Social Crisis Research Articles

Comparing the Impact of COVID-19 on Depression and Social Anxiety Disorder of Male and Female

This in-depth assessment of the literature aims to assess and compare how the COVID-19 pandemic has specifically impacted depression and social anxiety disorder in both males and females. By focusing on these two well-known mental health conditions, this essay seeks to lucubrate the complex interplay between gender dynamics and the pandemic's psychological effects. The study will carefully consider whether the various pandemic-related disruptions, such as extended social isolation, economic crises, and upheaval of daily routines, have had different effects on men and women in terms of the prevalence and severity of depression and social anxiety disorder. The study aims to highlight potential distinctions in the experience and expression of these mental health issues by examining the data via a gender-specific perspective. It will look into age-related variations, the impact of various social support networks, and the interaction within various societies in addition to gender disparities. The research intends to provide a thorough understanding of how people from varied gender origins manage their mental well-being in the face of the pandemic's difficulties by unraveling this complexity. By highlighting the gender-specific characteristics of depression and social anxiety disorder, the research hopes to advance our understanding of how the pandemic's effects affect all facets of people's lives.

Confronting the United Nations’ Pro-growth Agenda

In this article, we enjoin the United Nations (UN) to forge a path out of our plight of multiple environmental and social crises. With other analysts, we identify ‘overshoot’ – the state in which humanity has substantially outpaced Earth’s capacity to regenerate its natural systems and to absorb our waste output – as the root cause of the existential threats we face. This dangerous condition demands rethinking our relationship with Earth and embarking on scaling down the human enterprise within policy frameworks of equity and rights. We argue that when the UN first articulated its international unity and prosperity mission, it did so within a ‘growth’ paradigm that treats Earth and its nonhuman inhabitants as mere resources at humanity’s disposal. The 1994 Cairo Conference on Population and Development reinforced this agenda, with its sharp turn away from the earlier emphasis on population concerns and their link to environmental protection. Today, it is clear that the UN’s foundational goals of peace, human rights and sustainability flounder within a growth-driven framework of human exceptionalism and nature domination. To correct course and reverse our advanced state of ecological overshoot we urge the UN to lead in contracting the large-scale variables of the human enterprise – population, economy, technosphere – and to resist co-optation by political, ideological and special interest pressures that would derail this mandate.

Prosocial development in early childhood: strategies of teachers and parents during the COVID-19 pandemic in China

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges for people, including young children. This study focuses on how teachers and parents foster children’s prosocial behaviours during online learning amidst the pandemic. Data were sourced from 100 articles on WeChat Official Service/Subscription Accounts (WOSA) – a popular Chinese social media platform – and from semi-structured interviews with three teachers and six parents, analyzed using content and reflexive thematic analysis methods, respectively. The key findings reveal that children demonstrated increased pandemic-related prosocial behaviours, as a result of specific strategies implemented by both parents and teachers within their sociocultural environment. These findings emphasize the importance of digital platforms and the collaborative practices of teachers and parents in supporting children’s social development during a social crisis, offering insights for shaping educational policies and practices. Future research could explore the long-term impact of pandemic-relevant practices by teachers and parents on children’s well-being across diverse cultural contexts.

Navigating Uncharted Territory: A post Covid-19 Exploration of the Resilience of Women Owned Small Businesses in the Wake of the Pandemic

Resilience has long been acknowledged in the literature as a crucial aspect of the entrepreneur's character and personality. Additionally, it is acknowledged as a vital component of the entrepreneurial process that propels businesses to great outcomes. However, to the researchers’ knowledge, there remains limited understanding regarding how women-owned small businesses in South Africa withstand and function during challenging social and economic crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. In the post-modern period we live in today, women will inevitably play an important part in business and economic development, and they are eager to become involved and make a difference in their communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in growing their businesses. This research focuses on investigating how resilient South African women entrepreneurs have been in response to the pandemic. Drawing from resilience theory, the study employed a qualitative approach to gather and analyze data from a group of 15 women entrepreneurs based in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, using thematic analysis. The following four themes emerged from the findings; business agility; optimistic outlook; leveraged digital technology; and business networks. This research enhances existing resilience theory by integrating fresh insights gathered from the resilience strategies employed by female entrepreneurs in times of crisis. Results from the study are also expected to contribute to sustaining South African women owned small businesses and empowering their resilience, despite adversities.

