Disadvantageous Situation Research Articles

MECHANISMS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY OF SELECTIVE REGULATION OF COMMODITY MARKETS IN THE POST-WAR PERIOD

MECHANISMS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY OF SELECTIVE REGULATION OF COMMODITY MARKETS IN THE POST-WAR PERIOD

Exploring the Socioeconomic Status of Adult Children of New Immigrants in Taiwan

Since the 1990s, Taiwan has witnessed a continuous influx of marriage migrants from Southeast Asian and mainland China and hence a growing number of their children. Given that a significant number of these children have already come of age recently, it might be important to understand how they fare socioeconomically. Accordingly, this study looks into the socioeconomic status of children of new immigrants in early adulthood in Taiwan. Drawing on the Taiwan Social Change Survey data from 2002 to 2020, multiple linear regression results unveil that children of new immigrants are disadvantaged compared to individuals with a non-immigrant background in terms of educational attainment, occupational status, and monthly income. After controlling for parental educational attainment, the only adequate variable available in the data that can be utilized to examine to what extent family socioeconomic status contributes to the disadvantaged socioeconomic situation of children of new immigrants, it appears that parental educational attainment may play a role in the social mobility process of children of new immigrants. Another noteworthy finding is that despite their advantage in educational attainment and occupational status, children of mainland Chinese immigrants earn less per month than children of Southeast Asian immigrants on average, which may require future research to explore plausible factors contributing to this phenomenon

Spatial distributions in disaster risk vulnerability for people with disabilities in the U.S.

BackgroundThe spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States has centered the role of natural hazards such as pandemics into the public health sphere. The impacts of these hazards disproportionately affect people with disabilities, who are frequently in situations of social, political, or economic disadvantage. Because of these disadvantages, people with disabilities may have less access to necessary resources and services, putting them at risk due to unmet health needs. These disparities in access also highlight important regional, state, and county-level differences with regards to vulnerability and preparedness for natural hazards. ObjectiveThe objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between disability and disaster risk in the United States. We examine the geographic variation in the relationship between risk from natural disasters and the percentage of people with disabilities living in a community. Because emergency management functions in the U.S. are directed and enacted at the county level, we also explore how these relationships change across U.S. counties. In addition to the overall prevalence of people with disabilities, we disaggregate the population of people with disabilities by gender, race, ethnicity, age, and disability impairment type. MethodsTo measure risk of natural hazards, we use Expected Annual Loss index, a component of the 2020 National Risk Index, developed by Federal Emergency Management Agency, which identifies communities most at risk to18 natural hazards. We measure the percent of people with disabilities per county using the American Community Survey. We estimate the nationwide relationship between the proportion of people with disabilities and risk of natural hazards using ordinary least squares regression. To explore geographic differences in these relationships across the United States, we use a geographically weighted regression model to estimate local relationships for each county in the contiguous United States. We use mapping techniques to display regional differences across different disability demographic groups. ResultsCounties with higher percentages of people with disabilities have a lower risk of natural disasters. Across the United States, a one percent increase in prevalence of people with disabilities in a county is associated with two percent decrease in the natural hazard risk score. Small but statistically significant regional differences exist as well. County-specific estimates range from a five percent decrease to a one percent increase. Stronger associations between risk and the prevalence of people with disabilities are observed in the Midwest and parts of the Southwest and West, whereas the relationship across racial groups is more scattered across the United States. ConclusionIn this study, nationwide results suggest that people with disabilities are more likely to live in communities with lower risk of natural hazards, but this relationship differs across U.S. counties and by demographic subgroups. These findings represent a contribution in further understanding the health and well-being of people with disabilities in the United States and the geographic variation therein.

