Socio-cultural Milieu Research Articles

Idioms of Distress.

The presentations of psychosocial distress and cultural conflicts are often bodily symptoms, especially in traditional societies and village backgrounds. These might not meet the criteria of the current psychiatric diagnostic systems. Sociocultural milieu contributes to the unique presentations of the stress in the form of idioms of distress. The latter are alternative modes of expressing distress and indicate manifestations of distress in relation to personal and cultural meaning. Health professionals often consider these as hysterical, functional or having functional overlays, and abnormal illness behaviors. Management of idioms of distress would need cultural competence and sensitivity. This article highlights the common idioms of distress in India with specific focus on bodily symptoms.

Qualitative exploration of infant and young child feeding practices in rural field practice area of SSIMS and RC: a focus group discussion study

Background: The art of infant feeding is a blend of biology and culture. A large no of women in India are already traditionally inclined towards infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices. The need is to identify specific problems in local community. The strong influence of socio-cultural milieu is detrimental to health of the child. It is important that every opportunity of contact of health personnel with care givers should be taken to counsel on infant feeding.Methods: A Focus group discussion Study was conducted between February and May 2017. Mothers with child less than 2 years of age, grand-mothers and health care providers (ASHA’s and ANM’s) who form the stake holders population of IYCF were involved after taking consent. Each Homogenous group had 6-12 participants. Qualitative information was collected till saturation was achieved.Results: 6 FGD’s in each homogenous group were conducted. Colostrum was considered impure, giving honey as pre lacteal feed was a ritual, inadequate milk secretion, lack of knowledge about when and what complementary feeds to be given and also about importance of breast feeding till 2 years of age and giving artificial feeds. These were reasons for improper IYCF practices.Conclusions: This study emphasises the importance of group opinion prevailing in the local community for IYCF practices which is essential for instituting health education.

ADHD research in India: A narrative review.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with no clear etiopathogenesis. Owing to unique socio cultural milieu of India, it is worthwhile reviewing research on ADHD from India and comparing findings with global research. Thereby, we attempted to provide a comprehensive overview of research on ADHD from India. A boolean search of articles published in English from September 1966 to January 2017 on electronic search engines Google Scholar, PubMed, IndMED, MedIND, using the search terms "ADHD", "Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder", "Hyperactivity" ,"Child psychiatry", "Hyperkinetic disorder", "Attention Deficit Disorder", "India"was carried out and peer - reviewed studies conducted among human subjects in India were included for review. Case reports, animal studies, previous reviews were excluded from the current review. Results of 73 studies found eligible for the review were organized into broad themes such as epidemiology, etiology, course and follow up, clinical profile and comorbidity, assessment /biomarkers, intervention/treatment parameters, pathways to care and knowledge and attitude towards ADHD. There was a gap noted in research from India in the domains of biomarkers, course and follow up and non-pharmacological intervention. The prevalence of ADHD as well as comorbidity of Bipolar Disorder was comparatively lower compared to western studies. The studies found unique to India include comparing the effect of allopathic intervention with Ayurvedic intervention, yoga as a non pharmacological intervention. There is a need for studies from India on biomarkers, studies with prospective research design, larger sample size and with matched controls.

Mercantilism, Warfare, or Privateering? Providing the Historical Context for the Mardi Gras Shipwreck Site

The Gulf of Mexico played an important role in the power struggles between Europe and the United States for control of access to valuable resources in North and South America. Spain, France, Great Britain, and the burgeoning United States utilized this vast body of water to jockey for positions of power, especially for control of New Orleans. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries these countries wrangled for control of the Gulf through treaty, trade, warfare, and privateering. Serving many different roles, ships engaged in transporting commodities, protecting places and resources, and antagonizing rivals. Between wars, commercial competition, and disasters at sea, many vessels were lost to the depths of the Gulf. One such vessel, the Mardi Gras Shipwreck, may have served in one or more of these roles during its career. By examining the historical record, archaeologists can reconstruct the sociocultural, political, and economic milieus to establish the historical context in which the shipwreck and its story reside.

