Feelings Of Futility Research Articles

What do foster parents think about their foster children’s education?

ABSTRACT Background It is widely understood that children who enter foster care are likely to have had previous traumatic experiences which can affect many aspects of their lives, including their ability to thrive at school. In order to better support the educational needs of children who are fostered, deeper insight needs to be gained into the relationships between children in foster care, foster parents, and schools. As a contribution to this under-researched area, this study focuses attention on the viewpoints of foster parents in relation to their foster children’s school experiences, in a Polish context. Purpose This research sought to explore the perceptions of foster parents on the education of their foster children and investigate how they understood these experiences. Methods A qualitative, interpretive phenomenological study was undertaken to analyse foster parents’ lived experiences of their foster children’s education. A purposive sample of 62 foster parents participated across seven focus groups. An in-depth, interpretive analysis was conducted. Findings Overall, analysis of the rich data set identified four main themes, which crossed all focus groups: Experiences of discrimination; Advocating for the child, Feelings of futility, and Connecting positively. Conclusions The study highlights more widely how foster parents can feel routinely excluded from their foster children’s education and suggests that feelings of discrimination may be common experiences. It also draws attention to the opportunities for meaningful connectivity between school professionals, foster parents and children. Implications for practice, which may be of use in other settings internationally, are offered.

Psychological distress in sons as resident carers of older mothers in Japan

AbstractIn Japan, care-giving sons are noted for their high rates of abuse of care recipients. This study revealed, for the first time, the difficulties unique to sons caring for their mothers. All sons used long-term care insurance services. However, they provided care that could not be covered by such public services while harbouring psychological distress. In this study, we interviewed 13 sons living with their older mothers as the primary carer and conducted a thematic analysis focusing on their psychological distress. As part of our study findings, we have identified nine themes during analysis: uncomfortable feelings that cannot be mitigated as a son; feeling of futility in being unrecognised as a carer; fear of losing something important; a strong sense of responsibility for one's mother's life; disappointment in being unable to obtain understanding and co-operation from one's siblings in providing care; irritation and anger towards one's wayward mother; guilt about treatment of one's mother; sense of exhaustion due to demanding care; and experiencing hopelessness and despair. Thus, it is important to understand what psychological distress carers experience and to consider possible approaches for their support. The study findings provide suggestions for long-term care support in regions, such as East Asia, where the numbers of son carers are increasing inevitably owing to declining birth rates and ageing population, as in Japan.

The Robotic Man by Habit: An Existential Analysis of Albert Camus’ The Misunderstanding

Human existence is essentially characterised by habit. It is habit that
 carries us most of the times, from one day to another as our daily activities
 are mostly routine in nature. As Albert Camus (1942) notes, most of our
 daily activities are commanded by habit. This is why Camus compares the
 human condition to that of Sisyphus. Camus submits that like Sisyphus, the
 same rhythm carries us from one day to another and this makes our actions
 automatic, if not robotic. Furthermore, Camus notes that habit usually
 leads to monotony, boredom and meaninglessness of our actions. This is
 what he refers to as the absurdity of human existence; a feeling of futility we
 may experience when we become aware of the repetitiveness of our routines
 and rituals (Craig, 2005); grosso modo, a lack of fundamental meaning
 in life. In this paper, our analysis of Camus’ play, ‘The Misunderstanding’
 (1943) is hinged upon Sartre’s existentialism, which has close affinities with
 Camus’ philosophical concept of the absurd. In ‘Being and Nothingness’
 (1943), Sartre submits that the problem of being is the most important
 phenomenological problem. According to Sartre, there are essentially, two
 modes of existence; Being-in-itself and Being-for-itself. Being-in-itself is
 the type of being that objects in this world have; for example, Being-foritself is the being of human beings. In this article, we have submitted that
 habit robotises the characters in Camus’ play in that it (habit) transforms
 them into Being-in-itself whose existence is passive and absurd.

