Public Testimony Research Articles

The Essence of Salvation: Exploring Evangelical Perspectives And Practices

This article explores the core doctrines and practices of evangelical Christianity about salvation, highlighting the differences in viewpoints among evangelical theologians and believers. The theological tenets of salvation described are the idea of being “born again” and the significance of one’s faith in Jesus Christ. The idea that salvation is a life-changing event characterized by repentance and a deliberate choice to embrace Christ as Savior, resulting in a revitalized spiritual life, is fundamental to evangelical philosophy. The essay highlights contrasting opinions among evangelical circles regarding predestination, free choice, and the assurance of salvation as it further explores the roles of grace, faith, and works in salvation. Salvation-related customs, including baptism, altar calls, and public testimony, are addressed as manifestations of faith and social validation. It also examines the evangelical focus on evangelism as a moral obligation, with the need to spread the gospel to everyone. The article’s conclusion discusses the problems evangelical views of salvation are currently experiencing, particularly in light of social and cultural changes. It considers how these modifications may affect evangelical outreach and discipleship strategies.

Narratives on disclosure of sexual violence: Survivors' responses to public testimony to a high-profile case.

Sexual violence is prevalent and associated with an elevated risk for physical health problems and psychological disorders. The social reactions survivors receive in response to disclosures of sexual violence can impact their postassault recovery. Many survivors do not disclose experiences of sexual violence, which can also complicate the course of recovery. The present study aims to further our understanding of survivors' experiences of sexual violence and their decisions to disclose or not disclose. The data set used is also of historical significance as it captures responses to one of the most public disclosures of sexual assault. Qualitative themes were identified from unsolicited, de-identified personal correspondence (n = 91) from a large archive sent to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford after her public testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee describing an alleged sexual assault. Thematic analyses indicated five common negative reactions (i.e., dismissal, disbelief or denial, lack of repercussions for the perpetrator, retaliation, and victim blame) and two positive reactions (i.e., appropriate action and emotional support) in response to sexual violence disclosures. Reasons for nondisclosure included shame and fear of negative social reactions. Findings suggest that the interpersonal act of sexual violence disclosure is a dynamic process that can have lasting effects on survivors and has implications for fostering a sociocultural climate that facilitates posttraumatic growth in the aftermath of sexual violence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Implementation of a Health Communication Strategy in the Success of the COVID-19 Vaccine Program in West Jakarta

The research will focus on the West Jakarta Health Service's Communication Strategy for Disseminating the COVID-19 Vaccine. This research is inspired by the concern that the Jakarta COVID-19 vaccination achievement remains below target, particularly for the elderly, at 64.85 percent for the first dose and 58.44 percent for the second dose in October 2021. There are many obstacles such as hoax news and low public knowledge about vaccines. This research focuses on how to examine the Jakarta Health Office's communication strategy in inviting people to implement COVID-19 immunization. This research will expand on health communication concepts and theories by employing Push, Pull, and Pass communication tactics. A variety of doctors, and health professionals were interviewed for this study. The study results show that the push approach is implemented by opening direct vaccine centres, pulling through persuasively, door prizes, basic food packages, cooperation cross-sectors, and passes with public figure testimonials. The job of Dasawisma cadres is critical because they are the ones who directly persuade the people in simple languages like Javanese and Sundanese. The community also trusts the Dasawisma cadres because they are previously acquainted. The City of West Jakarta achieved 98% of the first dosage of the vaccination, and 65% dosage 2nd in December 2022. Keywords: Health communication, vaccine, communication strategies, COVID-19, Dasawisma.

