Social Narratives Research Articles

Navigating the Currents: Land Use Challenges Amidst Water and Food Security Debates and Social Media Misperceptions

This research aims to understand the complexities of energy deployment requiring nexus governance solutions. Nexus governance involves coordinating decision-making across policy areas and sectors, seeking compromise among stakeholders with varying positions. The challenge lies in coordinating diverse sectors and stakeholders amidst potentially conflicting priorities and interests. Moreover, social media significantly influence stakeholders’ perceptions and actions, serving as a platform for idea exchange and mobilization but also contributing to echo chambers and polarization. This study examines the impact of social media on perceptions of the oil shale project in Al Attarat, Jordan, focusing on the intersections of social, economic, and environmental concerns. The findings highlight that social media significantly influences public discourse, often skewing perceptions with misperceptions about land use, water, and food security. Analyzing key social media narratives reveals that food security is a primary concern, with energy and water security also gaining attention, though less prominently. Furthermore, misinformation has exacerbated tensions among stakeholders, leading to polarized views and resistance to proposed governance solutions. This research underscores the need for effective strategies to counter misinformation and promote informed dialogue.

From point light displays to rich social narratives: neural representations of visual social processing in the superior temporal sulcus

From point light displays to rich social narratives: neural representations of visual social processing in the superior temporal sulcus

Impact of narrative nursing cognition, self-efficacy, and social support on the practices of registered nurses in China: a structural equation modeling analysis

BackgroundNarrative nursing is a novel approach according with humanistic care, which has been shown to be effective in improving health outcomes for both patients and nurses. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated the status of narrative nursing practice among nurses, and a comprehensive understanding of factors influencing this practice remains elusive.DesignThis was an observational, cross-sectional study using convenience sampling method.MethodsAfter obtaining the informed consent, a total of 931 registered nurses from three hospitals in China were investigated. Data were collected using the Social Support Rating Scale, the General Self-efficacy Scale, and the Knowledge-Attitude-Practice Survey of Clinical Nurses on Narrative Nursing. All the scales were validated in the Chinese population. The questionnaire results were verified by an independent investigator. Factors influencing narrative nursing practice were determined through a series of analyses, including independent sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlations. Subsequently, path analysis was performed and a structural equation model was established.ResultsThe score of narrative nursing practice in this study was 30.26 ± 5.32. The structural equation model showed a good fit, with a Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) of 0.007 (90%CI: 0.000, 0.047). Both social support and narrative nursing attitude could directly affect narrative nursing practice (βsocial support = 0.08, P < 0.001; βattitude = 0.54, P < 0.001) and indirectly influence it via self-efficacy (βsocial support = 0.04, P < 0.001; βattitude = 0.06, P < 0.001). In addition, narrative nursing knowledge (β = 0.08, P < 0.001) and the nurses’ growth environment (β=-0.06, P < 0.001) also affected the practice of narrative nursing.ConclusionNarrative nursing in China is at a medium level and could be influenced by several personal and environmental factors. This study highlighted the critical role of nursing management in the advancement of narrative nursing practices. Nurse managers should prioritize specialized training and cultivate supportive environments for nurses to improve their narrative nursing practices.

Being Unapologetically Métis

As a mixed Métis (Scots-Cree) grandmother and PhD student, I constantly find myself navigating colonial waters while living in, and writing from, a space of resistance and change. Reflecting on Beatrice Mosionier’s novel, In Search of April Raintree, I reflect on my own experiences of overcoming encounters with identity, inheritance, and violence. Using poetry and critical reflection, I illustrate the power of remembering as a way of challenging social and political narratives of identity and belonging.

Do you speak English or my language? An LMT approach to language requirements in EU nations’ visa applications

ABSTRACT This study investigates the language ideologies manifested in the linguistic hierarchies produced by relevant EU governmental/political institutions through their language requirements for visa application documents. Based on the theoretical framework of Language Management Theory (LMT), this study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative analysis of visa statistics with qualitative content analysis of 200 social media narratives. At the macro-level, it analyzes the language ideologies underpinning the language requirements for national/long-term visa application documents. At the micro-level, it explores the intersecting point where language management behaviors from different levels converge through individuals’ pre- and post-interaction management behaviors, as observed in social media posts related to document preparation and potential visa interviews. The results project a spectrum of approaches among EU countries: eight countries exhibit the tendency to civic linguistic nationalism by mandating their national/official languages as the sole language choice; while the remaining seventeen countries display varying degrees of linguistic pragmatism by accepting the required documents in English. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for language policy and ideology in the context of global mobility, suggesting that the current language requirements may not only project the language ideology but also carry broader socio-political consequences.

