Larger Social Environment Research Articles

Predictors of Cigar, Cigarillo, and Little Cigar Initiation Among Hip Hop-Identifying Youth

Background: We explored predictors of cigar product initiation among Hip Hop-identifying U.S. youth using data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Fresh Empire evaluation. Participants were Hip Hop-identifying youth living in evaluation markets who had not initiated cigar product use at their first survey. Objectives: We modeled cigar product initiation odds using discrete time survival analysis logistic regression models as a function of factors related to one’s large social, physical, social/normative, and intrapersonal environment, and other tobacco use. Results: In the unique sample, 26.2% initiated cigar product use. Factors associated with higher cigar product initiation odds included: current/former (vs. non-susceptible never) cigarette smoking (odds ratio [OR]=5.35; p=.008); cigarette experimentation (vs. non-susceptible never smoking) (OR=3.26; p<.001); current (vs. never) e-cigarette use (OR=2.06; p<.001) and hookah use (OR=1.83; p=.011); having at least one friend who uses marijuana (OR=1.43; p=.008); high music use (OR=1.32; p=.035); household tobacco use (OR=1.26; p =.042); increased age (OR=1.18; p< .001); and higher sensation seeking (OR=1.16; p=.018). Youth reporting higher perceived smoking risks had lower cigar product initiation odds (OR=0.86; p=.029) as did Hispanic (OR=0.53; p<.001) and non-Hispanic Other youth (OR= 0.68; p=.023) (vs. non-Hispanic Black youth). Conclusions: The finding that high music use predicted cigar product initiation should be considered in light of cigar brand sponsorship of musical artists and events and indicates a potential opportunity for counter messaging. Peer crowd segmentation in this study identified unique and differing factors that influence tobacco use risk among Hip Hop-identifying youth that are not found in the general population.

Rural Recidivism and Its Influencing Social Environmental Factors

Rural recidivism is a complex phenomenon that is influenced by a range of social environmental factors, particularly in the context of stark economic disparities between rural and urban areas. Rural communities often face challenges in the larger social environment, such as limited access to education, employment and social services, which can increase the risk of reoffending. This study aims to identify social environmental variables that encourage recidivism in rural areas. Using quantitative methods with a cross-sectional approach, this study involved 100 former prisoners living in rural areas. Data was collected through a survey measuring various socio-economic aspects, including education level, employment status, income, family relationships, and distance from the city center. The results showed that several social environment variables such as low education, unemployment, low income, negative family and friendship relationships, and living close to urban areas played a significant role in promoting recidivism in rural areas. In conclusion, to reduce recidivism rates in rural areas, comprehensive and targeted interventions are needed. Programs that focus on improving access to education and job training, as well as job creation in rural areas, are essential. In addition, efforts to improve family relationships and provide psychosocial support for ex-offenders should also be increased. These integrated interventions are expected to create a more supportive social environment for ex-detainees, so that they can build stable and productive lives without returning to crime.

Critical Discourse Analysis on Traveloka Hotel Review during the New Normal Era

This study aims to investigate the review of the hotel in Traveloka during the new normal. The objectives of the study are to explain the description dimension, interpretation dimension, and explanation dimensions of the review of the hotel in Traveloka. The study is analyzed using the Critical Discourse Analysis approach by Fairclough (1989). With a descriptive qualitative approach to obtain, gain, and explain the data. The findings emerged from this study: the description dimension showed the significant meaning of the word, active-passive sentences, and positive sentences were found in the review of the hotel, using description and persuasion structures. The interpretation dimension showed that the content, subject, relations, and connections were connected to the situational context. The explanation dimension in the situational context of praising and endorsing the resort is the main context of the review. The analysis discovered that hotel ratings are deeply connected with the larger social environment, the review referred to persuade the readers/guests with some praising and endorsing of the hotel, service, and amenities from the review the guest

Retracted] Research on Interactive Design Algorithm of Folk Museum Exhibit Map Based on Intelligent Wireless Sensor Network

With the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, people’s pursuit of material life and satisfaction of spirituality are also increasing, and the demand for culture and value orientation are also diversifying. As an important position of many cultural consumption places, museums have seen an unprecedented increase in their cultural radiation and public attention. In such a large social environment, the nature museum industry increasingly recognizes that to make full use of the role of museums and better reflects the characteristics of the industry, it is necessary to introduce visual image design into museums. However, visual imagery design in domestic museums is still in its infancy; only a few large national museums have adopted visual imagery design, while relevant research in small folk art museums is still rare. This paper takes Guangzhou Folk Museum as the research object, based on which a new model of interactive design of Guangzhou Folk Museum display map using intelligent wireless sensor technology is proposed, combining the industrial characteristics of folk art and the visual imagery characteristics of Guangzhou Folk Museum. By analyzing the performance of the core algorithm of this system, it is concluded that the performance of the system is very good. However, the application of this model can enable the Guangzhou Folk Museum to establish the brand image of Guangzhou Folk Museum and create more folk culture value in the face of new opportunities and challenges.

