Social Anchorage Research Articles

Involution and symbiosis: the self-perpetuating conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract Literature on conflict duration emphasizes the importance of material factors, commitment problems and information asymmetries. Using the case study of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and drawing on interviews with 138 sources involved in the conflict, this article advances a theory of conflict duration that highlights the role that interests, identities and the social anchorage of belligerents play. Together, they explain how the conflict in the Congo has become an end in itself for belligerents, carried forward by its own momentum. This article describes the key factors: a proliferation of actors, the rise of a military bourgeoisie, the involution of interests, and the symbiosis of belligerents. A similar argument can be applied to other protracted conflicts in large and weak states. This understanding of conflict has repercussions for policy, as it suggests that there is no inherent link between elite political settlements and stability. It pushes away from the technocratic approach to institution-building to centre the role of the state and political culture in debates over peacebuilding.

The influence of peer relationships on young people's sexual health in Sub-Saharan African street contexts

This paper explores the interaction between peer relationships and sexual health among street youth in three Sub-Saharan African cities: Accra (Ghana), Bukavu (Democratic Republic of Congo), and Harare (Zimbabwe). It begins by conceptualising peer relationships for youth globally and considers why these are pivotal for young people living in street settings. The paper reconceptualizes street peer relationships not as replacement families, but as sharing ‘social anchorage’ in the street space. It draws on qualitative ethnographic data from Growing up on the Streets, a longitudinal research project with a participatory methodology undertaken between 2012 and 2016 and engaging street youth (aged 14–20 at project outset) trained in ethnographic observations as research assistants (n = 18), following a network of ten peers (n = 229 by 2016), reporting their experiences in weekly interviews with facilitators. A wider network attended focus groups (n = 399). The project engaged a ‘capability’ approach, with ten capabilities defined by street youth as key to their daily lives. Empirical evidence is from a subset of data qualitatively coded (using NVivo) against capabilities ‘Health and Wellbeing’ and ‘Friendship’, across all interviews, focus groups and cities (n = 212 sources). In exploring this intersection, the paper demonstrates beneficial and adverse impacts of peer influence on sexual health, including misinformation about contraceptives and death from an informal sector abortion; highlighting findings from across the three cities around primacy of same-sex peer relations, mistrust between genders and in healthcare providers. The paper finds that while street youth remain subject to cultural norms around gender identities, street peer relationships hold a persuasive power; contributing to both everyday survival and moments of acute need. It concludes that recognising the right of young people to live and seek livelihoods in urban settings, and adopting the social networks they create to advance street youth's sexual health has become even more relevant in a (post)pandemic world.

The shift

Whereas religious practice has conventionally been associated with the stabilization of urban processes through social anchorage and the mobilization of common identity, it does also entail a sense of continuously shifting perspectives. Urbanity is seen and experienced through multiple prisms and possibilities, something that Islamic concepts related to circulation, displacement and intersection have long emphasized. Currently a politics of mobilizing religious practices is key to understanding how the social fabric of cities is remade, and this essay discusses its limits and possibilities.

A mixed-methods approach for analysing social support and social anchorage of single mothers’ personal networks

The present paper analyses the relationship among social support and personal networks by focusing on social anchorage, which is a specific dimension of social support conveying to what extent people feel integrated into their personal networks. Specifying when, why, and how personal relationships play a significant role in individual lives is a common concern at the core of studies on social support. For this reason, the study adopts a strategy of analysis for ego-centred social support networks based on a mixed-methods approach. Hence, the strength of social networks analytical tools and multilevel logistic regression models is combined with the opportunities stemming from qualitative data provided by in-depth interviews. Firstly, statistical tools are used to describe the patterns of social support relationships in ego networks and to estimate the main determinants of social anchorage; secondly narratives are considered to understand the content, the meaning, and the significance that social relationships have for egos. The case of single mothers, which represent a clear instance of the relevance of social support derived from personal networks, is investigated.

Long-Term Predictors of Social and Leisure Activity 10 Years after Stroke.