Inequality in personal exposure to air pollution in transport microenvironments for commuters in Bogotá

Commuters in Bogotá (Colombia) are exposed to high concentrations of air pollutants, in part, due to their proximity to mobile sources. This paper analyzes current inequalities in the potential daily inhaled dose of particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), and carbon monoxide (CO) that commuters experience in transport microenvironments according to their socioeconomic background and travel patterns in Bogotá. We use data reported from in-situ measurements of personal exposure to air pollutants in different transport modes and several locations across the city as well as detailed commuter travel time and travel choice data from a city-wide household mobility survey. The personal exposure data together with the mobility survey are then used to estimate the potential inhaled dose of commuters in different transport modes and to investigate the potential associations between the most salient features of commuter exposure. We found larger inequalities in the potential daily inhaled dose of air pollutants between the lowest and the highest quintile of the population distribution. The results also suggest that inequality is largely explained by the transport mode of commuters and travel time. Results are useful for informing further public policies aimed at minimizing air pollution exposure and decreasing the current exposure inequalities, particularly to improve the disadvantaged situation of the low-income population.

Distinct role of the right temporoparietal junction in advantageous and disadvantageous inequity: A tDCS study.

Fairness is a hallmark of humans' ability to maintain cooperative relationships with large numbers of unrelated others. It influences many aspects of daily life, from how people share their resources with partners to how policymakers shape income distribution policy. The right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) is a hub of the mentalizing network and it has been proposed to play a key role in guiding human reciprocal behavior; however, its precise functional contribution to fair behavior in situations of advantageous and disadvantageous inequity remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to clarify the role of the rTPJ in relation to fair behavior in situations of advantageous and disadvantageous inequity by modulating the activation of the rTPJ through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Anodal tDCS at 1.5 mA over the primary visual cortex (VC) or rTPJ was performed and participants subsequently played a binary-choice version of the Dictator Game. We found that anodal tDCS over the rTPJ increased the participants' equity choices in the disadvantageous inequity situation but not in the advantageous inequity situation. The tDCS effect is moderated by sex and, in particular, the tDCS effect increases female equity choices. The results suggest that the rTPJ plays a distinct role in inequity aversion in these two types of inequity situations.

What you think is a joke is actually cyberbullying: The effects of ethical dissonance, event judgment and humor style on cyberbullying behavior

This study examines the roles that gender, family economics, ethical dissonance, event judgment, and humor style play in cyberbullying. This cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey, and 360 Chinese college students participated. The results show that boys have more cyberbullying (flaming) experience than girls and are more likely to use aggressive humor in daily life; girls feel more ethical dissonance than boys in denigration events, are more likely to correctly judge this as bullying, and more often use self-enhancing humor. Students from well-off families are more likely to use affiliative humor than students from moderate and disadvantaged financial situations; students from moderate and well-off families are more likely to correctly identify denigration as bullying behavior than students from economically disadvantaged families; and students from economically disadvantaged families perceive a higher level of ethical dissonance in flaming events. In addition, the variables were correlated with each other to a certain extent and significantly jointly predicted the three types of cyberbullying behaviors; event judgment and aggressive humor were the common predictors.

A multi-agent system based coordinated multi-objective optimal load scheduling strategy using marginal emission factors for building cluster demand response

Building cluster load management to harness energy flexibility and reduce both electricity cost and carbon emissions is an important but inadequately addressed issue in the context of carbon neutrality. This study develops a multi-agent system (MAS) based coordinated optimal load scheduling strategy for building cluster load management in response to dynamic electricity price and marginal emission factor (MEF) simultaneously. The strategy effectively solves the multi-objective optimization problem of conflicts, i.e., minimizing the electricity cost, carbon emissions and peak load while maintaining a good level of users’ satisfaction with electricity use quantified by a utility function. Case study on a campus building cluster is carried out to test the strategy developed. Three demand response (DR) schemes are designed for the building cluster, i.e., price-based DR, MEF-based DR, and the price and MEF hybrid-based DR which implements the optimal scheduling strategy developed. In addition, two real scenarios with opposite correlations between dynamic electricity price and MEF, i.e., positively correlated (scenario 1) and negatively correlated (scenario 2), are extracted from German electricity market. The electricity costs, carbon emissions, peak loads, and utility of the three DR schemes in the two scenarios are critically compared. The results show that the price-based DR may result in the rise of carbon emissions, and the MEF-based DR may lead to higher electricity cost, depending on the correlation between dynamic electricity price and MEF. The optimal strategy developed can achieve a compromise between the conflicting objectives in both scenarios. Under the extremely disadvantageous situation like scenario 2, where the trends of the price and MEF are completely opposite, the price-based DR results in an increase of carbon emission of 2.78%, and the MEF-based DR leads to an increase of electricity cost of 2.63%. The hybrid-based DR can reduce the peak power by 5.54% without increasing electricity cost and carbon emissions in scenario 2. This research provides an effective optimal load scheduling strategy as well as the application guideline for building cluster DR management towards decarbonization and economic benefit.

