Forms Of Solitude Research Articles

Geneva. An Urban Sociodemographic Database

The Geneva databases are a data resource covering the period 1800–1880 for the city of Geneva, and occasionally the canton of Geneva. The research team adopted an alphabetical sampling approach, collecting data on individuals whose surname begins with the letter B. The individuals and households belonging to this sample in six population censuses between 1816 and 1843 were digitised and linked. A second database collected marriage and divorce records for the period 1800–1880. A third collection of data included residence permits. All these sources were used for a massive reconstitution of families. This article presents the sources, the linking methods, the typologies used to code places and occupations, to study household structures and forms of solitude. Combined with qualitative information extracted from the archives of public administrations and the National Protestant Church, as well as from newspapers, these databases were used to study the transformation of a medium-sized European city, sociopolitical tensions embedded in demographic and social structures, and the impact of the immigrants who made the 'Calvinist Rome' a religiously mixed city.

Some Notes on the Phenomenon of Solitude

In philosophy, the problem of solitude has traditionally been either ignored or treated trivially. And when philosophy tackles solitude, it often relies on two unconvincing presuppositions. The first is that to be alone one has to put oneself first; the second is that solitude can be both good and bad. What ensues from this two-pronged approach to solitude? Solitary solitude is both sought-after and happy, and lonely solitude both sustained and sad. But once the distinction has been set up, solitude is still not sufficiently described, because neither form of solitude is really solitude. The first one is sheer aloneness, and the second refers to loneliness, far removed from the phenomenon of soloist solitude.

The Analysis Of Social And Emotional Development Of Mentally Disabled Children (Mild) On Grade 2 Of Muhammadiyah Banguntapan Primary School Yogyakarta

Every child is unique, including a mentally disabled child. The potential for self-development in academic, social, and workability becomes a necessity for mild mentally disabled children. This study aims to analyze the social and emotional development of mild mentally disabled children in grade 2 of Muhammadiyah Banguntapan Primary School Yogyakarta, or usually called SD Muhammadiyah Banguntapan Yogyakarta. Two formulations of the problems of this research are (1) how the social-emotional development of mild mentally disabled children in grade 2 of SD Muhammadiyah Banguntapan Yogyakarta in the classroom and outside the classroom and (2) how the teacher's efforts in developing the child's social-emotional development. The research data were obtained through a qualitative approach with observation, interviews, and analysis of document studies of mild mentally disabled children in grade 2 of SD Muhammadiyah Banguntapan Yogyakarta. From this study, the results were obtained that the social-emotional development of mentally disabled children in the class was achieved in the form of caring, interactive, and displaying an attitude of confidence, while what was not achieved in the form of participation, communication, and teamwork abilities. Whereas outside the classroom, the attainment is in the form of empathy and what is not achieved in the form of solitude and self-ness (ego) and has not been able to control emotions when socializing. The efforts made by teachers in developing children's social-emotional attitudes, namely: asking children to apologize and admit their own mistakes, motivating, "bluffing", advising children, setting seating, and trying to help children.

The value of solitude: the ethics and spirituality of aloneness in autobiography

Most people feel ambivalent about solitude, both loving and fearing it depending on how they experience being alone at certain points in their lives. In The Value of Solitude, John Barbour explores some of the ways in which experiences of solitude, both positive and negative, have been interpreted as religiously significant. He also shows how solitude can raise ethical questions as writers evaluate the virtues and dangers of aloneness and consider how social interaction and withdrawal can most meaningfully be combined in a life. Barbour's work differs from previous books about solitude in two ways: it links solitude with ethics and spirituality, and it approaches solitude by way of autobiography. Barbour ranges from the early Christian and medieval periods to the twentieth century in examining the varieties of solitary experience of writers such as Augustine, Petrarch, Montaigne, Gibbon, Rousseau, Thoreau, Thomas Merton, and Paul Auster. For many authors, the process of writing an autobiography is itself conceived of as a form of solitude, a detachment from others in order to discover or create a new sense of personal identity. Solitude helps these authors to reorient their lives according to their moral ideals and spiritual aspirations. The Value of Solitude both traces the persistence and vitality of the theme of solitude in autobiography and shows how the literary form and structure of autobiography are shaped by ethical and religious reflection on aloneness. This work should appeal to scholars in the fields of religious studies and theology, to literary critics and specialists in autobiography, and to readers interested in the experience of solitude and its moral and spiritual significance.