Urbanization: Issues and Impacts on the Village of South 24 Parganas, West Bengal

Urban anthropology deals with the social and cultural processes in urban areas as well as cities. Contemporary issues of urban anthropology include rural-urban migration, demography, effects of urbanization among cultural pluralism and practical urban problems. The presents paper depicts the issues and impacts of urbanization on the concentration of rural areas, which has altered human life styles in dramatic and significant ways in a district of West Bengal the preliminary ethnographic account deals with the consequences as well as impact of global urbanization on the rural areas under study in general along with the changing aspects of the socio-cultural milieu. The present study finally depicts the gradual spread of global urbanism in the traditional life in the main stream and surrounding areas of the villages through a micro-ethnographic approach

‘All Are Instructive If Read in a Right Spirit’: Reading, Religion, and Instruction in a Victorian Reading Diary

ABSTRACTThis paper conducts a study of reading choices and practices through the reading diary of a middle-class reader in mid–nineteenth-century Glasgow within the context of her sociocultural, intellectual, and religious milieu. Anne Galloway (1802–1889) wrote her reading diary between 1850 and 1856, wherein she recorded one hundred eighty-four books and three periodicals. This study combines an investigation in the availability of books and their circulation with a focus on Stirling's Library, a subscription library founded by Walter Stirling in 1791, from which Anne obtained her books. Anne's borrowing record is reconstructed using the library catalogues. These are used to assess the different classifications of the books she read and their respective numbers to determine the pattern of Anne's borrowing and reading practices. This investigation offers new insights into Glasgow's book culture through the reconstructed history of a ‘lesser-known’ Evangelical, nonprofessional, married woman reader in the...

Factor Structure of the Urdu Version of the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale in Pakistan

ABSTRACTSpence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS) is one of the most commonly used self-report questionnaires to measure symptoms of anxiety disorders in adolescents. Despite its common use, studies that examine the psychometric properties of SCAS in Pakistan is lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Urdu translated version of the SCAS among adolescents in Pakistan. A total of 1277 students (708 boys and 569 girls), aged 13 to17 years, who had been recruited from 13 schools in Rawalpindi, Pakistan participated in the study. The mean overall anxiety score was significantly higher in girls than males on all the SCAS subscales except for obsessive compulsive disorder. The internal consistency of the Urdu SCAS was good. Confirmatory factor analyses supported six separate factor structures. Results of the study are discussed with reference to the sociocultural milieu of Pakistan and culture sensitive conceptualization of anxiety and its subtypes.

Putting attachment in its place: Disciplinary and cultural contexts

This paper examines the reception of John Bowlby’s and Mary Ainsworth’s ethological theory of attachment among anthropologists and cultural psychologists. First, it shows that from Margaret Mead’s criticisms in the mid 1950s to the present, many of them have challenged the main tenets of attachment theory but attachment theorists ignored those challenges. Second, it argues that we need to understand the different disciplinary goals of psychology and anthropology after WWII in order to illuminate the lack of attention to children’s cultural context in attachment research. The privileging within psychology of laboratory data over field observations supported the rise of attachment research focused on the strange situation procedure and contributed to the neglect of ethnographic data about children in their socio-cultural milieu. Recognizing the importance of studying children in context, however, recent studies by anthropologists and developmental psychologists sensitive to the power of culture have deepened the challenge to attachment theory.

Financial social innovation to engage the economically marginalized: insights from an Indian case study

New sources of finance within the label of ‘impact investing’ have emerged as mechanisms to promote entrepreneurship within marginalized communities. Different vehicles for impact investment have emerged over the years; however, our understanding around their emergence, configuration and adoption is limited. Hence, the main purpose in this research is to study the role of the contextual drivers and conditions that gave rise to a unique form of impact investment in India, a financial social innovation – developmental venture capital (DVC). Through the lens of capital theories, insights from the case of India’s largest and oldest DVC firm along with three of its most prominent investees are presented. Findings highlight that the social entrepreneurs behind the case DVC wholly re-conceptualized silicon valley-style venture capital financing to suit small brick and mortar investments in rural India, developed mechanisms for deploying funding frugally, and created partnerships of equals between themselves and their investees. Investee founders leveraged human and social capital throughout the social innovation process via deep immersion in the socio-cultural milieu of India.

