Engagement In Social Action Research Articles

The Black Lives Matter Movement: A Call to Action for Couple and Family Therapists.

The frequent police killings during the COVID-19 pandemic forced a reckoning among Americans from all backgrounds and propelled the Black Lives Matter movement into a global force. This manuscript addresses major issues to aid practitioners in the effective treatment of African Americans via the lens of Critical Race Theory and the Bioecological Model. We place the impacts of racism on Black families in historical context and outline the sources of Black family resilience. We critique structural racism embedded in all aspects of psychology and allied fields. We provide an overview of racial socialization and related issues affecting the parenting decisions in Black families, as well as a detailed overview of impacts of structural racism on couple dynamics. Recommendations are made for engaging racial issues in therapy, providing emotional support and validation to couples and families experiencing discrimination and racial trauma, and using Black cultural strengths as therapeutic resources.

The impact of international volunteering on returned volunteers’ engagement with social action in relation to international development

ABSTRACT International development volunteering is a potential route to returned volunteers’ engagement in social action on development issues after placement. Using data from a two-stage qualitative study with returned Voluntary Services Overseas volunteers, and by considering the pre-conditions and motivations for social action, this article shows that although returned volunteers commit to social action, they face challenges to engagement. Motivated by deepened, critical understandings of development, they reject some forms of action, whilst other action they value proves problematic and does not sustain. Barriers include how others respond and the lack of meaningful opportunities provided by organisations at home. Despite these challenges, some returned volunteers develop alternative, sustainable ways of engaging that have greater direct impact on development. This is significant in informing how organisations support returned volunteers (RVs) in taking action.

Developing Critical Curiosity in Adolescents

ABSTRACTCritical consciousness refers to the ways in which individuals come to understand and challenge oppressive social forces. Philosopher-educator Paulo Freire argued that critical curiosity—an eagerness to learn more about and develop a deep understanding of issues of social justice—serves as an important catalyst to critical consciousness development. Yet, relatively little scholarship has considered how to foster critical curiosity in adolescents. The present qualitative study analyzed semi-structured interviews with 60 adolescents attending five Northeastern urban charter high schools with mission statements focused on fostering students' engagement in social action. Specifically, the study considered these students' perceptions of the impact of their respective schools' social engagement programming upon their critical curiosity. The interviews were analyzed using a flexible inductive/deductive approach drawn from the thematic analysis approach to qualitative analysis. The findings of this study indicate that students had a variety of conceptions of what stimulates their critical curiosity, including relevance, exposure to new perspectives, and receiving new, surprising information. Alignment with Freire's conceptions of critical curiosity and current curiosity scholarship, implications for educators, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Institutional pressure and an organization’s strategic response in Corporate Social Action engagement: The role of ownership and media attention

This study investigates the relationship between institutional pressure and a firm’s strategic behavior in the context of Corporate Social Action. We posit that as an organization’s susceptibility to institutional pressure increases, its proclivity to conform to and alleviate environmental concerns and pressures to establish or maintain its legitimacy increases. To explain variation in a firm’s strategic response to institutional pressures and its engagement in Corporate Social Action, we focus on two factors: public ownership and media attention. Analysis of the largest publicly traded German firms indicates that greater public ownership reduces a firm’s propensity to engage in Corporate Social Action, while firms with less public ownership are more proactive in social engagement. However, when confronting greater media attention, firms with greater public ownership are more reactive in pursuing conforming strategies and increasing Corporate Social Action engagement.

An art therapy study of visitor reactions to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

This paper describes a collaborative research partnership between museum educators and art therapists. Twenty-two visitors at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum were randomly assigned to either a control group or an experimental group based on an art therapy informed protocol. All participants visited the first two floors of the permanent exhibition, Nazi Assault (opening floor) and The ‘Final Solution’ (middle floor). Those in the experimental group created art based on their emotional response to the exhibition contents, engaged in reflective writing and participated in a discussion group. Participants indicated that this process allowed for consolidation and understanding, catharsis, and relational sharing and learning. The experimental group experienced significant increases in immediate empathy and their emotional response was sustained at 2, 7, and 12 months. Experimental group participants were also more likely to share with family and friends complex reflections about different aspects of their museum visit, rather than solely their distress or historical information. There was no change in the levels of these visitors' engagement in social action and political activities. The findings suggest an innovative and effective approach to increasing empathy among museum visitors and to sustaining the impact of a museum visit.