The Music of His Music: Edward Said, 1936–2003

Since death of Edward Said in September 2003 I have spoken several times, in different places, about his sense of place of art in life. I confess that I thought of myself on these occasions as correcting or complementing a dominant view, a picture of Edward that was all politics, as if he were nothing other than his admirable set of stances and writings and actions on behalf of Palestinian people. He would have been a remarkable figure if he were only that; but he was more. Not that politics is necessarily a reduction of person; but making any single thing out of a complex person is always a form of reduction. And at no point did I wish to refuse or diminish political aspect of Edward's work. On contrary, I want to understand his politics better, and I want to develop a view of their relation to rest of his work. I even think we might arrive ourselves at a different politics this way. I don't mean change our minds about particular issues, although that would in many cases be no bad thing. I mean change our view, for better, of what politics is, what a truly open and democratic politics might embrace. So what follows rests on three propositions, each slightly contradictory of other two, but all three entangled with each other, in conversation with each other. The three propositions are these: 1. That music, like other arts, is always political, doesn't inhabit a world apart from money, power, prestige; apart from intrigue and all grubbier aspects of human vanity and weakness. Here's what Edward says on an early page of Musical Elaborations, although he is being a little more restrained than we perhaps need to be: the study of music can be more, and not less, interesting if we situate music as taking place ... in a social and cultural setting. Think of affiliation between music and social privilege; or between music and nation; or between music and religious veneration-and idea will be clear enough. 2. That music, like other arts, but perhaps more immediately and more powerfully, creates a space of its own, a form of solitude that doesn't remove us from world but makes a sort of hole in world, a secret zone where there really is nothing but music. Edward writes of the ultimately solitary intimacy by which special music of an author impresses itself upon a receptive critical intelligence. Edward is commenting on a famous passage in

A Closer Look at Children's Knowledge About Social Isolation

This study examined age differences in the content of children's self-generated descriptions of their classmates' socially withdrawn behaviors (i.e., fearful shyness, self-conscious shyness, active isolation, and social disinterest). Children in Grade 1 (n=42) and Grade 5 (n=42) were interviewed and asked to describe the reasons, behaviors, and emotions of children who play alone. Results indicated that children in both grades made reference to several different reasons why children play alone, along with various behaviors and emotions that children display when playing alone. Children in Grade 5 made more references to self-conscious shyness and anxiety behaviors than did children in Grade 1, and they were more likely to describe peers as “shy.” In contrast, more children in Grade 1 described peers as socially disinterested than did children in Grade 5. Across grades, active isolation was viewed as the most problematic form of solitude. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for peer assessment of social withdrawal in school settings.

Being Alone, Playing Alone, and Acting Alone: Distinguishing among Reticence and Passive and Active Solitude in Young Children

3 forms of solitude were studied in young children--reticence (onlooker and unoccupied behavior), solitary-passive behavior (solitary-constructive and -exploratory play), and solitary-active behavior (solitary-functional and -dramatic play). 48 4-year-old children grouped in quartets of same-sex unfamiliar peers were observed in several situations. Mothers completed the Colorado Temperament Inventory. Results indicated that (1) solitary-passive, solitary-active, and reticent behaviors were nonsignificantly intercorrelated; (2) reticence was stable and associated with the demonstration of anxiety and hovering near others, whereas solitary-passive and solitary-active play were stable yet unrelated to anxiety and hovering; (3) reticence during free play was generally associated with poor performance and displays of wariness in several other social situations, while solitary-passive and -active play were not; (4) reticence was associated with maternal ratings of child shyness, while solitary-active behavior was associated with maternal ratings of impulsivity. Results are discussed in terms of the underlying mechanisms associated with reticence and passive and active withdrawal.