BackgroundRestrictions in social and leisure activity can have negative consequences for the health and well-being of stroke survivors. To support the growing number of people who are ageing with stroke, knowledge is needed about factors that influence such activity in a long-term perspective.AimTo identify long-term predictors of the frequency of social and leisure activities 10 years after stroke.Method145 stroke survivors in Sweden were followed-up at16 months and 10 years after a first-ever stroke. Data representing body functions, activities & participation, environmental factors and personal factors at 16 months after stroke, were used in multiple linear regression analyses to identify predictors of the activity frequency after 10 years, as assessed by the ‘Community, social and civic life’ sub-domain of the Frenchay Activities Index (FAI-CSC).ResultsAt the 10-year follow-up the frequency of social and leisure activities varied considerably among the participants, with FAI-CSC scores spanning the entire score range 0–9 (mean/median 4.9/5.0). Several factors at 16 months post stroke were independently related to the long-term activity frequency. The final regression model included four significant explanatory variables. Driving a car (B = 0.999), ability to walk a few hundred meters (B = 1.698) and extent of social network (B = 1.235) had a positive effect on activity frequency, whereas an age ≥ 75 years had a negative effect (B = -1.657). This model explained 36.9% of the variance in the FAI-CSC (p<0.001).ConclusionStroke survivors who drive a car, have the ability to walk a few hundred meters and have a wide social network at 16 months after a first-ever stroke are more likely to have a high frequency of social and leisure activities after 10 years, indicating that supporting outdoor mobility and social anchorage of stroke survivors during rehabilitation is important to counteract long-term inactivity.

“Stachtopouta” and “Nifitsa”: spinning tales in relation with feminine productivity and dowry practices of modern Greece

Stachtopouta (ATU 510A), una de les rondalles més populars de la tradició folklòrica grega, ha rebut recentment molta atenció des dels enfocaments pioners i innovadors d’estudiosos grecs i estrangers com ara D. Loukatos, Photeini P. Bourboulis, Nicole Belmont, Anna Angelopoulos, Margarita Xanthakou i Aigli Brouskou. Emmanouela Katrinaki, en el seu propi anàlisi de la versió grega de la Ventafocs, no només resumeix els enfocaments psicoanalítics existents basats en el rar element del matricidi de la rondalla grega sinó que també la col·loca en el marc d’altres rondalles en què apareix el tema del canibalisme imaginari. Un altre marc teòric sòlid ha estat proporcionat per Francisco Vaz da Silva en una sèrie d’articles sobre les versions europees (inclosa la grega) basat en el concepte dels allomotifs, les seves equivalències simbòliques i la seva comparació amb els costums populars correlacionats. Nifitsa, d’altra banda, un dels animals més comuns de la fauna grega, és l’heroïna d’una història de creences igualment ben coneguda, però menys estudiada. Encara que pertanyen a gèneres narratius diferents, la rondalla i la llegenda, respectivament, aquestes dues històries s’articulen entorn d’un mateix tema, l’activitat de filar. A través de l’estudi de l’apropiació narrativa d’aquest tema, aquest treball intenta establir les afinitats i les diferències entre les variants d’aquestes històries, tenint en compte la importància del seu ancoratge geogràfic i social. En aquest marc, les qüestions relatives a la productivitat femenina i les pràctiques d’acumulació de dots en les comunitats gregues modernes semblen tenir un paper important en la variació folklòrica.

Framing Societal Cosmopolitanism in Europe. A Theoretical-Empirical Research Study

Inspired by the notion of 'societal cosmopolitanism' (Pendenza 2015a) - that combines at-tachment to local territory and openness towards others - social relations on the part of Europeans are tested empirically. The article posits that this type of cosmopolitanism can exist in concomitance with oth-er relational forms towards Otherness. Its main characteristic lies in the idea that it is not nourished by the abstract principle according to which such status can be attributed only if one feels a 'citizen of the world'. On the contrary, without totally rejecting the idea, societal cosmopolitan mantains that if cosmopolitanism is to shrug off its abstraction, it requires a social anchorage to root it more firmly to real life. From a meth-odological perspective, a contrastive analysis is putting in place relative to research carried out on Europe-an cosmopolitanism and subsequently tested empirically using data from EB71.3. Findings showed that almost 25.0% (30-40% in specific countries) of the European citizens fit the description 'societal cosmopoli-tans'.

Social media as a marketing tool: a study with reference to first time voters in the university of Colombo

Today’s political marketers are successfully driving target voters towards favourable attitude change (Henneberg, 2002). The first time voter group is an important target market in political marketing, and as identified in literature, social media and peer groups play a major role in influencing political attitudes of first time voters.This study aims to explore how first time voters form their political attitudes, from exposure to social media political campaigns and from online peer interactions. The Processes of Compliance, Identification and Internalization in the Social Influence theory was used as a theoretical lens; data was gathered through 21 semi-structured in-depth interviews, and thematic Analysis was used to analyze data, under an exhaustive coding process.Research findings indicate that first time voters’ political attitudes were mostly formed and driven on achieving personal goals; that is, individuals were more concerned with the long lasting effects of value congruence (Internalization), rather than the social effect (Compliance) or social anchorage (Identification) of behaviour. Further, online peer interactions on social media was a strong source of influence (for political attitude formation), than mere passive exposure to political campaigns on social media. The most influential peers were ‘high status peers’ with direct political connections, acting as strong opinion leaders. Furthermore, first time voters are influenced due to the perceived credibility of peers (through Internalization), as opposed to their controlling power (Compliance) or attractiveness (Identification).The Kelaniya Journal of Management, Vol. 3(1); 2014: 42-62

