Experience Of Crisis Research Articles

Neoliberal transformations after war: gendered narratives of post-conflict survival and crisis in Gulu district, northern Uganda

ABSTRACT The implementation of neoliberal reforms in northern Uganda was carried out in the context of armed conflicts in the years 1988–2006 and the post-conflict resettlement and reconstruction activities since 2006. This paper uses an intersectional gender analysis of the life histories of heads of the poorest households in Gulu district to document and examine the effects of neoliberalisation processes of appropriation and class formation in the context of extreme poverty in a post-war setting. It examines the gendered nature of the households’ experiences of survival, crisis, and vulnerability and analyses the effects of neoliberal policies on land, labour, livelihoods, and access to healthcare. The data evidences that the neoliberalisation of northern Uganda is compounding the dispossession of the poor, who were previously dispossessed by war. It underscores the fallacy of the ideology of ‘inclusive neoliberalism’ that informed the second phase of neoliberalisation in Uganda, into which northern Uganda was integrated. Gender proves to be a highly useful analytical lens through which to explore life histories.

The Formulation of Social Neuroscience Midlife Crisis Predictability Apparatus for Midlife Progression

The purpose of this paper is studying the social brain in the context of neuroscience to unveil their intricate relationship between social environment and neuroscience responses by formulating an effective social neuroscience midlife crisis apparatus to help creating predictability of this phenomenal by preventing it from the earlier stage. The research design was taking a three fundamental levels. The foundational level to collect data from 32 middle aged homogeneous sampling of midlife crisis sufferers through qualitative content analysis design for social and neuroscience thematic by conducting an in depth interview. The verification level to guarantee the validity of the data collected through the selected tests for reaching the re-tested reliability data. The confirmatory level to administer the data through the quantitative survey methods by using self-portrayed midlife crisis experience and self-reported midlife crisis definition to investigate the causal relationship of social and neuroscience to reach an outcome, thereafter the outcome is compared with verified qualitative social neuroscience midlife crisis. Data were analysed by SPSS/Version 25 for principal components analysis. Results from N=32 focus group shows 3 social construct components with 10 neuro-response delineating to 45 unit of meaning of social neuroscience factors. The literature and focus study of total 79 combined factors under Tucker's congruence coefficient interpretation shows the desirable 44 social neuroscience factors in 3 components emerged as independent identity factors. Six midlife crisis expert of different field respondents’ validation by content validity index (CVI=0,906 value) has confirmed that the content is suitable to be used as the measurement for social-neuroscience midlife crisis. Pilot study N=34 analysis by content validity ratio (CVR=0.529 to 1) where 38 social neuroscience factors is retained and tested for internal consistency by communalities=0.5 results that all 38 items are relevant. Data comparison confirmatory by triangle test analysis in which Pearson correlation coefficient (r= > 0.75) shows a positive strong relationship between two sets of variables. The results conclude that there are 3 components, namely biological life faded moment, interior misery intensity and personal hibernating symptom with 38 social neuroscience factors in the predictability apparatus that influence midlife crisis and should be used as predicting and developing therapeutic intervention facility to conquer the midlife crisis. Contribution of Social neuroscience midlife crisis apparatus is an effective scaled system for early prediction and prevention to diminish midlife crisis rate of occurrence, ultimately the details unit of meaning crisis predictability factors scale to assure the accurate intervention devising instrument to social support services.

Contesting the crisis narrative: epidemic accounts in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Scientists and global commentators watched African countries closely in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, predicting an impending disaster: the virus was projected to overwhelm already weak health systems. These expectations were informed by imaginaries of Africa as an inevitable site of epidemic disaster. This paper draws on accounts from Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Democratic Republic of the Congo to contrast global catastrophe framings with everyday imaginations and experiences of crisis and crisis management. Utilising ethnographic research, the paper initially explores how COVID-19 was understood in relation to previous epidemics, from HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) to Ebola, as well as political conflict. It then considers how global crisis narratives both inform and are in tension with everyday collective and personal experiences. The paper brings these empirical reflections into a conversation with theoretical debates on the discursive construction of crisis and its effects, and argues that these tensions matter because crisis framings have consequences.

