Implicit Focus Research Articles

Improving care for women and girls who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting: qualitative systematic reviews

BackgroundIn a context of high migration, there are growing numbers of women living in the UK who have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting. Evidence is needed to understand how best to meet their health-care needs and to shape culturally appropriate service delivery.ObjectivesTo undertake two systematic reviews of qualitative evidence to illuminate the experiences, needs, barriers and facilitators around seeking and providing female genital mutilation-/cutting-related health care from the perspectives of (1) women and girls who have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting (review 1) and (2) health professionals (review 2).Review methodsThe reviews were undertaken separately using a thematic synthesis approach and then combined into an overarching synthesis. Sixteen electronic databases (including grey literature sources) were searched from inception to 31 December 2017 and supplemented by reference list searching. Papers from any Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development country with any date and in any language were included (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development membership was considered a proxy for comparable high-income migrant destination countries). Standardised tools were used for quality appraisal and data extraction. Findings were coded and thematically analysed using NVivo 11 (QSR International, Warrington, UK) software. Confidence in the review findings was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation – Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative Research (GRADE-CERQual) approach. All review steps involved two or more reviewers and a team that included community-based and clinical experts.ResultsSeventy-eight papers (74 distinct studies) met the inclusion criteria for both reviews: 57 papers in review 1 (n = 18 from the UK), 30 papers in review 2 (n = 5 from the UK) and nine papers common to both. Review 1 comprised 17 descriptive themes synthesised into five analytical themes. Women’s health-care experiences related to female genital mutilation/cutting were shaped by silence and stigma, which hindered care-seeking and access to care, especially for non-pregnant women. Across all countries, women reported emotionally distressing and disempowering care experiences. There was limited awareness of specialist service provision. Good care depended on having a trusting relationship with a culturally sensitive and knowledgeable provider. Review 2 comprised 20 descriptive themes synthesised into six analytical themes. Providers from many settings reported feeling uncomfortable talking about female genital mutilation/cutting, lacking sufficient knowledge and struggling with language barriers. This led to missed opportunities for, and suboptimal management of, female genital mutilation-/cutting-related care. More positive experiences/practices were reported in contexts where there was input from specialists and where there were clear processes to address language barriers and to support timely identification, referral and follow-up.LimitationsMost studies had an implicit focus on type III female genital mutilation/cutting and on maternity settings, but many studies combined groups or female genital mutilation/cutting types, making it hard to draw conclusions specific to different communities, conditions or contexts. There were no evaluations of service models, there was no research specifically on girls and there was limited evidence on psychological needs.ConclusionsThe evidence suggests that care and communication around female genital mutilation/cutting can pose significant challenges for women and health-care providers. Appropriate models of service delivery include language support, continuity models, clear care pathways (including for mental health and non-pregnant women), specialist provision and community engagement. Routinisation of female genital mutilation/cutting discussions within different health-care settings may be an important strategy to ensure timely entry into, and appropriate receipt of, female genital mutilation-/cutting-related care. Staff training is an ongoing need.Future workFuture research should evaluate the most-effective models of training and of service delivery.Study registrationThis study is registered as PROSPERO CRD420150300012015 (review 1) and PROSPERO CRD420150300042015 (review 2).FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

Narrative Telos and the Great Beauty

«What was Italian exceptionalism and how did it come about?». For Ronald Witt, answering this question requires a comprehensive, structural overview of an entire cultural system. In this section, I will briefly touch on some of the key-points of Witt’s interpretative paradigm, which entails some specific (albeit not always explicit) conceptualization of notions such as ‘literature’, ‘creativity’, ‘innovation’, as well as an implicit focus on Renaissance humanism as the final cause of a coherent teleological pattern

Moral judgment across cultures

Anthropology The importance of intentions in moral judgments varies across cultures. One theory holds that these differences are driven by variation in cultural norms regarding the acceptability of inferring other peoples' mental states. To test this question, McNamara et al. investigated moral judgments among indigenous iTaukei Fijians whose cultural norms discourage mental-state reasoning. Participants judged cases in which an actor transgressed by accident more harshly than cases in which an actor intended to do harm but failed to do so. When participants were primed to focus on thoughts in a follow-up study, this pattern reversed. These data suggest that moral and legal theories that emphasize intention may emerge from an implicit focus on mental states that is often taken for granted in Western contexts. Cognition 182 , 95 (2019).