Aesthetics of friendship during the COVID-19 pandemic: An exploratory analytic study

During the covid-19 pandemic, the social and health crisis - which already configured the reality of the Brazilian population - worsened and deepened their precarious life conditions. This study seeks to analyze the conditions of possibility for nurses to establish their care practices in the context of the covid-19 pandemic, articulating with some issues brought up by the ethics of care. To this end, inspired by Michel Foucault's genealogical method, as well as supported by Feminist and Gender Studies, we approach the power relations in their interface with the role of nursing in contemporary society. We then take the reports that 59 Primary Health Care nurses gave to a national survey entitled Nursing Practices in the Context of Primary Health Care: A National Study of Mixed Methods, which investigated the overload and precariousness of the work of nurses in Primary Health Care, during the covid-19 pandemic, to articulate with a brief genealogy of health care. Thus, we reflect about care practices from a perspective situated by gender and race issues, as a way of knowing, creating and recreating care practices ethically oriented by an aesthetic of friendship, as Foucault suggested in his studies on care of the self for practices of freedom.

Addressing the Global Crisis of Social Connection: Singers As Positively Energizing Leaders Who Create Belonging in Our Communities

ABSTRACT Social connection is fundamental to good mental and physical health, yet globally we are experiencing a crisis of connection. Singers exhibit leadership qualities which can be harnessed to rebuild social connections through community group singing activities. Increasingly, music and singing are understood and enacted as a practice of care. Despite this, and partly due to the predominance of performing and teaching within singers’ working lives, community music practices such as group singing for social connection remain on the margins of singers’ career portfolios. This article introduces a range of perspectives not often considered within the singing voice research literature—from leadership theory and social psychology—to position singers as “positively energizing community leaders” who can help address this crisis of connection. Singers’ embodied, aesthetic practice, coupled with their natural desire to connect with others and share human experiences, enables them to build positive, caring relationships and health-enhancing social identities within community singing groups. The article concludes with discussion of the opportunities and challenges for singers in taking up the mantle of positively energizing community leadership, and a call for robust research to establish how singers contribute to addressing the social connection crisis across diverse contexts.

Viral Drugs and Antiviral Politics

Abstract This article focuses on the social biography of the Soviet-made antiviral pharmaceutical “Arbidol” (umifenovir), used in Russia as a popular medication to treat influenza. Despite doubts cast on its efficacy, the drug remained a staple for treating upper respiratory infections in Russia. When H1N1 arrived in Siberia in 2009, a shortage of medicine on pharmacy shelves caused by Arbidol’s rapid bulk purchasing led to a social outcry, as well as to discussions about the political corruption underpinning the drug’s production, promotion, and supply chain. By tracking the ways in which Arbidol endured over time through different epidemic waves, this article explores how both viruses and antiviral medicines weave medical and political efficacies together. By using Arbidol as a productive hinge, I analyze the ways in which conspiracy in times of social and medical crisis demonstrate how pharmaceutical and political efficacies are mutually co-constituted.

A pilot study in narrative approach of an adolescent parenting program for enhancing parenting competency during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT Since 2019, Hong Kong has been experiencing a social and mental health crisis caused by social unrest and the COVID-19 Pandemic. As a result, there have been reports of increasing family conflicts among secondary students. With the understanding that family support and positive relationships are crucial for maintaining the mental well-being of young people, narrative therapy is a practical approach for helping families shift from problem-focused perspectives to empowering strategies for rebuilding positive relationships. The study aims to report on the effectiveness of a pilot group parent narrative therapy workshop for family relationship harmonisation and enhancing parenting competency using quantitative and qualitative methods. The study participants included 34 parents from five local schools. The results indicated a significantly increased sense of parental competency, general self-efficacy, adult hope, and decreased parental stress. Qualitative reports and participants’ narratives also demonstrated the positive effect of the narrative therapy workshop on their parent–adolescent relationships.

