Experiences Of Minority Groups Research Articles

Mainstreaming queerness in Thai boys’ love narratives: Impact on gay identity perceptions in Bangkok’s society

The intricate interplay between media representation and experiences of minority groups in Southeast Asia necessitates a comprehensive analysis of popular culture’s impact on marginalized communities. This mixed-method study investigates the portrayal of homosexual male characters in contemporary Thai Boy’s Love (BL) series and its connection to the authentic experiences of gay men in Bangkok. Through interviews with the casting team and producers of a prominent BL series, the research aims to elucidate the creative process underpinning these portrayals. The study further examines the perceptions and identity development of gay men as depicted in BL narratives, and how heterosexual women viewers interpret this representation. A questionnaire involving 330 participants of diverse orientations indicates that 78.6% of gay men consider BL narratives to be misrepresentative, while 69% of heterosexual women perceive them as accurate, raising concerns about the influence of media representations on identity formation within the gay community. Moreover, the marked disparities in beliefs regarding whether gay individuals aspire to the appearance portrayed by BL characters (with 98.3% of heterosexuals, 60% of bisexuals, and 100% of lesbians concurring, in contrast to 71.8% of gay respondents dissenting) emphasize the significance of diverse and accurate representation in shaping identities and self-perception.

"In the army I'm no longer typecast as the son of migrant workers": modalities of inclusion and belonging among children of migrant workers in the military in Israel.

This article explores how non-citizen minorities experience military service, focusing on children of international labor migrants who served in the Israel Defense Forces. During the 1990's, Israel witnessed an influx of migrant workers, primarily from the Philippines, Latin America and Africa. However, due to Israeli immigration policies, neither they nor their Israeli-born children were eligible for citizenship. Consequently, upon reaching the age of 18, unlike their Israeli peers, these children were not recruited into the army. Furthermore, they lived under constant threat of deportation. Due to advocacy by civil society organizations, in 2006 and 2010 the government granted civic status (permanent residency) to approximately 1,500 children. This made them eligible for military service, a somewhat unique situation globally. Upon completion of their first year of military service, they were eligible for Israeli citizenship and their immediate family members were eligible for permanent residency. Through qualitative and quantitative research, we examine inclusion and belonging amongst children of migrant workers who served in the military. Our findings suggest that military service enabled them to overcome the exclusionary boundaries they experienced as children in three ways. Firstly, they achieved formal belonging by receiving citizenship. Secondly, they achieved informal belonging through the cultural and social capital this service accrued within Israeli society. Finally, for some, military service deepened their knowledge of Judaism and, in certain cases, led to conversion, thus fostering religious belonging. These three aspects facilitated inclusion and a sense of belonging for these formerly marginalized children while also enhancing their legitimacy within Israeli society. This unique case study contributes to ongoing global debates about the experiences of minority groups in the military.

Cultural adaptation of a mobile caregiver intervention application for Hispanic caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD)

AbstractBackgroundFamily caregivers for persons with dementia (PWD) in the U.S. who identify as part of a racial or ethnic minority group experience higher levels of depression, receive less support from home and community‐based services, and often cannot access services in their primary language. The Alzheimer’s Association has recommended that proven interventions be adapted to address the needs of informal caregivers from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Although several clinical interventions have been developed with promising results to improve the overall caregiving experience of PWD, the effectiveness of current interventions for Hispanic caregivers of PWD are unclear. Mobile, technology‐based interventions may address specific needs of Hispanic caregivers of PWD such as providing at home access to culturally tailored interventions, but current mobile caregiver interventions do not sufficiently consider equity factors. In the current study, we will culturally adapt an existing, validated, mobile caregiving intervention app for Hispanic caregivers of PWD using an equity focused framework.MethodBrain CareNotes was guided by the NIH Stage Model for Behavioral Intervention Development and is a secure mobile telehealth application for informal caregivers to manage behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) with the aid of a remote care coach. To culturally adapt this intervention, we will addresses stage 0 – 1 of the NIH Stage Model and apply a previously developed equity framework, PROGRESS‐Plus, which identifies specific cultural factors (i.e. Place of Residence, Race/ethnicity, etc) that should be considered in the development of equity focused interventions. We will qualitatively identify specific PROGRESS‐Plus needs that are insufficiently met among Hispanic caregivers of PWD through semi‐structured interviews. We will incorporate this information in the modification of Brain CareNotes, which will be made using a participatory co‐design methodology. Two groups of n = 5 Hispanic English and Spanish speaking caregivers of PWD will participate in five co‐design sessions to adapt the intervention to meet identified PROGRESS‐plus related needs. The adapted intervention will then be pilot tested.ResultDescription of this ongoing study will be presented.ConclusionThis will result in an extensible framework for modifying and culturally tailoring other previously developed caregiver interventions for ethnic minority groups.