The supply and demand of social systems: towards a systems theory of the firm

PurposeThe economic theory of the firm apparently concurs with Niklas Luhmann’s theory of social systems with regard to the primary function of the firm to be complexity reduction, i.e. the alleviation of the cognitive burden on agents whose cognitive capacities are limited. At the same time, however, the theory of the firm ignores the attendant issues of societal sustainability emphasised by Luhmann. The paper aims to fill this gap.Design/methodology/approachTaking a theoretical approach, the paper builds on the conceptual construct of “the complexity-sustainability trade-off”, which combines two contrasting aspects of the relationship between a system and its environment, namely, the precariousness highlighted by Luhmann and the embeddedness highlighted by open systems theory. These themes are respectively reflected in the principles of complexity reduction and environmental dependence which constitute the trade-off.FindingsDrawing inspiration from the classic Marshallian presentation of supply and demand in modern economics, the paper argues that the principles of complexity reduction and critical dependence translate into the demand for and supply of social systems. In the proposed systems-theoretic interpretation of the theory of the firm, demand and supply refer to the imperatives of achieving coordination and securing cooperation within the firm, respectively. Thus, in the theory of the firm, the complexity-sustainability trade-off manifests itself as a trade-off between coordination and cooperation.Originality/valueThe implicit focus of the theory of the firm on complexity reduction disregards the nature, importance and fragility of cooperation in real-world firms. In so doing, it impedes the authors’ understanding of unconventional types of business organisation, such as cooperatives. These defects can be corrected by reorienting the theory of the firm according to the proposed systems-theoretic approach, which holds that firms should not be governed or studied in isolation from their environment, as they too often are – and, accordingly, that apparently anomalous forms of organisation should be taken seriously, as they too often are not.

Fish, Family, and the Gendered Politics of Descent Along Uganda’s Southern Littorals

Abstract:This article examines historic gendered negotiations over identity, descent, and access to land along Uganda’s southern littorals by thinking about belonging with an exceptionally diverse assemblage of small fish. Based on accounts from contemporary littoral residents, the comparative historic ethnographic record, and fisheries scientists, the article describes the reproductive practices of enkejje as they may have been visible from Uganda’s southern littorals and situates the practices of raising socially recognized children within broader historical developments of clanship and public healing. Attending to these small fish in moments and in places where groups are under construction reorients analyses of descent politics beyond an often implicit focus on male interests towards the work of grandmothers, aunts, and mothers in debating the qualities of the most foundational units of the body politic – male and female children constituted relationally as persons through their status as legitimate family members.

Paradigm Shifts in Gifted Education: An Examination Vis-à-Vis Its Historical Situatedness and Pedagogical Sensibilities.

After nearly a century of development, gifted education has evolved into a complex educational discipline with well thought out pedagogy and research agendas. However, while the number of studies escalates, the field as a whole has been criticized for producing fragmented and piecemeal results. One of the reasons for these shortfalls is that the field has invested little in meta-theoretical aspects, such as historical perspectives and philosophical foundations. This article is a comprehensive review and analysis of the conceptual changes and paradigm shifts in gifted education. Three major paradigm shifts in gifted education were identified—demystification (i.e., giftedness as manifested wonders), identification (i.e., giftedness as measurable predictions), and transaction (i.e., effectuation of human possibilities). Presently, there is still an implicit focus on the identification paradigm despite considerable efforts to shift the focus to creating and sustaining appropriate developmental niches for all individuals. Debates in the field are highlighted to provoke discussion of future directions.

Anaphoric Islands and Anaphoric Forms: The Role of Explicit and Implicit Focus

ABSTRACTTwo experiments are reported in which people resolve references to sets of entities (e.g., lies) that have previously been introduced either explicitly into a text (“the lies”) or implicitly via a cognate verb (a form of the verb “to lie”). Previous work has show that pronominal references to such entities were judged as relatively unacceptable and required longer judgement times when judgements were positive compared with cases in which the antecedent was explicit. This finding suggests that the inference from the activity of lying to a set of lies is made in the backward direction. New results show a different pattern, with no penalty in either times or acceptability judgements for the implicit case. The results are discussed in terms of hypotheses about reference processing and the notion of the centrality of an antecedent in a scenario.