Social Responsibility and Sustainability: The Changing Mission of Higher Education

The article examines the basic principles of higher education and the involvement of universities in achieving sustainable development goals on a global scale. A complete overview is given of the fundamental principles of higher education - academic freedom and academic responsibility, which form the value basis of classical education in its historical period of development. In modern conditions, these principles are increasingly reflected in the activities of universities related to their key role in solving economic, social and environmental problems. Universities are increasingly declaring social responsibility and proving this through their decisions in the face of a social crisis. Keywords: higher education, university, sustainability, development, academic integrity

A ‘forced holiday’ or ‘no escape route’? Contrasting experiences of survivors and perpetrators of domestic abuse during COVID-19

Drawing on a nested qualitative study within REPROVIDE, a randomised controlled trial examining the effectiveness of a group-based domestic abuse perpetrator programme, this article explores accounts of domestic abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspectives of victims/survivors and perpetrators. Based on interviews with male perpetrators and female survivors, including with partner/ex-partner dyads, our study reveals the gendered effects of the pandemic on abusive perpetrator behaviour. Findings are presented through themes addressing the different experiences of victims/survivors and perpetrators during the pandemic. Through an exploration of victim/survivor attempts to ameliorate intensified abuse through compliance (Theme 1), the way perpetrators put on a masculine ‘front’ (Theme 2), the gendered burden of domestic responsibilities (Theme 3) and highlighting the importance of continued specialist support (Theme 4), this article contributes to an understanding of gender inequalities underpinning pre-pandemic domestic violence and abuse and how perpetrators utilised inequalities during COVID restrictions. Some dyads reported relationships feeling more settled in the first UK lockdown, however, this was associated with increased opportunities for control that lockdown provided perpetrators. Both parties experienced changes in service responses. We articulate implications for safe working with perpetrators and families during future pandemics or social crises.

At your service: the mobilities, rhythms and everyday lives of migrant labour in the gig economy

ABSTRACT This introduction presents a framework for the contributions to the special issue At Your Service: The Mobilities, Rhythms and Everyday Lives of Migrant Labour in the Gig Economy. The article begins by providing an overview of the current literature on the gig economy and the growing attention towards its relationship to processes of migration. The introduction continues by outlining and discussing three themes that in different ways shape the contributions in the issue. First, we situate the issue in relation to contemporary and historical migration processes and regimes of mobility. Second, we discuss how the articles in this issue explore the rhythms of gig work in relation to the spatio-temporalities of migration regimes and cities increasingly built on a logic of fulfilment. Finally, we draw attention to the infrastructural role of migrant gig workers in midst of the contemporary social reproductive crisis. This perspective opens new avenues for future research with questions of social reproductive justice at its core.

Thriving in change: examining the influence of organizational sustainability on employee performance in the post-COVID landscape

Purpose The economic, financial and social crisis has heightened researchers' interest in the importance of organizational sustainability and resources (e.g. work engagement and psychological capital) for performance. Despite some studies demonstrating the significance of resources, such as work engagement and psychological capital, for workers’ performance, there is limited knowledge regarding the role of organizational sustainability practices (OSP) in the relationship mentioned above. Therefore, this study drew upon the social identity theory to conceptualize and test the mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between OSP and performance (both task and adaptive). Based on the conservation of resources theory, it was hypothesized that a worker's resource – psychological capital – would moderate the indirect relationship between social responsibility practices and performance (both task and adaptive). Design/methodology/approach To test the proposed model, 304 adults participated in a two-wave study. Findings The results supported the hypotheses, revealing that OSP had a positive and significant relationship with task and adaptive performance, occurring through work engagement. Furthermore, the indirect relationship between OSP and performance task and adaptive through work engagement was moderated by psychological capital, such that the relationship became stronger for workers with lower levels of psychological capital. Originality/value The relevance of this research lies in its ability to identify the conditions and mechanisms in which corporate social responsibility initiatives are most effective, thereby enabling a more nuanced application of these practices across different sectors and organizational cultures. This study's theoretical and practical implications may assist organizations in devising strategies for implementing social responsibility practices to enhance their outcomes.

