scholarly journals ‘Hiding their troubles’: a qualitative exploration of suicide in Bhutanese refugees in the USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. L. Brown ◽  
T. Mishra ◽  
R. L. Frounfelker ◽  
E. Bhargava ◽  
B. Gautam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Ecology ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Bhutanese Refugees ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Past Experiences

Background.Suicide is a major global health concern. Bhutanese refugees resettled in the USA are disproportionately affected by suicide, yet little research has been conducted to identify factors contributing to this vulnerability. This study aims to investigate the issue of suicide of Bhutanese refugee communities via an in-depth qualitative, social-ecological approach.Methods.Focus groups were conducted with 83 Bhutanese refugees (adults and children), to explore the perceived causes, and risk and protective factors for suicide, at individual, family, community, and societal levels. Audio recordings were translated and transcribed, and inductive thematic analysis conducted.Results.Themes identified can be situated across all levels of the social-ecological model. Individual thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are only fully understood when considering past experiences, and stressors at other levels of an individual's social ecology. Shifting dynamics and conflict within the family are pervasive and challenging. Within the community, there is a high prevalence of suicide, yet major barriers to communicating with others about distress and suicidality. At the societal level, difficulties relating to acculturation, citizenship, employment and finances, language, and literacy are influential. Two themes cut across several levels of the ecosystem: loss; and isolation, exclusion, and loneliness.Conclusions.This study extends on existing research and highlights the necessity for future intervention models of suicide to move beyond an individual focus, and consider factors at all levels of refugees’ social-ecology. Simply focusing treatment at the individual level is not sufficient. Researchers and practitioners should strive for community-driven, culturally relevant, socio-ecological approaches for prevention and treatment.

scholarly journals A Social-Ecological Approach to Identify Facilitators and Barriers of Home Modifications

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 8720
Author(s):  
Carlyn Ellison ◽  
Linda Struckmeyer ◽  
Mahshad Kazem-Zadeh ◽  
Nichole Campbell ◽  
Sherry Ahrentzen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Model ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Home Modifications ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
Facilitators And Barriers ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship

Aging individuals may face difficulty with independently navigating and interacting with their home environment. Evidence-based interventions promoting home modifications are needed to support aging-in-place across the lifespan. This study identified the facilitators and barriers to implementing home modifications from the perspectives of residents and professionals (N = 16). Guided by a social-ecological model, researchers utilized directed content analysis of focus group interviews. While participants discussed facilitators and barriers mainly on the individual level, factors were presented at the relationship, community, and societal level of the model. Overall, the findings suggest a potential for targeted interventions on all levels of the model to promote adoption of home modifications.

Directive Guidance as a Cultural Practice for Learning by Chinese-Heritage Babies

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Su-hua Wang ◽  
Shinchieh Duh
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Early Development ◽  
Filial Piety ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
European American ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Children’S Learning ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Individual

We provide a framework of analysis for Chinese ways of learning that extends beyond the individual level. The theoretical framework focuses on Confucian principles of <i>xiào</i> (孝, filial piety), <i>guăn</i> (管, to govern), and <i>dào dé guān</i> (道德觀, virtues), which leads us to argue that directive guidance as a cultural practice nourishes Chinese-heritage children’s learning as early as in infancy. To illustrate how directive guidance occurs in action for infants, we present an empirical study that examined the interaction of mother-infant dyads in Taipei, Taiwan, when they played with a challenging toy. The dyads co-enacted directive guidance more frequently than their European-American counterparts in the USA – through hand holding, intervening, and collaboration – while infants actively participate in the practice. We discuss the early development of strengths for learning that is fostered through culturally meaningful practices recurrent in parent-infant interaction.