Из писем М.Н. Муравьева 1776 г.: А.А. Барсов, В.И. Майков, М.М. Херасков и «Вольное российское собрание»

The article is devoted to one of the most important events in the literary biography of Mikhail Muravyev, that has not yet attracted the attention of researchers, i. e. his joining the “Free Russian Assembly” in 1776. For the analysis of this problem the author of the article uses unpublished letters of the writer, which are stored in the Department of Written Sources of the State Historical Museum (Moscow). We publish and comment in the appendix to the article eight Muravyev’s letters to his father and sister. These materials allow us to take a fresh look at the history of Muravyev’s relationship with A.A. Barsov, Kh.A. Chebotarev, V.I. Maikov, M.M. Kheraskov, I.I. Melessino. In addition, these data also allow us to present a reconstruction of Muravyev's reception of literary position of A.P. Sumarokov. In just a few days at the end of 1776, Muravyev, who later would be famous for the lack of a public activity, became a part of a large and complex intellectual and social environment that included Moscow poets, scientists, and high-ranking Freemasons. Our hypothesis is that these acquaintances determined the whole subsequent life of the writer, since, perhaps, it was the “Muscovites” who nominated Muravyov to the role of educator of the Grand Dukes Alexander and Constantine and thereby helped him take a place at court, which ultimately led to his sharp rise in the beginning of the Alexander era, cut short by sudden death in 1807.

‘I’m good’: Examining the internalization of the strong Black woman archetype

ABSTRACT The Strong Black Woman (SBW) archetype incorporates the fusion of strength, independence, resilience, caretaking, and invulnerability which informs behavior and self-perception. Rooted in the enslavement of Africans, the characterization of Black women as innately strong supported the justification of their mistreatment while the embodiment of such characteristics was necessary for personal and communal survival. Moreover, this archetype lends itself to obligatory manifestations of strength and suppression of emotions while simultaneously rejecting vulnerability and dependence upon others. Black women who internalize the SBW narrative often suffer quietly, as they work to meet the expectations of their families, professional arenas, and larger social environments. Using Social identity theory, this article examines the manifestation of the archetype across three social contexts and positions the role of social workers within the context of two grand Challenges to Social Work.

The Large Society Problem in Northwest Europe and East Asia

Kinship was the organizing principle of early societies, defining how people should behave toward each other. Social and economic activity was thus organized mostly among closely related individuals, a limitation that would keep societies from realizing their full potential as they grew larger. The “large society problem” has not been fully solved anywhere, but Northwest Europeans and East Asians have gone the farthest toward a solution. In general, the solution has been to weaken the relative importance of kinship and strengthen forms of sociality that can include everyone, and not just close kin. In particular, one must think and feel in certain ways, i.e., be susceptible to social norms that are absolute, universal, and independent of kinship; feel guilty after breaking social norms; feel empathy for non-kin; and orient oneself toward society. This mindset shows similarities and differences between Northwest Europeans and East Asians. Both groups adapted to a larger social environment by becoming more empathetic toward non-kin and more susceptible to universal social norms. Northwest Europeans became more individualistic while acquiring stronger internal controls of behavior (affective empathy, guilt proneness). East Asians became more collectivistic while acquiring stronger internal controls (cognitive empathy) and stronger external controls (shaming, family-community surveillance, inculcation of normative behavior).

