Narrative Themes Research Articles

Improving quality of support and staff culture in a supported living service: a practice example of tier 1 positive behaviour support

Purpose This paper aims to describe the approach taken to identify areas for development and to enhance positive practice, in line with a preventative tier 1 positive behaviour support (PBS) approach. The work was conducted within a supported living service, where 10 individuals with a learning disability reside. Design/methodology/approach The intervention was provided through a dedicated behavioural clinical specialist role over nine months. An initial assessment included measures evaluating PBS, active support and staff culture. Narrative themes were also noted from discussions with staff to deepen the understanding of informal staff culture. Together, this informed a programme of work guided by the setting of both individual and service-wide goals. Input included practice leadership, staff training, review of PBS plans and delivery of case workshops. Assessments were then repeated to evaluate the work completed. Findings There were indications of improvements in staff culture and practice following the intervention. Originality/value This practice example may be useful for other organisations to consider when thinking about how to use resources effectively to improve people’s quality of life and implement tier 1 of PBS provision.

THAT’S ANTHROPOLOGY: CONFRONTING AGEISM AND STUDENT DISCOMFORT IN SERVICE LEARNING

Abstract Undergraduate anthropology majors participated in a 15-hour, semester-long service-learning project at an adult day and health care center during Spring 2024. While a research-based model of intergenerational service-learning has been incorporated in the undergraduate gerontology program curriculum at UNC Charlotte for 25 years, this was the first time anthropology undergraduates engaged in intergenerational research as part of their senior seminar. With no prior coursework in gerontology, and limited intergenerational experiences, anthropology senior seminar students began the semester with uncertainty and ageist biases. The founding director of the gerontology program, a professor emerita of anthropology, guided students’ practical development by providing lectures, leading exercises, and facilitating discussions throughout the semester. During the course, the students learned about and confronted complex presentations of ageism. Their time at the day center involved socializing with participants, assisting staff, creating and tending a therapeutic garden, working with participants to create memory boxes, and building rapport. These steps were essential for building a reciprocal, collaborative intergenerational research relationship that integrates anthropological pedagogy. We suggest their initial resistance to this work is the result of age segregation and internalized sociocultural narratives of ageism, as well as misguided expectations of the frustrating, messy, challenging reality of undertaking anthropological research using participant observation. Consistent narrative themes of unprecedented gratitude, personal growth, and learning about ageism emerged from student field notes, class discussions, and written reflections. This program evaluation presents novel insights for future integration of intergenerational programming and gerontological knowledge into anthropological pedagogy.

Mediatization of Artificial Intelligence Concept in the Russian Language Media Discourse: Corpus-Based Approach

Based on corpus-assisted discourse analysis, the paper studies the mediatization of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the Russian-language media discourse as a construe technique that shapes AI perception and evaluation as a concept of new social reality. The paper reveals linguistic portraying of the AI concept in Russian digital media corpus, construed by business-oriented outlets Kommersant, Vedomosti, RBC, and popular media resources, such as Lenta.ru, Argumenty i Fakty, Komsomolskaya Pravda. Corpus-assisted discourse analysis comprises aims to extract the quantitative parameters of texts and establish their correlations with content parameters; define the themes of narratives about AI, which determine its discursive interpretation, and describe their distribution across the Russian-language news digital corpus; define discursive strategies used for designing the image of AI. The quantitative characteristics of the texts construing AI imagery in the corpus under study point to the prevalence of small and moderate size texts, which is explained by the pragmatics of informing a broad lay audience on advancement and development of AI without initiating any public discussions. The thematic distribution analysis showed domination of “Positive AI capabilities” and “AI development and Investments”, whereas “Impending danger” and “Negative AI capabilities” are covered infrequently. Argumentation in the explanatory and prognostic strategies introduces the topoi of inevitability, necessity, and rivalry in AI development. The explanatory strategy expands on the nature of AI, its functions and potential. The prognostic strategy delivers information on the development and advancement of AI technology, portraying efficiency scenarios, but only a tiny fraction of the texts warn about the negative consequences of AI. The novelty of the results lies in the establishment of contradictory mediatization of the AI concept, which, on the one hand, is aimed at depicting its positive portrayal and capability of bringing social and economic benefits. On the other hand, it contains a warning about its potential dangers and risks if the spheres of its application expand.