Placemaking and Tourism to Build Resilience: A Quest for Sustaining Peripheral Island Communities in Taiwan

Peripheral islands are prone to natural disasters. In the past, the literature on island community development focused on sustainability or vulnerability. However, resilience theory has gained attention as an alternate strategy due to unpredictable global evolution changes. Thus, this study explored how peripheral communities face disadvantageous global situations through adaption and cooperation within placemaking and tourism. We focused on two peripheral well-developed island communities, Nanliao and Xihu, in Penghu, Taiwan, and their approach to resilience. This study conducted a literature review, contextual analysis, field survey, and in-depth interview with a case study. The research results included the exploration of mixed placemaking, charity tourism, and the use of online interaction between the two communities. A resilient perspective, in which adaptive development (recovery), cooperative stability, and simultaneous transformation correspond to a third path, was explored. Our findings have challenged traditional dualism concepts, such as “top-down or bottom-up,” “global or local,” and “insiders or outsiders,” which seem to be increasingly meaningless in sustaining island communities.

Transition in Primary and Secondary Schooling in Pakistan: Gender and Age Cohort Analysis

This study assesses the changing pattern of school attendance through age cohort analysis for both males and females in Pakistan. Based on the 1998 census data on educational attainment, the results indicate a profound rise in school attendance among younger age cohorts contributing to elimination of gender gap in primary-level schooling in urban areas only. The disadvantaged situation of rural females is reflected by a combination of low school entries/attendance to begin with, and high chance of discontinuing education before completing primary levels. The pattern of school transition reveals that among those few who have completed Class Five, the chances of staying through the secondary level are much higher—after which dropout accelerates rapidly. Two overall conclusions emerge from these results. First, the bulk of the deficit from universal primary education comes from females population, especially in rural areas. Second, the key to reducing dropouts and gender gap in school attendance lies in actions that raise the demand for schooling of girls, with equally matched availability of quality primary- and secondarylevel schools. It appears that achieving universal primary education by 2015, as mandated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), remains a tall order for Pakistan.

Migrants' willingness to contact local residents in China

Although the integration of migrants has been increasingly pursued by the policy makers in many countries, there remains a paucity of knowledge regarding what migrants themselves think about integration. Based on the 2014 China Migrants Dynamic Survey, this study draws upon new assimilation theory to investigate migrants' willingness to contact locals in China. Our results suggest that most migrants in China are willing to contact natives, but their willingness may not be strong. Different from the actual intergroup contact, migrants' willingness to develop intergroup contact is not affected by their socioeconomic status. Instead, such willingness might be developed based on the cultural commonalities between migrants and natives. Residential segregation can weaken migrants' willingness to contact locals even after the endogeneity bias of residential choice is controlled by using instrumental variable method and focusing on migrants who live in the housing provided by employers. This draws a darker picture of migrant integration. Previous literature explains that migrants faced with residential segregation have fewer opportunities to form intergroup contact which in turn can hamper their overall integration. Our analysis goes a step further by revealing that they may also lose their motivation to make intergroup contact – a preference that is critical to changing their disadvantaged situation.

Threat induction biases processing of emotional expressions.