Nonfatal Gun Use in Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Guns figure prominently in the homicide of women by an intimate partner. Less is known, however, about their nonfatal use against an intimate partner. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched eight electronic databases and identified 10 original research articles that reported the prevalence of the nonfatal use of firearms against an intimate partner. Results indicate that (1) there is relatively little research on the subject of intimate partners’ nonfatal gun use against women. (2) The number of U.S. women alive today who have had an intimate partner use a gun against them is substantial: About 4.5 million have had an intimate partner threaten them with a gun and nearly 1 million have been shot or shot at by an intimate partner. Whether nonfatal gun use is limited to the extreme form of abuse (battering) or whether it occurs in the context of situational violence remains to be seen. Regardless, when it comes to the likely psychological impact, it may be a distinction without a difference; because guns can be lethal quickly and with relatively little effort, displaying or threatening with a gun can create a context known as coercive control, which facilitates chronic and escalating abuse. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed, all of which include expanding an implicit focus on homicide to include an intimate partner’s nonfatal use of a gun.

The child writer: graphic literacy and the Scottish educational system, 1700–1820

ABSTRACTThe story of Enlightenment literacy is often reconstructed from textbooks and manuals, with the implicit focus being what children were reading. But far less attention has been devoted to how they mastered the scribal techniques that allowed them to manage knowledge on paper. Focusing on Scotland, handwritten manuscripts are used to reveal that children learned to write in a variety of modes, each of which required a set of graphic techniques. These modes and skills constituted a pervasive form of graphic literacy. The article first explains how children learned to write for different reasons in diverse domestic and institutional settings. It then explores how they acquired graphic literacy through the common techniques of copying, commonplacing, composing, bookkeeping, scribbling and drawing. In the end we shall have a more detailed picture of how children used writing as an indispensible mode of learning during the Enlightenment.

Gender justice and the Millennium Development Goals: Canada and South Africa considered

The expiration of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015 means that the global development industry has been working towards crafting an MDG 2.0, for the post-2015 context: the Sustainable Development Goals. There is both an explicit and an implicit gender focus in both the MDGs and SDGs. Three of the eight MDGs were directly targeted at women and girls, while there was a stated understanding that all eight goals apply equally to men and women. Despite robust PR, the 2010 and 2012 United Nations (UN) Reports on the MDGs cited persistent violence against women, and continued discrimination in access to education, work, and participation in governance. In other words, the MDGs and their metrics appear to have reaffirmed existing gender norms and relations rather than challenging the status quo. We survey critical explanations of this failure, in the Canadian and South African contexts, and apply a critical feminist lens to suggest an alternative framing of gender justice. We suggest that one cannot understand the limitations of the MDG model of empowerment for women without considering the broader socio-political and ideological contexts that shape developmental interventions: an understanding that is critical to the design of the SDGs if they are to transcend the shortcomings of the MDGs.

Probabilistic Semantics

This paper proposes a concise overview of Probabilistic Semantics according to a technology-oriented perspective. Indeed, while the progressive consolidation of Semantic Technology in a wide context and on a large scale is going to be a fact, the non-deterministic character of many problems and environments suggests the rise of additional researches around semantics to integrate the mainstream. Probabilistic extensions and their implications to the current semantic ecosystems are discussed in this paper with an implicit focus on the Web and its evolution. The critical literature review undertaken shows valuable theoretical works, effective applications, evidences of an increasing research interest as the response to real problems, as well as largely unexplored research areas.

Aging as a Normative Phenomenon

ABSTRACT:Many philosophers have discussed the normative significance of personal relationships. The implicit focus of most of these discussions is on the normative significance of active, ongoing relationships. But, of course, all relationships end eventually. This article focuses on relationships that end through the death of one of the participants. A relationship that has ended in this way can still be a source of reasons for the surviving participant. This represents a different dimension of the normative significance of personal relationships, and it is a dimension that tends to become increasingly salient as one ages. Indeed, aging is in part a normative phenomenon, because it involves significant changes in the kinds of reasons people have. This article explores some of those changes and the distinctive questions to which they give rise.

The impacts of professional learning communities on science teachers’ knowledge, practice and student learning: a review

The purpose of this article is to provide a review of empirical studies investigating the impact of professional learning communities (PLCs) on science teachers’ practices and knowledge. Across 14 articles that satisfied the definition we embraced, most were devoted to the change in science teaching practices, disciplinary content knowledge (DCK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of K–12 science teachers. Although a small number of studies have implicit focus on comparing measures of student learning, we set out to examine the studies in science education and present how teachers engaged in PLCs focusing on examining and exploring strategies to promote student learning. Analysis of the related studies resulted in the following: PLCs can help teachers increase their PCK and DCK; increases in PCK and DCK may facilitate the change in teacher practices from traditional into more inquiry-based approaches; science teachers collaboratively focusing on student learning in PLCs are more likely to change their practice; and studies do not embrace student learning as an essential feature of PLCs. Methodological flaws and future directions along with implications for science teachers’ professional development are discussed.