Illuminating the Cinematic Palette: A Comparative Analysis of Lightning Techniques and their Emotional Impact in Horror Films

Aim of the Study: This study investigates the critical role of lighting and its ability to establish mood and enhance emotional responses. The study examines how these elements contribute to the defining characteristics of the horror genre, including tension, fear, and suspense. Methodology: The research employs a comparative analysis of lighting techniques, using case studies from iconic horror films to illustrate their application and effect. This approach combines qualitative analysis of visual elements with a theoretical exploration of their psychological and emotional impact on audiences. Findings: The study reveals that specific lighting techniques play a pivotal role in emphasizing narrative themes such as isolation, horror, anxiety, and suspense. Techniques like low-key lighting and the interplay of shadows amplify feelings of unease, while color temperature and light direction heighten emotional intensity. Additionally, it uncovers how modern lighting innovations are shaping the visual language of horror films, catering to evolving audience expectations and cultural nuances. Conclusion: The study concludes that lighting is an essential tool in the horror genre, directly impacting both the emotional involvement of the audience and the overall narrative atmosphere. With an examination of current lighting trends and their use across various subgenres and cultural contexts, the study offers valuable insights into the evolving techniques in cinematic horror, benefiting filmmakers, scholars, and enthusiasts alike.

O papel do destinador transcendente nos acontecimentos

Throughout this paper, we propose a more accurate reflection on the Addresser function, extending it from the narrative universe to recent studies of unexpected events. Our starting point is the fact that the same phenomenon can be considered impactful for some and indifferent, or even non-existent, for others. Just as the narrative subject recognizes their object of pursuit by the values that accentuate and set it apart from other objects in the world, this “valuation” being the result of the persuasive actions of a trustworthy addresser, the subject struck by the so-called unexpected event can only distinguish it as such if they are able to glimpse in its core individual values, or parts of them, that have already been transmitted to them by one of their addressers sometime in their lives. In fact, the entire event presents itself as an unprecedented arrangement of these values apprehended in isolation by the subject, an arrangement that tends to be deciphered later on, in the transition from the affective impact to its intellectual resolution. It is within this interval that the subject shows astonishment. In the absence of an addresser capable of preparing them to identify these pertinent values and even to equip them with unknown (or transcendent) values, we would not have any event at all.

Grandfamily Origin Narratives: Examining Grandparent Caregivers’ Retrospective Storytelling of Family Formation Through Communicated Narrative Sense-Making Theory

SYNOPSIS Objective. This study examined grandparent caregivers’ identity construction and emotional story framing by applying the retrospective storytelling heuristic of communicated narrative sense-making theory (CNSM) to grandfamily origin stories. Design. In interviews with 33 grandparent caregivers who self-identified as the primary caregiver to one or more grandchildren in the last year, participants were asked to share the story of how they became a grandparent-headed household, also called “grandfamily.” Thematic narrative analysis was used to uncover narrative themes, and deductive coding was used for story framing. Results. Four identity themes characterized grandparent caregiver sense-making: 1) safe-haven caregiver, 2) collaborative caregiver, 3) second-chance caregiver, and 4) disenfranchised caregiver. Deductive coding revealed that the emotional framing of most stories was ambivalent, but some stories used redemptive or contaminated story frames. Conclusions. The study highlights how grandparent caregivers make sense of origin stories through their caregiving identities or roles. Furthermore, the prevalence of ambivalent story framing may be due to the unfinished or uncertain nature of these family narratives.

