framework.

‘Of Noble Sentiment and Of Noble Thought’: Burns Clubs and Commemoration in Ireland 1800–1950

The reception of Robert Burns's work and legacy in Ireland, particularly in its Northern province of Ulster has been well documented. Less explored is the range of clubs, commemorations and events that exist and have existed throughout Ireland to honour his memory. This article will explore the foundation and activities of a variety of Burns Clubs and in particular the Belfast Burns Association, one of the longest standing groups within the Burns Federation. While these clubs were mostly situated in the province of Ulster, the article will argue that the commemoration and celebration of Burns was not confined to the northern province, nor was it merely the preserve of those from an Ulster-Scottish cultural background or indeed those from Scotland, or their descendants residing in Ireland. This article will trace the early efforts to mark Burns's significance in Ireland from the early decades of the nineteenth century, chart the widespread engagement in the 1859 Centenary activities across the island and continue into the twentieth century and twenty first centuries where Burns events continued to play a role in Irish civic and cultural life. This survey of commemorative engagement across Ireland pre- and post-partition will provide an insight into the role Burns's legacy played in the shaping of cultural exchange between Ireland and Scotland, the range and variety of civic, cultural and social discourse on Burns's writing and character in an Irish setting, and how the representation of Burns in the Irish public sphere mirrored and diverged from similar initiatives in Scotland and England.

Social Connectedness Resource Preferences of Older Adults in Assisted Living: A Scoping Review Based on the WHO-ICF Framework.

The current scoping review identified emerging evidence on social connectedness resource preferences of older adults in assisted living facilities (ALFs) and the community. A literature search was performed using several databases. We included review articles published between January 2000 and September 2022 in English and related to social connectedness resources in ALFs and the community. Of 134 titles and abstracts, eight studies were included. Study participants comprised 2,482 older adults from 233 ALFs in the United States. Themes were framed using the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. For social activities, older adults preferred facility-based recreation and leisure resources. For community social connectedness, residents preferred participation in civic life activities. Participants of older age preferred facility resources, whereas those of younger age preferred more demanding physical activities. Those from larger enrollment facilities preferred facility-based resources compared to community resources. For moderately and less active residents, participation was limited to less demanding activities. Older adults' preferences varied based on age, physical limitations, and size and location of the facility. Findings suggest opportunities for further research on developing ALF- and community-based resources for older adults' social well-being and quality of life. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 49(9), 35-42.].

디퍼러닝 연계 교양교육튜터링 효과성 분석

Deeper learning has been used to describe the set of competencies or goals that students need to cultivate or achieve. It refers to the characteristics of learning methods (or learning processes) aimed at reaching such objectives. The goal of deeper learning is to enhance the ability to “clearly understand the content of the curriculum and apply it in the classroom and professional settings,” and related studies consider it essential for success in future college life, career life, and civic life. The D University has been continuously operating a liberal arts tutoring program since the first semester of 2020. It shares many values and aspects pursued by deeper learning, as the key factors of deeper learning, such as self-regulated learning, communication skills, and problem-solving abilities, align with the purpose of the program. From this perspective, this study aims to measure the program participants’ level of deeper learning and quantitatively assess its effectiveness. Participants in the program revealed significant improvement in the overall level of deeper learning and some subscales compared to non-participants. In relation to the findings of the data analysis, the discussion on the educational effectiveness of specific programs in the higher education is provided.

Family abuse targeting queer family members: An argument to address problems of visibility in local services and civic life

Abstract Purpose To draw attention to the invisibility of family abuse victimisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or trans folk and its impacts; and the lack of appropriate, confident, skilled, formal responses to family abuse victimisation. In addition to argue that local strategic commitment is required to address structural discrimination faced by queer folk and to positively invite those victimised to seek help from local services. Method A multi-method local study in a Central Bedfordshire, a County in England was conducted with an online survey, interviews and focus groups with local LGBT+ communities and practitioners. Results The data suggests worryingly high reporting of family abuse particularly for trans participants. At the same time our data, in line with others, shows help-seeking to be low other than to informal sources of help especially friends. In addition professionals appear underconfident about how to respond appropriately. Conclusions Family abuse targeting queer folk is a significant problem and under-recognised. This is in part due to the mainstream domestic abuse sector associating family abuse with racially minoritised and/or faith communities and particular forms of violence such as “honour” abuse, forced marriage and female genital mutilation. Family abuse victimising queer folk is relatively invisible despite profound social, mental and physical health impacts. Practitioners in this study describe a lack of confidence, skills and knowledge about their practice responses to queer folk which needs to be addressed through training. However, we also conclude that the wider civic context can also play a part in sending messages to local queer folk that local services are for them and that there is a role for civic leaders to improve the visibility and confidence of local queer folk as citizens.

An Exploration of the Link Between Civic Engagement and Community Development in Lusaka District Zambia

In a democratic nation like Zambia, Civic engagement is expected to improve the wellbeing of the people in the community. Given the expected outcome of Civic engagement, this article explored the link between Civic engagement and community development in Lusaka district, Zambia. The study rids on case study design to generate evidence on the link between civic engagement and community development. The objective of this article was to explore the link between civic engagement and community development. Data was generated from a total sample of 23 participants. Finding of this research were that civic engagement act as a reflection of citizen’s ownership of community development, interface in solving community problems and facilitator in preferential option for those in absolute poverty. Findings also revealed that civic engagement helps to strengthen national governance. Therefore, this article concludes that in order to make democracy a reality and meaningful, civic life should result into community transformation. The article recommends that there is need for Ministry of local government and rural development to enhance and create more structures were citizens can interface more often with civic leaders.