The 'secret' source of 'female hysteria': the role that syphilis played in the construction of female sexuality and psychoanalysis in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the unspoken fear of syphilis played a significant role in the development of beliefs about female sexuality. Many women were afraid of sexual relationships with men because they feared contracting syphilis, which was, at that time, untreatable. Women also feared passing this disease on to their children. Women's sexual aversion, or repression, became a focus for Freud and his colleagues, whose theory of psychosexual development was based on their treatment of women. This article examines the case of Dora, the memoirs of Mabel Dodge Luhan and other sources to argue that the fear of syphilis was a significant factor in upper- and middle-class women's avoidance of heterosexual relationships. The fear of syphilis, in turn, became a significant factor in the psychoanalytic construction of female sexuality. The social suppression of the fear of syphilis has had a profound impact on theories of women's development. The implication for psychiatry is that our models of psychological development occur within a sociocultural milieu and cannot escape suppressed aspects of our culture.

Factors of Gender Inequality and Development among Selected Low Human Development Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa

Gender inequality and poor women empowerment retard improvement in living standards of women and act as a clog in their contributions to governance and economic development. Gender inequality lower quality of life and culminates in limited productivity, hinder economic efficiency and growth. For over three decades, gender issues have been at the front burner of international summits. In spite of much progress in recent times, gender inequalities remain pervasive in many dimensions of life in various regions around the world particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Treatment of women is yet to be fairer and related policies can be more effective to improve the status of women. No-doubt studies have been carried out on gender inequality, but less emphasis has been raveled with respect to hindrances and implications of gender inequality. Hence, understanding the nature of gender inequality will not only promote sound awareness among African countries, but also ignite government efforts as well as NGOs toward effective interventions for reduction of gender inequality especially in the economic and political realms where women are made worse off by the socio-cultural milieu. The methodological approach to this paper was based on reviews of published multiple documents to draw up statistical profile of the situation of women in selected countries of low human Development index in SSA to show the existence of gender inequality. The paper found among all the 12 low human development countries and SSA region examined that gender indicators such as human development index, expected years of schooling, mean years of schooling, estimated gross national per capita, share of seats in parliament, population with at least secondary education and labor-force participation rate are all in favor of men. The paper concludes with recommendations to narrow the gender gaps.

Warning from the Gods: Perceptions and Coping Strategies of the Drought-Stricken Communities in A Philippine Province: A Phenomenological Approach

Understanding people’s coping strategies in response to the 2016 drought that hit Cebu province deserves a revisit. Toward this end, this paper discusses people’s coping strategies in conjunction with their perception on this climatic event. It is argued in this paper that any intervention plans for implementation to mitigate the impact of natural disasters should be placed in the context of the people’s socio-cultural milieu. By using twenty-eight (28) transcripts of the focus group discussions and in-depth interviews from the respondents in the different municipalities in the province of Cebu, the coping strategies of communities were founded in their local knowledge founded on their perceptions of the 2016 drought. In conclusion, people’s knowledge on this specific climatic event is experiential and their coping strategies, drawn out from experience, were primarily developed to live compatibly and harmoniously with nature and secondly, to improve adaptive capacities to natural uncertainties.

The Post-Enlightenment Moral Crisis and the Emergence of Secular Tyranny in the Middle East

This article explores humanity’s ethical transformation during Europe’s post-Enlightenment era and assesses its impact upon the originsand development of secularism. Thereafter, it investigates how secularism was introduced into the Middle East, isolating that importation as directed through western colonialism or spellbound indigenous elites. Eventually, introducing secularism into the region’s socio-cultural milieu achieved nothing resembling what Europe or North America had experienced, particularly as regards the purported aims of social reconciliation, industrialization, and modernization. Without the European context, secularism emerged in a radically offensive manner, one that uprooted the local axiology and thereby leading to unprecedented levels of secular tyranny as well as entailing the justification of socio-economic and political oppression.

The Post-Enlightenment Moral Crisis and the Emergence of Secular Tyranny in the Middle East

This article explores humanity’s ethical transformation during Europe’s post-Enlightenment era and assesses its impact upon the originsand development of secularism. Thereafter, it investigates how secularism was introduced into the Middle East, isolating that importation as directed through western colonialism or spellbound indigenous elites. Eventually, introducing secularism into the region’s socio-cultural milieu achieved nothing resembling what Europe or North America had experienced, particularly as regards the purported aims of social reconciliation, industrialization, and modernization. Without the European context, secularism emerged in a radically offensive manner, one that uprooted the local axiology and thereby leading to unprecedented levels of secular tyranny as well as entailing the justification of socio-economic and political oppression.

Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Schizophrenia.

Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Schizophrenia.