General practitioners\u2019 attitudes towards patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes: a qualitative study

BackgroundPatients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with poor glycaemic control can represent a challenge from the perspective of the general practitioner (GP). Apart from patient-sided factors, the understanding of GPs’ attitudes may provide ideas for improved management in these patients. The aim of this study is to reveal attitudes of GPs towards T2DM patients with poor metabolic control.MethodsQualitative research in German general practice; 20 GPs, randomly chosen from participants of a larger study; in-depth narrative interviews, audio-recorded and transcribed; inductive coding and categorisation in a multi-professional team; abstraction of major themes in terms of attitudinal responses.Results1) Orientation on laboratory parameters: GPs see it as their medical responsibility to achieve targets, which instil a sense of security. 2) Resignation: GPs believe their efforts are in vain and see their role as being undermined. 3) Devaluation of the patient: GPs blame the “non-compliance” of the patients and experience care as a series of conflicts. 4) Fixed role structure: The expert GP on the one hand, the ignorant patient on the other. 5) Solidarity with the patient: GPs appreciate a doctor-patient relationship in terms of partnership.ConclusionsThe conflict GPs experience between their sense of duty and feelings of futility may lead to perceptions such as personal defeat and insecurity. GPs (and patients) may benefit from adjusting the patient-doctor relationship with regard to shared definitions of realistic and authentic goals.

“You’ve Done Very Well” (“Das haben Sie sehr schön gemacht”): On Courage and Presence of Mind in Spiritual Issues

Although it is not unusual to be called ad hoc onto a ward where one is not on regular duty, there are special challenges for the pastoral caregiver. For example, one might not be familiar with the staff or with the medical focus of the unit. This study (on multiple visits over the course of a long day) demonstrates vividly that the reason a chaplain is called may not always match the real need of the patient and/or of the persons who are close to that patient. Questions that seem to have nothing to do with pastoral care may have a spiritual core or may imply suffering from feelings of futility, of spiritual pain and unresolved religious issues that often remain largely ignored in practice, despite the “total pain” concept in palliative care. The courage to address spiritual issues explicitly, for example, by offering a ritual in pastoral care, can be crucial inmaking positive changes possible.

A Capacity to Resist: Kant’s Aesthetics and the Right of Revolution

ABSTRACT Taking Kant’s well-known refusal of the “right of resistance” as a point of departure, this paper outlines an alternative approach to the Kantian theory of revolution by investigating the aesthetic dimension of his reception of global insurrectionary movements, particularly his interest in the world spectator’s “enthusiasm” for the French Revolution. Like the experience of the sublime, where the subject confronts instances of nature’s immensity and power that exceed the imagination’s capacity for presentation, revolution confronts us with formless events of human history. The sublime, however, occasions a second moment of recovery. Following the painful experience of the imagination’s impotence, the judging subject is enlivened by the discovery of what Kant calls “a capacity for resistance,” that is, our ability to transcend forces that produce feelings of futility and powerlessness. This paper argues that Kant’s sublime right to resist not only anticipates the revolutionary imperative of Romanticism, but also foregrounds the way in which aesthetics defies the law’s efforts to prohibit disobedience and dissent. But it concludes with a note of caution towards the sublime’s tendency to suppress the rights of nature, a suppression that could be overturned by what Kant calls “a second epoch of natural revolution” that pushes aside the human species altogether.

Educational tracking and sense of futility: a matter of stigma consciousness?

During the past decade, both qualitative and quantitative research have documented strong feelings of fatalism amongst pupils enrolled in technical and vocational tracks in secondary education. Whereas those feelings have been shown to predict decreased school involvement and school misconduct, relatively little is known about their exact origins. In this paper, we explore to what extent they should be considered a stigma consciousness caused by the demeaning impact of perceived contempt to which pupils from technical and vocational tracks are exposed. Data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study from Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, N: 1967) were used to explore the distribution and consequences of perceived contempt with regard to one’s choice of study. About 20% of the pupils enrolled in technical and vocational education reported that some people looked down on them due to their studies. Moreover, even after taking into account different ability measures and social background characteristics, a strong direct relationship remained between perceived contempt and feelings of futility. In the conclusion, we elaborate on the implications of our findings.

The Sisyphean myth, negative capability and societal relevance

Different forms of literature over the years have expressed mankind’s views, thoughts, notions, beliefs, and inclinations. The feelings of futility, negativity, absurdism, nihilism expressed in the myth of Sisyphus is just one of the numerous representations that literature can offer. But not all literary expressions are posers of questions and problems. Certain concepts such as Keats’ Negative Capability suggest solutions to Camus’ Sisyphean problem and its ilk. This paper explores this problem-solution relationship and finds complementarity and possibility feasible.

