Communal Strategies Research Articles

Arguing With Friends vs. Romantic Partners: Do Emerging Adults’ Gender-Typed Conflict Management Strategies Vary by Sexual Orientation?

We experimentally investigated the influence of sexual orientation, gender, relationship type, and partner gender on emerging adults’ gender-typed conflict management strategies. Our 2 Participant Gender (between-subjects) x 2 Sexual Orientation (between-subjects) x 3 Relationship Context (within-subjects) mixed factorial design addressed whether findings of prior research (Keener & Strough, 2017) with heterosexual emerging adults generalized to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer/Questioning (LGBQ) men and women. Participants ( N = 227; LBQ women = 49; GBQ men = 33; heterosexual women = 70; heterosexual men = 75) were emerging adults from the United States. They read hypothetical conflict scenarios and rated their likelihood of using communal/other-focused or agentic/self-focused strategies. Endorsement of agentic strategies varied depending on sexual orientation, participant gender, and relationship type. However, endorsement of communal strategies only varied by participant gender and relationship type. Our findings support social contextual developmental approaches emphasizing that individual and contextual factors interact to influence gender-typed behavior.

ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ СТРАТЕГИИ РАЗВИТИЯ СИСТЕМЫ ЖИЛИЩНО-КОММУНАЛЬНОГО ХОЗЯЙСТВА

The purpose of the work is to analyze the features of the formation of a strategy for the development of the housing and communal services system on the example of the draft strategy for the development of housing and communal services of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2035. The main problems of functioning of the sphere of development of housing and communal services (housing and communal services) at the present stage are considered, the characteristic of the housing and communal services strategy is given. The analysis of internal and external factors influencing the formation of this strategy in Russia is carried out. The main stages of strategy formation are considered on the example of the draft strategy for the development of the housing and communal services of the Russian Federation until 2035. The main problems of the industry and the most effective solution to its modernization are identified. The results of the study can be used for further development of the strategic management of housing and communal services of the Russian Federation.

Discursive, Communal, and Individual Coping Strategies: How U.S. Adults Co-constructed Coping During Preliminary COVID-19 Stressors

ABSTRACT This interpretive research study explores U.S. adults’ lived experiences during the beginning months of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Participants (N= 44), recruited from a convenience sample of U.S. adults, engaged in in-depth semi-structured interviews or focus groups. Through an iterative analysis of participants’ experiences and the theoretical model of communal coping (TMCC), the authors identified three convergent stressors (i.e., isolation, uncertainty, conflict) and several coping strategies related to participants’ stressor appraisal (i.e., individual or joint) and action orientation (i.e., individual or joint). Based on these findings, this study offers the novel theoretical concept of Discursive coping and proposes a model for how this perspective might be integrated with current theorizing about individual and communal coping. Implications for communal coping and discursive theory are discussed as well as practical recommendations for public health messaging.

Life across borders : Coping strategies of vulnerable young Zimbabwean female immigrants in Johannesburg, South Africa

The migration of women is continuing to gain attention on different platforms and scholarly works. Women make up almost half of all the migrants globally. However, they are met with a number of challenges in the destination country as a result of intersectional factors that continue to make them vulnerable. There are limited studies that show how immigrants in the African context, specifically young female immigrants, cope with the challenges that they face. This qualitative study explored the coping strategies used by young Zimbabwean female immigrants in Johannesburg to deal with their vulnerability. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews and focus group discussions with young Zimbabwean female immigrants and migration experts. Data were analysed thematically using the Atlas.ti software for qualitative data analysis. The study found that female immigrants use individual and communal coping strategies to deal with vulnerability which did not, however, provide them with permanent solutions to their challenges. The strategies only helped them to stay strong during their time in Johannesburg. The findings of this study emphasise the need to strengthen individual and communal strategies, and advocate for collaboration with other stakeholders to help these immigrants to cope with their vulnerability.

