Community Protection Research Articles

Ubuntu-based social work: what can social workers in Global South learn from Ubuntu to promote children welfare in communities?

ABSTRACT This article uses the Ubuntu paradigms to reflect on the ways in which community-level values and frameworks can be recognised, strengthened and used to promote children’s welfare. We present a literature review and documented practical examples from African Ubuntu communities in Global South that strongly emphasise the collectivist approach in their ways of life. With a further examination of the Ubuntu philosophy, we identify common values and patterns that can be instrumental in fostering child welfare. These are volunteerism, solidarity, vigilance, morality and hospitality. We underline these informal standards as not only crucial to social workers providing interventions for children that belong to families and communities that are interdependent in nature, but as well present an Ubuntu social work model that can be a benchmark for social work practice with children and families in multicultural communities in Global North. The result is the humanisation of child protection systems and the development and strengthening of informal community protection networks.

A conceptual framework for internet child abuse material offenders: risk-relevant therapy based on assessed risk factors

Offenders who commit sexual offences against children are progressively recognised, prosecuted, assessed and treated. As technology advances, internet child sexual abuse material (I/CAM) offences increase in pertinence to forensic assessment and treatment. A new proposal in I/CAM therapeutics, the Estimated Risk of Internet Child Sexual Offending (ERICSO) is a framework for individualised, risk-relevant treatment formulation based on identified risk factors. An international scoping review of I/CAM treatment programmes was conducted prior to elucidating our proposed treatment model for I/CAM offenders. Combining risk-relevant and compassionate therapies, we propose a treatment framework based on the risk–needs–responsivity model and relevant factors, recognising diversity of I/CAM offenders. Incorporating proven constructs in offender assessment and treatment with specific application to the I/CAM offender cohort, the ERICSO assists professionals to formulate risk-relevant, individual therapy and set meaningful goals. The delivery of compassionate therapeutic interventions to I/CAM offenders will improve rehabilitative outcomes and community protection.

APPLICATION OF QMRA TO EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION OF WATERS IN ROYAL BELUM STATE PARK, MALAYSIA

Temenggor Lake located in Royal Belum State Park is an important water resource for indigenous people, an ecosystem for aqua organisms and a place for water recreational activities for visitors. The aim of this research was to use a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) approach to calculate the probability of potential pathogen infection risk to the visitors and the indigenous community. Thirty-six water samples were collected from the surface waters of Temenggor Lake from recreational water activity and indigenous people activity sites from November 2020 till December 2021. Membrane filtration technique was used for bacterial quantification. The risk was estimated using the calculation of the daily risk of infection, annual risk of infection, and risk of illness per annum and per event. The water quality during sampling periods at year-end showed higher bacterial concentrations related to rainfall events. Bacterial concentrations at visitor water activity areas were within Category A allowing for recreational activities with full body contact while water quality at indigenous people water activity areas were classified as Category B to be used mainly for secondary body contact and hence not allowed for swimming and bathing. Notably, indigenous people's settlement areas recorded a higher risk of illness for both E. coli and Salmonella spp., mainly at station A03 (Kg. Sungai Tiang). It has been revealed that water quality in indigenous people and visitor water activity areas were significantly different due to being affected by different types of human activity and other factors such as geohydrological conditions, topography, land use, environmental conditions and events. This study provides baseline data to help in future management strategies to ensure the conservation of the natural landscape and economic viability, in addition to the protection of the local community.

Peran Satuan Polisi Pamong Praja dalam Menyelenggarakan Ketentraman dan Ketertiban Umum di Kabupaten Bengkalis

This article aims to increase understanding of the main responsibilities and roles of the Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP), with a special focus on the Benkalis district level Satpol PP. Satpol PP is a regional institution formed to enforce regional regulations, maintain peace and order, and ensure community protection. The Satpol PP Post Office in the Regency is under the authority of the Regent and is directly responsible for its operations and administration to the Regional Director. This article focuses on the responsibility of Satpora PP as a facilitator of community welfare and overall progress. Each region has its own characteristics and faces different obstacles, such as the increasing number of informal street vendors, the problem of beggars and people without shelter (PPWS), the presence of food vendors with poor lighting, and the circulation of alcoholic drinks.