The decline of membership-based politics

In one of his last publications, Peter Mair documented how party membership had declined substantially in virtually all European democracies. As his collaborators on this piece, it seems pertinent that we take these findings as a point of departure and discuss what they mean for our understanding of party democracy. After all, the collapse of membership figures calls into question one of the central elements of our conceptualization of representative democracy, namely that it is based on voluntary political participation within political parties. All authoritative typologies of political parties consider the role of members to be one of their defining elements, although the cartel party most clearly envisages the marginalization of party members by professional party politicians. The traditional organizational allies of political parties (e.g. trade unions, organized religion) are subject to similar processes of erosion. In this article, we review the evidence of the social anchorage of political parties and discuss how political parties and party democracy can survive in an age where amateur politicians are becoming an increasingly rare species and parties are being transformed into organizational vehicles for those to whom politics is a profession rather than a vocation.

Railway Villages in South East Monmouthshire 1850-1965: a Community Perspective

This study blends evidence from historical archives with findings from a household survey to explore differences in the impact of developments in the railway industry on the physical growth and changing social profiles of three neighbouring villages in south east Monmouthshire during the period 1850–1965. Within the framework of the community studies tradition, and conceptualisation of the railway village, this article differentiates local outcomes in employment and social profile generated by the construction of the Severn Tunnel and placement of associated infrastructure. The scene is set by examining phases in the local development of the railway industry, housing provision and related population trends. A critical overview of the principal data sources follows. This leads to an evaluation of the concept of 'community', aspects of which are illustrated from village case histories predicated on the selected themes of social segregation, assimilation, community anchorage and household persistence.

Siguiendo el rastro de la alienación en la teoría sociológica contemporánea. Una lectura de los diagnósticos de la modernidad tardía de A. Giddens, J. Habermas y N. Luhmann

This paper intends to review the concept of alienation in the "mature" works of A. Giddens, J. Habermas and N. Luhmann. In the context of recent contributions to the mentioned concept, it becomes necessary to rethink its place in these theorizations. In order to do so, we will first examine the different perspectives and background of the current blooming of alienation, to arrive at a global definition of it that will avoid its "essencialist" character. This outline will connect us to various fundamental dimensions of its analysis: the study of social totality, torn and alienated because of a "lack of relation"; the question of community confronted to this notion of alienation; and the link between this process of alienation and the individual, specially in its experience assumed as “authentic” of the self and of the social membership. In second place, we will make a reading of these dimensions in the theories of A. Giddens's, J. Habermas's and N. Luhmann's diagnoses of late modernity. This will allow a reinterpretation of their critiques towards the concept of alienation. This is how we will conduct an unexplored analysis of their works, pointing out decisive tensions in their theories, sometimes unresolved. In this way, we will study alienation specially in connection to: the problem of social order and anchorage of time and space in "reflexive communities" and "pure relationships" (A. Giddens); modernity's pathologies in communicative action and the possibility of a "community of communication" (J. Habermas); and religious communication, the exclusion of functional differentiation, and the modern codification of intimacy in love (N. Luhmann).

The Influence of Social Anchorage on the Gender Difference in the Use of Mental Health Services

Overall, women are more likely than men to seek professional care when they face light or moderate mental health problems. This difference is usually attributed to culture-related factors, but neither women nor men form a homogeneous cultural group. The help-seeking behavior may reflect not only the cultural values and expectations associated with a specific gender but also those associated with specific social roles endorsed by women and men. In addition, the influence of these culture-related factors on the help-seeking behavior is constrained by barriers to care, which apply similarly to women and men. In consequence, the gender difference in the use of mental health services should vary across social roles and types of service. This hypothesis was tested on data from the cycle 1.2 of the Canadian Community Health Survey. Logistic regression analyses show that, although women are more likely than men to use mental health services, this gender difference is larger for general services than for psychiatric and psychological services whose access in Canada is constrained, respectively, by systemic and financial barriers to care. They also suggest that holding the role of worker tends to foster the use of psychological services in women, especially in married women, and to a lesser degree in men, whereas it tends to hinder the use of general and psychiatric services in men but to exert no or less influence in women. Thus, professional anchorage seems to be an important source of the societal norms that influence the decision of women and men to seek or not to seek medical care for mental health problems.

