Social Acknowledgement Research Articles

'We Walk Among You': Trans Identity Politics Goes to the Movies

Recent legal and social acknowledgement of (some) trans citizenship claims demonstrates the continuing evolution of trans politics and identity, and the relationship between socio-political identities and popular culture. This article examines current debates over trans citizenship and identity, and argues that certain kinds of identity and citizenship claims have cultural currency in contemporary representations of sex/gender. In order to address these issues, this article highlights key disputes and tensions in contemporary debates about transgender identity, citizenship and claims to legal rights, by examining the ways in which sex/gender identity is portrayed in three films -- Cabaret, Transamerica and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Each film demonstrates various ways of interpreting and reworking the constraints of heteronormative binary notions of sex/gender, and these struggles over meaning are also reflected in the ways in which different articulations of trans identity and citizenship claims have been legally and culturally recognized. The article explores the ways in which particular accounts of trans identity are given primacy within law, and how film can help us to reflect upon questions about which sexed/gendered people get to count as legal citizens. The paper concludes by reminding us that despite discourses of recognition, it is important to remember the exclusionary as well as inclusionary tendencies of law.

Posttraumatic Growth, Social Acknowledgment as Survivors, and Sense of Coherence in Former German Child Soldiers of World War II

To examine posttraumatic growth (PTG) and its predictors social acknowledgment as survivors, sense of coherence (SOC), trauma severity, and further factors in former child soldiers more than 60 years after deployment. Cross-sectional. University-based geropsychiatric center in Germany. One hundred three former German child soldiers of World War II, mean age 78 years in which 96% experienced at least one war trauma. Subjects completed the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, Social Acknowledgment Questionnaire (SAQ), and SOC Scale. Trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were assessed by the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale. Depression, anxiety, and somatization were assessed using the Brief Symptom Inventory. Number of traumas, recognition by significant others, and general disapproval as facets of social acknowledgment as a survivor, and meaningfulness as a dimension of SOC correlated significantly with PTG. In a multiple hierarchical regression analysis, recognition as a survivor by significant others (SAQ) and meaningfulness (SOC) remained the only significant predictors of PTG. Social acknowledgment as a survivor by significant others and the belief that the world is meaningful are among the most important factors contributing to PTG. Further research should investigate whether treatments of PTSD in people who experienced war traumas recently or many years ago might benefit from a focus on the belief system and the role of family and social support.

An Evaluation of Nonassaultive, Assaultive, and Sexually Assaultive Adolescents at Pretrial Sentencing: A Comparison on Cognition, Personality, Aggression, and Criminal Sentiments

This study evaluated male adolescents who were convicted of offenses. Test scores of 12 nonassaultive, 14 assaultive, and 13 sexual offenders were compared prior to sentencing. A battery of psychometric tests evaluating cognition, scholastic ability, personality, aggression, and criminal sentiments were administered. Significant differences were noted for the subtest Block Design of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Significant personality measures were also noted for Social Introversion and Addiction Acknowledgement of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent Form, and the Inhibited, Sexual Discomfort, Peer Insecurity, Substance Abuse Proneness, and Anxious Feelings of the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory. There were significant differences noted for the State Anger, Feel Like Expressing Anger Verbally, Feel Like Expressing Anger Physically, Trait Anger, Angry Temperament, Angry Reaction, Anger Expression-Out, and Anger Expression Index of the Spielberger State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. Discriminant analyses showed the three groups could be separated by stepwise procedure.

Disclosure Attitudes and Social Acknowledgement as Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Severity in Chinese and German Crime Victims

Only rare data exist comparing cross-cultural aspects of civilian traumatization. We compared prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in German and Chinese crime victims, and investigated the cross-cultural effect of 2 interpersonal predictors. German (n = 151) and Chinese (n = 144) adult crime victims were assessed several months postcrime. The parallel questionnaire set assessed PTSD symptom severity, disclosure attitudes, social acknowledgement, and demographic and crime characteristics. German and Chinese participants differed significantly in their PTSD symptom severity. However, in both samples, disclosure attitudes and social acknowledgement predicted PTSD symptom severity with a similar strength, in addition to the effects of other PTSD predictors. The results suggest that interpersonal variables are predictors of PTSD symptom severity in both cultures and should be included in etiologic models of PTSD.

