Strategies For Social Change Research Articles

Cross‐Country Comparison of the Acceptability of a Social Support Behavior Change Strategy to Improve Adherence to Antenatal Calcium and Iron‐Folic Acid Supplementation

Cross‐Country Comparison of the Acceptability of a Social Support Behavior Change Strategy to Improve Adherence to Antenatal Calcium and Iron‐Folic Acid Supplementation

What drives the consistent use of long-lasting insecticidal nets over time? A multi-method qualitative study in mid-western Uganda.

BackgroundThe distribution of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) through universal coverage campaigns is a widely adopted approach for the prevention of malaria at scale. While post-distribution surveys play a valuable role in determining cross-sectional levels of LLIN retention and use, as well as frequently cited reasons for non-use, few studies have explored the consistency of LLIN use over time, within the expected lifespan of the net, and the factors which may drive this.MethodsIn this qualitative study, 74 in-depth interviews were conducted with (male) household heads and (female) caregivers of children in LLIN recipient households, as well as community health workers, in Buliisa, Hoima and Kiboga districts in Uganda, 25–29 months following a LLIN mass campaign distribution. A triangulation approach to data analysis was taken, incorporating thematic analysis, most significant change and positive deviance.ResultsThe factors found to be most influential in encouraging long-term LLIN use were positive experience of net use prior to the distribution, and appreciation or awareness of a range of benefits arising from their use, including protection from malaria as well as importantly, other health, lifestyle, social and economic benefits. Social support from within the community was also identified as an important factor in determining continued use of LLINs. Net use appeared to be more consistent amongst settled urban and rural communities, compared with fishing, pastoralist, refugee and immigrant communities.ConclusionsA multitude of interplaying factors encouraged consistent LLIN use in this setting. Whilst the protection of malaria remains a powerful motivator, social and behaviour change (SBC) strategies should also capitalize on the non-malaria benefits of net use that provide a long-term rationale for consistent use. Where supplies are available, SBC campaigns should promote replacement options, emphasizing ongoing net care and replacement as a household responsibility, thus reducing dependence on free distributions. The triangulation approach to qualitative data analysis enabled increased confidence in the validity of findings and an enhanced contextual understanding of the factors promoting consistent net use in mid-western Uganda. The approach should be considered when designing future studies to explore factors driving net retention and use trends.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12936-016-1101-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Empoderamiento pacifista para otros mundos posibles

El presente articulo de contenido analitico, tiene como objetivo interpretar algunos elementos considerados importantes para el analisis del empoderamiento pacifista. Se inicia con los antecedentes teoricos y practicos que sobre el empoderamiento en general se han presentado en America Latina y en Mexico a partir de los planteamientos de Paulo Freire, asi como de las comprensiones que sobre el concepto se han expuesto desde los enfoques filosofico, participativo, de genero, social y del desarrollo. En funcion del objetivo y del objeto de investigacion, el articulo se encuadra en la metodologia cualitativa de tipo hermeneutico que nos permite identificar, describir, analizar y reflexionar sobre el empoderamiento pacifista, partiendo de informaciones textuales y categorias propias de la Investigacion para la paz, examinando la bibliografia explicita sobre el tema. El enfoque cualitativo de la investigacion se complemento con la tecnica de la observacion y del dialogo que sobre el tema enseno Francisco Munoz en su ultimo viaje a Mexico. En la primera parte se exponen de manera general los resultados de la aparicion y enfoques del termino empoderamiento y su aplicacion. Se discute el concepto convencional para comprender las semejanzas y las diferencias con el empoderamiento pacifista. En la segunda parte se aborda el enfoque del empoderamiento pacifista teniendo como sustento teorico los estudios para la paz y de manera particular los planteamientos de Munoz y sus coautores. Se esbozan algunas comprensiones sobre el tema y se concluye que el concepto de empoderamiento pacifista se encuentra en construccion teorica desde las perspectivas de los estudios de la paz, y su enunciado se propone como un saber-hacer transformador del sujeto y de la accion colectiva para decidir e incidir en condiciones de violencia estructural, cultural, de genero o de cualquier condicion como estrategia de cambio social no violento para construir otros mundos mas pacificos.