Combining Explicit- Implicit with Focus on Form - Focus on FormS Feedback in EFL Learners' Written Task Accuracy

A number of studies has investigated whether definite types of written corrective feedback combinations of different types are more beneficial than others. It seems that teaching writing and giving feedback to students’ written task accuracy is an important task for teachers, so this study tried to investigate the effects of different types of feedback (implicit focus on form, explicit focus on form and explicit focus on forms) on EFL learners’ writing. For this purpose, 45 learners of a total number of 90 low intermediate learners studying at Meraj high school in Ardabil were chosen based on their placement test. Initially to make sure that subjects were homogenous, all of them took the Nelson placement test. Results of the test indicated that all of the participation was homogenous. The 45 learners thus were divided into three groups and each of the groups were received feedback through one of the three forms of above mentioned At the end of the treatment, the participants in three groups were given a writing posttest. T-Tests and One-way ANOVA were used to test the hypotheses. The results of t-tests showed all types of feedback were effective in improving written accuracy and result of Anova (post hoc) showed that there were significant differences between groups and explicit focus on form outperformed than other types of feedback.

Input Flooding: A Factor to Improve Iranian Pre- Intermediate EFL Learners’ Structural Accuracy

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of implicit focus on form through input flooding on structural accuracy. To fulfill the purpose of the study, 43 Iranian preintermediate EFL learners of one of the language institutes were chosen by means of administering the homogeneity (KET) test. These learners were pretested through a structured interview to check their current accuracy level regarding the oral production of five structures. Based on the results of the pretest, two matched groups, one as the control group and the other as experimental group, were formed. Then, the two groups were provided with tasks through listening about the target structures in the study. Of course, the experimental group underwent focus on form implicitly through input flooding while the control group was not provided with it. After twenty sessions of treatment, each ninety minutes, the two groups were post tested through another structured interview. The data obtained from instruments used in the present study indicated that the instructional treatment, input flooding, did not have a significant effect on the acquisition of the target forms. The analyses of the data were done through the analysis of variance (ANOVA).

How are the activity and participation aspects of the ICF used? Examples from studies of people with intellectual disability.

Interdisciplinary differences regarding understanding the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) concepts activity/participation may hinder its unifying purpose. In the ICF model, functioning (and disability) is described as a tripartite concept: 1) Body structures/functions, 2) Activities, and 3) Participation. Activities refer to an individual perspective on disability that does not tally with the basic structure of social models. To review how activity and participation are actually used in studies of intellectual disability (ID). Based on 16 papers, four different usages of activity/participation were found. 1) Theoretical reference to tripartite ICF concept with attempts to use it. 2) Theoretical reference to tripartite ICF concept without actual use of activities. 3) "Atheoretical" approach with implicit focus on participation. 4) Theoretical reference to bipartite concept with corresponding use of terms. The highlighted studies have in common a focus on participation. However, the usage of the term "activity" differs both within and between studies. Such terminology will probably confuse interdisciplinary communication rather than facilitating it. Also, the use of an explicit underlying theory differs, from references to a tripartite to references to a bipartite concept of disability. This paper is focused on ID, but the discussed principles regarding the ICF and interdisciplinary disability theory are applicable to other diagnostic groups within rehabilitation practices.

Employability is in the eye of the beholder

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline the findings from an exploratory research project investigating perspectives on the recruitment of work placement students among a diverse sample of employers in order to disentangle what constitutes student “employability” in the eyes of these employers. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on data collected in 30 detailed qualitative interviews with managers responsible for the recruitment and selection of work placement students in a wide range of organisational settings. Findings – The paper identifies multiple facets of employability that are the explicit or implicit focus of student recruitment and highlights the often subjective, unknowable and shifting criteria used to select among similar candidates for employment. Research limitations/implications – Despite the richness of the data, the restricted sample of managers interviewed limits the degree to which the findings can be generalised. It provides, however, a strong rationale for a greater focus in research and practice on the demand-side of the employability equation. Practical implications – This paper presents a strong argument for a more nuanced understanding of how employers select among applicants to enable more effective student preparation for the labour market. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the literature seeking to elucidate the range of factors that shape employment outcomes and, in doing so, adds to the political and academic discourse on employability, skills and the role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in preparing students and graduates for the labour market.