Using Social Justice Vignettes to Prepare Students for Social Action Engagement

One of the learning goals for social justice education courses is to prepare students for social action engagement. Teaching students about issues related to social justice is complex. Prior studies have found a positive relationship between student enrollment in social justice education courses and action-oriented outcomes. While these findings are promising, we as social justice educators need to know more about effective teaching strategies used in social justice education courses that prepare students for social action. In this article, the author describes one method she designed using social justice vignettes to help students recognize social oppression in their daily lives and practice interrupting various “isms” in a safe classroom environment.

Social Work Students Confront Poverty's Impact in the Community: A Service Learning Project

This article describes a unique community involvement project that was used to teach BSW students in a Social Work Practice With Groups course about poverty and a qualitative explorative study of student outcomes. The project included a poverty simulation in combination with 25 hours of service learning with people currently experiencing poverty. Very little research has been done on poverty simulations, and none has included a service learning component. Twenty-one college students participated. Student reflections were analyzed, and themes that emerged reflect achievement of course objectives. A content analysis was also completed identifying empathy and social action engagement. All 21 student reflections discussed an increase in empathy surrounding people in poverty. Sixty-seven percent of student reflections indicated social action engagement.

Preparing Students for Social Action in a Social Justice Education Course: What Works?

The purpose of this study was to explore students’ perceptions of how the curriculum and teaching strategies in a social justice education course prepared them for social action engagement. Past studies using a similar approach to teaching about social justice issues did not include student interviews. Students’ perspectives can shed light on how experiences in a social justice education course prepared them to challenge social oppression and work toward equity in their daily lives. Six students were interviewed one semester after they completed a social justice education course. Findings indicated teaching strategies (e.g., experiential activities) that included students’ lived experiences also increased their personal awareness, empathy, confidence, and knowledge about tools for social action. These teaching strategies were identified more often than content as key in preparing students to take action. Classroom implications are discussed.

Aging, Agency, and Activism: Older Women as Social Change Agents

Current cohorts of older women are potential social activists, and their potential to contribute to social change is examined. It is argued that engagement in social action is positive and empowering for aging women. Older women both contribute to and benefit from social capital, connections among individuals in social networks, and norms of reciprocity (Putnam, 2000). Recommendations are offered for organizations that wish to recruit and engage older women as members. A feminist therapy perspective is consistent with the empowerment of older women as social agents.

Modeling Accentuation Effects: Enrolling in a Diversity Course and the Importance of Social Action Engagement

Modeling Accentuation Effects: Enrolling in a Diversity Course and the Importance of Social Action Engagement

Assessing How Diversity Affects Students' Interest in Social Change

As the country's racial/ethnic minority representation increases, colleges and universities have increasingly sought to diversify their enrollments in order to better prepare all students to live and work in a diverse democracy. However, diversification may negatively affect campus climate and undergraduate peer relations leading to both increased racial tensions and to lower levels of satisfaction and retention for both minority and majority students. This study examined the effects of students' entry characteristics, pre-college environments, and pre-college activities on 3 democratic outcomes that serve as potential indicators of new undergraduate students' readiness to positively engage with diversity: social change self-efficacy, social action engagement, and social leadership skills. Data were collected from 1 of 10 public universities that participated in a 2001 national study that investigated how diversity helps shape students' attitudes and beliefs. The results indicate that students who are more engaged with diversity prior to college are more likely to perceive themselves as ready to proactively engage with diversity as college students.

Modeling Accentuation Effects: Enrolling in a Diversity Course and the Importance of Social Action Engagement

Using structural equation modeling, our analysis of survey data collected from two diversity courses and a management course suggests that enrollment in diversity courses increases students' positive interactions with diverse peers and "accentuates" the importance students place on engaging in social action.

Individual Orientation Toward Engagement in Social Action

The issue of how an activist identity develops is one of the core issues in social psychology and social movement research. Because of problems in the measurement of individuals’ propensities to engage in social action, however, findings in this area are often equivocal, and cross–study comparisons and conclusions are difficult to draw. Hence, the aim of these studies was to develop a measure to assess individuals’ propensities to engage in social action. This measure, the Activism Orientation Scale (AOS), demonstrates strong psychometric properties and allows assessment of activist propensity across a wide continuum of social action behaviors, ideological positions, and movement issues. Additionally, the broad applicability of the AOS allows for its use by researchers, activists, and policymakers.

Michael F. Jiménez (1948-2001)

Michael F. Jiménez (1948-2001)