School Behavior, School Performance, and Race as Focal Concerns in the Institutionalization of Juveniles

According to the focal concerns perspective, the concerns guiding judges’ sentencing considerations are blameworthiness and harm, community protection, and practical considerations. Regarding racial and other disparities in sentencing, focal concerns contend that various constraints, associations between defendants’ demographic characteristics, and the three focal concerns influence judicial decision-making. One association that is explored infrequently is the institutionalization decision of juveniles and how that decision is associated with race and various school-based metrics. Using a sample of adjudicated delinquent juveniles from one state over a 5-year period and merged with American Community Survey data, the present study explores how school factors alongside race serve as focal concerns for judges, impacting the decision to institutionalize juveniles.

Dynamics of Local Government Policies in Providing Recognition and Protection of Customary Law Communities in Maluku

The problem of protecting and recognizing the rights of Customary Law Communities in Indonesia, including in Maluku, from the perspective of local government policies, is still being underestimated, even though Article 18 B paragraph (2) of the constitution has given recognition and respect to the unity of Customary Law Communities and their traditional rights, However is it that to get recognition of the status of customary villages in several negeri in the districts of Maluku and disputes over the mata rumah parentah still occur frequently. This study raises issues regarding legal protection and problems regarding the recognition of the rights of Customary Law Communities in districts/cities in Maluku by using statutory, conceptual approaches and case studies of court decisions relating to the rights of Customary Law Communities. Based on the results of the study it was found that the Provincial Government had issued a policy to provide customary law protection in Maluku which became the basis for establishing customary villages in Ambon City and Tual City, however, there are still regencies that have not provided recognition in the form of regional regulations for establishing customary villages, such as in West Seram Regency and Central Maluku Regency due to weak local government commitment and juridical problems.

EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF A HYBRID ARTIFICIAL CORAL REEF WITH BRAIN AND STAGHORN CORALS

Considering that more than 40 percent of the world's population resides within 100 km of coastal areas [WRI, 2007], the protection of coastal communities is critical. Coral reefs provide a large variety of ecosystem services from fishing, recreation and tourism to coastal flood risk reduction to nearby populations. They act as a green, self-building and self-repairing breakwaters dissipating wave energy through wave breaking and bed friction [Beck, 2018]. However, coral reefs are not typically accounted for as a coastal infrastructure as their effects are not easy to quantify [Ferrario, 2014] as their interaction with waves depends on multiple parameters including the variable morphologies of the organisms that form the reef. In this study, the wave energy dissipation of a scaled reef model with two coral species (staghorn and brain corals) of variable cover was evaluated through a series of laboratory experiments at the University of Miami SUrge STructure Atmosphere INteraction (SUSTAIN) Facility, a wind/wave tank with hurricane capabilities. A scaled coral reef model was tested under the direct impact of swell and hurricane generated waves considering Froude similarity with a prototype reef in South Florida.

Is There a Place for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Climate Change Policy and Governance? Learnings from a Brazilian Case

The specialized literature, leading organizations, and international law, like the Paris Agreement, have increasingly recognized the relevance of Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ contributions to climate change adaptation. Despite this, few studies have investigated how their rights are considered in relevant public policies and decision-making processes. This article explores how the rights of protection and participation of Traditional Peoples and Communities are incorporated in climate- and environment-related public policy documents and examines how community members perceive their engagement in the drafting of those documents and their implementing agencies. For this purpose, it uses a Brazilian traditional community as a case study and undertakes a content analysis of a set of plans and programs applying to its territory and a series of interviews with local members. The findings reveal that while there are a few references to Traditional Peoples and Communities in the diagnosis parts of the plans and programs, they are scarce in substantive parts like objectives and measures. In addition, those references rarely relate to traditional knowledge. These results are also visible in local plans. Moreover, community members appear to feel poorly protected from climate change impacts, misinformed about these plans and programs, and overlooked when it comes to the insertion of their traditional knowledge of climate action measures into these plans and programs. The poor recognition of the protected status of these peoples and communities in the context of climate change highlights the need for a more sensitive and robust design of climate and environment-related plans and programs, ensuring the incorporation of their valuable contributions and traditional knowledge. Further efforts are required to acknowledge this gap and to better bridge the translation of international law into national and municipal plans, and programs, and effectively involve Traditional Peoples and Communities.