Evaluating clinical ethics support in mental healthcare: a systematic literature review.

A systematic literature review on evaluation of clinical ethics support services in mental healthcare is presented and discussed. The focus was on (a) forms of clinical ethics support services, (b) evaluation of clinical ethics support services, (c) contexts and participants and (d) results. Five studies were included. The ethics support activities described were moral case deliberations and ethics rounds. Different qualitative and quantitative research methods were utilized. The results show that (a) participants felt that they gained an increased insight into moral issues through systematic reflection; (b) there was improved cooperation among multidisciplinary team members; (c) it was uncertain whether clinical ethics support services led to better patient care; (d) the issue of patient and client participation is complex; and (e) the implementation process is challenging. Clinical ethics support services have mainly been studied through the experiences of the participating facilitators and healthcare professionals. Hence, there is limited knowledge of whether and how various types of clinical ethics support services influence the quality of care and how patients and relatives may evaluate clinical ethics support services. Based on the six excluded 'grey zone articles', in which there was an implicit focus on ethics reflection, other ways of working with ethical reflection in practice are discussed. Implementing and evaluating clinical ethics support services as approaches to clinical ethics support that are more integrated into the development of good practice are in focus. In order to meet some of the shortcomings of the field of clinical ethics support services, a research project that aims to strengthen ethics support in the mental health services, including patients' and caregivers' views on ethical challenges, is presented.

Intimate Desires: Dalit Women and Religious Conversions in Colonial India

Religious conversions by Dalits in colonial India have largely been examined as mass movements to Christianity, with an implicit focus on men. However, why did Dalit women convert? Were they just guided by their men, family, and community? This paper explores the interrelationship between caste and gender in Dalit conversions afresh through the use of popular print culture, vernacular missionary literature, writings of Hindu publicists and caste ideologues, cartoons, and police reports from colonial north India. It particularly looks at the two sites of clothing and romance to mark representations of mass and individual conversions to Christianity and Islam. Through them, it reads conversions by Dalit women as acts that embodied a language of intimate rights, and were accounts of resistant materialities. These simultaneously produced deep anxieties and everyday violence among ideologues of the Arya Samaj and other such groups, where there was both an erasure and a representational heightening of Dalit female desire. However, they also provide one with avenues to recover in part Dalit women's aspirations in this period.

The Work of Lon Fuller: A Promising Direction for Jurisprudence in the 21st Century

This is a review article of Kristen Rundle, Forms Liberate. Reclaiming the Jurisprudence of Lon L Fuller, and Jutta Brunnee & Stephen John Toope, Legitimacy and Legality in International Law. An Interactional Account. It puts both books in perspective, in the context of a modest Fuller revival since 1994. Rundle successfully tries to reclaim Fuller from the distorted picture that arose in the wake of the Hart-Fuller debate. According to Rundle, Fuller’s most important and still highly relevant message is that we should take the form of law seriously. There is a connection between the form of law and how law approaches human agency. Rundle relies extensively on unpublished materials from the Fuller archives. This was a fortunate choice, because in those materials Fuller was often franker and clearer than in the published materials. An interesting application of Fuller’s work is found in the field of international law, which has always been the Achilles heel of legal positivism. Jutta Brunnee and Stephen Toope have elaborated and adapted the Fullerian framework so that it provides an adequate theory of international law. In my view, they have provided a highly convincing account of the emergence of international law. Both books share a certain bias. First, the implicit focus on legislation leads to the neglect of other forms of law, such as contract. Second, Rundle’s focus on the conversations with Hart and others, and Brunnee and Toope’s focus on The Morality of Law, results in the neglect of those publications in which Fuller tried to transcend philosophical debates and present the field of jurisprudence in a relatively impartial way. For example, in Anatomy of the Law, Fuller tries seriously to do justice to the core of truth in both legal positivism and natural law thinking, to made law and to implicit law. I argue that once we accept that law is a gradual and pluralist concept, Fuller’s work may be seen to provide a rich source of inspiration. Perhaps his work is even more relevant and productive for the legal research agenda of the 21st century than it was in the last century.