Water quality protection of the Canada-US Great Lakes: examining the emerging state/nonstate governance approach

This paper explores the growing contribution of nonstate actors (private sector and civil society) in the environmental regulatory governance of the North American Great Lakes. The paper maps the various state and nonstate rule-instruments, institutions, processes and actors (governance arrangements), focusing on arrangements in Ontario, Canada, one Great Lakes jurisdiction. At times, the private sector and nongovernmental organisation (NGO)-initiated governance contributions are collaborative in nature, but in other situations, a rivalrous dynamic is evident. The resultant combination of state and nonstate regulatory arrangements, operating at times in a collaborative manner, and in other cases, in more of an adversarial manner, aligns well with Webb's (2005) concept of sustainable governance. The issue of microbeads pollution in the Great Lakes is highlighted as an illustration of how state and nonstate actors are variously responding to an environmental issue, and provides evidence of how the norm of water quality protection is increasingly addressed and embedded through both state and nonstate mechanisms in the larger social environment.

In or Out? The Existential Dilemma of Homosexuals in Iris Murdoch’s A Fairly Honorable Defeat

A Fairly Honorable Defeat is one of Iris Murdoch&amp;rsquo;s best acclaimed novels. Critics generally regard it as a triumph of the evil over the good, as embodied in characters Julius King and Tallis Browne. It could also be read from a different perspective as a fairly honorable defeat of the heterosexual love by the homosexual love. But Simon and Axel only win a narrow victory. Their non-normative sexuality still entangles them in gender, social and moral dilemmas. A detailed and close reading of the novel shows Murdoch&amp;rsquo;s concern not only about how the existential dilemma of homosexuals has shaped their gender identity and limited their moral vision and choice, but also about the underlying social problems of power and violence. By bringing into conversation Goffman&amp;rsquo;s theory of stigma, Butler&amp;rsquo;s theory of gender performance and Foucault&amp;rsquo;s view of male friendship, the article argues that Simon and Axel have to struggle between secrecy and disclosure of their sexual identity because of the large homophobic social environment. The insecurity and anxiety engendered by their sexual identity makes it difficult for them to associate with others in sincerity. Their moral weakness and failures are largely occasioned by the social environment.

From Authenticity to Profilicity

Abstract Roberto Simanowski’s work reflects on how the internet transforms understandings of ourselves, others, and the world—or our “identity.” Three concepts inform his analysis: instant selves, the idea that algorithms automatically create narratives for the self; episodic selves, living as tourists from one experience to the next; and Facebook eye, seeing the world in terms of garnering “likes.” These notions point to a deeper change in identity construction that is undermining the age of authenticity. In an age of profile-based identity or “profilicity,” society operates with second-order observation, generating a need to present oneself with an appeal to general peer groups, which vary by forum. Critiques of the online world that Simanowski and others articulate tend to neglect the larger social environment and focus too narrowly on the internet while applying a somewhat anachronistic authenticity-based theoretical framework.

Reasons to use e-cigarettes among adults and youth in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study

BackgroundWhile e-cigarette use is increasing, reasons to use e-cigarettes are poorly summarized in the literature. The objective of this study was to organize reasons to use e-cigarette items into factors and determine associations between these factors and e-cigarette user characteristics. MethodsData were drawn from youth (12–17) and adults (18+) in Wave 1 (2013–2014) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on 13 reasons to use survey items from experimental and established adult e-cigarette users and past 30 day youth e-cigarette users to determine two factors – “alternative to cigarettes” and “larger social environment”. Weighted linear regression models tested the associations between e-cigarette user group and sociodemographics and reasons to use factors among youth and adults. ResultsAdult current established e-cigarette users were associated with both alternative to cigarettes (β = 0.128, p < .001) and larger social environment (β = 0.063, p < .001) factors, while former established e-cigarette users were associated with alternative to cigarettes (β = 0.064, p < .001). Several adult sociodemographic characteristics were associated with one but not the other factor, or both but in opposite directions. Youth that used e-cigarettes earlier today were also associated with both reasons to use factors (β = 0.127–0.130, p < .01, each); however, youth using any other day in the past 30 days was not associated with either factor. ConclusionsReasons to use are associated with patterns of e-cigarette use among youth and adults. These factors could support a comprehensive approach to addressing rising e-cigarette use among youth and adults and target certain user populations.