Opening the World Court to the International Community: an Empirical Analysis of Non-party Participation in the International Court of Justice

Abstract Over the last decades, the participation of State and non-State actors (NSAs) in the process of international law-making has become one of the basic features of international law. As multifunctional actors, the role of international courts and tribunals (ICTs) encompasses the protection and development of the international community. Together with ICTs’ role in the promotion, recognition and application of community interest norms, the growing participation of State and NSAs in international dispute settlement mechanisms also plays an increasingly important role in ensuring and facilitating compliance and enforcement of community interest norms. Whereas the non-party participation of State and NSAs has only very exceptionally been recognized, their influence in international dispute settlement cannot be ignored. By applying empirical research methodology for mapping the practice of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the participation of State and NSAs under the ICJ Statute and Rules of Court, this paper addresses the existing mechanisms of non-party participation in both contentious cases and advisory proceedings. There is no doubt that ICJ procedural law remains outdated and disconnected from the contemporary developments characterizing the international community nowadays. Broadening the possibilities for participation by State and NSAs would imply the recognition of the plurilateral nature of international disputes. In this context, the paper also discusses the challenges and possible alternatives for expanding participation via teleological interpretation of the ICJ Statute and potential amendments to the Rules of Court and Practice Directions.

Response of Hypolimnetic Water and Bottom Sediment Microbial Communities to Freshwater Salinization—A Microcosm Experiment

The introduction of NaCl in freshwater caused by winter runoffs is a problem whose consequences are still little understood. We sought to analyze the effect of NaCl addition on microbial communities of the hypolimnion and bottom sediments of a Canadian lake. Using microcosms comprising a salinity gradient varying between 0.01 and 3.22 ppt (10–3220 mg/L−1) NaCl, we investigated the effect of salinity on prokaryotic absolute abundance and diversity, following a three- and six-week exposure, and detected the presence of a salinity threshold for microbial communities’ differentiation. We observed a significant decline of bacterial diversity after six weeks in hypolimnetic samples. In the sediments, no clear effect of NaCl was observed on abundance or diversity, despite the presence of variations throughout the salinity gradient. The implication of nutrient fluctuations as well as the co-occurrence of species and inter-domain interactions is likely and would strongly contribute to the development of salt-exposed prokaryotic communities. In hypolimnetic water and sediments, the archaeal and eukaryotic communities differed significantly from 0.93 ppt (930 mg/L−1), while only conclusive at 1.9 ppt (1900 mg/L−1) NaCl in bacteria, meaning that the regulations in place are possibly suitable for the protection of the microbial communities in the hypolimnion and sediment lake layers.

Perceptions of COVID-19 Vaccines: Lessons from Selected Populations Who Experience Discrimination in the Australian Healthcare System