Superman, superwoman, or superhero? A thematic analysis of Reddit user discussions of female superheroes

ABSTRACT The superhero film genre has both hypersexualized women and offered potentially empowering social and cultural narratives. Drawing on feminist media studies and critical discourse analysis, this study analyzes themes in online Reddit discussions surrounding female superheroes in Black Widow to better understand how conversations about media representations maintain and subvert dominant gendered discourses. Throughout her portrayal in multiple movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow’s transformation highlights the shift from a hypersexualized female superhero to a complex character that breaks away from gendered stereotypes. Mirroring an incrementalist approach to social change, Redditors discursively constructed and invoked “realism” as a heuristic for their evaluations of diversified media representations. First, Reddit users centered White, Western women’s experiences in their posts about the film, confronting the trope that women exist as objects to be saved and sexualized by men. However, as they assumed that White, Western women’s struggles are universal, they ignored the intersectional relationship to oppression. Second, Redditors engaged in the male gaze to understand, perpetuate, and disrupt Black Widow’s historic sexualization. The study supports the claims that gender is performative and seemingly mundane conversations can function politically. We conclude with implications for theorizing future post-feminist discourse and methodological implications for researchers using Reddit data.

Flipping the Narrative: A Unifying Framework for Juvenile Court-based Forensic Social Work Practice

Professional social workers are trained in multiple competencies and occupy various positions within the forensic landscape. Unified by a code of ethics that emphasizes social justice and the protection and empowerment of marginalized populations and a philosophical approach that recognizes the interplay of individual and environmental factors, social work leadership in youth justice policy and practice is vital. This article proposes a unifying framework for macro, mezzo, and micro court-based forensic social work practice in the 21st century that draws from post-modern critical social work theory. The lifelong negative impacts of court involvement for young people are well documented and contribute to persistent societal inequities. Pre-disposition court practices can mitigate or further harm court-involved youth. “Flipping the Narrative” is a culturally relevant practice framework for evaluating and designing youth court practices that recognize the intersectionality of the identities and experiences of court-involved youth. The proposed framework incorporates the practical implications of Critical Theory, specifically Critical Race Theory, the Theory of African American Offending, and Queer Theory, and relevant practice approaches, such as Social Justice Youth Development and Narrative Therapy, to analyze current youth court practices, propose areas for further evaluation and innovation, and recommend practice enhancements for defense-based forensic social workers. The urgency for innovation in one New England state is illustrated through a case study.

“Do all bisexuals have this power?”: An exploratory study of “crippling nicotine addiction,” identity, and other emergent themes in vaping messages on QueerTok

Nicotine and tobacco use disproportionally affects sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations in the United States. Social media narratives may contribute to these disparities. This qualitative study delineated perceptions and experiences depicted in SGM-related videos about nicotine vaping on TikTok. Young adult researchers engaged in every step of the research process, adding an insider perspective. Using four TikTok accounts, we used vaping and SGM-related search terms to sample videos in March–April 2022. Three TikTok accounts collected SGM-specific videos; a fourth provided non-SGM specific videos for comparison. We iteratively sorted 303 unique videos into 32 a priori and emergent codes and identified themes in SGM videos and comparison videos. In their videos, creators displayed awareness of and ambivalence toward vaping and nicotine dependence. SGM videos reflected vaping as a salient feature of identity and a consideration in romantic partnership. Studying video-based social media platforms, like TikTok, using an insider-engaged qualitative lens promotes rich interpretation of content to identify prevalent and emerging messages, which can inform appropriate interventions for SGM young people.

The Condition of Contemporary Murals in Sun-Exposed Urban Environments: A Model Study Based on Spray-Painted Mock-Ups and Simulated Light Ageing