“Stop playing politics with my kid:” Thematic analysis of a trans-exclusionary sports legislation hearing in Texas

Background In recent years, legislation targeting transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people has proliferated in the United States, particularly legislation focused on TGD youth and on athletic inclusion. One such law, Texas House Bill 25 (HB25), focused on prohibiting TGD youth from participating in school sports in Texas. Aims In this study, we identified common themes from the public testimony on Texas HB25 to further understand the arguments and rhetoric used in such legislation. Method We used a modified version of reflexive thematic analysis to examine the content of the HB25 legislative hearing. Results We established four main themes: The Political Smokescreen: Vilifying TGD People and Re-Writing Narratives about Cisgender Girls and Women; Pleading from the Perspectives of Equity and Justice; Appeals to Power: Using Money, Reputation, and Religion; and Provable Harm: Anti-TGD Legislation Leads to Documented Harms. Discussion This hearing and the subsequently passed bill have profound implications for TGD youth in Texas by restricting them from participating in regular activities with their cisgender peers. In addition, many people testified that the very introduction of the bill was harmful because of how dehumanizing it was to have their rights attacked. Analyzing the arguments and rhetoric used in these types of hearings can add to our understanding of anti-trans legislative initiatives.

Public testimony in the Pentecostal liturgy: A transformative experience approach

Public testimony in the Pentecostal liturgy: A transformative experience approach

Southeast Alaskans Want Food Sovereignty and Reimagined Rural Futures

United States federal lands are managed for multiple conservation, social, and commercial goals shaped by the visions of diverse interest groups. The rural economic and food-security needs of local public-lands-based communities have important implications for sustainable natural-resource management but can be obscured by national-scale public comment processes. To better understand local concerns and aspirations for management of the nation’s largest national forest, the Tongass, we use thematic analysis of public testimonies provided by Southeast Alaska community members as part of the federally mandated Roadless Rulemaking Subsistence Hearings in 2019. The six themes we develop explore speakers’ views of an Alaska exemption from the 2001 Roadless Rule, Alaska Native and rural community connections to the forest ecosystem, visions for rural futures, and concerns with the rulemaking process. Explicit consideration of local economic, food sovereignty, and federal rulemaking concerns can inform a broader picture of federal land management.

Patients' testimonies, feelings, complaints and emotional experiences with dermatoses on open social media: The French infodemiologic patient's free speech study.

Dermatoses represent a significant burden. Patients and their caregivers can turn to social media and digital communities to exchange with each other. These public exchanges constitute real-life data that can be analysed to better understand the patients' feelings and expectations, and the daily difficulties encountered. An infodemiologic study of public testimonies of patients and caregivers related to five dermatoses: eczema, rosacea, vitiligo, acne and psoriasis, over a 3-year time frame (September 2018 to September 2021) in France. To identify main topics of discussion, encountered difficulties and unmet medical needs. Data extraction was performed based on a list of pertinent keywords. Web-users' profiles were determined by a specifically trained machine learning algorithm. Encountered difficulties were identified by manual annotation based on a standardized search grid. Co-occurrence analysis of difficulties allowed contextualization of challenges and unmet needs for each dermatosis. A total of 20,282 messages coming from 16,800 web users was extracted. The main topics of discussion were 'Impact on self- image and self-confidence' (23.6%), 'Generic discussion about therapeutics' (23.3%) and 'Burden of others' gaze' (12.8%). The top three mentioned difficulties for the five targeted dermatoses were similar and focused on 'Fear of/and management of symptoms', 'Impact on/and mood management' and 'Damaged self-image'. This infodemiologic study highlighted the real-life management of five skin diseases by patients and their caregivers, who turned to social networks to openly express their suffering and seek solutions. The joined analysis of the five diseases enabled a common comprehension of what it is to live with a skin disease, from a patient-centric point of view. The specific analysis of each patient group objectified specific challenges, and main unmet medical needs.

John Woolman’s Intersecting Testimonies against Enslavement, Colonialism and the Rum Trade

John Woolman built upon Quaker principles and earlier critiques by Friends in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to oppose enslavement and the rum trade among members of the Religious Society of Friends. By the 1760s, after the devastation of the Seven Years’ War, he recognised how English colonisation had destroyed Native communities, linking colonialism with enslavement and rum. Woolman located these intersecting inequities in the focus of English families on acquiring and perpetuating wealth. Unlike his public testimony against involuntary bondage, his writings against colonialism in his journal and essay ‘A Plea for the Poor’ remained unpublished until after his death. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0 .