COVID-19 vaccination is particularly challenging among populations who have experienced discrimination in healthcare settings. This paper presents qualitative findings from in-depth interviews about COVID-19 vaccination conducted in Australia between October 2020 and November 2021. Data from four different studies are presented; each population has unique experiences of discrimination within the healthcare system: Aboriginal people; people who inject drugs (PWID); people living with HIV (PLHIV); and gay and bisexual men (GBM). Analyses were guided by the behavioural and social determinants model that forms the basis of the World Health Organization’s “data for action: achieving high uptake of COVID-19 vaccines” interim guidance. All populations viewed vaccination as necessary for community protection, although narratives of community care were most common among Aboriginal people. Concerns about vaccine safety were expressed by all participant groups, although participants living with HIV and GBM were more trusting of vaccines possibly because of their ongoing and usually positive past experiences with biomedical technologies for HIV management and sexual health. Aboriginal participants reported distrust of mainstream government and participants who inject drugs expressed a more generalised suspicion about COVID-19 and its origins. Practical problems related to transport, booking appointments for vaccination and so forth, were more common among participants living with HIV and GBM, possibly because these specific interviews were conducted throughout 2021 when vaccines were more available, whereas data for the other populations were collected before the vaccine rollout. Findings show that vaccine willingness is shaped by past experiences of discrimination in healthcare setting, but different histories of discrimination can differently impact vaccine willingness. Promotional messaging and delivery must take account of these important differences so to not treat these populations homogenously.

Healthcare Policies and Access: A Behavioural-Ecological Model Analysis

The legacy of apartheid systems continues to be felt, especially in the country’s healthcare systems. Existing policies contribute to the inequality and challenges confronted when navigating healthcare services. This study uses the behavioural-ecological approach to analyse healthcare policy challenges hindering patients from accessing healthcare services in peri-urban communities in Johannesburg, South Africa. In addition, the study examines how poverty, poor infrastructure, and geographic location contribute to challenges facing communities in accessing healthcare services. A mixed-methods research was adopted; semi-structured interviews and field notes were used for data collection. Data were collected from outpatients, administration, and medical personnel. 173 respondents participated in the surveys, 14 participants were interviewed, and 12 respondents for focus groups. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for quantitative data analysis and Nudist Vivo (NVivo) for thematic analysis. The study established that poverty, costly medical services, inability to communicate with healthcare providers, and low literacy were significant hindrances. It was revealed that unemployment contributed significantly to poverty levels, thus impeding access to healthcare services. The study concluded that South Africa needs a comprehensive social security system that provides adequate and sustainable social protection for peri-urban communities. The above remedial actions were recommended, but the public sector health reforms were negatively perceived. Thus, a conceptual model was developed to catalyse behavioural change in the public and private healthcare systems to achieve affordable and sustainable improvement in access and usage of healthcare services.

Research on Red Rural Tourism Design Oriented by Public Art Planning

The purpose of this study is to explore the application of public art planning in red rural tourism design, and put forward the principles and methods of planning and design. This study found that red rural tourism design not only has the significance of excavating red culture and inheriting historical context, but also can promote the protection and improvement of rural communities and natural environment. Through literature research, field investigation and other methods, the study found problems such as inadequate planning and design, inadequate implementation monitoring, and proposed to strengthen the scientific nature of planning and design and the implementation of monitoring, promote the deep integration of public art planning and design and tourism planning, and strengthen policy support and financial security. The research results and conclusions can provide valuable reference for relevant departments and enterprises, promote the development of red rural tourism, and provide new ideas and directions for the development of cultural industries and cultural exchanges and dissemination.

Exploring Parental Opinion, Attitudes and Practices: A Comparative Study on Child Care and Protection in Rural and Urban Communities in National Capital Region, India

Exploring Parental Opinion, Attitudes and Practices: A Comparative Study on Child Care and Protection in Rural and Urban Communities in National Capital Region, India

How to approach a study in ethnopharmacology? Providing an example of the different research stages for newcomers to the field today.