Heeding the Call: Advances in Social Work Intervention Research

Heeding the Call: Advances in Social Work Intervention Research

Pawns or power players: the grounds on which adults dismiss or defend youth organizers in the USA

ABSTRACTOver the last two decades, youth organizing has emerged as an important strategy for social change, particularly within education policy; however, the ability of youth to influence policy is limited by the tendency of adults in positions of power to find reasons to distrust, discredit, or otherwise ignore them. This paper draws on interviews with 31 adult civic leaders in one American city to discern their views on a particular youth organizing group, Philadelphia Student Union (PSU), and to uncover the grounds on which they either dismiss or defend its work. Findings show that the tendency to doubt or deny the voices of youth organizers is not concentrated within any one institutional setting; that the most common reason for doubting or distrusting SFE's work is the belief that adult organizers manipulate the youth members; and that every reason adults offer to dismiss the youth organizers can be matched by a different reason other adults give to defend them, their work, and their place in the policy sphere. Implications for youth organizing groups, their adult allies, policy-makers, and the field are discussed.

Decongesting the Dodgy Hub: The Role of Mass Media in Curtailing Illicit Drug Trafficking and Use in Nigeria

Trafficking and use of illicit drugs have become a deadly plague unleashing social and health hazards on the human race. The problem is more prevalent in the developing nations, while Nigeria is one of the most affected African countries. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has acknowledged this fact. Despite efforts by the Nigerian anti-drug abuse agencies, the rate of drug-related crimes in the country seems to persist. This paper, after presenting some statistics on the prevalence of drug problems in Nigeria, suggests that the nation's mass media should be more aggressively involved in fighting trafficking and use of illicit drugs in the country. With the Agenda-Setting theory as the theoretical framework, the paper discusses different social change strategies that the Nigerian mass media could adopt to fight drug-related vices. However, the researchers recommend that these media campaigns should be effectively complemented with other communication approaches.

REPENSAR LA EDUCACIÓN Y EL DESARROLLO AFRICANO EN CLAVE DE GÉNERO: ESTUDIO CENTRADO EN EL ESTADO DE LA EDUCACIÓN EN MOZAMBIQUE

Esta comunicación se contextualiza en una serie de investigaciones llevadas a cabo en el marco de proyectos de cooperación al desarrollo en Mozambique y una Tesis doctoral. Tales proyectos tienen como objetivo común aproximarse al estado de la educación del país basándose en criterios de equidad y justicia social. Derivado del anterior proceso investigador se detectan diversos problemas educativos, son especialmente llamativos aquellos relacionados con la desigualdad de género y la educación. La finalidad de este artículo es repensar la educación y el desarrollo en clave de género bajo una mirada africanapostcolonial. En consonancia con esta finalidad se pretende: a) construir una perspectiva de género postcolonial y africana; b) incluir dicha perspectiva en las acciones de educación y desarrollo; c) plantear el empoderamiento feminista como estrategia educativa para el cambio social. La metodología responde a la habitual en investigaciones sociales, críticas y cualitativas, definida como etnografía crítica y feminista para la acción social. Este proceso comienza con el estudio del estado de la educación de las niñas en Mozambique –incluye análisis del profesorado y de las mujeres activistas de la sociedad civil-; continúa contrastando la educación de las niñas con la inclusión de un enfoque de género postcolonial y africano, previamente construido a partir del amplio estudio documental y bibliográfico. Por último, los resultados y conclusiones previstos responden a la construcción de una pedagogía feminista y transformadora que tenga en cuenta las lógicas postcoloniales y contra-hegemónicas. Aquí, la educación se impone como un importante recurso feminista para desmontar los imaginarios patriarcales normalizados en nuestras sociedades, y donde la formación del profesorado es una importante estrategia de acción.