The present work investigates the physicochemical stability of spray paints when irradiated with artificial solar light (at spectral range 300–800 nm). This research highlights the importance of understanding the materials used in street art and public murals, recognising them as a significant component of contemporary cultural heritage. By examining the stability and degradation of spray paints toward solar light exposure, the study aims to contribute to the preservation of contemporary murals, which reflect current social and cultural narratives. A physicochemical approach was employed for the study of spray paints’ physical and thermal properties, as well as the effect of specific photochemical ageing reactions/processes. The photochemical ageing results were compared with reference (unaged) samples. Specifically, a multi-technique approach was applied using stereo microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle measurement, colorimetry, glossimetry, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), UV-Vis spectroscopy, attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and pyrolysis-GC/MS (Py-GC/MS). The photodegradation of the spray paints occurred from the first 144 h of solar light irradiation, resulting in changes in morphology, colour, gloss, roughness, and wettability. Regarding photochemical stability, ageing seems to affect the binders more than the synthetic organic pigments and the inorganic fillers. In particular, acrylic binders showed small chemical changes, whereas the alkyd, nitrocellulose, and styrene binders underwent severe chemical modification. The results suggest that simulated daylight irradiation prompts the migration of additives toward the surface of the spray paint films. In addition, the results of the analyses on the white spray paints in comparison with the coloured paints (from the same manufacturer) showed that there seems to be an active distinct photoageing mechanism involving titanium dioxide, but the whole issue needs further investigation.

Translator’s ideology: the accented critique of the Church and the missing feminist authorial voice in the translation of Sara Joseph’s Othappu

ABSTRACT Exploring the interactions of female sexuality and spirituality from a feminist lens, Othappu by Sara Joseph, is influential in the genre of women’s writing in Malayalam. Through a textual analysis of the novel’s prize-winning translation by Rev. Valson Thampu, the paper examines how the author’s voicing of female resistance to patriarchal institutions gets effaced in the translation process. The translation appears to be stripped of its explicitly feminist authorial voice, where the specific articulations of female subjectivity get replaced by a universally-appealing critical voice, accenting the translator’s ideology. Contrary to Joseph’s emphasis on the text’s engagement with a woman’s response to religion, Thampu voices his reading of the text as an “individual’s” conflict with faith. The attempt is to locate the discursive presence of the translator and how the translator’s ideological leanings influence the transference of the feminist politics of the source text. Apart from closely comparing the original text to the translation in terms of the specificities of the language and analysis of the paratextual elements, a macro-dimension approach which locates the social context and ideological premise examining the translator’s role as creator of a new social narrative through translation is also employed.

Representing disability in queer fanfiction: Analyzing the role of whiteness and intimacy in depicting desirable disabled masculinity

Fanfiction is a media which blends canon texts with audience reimaginings, wherein fans take up existing narratives and make them their own. This paper analyzes story tags on the fanfiction site Archive of Our Own (AO3) and a case study of “Malex,” a notable relationship between two canonically disabled characters, to examine the salience of their disabilities in fanfiction which presents them as desirable romantic and/or sexual prospects. I discuss the desexualization of disabled people as well as the tendency for fanfiction to (re)produce norms of whiteness and maleness, and examine how Malex-focused stories are similar to and different from stories about characters who are not canonically in a relationship. Overall, I argue that fanfiction has the ability to queer and crip existing social narratives, depicting disability as a real and desirable part of diverse relationships. However, as it stands, whiteness, maleness, and the intimacy of perceived vulnerability remain the cornerstones of desirable disabilities.

Wildfire narratives: Identifying and characterizing multiple understandings of western wildfire challenges

Western wildfires present a complex sustainability challenge characterized by more severe fires and escalating risks. To mitigate western wildfire risks, collaborative management practices need to transform the processes involved in knowledge production, seizing the opportunities and overcoming obstacles associated with actors’ multiple understandings. Knowledge co-production represents an increasingly referenced process for bringing together diverse actors, including scientists from different disciplines and non-scientists, to construct place-based and action-oriented knowledge. While knowledge co-production scholarship emphasizes the importance of recognizing and legitimizing multiple understandings, processes for attending to multiple understandings lack a systematic exploratory method for identifying and characterizing what those understandings are. We employed a narrative analysis to empirically investigate multiple understandings within the context of western wildfire challenges. Based on sixty semi-structured interviews with influential actors, we identified nine social narratives that capture distinctions in the connections actors make between the causes, consequences, and solutions to wildfire challenges, in the spatial and temporal scale they emphasize, in the way they frame the challenge, and in the language they use. We also found differences in how actors demarcate social narratives' credibility, legitimacy, and saliency. Our research suggests that analyzing social narratives fills an essential gap in practice by providing a pragmatic exploratory process for identifying and characterizing actors’ multiple understandings.