Verification of the Public Discourse and Accountability of Mayors on Local TV: The Case of Ecuador

The purpose of the research is to determine the veracity and contexts of the statements of Ecuador's mayors using fact-checking methodology. The research questions are: Are the public testimonies of mayors presented in local television news programmes true? What are the circumstances in which mayors present their speeches? To what extent does local journalism contextualize the mayors' statements? The research is descriptive and relational, using qualitative methodology based on the Ecuador Chequea protocol, focus groups and semi-structured interviews. A sample of audiovisual pieces broadcast between February 2020 and March 2022 was obtained. The statements are grouped in 10 axes, showing correspondence with the functions determined in the law. The statements of the governors are true, the proximity helps direct accountability, but weaknesses such as excessive prominence, publicity and short-term interests can be appreciated. Analyses of the quality of the declarations are needed, in broad pieces and with the corresponding cultural and political contexts. Efforts to make public administration transparent is a key aspect of open and e-government that will be achieved as long as citizens' information literacy is achieved.

Education and Occupation in The Misophonia Podcast

Misophonia is a disorder that involves a negative response to specific stimuli, commonly repetitive sounds, or movements. It is not in the DSM-5-TR, and in many cases, people with misophonia self-diagnose. They unite over their shared symptoms, such as the intense “anger, distress, disgust, and anxiety” they feel (Remmert et al., 2022, p. 2). The Misophonia Podcast is one platform where people who identify as having misophonia can share their experiences, providing over a hundred public testimonies from people with a range of backgrounds. Through these casual interviews, the guests with misophonia reveal details regarding their individual experiences with the disorder, including triggers/activators, coping mechanisms, and the emotions they experience. Little research exists on misophonia and its treatments (Ferrer-Torres et al., 2022, p. 18), leaving people with misophonia on their own to discover what strategies work best for them. As lifestyle choices may reflect a complex relationship with one’s mental disorder, this study analyzes how education level and occupation type may relate to the social support, coping mechanisms, and attitudes people have regarding their misophonia. The only significant correlation found was between job alone time and variety of coping mechanisms, but further research is needed to determine whether this correlation stems from the nature of the podcast and how the data was collected. The lack of significant findings suggests complexity within the misophonia community; people with misophonia can have similar experiences despite their varied lifestyles.

OP50 Health Equity Considerations In HTA: A Case Example Of Prenatal Screening

IntroductionThe Washington Health Technology Assessment (HTA) program has been guiding coverage decisions in the state since 2007. The Center for Evidence-based Policy works with the program to develop evidence-based HTA reports. In 2020, we presented an HTA on cell-free DNA prenatal screening for chromosomal aneuploidies. In the committee’s discussion, questions around access to screening tests and to prenatal care more generally were raised. We present a case study of how health equities were considered in the development of coverage criteria.MethodsWe conducted an HTA using standard systematic review methodologies. Outcomes focused on test accuracy and the impact of screening. We did not look for evidence on access to prenatal screening tests or people’s experience of prenatal screening. We reviewed the meeting transcript to identify issues of health equity and how they influenced the final decision.ResultsDuring the discussion of the evidence, the committee raised concerns around equitable access to cell-free DNA tests and prenatal screening, including: direct costs to the person; access to the full range of prenatal screening, including ultrasound; and, uptake of prenatal screening. Based on the findings from the evidence report, expert testimony, and public comment, the committee voted to cover cell-free DNA prenatal screening for chromosomal aneuploidies unconditionally.ConclusionsHealth equity is increasingly important in healthcare decision-making. Decision makers should consider how a decision may reduce health inequities and how it may inadvertently increase existing health inequities. Decision makers also need to understand the context within which the decision will be implemented. Consideration of health equity can be addressed in a number of ways, for example through systematic review of equity issues or patient experience or through the use of contextual knowledge from expert and public testimony. Regardless of the method, decision makers should remain transparent in how health equity considerations influenced their final determination.