There and Back Again: A Commentary on Social Welfare Policy in the Wake of 2020

There and Back Again: A Commentary on Social Welfare Policy in the Wake of 2020

A person with disability in strategies for solving social problems – analysis of records in perspective of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s theory

The article consists of four parts. The first contains the characteristics of communal Strategies for solving social problems. It includes a discussion of the fundamental assumptions and functions of the types of strategies which play a part in social policy – with particular emphasis on the needs and situation of people with disabilities. The second part of study introduces the most important assumptions of the bioecological theory of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s systems. Through the prism of this theory, research material has been collected and ordered. The merits of the study are captured in the part three. In its scope, it includes tabular systems ordered in accordance with the assumptions of the bio-ecological system theory, containing records and the resulting activities implemented by communes for the social inclusion of people with disabilities. The whole text ends with the conclusions presented in the fourth part. The purpose of the study is a qualitative analysis of the Strategy for solving social problems of communes that are part of the Żywiec and Cieszyn counties. It will make it possible to recognize records and the resulting inclusion activities for people with disabilities. The purpose is also to consider these entries based on the bioecological theory of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s systems and recognition what levels distinguished in the theory mentioned above are present in strategies and what actions result from them. This will also allow for partial verification of the role taken by municipalities – the smallest local government units in creating a culture of inclusion and a friendly space for people with disabilities.

‘Is Help Coming?’ Communal Self-Protection during Genocide

Despite the rhetoric of the Responsibility to Protect principle (R2P), vulnerable groups continue to experience genocide. Some, such as the Yazidis in Iraq, have tried to mitigate genocide through communal self-protection. The dominance of R2P in contemporary normative discussions about responding to genocide, however, means that there has been a lack of research into the lived realities of such experiences. This article explores the phenomenon of communal self-protection during genocide, through a multiple case study analysis. It examines the pre-eminent examples of communal self-protection during three cases of modern genocide — the experiences of the Armenians at Musa Dagh during the 1915 Armenian genocide, the Tutsi at Bisesero during the 1994 Rwanda genocide, and the Yazidis in Sinjar during the 2014 Yazidi genocide. It presents a typology of communal self-protection strategies during genocide, developed from the case study analysis. The article finds that communal self-protection is only feasible as a strategy in exceptional circumstances. Even in a best-case scenario, communal self-protection offers a temporary reprieve, rather than sustainable living conditions. Vulnerable groups attempting communal self-protection are ultimately reliant on external rescue for their survival, which may not be forthcoming. Communal self-protection should therefore not be regarded as a viable strategy to mitigate genocide in any circumstance.

Categories and activities in the area of inclusion of people with disabilities found within commune strategies – selected examples based on the communes of the counties of Żywiec and Cieszyn districts

Sebastian Mrózek, Categories and activities in the area of inclusion of people with disabilities found within commune strategies – selected examples based on the communes of the counties of Żywiec and Cieszyn districts. Interdisciplinary Contexts of Special Pedagogy, no. 27, Poznań 2019. Pp. 29–52. Adam Mickiewicz University Press. ISSN 2300-391X. e-ISSN 2658-283X. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/ikps.2019.27.02The issue of strategies of activities aimed at people with disabilities living in the relevant communes is a topic rarely undertaken in discourse of special pedagogy. These issues are found among the other activities that local government entities are contemporary obligated to implement, and span solutions and activities in the area of inclusion for people with disabilities. It is hence important to know and overcome problems and barriers that hinder or block the right functioning of people with disabilities. Some of solutions and activities are contained in the two types of communal strategic documents, these are: Commune Development Strategies and Strategies for solving social problems. The article consists of three parts. The first covers the characteristics of communal strategies and social policy towards people with disabilities. The second part presents the assumptions and results of research based on a qualitative analysis of strategic documents of 27 communes (about 3900 pages of documents) in terms of categories and activities regarding the inclusion of people with disabilities. The whole is summarised in the final conclusions. The aim of the study is preliminary recognition of exemplary activities found in the strategies of communes from the counties of Żywiec and Cieszyn. Text notes the “good practices” and noteworthy solutions for inclusion applied by local government entities with respect to people with disabilities.

Randomised controlled trial (RCT) study design for a large-scale municipal fall prevention exercise programme in community-living older women: study protocol for the Kuopio Fall Prevention Study (KFPS)

IntroductionFalls are a substantial health problem in seniors, causing fractures and being the leading cause of fatal injuries. The benefits of physical activity in fall prevention have been shown in...

