Forms Of Advocacy Research Articles

Cosmopolitan solidarity in crises: Volunteer translation as a prosocial collective action

When a crisis happens, the affected region is very often culturally and linguistically diverse, with complex linguistic maps which are further complicated by the linguistic diversity of the rescue and humanitarian responders. Lesser-used languages often have fewer resources for provision of professional translators. Thus, the speakers of these languages depend on autonomous and civic solidarity (Agustín & Jørgensen, 2019), including support in translation and interpreting. For example, during the recent earthquake in Türkiye language support was provided by volunteer translators serving many national rescue teams and relief aid workers. In addition, during the 2015 refugee crises in Europe citizen groups used cultural activities to show solidarity. This article examines the act of translation as a prosocial activity that shows solidarity with the victims in crisis situations. It raises awareness about the linguistic challenges faced by communities in crisis situations and identifies strategies to overcome these challenges using volunteer translation. By narrating individual translator motivations, it identifies solidarity as a form of advocacy and empowerment, while showing empathy towards the crisis-affected people.

Social work with Irish Travellers: Findings from a national evaluation

Summary This article reports on the findings from a national evaluation of a specialist, Irish, social work service for Traveller families and communities. It begins with an historical overview of the service which was established in the 1960s but which has evolved and developed over the past few decades at a time of changing patterns of Traveller lives and social and economic conditions. It was also a period when the role of social work was changing, most notably with the introduction of state regulation of the profession. The article then critically analyses national and international literature on the role of social workers with Travellers. It then describes the mixed research method used to evaluate the service. Findings The findings highlight various, sometimes competing perspectives on the social work role, drawn from administrative data, a survey of social workers interviews with social workers and Traveller representatives. These include views about how the social work role was viewed by social workers and Traveller representatives, informed by theories on anti-oppressive practice, systems approaches and forms of advocacy. Applications The article concludes with a discussion of ways in which the lessons learned from the evaluation can be used to further develop the social work service in ways that can enhance the lives of Travellers, through forms of continuous professional development and the created of a national policy and practice framework.

Localizing Directed Self-Placement: UX Stories and Methods

This article seeks to address the need for research supporting localization efforts in placement assessment. We argue that as a highly technical communication endeavor, directed self-placement (DSP) and its developers can benefit from research in technical and professional communication (TPC). We synthesize the theoretical relations between DSP and TPC, especially regarding models of localization, and demonstrate how implementing user experience (UX) design can help address placement equity concerns by foregrounding accessibility and usability from the beginning. We follow this discussion of DSP and TPC scholarship with storied examples from our institution, providing a sample range of UX methods that (1) are flexible across contexts, (2) are relatively manageable to implement, and (3) are cognizant of WPA, staff, and students’ time, labor, and compensation concerns. We propose DSP as a form of advocacy, and we demonstrate how UX method/ologies are an excellent choice for DSP localization efforts toward equity and accessibility.

Shackling (im)morality: religious tropes, religious figures and marginalizing politics in queer Nigerian creative texts

Building on existing scholarship and debates on queer cultural production in Nigeria, and the complex representation of religious themes as they intersect with queerness, this article analyzes the novel Walking with Shadows, and the film Hell or High Water. Through this analysis, the article argues that while religious ideologies and figures continue to hinder queer agency and visibility, the religious landscape continues to be contested by queer characters. In these texts, religious figures contribute to queerphobia as they act as gatekeepers regarding what acceptable sexual orientation and gender identity are. They also inhibit queer-livability. At the same time, queer-identifying characters attempt to deconstruct religion by cultivating enabling spaces, strengthening their agency, and in asserting their identities. While these forms of advocacy might not yet have yielded immediate impact, questioning the place of religion in Nigerian queer narratives contributes to the voices that contest the criminalization of queerness in the country.