Disruption in Bio-Psycho-Social Context: Children’s Perceptions of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand

ABSTRACT Children growing up during the COVID-19 pandemic have seen unprecedented restructuring of their childhoods through lockdowns, virtual schooling and other public health measures. Theories of biographical disruption developed from individual experiences of life-altering diagnoses predict that unforeseen events such as the pandemic will restructure individual perceptions of their future life narrative. Such theories have been developed from adult experiences, however, with scholars suggesting that normalcy may be more salient to children’s experience of chronic illness. Children’s experiences might be expected to vary from those of adults’ due to their different structural position and younger life history which shifts children’s perceptions of temporality, normalcy and disruption. Empirical evidence from young people with chronic illness, meanwhile, describes diverse experiences of continuity and disruption, while the rhythms and interruptions of childhood chronic illness remain without an adequate explanatory framework. Aotearoa New Zealand’s zero-COVID approach presents a unique opportunity to understand children’s perceptions of disruption and continuity. I worked with 26 children aged 7–11 living in diverse locations in Auckland, developing a comic-based method to elicit children’s perspectives and co-construct narratives over virtual or in-person research visits. Juxtaposed with caregiver experiences and paediatric asthma research, I analyse children’s perspectives to suggest how children differently make sense of and accommodate crisis events. I argue that moving beyond biographical disruption to address the bio-psycho-social factors producing diverse ruptures, discontinuities and interferences will more completely represent children’s experiences of chronic illness and life crises.

Crisis Management: Educational Administration in Southern Punjab, Pakistan During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The main purpose of the present dissertation is to investigate the impact of covid-19 crisis on educational administration of Schools of Management in Southern Punjab, Pakistan. The study adds to the literature by investigating the impact of crisis on administration and crisis management strategies formulated by the institutions along with their impact on institutions’ survival and recovery. A qualitative study is conducted to achieve research objectives and answer all formulated questions. Data was collected via semi structured interview of 8 representatives of different designations from these educational institutions. Thematic technique was applied to examine the collected data and to produce results based on them. Analyses showed that the COVID-19 crisis negatively influenced the financial health, education quality, exam quality and public perception about the institutions. the study revealed that on time decisions and proactive approach from the concerned bodies were important outcomes of the pre-COVID crisis experience. This experience enabled the different bodies like IT department, board of advance studies, academic council and syndicate to make on time decisions. The study also concluded that past crisis experiences also helped this institution to develop their strategies for survival and recovery. Moreover, development of IT infrastructure (LMS, Online Portals), Forming Health Emergency Teams, COVID-19 Protocols and Faculty Vaccination Drive were the prominent steps taken for the institute’s survival and recovery in COVID-19 breakout. Results showed that these strategies helped the institutes to survive during the pandemic situation.

Pandemic Crisis, Power and the Role of the State

ABSTRACT We build on the experience of the COVID-19 crisis to investigate how a State owned and a private company, such as the national health system, are managed when a crisis may occur. We develop our analysis considering an incomplete contract model. We concentrate our attention on the incentives for economic agents assuming that the State expropriates property rights in the crisis event. The choice between public and private health system depends on three key elements: expropriation degree of the State/power of the private sector, damage of cost reduction innovations, probability of a crisis event. If the probability of the crisis is high, the damage is significant and the contracting power of the manager is strong then public ownership may be optimal because cost innovations are more aligned to the first best solution than in case of a private ownership.

