Perceptions Of Chaos Research Articles

“For Rats Died in the Street; Men in their Homes:” The Pharmacology of the Human-Rat Relationship in Camus’s The Plague

Animals have always embodied the memory and trauma of troubled times in human history. The alienization of animals in terms of their non-human essence results in their gothification, resulting in irrational fears of animals that represent cultural anxieties and taboos. For instance, rats are the most culturally accepted symbol of the ravages of bubonic plague. Even though scientifically proven otherwise, the rat has become one of the indelible animal constructions of fear, Other-ness and the evil with-out, signifying the harbinger of the poison of untidiness and unsanitariness into an otherwise healthy society. This paper examines the sociopolitical conflicts in Albert Camus’s The Plague through the human-rat relationship. It uses the lens of Jacques Derrida and Bernard Stiegler’s conception of the pharmakon, where the pest becomes the pharmakon (a malign/benign entity) as well as the pharmakos (scapegoat) in a society riddled with the pestilence of cleansing the invasive Otherness. We have argued, through key theories in critical animal studies and the theories of pharmacology in discursive psychopolitics, that the rat becomes the Gothic icon in the narrative, exposing human foibles and affects our perception of chaos and order.

Engagement with Nature and the Home Environment: Wellbeing and Proenvironmental Behavior among Irish and Italian University Students during the COVID-19 Emergency.

Growing evidence shows that exposure to nature and psychological engagement with nature improve health and wellbeing and promote greater proenvironmental engagement. The unprecedented situation created by COVID-related lockdowns seems to have brought both potential distress with household confinements and greater research on experiences in nature. University students may have been particularly impacted as the quality of their home arrangements can vary substantially. The aim of the study was to examine how psychological engagement with nature (nature connectedness and noticing nature), time spent in nature, and household conditions relate to psychological wellbeing and proenvironmental behavior among university students. An online survey was administered to a sample of 566 university students from Italy and Ireland. Hierarchical multiple regressions were performed to investigate the relationships between variables. The results indicate that time spent in nature and psychological engagement with nature in terms of nature connectedness and noticing nature were associated with increased wellbeing and pro-nature-conservation behavior, controlling for demographic covariates. Moreover, the perception of chaos in one's household was related to decreased wellbeing during the prolonged COVID-19 emergency. The findings highlight the need to invest in accessible natural places for students and to focus campus sustainability practices on encouraging nature connectedness to promote wellbeing and proenvironmental engagement.

Toddler behavior problems amid household chaos: Is responsive parenting protective for everyone?

AbstractObjectiveThis study examined household chaos and children's behavior problems, exploring emotionally responsive parenting as a potential protective factor for children in Early Head Start (EHS) while considering child race and ethnicity as well as several socioeconomic and household contextual factors.BackgroundHousehold chaos relates to children's difficulty with self‐regulation and behavior problems. Emotionally responsive parenting could protect against the negative effects of chaos for children. However, both the perception of chaos and impact of parenting behaviors on children's behavior may vary with race, ethnicity, crowding in the home, and other contextual factors.MethodThis study examined relations among chaos, observed emotional responsivity, and toddler's subsequent behavior problems among EHS Family and Child Experiences Study participants.ResultsChaos was associated with more behavior problems, and three‐way interaction findings indicated significant group differences by race and ethnicity in the relation between chaos and parenting on behavior problems. Behavior problems were also higher in lower socioeconomic contexts, and with child exposure to violence.ConclusionChaos and parenting both influence children's early behavior problems, with distinct findings by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic, and other contextual factors.ImplicationsThese findings may reflect differing perceptions and effects of chaos and parenting, with important implications for research and prevention.

The nature (and nurture) of children's perceptions of family chaos

Chaos in the home is a key environment in cognitive and behavioural development. However, we show that children's experience of home chaos is partly genetically mediated. We assessed children's perceptions of household chaos at ages 9 and 12 in 2337 pairs of twins. Using child-specific reports allowed us to use structural equation modelling to explore the genetic and environmental etiologies of children's perceptions of chaos. We found that these perceptions are significantly heritable (22%), with the remainder explained by environmental influences. Finding that genes influence children's experience of chaotic environments has far-reaching implications for how we conceptualize the family home and its impact on cognitive and behavioural development.

Nurses' job satisfaction and organizational climate in a dynamic work environment

The infrastructure and organization of hospitals are changing rapidly as a result of major transitions in health care. Downsizing in hospitals has caused employees to have to take on new tasks and, often, multiple tasks with a decrease in available resources and an increase in job complexity. Naturally, such organizational changes have a profound effect on the nature and duration of patient hospitalization and on the job responsibilities and roles of inpatient staff. In many hospitals, there is a perception of chaos, sometimes resulting in frustration among the nursing personnel. The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between nurses' job satisfaction and organizational climate.

Downsizing and Structural Holes

Organizational downsizing places many strains on surviving employees. Despite the implicit relationship between changes to communication networks and employee responses, few studies examine downsizing-induced network changes or the impact of these changes on employees. This longitudinal investigation examined fluctuations in structural holes within a hospitality company's corporate headquarters resulting from the loss and gain of communication contacts. Building on Burt's treatise on structural holes, we tested a measurement of structural holes and its relationship to layoff survivors' perceptions of organizational chaos and their willingness to participate in planned, postdownsizing changes. Although the downsizing had a modest impact on surviving employees' structural hole experiences overall, the structural hole index was a significant predictor in longitudinal and within time period comparisons of employees' perceptions of chaos and openness to change.

De-Axialization/Re-Axialization

Brazilian folk religion is the result of a process of de-axialization of Catholicism, in which some ritual features are preserved while the basic axial perspective and salvationist message of religion are lost. A crisis at the structural level generated, between 1890-1920, a perception of chaos among the population of the backlands, sparking millennial movements inspired by the messianic (axial) tradition of Portuguese origin, relegated up to that moment to a peripheral role. Brazilian Millennialism was thus an attempt to re-introduce order in a chaotic world through a process of re-axialization.