Canada’s changing innovation landscape

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Razib Alam ◽  
Bonwoo Koo ◽  
Brian Paul Cozzarin
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Destination Country ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Patent Classification ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Our objective is to study Canada’s patenting activity over time in aggregate terms by destination country, by assignee and destination country, and by diversification by country of destination. We collect bibliographic patent data from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. We identify 19,957 matched Canada–US patents, 34,032 Canada-only patents, and 43,656 US-only patents from 1980 to 2014. Telecommunications dominates in terms of International Patent Classification technologies for US-only and Canada–US patents. At the firm level, the greatest number of matched Canada–US patents were granted in the field of telecommunications, at the university level in pharmaceuticals, at the government level in control and instrumentation technology, and at the individual level in civil engineering. We use entropy to quantify technological diversification and find that diversification indices decline over time for Canada and the USA; however, all US indices decline at a faster rate.

Winning hearts & minds (!)

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 819-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Efe Tokdemir
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Regime Type ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Individual

Foreign aid is a policy tool implemented with the purpose of fostering both hard and soft power abroad. Yet, previous research has not probed the effects of US foreign aid on public attitudes toward the US in the recipient countries. In this article, I argue that US foreign aid may actually feed anti-Americanism: aid indirectly creates winners and losers in the recipient countries, such that politically discontented people may blame the US for the survival of the prevailing regime. Drawing on Pew Research for Global Attitudes and on USAID Greenbook datasets, I focus on determining both the conditions under which foreign aid exacerbates anti-Americanism and the type of aid most likely to do this. The findings reveal that political losers of the recipient countries are more likely to express negative attitudes toward the USA as the amount of US aid increases, whereas political winners enjoy the results of US aid and view the USA positively accordingly. Moreover, the effect of US aid on attitudes toward the USA is also conditional on the regime type. While US aid increases the likelihood of anti-American attitudes among the losers in non-democratic countries, it decreases the likelihood of anti-Americanism among the losers in democratic ones. This article has important implications for policy in terms of determining how and to whom to provide aid in the context of the possible ramifications of providing aid at the individual level.

Applying the Social Ecological Model to Explore HIV-Related Stigma in the Southeastern United States: A Qualitative Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica L Richards ◽  
Renessa Williams ◽  
Nichole E Stetten ◽  
Shantrel S Canidate ◽  
Angel Algarin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Model ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Social Ecological Model ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Persons Living With Hiv ◽  
The Social ◽  
Related Stigma ◽  
Individual Knowledge

Abstract Background: Although evidence suggests HIV-related stigma directly affects health and behaviors, we have a limited understanding of stigma’s influence beyond the individual-level. We aimed to describe HIV-related stigma and strategies to reduce it in the Southeastern U.S. within the context of the social ecological model (SEM). Methods: Qualitative surveys were distributed in-person at community events, conferences, and via email to persons affected by HIV periodically over 8 months. The final sample size included 87 participants (33 persons living with HIV, 54 without HIV). A directed content analysis was used to code responses into five levels of the SEM (individual, interpersonal, community, institutional, and structural). Results: Multiple themes emerged within each level: Individual – knowledge, fear, internalization; Interpersonal – social network; Community – judgements, discrimination, community organizations, norms; Institutional – competent providers, healthcare services; and Structural – systemic barriers, language, education. Conclusions: The findings exemplify the need for a multi-level approach to intervene and reduce HIV-related stigma. Based on the experiences and suggestions of people affected by HIV, future interventions should include substantial consideration from persons affected by HIV.

Determinants of Sexual Violence Against Married Women: Qualitative Evidence From Ghana

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 107906322091072
Author(s):  
Gervin A. Apatinga ◽  
Eric Y Tenkorang
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Married Women ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Core Idea ◽  
Ghanaian Women

Some evidence suggests that in sub-Saharan Africa, sexual violence is commonplace among married women, yet this problem is underresearched. Using qualitative methods and applying Heise’s social-ecological model, this study examined the experiences of 15 Ghanaian women suffering sexual violence in their marriages. Results from the thematic analysis indicate several determinants of sexual violence. Whereas some participants identified macro-level and exosystem factors, including poverty, others pointed to micro-level and ontogenic factors, such as husbands’ substance abuse. The results corroborate the core idea of Heise’s framework, namely, that structural- and individual-level factors make women vulnerable to violence. The study concludes that Ghanaian legal and policy frameworks must be enforced and strengthened to address the etiology of sexual violence and abuse.