Acculturation attitudes and adaptation among South Korean residents in Japan: The mediating role of coping strategies

Acculturation processes and intergroup experiences of minority groups have been little studied in East Asian societies, including Japan. The number of migrants in Japanese society is steadily increasing, suggesting that the country is a new immigration destination in the 21st century. Therefore, further research on the acculturation processes of immigrants in Japan is warranted. This study examined the relationships among acculturation attitudes, coping strategies, and psychological adjustment in a sample of South Korean newcomers living in Japan. The results of this study support the integration hypothesis, which states that balanced acculturation attitudes that favor engagement in both the host and home cultures lead to higher levels of psychological and sociocultural adaptation. Assimilation attitudes did not contribute significantly to adaptation. Different coping strategies employed by individuals during interethnic discrimination mediated the links between individual acculturation attitudes and the two aspects of adaptation. By linking acculturation attitudes and relevant social behaviors, this study sheds light on the role of coping strategies as mediators of the relationships between acculturation attitudes and psychological and sociocultural adjustment in ethnic minority groups.

Therapy and diversity – an (un)therapeutic relationship?

ABSTRACT There is fundamental confusion and notable omissions within counselling and psychotherapy’s adoption of diversity principles. This prevents the profession from achieving its aims of more respectful and efficacious clinical practice with certain populations. The article argues that uncritical over-reliance on ideas from outside the profession has resulted in a failure to appraise which groups might require specific attention. Unacknowledged confusion between celebratory and critical approaches to diversity is also identified as a source of practical muddle. Putatively radical assertions about understanding minority group experience are shown to actually exclude valuable ways of understanding social disadvantage, which might better enhance our understanding and efficacy. The article concludes by suggesting that the multiple difficulties within the profession’s embrace of diversity can be understood in terms of a refusal to reconsider the theoretical, economic and organisational foundations of our therapeutic work to which questions of diversity pose a serious challenge. A case is made for a more open discussion of the relevant issues accompanied by a call for revised professional organization to support knowledge production.

Key questions: research priorities for student mental health.

The high prevalence of mental distress among university students is gaining academic, policy and public attention. As the volume of research into student mental health increases, it is important to involve students to ensure that the evidence produced can translate into meaningful improvements. For the first time, we consult UK students about their research priorities on student mental health. This priority setting exercise involved current UK university students who were asked to submit three research questions relating to student mental health. Responses were aggregated into themes through content analysis and considered in the context of existing research. Students were involved throughout the project, including inception, design, recruitment, analysis and dissemination. UK university students (N = 385) submitted 991 questions, categorised into seven themes: epidemiology, causes and risk factors, academic factors and work-life balance, sense of belonging, intervention and services, mental health literacy and consequences. Across themes, respondents highlighted the importance of understanding the experience of minority groups. Students are interested in understanding the causes and consequences of poor mental health at university, across academic and social domains. They would like to improve staff and students' knowledge about mental health, and have access to evidence-based support. Future research should take a broad lens to evaluate interventions; considering how services are designed and delivered, and investigating institutional and behavioural barriers to accessibility, including how this varies across different groups within the student population.

La poesía como recurso colectivo frente al imperialismo cultural hacia los mexicoamericanos. El caso de la poesía de José Olivarez

Cultural imperialism is a condition of oppression that consists in dominant narratives of society making invisible invisible the particular perspective of minority groups while stigmatizing them based on impoverished and degrading concepts. As a consequence, members of minority groups internalize oppression and experience moral cruelty. In this article it is proposed that poetry can be a collective resource to counteract such symbolic damage. Following Sandra Faulkner's proposal on poetic research, I use the poetry of the Mexican-American poet Jose Olivarez to show how poetry is a tool to question stigmatized stereotypes, make visible the subjective experiences of minority groups, counteract the humiliation generated by the stigmas, and retake the leading role in identity negotiation processes from which Mexican Americans have been excluded because of cultural imperialism.

With Age Comes Respect? And for Whom Exactly? A Quantitative Examination of White and BAME Prisoner Experiences of Respect Elicited through HM Inspectorate of Prisons Survey Responses

AbstractThrough the analysis of survey data, collected by HM Inspectorate of Prisons between 2010 and 2019, we examine the responses of adult male prisoners of different ages and ethnicities and the extent to which they report being treated with respect by staff. Survey responses from 62,664 prisoners support the conclusion that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) prisoners are less likely than white prisoners to report that they are treated with respect; younger prisoners are less likely than older prisoners to do so. Our macro‐level findings demonstrate that there is considerable variation between the subgroups within these broad categories and that a simplification of experiences may lead to incorrect assumptions about the experiences of minority groups in prison. These survey data should be used in conjunction with other resources, such as official data and operational statistics, to support detailed examination of prisoner treatment and conditions for safe, decent and rehabilitative prisons.