Factors related to frequent usage of the primary healthcare services in old age: findings from The Swedish National Study on Aging and Care

People aged 60 or more are the most frequent users of healthcare services. In this age range, however, both frequent and infrequent users can be found. Frequent users have high rates of illnesses. Previous research has found that the frequency may be influenced also by psychological and social factors. The aim of this study was to investigate to what degree such factors add to the explanation of differences in number of visits to a physician. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a random sample consisting of 1017 individuals, aged 60 to 78 years, from the Blekinge part of the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care database. The data were collected during 2001 to 2003. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were used with frequent (three visits or more during a year) and infrequent use as a dichotomous dependent variable. The final statistical analyses included 643 individuals (63% of the sample). Independent variables were sense of coherence (SOC), internal locus of control, education level and social anchorage. Control variables were age, gender, functional ability and comorbidity. The results showed that comorbidity was most strongly related to frequent use [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 8.17, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.54–12.04]. In addition, SOC and internal locus of control had small, but significant effects on the odds of being a frequent user (adjusted OR = 1.03, 95% CI 1.00–1.06 and adjusted OR = 1.14, 95% CI 1.02–1.27, respectively). The lower the SOC and the internal locus of control were, the higher were the odds of frequent use. Education level and social anchorage were unrelated to frequency of use. The results indicate that frequent healthcare services users are more ill than infrequent users. Psychological factors influence the use only marginally, and social factors as well as age and gender are not by themselves reason for frequent healthcare services use.

Relationships between physical activity and perceived qualities of life in old age. Results of the SNAC study

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationships of different types of quality of life to strenuous and light physical activity in old age. Methods: The Swedish SNAC-Blekinge baseline database, consisting of data on 585 men and 817 women 60–96 years of age, was utilized. The independent variables were light and strenuous physical activity. Four dependent variables concerned with various quality of life components were employed (well-being, engagement, emotional support and social anchorage). Age, gender, functional ability and co-morbidity were included as possible confounders. Non-parametric bivariate and multivariate statistical tests were performed. Results: Correlations suggested there to generally be a positive relationship between physical activity and quality of life. Multivariate logistic regression analyses controlling for possible confounders showed light physical activity to increase the odds of experiencing well-being, engagement and social anchorage, whereas strenuous physical activity increased the odds of experiencing engagement and emotional support. Thus, light physical activity and strenuous physical activity differed in their relation to quality of life generally. Conclusions: The results indicate that physical activity has a salutogenic effect by enhancing the quality of life, and it can be assumed to be connected to quality of life by generating pleasure and relaxation.

Is the Statistical Association between Sex and the Use of Services for Mental Health Reasons Confounded or Modified by Social Anchorage?

Confounding and interaction have differing implications for the interpretation of findings and the design of research, mental health services, and policy. This study aimed to verify whether the association between sex and the use of services for mental health reasons is confounded or modified by social anchorage. We undertook a case-control study nested in Cycle 1.2 of the Canadian Community Health Survey. Cases were defined as users of general medical services for mental health reasons in the previous 12 months, and control subjects were defined as never-users of any services for mental health reasons. The pattern of social anchorage was described by the roles of parent, spouse, worker, and their combination. Overall, women are 2.9 times more likely than men to use general services for mental health reasons. However, this inequality between women and men decreases substantially or subsides in individuals who are less anchored to Canadian society. For instance, in single parents and in unemployed parents, the odds of using general services for mental health reasons are similar in women and in men. The pattern of social anchorage tends to modify, but not to confound, the association between sex and the use of services. Ignoring the interaction between sex and the pattern of social anchorage distorts the interpretation of the inequality between women and men in the use of general medical services for mental health reasons and may affect the design of comprehensive mental health services and policy.

238: Interaction of Social Anchorage and Gender in the use of Mental Health Services

238: Interaction of Social Anchorage and Gender in the use of Mental Health Services

The institutional origins of American literary history

This article deals with the importance of institutions in the construction of literary classifications. Following Mary Douglas, the article offers a double-stranded perspective on institutions that stresses both their social and cognitive anchorage. This is applied to one particular case, namely the genealogy connecting Emerson (and the Transcendentalists) to Jonathan Edwards. The article shows how Perry Miller's 'discovery' of that lineage in 1940 has an institutional history that goes as far back as the early beginnings of American literature as an academic discipline. Part of the function of the discipline, the article argues, is to hide this history in order to bring out the continuing relevance of such taxonomies. The concluding paragraph identifies some implications of this view on institutionalization for current discussions about the (post-) nationality of American literature.