Threats can derive from our physical or social surroundings and bias the way we perceive and interpret a given situation. They can be signaled by peers through facial expressions, as expressed anger or fear can represent the source of perceived threat. The current study seeks to investigate enhanced attentional state and defensive reflexes associated with contextual threat induced through aversive sounds presented in an emotion recognition paradigm. In a sample of 120 healthy participants, response and gaze behavior revealed differences in perceiving emotional facial expressions between threat and safety conditions: Responses were slower under threat and less accurate. Happy and neutral facial expressions were classified correctly more often in a safety context and misclassified more often as fearful under threat. This unidirectional misclassification suggests that threat applies a negative filter to the perception of neutral and positive information. Eye movements were initiated later under threat, but fixation changes were more frequent and dwell times shorter compared to a safety context. These findings demonstrate that such experimental paradigms are capable of providing insight into how context alters emotion processing at cognitive, physiological, and behavioral levels. Such alterations may derive from evolutionary adaptations necessary for biasing cognitive processing to survive disadvantageous situations. This perspective sets up new testable hypotheses regarding how such levels of explanation may be dysfunctional in patient populations.

Social networking use, mental health, and quality of life of Hong Kong adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents' use of social networking sites/apps has surged, and their mental health and quality of life have also been significantly affected by the pandemic and its associated social-protection measures. The present study first examined the prevalence of social networking sites/apps use and social networking addiction, the mental health status, and the health-related quality of life among Hong Kong adolescent students. We further investigated the associations of the youths' daily use of social networking sites/apps and their social networking addiction with their mental health and quality of life during the pandemic. A total of 1,147 students (age = 15.20 ± 0.53 years) recruited from 12 randomly selected local secondary schools in Hong Kong participated in a questionnaire survey in classroom settings between January and June, 2020, right after the COVID-19 outbreak. The questionnaire includes demographic characteristics and scales that measure social networking sites/apps use and social networking addiction, mental health, and quality of life. Approximately 46.4% of the participants reported using social networking sites/apps often or very often, and 7.8% met the criteria for social networking addiction using Bergen's Social Media Addiction Scale. The prevalence of mild to extremely severe depression, anxiety, and stress among the adolescents stood at 39.6, 37.5, 48.8%, respectively, and the participants' physical, social, and school functioning were lower than the norms of healthy adolescents before the pandemic. Participants who used social networking sites/apps but for <3 h per day (excluding students who never used social networking sites/apps) showed significantly fewer problems of depression, anxiety, and stress than did those who spent more than 3 h per day on social networking sites/apps. Social networking addiction was found to be consistently associated with poor mental health and health-related quality of life. This study provides important evidence supporting the potential protective effect of guiding adolescents to use social networking sites/apps appropriately in order to mitigate their negative emotions during contexts such as that of the pandemic; it further points to the need to provide extra support to promote the well-being of young people, especially those in disadvantaged situations (e.g., non-intact family) during and after the pandemic.

A tool to act blind? Object-assisted eye-covering as a self-handicapping behavior and social play signal in Balinese long-tailed macaques.

Self-handicapping behaviors evolved as honest signals that reliably reflect the quality of their performers. In playful activities, self-handicapping is described as intentionally and unnecessarily putting oneself into disadvantageous positions and situations. Self-handicapping during play may allow individuals to learn to cope with unexpected events by improving sensori-motor coordination, as well as function as a play solicitation signal. One such self-handicapping behavior involves moving about while deliberately covering one's eyes. We conducted a quantitative study of object-assisted eye-covering (OAEC) in a population of free-ranging Balinese macaques. After evaluating the frequency, form, distribution, and context of OAEC, we measured the responses this behavior elicited (1) in the performers with a focus on sensori-motor self-handicapping, and (2) in their conspecifics, with an emphasis on whether, and if so how, OAEC may facilitate social play. Our data provided some support for several hypotheses: OAEC is a sensori-motor self-handicapping behavior, an attention-getting cue, a social play signal, and a socially self-handicapping tactic during social play. We discuss our results from the perspective of tool-assisted self-handicapping behavior, propose a scenario to account for the emergence of this behavioral innovation, and speculate on the cultural nature of OAEC.