How ‘Empowerment’ May Miss Its Mark: Gender Equality Policies and How They are Understood in Women’s NGOs

Women’s NGOs are key players in the struggle to gain gender equality around the world. Motivated by a concern about the lack of progress in achieving gender equality on a global scale, the purpose of the study was to investigate the agendas and conceptualizations of women’s NGOs for gaining gender equality, and to find out to what extent they identified with feminist strategies for social change. This paper is focused on the intersection of how women’s NGOs conceptualise and deliver action towards gender equality and why gender inequality is still a major global social problem. The key mechanism for inquiry in this paper is the interrogation of how the concept of ‘empowerment’ in contemporary gender equality policies and programs, which are largely carried out by women’s NGOs, has emerged as a possible counter force to achieving gender equality. Given that ‘empowerment’ frames contemporary gender equality policy at all levels of governance (local, national and global), the study explored its impact on the progress of achieving gender equality from the women’s NGO perspective. The survey data revealed tensions between the wide range of feminist agendas of the NGOs and the limitations of the current empowerment paradigm. These tensions are between predominantly individualised empowerment processes and the much broader structural and other feminist objectives of how the NGOs understood gender equality as a concept and about how it could be achieved in practice.

The Boundaries of Social Transformation through Litigation: Women's and LGBT Rights in Israel, 1970–2010

The global expansion of judicial power and the rise of litigation as a vehicle for social transformation are two conspicuous social phenomena that are subject to intensive research by social scientists and lawyers alike. One of the most hotly debated questions in this regard relates to the potential value of law in general, and litigation in particular, as a strategy for social change. This article examines the question by comparing the struggle for equality in Israel by two groups – women's rights activists and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activists – between 1970 and 2010. The struggles of women and LGBT people for equality have many shared characteristics, since both challenge the traditional conservative patriarchal social model. In Israeli society, moreover, both LGBT rights activists and women's equality activists faced the same political rivals: the powerful macho-type socio-political mentality, rooted in the central status of the military in Israeli society, and the strong hold of Jewish ultra-orthodox parties in the political system. The strategies that the two groups adopted to overcome these obstacles, however, were markedly different. While women's groups adopted an elitist strategy of struggle that concentrated on legal measures, LGBT rights groups adopted a variety of strategies that emphasised grassroots political tactics. The article examines the success of each group in achieving its political objectives by using cross-country comparative indexes of LGBT and women's rights. I argue that the comparison between the two groups points to the relative weaknesses of legal and litigation-centred strategies as vehicles for social transformation.

Mediating Influences: Problematising facilitated digital self-representation

Abstract While Digital Storytelling has been lauded as an exemplary model of participatory cultural citizenship (particularly in initiatives for and with marginalised people), many mediating influences make ‘authentic’ self-representation far from straightforward. In this article, I consider some of these mediating influences, from both theoretical and practical perspectives, and underline their regulatory and constitutive nature. While some of these mediating influences are timeworn and pre-date digital technology, others are perpetuated and amplified, as is the case in networked personal storytelling disseminated online. I draw on some well-established strategies derived from anthropology and narrative practices to propose a new purpose for old tools. These tools support the nuanced and sensitive facilitation of both face-to-face and online Digital Storytelling workshops as well as the curation of web spaces in which they eventually circulate. I argue that making complex mediating influences visible to participants affords redress of the inherent social and technical privileges of institutions, facilitators and platforms. Finally, I consider the implications of these strategies for voice, marginalised identity, cultural citizenship and social change.

La dialogicidad como supuesto ontológico y epistemológico en Psicología Social: reflexiones a partir de la Teoría de las Representaciones Sociales y la Pedagogía de la Liberación

This article discusses the role of dialogicity in the construction of a critical and emancipatory Social Psychology from an interactionist or genetic perspective of the Social Representations Theory. For this purpose we establish connections between the Social Representations Theory of Serge Moscovici and the Pedagogy of Liberation of Paulo Freire. In general both theories consider dialogicity an existential condition of human beings, i.e., one that permeates the ontological, epistemological and ethical fields of human praxis. Said category does not deny the tension and conflict of human relations; on the contrary, it comprehends that these characteristics are what make it possible to articulate dialogical strategies for social change.

Improving Nutritional Health of the Public through Social Change: Finding Our Roles in Collective Action.