Where do neighbourhood reputations come from? Analysing Chicago community areas using a systematic neighbourhood reputation score, 1985–2020

A longstanding maxim of urban research is that neighbourhood reputations matter. The subjective narratives and stereotypes about a neighbourhood influence a range of consequential processes, outcomes and inequalities. Yet, there remains considerable ambiguity regarding the primary drivers of the neighbourhood status hierarchy. What are the primary factors responsible for neighbourhood reputations? How and why do reputations change over time? Unfortunately, efforts to answer such questions have been hampered by methodological limitations, most notably the lack of a universal measure allowing comparisons between every neighbourhood in a given city. In an effort to address this shortcoming, this article offers a novel computational approach for generating a systematic measure, which we refer to as a ‘neighbourhood reputation score’. Leveraging a sentiment analysis method to examine every newspaper article published by the Chicago Tribune mentioning at least one of Chicago’s 77 community areas across five decades, we find that neighbourhood reputation scores are negatively associated with the proportion of Black residents in a neighbourhood. Although the strength of the relationship between ethno-racial composition and reputation increases over time, neighbourhoods in Chicago did not experience sufficient compositional shifts to assess whether demographic changes lead to reputational changes. These findings represent the most systematic evidence to date in support of the theory that ethno-racial stigma is the most influential driver of the neighbourhood status hierarchy.

“It was Nothing That was Super Subversive”: Resistance as a Narrative Process in Dialectical Identity Spaces Among Mothers of LGBTQ+ Children in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

ABSTRACT This study examines resistance and identity dialectics among mothers of LGBTQ+ children in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Narrative theme analysis of in-depth interviews with 22 members of Mama Dragons, a nonprofit advocacy organization, revealed voiced identities (Mother, Latter-day Saint, LGBTQ+ Mother, and Dragon/Advocate) conceptualized as existing on a coordinate plane that measures voice (individual or organizational), and ways of knowing (ontological or experiential). Findings advance a view of dialectical resistance that moves beyond current understandings of an alternating control-resistance dialectic, suggesting that the process of resisting happens between storied identities. This study extends the exploration of resistance beyond organizational boundaries, suggesting that where totalistic organizational values bleed into the core identity (e.g. faith values), resistance is undertaken against not only the organization but often formerly held antenarrative versions of the self.

Officers’ Perceptions on Inf luence of Selected Factors on General Service Unit’s Capacity to Contain Terrorism in Kenya

Terrorist attacks have lately been on the increase with security officers being the main target. Despite the preparations that the GSU are undergoing, the intensity of terrorist attacks has continued pointing to the need to investigate the perceptions of officers regarding the various factors that influence their capacity to combat terrorism in Kenya, amid ongoing threats from groups such as Al Shabab. This study was carried out at G.S.U Training School Embakasi, Nairobi, Kenya. Utilizing theory of contingencies, despite various governmental initiatives, Kenya has faced persistent terrorist attacks, prompting a need to explore underlying issues that hinder effective counterterrorism efforts. The study specifically aimed to examine how intra and inter-institutional coordination and intelligence sharing affect the GSU’s operational readiness and response to terrorism. Employing a descriptive research design, data was gathered through questionnaires distributed to a stratified random sample of 120 GSU officers at the GSU Training School in Embakasi, Nairobi, supplemented by secondary sources. The analysis utilized both qualitative and quantitative methods, employing descriptive statistics and thematic narratives to present findings. Results revealed significant lapses in coordination and cooperation in information sharing among national security agencies, which impede the GSU’s effectiveness against terrorist threats. The study underscores the necessity for enhanced strategic intelligence and collaborative frameworks to improve counterterrorism operations in Kenya. Recommendations for developing a more robust counterterrorism strategy for the GSU are provided based on the findings.

Exploration of Elementary School Students' Imagination Through Children's Stories: Creative Thinking Strategies

This study aims to explore how children's stories can influence and improve the creative thinking skills of elementary school students in Indonesia. Imagination as part of the creative thinking process plays a role in developing students' skills. This study uses a case study method with a qualitative approach. Data was collected through open interviews with teachers and students, classroom observations, and analysis of students' creative works after the children's stories were read. The research participants were grade 5 students in one of the elementary schools in Kuningan Regency, West Java, Indonesia. The research activities involved students in rewriting stories with additional imagination, and students' written works were analyzed based on indicators of originality, complexity, and depth of ideas. The results of the study show that writing a retelling based on children's stories can stimulate students' imagination and creativity, which can be seen from the improvement in narrative structure, vocabulary use, and theme development. This research successfully explored how children's stories can influence and improve the creative thinking skills of elementary school students. The findings show that through children's stories, students are not only able to expand their imagination, but also increase the originality, complexity, and depth of ideas in their written work. These results provide an in-depth understanding of the important role of children's stories in stimulating students' creativity, as well as offering valuable insights for curriculum development that support the development of creative thinking skills from an early age.