The meaning of resilience in adulthood

The aim of this article is to present an extensive description of resilience in adulthood in the modern times. Taking into account resilience’s definition problems, the differences and similarities between the concepts of resilience and resiliency were taken into account. The article discusses a broad definition of resilience, referring to many scientific perspectives. The conclusion is drawn that resilience should be conceptualized as a dynamic process. The meta-analysis of the relationships between the factors indicates the presence of many factors directly and indirectly related to the resilience, but only some of them are characterized by strong scientific evidence.The article reviews the literature on the importance of selected factors of resilience, especially in the context of adulthood and contemporary challenges. In the presented considerations, the mental health topic in the period of SARS-CoV-2 virus and the consequences of the global COVID pandemic in the world-wide population context should claim our attention. The wide social-economic crisis experience, as well as the high level of anxiety level that comes along society, prompts us to continue searching for resources that will act as protective factors. The ongoing war In Ukraine is also not without significance, as it leaves its mark on the daily mental functioning of both, refugees, witnesses, and individuals, who provide selfless help.The article aims to discuss the importance of resilience in adulthood in the context of health, pointing to a negative relationship with negative mental health indicators, a positive relationship with positive mental health indicators, and a relationship between resilience and personality traits. In the considerations on resilience importance, the ability of emotional disengagement, patterns of physiological reactions and the comparison of resilience to the somatic immune system were discussed. The aim of this article is also to indicate the cognitive component, namely the cognitive resilience. In this regard, the relationship between immunity and cognitive functions was discussed on the basis of experimental studies.

Prevalence of Depression and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Flint, Michigan, 5 Years After the Onset of the Water Crisis

Environmental disasters, such as the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, are potentially traumatic events (PTEs) that may precipitate long-term psychiatric disorders. The water crisis was associated with acute elevations in mental health problems in the Flint community, but long-term psychiatric sequelae have not yet been evaluated using standardized diagnostic measures. To investigate the prevalence of and factors associated with current presumptive diagnostic-level major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Flint residents 5 years after the onset of the crisis. In this cross-sectional study, a household probability sample of 1970 adults living in Flint, Michigan, during the crisis were surveyed about their crisis experiences, their psychological symptoms 5 years later, and their access to and use of mental health services in the intervening years. Analyses were weighted to produce population-representative estimates. Presumptive Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition) (DSM-5) diagnostic-level past-year major depression and PTSD. Among 1970 respondents, 1061 of 1946 reporting sex (54.5%) were women; 1043 of 1951 reporting race (53.5%) were Black or African American and 829 (42.5%) were White; and 1895 of 1946 reporting ethnicity (97.4%) were non-Hispanic. Overall, 435 (22.1%) met DSM-5 criteria for presumptive past-year depression, 480 (24.4%) for presumptive past-year PTSD, and 276 (14.0%) for both disorders. Residents who believed that their or their family's health was harmed by contaminated water (eg, risk ratio [RR] for depression: 2.23; 95% CI, 1.80-2.76), who had low confidence in public-official information (eg, RR for PTSD, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.16-1.78), who had previous exposure to PTEs (eg, RR for both disorders: 5.06; 95% CI, 2.99-8.58), or who reported low social support (eg, RR for PTSD, 2.58; 95% CI, 1.94-3.43) had significantly higher risk for depression, PTSD, and comorbidity. PTEs involving prior physical or sexual assault were especially potent risk factors (eg, both disorders: RR, 7.30; 95% CI, 4.30-12.42). Only 685 respondents (34.8%) were ever offered mental health services to assist with water-crisis-related psychiatric symptoms; most (543 [79.3%]) who were offered services utilized them. In this cross-sectional study of psychiatric disorder in Flint, Michigan, presumptive depression and PTSD were highly prevalent 5 years after the onset of the water crisis. These findings suggest that public-works environmental disasters have large-scale, long-term psychological sequelae. The Flint community may require expanded mental health services to meet continued psychiatric need. National disaster preparedness and response programs should consider psychiatric outcomes.

Don't give up? It's a little complicated: Action Crisis Moderates Consequences of goal support.