Культурные ценности и гендерные роли: обзор

In the recent past, gender issues have grabbed substantial attention from social scientists, activists and academic fraternity. Right from family to workplace to society at large, attempts have been initiated to advocate equal rights for women in different spheres of life. Despite social activists and policy makers striving hard towards gender sensitization, gender discrimination still persists in various domains of life. Therefore, there is a strong need to identify the factors that potentially determine people’s attitude towards gender equity. With this very objective, the current study examines existing literature on gender discrimination and its association with Hofstede’s (1980) cultural values. Following the “Gender-Organization-System Approach”, the present study postulates that gender equality or inequality results from a complex interaction of individual, organizational and societal factors and that it cannot be explained in isolation from the broader socio-cultural milieu. Extensive review of literature indicates that cultural values are significant predictors of people’s attitude towards gender equity and that the extent to which people conform to existing gender roles determine how much people support the idea of gender equality. The study has significant practical implications since, by means of detecting such “causal factors”, more positive attitudinal changes can be brought about and gender egalitarian attitudes can be cultivated.

Richard Wright, The Long Dream [Uzun Bir Rüya]’ in Rüya Analizi

The This study offers an exploration into the issues of race, family, and national belonging in Richard Wright’s novel The Long Dream and seeks to address the contentious topics of lynch culture, miscegenation, race/ethnicity oriented national discourse, and the formation of sexual identities in light of the sociopolitical and sociocultural milieus of the United States, specifically, the watershed moments of slavery, Jim Crow, Fourth of July, and American Dream in the United States history. Furthermore, along the axis of dream analyses, which are purported to be idiosyncratic manifestations, a discussion on race/racism, citizenship and their literary representations, and public demonstrations is offered.

The Southern Nicobar Islands as Imaginative Geographies

The southern Nicobar, an isolated archipelago in the eastern Indian Ocean, is the southern most territory of India. The Shompen and the Nicobarese were the sole inhabitants in the archipelago until the Government of India settled 330 ex-servicemen families in Great Nicobar. The ex-servicemen families, who came from an entirely different socio-cultural milieu of mainland India, perceived the cultural practices of the indigenes as odd and developed strong prejudices against them. This article juxtaposes two diametrically opposed discourses on the indigenous cultural practices—the settlers’ and the indigenes’—and explores how the indigenes make sense of their cultural practices that the settlers find problematic. It also explores if such cultural practices hold any special significance for the isolated tribal communities that live in a fragile island ecosystem. The article elaborates its analyses against the backdrop of the issues that the indigenes have been facing due to the changes brought in their societies through external interventions.

Are we our own enemies? Leisure constraints of physically and visually disabled people in Ghana

ABSTRACT Knowledge on leisure constraints is important in advancing the discourse on leisure participation particularly amongst marginalized populations such as disabled people. Research on leisure constraints of disabled people in the contexts of developing African countries is minimal despite their different socio-cultural, economic and political environments. The concepts of both disability and leisure have socio-cultural inclinations and thus define and shape the nature and type of constraints encountered by disabled people. Using the symbolic interactionist perspective, this paper discusses the leisure constraints of visually and physically disabled people in Ghana in relation to their socio-cultural milieu. Data for the study were obtained from visually and physically impaired individuals through focus group discussions. It was revealed that inaccessible physical environment, negative attitude of non-disabled members of society towards disabled people, inadequate support from family and friends and exclusion in social and national programmes were the leisure constraints encountered by the disabled people. The implications for ensuring inclusion and minimizing the effects of these constraints on leisure participation are discussed.

Discourses, Identities and Investment in English as a Second Language Learning: Voices from Two U.S. Community College Students

Adopting a qualitative case study methodology, the present study illuminates how two multilingual students enrolled in a U.S. community college ESL class negotiated the sociocultural norms valued in their multiple communities to make investment in learning English in college. Drawing on Gee’s theory of Discourse and identity (1996) and Norton’s theory of investment (2000), the study found that each student’s investment in learning the language practices of the classroom was shaped by the diverse Discourses in which they participated across time and space. Despite confronting structural constraints, the focal students were able to mobilize their multiple Discourses to negotiate the existing sociocultural norms and invest in identities that have the potential to transform their lives. These findings suggest that multilingual students’ learning at the college is shaped by their socio-cultural milieu and future aspirations. Thus, language educators should recognize their multiple identities as well as their agency, and broaden the curriculum goals to accommodate their diverse linguistic and educational needs. Keywords: Discourses, identities, investment, community college, ESL, multilingual students