What\u2019s Wrong with Religious Establishment?

Is it possible for a liberal society to have an established church? After outlining the conditions for liberal establishment, I take from David Hume a secular argument in its favour that points to the moderating effect of establishment on religious discourse and practice. I examine the claim that state support for religion violates liberal equality, and argue that, with respect to state-provided public goods generally, what matters is that the whole package should be of roughly equal benefit to each citizen; it is not required that every citizen should value each distinct good. I claim that religious establishment can have valuable effects for both believers and non-believers, and thereby count as a public good. I then examine the charge that establishment always conveys a message of disparagement to those outside the favoured church, making them into second-class citizens, as both Martha Nussbaum and Cécile Laborde have claimed. Understood as a claim about the experience of minority groups, however, it is unsupported by empirical evidence. Understood as an interpretative claim about the meaning of establishment, it fails to distinguish between privileging an institution and privileging the people attached to it. Finally, I point out that religious minorities may favour an established church as a shield against the pervasive secularism of most modern liberal societies.

Discerning contextual complexities in STEM career pathways: insights from successful Latinas

This paper introduces the concept of contextual mitigating factors (CMFs) as a theoretical construct to help understand how Latinas who demonstrated success in STEM pipelines navigated the fluidly and dynamically shifting socio-historical-political contexts in which they found themselves. Further, understanding the ways in which CMFs contribute to the development of circumstances within fluid social fields is essential to understand the factors which Latinas both experience and create in their social interactions. We framed the development of CMFs within discussions of social place (Bourdieu and Wacquant in An invitation to reflexive sociology, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1992), social field (Swartz in Culture and power: the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1997), and dynamic space (Tobin in Keynote address at 8th international congress on science teaching and learning, Barcelona, Spain, 2009). Given that CMFs appear as the result of social interactions within contextualized spaces, acknowledging the importance of place, be it physical or metaphorical, is essential in framing discussions on the sense-making of the participants’ STEM successes. In accounting for our participants’ positionalities and the materiality of their contextual experiences, we use CMFs as a theoretical underpinning to guide our methodological approach which we identify as CMF analysis. In each case, CMF analysis is used to explore how positionalities and experiences reflexively shaped each other, all while contributing to individual and social personhoods. Furthermore, the use of CMFs, by placing importance on both context and history, allowed us to discern not only the similarities of our participants’ sociocultural, -economical, -historical and -political navigations toward success, but also the substantive differences between them. In presenting our discussion of CMFs, we present two of sixty case studies focusing on Latinas’ successes in STEM fields using the intrinsic case study method (Stake, in: Denzin, Lincoln (eds) The SAGE handbook of qualitative research, 3rd edn, pp 443–466, SAGE, Thousand Oaks, 2005). This was the most appropriate method in analyzing our participants’ experiences, because this allowed our participants to tell their stories of becoming and being successful in pursuing STEM pathways. Marrying this framework with intrinsic case study method provided internal consistency to the study. Ultimately, we want other researchers to see the benefits associated with CMF analysis, namely the provision of an additive framework in understanding the lived experiences of minority groups. By accounting for the role macro-, meso-, and microgenic CMFs play in the minority students’ educational experiences, educators at all levels may play a substantively larger role in helping sustain their agency as learners.

A systematic review of qualitative studies of adults' experiences of being assessed for psychological therapies.

ObjectiveTo synthesize the qualitative literature on adults’ experiences of psychological therapy assessments. The review was led by people with experience of undergoing assessments, with high levels of client involvement throughout.Search strategyA comprehensive search of electronic databases was undertaken, with additional search strategies employed to locate further literature.Inclusion criteriaStudies were included that qualitatively explored the experiences of people aged 16+ who had been assessed for psychological therapy services. Assessments could be structured or unstructured. Qualitative was defined as any analysed account of people's experiences, including qualitative survey data.Data extraction and synthesisLiterature quality was appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program checklist, modified to include client involvement and intersectionalities. Following data extraction, thematic synthesis was used to synthesize findings across studies.ResultsOf 12 743 titles were screened, with 13 studies relevant to the review. Themes and subthemes were identified at three stages of the assessment process: the journey to the assessment, at the assessment, and after the assessment. Findings highlighted the emotional impact of assessments, collaboration, intersectionalities, rights, pathologization, socioeconomic restrictions, and information and support needs. Implications and limitations were indicated.Discussion and conclusionsFindings were situated within the trauma‐informed (TIA) literature. Trauma‐informed assessment principles, including collaborative assessments, may be fruitful means of improving people's experiences. Whilst the benefits of collaboration appear self‐evident, explicitly collaborative approaches were not the norm, nor were studies conducted independently. Further service user research is needed. A greater understanding of the experience of minority groups is also needed.