A Duoethnography on Disability and Allyship Within a Vision Science Doctoral Program: Perspectives on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility

People with visual impairments (those who are blind or who have low vision) continue to experience an unemployment rate of 70% or higher across all sectors but remain especially under-represented within higher education and the research ecosystem. Among the barriers emphasized by people with visual impairments are those related to accessibility and inclusion. It is within this socio-historical context that we began our interactions as a blind graduate student (Martiniello) and a sighted PhD. supervisor (Wittich) in the process of completing a doctoral program in vision science. Utilizing duoethnography as a methodological approach, we juxtapose two perspectives on a shared experience. Over a period of five years, we explored the ways in which our interactions as a trainee with lived experience and sighted ally have shaped our perspectives on disability inclusion in (and while doing) disability research and the role of allyship in the context of academia. We use examples from our lived experiences to illustrate the ways in which we negotiated the role of allyship throughout the research process, including the impact of accessibility and inclusion while completing a scoping review, semi-structured interviews and thematic content analysis. These collective experiences set the stage for new forms of advocacy and allyship to emerge. To the best of our knowledge, Dr Martiniello remains the first and only blind person to graduate in Canada with a PhD in Vision Science. Hopefully, she will not be the last.

Pediatrician-Authored Opinion/Editorial Articles Published in Newspapers Before and After the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic

BackgroundPediatricians publish opinion/editorials in newspapers as a form of advocacy. No research has characterized these publications to determine the scope of this communication. ObjectiveWe examined the characteristics of pediatrician-authored op-eds, comparing articles published in a seasonally matched six-month period before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsWe reviewed 249 pediatrician-authored op-eds (109 before COVID-19; 140 during COVID-19 pandemic) over two six-month periods accessed through America’s Newspapers database in June 2021. Each article was coded for topics covered, presumed motivations for the publication, and communication techniques used. ResultsTotal number of articles published by pediatricians was higher after the start of COVID-19 compared with a period before the pandemic. Authors commonly asked for legislative action before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, but within the COVID-19 pandemic authors more often asked for behavioral changes in the readers themselves. Personal stories were a common technique used in both time periods; shaming of government became more common during COVID-19. ConclusionsThese data provide context for additional studies examining the usefulness of op-eds in pediatrician advocacy.

Misconception Fatigue: Towards an Embodied Rhetoric for Infertility Advocacy

Equitable access to fertility care remains precarious and often dependent upon definitional rhetoric of infertility, which insurance policies and state legislators use to determine access to alternative family building options. This article builds upon prior rhetorical scholarship on infertility by applying an embodied rhetorics framework to capture the resilience infertile persons exhibit when faced with barriers to build their family. To do this, I share a series of texts self-identified infertile advocates produced as they reflected on their encounters with barriers to accessing care and building their families. As a disease that requires self-disclosure as a form of advocacy, I analyze the visual and written texts produced through an embodied rhetorics framework. These texts are forms of public advocacy in that they make visible the multiple embodied misconceptions infertile persons navigate when trying to build one’s family. I discuss these texts as illustrating “misconception fatigue” which is affective toll that accumulates when advocating for one’s reproductive right to have a family. I conclude by encouraging other rhetorical scholars committed to reproductive justice to adopt an embodied rhetorics framework to their scholarship and develop participatory research projects to support the advocacy needs of marginalized reproductive health communities.

The vegan dilemma: Do peaceful protests worsen attitudes to veganism?

A body of research has shown that violent protests reduce support for social movements. However, few studies have examined whether the same is true for protests which are peaceful, yet disruptive (e.g., blocking traffic). Across two pre-registered experimental studies, we explored whether pro-vegan protests that are depicted as causing social disruption lead to more negative attitudes towards veganism, compared to non-disruptive protests or a control condition. Study 1 utilised a combined sample of Australian and United Kingdom residents (N = 449; Mage = 24.7 years). Study 2 employed a larger sample of undergraduate Australian students (N = 934; Mage = 19.8 years). In Study 1, disruptive protests were associated with more negative attitudes towards vegans, but only among women. In Study 2, no such effect was found. Instead, a significant main effect was found for the protest's cause (vegan vs. fast fashion), but not protest type (disruptive vs. non-disruptive). That is, reading about a vegan protest, irrespective of how disruptive it was, led to worse attitudes towards vegans, and greater defense of meat consumption (i.e., endorsement of meat eating as natural, necessary, and normal), than reading about a control protest. This effect was mediated by the perceived immorality of the protestors, and, in turn, reduced identification with them. Taking together both studies, the purported location of the protest (i.e., domestic vs. overseas) did not significantly impact attitudes toward the protestors. The current findings suggest that depictions of vegan protests elicit worse attitudes toward this movement, regardless of how peaceful that protest may be. Future research is needed to examine whether other forms of advocacy can ameliorate negative reactions to vegan activism.