The Loss of a Clan: Abandoning Ethos of the East African Revival by the Contemporary Kenyan Christian

This study investigated two practises of the East African Revival (EAR) movement; the public testimony of one’s salvation and the public confession of all known sins. The study further sought to know the attitude of the contemporary Christian on the same. The study was qualitative in strategy with a phenomenological design. Criterion based purposive sampling was used to select the participants. The tools for gathering data were In-depth interviews, Focus Group Discussions, and Document Review. Thematic Coding Analysis was used to analyse the data. The EDNA model for practical theology was applied as the theological framework. Findings show that the EAR members held the public testimony and public confession of sin as foundational to their doctrine and practice. The two practices helped them to create a unique identity and cohesiveness, after separating from their familial clans at conversion, hence forming a new spiritual clan of their own. The contemporary Christian on the other hand finds these two tenets of the EAR,
 intrusive and unacceptable. With no alternative ways of building cohesiveness and a unique identity, the younger believers are left without a clan hence becoming spiritual orphans. Traditional Anglicanism, with its focus on sacraments and liturgy, and African Traditional Religions are among the formations fighting to adopt these spiritual orphans. The study recommends that the church and society revisit these practices and apply them appropriately in the fight against corruption and tribalism, among other ills in Kenyan society.

Polyvocal articulations of climate justice and the commonality of loss

The political-intellectual project of climate justice (CJ) is diverse in its analyses and proposals. Recently, some sympathetic critics have worried that, together with its often-contentious tenor, this polyvocality renders CJ incoherent and/or ill-suited to legal and policy application. Divergent choices of framing and means do matter, since they entail implications for the development of constituencies, alliances, and political, legal, and/or policy action. This paper argues, however, that rather than incoherence, the variation, fluidity, and complexity of CJ evidence logical adaptations to differing positionalities and circumstances, made necessary by the multiple, geographically varying dimensions of climate injustice. Critical political geographic perspectives (which happen to complement those of many movement adherents) help to expose this adaptive logic. Correspondingly, diverse articulations of CJ and their implications help show how political spaces and ecologies matter in contesting the multiple inequalities and power moves with which climate injustice is intertwined. Moreover, recent public health analyses and testimonies from affected groups suggest that shared experiences of rising, disproportionate climate-related death and other forms of individual and collective loss increasingly underpin and motivate CJ's multiple forms. The trajectories of compounding loss, still-rising greenhouse gas emissions, and the growing hegemony of CJ in a variety of settings underscore the need for continuing development of extensive solidarities among dispersed and differently positioned affected groups and potential allies. Though other approaches – including those which address climate injustices without naming them as such – may bear fruit, such extensive articulations of CJ are crucial needs that intellectual labor can help to meet.

Bearing Witness as a Process for Responding to Trauma Survivors: A Review.

Bearing witness is a means for trauma survivors to give voice to lived experience. Bearing witness has been used in national and international commissions, inquiries, and tribunals to hear directly from survivors of abuse and trauma. This scoping review examines the documented research on the experience of survivors of trauma bearing witness. In 2021, six electronic data bases were searched-EBSCO, Informit, CINHAL, Clarivate, ProQuest, and Sage-and a search of the gray literature, revealed 1,201 references for studies between 1990 and 2021. After applying the Arksey and O'Malley framework, 21 studies that met inclusion criteria were identified. The inclusion criteria focused on studies where survivors expressed their views on bearing witness to trauma in official processes inclusive of public or private testimony, verbal or written. These studies utilized a range of methodologies and designs that represented the perspectives of 3,192 survivors of trauma who had borne witness. Analysis of the studies resulted in key findings under four themes: healing versus re-traumatization, support and safety of survivors, engaging and involving survivors, and culture and context. The literature indicates that bearing witness is a critical means to give voice to survivors of trauma and to provide them with acknowledgment; however, the literature is inconclusive regarding the impact of bearing witness on survivors. More research is required to better understand how survivors can best benefit and be supported by processes of bearing witness, and not be harmed or re-traumatized.