Analysis of Residential Segregation and Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Severe Maternal Morbidity Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Persistent racial and ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity (SMM) in the US remain a public health concern. Structural racism leaves women of color in a disadvantaged situation especially during COVID-19, leading to disproportionate pandemic afflictions among racial and ethnic minority women. To examine racial and ethnic disparities in SMM rates before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether the disparities varied with level of Black residential segregation. A statewide population-based retrospective cohort study used birth certificates linked to all-payer childbirth claims data in South Carolina. Participants included women who gave birth between January 2018 and June 2021. Data were analyzed from December 2021 to February 2022. Exposures were (1) period when women gave birth, either before the pandemic (January 2018 to February 2020) or during the pandemic (March 2020 to June 2021) and (2) Black-White residential segregation (isolation index), categorizing US Census tracts in a county as low (<40%), medium (40%-59%), and high (≥60%). SMM was identified using International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) codes developed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multilevel logistic regressions with an interrupted approach were used, adjusting for maternal-level and facility-level factors, accounting for residential county-level random effects. Of 166 791 women, 95 098 (57.0%) lived in low-segregated counties (mean [SD] age, 28.1 [5.7] years; 5126 [5.4%] Hispanic; 20 523 [21.6%] non-Hispanic Black; 62 690 [65.9%] White), and 23 521 (14.1%) women (mean [SD] age, 28.1 [5.8] years; 782 [3.3%] Hispanic; 12 880 [54.8%] non-Hispanic Black; 7988 [34.0%] White) lived in high-segregated areas. Prepandemic SMM rates were decreasing, followed by monthly increasing trends after March 2020. On average, living in high-segregated communities was associated with higher odds of SMM (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.61; 95% CI, 1.06-2.34). Black women regardless of residential segregation had higher odds of SMM than White women (aOR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.11-1.96 for low-segregation; 2.12; 95% CI, 1.38-3.26 for high-segregation). Hispanic women living in low-segregated communities had lower odds of SMM (aOR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.25-0.90) but those living in high-segregated communities had nearly twice the odds of SMM (aOR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.07-4.17) as their White counterparts. Living in high-segregated Black communities in South Carolina was associated with racial and ethnic SMM disparities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Black vs White disparities persisted with no signs of widening gaps, whereas Hispanic vs White disparities were exacerbated. Policy reforms on reducing residential segregation or combating the corresponding structural racism are warranted to help improve maternal health.

Can Proximal Environments Prevent Social Inequalities Amongst People of All Ages and Abilities? An Integrative Literature Review Approach

Although many studies are currently examining the city of proximity as a way to promote sustainable and environmentally friendly cities, few consider it meaningful to achieve an “inclusive” mobility model for people of all ages and abilities, including people with disabilities, children, or the elderly. This literature review paper focuses on the extent to which the city of proximity can provide inclusive mobility and reduce inequalities in the urban scene, thus achieving social sustainability. Out of the 256 references analysed under an integrative review methodology, only 10 delivered solid results. One of the main contributions of this paper is an indicator and sub-indicator system to improve the integrative methodology in urban studies, which led to the identification of several incoherencies in proximity models in terms of accessibility and design for all risking fostering urban with these policies. Although the mentioning of vulnerable collectives may mean a rise in inclusion awareness, one of the most relevant outputs of this paper is the lack of specific measures to revert the disadvantageous situations that conventional mobility planning delivers, as well as the neglection to use proximity actions to promote inclusive and socially resilient urban cities.