Drugs, Crime, Space, and Time: A Spatiotemporal Examination of Drug Activity and Crime Rates

To take stock of the “neighborhood effects” of drug activity, we combined theoretical insights from the drugs and crime and communities and place literatures in examining the longitudinal relationship between drug activity and crime rates at more spatially and temporally precise levels of granularity, with blocks as the spatial units and months as the temporal units. We found that drug activity on a block one month “pushes” assaultive violence into surrounding blocks the next month. Integrating perspectives form social disorganization theory with Zimring and Hawkins’ (1997) contingency causation theory, we also found that the economic resources and residential stability of the “the larger social environment”—that is, the surrounding quarter-mile egohood area—moderate drug activity’s block-level relationship to crime. These results suggest that drug activity increases assaultive violence and serious acquisitive crime rates on structurally advantaged blocks, producing a significant ecological niche redefinition for such blocks relative to others in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Mental health needs and services for migrants: an overview for primary care providers.

The objective of this article is to present an overview of the burden, spectrum of diseases and risk factors for mental illness among subgroups of migrants, namely, immigrants, refugees and individuals with precarious legal status. This expert review summarises some of the implications for primary care services in migrant receiving countries in the global North. A broad literature review was conducted on the epidemiology of mental health disorders in migrants and the available evidence on mental health services for this population focusing on key issues for primary care practitioners in high-income countries. Although most migrants are resilient, migration is associated with an over-representation of mental disorder in specific subpopulations. There is a general consensus that stress-related disorders are more prevalent among refugee populations of all ages compared to the general population. Relative to refugees, migrants with precarious legal status may be at even higher risk of depression and anxiety disorders. Persistence and severity of psychiatric disorders among migrant populations can be attributed to a combination of factors including severity of trauma exposures during the migration process. Exposure to stressors after resettlement, such as poverty and limited social support, also impacts mental illness. Services for migrants are affected by restricted accessibility and should address cultural and linguistic barriers to and issues in the larger social environment that impact psychosocial functioning. There is substantial burden of mental illness among some migrant populations. Primary care providers seeking to assist individuals need to be cognizant of language barriers to and challenges of working with interpreters as well as sensitive to cultural and social contexts within the diagnosis and service delivery process. In addition, best practices in screening migrants and providing intervention services for mental disorders need to be sensitive to where individuals and families are in the resettlement trajectory.

Effects of familiarity on individual growth and feeding behaviour of European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax

Available literature indicates that fish are able to recognize familiar conspecifics and that familiarity may offer important benefits (e.g. more stable social environment, improved foraging behavior, growth, survival). In the practice of intensive rearing of European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax mixing of familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics is very common following grading and fish with no previous contact with each other are forced to coexist. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether living with familiar or unfamiliar conspecifics is advantageous for European seabass. To mimic a grading procedure, two size classes were tested (small: 70.2 g and large fish: 96.2 g). Seventy two fish from mixed groups with prior nine-months familiarity were distributed, in groups of six, in twelve tanks to form familiar groups of small (FS) and large (FL) fish (fish selected from the same tank), and unfamiliar groups of small (US) and large (UL) fish (fish selected from six different tanks). All fish were individually marked and individual food consumption was used to rank individuals in the feeding hierarchy. Each treatment was triplicated and the experiment lasted for 75 days. Familiarity had no effect on fish growth performance. In all treatments a feeding hierarchy was established; fish of the highest feeding ranks had the higher mass and specific growth rate, consumed the majority of food offered with little daily variation and made more efforts to catch their food. This hierarchy was weaker in US compared to FS fish (lower correlation coefficients). Correlation coefficients between mean share of meal and coefficient of daily food consumption variation, which have been used as indicators of the strength of the social hierarchy, indicate US groups as the ones with the milder social environment. Familiarity effects on large fish social environment were minor The results of the present study suggest that, within the range of body mass examined, the mixing of unfamiliar conspecifics after performing a grading procedure is not indicated to be neither beneficial nor detrimental for European seabass productive traits. Moreover, milder social conditions seem to be established, at least in the smaller size class, which is of importance form the fish welfare point of view.

Pop Songs and Solastalgia in a Broken City

Pop Songs and Solastalgia in a Broken City

Religion and reducing prejudice

Drawing on findings from the study of prejudice and prejudice reduction, we identify a number of mechanisms through which religious communities may influence the intergroup attitudes of their members. We hypothesize that religious participation could in principle either reduce or promote prejudice with respect to any given target group. A religious community’s influence on intergroup attitudes will depend upon the specific beliefs, attitudes, and practices found within the community, as well as on interactions between the religious community and the larger social environment in which it is embedded. Basing our proposals on findings from the literature on prejudice formation and prejudice reduction allows us to outline useful directions for future studies of religion and prejudice.