Psychopolitical Validation of Health Promotion Research for Migrant Populations: Conceptualising Well‐being among Andalusian Moroccan Immigrants

This study will show how social investigation requires psychopolitical validity in order to guarantee the efficiency of scientific practices, achieving symmetrical relationships between populations and researchers. We describe a guideline to develop a range of concepts ready to be used in health practices with minorities, according to their culture and needs. We illustrate this framework through a conceptualisation of well‐being for Andalusian Moroccans. Moroccan well‐being is a function of positive valuation of their migratory transition and a pool of positive emotions. The achievement of expectations is related to building up networks, progress in the quality of life and social acknowledgement, and fulfilled efforts are related to the acquisition of competences, progress and the investment required. The main indicators of positive emotion are happiness, consistency and social contribution.

Traditional versus modern values, self‐perceived interpersonal factors, and posttraumatic stress in Chinese and German crime victims

The influence of cultural factors on mental health is not disputed in general - but elaborated research approaches are still lacking. We investigate cultural influences not only by nationality but also by value orientation (modern vs. traditional). A cross-cultural comparison with Chinese and German crime victims included an assessment of value orientation according to Schwartz's theory (Schwartz, 1994) of personal values. Chinese and German adult crime victims were assessed. By means of structural equation multi-sample analysis, data of the two groups were compared. Traditional (conformity, benevolence, customs orientation) and modern values (achievement, hedonism, stimulation), traumatic exposure, posttraumatic stress (PTS), and two self-perceived interpersonal mediator processes (disclosure intentions, social acknowledgement as a victim) were assessed by self-report measures in 130 Chinese and 151 German crime victims. The two patterns of prediction for PTS differed between the countries: In the German sample both value types but in the Chinese sample only traditional values were directly or indirectly predictive of PTS. Traditional values inhibited social acknowledgement as a victim in China and Germany. In Germany, traditional values were related to increased PTS severity. Modern values predicted social acknowledgement as well as lower symptoms in Germany, but not in China. The study shows cultural and interpersonal factors that may contribute to the development of PTSD that are under-researched in contemporary psychology and psychotherapy.

Social Cognition and Interpersonal Impairments in Trauma Survivors with PTSD

Trauma survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often experience psychosocial problems. This article reviews interpersonal factors such as social support, social acknowledgment, and interpersonal impairment that are relevant to the development and maintenance of PTSD. Furthermore, it considers the possible impact of social cognition on PTSD. The capacity to empathize (empathy) and the existence of an individual “theory of mind” are fundamental to human social interaction. We raise the question of whether traumatic experiences may lead to changes in the social cognition of traumatized individuals. The possible effects of perceived social exclusion as a maintenance factor for PTSD are also discussed.

Getting Even or Getting Equal? Retributive Desires and Transitional Justice

This article examines the effect that different policy interventions of transitional justice have on the desires of the victims of human rights violations for retribution. The retributive desires assessed in this article are conceptualized as individual, collective, and abstract demands for the imposition of a commensurate degree of suffering upon the offender. We suggest a plausible way of reducing victims’ retributive desires. Instead of “getting even” in relation to the suffering, victims and perpetrators may “get equal” in relation to their respective statuses, which were affected by political crimes. The article hypothesizes that the three classes of transitional justice: (1) reparation that empowers victims by financial compensation, truth telling, and social acknowledgment; (2) retribution that inflicts punishment upon perpetrators; and (3) reconciliation that renews civic relationship between victims and perpetrators through personal contact, apology, and forgiveness; each contributes to restoring equality between victims and perpetrators, and in so doing decreases the desires that victims have for retribution. In order to test our hypotheses, we conducted a survey of former political prisoners in the Czech Republic. Results from the regression analysis reveal that financial compensation, social acknowledgement, punishment, and forgiveness are likely to reduce victims’ retributive desires.

Is Acknowledgment of Trauma a Protective Factor?

We assessed victims’ status and its relation to self-perceived “social acknowledgment as a victim or survivor” ( Maercker & Müller, 2004 ) in a sample of Chechen refugees living in camps in Ingushetia. A total of 61 Chechen refugees were surveyed using a war-related trauma checklist, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, and the Disclosure of Trauma Questionnaire. Rates of potentially traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appeared to be very high in this sample: 100% reported one or more potentially traumatic events and over 75% were estimated to have PTSD. As expected, social acknowledgment as a victim or survivor was negatively related to PTSD symptoms. We discuss the possible causal direction of this finding. Our cross-sectional study provides further evidence that social acknowledgment should be regarded as a protective or resource factor in the aftermath of trauma.