Wilde Jagd, Ostwind, Westwind, himmlisches Kind

Abstract Winds are fascinating forces of nature, awe-inspiring and devastating when they appear as storms, and therefore a powerful theme in religion, literature and narrative, in music and the arts. Greek-Roman Antiquity personified the winds as nature deities, bearing resemblance to the angels and often represented as embodiments of forceful and tyrannic masculinity. These classical traditions are reflected in their own ways in the visual arts since the Renaissance. In legend and literature from the Middle Ages up to our times, however, winds and storms seem to be preponderantly allied to the dark forces of evil, the devil, wizards and witches, the Wild Hunter, whereas in folktales, the unruly winds appear mostly as helper figures, creating often moments of extraordinary fun.

Exploring the Experiences of Women Academics in England: The Combined Effects of Societal, Structural and Life‐Stage Factors

ABSTRACTThis study explored the experiences of women who are academics working in UK higher education (HE), using a feminist approach and narrative methods and analysis. The purpose of the research was to explore the experiences of women, with a view to highlighting potential shared experiences, informing the policies of universities and adding to the body of knowledge on women in HE. Findings include narrative themes around gender roles, male‐dominated academia and life‐stage impact on career. Concluding recommendations include meaningful recognition of pastoral roles and promotion tracks which value these skills and support for women's life stages, including maternity, motherhood, menopause and sandwich caring.

Exploring the relationship between criminal narrative experience (CNE) and criminal thinking, among sexual offenders

Purpose The criminal narrative experience (CNE) framework posits that criminals’ personal experiences of offending can be differentiated into distinct narrative themes. This study aims to examine whether CNE themes of sexual offenders (SO) was related to particular cognitive distortions (criminal thinking). Additionally, given previously identified psychological differences between child SO and SO that target adults, the study also compared CNE and criminal thinking styles between these SO groups. Design/methodology/approach Twenty-six adult male offenders convicted for sexual crimes completed a survey composed of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (Version 4) and a Criminal Narrative Experience Questionnaire which identified two narrative themes of sexual offending (The Intrepid Professional-Adventurer, IPA; and The Dejected Revenger Victim, DRV). Findings Analyses failed to identify significant relationships between CNE themes and most of the criminal thinking styles. However, offenders reporting the DRV narrative displayed greater fears about the prospect of changing. Additionally, child SO displayed the IPA narrative more than SO that targeted adults. Practical implications The CNE framework can assist practitioners who are working towards a goal of desistance, as the experience of crime from the perspective of the offender is understood through their narrative roles and emotional experience. Identifying an individual’s strongest CNE theme could aid practitioners in identifying and planning interventions which challenge the distorted thinking. Originality/value This study is the first to examine the relationship between CNE and cognitive distortions that enable (re)offending.

Bridging the gap: enhancing orthopaedic outcomes through qualitative research integration.

The evidence base within trauma and orthopaedics has traditionally favoured quantitative research methodologies. Qualitative research can provide unique insights which illuminate patient experiences and perceptions of care. Qualitative methods reveal the subjective narratives of patients that are not captured by quantitative data, providing a more comprehensive understanding of patient-centred care. The aim of this study is to quantify the level of qualitative research within the orthopaedic literature. A bibliometric search of journals' online archives and multiple databases was undertaken in March 2024, to identify articles using qualitative research methods in the top 12 trauma and orthopaedic journals based on the 2023 impact factor and SCImago rating. The bibliometric search was conducted and reported in accordance with the preliminary guideline for reporting bibliometric reviews of the biomedical literature (BIBLIO). Of the 7,201 papers reviewed, 136 included qualitative methods (0.1%). There was no significant difference between the journals, apart from Bone & Joint Open, which included 21 studies using qualitative methods, equalling 4% of its published articles. This study demonstrates that there is a very low number of qualitative research papers published within trauma and orthopaedic journals. Given the increasing focus on patient outcomes and improving the patient experience, it may be argued that there is a requirement to support both quantitative and qualitative approaches to orthopaedic research. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods may effectively address the complex and personal aspects of patients' care, ensuring that outcomes align with patient values and enhance overall care quality.