Coping with Food Insecurity Among African American in Public-Sector Mental Health Services: A Qualitative Study.

While there are high rates of food insecurity among individuals with serious mental illnesses, and among African Americans, there is very little research on the ways African Americans in public-sector mental health services cope with food insecurity. This research paper presents qualitative data from a mixed methods study on the prevalence and management of food insecurity among African Americans using public sector mental health services. We interviewed 21 people about their everyday experiences of food insecurity and strategies they used to cope. While participants reported experiencing high levels of food insecurity, they also described the use of communal strategies to help them cope, including sharing food and cooking meals jointly, which seemed to reduce the negative effects of living with high levels of food insecurity as well as a serious mental illness. Policy innovations like communal gardens and kitchens provided through public mental health services may be particularly helpful.

Adolescents’ Endorsement of Communal and Agentic Conflict-Management Strategies with Friends and Romantic Partners

To investigate contextual influences on gender differences and similarities, we compared adolescents’ endorsement of gender-typed communal/other-focused and agentic/self-focused conflict-management strategies in three relationship contexts: same-gender friends, other-gender friends, and other-gender heterosexual romantic partners. Our 2 Participant Gender (between-subjects) × 3 Relationship Context (within-subjects) mixed factorial design addressed whether findings of prior research (Keener and Strough 2017) with college-aged participants would generalize to adolescents. Participants (n = 103; 47 male adolescents; 56 female adolescents, 14–17 years-old) from the U.S. South Atlantic and Middle Atlantic regions read nine hypothetical conflict scenarios (three per each relationship context) and rated their likelihood of using gender-typed strategies. Young women and men endorsed communal and agentic strategies significantly more in same- and other-gender friendships than in romantic relationships. Across all three relationship contexts, young women reported using significantly more agentic strategies than young men did. In contrast to previous research on college students (Keener and Strough 2017), the predicted Participant Gender x Relationship Context interaction was not significant in the present study. Our findings suggest that developmental processes such as age differences in gender socialization and lack of experience with romantic relationships might explain why findings from college students did not generalize to adolescents.

Beyond the Membership Decision: How Do Trade Associations Manage Firm Involvement?

A trade assocation’s effectiveness is more than a matter of attracting and retaining member firms. It must also manage member firm involvement in its activities. Herein, I outline three drivers of firm participation in TA activity – economic self-interest, sociological identity, and meta-organizational management – and call for further research on ways that trade associations can manage firm-level contributions to communal strategy.

Guanaco hunting strategies in the northern plains of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

This article analyses the access to animal resources during the Holocene using the evidence from a key site – Las Vueltas 1, LV1–, localized in the Northern steppe of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina). The contexts analysed from this site yielded at least 85 individuals of Lama guanicoe (guanaco) based on MNI counts: 41 on surface level, 37 in the 3rd occupation, 6 in the 2nd, and just 1 in the 1st. LV1 occupies a low aeolian dune between two lagoons bordered by Tertiary sandstone outcrops; it was interpreted as an appropriate space to capture, kill and process guanacos from the beginning of the Late Holocene. The most useful way to use this natural trap was to work in a communal strategy, implying the participation of several hunters. Furthermore, the site could have also been used for the capture of a single animal, or a reduced number of animals, as happened in the 2nd occupation. As far as the context of the 3rd occupation is concerned, it is proposed that this communal strategy may have been used at a larger scale, turning the site into a communal hunting area that we interpret as a “mass kill“ site. This hypothesis was supported by evidence such as the large amount of guanaco bone remains, the limited and specific range of the fauna assembled at the place, the catastrophic death pattern, the sex and age of hunted animals, a topography appropriate to ambush animals and the large number of fractured lithic points (when compared with other Fuegian sites). Certain conditions such as the topographic relief, hunting season, animal behaviour, social or political issues would have led hunter-gatherers to practice this kind of communal and mass hunting.