Not all poor are equal: the perpetuation of poverty through blaming those who have been poor all their lives

The economic crisis of 2008 severely affected the welfare states. As the economic situation of a country worsens, the resources that the public administration can devote to improve the situation of the people also decrease, endangering the advancement of those in a disadvantaged situation. People who have always lived in poverty, besides having their opportunities reduced, also face negative public views that affect the perceived legitimacy of such public aid, which can in turn be a mechanism for perpetuating their situation. Two studies (N = 252 and N = 266) analyse how a person in persistent poverty is perceived compared to a person in poverty due to the crisis—a circumstantial poverty. We also study some feasible mechanisms underlying this different perception, as well as their effects on attitudes toward social protection policies. In Study 1, results indicated that people showed more favourable attitudes toward social protection policies when they perceived someone in poverty due to the crisis, compared to the target who had been in poverty all his/her life. Individualistic attributions for poverty mediated this effect: when people think of someone in persistent poverty, they make more individualistic attributions concerning their situation, which leads to worse attitudes toward social protection policies. Identification with the group moderates this relation. Furthermore, Study 2 showed that participants perceive people who are in poverty because of economic crisis as more deserving of help than people who have always been poor. Some theoretical and practical implications for intergroup relations and public policy are discussed.

Social Action Is More Than Necessary Today

In the middle of Rotterdam stands Ossip Zadkine’s sculpture, The Destroyed City, as a symbol of the faded center in World War II (Figure 1). It is a human figure from which the heart has been snatched, raising the hands to heaven with a cry of fear. On Sunday, after church, I play around the sculpture on an almost barren city plain while my parents watch. Within their memory the bombing of their company. My playground is their pain. Sunday church attendance is primarily a sacred event. Vatican II is turning things upside down in my hometown. Suddenly, the ecclesiastical dogma of the 1950s is replaced by a passionate social debate. The church must be at the center of society. Stand up for the oppressed. I am excited at that huge revolt. Here, I am fascinated by social change.I remember my first steps in social work in a neglected and underprivileged district of Rotterdam. It is the early 1970s; the neighborhood develops into a multicultural one of native residents, activist students, and first-generation immigrants. I get involved in supporting local residents against the demolition policy of the neighborhood by the city council. People do not want to leave their old houses; they want a toilet, and a shower. No rats in the house. They want to maintain the social cohesion, the beating heart of the district.I start my studies in social work, initially sociotechnologically oriented, but later Marxist–Leninist ideas increasingly take root. Again, I feel trapped in dogma. I oppose ideological ideas. Until I read Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Human experience as a starting point. Freire sees liberation as a collective matter based on dialogue. It becomes a source of inspiration in working with people in disadvantaged situations. I shake off my last dogmatic feathers.My introduction to Gestalt therapy is in the mid-1980s. The approach has a powerful effect on me. The attention to the (body) process is liberating. But I miss the orientation to social action. The Gestalt movement has become unilaterally focused on personal development.I happen to be involved in the founding of a local nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Northern Ghana. We work with local groups to reduce poverty by improving access to education, water, microcredit programs for women. The Gestalt principle of the dialogical relationship can be found here in the age-old tradition of local village communities: “I am because we are.”The 9/11 attacks in New York are again a turning point. In response to the attacks, the European Association of Gestalt Therapy (EAGT) establishes the Human Rights and Social Responsibility Committee. Here, I meet an international group of dedicated colleagues who want to reconnect with the sociopolitical roots of Gestalt therapy. All are active beyond the therapy room. We initiate a first committee project with Peace Brigades International (PBI). PBI sends volunteers to areas of the world where human rights are at stake. With their presence, PBI protects hundreds of organizations and individuals, their families, and communities. Our committee supports these human right defenders by online “human accompaniment” for any difficulties they encounter during their fieldwork. A volunteer writes: “I had violent panic attacks after being held hostage for 24 hours by an armed rebel group. The accompaniment has helped me to reconnect to my body, the team, and my fieldwork. It was essential to know that someone was taking care for me from a distance.”A modern city center has arisen around the “Destroyed City.” The sculpture is not only a permanent symbol of the atrocities of World War II but also a cry of horror at the dramatic events in the world today: the destruction of the earth and its democracies, the fate of refugees worldwide. Social action is more than necessary today.