Developing an mpox risk assessment matrix for social listening and infodemic insights generation

Abstract Issue Any effective response to an infodemic, requires prioritizing public health response on identified narrative themes that pose highest risk to health and well-being of populations. High-risk narratives often require more swift and far-reaching action and low-risk narratives require little or no response. Description of the problem Different countries are assigned different levels of risk to specific narratives or concerns, recognizing that for some issues there may be a large gap between the true public health threat and what is generating lots of conversations, concerns and press coverage that indicate a high degree of risk perception that may be unwarranted. WHO developed a risk matrix to apply to global analysis of questions, concerns and narratives about mpox, which resulted in biweekly infodemic intelligence reports that risk-assessed identified infodemic themes and corresponding recommendations for action. Results Risk assessment criteria were defined in the context of WHO’s global infodemic insights analysis for low, medium and high risk and positive sentiment in mpox global outbreak context before conducting the integrated analysis so that insights were reproducible and infodemic response actions were prioritized. This implemented the WHO/UNICEF training manual on 6 steps to produce an infodemic insights report, which includes tools on how to develop and apply a risk matrix for a specific public health question of concern and apply it in analysis. Lessons The approach resulted in rapid, systematic, reproducible and evidence-driven decision-making to respond to the infodemic accompanying the mpox global outbreak. Risk matrices must be adapted to the context of the public health event and the mandate of the health authority taking action. An mpox risk matrix for narratives included adaptation to reflect high-risk from stigmatizing narratives, as well as narratives circulating around or within LGBTQI+ communities. Key messages • A risk matrix must be developed and adapted to the context of each health emergency and level of health authority action. • Prioritization for rapid infodemic response based on a risk assessment is that it facilitates more effective response in a health emergency.

“I Changed After the Death”: Symptoms of Psychopathology Predict Lower Agency and Communion Themes in Loss Narratives Over 16 Months

Abstract Purpose Some individuals struggle to adjust after the death of a close other. Constructing an adaptive narrative about the loss is important to adjustment but symptoms of psychopathology may interfere with this process. We examined whether psychopathology symptoms measured 2 months after the loss of a spouse or parent predicted loss narratives with lower agency and communion themes as well as more negative emotional tone and self-event connections. Method Participants included 507 adults from the Aarhus Bereavement Study who completed psychopathology symptom measures at 2, 6, 11, and 18 months after the death of their spouse or parent. Symptom measures included prolonged grief disorder (PGD), PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Eighteen months after the death, participants wrote a narrative about the loss and answered questions about its emotional qualities (i.e., tone, self-event connections). The narratives were content coded for agency and communion themes. Results Multiple regressions showed that higher PGD symptoms at 2 months predicted less adaptive loss narratives at 18 months, even after controlling for neuroticism and age. Conclusion Individuals who experience high symptom levels are struggling to construct adaptive loss narratives. This may hinder identity changes needed to accommodate their altered life circumstances.

Oral history in geographischer Forschung: Emotionen und Verlust in Erfahrungsgeschichten ehemaliger Werftarbeiter:innen erforschen

Abstract. This article presents a spatially sensitive approach to the narratives of transformation processes, employing oral history to explore the connection between loss, emotions, and memory in the context of changing shipyard work in East Germany since 1989. The former place of work, the shipyard, serves as a central place where loss, emotions and memory condense. The method of oral history enables the subjective narration of past experiences and forms the basis for recording and analyzing narratives of experiences. Empirically, the article draws on oral history interviews with former shipyard workers to gain deeper insights into their memories, experiences and the emotional impact of the loss or impending loss of their jobs. This research contributes to understanding the social and emotional effects of transformation processes, emphasizing the importance of oral history in incorporating the subjective experiences of those affected in geographical research.