Film Industry at the Service of EU Identity Politics

Mass cinema can act as a powerful tool for influencing public opinion by appealing to shared values and collective historical memory, while simultaneously constructing and guiding these elements in alignment with policy objectives. This article explores the thesis that national cinema, as an element of a common cultural code, plays a significant role in the formation and reinforcement of collective (socio-cultural) identity. Specifically, it examines the significance of Brussels' efforts to cultivate a robust film industry as part of the European Union's strategy for constructing a collective identity.The authors test the hypothesis that cinema serves as a medium for fostering a sense of belonging and emotional connection among EU citizens. To this end, the study aims to uncover the specific mechanisms by which common historical and social narratives are conveyed through European Union cinema. The research methodology is grounded in a structuralist perspective on cinema (P. Wallen, C. Metz).The article analyzes how the EU has intensified its institutional support and promotion of European cinema, particularly in response to the «crisis of ideas» in Hollywood, which has left a void in the global film market. This analysis is contextualized within the broader sociopolitical landscape, including the rising popularity of mass cinema during the pandemic and the heightened urgency for strengthening EU collective identity amid the Ukrainian crisis and the initiation of a special military operation.The findings indicate that the EU is increasingly leveraging the film industry to disseminate narratives, ideas, and values critical for both situational objectives – such as consolidating public opinion on specific political issues (illustrated by the «militarization» of the film market in response to the 2022 military operation) – and long-term goals of fortifying the EU's collective identity. However, the long-term efficacy of cinema in shaping public opinion is constrained by its susceptibility to rapid trend shifts driven by audience preferences.

Elements of Historical Personal Identity Construction of Finnish-Speaking Students

In this paper, the constructions of historical personal identity of Finnish-speaking students are analysed. The students participated in a larger study of historical narratives and identities, carried out in 2020 in two schools in Finland and in one European School outside Finland. In the mixed-method study, sixty-one students were interviewed and given writing and drawing assignments on historical identity. In this paper, the students’ visual representations of their personal historical identity and its relationship with wider official history are analysed. The aim is to increase understanding of how 14–16-year-old students visualise and articulate their historical personal identity constructions and the historical elements they use in negotiating this identity. The findings suggest that the students integrate personal and historical social narratives in diverse ways but that the majority of them find it challenging to connect their personal family history with the wider official history. Only twelve students made the connection. In addition to presenting the results for the whole group of students, the visual representations of two selected students are discussed in more detail so as to highlight the difference in the approaches to historical personal identity construction among the students.

Teaching Self-Care and Hygiene During Puberty for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have limitations in communication and social interactions caused by the presence of neurobiological disorders. Parents of adolescents of ASD also experience challenging times to discuss puberty, especially in their children’s sexual development, masturbation, self-care and hygiene, and other important sexuality-related topics. However, adolescents with ASD have the right to be treated with respect and to learn information about sexuality education in order to be able to take good care of themselves. The purpose of this article is to discuss puberty and how to teach self-care and hygiene in adolescents with ASD. Based on the literature studies, self-care and hygiene teaching methods that can be provided by parents and teachers, including through social narratives, visual support, social stories, and video modelling. It is expected that teachers and parents can provide appropriate learning methods for adolescents with ASD, so that they can develop daily living activities especially in caring for themselves when going through puberty.

Curating Community: Centering Collaboration, Public Engagement, Social Justice, and Empowerment Within the Fashion Museum

North American dress and textile museums have long been rooted in colonial ideals due to the long-standing perpetuation of Eurocentrism as superior to all other ways of knowing. The fashion and textile art exhibition Material Resistance: Social Justice and Empowerment Narratives Told Through Cloth (2022), curated by graduate students, contested these colonial traditions and instead centered the stories, lived experiences, and empowerment of marginalized communities. The exhibition featured social justice-focused textile works of five artists and three community organizations. The curatorial team explored methods to re-envision how curators can center social justice and empowerment within fashion and textile exhibitions through innovative approaches, building upon previous curatorial scholarship that values collaboration and combines tenets of post-critical museology, intersectionality, and self-determination. By prioritizing the voices of the show’s artists and community members, being intentional about the curatorial selection and accessibility, providing opportunities for community engagement, and practicing repatriation, we provide an example of curatorial practice centering the people, not the system that has often disenfranchised them.