Having and Doing Gender: Young Adults’ Expression of Gender when Resolving Conflicts with Friends and Romantic Partners

A communal orientation focusing on others is consistent with stereotypes of women’s social roles and personality traits, whereas an agentic orientation focusing more exclusively on oneself is consistent with men’s roles and traits. Using survey methods, we drew from Sandra Bem’s ideas to investigate whether gender differences in endorsement of communal and agentic conflict-management strategies varied depending on the peer relationship context. When gender differences were found, we investigated whether they were accounted for by masculine and feminine personality traits. College students (N = 116; 49 men and 67 women, 18–24 years-old) from the U.S. mid-Atlantic region rated stereotyped masculine and feminine traits as well as communal and agentic strategies for resolving hypothetical contexts in three peer contexts: same-gender friend, other-gender friend, and other-gender romantic partner. When conflicts involved a same-gender friend, women rated communal strategies higher than did men, but men’s and women’s ratings of communal strategies were similar in the other peer contexts. When conflicts involved an other-gender friend or romantic partner, women rated agentic strategies higher than did men, but men’s and women’s ratings of agentic strategies were similar when the conflict involved a same-gender friend. Women’s greater endorsement of communal strategies for managing conflicts with a same-gender friend was partially explained by their being more likely than men to endorse stereotypical feminine personality traits. Results are discussed in light of Bem’s (1974) once revolutionary, but still relevant, ideas that situational demands influence behavioral expressions of gender and that gender is a multidimensional construct.

Gothic Remembering in Stephen King's "It Grows On You"

This essay introduces the notion of gothic remembering as a means to conceptualize hauntings in a small-town setting. It emphasizes the breakdown of a normative construction of communal past by foregrounding the focus of remembering on abject images and semiotic processes of signification that undermine communal strategies of closure in remembering, thus leading to gothic hauntings.

‘Thinking Too Much’: Tracing Local Patterns of Emotional Distress After Mass Violence in Timor-Leste

This paper discusses enduring implications of social trauma analysed at the everyday level in Timor-Leste following the 1999 political violence. Drawing from ethnographic data collected in the district of Oecussi, this paper explores linkages between disruptions of mortuary rituals related to what have been termed ‘bad’ deaths, as a result of unresolved serious crimes, and their subjective ramifications. As alliances and exchange obligations are central in Timorese social and cosmological life, blockages in these paths may create a variety of negative emotional responses that require individual and communal strategies for coping. This paper argues for anthropological scrutiny on the issue of conflict-related mental health discussions in Timor-Leste that has been predominantly derived through psychological approaches. I shall further embed local idioms for distress, such as ‘thinking too much’, in the local worlds of the social actors while emphasising their individual and communal strategies in dealing with distress.

Conflicting and Complementary Ethics of Animal Welfare Considerations in Reintroductions

Despite differences in focus, goals, and strategies between conservation biology and animal welfare, both are inextricably linked in many ways, and greater consideration of animal welfare, although important in its own right, also has considerable potential to contribute to conservation success. Nevertheless, animal welfare and animal ethics are not always considered explicitly within conservation practice. We systematically reviewed the recent scientific peer-reviewed and online gray literature on reintroductions of captive-bred and wild-caught animals (mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles) to quantify the occurrence of animal welfare issues. We considered monitoring that could be indicative of the animal's welfare status and supportive management actions that could improve animal welfare (regardless of whether the aim was explicitly animal-welfare orientated). Potential welfare issues (of variable nature and extent) were recorded in 67% of 199 projects reviewed; the most common were mortality >50%, dispersal or loss of animals, disease, and human conflict. Most (>70%) projects monitored survival, 18% assessed body condition, and 2% monitored stress levels. Animal welfare, explicitly, was referred to in 6% of projects. Supportive actions, most commonly use of on-site prerelease pens and provision of supplemental food or water, were implemented in 79% of projects, although the extent and duration of support varied. Practitioners can address animal-welfare issues in reintroductions by considering the potential implications for individual animals at all stages of the release process using the decision tree presented. We urge practitioners to report potential animal-welfare issues, describe mitigation actions, and evaluate their efficacy to facilitate transparent evaluation of common moral dilemmas and to advance communal strategies for dealing with them. Currently, comparative mortality rates, health risks, postrelease stress, effectiveness of supportive measures, and behavior of individuals warrant further research to improve animal welfare in reintroductions and to increase success of such projects.