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want…” The Mycobacterium abscessus Issue. Name versus Function

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want…” The <i>Mycobacterium abscessus</i> Issue. Name versus Function

Tracking and sense of futility: the impact of between‐school tracking versus within‐school tracking in secondary education in Flanders (Belgium)

It has been established since the 1960s that tracking yields negative consequences for students in lower tracks. As this research has been carried out mainly in the USA and UK, the effects of tracking have been demonstrated in systems of within‐school tracking mostly. However, in many European countries—such as Belgium (Flanders)—tracking is commonly organised between schools. The question then arises whether the specific system of tracking, within‐school vs between‐school tracking, might affect the impact of tracking on students. Although in Flanders between‐school tracking is the norm, there are a number of schools offering a combination of academic tracks with technical and/or vocational tracks, allowing for a comparison of both systems. The present study investigates whether the association between feelings of futility and the specific track a student is enrolled in depends upon whether these tracks are organised between or within schools. Three‐level multilevel analyses (HLM6) of 11,872 3rd‐ and 5th‐grade students clustered in 146 tracks in a representative sample of 85 secondary schools in Flanders are carried out based on the Flemish Educational Assessment (FlEA) data gathered in 2004–2005. Within‐school tracking appears to have a slightly greater impact on the association between track position and sense of futility. So, lower‐track students who are directly confronted with higher‐track students in the same school seem more likely to lose their faith in a meritocratic system, as they put luck above working hard or above merit.

Rationale for "cultural" native patient navigators in Indian country.

“Native Navigators and the Cancer Continuum” (NNACC) was a community-based participatory research study awarded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (2008–2014). The partners for the research project were five organizations that have a long history of successful engagement in the American Indian community or are federally recognized tribes. They are Native American Cancer Research Corporation, CO (NACR), Intertribal Council of Michigan, Incorporated, MI (ITCMI), Rapid City Regional Hospital, SD (RCRH), Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board, SD (GPTCHB), and Muscogee (Creek) Nation, OK (MCN) (referred to as the “Partners” in this CPBR study). The NNACC study utilized native patient navigators (NPNs) who are lay patient navigators (i.e., none work directly for a clinical setting) from each community setting. The lay NPNs were very successful in implementing education sessions, referring participants to screening and navigating the process when necessary through diagnosis and treatment. Many people question why there is a need for a navigator from the local community who is familiar with local culture and customs and health care systems accessed by American Indians (AIs) in their respective communities. Although there are many reasons, the five most common are [1] as follows: Issues of Trust due to Prior History of Mistreatment and Its Impact on Health Care Access AI populations have valid reasons for distrust of researchers and health care systems. [2] Historical trauma is cumulative and collective. The impact of this type of trauma manifests itself, emotionally and psychologically, in members of different cultural groups [3] . As a collective phenomenon, those who never even experienced the traumatic stressor, such as children and descendants, can still exhibit signs and symptoms of trauma. Historical trauma is described as a multigenerational trauma experienced by a specific cultural group [4]. A conceptual model of historical trauma offers an explanation of the relationship between historical trauma and how American Indians access health care and public health [5]. This relationship has resulted in a barrier to care that NPNs in each community can address due to a personal knowledge of the history and the resulting trauma in the local area. Historical trauma has resulted in a fear of the health care system and a feeling of futility on the part of the native patient. As a result, many American Indians do not access health care until there is an emergency. The NPNs reduce the feelings of fear through education and navigation. In addition, Christopher et al. documented multiple examples of natives' distrust of researchers based on numerous historical events [6]. Unethical research or care protocols have historical relevance to government policies designed to annihilate AIs in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries; others are more recent and include sterilization of AI women without informed consents in the 1970s [2]. In 2010, the Havasupai won their lawsuit against Arizona State University (ASU) researchers for misusing blood samples taken from nearly every tribal member. Such behavior creates mistrust throughout “Indian Country” and makes the ability to develop successful community-academic partnerships for the purpose of research even more difficult to establish. Appreciating and understanding the multiple reasons for this lack of trust is critical in order for PNs to be successful and for researchers to pursue areas of investigation in this population [7].

Law enforcement attitudes toward overdose prevention and response

BackgroundLaw enforcement is often the first to respond to medical emergencies in the community, including overdose. Due to the nature of their job, officers have also witnessed first-hand the changing demographic of drug users and devastating effects on their community associated with the epidemic of nonmedical prescription opioid use in the United States. Despite this seminal role, little data exist on law enforcement attitudes toward overdose prevention and response. MethodsWe conducted key informant interviews as part of a 12-week Rapid Assessment and Response (RAR) process that aimed to better understand and prevent nonmedical prescription opioid use and overdose deaths in locations in Connecticut and Rhode Island experiencing overdose “outbreaks.” Interviews with 13 law enforcement officials across three study sites were analyzed to uncover themes on overdose prevention and naloxone. ResultsFindings indicated support for law enforcement involvement in overdose prevention. Hesitancy around naloxone administration by laypersons was evident. Interview themes highlighted officers’ feelings of futility and frustration with their current overdose response options, the lack of accessible local drug treatment, the cycle of addiction, and the pervasiveness of easily accessible prescription opioid medications in their communities. Overdose prevention and response, which for some officers included law enforcement-administered naloxone, were viewed as components of community policing and good police-community relations. ConclusionEmerging trends, such as existing law enforcement medical interventions and Good Samaritan Laws, suggest the need for broader law enforcement engagement around this pressing public health crisis, even in suburban and small town locations, to promote public safety.