Social Action Is More Than Necessary Today

In the middle of Rotterdam stands Ossip Zadkine’s sculpture, The Destroyed City, as a symbol of the faded center in World War II (Figure 1). It is a human figure from which the heart has been snatched, raising the hands to heaven with a cry of fear. On Sunday, after church, I play around the sculpture on an almost barren city plain while my parents watch. Within their memory the bombing of their company. My playground is their pain. Sunday church attendance is primarily a sacred event. Vatican II is turning things upside down in my hometown. Suddenly, the ecclesiastical dogma of the 1950s is replaced by a passionate social debate. The church must be at the center of society. Stand up for the oppressed. I am excited at that huge revolt. Here, I am fascinated by social change.I remember my first steps in social work in a neglected and underprivileged district of Rotterdam. It is the early 1970s; the neighborhood develops into a multicultural one of native residents, activist students, and first-generation immigrants. I get involved in supporting local residents against the demolition policy of the neighborhood by the city council. People do not want to leave their old houses; they want a toilet, and a shower. No rats in the house. They want to maintain the social cohesion, the beating heart of the district.I start my studies in social work, initially sociotechnologically oriented, but later Marxist–Leninist ideas increasingly take root. Again, I feel trapped in dogma. I oppose ideological ideas. Until I read Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Human experience as a starting point. Freire sees liberation as a collective matter based on dialogue. It becomes a source of inspiration in working with people in disadvantaged situations. I shake off my last dogmatic feathers.My introduction to Gestalt therapy is in the mid-1980s. The approach has a powerful effect on me. The attention to the (body) process is liberating. But I miss the orientation to social action. The Gestalt movement has become unilaterally focused on personal development.I happen to be involved in the founding of a local nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Northern Ghana. We work with local groups to reduce poverty by improving access to education, water, microcredit programs for women. The Gestalt principle of the dialogical relationship can be found here in the age-old tradition of local village communities: “I am because we are.”The 9/11 attacks in New York are again a turning point. In response to the attacks, the European Association of Gestalt Therapy (EAGT) establishes the Human Rights and Social Responsibility Committee. Here, I meet an international group of dedicated colleagues who want to reconnect with the sociopolitical roots of Gestalt therapy. All are active beyond the therapy room. We initiate a first committee project with Peace Brigades International (PBI). PBI sends volunteers to areas of the world where human rights are at stake. With their presence, PBI protects hundreds of organizations and individuals, their families, and communities. Our committee supports these human right defenders by online “human accompaniment” for any difficulties they encounter during their fieldwork. A volunteer writes: “I had violent panic attacks after being held hostage for 24 hours by an armed rebel group. The accompaniment has helped me to reconnect to my body, the team, and my fieldwork. It was essential to know that someone was taking care for me from a distance.”A modern city center has arisen around the “Destroyed City.” The sculpture is not only a permanent symbol of the atrocities of World War II but also a cry of horror at the dramatic events in the world today: the destruction of the earth and its democracies, the fate of refugees worldwide. Social action is more than necessary today.