scholarly journals The Production of Merit: How Managers Understand and Apply Merit in the Workplace

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 909-935
Author(s):  
Emilio J. Castilla ◽  
Aruna Ranganathan
Keyword(s):  
Process Model ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Abstract Concept ◽  
Negative Experiences ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Guiding Principle ◽  
Workplace Inequality ◽  
Personal Qualities ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Past Experiences

In this article, we develop a process model that specifies how managers come to understand and approach the evaluation of merit in the workplace. Interviews from a diverse sample of managers and from managers at a U.S. technology company, along with supplemental qualitative online review data, reveal that managers are not blank slates: we find that individuals’ understandings of merit are shaped by their (positive and negative) experiences of being evaluated as employees prior to promotion to management. Our analysis also identifies two distinct managerial approaches to applying merit when evaluating others: the focused approach, in which managers evaluate employees’ work actions quantitatively at the individual level; and the diffuse approach in which managers assess both employees’ work actions and personal qualities, quantitatively and qualitatively, at both the individual and team levels. We further find that, as a result of their different past experiences as subjects of evaluation, individuals who experience mostly negative evaluation outcomes as employees are more likely to adopt a focused approach to evaluating merit, whereas individuals who experience mostly positive evaluation outcomes are more likely to adopt a diffuse approach. Our study contributes to the scholarship on meritocracy and workplace inequality by showing that merit is not an abstract concept but a guiding principle that is produced and reproduced over time based on individuals’ evaluation experiences in the workplace.

Talent development: a systematic literature review of empirical studies

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 75-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Rezaei ◽  
Michael Beyerlein
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Organizational Development ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Talent Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Development Interventions ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Individual

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify and examine findings from empirical research regarding organizations’ talent development (TD) strategies, taking into consideration the countries in which the studies were conducted and the TD-approach organizations adopted, and recognize the positive outcomes of TD implementation, as well as potential issues and challenges. Design/methodology/approach This systematic literature review used Garrard’s matrix method to organize the review of publications. It identified 31 empirical articles from the total of 551 publications. Findings The findings indicate that a majority of the studies were conducted in countries other than the USA and that they were all published recently, after 2007. The results show that organizations have mostly applied organizational development interventions at the individual level for developing talented employees, followed by formal training and development. Additionally, managerial issues were identified as the most common issue on the way of implementing TD interventions. Research limitations/implications Trying to define TD as a discrete concept from HRD could be considered as both differentiating the current literature review and a limitation. Originality/value This article is among the first to identify TD interventions through a systematic literature review and provides a model of TD’s intervention antecedents and outcomes for the follow-up empirical works.

scholarly journals Predicting the Future: Art and Algorithms

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 893-911
Author(s):  
Akos Rona-Tas
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Consumer Credit ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Past ◽  
Predictive Algorithms ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Political Governance

Abstract Predictive algorithms are replacing the art of human judgement in rapidly growing areas of social life. By offering pattern recognition as forecast, predictive algorithms mechanically project the past onto the future, embracing a peculiar notion of time where the future is different in no radical way from the past and present, and a peculiar world where human agency is absent. Yet, prediction is about agency, we predict the future to change it. At the individual level, the psychological literature has concluded that in the realm of predictions, human judgement is inferior to algorithmic methods. At the sociological level, however, human judgement is often preferred over algorthms. We show how human and algorithmic predictions work in three social contexts—consumer credit, college admissions and criminal justice—and why people have good reasons to rely on human judgement. We argue that mechanical and overly successful local predictions can result in self-fulfilling prophecies and, eventually, global polarization and chaos. Finally, we look at algorithmic prediction as a form of societal and political governance and discuss how it is currently being constructed as a wide net of control by market processes in the USA and by government fiat in China.

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