It’s Okay to be Not Okay: An Analysis of Twitter Responses to Naomi Osaka’s Withdrawal due to Mental Health Concerns

An increasing number of athletes are speaking out on different social issues. There is also a growing acceptance and expectations of athletes utilizing their influence to push for social change. In recent years, some athletes have started disclosing their mental illness and raising awareness of mental health. This study investigates Twitter user data on Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the French Open due to her mental health concerns, as well as examines how different Twitter sources or handles (e.g., athlete vs. news media) further shape public responses. Both thematic analysis and sentiment analysis were conducted on Twitter data to identify emergent themes and audience sentiment towards the case. Findings reveal growing positive reception of athletes’ mental health disclosures, athletes’ behavior as a form of advocacy, and utilization of social media to amplify activism efforts. The results also extend the athlete activism literature by showing how message sources shape public reactions differently. Findings provide implications for athletes and relevant stakeholders to effectively navigate through the situation by creating and delivering messages to their target audiences.

Recognizing Complexity in Our Changing Contexts: Centering What Matters in Comparative and International Education

Recognizing Complexity in Our Changing Contexts: Centering What Matters in Comparative and International Education

Gender and Instagram Activism in Teenagers: Social Discourse in a Digital Age

Social media activism—posting or reposting ideas, images, or words surrounding different social movements—has swelled in recent years with the growth of the internet. Teenagers have begun using their social media accounts to share their opinions and current events related to issues they deem important. This study had two main aims: to assess factors that influenced high school-aged teenagers’ motivation to post activist content on Instagram, and then to explore how those factors differed between genders. A survey was distributed to students at a midsize high school in Washington state that collected participants’ (n=114) demographic information, willingness to post activist content, and motivation levels to post about five popular issues. Results were analyzed by identifying key themes in qualitative responses and categorizing them using the preexisting Scale of Motives for Using Social Networking Sites (SMU-SNS). It was found that nonbinary and particularly female teenagers were more likely to post activist content than male teenagers. Participants indicated that relation to personal identity, personal/public knowledge on the issue, and perceived severity/importance of the issue were main reasons for posting activist content. Further analysis showed these themes fell under the SMU-SNS categories of Social Connectedness, Information, and Self-expression. These conclusions have great significance for public health organizations and social justice movements looking for teenagers willing to engage in this form of advocacy, suggesting they should tailor activist content for Instagram Stories and that they need to look for alternative ways to get male teenagers involved.

An Analysis of Self-published Novels by Autistic Authors as a Form of Advocacy

The Autistic Representation Database (ARD) indexes nearly 1,000 works of fiction, auto-biographical non-fiction, film, and television that feature autistic representations. Robert Rozema and I created the ARD with the purpose of compiling all works of art with autistic representation in one place. In my work on the ARD, I recognized a key pattern: a higher ratio of autistic authors are self-published in comparison to neurotypical authors writing about autism. Autistic authors may self-publish because of barriers in the traditional publishing industry; however, I assert it is because self-publishing allows them to portray autism how they desire. In this way, autistic self-publishing is a form of advocacy which manifests itself in two ways: first, implicit advocacy, which seeks to normalize autism; and second, explicit advocacy, which aims to confront and correct stereotypes. This article examines three representative self-published novels by autistic authors. Drawing on these works and the personal interviews I conducted, I analyze the implicit and explicit advocacy in the novels.

Managing critical transitions: Career support to young people risking ineligibility for upper secondary education

This paper focuses on the support given by schools to students who are likely to leave Swedish compulsory education without the grades required to enter upper secondary education (USE). The aim is to increase knowledge about career counselors’ and teachers’ strategies and work in lower secondary schools in order to facilitate this critical transition, and to examine factors influencing this support. It takes as its starting point theoretical frameworks stressing the agency of professionals in welfare organizations, and the importance of support during the educational transitions of young people at risk. The paper builds on interviews with 20 teachers and career counselors in six municipalities of varying character. Teachers’ and career counselors’ micro-choices have a major impact on the support provided to students. Their work consists of direct and indirect support, with the former referring to prescribed professional assignments. Indirect support, taking the form of advocacy, relational, and emotional work, is not officially recognized, but appears to be a necessary precondition for the direct support. The transition seems to be at risk of becoming overly fragile unless the support is characterized by sustained collaboration between school actors in compulsory school, and between compulsory and USE levels.