Image of Social World in Metaphors and Narratives of Adults

The image of the social world is a predictor of social behavior and its development during stable social transitivity, i.e., COVID-19 pandemic, economic crises, local military conflicts, etc. It can also be interpreted as a variable linguistic phenomenon. However, very little empirical research has featured its integral structural and content characteristics through the prism of narratives, metaphors, and social representations. The author used the methods of thematic narrative analysis and content analysis of metaphors to identify the narrative constructions used by adult subjects to describe their image of the social world. The data obtained were subjected to frequency analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis. The experiment involved 193 respondents aged 35–49 years old, employed in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia. In their metaphors and narratives, they described the social world as balancing between stability and dynamism, predictability and stochasticity, as well as endowed it with differentiation in the absence of universal laws. The rationality of the metaphors reflected the age identity while the subject of biographical narratives reflected the subjective adaptation to current social processes.

Examining Stakeholders’ Prospects on the Implementation of Equity-Based Strategies in Public Secondary Schools in Tanzania

The desire to address equity issues in the education sector is a shared philosophy by a number of countries, including Tanzania. As a result, Tanzania as a country is striving to address the issue of equity in its education system through the implementation of various equity strategies. This paper therefore sought to examine stakeholders’ prospects on the implementation of equity-based strategies in public secondary schools in Tanzania. Precisely, the interest of the researchers was to explore what was being done in the selected public secondary schools to implement equity-based strategies. A mixed-methods research approach combining both qualitative and quantitative analysis approaches was employed. The study also used a multiple case study design, which allowed the selection of two case study areas i.e. Dodoma City representing the urban setting, and Kondoa district representing the rural setting. A total of One Hundred Forty-Four (144) participants from seven (7) public secondary schools were involved in the study. Data were collected through interviews and questionnaires. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive analysis and presented in numerical and graphical form while qualitative data were analyzed through inductive content analysis and presented in thematic form and narratives. Study findings revealed that the selected study schools were indeed implementing a number of activities towards the realization of equity and thus the prospects for implementing equity based strategies in these schools was found to be positive. For instance, activities such as the use of common and understandable language i.e., English and Kiswahili; ensuring that schools have qualified teaching staff, ensuring a supportive learning environment as well as strengthening and supporting school leadership were being implemented. Nevertheless, the study also noted that the implementation of some key factors critical for realization of equity in the schools such as incentive provision to teachers, use of appropriate technology and use of different learning styles was still weak and thus needed improvement.

Get ready: disaster preparedness and response for people with chronic illnesses living in hazard-prone Petone, Aotearoa New Zealand

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to understand how people living with chronic illness understand their healthcare needs, particularly as they can be disrupted by natural hazards events (e.g. earthquakes, flooding and landslides), which can result in chronic health conditions becoming acute. Research has shown that, because of such disruption, people with chronic illness face the greatest risk of adverse health outcomes during a disaster, placing significant demand on healthcare systems.Design/methodology/approachThe research draws on a narrative analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with eight people who have a chronic illness and live in a hazard-prone location, namely Petone, Lower Hutt, Aotearoa New Zealand.FindingsTwo major narrative themes were identified: “Social Capital”, which included the three subthemes of community, social connection and support and family and friends. Tellers also experienced a strong sense of “Independence”, as demonstrated through seven subthemes that included declaration, defiance, rules, experience, acceptance, responsibility, self-surveillance and self-management.Practical implicationsPractice output from this research includes the development of fit for purpose emergency management policies and other educational resources to ensure equity, access and choice for people with a chronic illness and their communities.Social implicationsThis research produces in-depth knowledge and insight into the preparedness and response needs of people who live with a chronic illness. This is an under-research area in disaster management in Aotearoa New Zealand.Originality/valueRoutine medical treatment for people living with chronic illness can be disrupted by natural hazard events (e.g. earthquakes, flooding and landslides), which can result in chronic health conditions becoming acute. Research has shown that, because of such disruption, the chronically ill face the greatest risk of adverse health outcomes during a disaster, placing significant demand on healthcare. This research investigates how people living with chronic illness experience disaster preparedness and response while residing in a hazard-prone location, namely Petone, Lower Hutt, Aotearoa New Zealand. The study argues that it is imperative to acknowledge the experiences of people with chronic illness as they provide specific insights into their needs during a disaster.