Ethnopharmacology seeks to investigate humankind's use of natural materials, such as plants, fungi, microorganisms, animals, and minerals, for medicinal purposes. In this highly interdisciplinary field, which can be described as a bridge between the natural/medical and socio-cultural sciences, pharmacological, anthropological, and socio-cultural research methods are often applied, along with methods from other branches of science. When entering the field of ethnopharmacology as a newcomer, student, or early career researcher today, the tremendous amount of scientific publications, and even classical books from this field and related scientific disciplines, can be overwhelming. Ethnopharmacology has evolved over the past decades, and new key topics, such as the decolonization of the field, issues on intellectual property and benefit-sharing, species conservation, the preservation of traditional knowledge, the protection of indigenous communities, science outreach, and climate change, have become important and urgent aspects of the field that must not be disregarded by today's ethnopharmacologists. One of the questions of newcomers will be, "Where to begin?" This review article offers a brief (and certainly not comprehensive) introduction to the science of ethnopharmacology, highlighting some of its past most notable achievements and future prospects. In addition, this article provides an example for newcomers to the field of how to address different stages that may be involved in conducting ethnopharmacological field and lab studies, including early-stage drug discovery and community work. The example presented summarizes a series of studies conducted in the remote Greater Mpigi region of Uganda, located in East Africa. Stages of ethnopharmacological research described include ethnobotanical surveying and fieldwork, the pharmacological assessment of activity with diverse targets in the laboratory, and the transfer of results back to indigenous communities, that is, non-financial benefit sharing as a potential best practice example. As a result of this research example, a total of six original research articles have been published on the medicinal application and ethnopharmacology of 16 plant species from the Ugandan study site, offering a large quantity of results. These six publications reflect the multifaceted nature of the interdisciplinary science of ethnopharmacology, which may serve as a reference point and inspiration for newcomers to design and conduct their own independent ethnopharmacological research endeavors at other study sites. Major bottlenecks and solutions are provided, and the current social media channels with educational ethnopharmacological content are briefly introduced.

LIMITATIONS ON THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHT HOLDERS (SOCIAL JUSTICE PERSPECTIVE)

Social justice is the goal of the Indonesian state, which must be realized in all fields so that welfare is realized for all Indonesian people which also radiates in the field of intellectual property law, bearing in mind that the initial regulation of intellectual property came from developed countries which are industrial countries which are different from Indonesia. Social justice is the fundamental norm as well as the goal of the state, which is used as a reference in the formation of intellectual property law rules. Thus, arrangements regarding the distribution of intellectual property rights must pay attention to the public interest. Based on such arguments, the regulation regarding restrictions on the exclusive rights of intellectual property rights holders is realized in the public interest. At the implementation level, setting the exclusive rights of older intellectual property law protected without prejudice to the protection of community (general) rights as a form of limiting these rights for the common good. Restrictions on the exclusive rights of the holder of intellectual property law as a form of social justice have been regulated in the Indonesian legal system, although there are still deficiencies.

Understanding how Community Protection Notices are used to manage anti-social behaviour attributed to people experiencing street homelessness

Understanding how Community Protection Notices are used to manage anti-social behaviour attributed to people experiencing street homelessness

PROSPECTIVE MODELS OF THE CONSERVATION AND ECOLOGICAL NETWORK OF TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES OF CHORTKIV DISTRICT