Digital Platforms and Globalization: Transforming Gender and Social Narratives in the Hindi Film Industry through Case Studies of Select Films and Web-Series

Digital Platforms and Globalization: Transforming Gender and Social Narratives in the Hindi Film Industry through Case Studies of Select Films and Web-Series

Media Influence on Climate Change Discourse in Pakistan

This study delves into the examination of public perceptions concerning the influence of media on the discourse surrounding climate change in Pakistan. By scrutinizing the role of media in shaping social, political, biological, and economic narratives related to the climate crisis, this research aims to provide insights into the dynamic interaction between media representations and public understanding of environmental issues. Through comprehensive analysis, the study seeks to uncover the complexities of how media portrayal influences public perceptions and responses to climate change in the Pakistani context. The project objectives were how information on climate change is communicated and received across varied groups, with a focus on understanding the influence of media outlets such as television, radio, and internet platforms. For this purpose, it affects the level of climate change awareness in different places. The study emphasizes the significance of developing personalized communication techniques for different locations in order to successfully address the particular difficulties that each community faces. It also looks at the media's role in promoting sustainable practices and instilling a feeling of environmental responsibility in the public. The study emphasizes the importance of improved coordination across media outlets, government agencies, and environmental organizations in order to improve the accuracy and reach of climate change information. Understanding the impact of the media on rural and urban people is critical for establishing targeted interventions that contribute to a more informed and environmentally conscious society in Pakistan, however, the outcome of the study shows that the majority of the respondents are well aware of the environmental and climate change issues but majority of them do not practice the same precautions.

Intersubject correlations in reward and mentalizing brain circuits separately predict persuasiveness of two types of ISIS video propaganda

The Islamist group ISIS has been particularly successful at recruiting Westerners as terrorists. A hypothesized explanation is their simultaneous use of two types of propaganda: Heroic narratives, emphasizing individual glory, alongside Social narratives, which emphasize oppression against Islamic communities. In the current study, functional MRI was used to measure brain responses to short ISIS propaganda videos distributed online. Participants were shown 4 Heroic and 4 Social videos categorized as such by another independent group of subjects. Persuasiveness was measured using post-scan predictions of recruitment effectiveness. Inter-subject correlation (ISC) was used to measure commonality of brain activity time courses across individuals. ISCs in ventral striatum predicted rated persuasiveness for Heroic videos, while ISCs in mentalizing and default networks, especially in dmPFC, predicted rated persuasiveness for Social videos. This work builds on past findings that engagement of the reward circuit and of mentalizing brain regions predicts preferences and persuasion. The observed dissociation as a function of stimulus type is novel, as is the finding that intersubject synchrony in ventral striatum predicts rated persuasiveness. These exploratory results identify possible neural mechanisms by which political extremists successfully recruit prospective members and specifically support the hypothesized distinction between Heroic and Social narratives for ISIS propaganda.

The Typography of Forgetting: The Unsettling of Dominant Social Narratives in the Resurfacing of a Military Deserter in Family Memory

Society expects history to be objective and factual. Collectively history is the memory of the nation, that group, the imagined community that believes that it has always been together. It could even be said that the nation is about forgetting; forgetting that the people who make up that community were not always together as they are now, or the forgetting of those hurdles and hindrances that create obstacles to cohesion and continuity. Memory is collaborative by nature, and provides a legacy to society, a response to its own mortality in the future. This paper proposes to examine the case of subjective recounting of the past through a family memory of war, the forgetting, the gaps created in narratives to enable cohesion and to fit in with publicly acceptable discourse. It ultimately attempts to answer the question as to why it might be important to re-examine such stories of an individual nature, in a wider scope of the nation, and links those seemingly antinomic periods of time of past, present, and future, which are not as exclusive as might be believed. This paper focuses upon a deserter ancestor, going against the grain of traditional narratives. Traditionally, soldiers are considered by definition of what is expected from them in the national narrative, as ‘war heroes’. However, this paper examines the life of a military ancestor who, in reality, did not fit into that framework, and who deserted from the army (although never on the front line, thus avoiding being shot). Nevertheless, the multiple desertions (deserted five times in total, lost kit twice, was imprisoned, and was detained for desertion three times) only ‘resurfaced’ recently due to the availability of documentation and research carried out in archives. While the ancestor conformed socially to what was expected of him, the reality of his military files seems to reveal the contrary. Despite the high numbers of times that he did desert, he did also rejoin every time, and ended up spending 3 decades in the same military unit. Or, perhaps the manner in which society views soldiers pre- and post-WWI has been altered, and, as such, desertion was not once what it has become. Forgetting has been the norm in society regarding certain pasts that step outside of the national narrative, rather than remembering. This paper attempts to imagine the nation’s past in a different way, by including those who also deserted, an area of ill-defined research in military history.