NEW ERA IN AGE DISCRIMINATION: EPIDEMIC STIGMA

Bu çalışma son dönemlerde sosyal politikalar geliştirilerek aktif yaşlanma ile faal nüfusun bir parçası haline gelme gayreti içerisinde olan yaşlının, Covid-19 salgını sürecinde maruz kaldığı ayrımcılıkla yaşadığı sosyal problemleri ele almaktadır. Çalışmanın amacı, toplumsal ilişkilerde ve sosyal yapıda meydana gelen değişikliklerden en çok etkilenen ve kırılgan kitle içerisinde bulunan yaşlıların, yaşamış olduğu sorunlara ek olarak salgın süreciyle birlikte damgalama yoluyla maruz kaldıkları ayrımcılığa dikkat çekmektir. 2020 yılının mart ayı itibariyle küresel boyutlara ulaşan Yeni Tip Korona Virüs (Covid-19), bulaşma riski yüksek olan bir hastalık olarak ciddi önlemlerin alınmasına neden olmuştur. Hastalığın etkilerinin hassas gruplar için yıkıcı olması, riskli gruplar üzerinde tedbirlerin daha geniş kapsamlı alınmasına neden olmuştur. Bu süreçte, kronik hastalar ve 65 yaş üstü bireylerin korunması amacıyla alınan önlemlere, gerek görsel medyada gerekse sosyal medyada geniş yer verilmiştir. Özellikle yaşlıların sokağa çıkma kısıtlamasının bir karantina süreci olarak algılanmasına neden olan açıklamalar, modernleşme ile beraber ciddi oranda statü kaybı yaşayarak sosyal problemleri artan yaşlıların yeni bir ayrımcılıkla karşı karşıya kalmalarına neden olmuştur. Önlemler kırılgan olan risk gruplarını korumaya yönelik alınırken, dünyanın birçok ülkesinde ana akım medya ve sosyal medyanın bu önlemleri, salgının yaşlılar üzerinden yayıldığı algısına neden olan haberleri ve paylaşımları nedeniyle hastalığın kaynağı yaşlılar olarak görülmüştür. Yaşlıya karşı aktif nüfus tarafından (15-64) gerçekleştirilen yaş ayrımcılığı (yaşçılık), salgın sürecinde başka bir boyut kazanarak epidemik bir stigma haline dönüşmüştür. Ana akım medyada salgın süreciyle ilgili haberler yaşlı kitle üzerinde alınan tedbirlerle dile getirilmiş, salgın kökenli ölümler yaş değişkeni üzerinden açıklanmış ve dolayısıyla salgınla ilgili alınacak tedbirler ve Covid-19 gündemleri yaşlılar üzerinden gerçekleştirilmiştir. Popüler eğlence kültürünün önemli araçlarından biri olan sosyal medya aracılığıyla yapılan paylaşımlar, 65 yaş ve üstü kişileri salgının seyri konusunda neden göstermiş ve yaşlı ayrımcılığını şiddetlendirmiştir. Aktif nüfus içerisinde başarılı yaşlanma girişimleriyle var olabilme mücadelesi veren yaşlının, yaşlanmayla beraber artan sorunlar nedeniyle dezavantajlı durumu, salgın sürecinde oluşan algı ile çarpıcı boyutlara ulaşmış ve birçok olumsuz örneklerle vicdanları yaralayan görüntülere neden olmuştur. Bu kapsamda çalışma, yaşlıya karşı bulaşıcı bir hastalığın yayılma hızına bağlı oluşan epidemi durumunda, aktif nüfus olarak nitelendirilen kitle tarafından ayırt edilmesine neden olan, yaşa dayalı (algılanabilir toplumsal özelliklerine göre) başkalaştırma veya ayrımcılık yapılması suretiyle damgalanmasını ve ortaya çıkan epidemik stigma (salgının nedeni- salgın yoluyla damgalama, iz) sürecini ele almaktadır.

Stressful life events among women living homeless in Nicaragua,a low-income country.

Nicaragua is one of the lowest income countries in Latin America, where there is a shortage of data on women living homeless. This paper analyses the types, timing and perceived causality of stressful life events (SLE) suffered both during childhood and adolescence and throughout life by women living homeless (n = 30). A structured interview was used to collect the data. Findings showed that women living homeless in Nicaragua suffered a very high number of SLEs, and that these were extremely severe and from very early ages. Most of the SLEs took place before the women became homeless. The SLEs suffered by the women interviewed in Nicaragua were largely similar to those seen in women living homeless in other cultural contexts with higher incomes, although it should be noted that those interviewed in Nicaragua had suffered a higher number of SLE during their childhood and adolescence. The women interviewed mainly attributed finding themselves homeless to having suffered SLEs in the family environment. The suffering of multiple and severe SLEs, largely leading to living in socioeconomically disadvantaged situations, seem to present a significant vulnerability factor both for becoming homeless and remaining homeless over time.