Trends and social inequalities in self-reported health and activity limitations in France between 2017 and 2021: results from four nationwide representative surveys

BackgroundLike other countries in Europe and around the world, France was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, although it had also experienced several social crises since 2017. This study assessed the evolution of self-reported health and activity limitations and explored the dynamics of their socio-territorial inequalities among the French population aged 18–75 years between 2017 and 2021.MethodsSelf-reported health (SRH) and global activity limitation indicator (GALI) were assessed in the same way in the four last editions of the French Health Barometer surveys conducted in the general population in 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021, with between 9,200 and 24,500 subjects interviewed depending on the year. The prevalence of good or very good SRH and GALI (any limitation) and their evolution between 2017 and 2021 were studied according to sex, age, main socioeconomic positions (SEP), and regions. Poisson regression models were used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios and potential modification effects of sociodemographic and geographic characteristics.ResultsBetween 2017 and 2021, SRH and GALI deteriorated in adults in France in a continuous way. Very good or good SRH decreased from 75.2% (CI95% [74.5–75.9]) of subjects in 2017 to 68.5% (CI95% [67.7–69.3]) in 2021. In parallel, GALI increased from 21.5% (CI95% [21.0–22.2) in 2017 to 25.2% (CI95% [24.5–26.0]) in 2021.The deterioration of indicators affected both sexes, all age classes (except 65–75 years), especially younger age classes (18–24 and 25–34 years), all geographical regions, and all SEP variables, with groups with a higher SEP deteriorating more than others. Negative variations exceeding 20% (8–10 percentage points on the absolute scale of indicators) were observed in several population groups from 2019 onwards.ConclusionThe previously observed deterioration of the SRH and GALI continued in France between 2017 and 2021, with narrowing socio-territorial gradients of inequalities. The impact of successive social and health crises on the poor evolution of self-reported health and activity limitations warrants further investigation over time and across locations using complementary and possibly more detailed indicators.

Psychological features of managerial decision-making in conditions of social and economic crises

Psychological features of managerial decision-making in conditions of social and economic crises

The social crisis exacerbated by the Salvadoran political crisis. Migration to the United States: an indicator of the crisis

No abstract available. ECA Estudios Centroamericanos, Vol. 42, No. 468, 1987: 675-686.

Community health action and COVID-19 in Barcelona neighbourhoods: responses and challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing social, economic and political inequalities. The evidence describes the use of community engagement approaches to support appropriate COVID-19 prevention and control measures. We aimed to delve deeper into the community response to COVID-19 in Barcelona neighbourhoods with different pre-existing levels of development of community health action (CHA). A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted in six Barcelona neighbourhoods with different types of CHAs. The sample included 37 in-depth interviews with community agents with good knowledge of the territory. The content analysis focused on three dimensions: symbolic (conceptions motivating action), substantive (the content and resources of the action) and operational (interactions between agents). Regardless of their CHA typology, all neighbourhoods responded to the needs generated by the pandemic. Symbolic: strong-CHA development, characterized by well-established participatory structures, facilitated responses to the crisis. In medium-CHA neighbourhoods, the emergency exacerbated previous tensions. In emerging-CHA neighbourhoods, previous participatory structures, although not health-specific, favoured the coordination of responses. Substantive: technology influenced the way CHA activities were conducted. Operative: in the strong-CHA neighbourhood, new participants were able to join previous participatory structures. In medium-CHA neighbourhoods, power dynamics hindered coordination. In conclusion, strong CHA can play a key role in addressing the adverse consequences of social and health crisis. Empowering citizens and communities should be a primary objective of public policy that integrates the 'health-in-all-policies' approach. This approach entails allocating public resources to strengthen the role of community action and power.