In Good Company: When Gender Diversity Boosts a Company’s Reputation

Many companies highlight their gender diversity, in part to signal positive attributes about the organization. We explored whether or not advertising gender diversity improves White men’s beliefs about an organization. In four studies, we found that White men expected a company to have a more broadminded and tolerant climate when the company noted it was gender diverse––and the gender diversity was described as including White women––as compared to when it did not address its gender diversity. In Studies 1 ( n = 105), 2 ( n = 101), and 3 ( n = 151), a White gender-diverse organization was also viewed as more prestigious than an organization that did not address its gender diversity. In Studies 3 and 4 ( n = 183), a gender-diverse company that highlighted a Black woman employee did not receive the same overall reputation boosts as the White gender-diverse company did. Our research indicates that companies that advertise their gender diversity may receive a boost to their reputation. We suggest that this research can inform organizational efforts to address gender diversity by encouraging companies to consider the intersection of gender and race in shaping both prejudicial attitudes and the experiences of minority groups. Additional online materials for this article are available on PWQ’s website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0361684318800264

PENSANDO COMO UM NEGRO: ENSAIO DE HERMENÊUTICA JURÍDICA

Este artigo examina um método pouco explorado nos estudos sobre hermenêutica no nosso país: o storytelling como meio de desvelamento do sentido das normas jurídicas. A experiência de um sujeito concreto, o autor deste texto, serve como ponto de partida para uma reflexão sobre a relevância da raça no processo interpretativo. Parte-se do pressuposto de que o lugar social do intérprete e as relações de poder que o definem determinam em grande parte a forma como ele compreende as funções do direito. Isso significa que a análise da experiência de grupos minoritários pode ser uma referência importante para o debate sobre os meios a partir dos quais o sistema jurídico pode promover a emancipação social. Assim, no lugar das tradicionais reflexões teóricas sobre a igualdade, o artigo formula uma narrativa de caráter contra-hegemônico ao propor uma compreensão do direito a partir da voz de um sujeito subalterno.

The self-defined experience of secular foster-care services for ultra-religious women in Israel: Using phenomenology to create cultural sensitive services

This paper qualitatively explores how foster parents from a religious minority group – more specifically foster parents from the Jewish ultra-orthodox sector in Israel experience the act of fostering through secular welfare services. Central themes that the women raised include religious spiritual beliefs as enhancing positive meaning of the act of foster care: Ambivalence of other women in the community because of fostering through external state services: The husband and religious leader as a central support due to the spiritual meanings of foster care. The central themes in terms of the secular services were their role as a protective financial base for creating a clear contract concerning the foster care as compared to informal fostering within the community and a culturally sanctioned exposure to psychological concepts and secular childcare practices. Lack of understanding of the secular welfare services of the importance of each group within their community was also stated as a challenge. Overall, the findings reveal the complex ways that these ultra-religious women from a very closed community negotiate and integrate resources from within their community and from the secular foster services outside of their community. Implications for creating culturally adapted secular foster services for Ultra-orthodox Jewish women are discussed, as are the methodological implications of exploring phenomenological experience of minority groups of foster care services as a base for culturally sensitive understanding, is discussed.

Cyclists as a minority group?

In the social sciences, several definitions of minority group can be found. The definitions include different aspects such as power/status, number, distinctiveness, social category, group context, dispositions, and discrimination. Compared to motorized road users, cyclists are considered vulnerable road users because they lack physical protection. We argue that such definition does not capture the social and cultural aspects that characterize the membership within the group of cyclists. We offer arguments and reflections based on recent literature advocating that cyclists may share some features of the experience of minority groups. Although cyclists differ from other minorities in important respects, they manifest many of the characteristics by which minority groups are defined.

The Druze Community and the Lebanese State, between Confrontation and Reconciliation

The Druze Community and the Lebanese State, between Confrontation and Reconciliation

Planning the first national end of life care survey

BackgroundThe End of Life Care Strategy highlighted a need to evaluate care experiences by accessing the views of those who use end of life care services. The Strategy identified the...