Improving the nutritional health of the public continues to be a major challenge. Our mission of advancing health through food and nutrition has become increasingly complex, particularly as food environments shape the availability, affordability, and social acceptability of food and nutrition "choices". Promoting nutritional health requires that dietitians expand our knowledge in understanding the determinants of healthy eating and of social change strategies that advocates for and acts on improving food environments. While no single strategy can solve the challenges of public health nutrition, we can each identify unique strengths and opportunities. If we practice in complementary ways, using those strengths for collective action will make us stronger together toward social change supporting improved nutritional health of the public.

Justicia social de medios: el caso del movimiento Ocupa

Usando la rúbrica investigativa tomada del marxismo autonomista, este artículo toma el movimiento Ocupa como caso de estudio y examina sus antecedentes históricos, la composición de sus actores sociales, sus repertorios de comunicaciones y estrategias de cambio social. Mis hallazgos sugieren que el movimiento Ocupa fue significativo, no por su contribución al cambio político, sino por su contribución a las comunicaciones democráticas. El movimiento Ocupa representó un nuevo punto de inflexión en la comunicación para la justicia social, en el que el movimiento mismo dirigió sus propios medios, reduciendo, por un tiempo, la dependencia de los grupos de justicia social de los medios comerciales dominantes. Usando una aproximación transmediática, y empezando con la creación de unas comunicaciones compartidas en un reclamado espacio público, convergieron en el movimiento Ocupa muchos grupos diferentes de justicia social que emplearon una panoplia de viejos y nuevos repertorios comunicativos.

The Impact of Legal Inequality on Relational Power in Planned Lesbian Families

Lesbian families have the potential to create families unmarked by the inequalities of power often found in cross-sex relationships. Yet, based on interviews with 27 women with children in such relationships, we find that living in a state that legally restricts the rights of nonbirth parents to child contact if the couple relationship dissolves severely undermines this possibility. Nonbirth parents engaged in three fear-induced strategies that were at odds with these couples’ desire for equitable partnership: acquiescing to the birth mother’s wishes; making themselves financially, emotionally, and legally indispensable; and using communities to police partners’ behavior and ensure accountability. As a result, the potential for such families to model egalitarian family forms that would help destabilize established gender patterns is diminished. We conclude by pointing to the importance of galvanizing to remove the remaining laws prohibiting second-parent adoption and by discussing strategies for social change.

Investigación acción con estudiantes de integración social. Una experiencia basada en la relación educativa

The crisis which we live, has prompted an explosion of citizen participation in the collective space. This requires a positive reaction by the educational community and involves a new strategy for social change from the class group, from exploratory and research methodologies that require the dynamic action of individuals. This work is also the main motivations and interests of the students of Higher Level Training Course in Social Integration with the intention of describing a profile and to him the contributions made by the educational relationship. These studies are unknown to most but between their curricular objectives, aims to develop the autonomy of people with a clear allusion to the dynamism in the local space (Arriaga, 2007). We encourage this methodology supported proposals Navarro and Puig (2010), in this respect by stating that the effectiveness of the curriculum are linked to the charisma and affection with which the educator connect achieve the group classroom learning are more effective when the commitment and involvement of teachers are associated with the objectives of the curriculum, since the proximity in the same plane enables the detection of risks, promotes interaction and potentially a key positive development climate projective transform reality and social from the classroom.

The Boundaries of Social Transformation Through Litigation: Women's and Gay Rights in Israel, 1970-2010

The global expansion of judicial power and the rise of litigation as a vehicle for social transformation are two conspicuous social phenomena that are subject to intensive research by social scientists and lawyers alike. One of the most hotly debated questions in this regard relates to the potential value of law in general, and litigation in particular, as a strategy for social change. This article examines the question by comparing the struggle for equality by two groups - women’s rights activists and gay rights activists - in Israel during the 1990’s. The struggles of women and gay people for equality have many shared characteristics, since both challenge the traditional conservative patriarchal social model. In Israeli society, moreover, both gay rights’ activists and women’s equality activists faced the same political rival: the powerful macho-type socio-political mentality, rooted in the central status of the military in Israeli society and the strong hold of Jewish ultra-orthodox parties in the political system. The strategies that the two groups adopted to overcome these obstacles, however, were markedly different. While women’s groups adopted an elitist strategy of struggle that concentrated on legal measures, gay rights’ groups adopted a variety of strategies that emphasized grassroots political tactics. The article examines the success of each group in achieving its political objectives, and argues that the comparison between them indicates the relative weaknesses of legal and litigation-centered strategies as vehicles for social transformation.