Community garden management for resilient cities: A case study in suburban Tokyo during the COVID-19 pandemic

Numerous studies underscore the role of community gardens in sustaining food security, physical and mental health, and social networks during the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to community resilience in different contexts of each country. Despite the rich history of urban gardening, Japan remains a geographical gap. This study conducted a mixed-method case study in suburban Tokyo and addresses the unique response of community gardeners to the pandemic within the Japanese context. The survey revealed that gardeners proactively established rules to navigate the crisis quickly through discussion and sustained their gardening activities. The findings also showed that their continuing activities helped the gardeners maintaining physical and mental health, and notably keeping their ikigai, sense of purpose in life in the unusual days. Thus, this study provided new evidence that community gardens may contribute to urban resilience, which indicates the significance of incorporating them into urban green space planning as a preparatory measure for future social crises.

The social evolution of COVID-19: pandemics as total social facts.

The COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented global event in recent history. Beginning with an initial outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the virus spread rapidly across the globe, causing millions of deaths and triggering an unprecedented health, economic, and social crisis. The initial response to the outbreak in many countries was the implementation of social distancing measures, including the closure of schools and businesses, the cancellation of mass events, and the banning of travel. These measures were aimed at reducing the virus' spread and preventing health systems from being overwhelmed by the numerous severe COVID-19 cases. However, these measures also had a devastating economic impact, especially on precarious workers and freelancers, as well as those who were unable to work from home. As the pandemic (also considered a syndemic or synergistic epidemic) dragged on, countries adopted more flexible approaches to dealing with the virus, adopting mitigation measures rather than social distancing measures. These included the use of masks, testing and contact tracing, and the opening of businesses and schools with the implementation of additional safety measures. This paper highlights the social consequences of the pandemic, ultimately arguing that it is a total social fact (from the French fait social total), based on Marcel Mauss' categorization, since it encompassed and impacted all facets of human life.

A Framework for Messy Communication: A Qualitative Study of Competing Voices of Authority on Social Media

While governments, nonprofits, and influencers differ dramatically in their resource availability for social media content creation and their duties to public safety, health, and welfare, all play a role in communication with the public at large. Governments provide for the broader public good and nonprofits and influencers have the opportunity to serve isolated communities vulnerable to social ills and health crises. We explore how these three content creator groups concurrently and independently use social media to provide critical information. We qualitatively coded 1392 posts by governments, nonprofits, and influencers on 6 social media platforms shared across the United States during the 2022 Mpox outbreak. We constructed a framework defining a public health communication progression from chaotic to controlled. The findings indicated that governments can reach minoritized communities to resolve a public health crisis by partnering with nonprofits and influencers trusted by these audiences and, most importantly, practicing flexible control over shared messaging.

Luxemburg and Gramsci. The Role of Optimism and Pessimism during the Struggle for an Alternative to Capitalism

What I try to do in this paper is to analyze and probe what Rosa Luxemburg and Antonio Gramsci understand by pessimism and optimism. Luxemburg and Gramsci demonstrate how liberal capitalist ideology uses “a false form of hope to keep people yoked to the system that oppresses them.” In this “terrible world” and under the current capitalist circumstances which lead to economic, social, political and ecological crises, it may be difficult to be optimistic about the future. Besides, not only the multiple crises but also the many defeats suffered by progressive movements in the different areas of struggles against ongoing economic and political regression bring along a depressive and desperate feeling that could also be called pessimism. </p><p>The questions I am asking are very simple: What is pessimism and optimism for Luxemburg and Gramsci? For them, what sort of social conditions lead to pessimism or optimism? In this paper, I will try to demonstrate that both Rosa Luxemburg and Gramsci adopted a dialectical approach to pessimism and optimism, they were “pessoptimists” so to speak. Based upon what Hegel once said, “the negative is just as much positive”, I will explain this dialectical relationship by claiming that pessimism exists in optimism and vice versa. For this purpose, I will focus on some of Rosa Luxemburg’s texts in the recently published volumes on Revolution as well as in her letters. Furthermore, I will concentrate on some texts by Gramsci in which he makes particular reference to pessimism and optimism as symbolized by his famous “pessimism of the intelligence, optimism of the will”