What counts? Policy evidence in public hearing testimonies: the case of single-payer healthcare in New York State

What counts? Policy evidence in public hearing testimonies: the case of single-payer healthcare in New York State

Trial Forge Guidance 3: randomised trials and how to recruit and retain individuals from ethnic minority groups—practical guidance to support better practice

Randomised trials, especially those intended to directly inform clinical practice and policy, should be designed to reflect all those who could benefit from the intervention under test should it prove effective. This does not always happen. The UK National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) INCLUDE project identified many groups in the UK that are under-served by trials, including ethnic minorities.This guidance document presents four key recommendations for designing and running trials that include the ethnic groups needed by the trial. These are (1) ensure eligibility criteria and recruitment pathway do not limit participation in ways you do not intend, (2) ensure your trial materials are developed with inclusion in mind, (3) ensure staff are culturally competent and (4) build trusting partnerships with community organisations that work with ethnic minority groups. Each recommendation comes with best practice advice, public contributor testimonials, examples of the inclusion problem tackled by the recommendation, or strategies to mitigate the problem, as well as a collection of resources to support implementation of the recommendations.We encourage trial teams to follow the recommendations and, where possible, evaluate the strategies they use to implement them. Finally, while our primary audience is those designing, running and reporting trials, we hope funders, grant reviewers and approvals agencies may also find our guidance useful.

Robert Duncan and Norman O. Brown: Correspondence

Robert Duncan and Norman O. Brown: Correspondence

La vérité sur soi-même : les pédagogies de conversion et les nouveaux mouvements religieux catholiques en Amérique latine

In this article, I analyze the conversion retreats of the John XXIII Movement in Ipiales, Colombia in order to understand the swift spread of new Catholic groups in Latin America. Based on a qualitative research, I examined through twenty semi-structured interviews the definitions, narratives and meanings that some members and leaders of this movement attribute to their confessions and public testimonies of conversion. Instead of distinguishing John XXIII spiritual retreats and conversion testimonies as forms of domination, I propose the concept of pedagogies of conversion, in other words, a set of practices that seek to morally educate believers and that create a double economy of freedom and constraint. Finally, I drawn on various stories to show how moral agency relates to the intensity of these practices and to the past religious experiences of believers.

Changing attitudes towards female genital mutilation. From conflicts of loyalty to reconciliation with self and the community: The role of emotion regulation.

The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is a social norm embedded in the patriarchal system and is resistant to change due to its roots in the tradition of the practising communities. Despite this difficulty in change, some women succeed in changing their attitudes towards the practice. In trying to understand what makes these women change their attitudes, we identified in a previous study, the critical life events at which change occurs (turning point). These turning points were described with emotions and conflicting feelings based on which we hypothesised that emotion regulation and the resolution of conflicts of loyalty might be possible mechanisms that explain the change of attitudes by the women. In this article, we sought to investigate how the mechanisms interact and how they were at play to explain the change. We, therefore, triangulated our previous data, fifteen women interviewed twice, with the published life stories and public testimonies of 10 women with FGM, and interviews of six experts chosen for their complementary fields of expertise to discuss the emerging concepts and theory, generated by our study. The data were analysed using framework analysis and an element of the grounded theory approach (constant comparison). As a result of our theorisation process, we propose a model of change in five stages (Emotion suppression, The awakening, The clash, Re-appropriation of self, and Reconciliation). This describes the process of a woman's journey from compliance with FGM and community norms to non-compliance. Our study reveals how the women whose stories were analysed, moved from being full members of their community at the cost of suppressing their emotions and denying their selves, to becoming their whole selves while symbolically remaining members of their communities through the forgiveness of their mothers.

A New Politics of Black Regality: Zora Neale Hurston and Alice Walker’s Monarchical Method

Literary critics conducting a comparative study of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple diligently tend to the relationship between the two women, particularly at an intertextual level. This paper sheds light on an important third member of this relationship: Black women readers. An articulation of Black regality, which involves the incorporation of monarchical symbols and titles in characterizations of Black people, provides these readers with political tools poised to liberate Black women from hegemonic male authority and control. Examining the significance of adornment for the self exclusively to combat invisibility, the power of discursive play as a community forming strategy, and the efficacy of public testimony to provide and preserve mobility, this paper pinpoints the key emergences of Black regality cross textually. Then, this paper illustrates how Hurston and Walker’s implementation of Black regality refigures the imperial framework of monarchy aesthetically to envisions modes of self-expression and escape for Black women tethered to domineering men.