Clínica do Vazio e Mal-Estar Contemporâneo: Um Entendimento a Partir do Conceito de Narcisismo

The work deals with the emptiness of the clinical as a result of contemporary malaise. Aims to describe the constitution of the psychic dynamics of the subject, from the concept of narcissism in a society that seeks prosperity at any price, but that has narcissistic disorders, suffering from symptoms of loss of identity that leads to an inner emptiness. Justified from the transformation of the subject reveals that clinical demand with a new twist on their subjective processes, showing an inner emptiness, feelings of futility in their lives, faced with a society that has the penchant for narcissistic perfection, as well as to change values in relation to tolerance and permissiveness.

What prevents senior executives from commenting upon miscommunication in top management team meetings?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore why executives participating in a top management team meeting avoid speaking up when they experience the goal as unclear or the discussion as wandering off track.Design/methodology/approachA total of 21 executives (CEOs and level 2 managers) from seven top management teams were interviewed, and the interviews analyzed according to the principles of Grounded Theory.FindingsThe executives’ silence was primarily governed by a core belief that to speak up about miscommunication is a negative act, which will probably elicit undesirable consequences. This assumption was reinforced by how the executives perceived themselves, other persons and relationships in the group, group norms, and the issue discussed in the meeting. In addition, three other basic beliefs prevented the level 2 managers from speaking up: “We have no tradition for speaking up in this group”, “It's futile to speak up”, and “It's not part of my role to speak up in this group”.Research limitations/implicationsThe data were collected from executives representing only seven top management teams from the public sector in Norway, limiting the generalizability of the findings. Future research should increase the number and types of top management teams from which informants are drawn.Practical implicationsExecutives should be aware of how their beliefs and perceptions prevent them from voicing their concerns when experiencing miscommunication during the TMT meeting, and how remaining silent in these matters represents an important barrier to team effectiveness in the meetings.Originality/valueThe study shows that even among executives at the top of the organizational hierarchy, people refrain from speaking up when experiencing miscommunication, and that there are more reasons for not voicing concerns than fear of consequences and feelings of futility.

“Did I Do as Best as the System Would Let Me?” Healthcare Professional Views on Hospital to Home Care Transitions

Patients are vulnerable to poor quality, fragmented care as they transition from hospital to home. Few studies examine the discharge process from the perspectives of multiple healthcare professionals. To understand care transitions from the perspective of diverse healthcare professionals, and identify recommendations for process improvement. Cross sectional qualitative study. Clinicians, care teams, and administrators from the inpatient general medicine services at one urban, academic hospital; two outpatient primary care clinics; and one Medicaid managed care plan. We conducted 13 focus groups and two in-depth interviews with participants prior to initiating a hospital-funded, multi-component transitional care intervention for uninsured and low-income publicly insured patients, the Care Transitions Innovation (C-TraIn). We used thematic analysis to identify emergent themes and a cross-case comparative analysis to describe variation by participant role and setting. Poor transitional care reflected healthcare system fragmentation, limiting the ability of healthcare professionals to provide optimal patient care. Lack of standardized processes, poor multidisciplinary communication within the hospital, and fragmented communication across settings led to chaotic, unsystematic transitions, poor patient outcomes, and feelings of futility and dissatisfaction among providers. Patients with complex psychosocial needs were especially vulnerable during care transitions. Recommended changes to improve transitional care included improving hospital multidisciplinary hospital rounds, clarifying accountability as patients move across settings, standardizing discharge processes, and providing additional medical staff training. Hospital to home care transitions are critical junctures that can impact health outcomes, experience of care, and costs. Transitional care quality improvement initiatives must address system fragmentation, reduce communication barriers within and between settings, and ensure adequate professional training.

Teachers' attitudes and students' opposition. School misconduct as a reaction to teachers' diminished effort and affect

Recent decades have seen many studies dealing with the effects of teacher expectations. While most have focused on students' cognitive outcomes, we relate teacher expectations to student deviancy. We expect low expectations to be associated with students' feelings of futility and less teacher support, which, according to respectively strain theory and social control theory, give rise to misconduct. Multilevel analyses of data (2004–2005) from 11,844 students and 2104 teachers in 84 Flemish secondary schools suggest that, in schools where teacher expectations are low, students report less perceived teacher support, which is associated with higher rates of self-reported school misconduct.