Helping, Healing and Interpreting: Sullivan, the Interpersonal School and Clinical Social Work

Although many of the innovative contributions of Harry Stack Sullivan have been incorporated into contemporary psychotherapy practice, his ideas are rarely studied today by psychotherapists and social workers. Integrating his clinical experience with innovations in the social sciences, Sullivan challenged prevailing psychoanalytic theories that focused on libidinal drives and abstract entities such as the id, ego and superego. Instead, he highlighted how personality evolves from actual experiences with significant others and the larger social environment, a perspective that is compatible with social work theory and practice. Outlining major components of Sullivan's theoretical and clinical contributions, this article discusses how clinical social workers can operationalize these concepts toward the modest objective of simply ‘helping’ their clients develop mutually satisfying interpersonal relationships.

Pirandello’s Analogy: A Source for a Better Understanding of the Social Impact of Stroke

Background: Suffering a stroke has major implications for the patient. To understand human suffering, one should understand society. Pirandello described society as a higher entity than the individual, thereby justifying human adaptability to society. We explore a qualitative finding that suggests that social trends may influence how stroke patients prioritize aspects of their rehabilitation. Methods: We compare a contemporary patient’s experience of stroke recovery with that of a fictional character from the works of Luigi Pirandello. Both patients had two main residual symptoms: hemiparesis and aphasia. Results: The rehabilitation priorities of the two patients differed, and appeared to reflect the contemporaneous demands of society. Mobility was prioritized in 1910; communication was prioritized in 2010. However, essential aspects of ‘being a stroke patient’ remained unchanged; both patients retained a sense of self and both coped emotionally by being hopeful. Conclusions: We conclude that stroke patients respond to society’s contemporaneous demands and expectations. Currently, society demands participation in a large social environment and this is reflected in stroke patients’ priorities. This analogy could enable medical professionals to better understand the social impact of stroke, and consequently offer appropriate interventions to improve rehabilitation outcomes for individual patients.

Comparing General and Political Discussion Networks Within Voluntary Organizations Using Social Network Analysis

Political discussion networks are influenced by the opportunities for political interactions within our larger social environments and more general discussion networks. In this study we compare general and political discussion networks using full sociometric social network data from a probability sample of voluntary organizations—specifically, intact student activity groups from a large Midwest research university. We find that even within these “weak tie” voluntary associations, general discussion networks clearly constrain the characteristics of the political discussion networks. However, political discussion networks appear to be less dense and more likely to be broken up into disconnected components than the general discussion networks. But, general and political networks do not appear to differ in their structuring by perceptions of discussant knowledge. And, most interestingly, we find that on average neither general nor political discussion networks are characterized by political homogeneity.

Linkages to Public Land Framework: toward embedding humans in ecosystem analyses by using “inside-out social assessment”

This article presents the ''Linkages to Public Land'' (LPL) Framework, a general but comprehensive data-gathering and analysis approach aimed at informing citizen and agency decision making about the social environment of public land. This social assessment and planning approach identifies and categorizes various types of linkages that people have to public land and guides the tasks of finding and using information on people in those linkages. Linkages are defined as the ''coupling mechanisms'' that explain how and why humans interact with ecosystems, while linkage analyses are empirical investigations contextualized both temporally and geographically. The conceptual, legal, and theoretical underpinnings of five basic linkage categories (tribal, use, interest, neighboring land, and decision making) and further refinement into subcategories are explained. These categories are based upon the complex property and decision-making regimes governing public land. Applying an ''inside-out'' analytic perspective, the LPL Framework assesses the social environment inside public land units and traces linkages out into the larger social environment, instead of assessing the outside social environment (communities or stakeholders) and assuming linkages exist between the social entities and public lands, as is generally done in social assessments. The LPL Framework can be utilized in management activities such as assessing baseline conditions and designing monitoring protocols, planning and evaluating management alternatives, analyzing impacts of decisions, structuring public involvement and conflict management efforts, and conducting collaborative learning and stewardship activities. The framework enhances understanding of human dimensions of ecosystem management by providing a conceptual map of human linkages to public land and a stepwise process for focusing and contextualizing social analyses. The framework facilitates analysis of the compatibilities, conflicts, and trade-offs between various linkages, and between cumulative human linkages and capabilities of public land to sustain them. While the LPL Framework was developed for use in planning for U.S. National Forests, it could be applied to other types of public land in the United States and adapted and extended to public lands and common property areas in other countries.