Social support for goals can be beneficial for goal pursuit, but often has unintended negative consequences for the recipient. We propose that action crisis—the state in which an individual is considering disengaging from a goal they are currently pursuing—may result in people experiencing more ambivalent reactions to goal support. Drawing on both experimental and longitudinal methods, we show that action crisis increases negative consequences of goal support, but does not reduce positive consequences of goal support. In Study 1, we experimentally manipulated goal phase (action crisis, deliberative, or implemental) and had participants imagine support or neutral interactions. In Study 2, we measured experiences of action crisis and receipt of goal support in first-year pre-health students over the course of the academic year. Action crisis predicted more negative appraisals of support, but did not impact positive appraisals of support. Similarly, action crisis predicted more negative emotions and depressive symptoms among people who received goal support, but did not impact positive emotions. These results suggest that action crisis increases the extent to which support is received as a “mixed blessing”.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11031-022-09977-8.

The ends of perpetual crisis

We now live in perpetual crisis: ‘an age of crisis’, ‘times of crisis’, ‘chronic crisis’ and so on. These expressions seem to merely describe a state of affairs, but they are foundational claims. The concept of crisis qualifies a world: it determines what gets to count as an event and what gets inscribed as history in the ongoing stream of competing phenomena. Crisis is a naturalising category that subsumes specificity. It has colonised the life-worlds of communities across the globe and become foundational to knowledge production despite its Christian-European genealogy. Analyses that attempt to gain insights by elucidating discourses of crisis, or how people use the term ‘crisis’, and the experience of crisis, or how people narrate crisis, disregard the constitutive questions that make crisis a primary means of qualifying the observable world. Asking those constitutive questions has political import because they raise the long-standing problem of representation – of the Other, of alterity, of language and of experience. The problem of representation has been a central topic of epistemology and the principal subject of critique in the social sciences and humanities. It should not be ignored, and it compels us to ask: what becomes of the concept of crisis when we problematise practices of representation?

European History in the Shadows of Crisis

AbstractThis article situates the practice of history in the commemoration and experience of contemporary crises. It argues that the current preoccupation with crisis reflects a failure of historical imagination produced by short‐term thinking that increasingly also governs higher education. The concept of crisis often falls short as a tool for understanding both the past and the contemporary world. Histories and accounts that emphasise sudden crisis or triumphal narratives of resolution fail to account for the deep structures and long‐term struggles that can be illuminated by historical research.

Sounding the State of the World: Interview with Karim Rafi, Summer 2021

Matthew Brauer interviews Moroccan contemporary artist Karim Rafi about postcolonial creation in the 2020s in "Sounding the State of the World.” Beginning with Rafi’s shift to remote performances during the COVID-19 pandemic, the discussion approaches confinement as just the latest in a series of crises in North Africa and the world. The repeated experience of crisis opens a conversation about the contemporary experience of time, broached in relation to modern Moroccan art history, which emerged from and against the conservative institutions of the French Protectorate (1912-1956). The interview touches on a range of distinctive concerns in Rafi’s art practice, from sound installations to gardening, which he brings together in multimedia performances and hypermedia objects that register the cultural and political forces shaping art in the 2020s, while reactivating their radical potential for relation apart from capitalist commodification.

Dampak Kognitif, Afektif dan Sosial dari Pengalaman Situasi Krisis

Most people will try to find alternative solutions that can be done to solve problems or events that can cause stress. When internal resources and other external resources are unable to solve the problem, the individual will be trapped in a crisis situation. This study aims to examine the cognitive, emotional and social impacts that can be experienced by individuals with experiences facing crisis situations in their lives. The research uses a qualitative approach with the type of phenomenological research. The sample in this study were students of the Guidance and Counseling Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Ahmad Dahlan University as many as 56 students taken by purposive sampling (students who had experienced crisis situations). Data collection was carried out using questionnaires and interviews. The data were analyzed by collecting and describing all the phenomena that occurred as a result of the crisis experience experienced by the individual and grouped by type. The results of this study reaffirm that unresolved crisis conditions can have a long-term impact on cognitive, emotional and social aspects and have negative impacts. In the cognitive aspect, some of the stress reactions that arise are still often remembering events, negative self-image and difficulty concentrating. In the affective aspect, the stress reactions that arise include feelings of anxiety, fear, sadness, anger, anxiety, loss of hope and uncontrolled mood changes. On the social aspect, stress reactions that arise include withdrawing behavior from the social environment, difficulty interacting with other people and avoiding certain places or activities.