Country of origin, social support and the risk of small for gestational age birth

This study investigates the risk of small for gestational age (SGA) in relation to country of origin of the mother. The role of psychosocial resources, socioeconomic and lifestyle factors was examined in different causal models. Among all pregnant nulliparous women in the city of Malmö, Sweden, who gave birth in 1991--92, 872 (87.7%) women completed a questionnaire during their first antenatal visit. The study was carried out among women whose pregnancies resulted in a singleton live birth (n = 826); 22% (n = 182) of these women were foreign-born. Fifty-five (6.7%) of the infants were classified as SGA, 37 (5.7%) of mothers of Swedish origin and 18 (9.7%) of foreign origin. SGA deliveries were much more prevalent among Middle East- and North Africa-born women (22%) and sub-Saharan-born women (15%). In all, women of foreign origin had increased odds for delivering SGA babies (OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.0,3.2). In a multivariate analysis psychosocial and socioeconomic factors explained 30% and 40%, respectively, of the increased SGA risk. Psychosocial factors seemed to be more prominent risk factors for SGA among mothers of foreign origin. A possible synergistic relation was demonstrated between foreign origin of the mother and low social anchorage. This study showed that psychosocial factors, most probably linked to a disadvantaged social situation, could be the theoretically most important focus for preventing SGA in immigrant women. This could also further support a hypothesis of a link between psychosocial stress and SGA in general. However, this should not exclude the need for intervention in the antenatal care system in terms of specially tailored support and education.

Envolvimento nos direitos humanos e sistemas de valores

Com base no modelo da análise quantitativa das representações sociais, o estudo (N = 300) tratou do posicionamento de estudantes universitários em relação aos Direitos Humanos (DHs) e à ancoragem social desse posicionamento nos sistemas de valores dos estudantes. Os resultados mostram que as representações dos estudantes sobre o envolvimento nos DHs envolvem quatro princípios organizadores: pessoal-abstrato; pessoal-concreto; governamental-abstrato; governamental-concreto. Em relação à ancoragem social dos princípios organizadores do envolvimento nos DHs, observou-se que os valores pós-materialistas se relacionaram positivamente com o envolvimento pessoal-abstrato, enquanto a adesão aos valores religiosos implicou maior envolvimento no princípio pessoal-concreto. Além disso, a adesão aos valores materialistas levou a uma avaliação mais positiva do envolvimento do Governo Brasileiro nos DHs, ao passo que os valores pós-materialistas contribuíram com uma avaliação mais crítica desse governo. As discussões abordam a centralidade dos valores na formação das representações sociais dos DHs.

Does it make sense in a coherent way? Determinants of sense of coherence in Swedish women 40 to 50 years of age.

The aim of this study was to explore how socioeconomic and psychosocial life experiences in childhood and at adult age influence the level of sense of coherence (SOC) in women. The idea was to seek empirical support for establishing whether SOC is an individual construct being developed in early life and basically resistant toward adverse environmental factors or rather an entity influenced by adult psychosocial factors and as such, sensitive to health promotion activities; that is, if evidence could be found for a causal direction from classic factors involved in health promotion, such as social network and support, to SOC. A questionnaire (Krantz & Ostergren, 1999) was mailed to a random sample of 486 women, equivalent to 50% of the women between the ages of 40 and 50 in a medium-sized municipality (population 13,200) in Sweden. The response rate was 81.7% (397 women). Odds ratios (OR) were used to estimate bivariate associations between socioeconomic and psychosocial variables and low SOC. Logistic regression analysis was used to test for confounding and as a method of analyzing the structure of tentative causal chains. It was found that adult factors such as job strain (OR = 3.42, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.11-5.54), low social support (OR = 4.00, CI = 2.48-6.46), and low social anchorage (OR = 4.14, CI = 2.57-6.67) were independent predictors for low SOC in adult women. Childhood conditions such as family disruption and child abuse proved not to influence SOC to a statistically significant degree. Our study suggests that SOC is an entity partly associated with an individual's position in the social structure and partly by work conditions and social network and support rather than by childhood conditions. We could not claim this study to be a critical test of Antonovsky's (1979) theories in the full refutationistic sense. To approach this goal, it would take a carefully designed prospective study assessing the effect of different factors on SOC in a true life course perspective.