Haiti's Failed Truth Commission: Lessons in Transitional Justice

In the period after civil war or mass atrocity, trials and truth commissions have been used in a growing number of societies to try to bring about social repair and acknowledgement. Unfortunately, they often fail. The Haitian commission nationale de vérité et de justice sought to identify instigators, criminals, and accessories to the serious human rights violations and the crimes against humanity that had been carried out during the coup d'état, from September 29, 1991 to October 15, 1994, both inside and outside of the country. However, the Commission was beset by a number of problems that resulted in its ultimate failure to achieve goals including acknowledgement and reconciliation. This article considers those failures, and the lessons that can be learned from its experiences.

“We Walk Among You”: Trans Identity Politics Goes to the Movies

Recent legal and social acknowledgement of (some) trans citizenship claims demonstrates the continuing evolution of trans politics and identity and the relationship between socio-political identities and popular culture. This article examines current debates over trans citizenship and identity and argues that certain kinds of identity and citizenship claims have cultural currency in contemporary representations of sex/gender. In order to address these issues, this article highlights key disputes and tensions in contemporary debates about transgender identity, citizenship, and claims to legal rights by examining the ways in which sex/gender identity is portrayed in three films—Cabaret, Transamerica, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Each film demonstrates various ways of interpreting and reworking the constraints of heteronormative binary notions of sex/gender, and these struggles over meaning are also reflected in the ways in which different articulations of trans identity and citizenship claims have been legally and culturally recognized. The article explores the ways in which particular accounts of trans identity are given primacy within law and how film can help us to reflect upon questions about which sexed/gendered people get to count as legal citizens. The article concludes by reminding us that despite discourses of recognition, it is important to remember the exclusionary, as well as the inclusionary, tendencies of law.

Personal growth and cognitive complexity in caregivers of patients with dementia.

According to several theoretical models, crises or demands can result in enhanced cognitive maturity. Two studies examined whether demands on caregivers provide an opportunity to experience increased cognitive maturity (e.g., cognitive complexity, personal growth through caregiving). In Study 1 (126 relatives of dementia patients; cross-sectional design), personal growth through caregiving was associated with two specific caregiving demands: duration of caregiving and lack of social acknowledgment. Cognitive complexity correlated with duration of caregiving and crystallized intelligence. The caregivers in the second study (N=321) were participants in LEANDER, The Longitudinal Dementia Caregiver Stress Study. Caregivers were examined in four waves over 27months. The results indicated an increase in personal growth over time. Using latent growth models, we found that increases in personal growth through caregiving were predicted by increases in the objective caregiving tasks. Cognitive processes (e.g., ruminative thoughts, life reflection) provide a possible explanation for an increase in cognitive maturity.

Disclosure and Social Acknowledgement as Predictors of Recovery from Posttraumatic Stress: A Longitudinal Study in Crime Victims

To address posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) predictors with research focused on the coping styles of traumatized individuals. A total of 86 crime victims (mean age 46.1, standard deviation 17.6) were assessed at 5 and 11 months post-crime. Disclosure of trauma, social acknowledgement, dysfunctional posttraumatic cognitions, and PTSD symptom severity were assessed by self-reports. Dysfunctional posttraumatic cognitions, disclosure attitudes, and social disapproval correlated positively with PTSD severity. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed the particular value of disclosure attitudes and perceived social disapproval in predicting PTSD symptom severity at 11 months post-crime. In addition to known predictors of PTSD, disclosure attitudes and social acknowledgement should also be considered. Future research should focus on broader concepts such as the victim's perception of, and interaction with, their social environment, and on the objective factors of social interaction, in addition to intrapersonal processes of posttraumatic recovery.

Refletindo sobre desemprego e agravos à saúde mental

This article aims to contribute to the discussion about the relationship between unemployment and mental health. Thus, it is based on the main theories on the topic, as well as it intends to point out a current view of the relationships between unemployment and mental health damages. Due to the lack of national productions on this issue, it is considered to be a broaden and challenging area to be explored. This way, we can also emphasize the urge that the health professionals interfere in one's mental health, especially if he/she is jobless and lacks social acknowledgment.