Cultural idioms of distress among displaced populations: A scoping review.

Armed conflicts and natural disasters can cause significant psychological and social challenges for affected populations. Displaced populations are extremely heterogeneous in terms of culture, language, and experiences of crises. Current diagnostic criteria is insufficient when evaluating the symptoms and treatment of mental health issues across contexts. This scoping review presents information about cultural idioms of distress across displaced populations. The review includes aspects of etiology, symptomology, and proposed intervention methods. I conducted a Boolean search of academic and grey literature for studies that described cultural idioms of distress among displaced populations. Results were analyzed using thematic analysis and grounded theory. A shared sense of injustice, spirit possession, and karma are common etiologies for mental distress among displaced populations. Symptoms include somatic complaints, 'thinking a lot', and interpersonal challenges such as social isolation and a fear of others. Potential interventions are likely on a community-level, including the generation of community mechanisms for conflict-resolution, reconciliation, and culturally grounded healing rituals. It is vital to understand the ways displaced communities conceptualize their mental health in order to develop appropriate culturally grounded interventions. Understanding the etiology, symptoms, and proposed interventions can inform and improve humanitarian aid delivery of mental health and psychosocial support services.

Loneliness as the New Human Condition in Murakami Ryū's In za miso sūpu

This article analyses how loneliness is depicted as a diagnosis of the time in Murakami Ryū’s (born 1952) hard-boiled novel In za miso sūpu (In the miso soup). Three conceptualisations of loneliness are hermeneutically analysed to show how loneliness is narrated and contextualised. As the analysis reveals, loneliness functions as an utterance of crisis experiences and of perceived insecurities and highlights socio-psychological phenomena considered characteristic of 1990s Japan.

Regional futures in crisis: lived experience and the generative role of intermediaries

ABSTRACT As society responds to climate extremity and the COVID-19 pandemic, and as decarbonisation transforms the economy, regions will bear much of the adjustment burden. Powerful forces are re-imagining and reassembling regions, with investment in infrastructure, rare earth minerals mining and processing, green energy and battery hubs, and sovereign manufacturing capacity. While large-scale projects promise employment opportunities, transitions are unlikely to proceed smoothly – for workers, regions, or the environment. Moreover, they risk concentrating corporate power and sectoral dependencies, with limited community participation in decision-making, and amplified socio-spatial and environmental injustices. Unconvinced of the resilience contributions of such projects amidst profound climatic, geopolitical and health disruptions, this paper shifts the focus to qualitative conditions on the ground. Foregrounded are the lived experience of crises, vernacular initiatives to address crises in a more participatory, less corporatized, ‘minor’ key, and the critical roles played by intermediary actors and care networks. Amidst upheaval and trauma, regions are witnessing a host of quieter transformations: First Nations fire and land management partnerships; social enterprise formation; care practices among skilled agricultural and industrial workers; prosaic disaster response initiatives; and expanded research capacity in regional universities. Regional relationships, and the intermediary networks that sustain them, will prove vital in crisis. Beyond viewing future opportunities for regional Australia principally through large-scale infrastructural projects, planning has a distinctive role to play in mediating quotidian conditions of disruption, nurturing active, durable, and meaningful bonds between diverse regional communities, industries, and institutions. Practitioner pointers Critical scrutiny is needed of visions for regional futures overly fixated on major post-pandemic infrastructure and decarbonisation projects Beyond technical considerations, planning practice must be inclusive of lived experiences of disruption, incorporating and listening to diverse voices Informing principled planning practice, on-going qualitative research is needed to document on-the-ground conditions, intermediary relationships, and vernacular resilience capacities