The Whisky Flat pronghorn trap complex, Mineral County, Nevada, Western United States: Preliminary report

A big-game wing-trap complex in Mineral County, Nevada, seen standing and in apparently usable condition in 1845, is described, with interpretations on the manner in which it likely was used to capture Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana). The complex occurs at an elevation of 2000 m in a valley narrows, and was built mostly of juniper posts set in the ground, with bracing rocks as needed. When first seen, sagebrush also was used in its construction. It consists of several features, including a drift fence more than a kilometer long; a large oval-shaped corral with flagstones across the entrance, and containing stone blinds or shooting stations; an adjoining small corral; various other structures; and a nearby campsite. Faunal remains from the looted campsite are mostly those of large mammals, and all of the identified elements are of pronghorn. Interpretation of the manner in which the trap probably functioned conflicts in many ways with descriptions of communal pronghorn trapping provided by Great Basin ethnographers. But there is good reason to believe that descriptions of pronghorn trapping in regional ethnographies are seriously flawed. Study of this and other nearby wing-traps suggests that by late prehistoric and historic times the Indians of the southwestern Great Basin relied heavily on a set of similar communal strategies for mass entrapment of large game animals, especially pronghorn, but including also deer. They employed a built environment consisting of large wing-traps, perhaps using several such traps annually while pursuing a seasonally nomadic foraging cycle. If pronghorn trapping was paired with pine-nut gathering, exploitation of pronghorn may of necessity have occurred in different localities in successive years, allowing local populations to restore themselves. This pattern apparently prevailed in southwestern Nevada and eastern California for at least several thousand years.

Gender Differences and Similarities in Strategies for Managing Conflict with Friends and Romantic Partners

Using hypothetical vignettes, we investigated the extent to which gender differences in conflict-management strategies depended on the relationship context of a same-gender friendship vs. a romantic relationship. Associations between conflict-management strategies, goals and gender-typed traits also were assessed. Men (131) and women (203) undergraduate students (19–25 years) from a state university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States participated. To assess expressive and instrumental personality traits, participants completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ; Spence and Helmreich 1978). Participants also rated their endorsement of communal and agentic goals and strategies for managing hypothetical conflicts presented in the “Peer Conflict Management Questionnaire.” This questionnaire, created for the purposes of this study, consisted of 4 vignettes that portrayed hypothetical conflicts with a friend and a romantic partner. Results showed that women were more likely than men to endorse communal strategies when managing conflict with a same-gender friend, but not with a romantic partner. Women were more likely than men to endorse agentic strategies for managing conflict with a romantic partner, but not with a same-gender friend. For conflicts with a same-gender friend, communal goals, but not expressive traits or gender, predicted communal strategy endorsement. For conflicts with a romantic partner, gender and agentic goals predicted agentic strategies; instrumental traits did not. Implications for understanding consequences of gender-typed relationship processes are discussed. The contextual specificity of gender differences and similarities are emphasized.

Development and Validation of HIV-Related Dyadic Measures for Men Who Have Sex with Men

The purpose of this study was to develop and assess the psychometric properties of several scales that measure dyadic constructs derived from an integrated model of interdependence theory and communal coping perspectives. The scales are specific to HIV risk and men who have sex with men who are in an intimate relationship. These scales are newly developed measures of perceived severity of HIV, preferences for sexual health outcomes, outcome and couple efficacy to avoid HIV, and communal coping strategies. Scale items were created based on theoretical definitions and results from six focus groups with men who have sex with men. Face and content validity of the scales were assessed with a panel of six experts in the field of HIV prevention. Revised scales were subsequently administered to an online sample of 638 men who have sex with men, who indicated being in a relationship for at least three months. All scales showed adequate reliability, and evidence for construct validity was obtained for all scales, except for perceived severity of HIV. The results indicate that these dyadic scales are psychometrically sound and can be used in future HIV prevention research and practice with men who have sex with men couples.