Using Toolkits to Improve Students' Skills in Advocacy.

Advocacy is widely recognized as a nursing responsibility. Speaking up, a form of advocacy, is known to benefit patient safety and quality of care yet research shows that nurses are hesitant to speak up and face multiple barriers when deciding to do so. A toolkit that included web-based learning modules and simulation experience with a standardized patient was developed to enhance advocacy skills in baccalaureate nursing students. Student perceptions of the efficacy of this approach were used to revise and improve toolkit materials. There were 131 participants over four semesters. Students reported the toolkit helped them understand how to use advocacy skills (87%), allowed them to use critical thinking (97%), and practice advocacy (94%). Educational experiences like this promote development of students' advocacy skills in a safe environment and can be used to bridge the gap between expectation and practice. [J Nurs Educ. 2022;61(10):599-602.].

Breaking the Silence

Breaking the Silence

Culture Clash and the Oppression Olympics

Cultural proficiency opens the window to understanding diversity and its value in society. Studies have shown that when communities organize, have the ability to see the differences, and respond positively, their interactions are effective in diverse environments. Alliance-forming approaches to grapple with inequities substantiate the need for communities of color to collaborate and willingly address power imbalances by speaking out against systems of oppression. Instead of engaging in divisive forms of advocacy, cultural humility encourages critical self-reflection and acknowledges that unhealthy comparison about racial oppression implies that power structures and privilege are reserved for one specific group. This critical commentary calls for increased solidarity and compassion to learn from one another to further the movement towards an anti-racist society.

Advocacy for the Patient’s Voice

Advocacy for the Patient’s Voice

ADVOKASI MAYORITAS MUSLIM TERHADAP MINORITAS HINDU DI SIDOARJO

This study explored an advocacy of Muslim majority on Hindu Minority in Sidoarjo. The Muslim majority group maintained and protected the Hindu minority group in Krembung community. The Hindu group has very little adherents but they could grow to have a house of worship with a large land area in the East Java region. Most followers came from outside the area. This phenomenon looked unique since the Hindu people living in the temple area are very few and even dominated by immigrants from Bali. There was only one original family and the local indigenous population. The rest were immigrants and followers who came from outside the area. This study attempted to explain the forms of advocacy occurring in the area and factors encouraged the majority to advocate the minority. The analysis method uses advocacy and pro-social theory approaches. To enrich data collection, this study uses field studies which are also accompanied by interviews, observations and documentation. The study revealed that there were some forms of advocacy carried out by Muslim majority on Hindu minority in the form of mutual protection in various fields, including economic, social and the existence of each group. The birth of awareness to build advocacy through various activities was described.

Advocacy and Combating Sexual Crimes in the Perspective of Child Protection Law

The purpose of this research is to find the right forms of advocacy against Child Victims of Sexual Crime and Efforts to Overcome Sexual Crime in a Child Protection Perspective. The method in this research is the Participant Research Method (the Method of the Participant Observer), which is to fully involve oneself in Advocacy and Efforts to Overcome Sexual Crimes against Children. This research with through an empirical juridical approach by conducting research approaches regarding matters that are juridical (law) and with a fact of facts that occur regarding matters of an empirical nature. The results in this study are forms Advocacy and Efforts to Overcome Sexual Crime in a Child Protection Perspective, in accordance with the Law on Child Protection, namely advocacy in the form of litigation (legal assistance / through judicial channels) and non-litigation (assistance outside the court route), efforts to combat sexual crimes by means of preventive (prevention), repressive (action); persuasive (by persuading or directing the community to comply with the prevailing values ​​and norms) this is done by means of socialization and direction, coercive is control that is harsh or firm in nature (for example the imposition of a sentence by a judge) and rehabilitative (social rehabilitation).

Letting it sink in: The longer-term impact of a social work short-term study abroad course

ABSTRACT Short-term study abroad courses are increasingly common in higher education, but while brief, can deeply impact students’ cultural appreciation and competence. This qualitative study explored 17 former Master of Social Work students’ experiences one to two years after completing a study abroad course on human trafficking in India. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis and three themes emerged: Considering my Positionality, Personal Transformation, and Taking Action. There were three levels of taking action: some students found ways to use the learning in their professional setting, others found it encouraged them to speak out against injustice, and some actively engaged in some form of advocacy. Mezirow’s theory of transformative learning was used to frame and explore the findings.