Melancholia: A movie review

Melancholia, a drama written and directed by Lars von Trier, starring Kirsten Dunst, Charolette Gainsbourg, and Keifer Sutherland, is a film that embraces depression and the environmental stressors that contribute to it. The two main protagonists, Justine and Claire, highlight two different manifestations of depression. The film is divided into two parts. The first part of the film introduces the characters and focuses on Justine's wedding and her personality. She is a young woman experiencing feelings of unhappiness, loneliness, and sadness. Justine tries to drown her depression behind an outrageously expensive wedding. Although she attempts to suppress her emotions, it just isn't enough. Her depressive feelings begin to overwhelm her, leading to an unsuccessful wedding day.The second part of the film presents Justine in a severe state of depression; however, the focus of the story now turns to Claire, Justine's sister. In a turn of events, Melancholia becomes the name of a planet hiding behind the Sun. Scientists believed Melancholia would hit the Earth during its course and destroy the human race. Here is where the movie transcends itself. Melancholia is linked to both of the characters' lives, in the sense that both of them see the apocalypse and the inevitable completely differently. From Claire's perspective, the news about Melancholia's course serves as a constant reminder how death will approach her and her family, causing her to feel both anxious and depressed. On the contrary, for Justine, this had been the moment she was waiting for…the moment she would be vindicated from her depression. She feels she will finally be able to connect with the planet she is living in; something she was unable to accomplish before learning of this event.From an outside perspective, this movie depicts how depression can present differently and provides the viewer with a closer look at this mental illness. For Claire, the fact that death was approaching awakened a sense of anxiety and feelings of futility. For Justine, death was the only way she would be cured of her emptiness, and she calmly welcomed the end of humanity. This movie reminds us that death will take each one of us at some point in our lives. While most of us do not want to know the time of our death, some of us will undoubtedly know (e.g., terminal cancer). Some will welcome it with open arms, while others will shudder at its touch. How would you react if you knew the date and time of your death?

Seeking information about HIV/AIDS: a qualitative study of health literacy among people living with HIV/AIDS in a low prevalence context

People living with HIV/AIDS in rural and low HIV prevalence areas face a number of challenges including stigma, limited access to specialized medical care, lack of an HIV/AIDS specialist and fear which may interfere with their ability to find and use information to manage their health. With a large number of HIV cases located in non-metropolitan and rural areas in the US, more research is needed to better understand the health seeking behaviors of individuals living in this context. This study examined how 16 individuals living with HIV sought out information to meet their health needs. In qualitative semi-structured interviews, we explored participants' primary sources of information, types of information sought, and barriers to accessing information. The sample was comprised of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) who resided in a predominantly rural area with low HIV prevalence. The majority of participants relied on a combination of sources including their HIV/AIDS physician, the Internet, a Ryan–White caseworker and a staff member of a community-based support organization to meet their informational needs. Information sought focused primarily on drug regimens, drug side effects, or drug research. Participants shared barriers to accessing information including stigma, fear, concern about disclosure, and feelings of futility and anger. Findings point to a need to expand health literacy research and interventions to address broader social and structural barriers to health improvement for PLWHA, especially among those living in rural and low HIV prevalence areas.

Apocalypse Now: An Interview with Joy Garnett

Apocalypse Now: An Interview with Joy Garnett

Intimate partner violence: Advanced practice nurses clinical stories of success and challenge

This qualitative study presents knowledge from clinical experiences of advanced practice nurses (APNs) working with women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). Face-to-face interviews were conducted with ten APNs to discover their ways of being with, supporting, and helping women who have experienced IPV. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using interpretive phenomenology. Analysis proceeded from whole to parts and back to whole with ongoing attention to maintaining the situational context to guide interpretation of meanings. APNs experience both challenges and successes in caring for women who live with IPV. Findings consist of interpretations of clinical stories to uncover knowledge embedded in practice. Healing practices and ways of being survival facilitators for women and children are identified and described. APNs are in a unique position to help families who live with abuse, but may lack resources and knowledge about the most effective interventions. They may become cynical and frustrated with feelings of futility when faced with the repeating patterns associated with the cycle of violence. The goals of this study are to promote more comprehensive understanding of IPV and stimulate changes in education, practice, research, and health policy.