Interdisciplinary professional education

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to provide a rationale for developing interprofessional competencies among graduates from professional and graduate programs, so that they are well prepared to participate in local, national and global social change strategies.Design/methodology/approach– After reviewing the literature on strategic social change initiatives the authors briefly describe two such initiatives: corporate social responsibility initiatives and social entrepreneurial ventures. After reviewing the interprofessional literature from various disciplines and professions, the authors categorized them into “competencies,” “rationale,” “conceptual framework,” “principles” and “challenges.” An examination of exemplar pedagogy from this body of literature suggests ways to prepare students to lead and actively participate in innovative, collaborative social change initiatives.Findings– Interdisciplinary competencies include teamwork, communication, contextual understanding, negotiation, critical thinking, leadership, openness and adaptability. Interprofessional educational models are difficult to implement, however, ethical responsibility of educators to prepare students for complex realities trumps the challenges.Practical implications– Interprofessional educational experiences can enable students to engage in generative and transformational learning which can later facilitate in creation of innovative solutions for society's recalcitrant physical, social and environmental issues.Originality/value– Based on the system's perspective, the paper provides guidelines and strategies for implementing interprofessional pedagogical initiative.

Aspirations for a cooperative community and support for mental health advocacy: a shared orientation through opinion‐based group membership

AbstractThis research examines the role of aspirations for cooperative relations between people with mental disorders and other community members in influencing commitment to stigma‐reducing practices and promoting positive social change. Two studies demonstrated that a measure of aspirations for a cooperative community is distinct from social and community identification measures and strongly predicts positive beliefs and behavioral intentions. Findings support the proposal that these aspirations reflect a shared ideology for members of an opinion‐based group that support mental health advocacy. The findings provide evidence that the aspirations construct adds to knowledge about collective identities and offers a useful tool for designing stigma reduction and social‐change strategies for the benefit of people with mental disorders.

Advocacy as a Strategy for Social Change: A Qualitative Analysis of the Perceptions of UN and Non-UN Development Workers

AbstractAdvocacy is an important strategy in achieving change in international development programming. Different aid agencies design and implement advocacy programmes to influence the political cl...

Wisconsin’s Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families: Application of the Maternal and Child Health Life Course Perspective Through a Regional Funding Initiative

National experts are calling for more integrated approaches such as the life course perspective to reduce health disparities and achieve greater health equity. The translation and application of the life course perspective is therefore of great interest to public health planners, policy makers and funders to promote community-wide improvements in maternal and child health. However, few organizations have applied the life course perspective in designing strategic funding initiatives. For over three decades, Wisconsin has observed persistent racial disparities in birth outcomes. This complex public health issue led to the development of the Lifecourse Initiative for Health Families, a regional multi-million dollar funding initiative created and supported by the Wisconsin Partnership Program of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (Created by the UW SMPH from an endowment following the conversion of Blue Cross Blue Shield United of Wisconsin, the Partnership Program makes investments in research, education, and public health and prevention initiatives that improve health and reduce health disparities in the state.). Over a 2-year period, the program funded four collaboratives to adopt a life course perspective and develop strategic plans for improving African American birth outcomes. The Twelve-point plan to close the black-white gap in birth outcomes provided the framework for the planning process. Despite the conceptual challenges, the life course perspective was embraced by the collaboratives, challenged community assumptions on the root causes of poor birth outcomes and provided a unifying funding construct for organizing and planning complementary individual-level interventions with social and physical environmental change strategies. These integrated and complimentary approaches provide a long-term opportunity to address the persistent racial birth outcome disparity in Wisconsin.