Pragmatic optimism, crisis leadership, and contingency theory: A view from the C-suite

In the last three decades, the theory of strategic conflict management has been developed so that it is a strong framework for considering the factors that influence an organization’s response to crises and identifying the importance for dynamic and flexible approaches to crisis decision-making and communication. While leadership is considered one of the critical internal contingency factors but individual characteristics of key decision-makers, like the CEO, are also one of the most understudied ones. At the same time, the concept of optimism has long been explored as a factor influencing performance and positive outcomes in many arenas, but with scant evidence in the application to senior-level leadership or crisis contexts. In fact, in the crisis literature where optimism and pessimism is addressed, it largely argues that crisis leaders should adopt a pessimistic mindset. For this study senior-leaders in multinational companies responsible for managing employees in an average of 70 countries each and with extensive crisis leadership experience reflect on their own experiences during crises. Findings indicate that optimism is a critical trait in successful crisis leadership connecting to positive outcomes for the teams and organizations. These data also provide critical insights that develop a stronger understanding of contingency planning in crisis management because we have identified a trait that amongst an elite group of managers with extensive crisis experience was consistently attributed to their own success as crisis leaders.

In Integrity We Trust: Organizational Crisis Elevates the Importance of Integrity for Leaders

Organizations today are increasingly exposed to crises of various magnitudes. Although research has started to highlight the positive impact of leader trust in facilitating adaptive responses to organizational crises, it has overlooked the flip side of the coin: how do organizational members assess leader trustworthiness in crises? The current research proposes that individuals experiencing organizational crisis prioritize leader integrity over ability and benevolence, and leaders who demonstrate integrity garners trust more easily. We further propose that the experience of organizational crisis leads to the primacy of integrity via a need to relieve anxiety. We tested these hypotheses in four studies using mixed methods. One field study (multiwave surveys from an organization operating through COVID-19), two classroom experiments (MBA students taking part in a complex business simulation), and one scenario-based online experiment (full-time employees from Prolific; total N = 975), together suggest a robust main effect across different types of organizational crises, and the mediating mechanism of anxiety. Connecting and advancing the research on organizational crises, leadership, and trust, our research sheds much-needed light on how organizational leaders can foster trust in times of crisis.

Macroeconomic Impacts of Declining Wage Share in National Income

The study aims to lay down a parsimonious and tractable stock-flow-consistent macroeconomic modelling approach to enhance the analysis of identification and investigation of the key underlying causes of the macroeconomic and financial instability in the context of the 2007–2008 Global Financial Crises (GFC) and COVID-19 pandemic. The model has the following key features. First, the assets and liabilities of the four major sectors, households, firms, commercial banks and government, are explicitly formalised by considering the accounting flow of the fund approach. Second, the behaviour of each sector has been derived and analysed based on accounting identities derived from the transaction flow matrix. Third, the model is calibrated and simulated by determining the values of the parameters and the exogenous variables based on the US macroeconomic data. Fourth, the most relevant simulation experiments and their results have been sufficiently analysed to produce forecasts and provide specific policy recommendations. The findings suggest that a decline in the wage share in the national income was seen to have undermined financial and macroeconomic stability in the US (and elsewhere). The results concur with the experience of current economic crises that are associated with the impact of COVID-19.

MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES OF MIGRANT DOMESTIC WORKERS IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE CASE OF BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

This paper offers insight into the mental health challenges encountered by migrant domestic workers (MDWs) during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brunei Darussalam. Data collected in one-to-one interviews evaluate their oral stories using various mental health linguistic codes. A preliminary study addresses initial signs of anxiety and other mental health issues that a segment of the migrant worker community has confronted due to employment conditions, structural restrictions, and a lack of access to mental health resources. A pilot study focuses on three narratives that pave the way for further studies into the causes, structures, and solutions around the lived experiences of crisis and control in a global pandemic.