In the publication, the main attention is drawn to the improvement of the functional and spatial structure of the protected and ecological networks of the administrative district (AR). The problem of the degree of conservation of territories became especially relevant after the implementation of the decentralization reform, because in some administrative districts and territorial communities the level of conservation is 0.5-5%, while the average district indicator is 13.98%. It was established that protected areas in the Chortkiv administrative district are represented by 10 of the 11 protected categories available in Ukraine. The situation with local fragments of eco-networks and basic protected objects is the most problematic. The degree of protection at the level of territorial communities in 72.7% does not meet the established nature protection norms (more than 10%).
 The eco-network concept was implemented in Ukraine at the national and regional levels in the period from 2000 to 2015. Despite the expiration of the Law of Ukraine "On the Statewide Program for the Formation and Development of the National Ecological Network for the Period 2000-2015", a number of tasks at the level of new administrative districts and territorial communities remained unresolved within the framework of the program. Precisely those levels at which the basic elements of eco-networks receive their metric reflection and the eco-network system is filled with concrete content. With these elements, it is possible to carry out renaturalization measures, set aside the width of nature protection zones within river Eco corridors, restore the connection between the constituent parts of key territories, establish configurations and fix the boundaries of protective territories on the terrain, etc. Therefore, it can be assumed that instead of office modeling of national and regional eco-network schemes, the stage of substantiation and selection on the ground (visual modeling) begins. At the same time, it is necessary to include not only areas of natural vegetation in the composition of elements of eco-network models, but also the configuration of numerous promising territories and objects proposed for creation by local specialists in nature protection, environmental activists of territorial communities.
 The proposed small-scale promising nature reserves and natural monuments (98 positions) will allow to increase the protection of territorial communities, and from the positions of their role in the eco-network of AR will form a new configuration of connecting and protective territories (submeridional direction) such as: Zolotolipsk regional, Baryeka local, Koropetsk local, Strip regional, Dzhuryn local, Seret regional, Nichlav local, Zbrut regional, Dniester national sub-latitudinal connecting territory, Tovtrova regional (sub-latitudinal), New key and connecting territories within landscape areas have been identified, promising protected objects, elements of eco-networks of local importance have been identified. At the same time, the prospect of creating protected areas with an area of more than 100 hectares (Table 2) within six territorial communities will provide an opportunity to design key territories at the regional and local levels. The indicators of existing and prospective protected areas of territorial communities, administrative districts were calculated, taking into account the creation of prospective protected areas and objects (98 units). The most significant changes in the basic elements of regional networks will take place within the connecting territories of the regional and local levels, territorial communities. An integrated map scheme-model of protected and ecological networks with promising protected objects, new local key and connecting territories has been created, which will contribute to the introduction of a territorially differentiated approach to the optimal landscape and ecological organization of the territory.
 The eco-network of the Chortkiv administrative district represents the rank of a subsystem of the regional eco-network of the Ternopil region. Its basic structural elements are: 2 key territories of national rank (Medoborska and Zalishchytska), 5 key territories of regional rank (Yablunivska, "Dacha Galileya", Shuparska, promising Baryska, Skala-Podilska, Borschivska, Koropetska, Serednyoseretska) and local rank (Nad Dzhurynom, Chahor, Moklekiv, "Forest Mordova").
 The connecting national territory is Dnistrovsk, regional ones (Tovtrova, Zbrutska, Seretska, Stripska, Zolotolypska). Local connecting territories will be (Bpriska, Dzhurynska, Nichlavska, Seretsko-Zbruska). In connection with the creation and prospect of creation of new protected territories and objects, there will be a change in the configuration of mainly capital and protective territories, as well as the filling of protected objects in territorial communities (Koropetska, Zolotopoticska, Zalishchytska, Chortkivska, Husyatynska). The formation of updated models of protected and ecological networks of the administrative district will contribute to the optimization of the landscape and ecological organization of the territory.
 Key words: protected network, econetwork, administrative district, territorial community.

‘They’ve all endorsed it…but I’m just not there:’ a qualitative exploration of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy reported by Black and Latinx individuals

ObjectiveWe sought to examine reasons for vaccine hesitancy among online communities of US-based Black and Latinx communities to understand the role of historical racism, present-day structural racism, medical mistrust and...

Uncovering minoritized voices: The linguistic landscape of Mieres, Asturies

Abstract Recent sociolinguistic studies have emphasized the role of the linguistic landscape (LL) in relation to languages and identity negotiation. The present study examines the presence of Asturian, a minoritized language spoken in the Principality of Asturies, in the LL of a town located in the center of Asturies: Mieres. Through qualitative analyses, data illustrate that Asturian has visibility not only on top-down signage but also on bottom-up. Furthermore, findings reveal that the use of this language, as well as semiotic resources that convey the Asturian identity in the Mieres signage, portray the struggles and fragility of the Asturian minoritized linguistic group within this locality. This study illustrates the importance of comprehensive implementation of language protection policies in relation to the maintenance and revitalization of minoritized languages, as well as in the protection of a speech community’s linguistic rights.