A Collective Good: Disability Diversity as a Value in Public Sector Collective Bargaining Agreements

Historically, people with disabilities have had low wages and high rates of job insecurity and unemployment. Being in unionized workplaces may improve their fates. This paper is an empirical study of collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) from the current contracts database of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), examined through the lens of law and society scholarship, disability studies, and U.S. labor law. I am interested in how employment law scholarship in disability rights can contribute to labor law and how labor law can strengthen employment rights.Given that labor unions are espousing disability as a value in diversifying the workforce, their CBAs, as the rules of the road in the workplace, should reflect certain themes of disability diversity, including disability as a matter of nondiscrimination on par with other minority issues, disability in the context of equal pay, and affinity groups for workers with disabilities. The CBAs set not only the relationship between the employer and the union, but also between the union and its members. If the CBA, therefore, treats disability as a valued minority group experience, the workplace culture itself might reflect greater inclusion and respect for disability.Preliminary findings suggest that the CBAs do not reflect disability under a civil rights model, but rather a perspective on disability that makes distinctions between different kinds of disabilities and how they are acquired. Overall, the tone of the CBAs medicalizes disability as a workplace experience. A few CBAs, however, stand out as models for fostering disability awareness and respect in the workplace and in unions. These CBAs recognize disability as a minority group experience, replete with a long history of social isolation, economic alienation, and structural disenfranchisement. With the current strength of union organizing being in the U.S. in the public sector, these exemplars can provide windows into how to organize existing workers with disabilities and also include more people with disabilities as part of labor organizing and the strengthening of that movement. The disability rights movement could also be enhanced by developing a stronger relationship with the labor movement. The CBAs provide some first steps to envisioning how this dialogue and the diversification of both movements might happen.

Apartheid Haunts: Postcolonial Trauma in Lisa Fugard’s Skinner’s Drift

When post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was officially recognized by the American Psychiatric Association in 1980, it marked breakthrough for those who believed that the condition played defining role in shaping contemporary culture. Since this date, interest in the traumatic, described by Sigmund Freud as any excitations from outside which are powerful enough to break the [mind's] protective shield (607), has grown rapidly. Trauma has been called symptom of the age (Miller and Tougaw 1), and the twentieth century has been marked as an era of historical trauma, incorporating occasions for communal mourning too numerous to chronicle (Henke xi). Recognized variously as phenomenon of delayed response; an assault on the categories of identity; a disorder of memory (Leys 2); and spiritual, psychic, or mental injury (Gilmore 25), this new conceptualization of trauma has struck chord within an unsettled society that has experienced countless horrors and tragedies and which finds itself constantly haunted-through the immediate, arresting insistence of the media-by the past. Trauma studies' growth can be attributed to its exposure of the significant long-term effects of traumatic experience on individuals. In highlighting the suffering of various groups of marginalized peoples (for example, oppressed women, war veterans, victims of genocide, the sexually or physically abused, and the terminally ill), trauma studies draws attention to those who are often forgotten. It highlights the importance of addressing the pain of wounds to the psyche in order for individuals and collective groups to recover. This represents natural progression within critical studies, which, since the 1970s, has increasingly highlighted the experiences of minority groups. However, trauma studies have to date been largely pre-occupied with Western experiences of (and Western perspectives on) trauma. This is mainly the

Diabetes: a cross‐cultural interview study of immigrants from Somalia

To describe how diabetic immigrants from Somalia experience everyday life in Sweden and how they manage diabetes-related problems, with inclusion of a gender perspective. To treat and care for minority populations successfully, healthcare staff in Sweden must thoroughly understand the illness experiences of different ethnic groups. However, no studies have so far been reported that focus on immigrants from Somalia with diabetes. Descriptive, qualitative interview study with 19 diabetic adults born in Somalia and now living in Sweden. Cross-cultural interviews with the aid of an interpreter. The transcribed interviews were subjected to qualitative latent content analysis, resulting in sub-themes and themes. Four themes emerged: experience of distress in everyday life; everyday life continues as before; comprehensibility gives a feeling of control; and being compliant. A major finding was the variation in how the participants managed the fasting month of Ramadan. Several participants fasted and did not see the diabetes as an obstacle, others did see it as an obstacle or indicated that fasting was not compulsory for a sick person. This study provides healthcare staff with information about how a minority group experience and manage diabetes. The results indicate the importance of considering cultural background, as well as religious traditions such as Ramadan, in diabetes care. They also indicate that men and women differ in their reaction to diabetes and that care should be adapted to this. It is important to develop evidence-based guidelines for diabetes care in ethnic groups that are fasting during Ramadan to prevent complications and promote relevant self-care. Further, the prescribed dietary advice must be culturally appropriate.