Covering the tsunami disaster: subsequent post‐traumatic and depressive symptoms and associated social factors

AbstractJournalists frequently report on disasters. There is a growing evidence that they are subsequently at higher risk of post‐traumatic and depressive symptoms. We conducted an internet‐based study with 61 journalists who had covered the tsunami disaster in December 2004 from the affected region. The extent of trauma exposure, symptoms and social variables were assessed. About 8 months after the event, indications of post‐traumatic stress disorder were found in 6.6 per cent of the sample. Post‐traumatic and depressive symptoms were related to the extent of traumatic exposure and to several social variables, most importantly, a low degree of social acknowledgment by supervisor and colleagues. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Holding Environment as Home

Holding Environment as Home

Atypical Gender Development: Why I Did Not Sign the GIRES-Review

ABSTRACT This article discusses the review on Atypical Gender Development, published by the Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES) in the International Journal of Transgenderism 9(1), 2006, pp. 29–44. Although appreciating the initiative of GIRES, the author, who was invited to join the signatories of the review chose to not do so for five major reasons: (1) The phenomenology of transgenderism displays such a great variety that it can not be explained by any individual factor, be it constitution, morphology, hormones or psychology. (2) The role of the Bed nucleus of the area striata of the hypothalamus is overemphasized in the review. (3) Regrets after SRS challenge biological explanations of transsexualism. (4) Dwelling on biological explanations may, as the history of sexology shows, be used in favor as well as against subject. (5) Striving for legal and social acknowledgement of transgendered persons and improvement of treatment conditions does not need biology as an argument.

Trauma and Posttraumatic Reactions in German Development Aid Workers: Prevalences and Relationship to Social Acknowledgement

While on duty abroad developmental aid workers (DAWs) are at risk of being traumatised. We investigated the prevalence of traumatic events, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and subsyndromal PTSD as well as associations with duty features and the psychological variable of social acknowledgement as victim or survivor. A total of 312 developmental aid workers from the governmental German Development Service (DED) were surveyed by use of a trauma list, demographic questionnaire, the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) and the Social Acknowledgement Questionnaire (SAQ). In addition, participants answered an open question concerning the amelioration of the DED's care provision. Some 47% of the surveyed DAWs had experienced and 7% of them had witnessed traumatic events while on duty abroad. A total of 16% developed either full or partial PTSD with the highest conditional PTSD probability after rape (33%) and life-threats (23%). Experience of traumatic events was correlated to duration of duties and number of duties, while PTSD symptomatology was associated with self-perceived general disapproval as a trauma victim. DAWs on duty in foreign countries experience more traumatic events compared with other German representative population samples. PTSD prevalences are also higher than those of German population samples. The association between rejection as a victim of trauma and PTSD severity indicates a possible starting-point for the development of PTSD prevention specific to this profession. Implications of the study are discussed with regard to participants' suggestions on how to handle traumatic experiences while on duty abroad.

Prejubilación activa: demandas, necesidades e intereses de las personas prejubiladas de la minería asturiana

Objectives to detect and analyse the demands, needs and interests of persons taking early retirement from the mining industry in Asturias. Material and methods three lines of investigation were developed: a) qualitative research to analyse early retirement in Asturias, which employed the techniques of in-depth interview and group discussion, b) group workshops for individuals taking early retirement from the mining industry, and c) a register of a questionnaire about interests. Results there are certain aspects to early retirement from mining that were viewed as highly positive, for example, better health and safety. However, demands also arise caused by a lack of personal skills to enable reorganisation of a new rhythm of daily life, as well as the absence of a social role. Some of the needs identified were related to the individual (preparation for coping with a new situation, training to acquire skills leading to healthy, meaningful occupation). Others were more at the group level, such as the need for collective meetings and for roles that involve social acknowledgement. The interests detected (training, leisure time and voluntary work) were grouped as follows: new technologies, social communication, social support, handicrafts, health, environment and tradition. Conclusions early retirement processes should be linked to psychological and social preventive action dealing with issues such as preparation for a new situation, training in skills to enable meaningful occupation and healthy habits, and channelling of this collective towards social activities of significance to the community.

Le personnage de l'enfant dans la narrative Hispano-américaine

In order to study children as literary characters in Latin American narrative it is necessary to contextualize the situation of children in that continent. In fact, if childhood is to be considered by authors a true source for their creation, there should exist first a social acknowledgement of a stage in life that had been ignored for a long time. Childhood, which may be considered a discovery of the 20 century, will enter - step by step - the literary universe in a peculiar way. We will try to understand then the reasons that justify the fact that authors choose children as literary characters, as well as their purpose when doing so.
 Received: 20-05-05/ Accepted: 23-06-05
 How to reference this article:
 Bouchard. O. (2005). Le personnage de l’enfant dans la narrative hispano-américaine. Íkala. 10 (1), pp. 197 – 221