scholarly journals Engaging Men Across the Violence Prevention Continuum

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-216
Author(s):  
Brian Hansen ◽  
Lana Wells ◽  
Caroline Claussen

Men have a role to play in the prevention of violence against women; however, there is increasing awareness that the social service sector has failed to adequately engage men in violence prevention programming and advocacy. This study used semi-structured interviews to explore the challenges that a sample of Canadian violence prevention practitioners and organizations face in engaging men in preventing violence and generating practice recommendations for what is needed to better equip practitioners. At an organizational level, findings indicate that more capacity-building around emerging research, strategies, and tools in working with and engaging men in the prevention of violence is required. Challenges around recruiting male staff, in what is primarily considered a female-dominated profession, were also noted. Practitioners also discussed the role of masculine gender norms as barriers to men’s help-seeking and engagement in violence prevention advocacy. Recommendations include expanding social work curriculum and training to include information and resources on working with men, as well as increased research on best and promising practices to support organizations and practitioners in their engagement efforts.

Author(s):  
Filippo Oncini

AbstractCOVID-19 has brought to light the severity of economic inequalities by testing the capacity of the poorest families to make ends meet. Food insecurity has in fact soared all over the UK, with many people forced to rely on food support providers to not go hungry. This paper uses a unique dataset on 55 food support organizations active in Greater Manchester during the first COVID-19 wave, and 41 semi-structured interviews with food aid spokespersons and stakeholders, to shed light on what they overcame, the complications and drawbacks of the food emergency response plan put in place. The results indicate that food aid organizations that remained open were surprisingly effective despite the growth in user demand and the decrease in volunteers. However, the necessity to maintain a timely supply food at all costs came with important drawbacks. The lockdown measures that followed COVID-19 not only affected the financial stability and management of the organizations, and the availability of food, but undermined the ways in which food support providers used to operate. Owing to physical distancing measures and to the increasing numbers of users, more or less intangible forms of support such as financial advice, empathic listening and human warmth were partially lost, probably when they were needed more than ever.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e025813
Author(s):  
Charlotte Cadge ◽  
Charlotte Connor ◽  
Sheila Greenfield

ObjectiveTo explore lay understanding and perceptions of schizophrenia in university students.DesignQualitative study using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis.SettingThe University of Birmingham, West Midlands.Participants20 UK home students of white British (n=5), Indian (n=5), Pakistani (n=5), African Caribbean (n=4) and dual white British and African Caribbean ethnicity (n=1).ResultsFindings revealed a lack of knowledge about schizophrenia, particularly the negative symptoms that were not mentioned. There were mixed ideas on the causes and sources of available help for schizophrenia; however, positively many said they would consult their general practitioner. While there was a general misconception among the students that schizophrenia caused multiple personalities and was a dangerous illness, there were some differences in perceptions and understanding between ethnic groups, with more Indian students perceiving upbringing as a causal factor in the development of the illness and more Pakistani students perceiving possession by a spirit as a cause.ConclusionsThe university students interviewed lacked knowledge about schizophrenia and stigma was widespread, both of which may delay help-seeking. Public health campaigns educating young people about schizophrenia are required to improve early identification and intervention and improve outcomes. Further research exploring ways to effectively tackle stigma is also required.


Author(s):  
Amalia De Leo ◽  
Eloisa Cianci ◽  
Paolo Mastore ◽  
Caterina Gozzoli

The COVID-19 pandemic put the Italian health system under great stress. The sudden reorganization of work practices and the emotional impact of the large number of the victims had many consequences on the well-being of the healthcare professionals (HCPs) involved in managing the crisis. In the available literature, most studies have focused on the risk aspects while only few studies also take into account protective factors. For this reason, it was decided to conduct, within psycho-sociological perspective, a qualitative study with the aim to explore in depth the protective and risk factors as experienced by HCPs who worked in the Italian healthcare system during the COVID-19 outbreak. A total of 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted with HCPs–9 nurses and 10 physicians (7M and 12F) with an average age of 43 (SD = 13.4)–selected using snowball sampling. Considering three different levels of analysis the results highlight the protective and risk factors: personal history level (intrinsic/ethical motivation and flexible role versus extrinsic motivation and static role), interpersonal level (perception of supportive relationships with colleagues, patients, and family versus bad relationships), and organizational level (good leadership and sustainable work purpose versus absence of support from management and undefined or confused tasks).


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Pessoa de Queiroz Falcão ◽  
Michel Mott Machado ◽  
Eduardo Picanço Cruz ◽  
Caroline Shenaz Hossein

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to investigate how social integration, immigrant networks and barriers to ventureing affect the entrepreneurial activities of Brazilians in Canada, indicating how mixed embeddedness takes place in that context.Design/methodology/approachData were collected in Toronto, through the application of a survey with 74 Brazilian entrepreneur respondents and 42 semi-structured interviews with selected subjects, thus representing a multi-method approach. The analysis included descriptive statistics from the survey data and a qualitative analysis of the trajectories and life stories of Brazilian immigrants.FindingsOur sample comprises respondents with a high level of education and proficiency in English, coming predominantly from the southeast of Brazil, white, aged from 30 to 49. The majority of businesses are small and related to the service sector. The article contributes to the literature by discussing the elements related to mixed embeddedness, including the need for cultural adaptation and for the creation of networks as a crucial element for business venturing.Research limitations/implicationsThe study focuses on entrepreneurs regardless of their businesses sector or formality/informality status. It could be used as an instrument to support Canadian public policies for welcoming Brazilians and for the Brazilian government to prevent the evasion of potential entrepreneurs.Originality/valueThe article contributes to the body of knowledge of immigrant entrepreneurship in Canada and of Brazilian entrepreneurship overseas. The results suggest factors that may be relevant to the expansion of their business, such as social networking, cultural embeddedness and adaptation of the products/services to a wider range of target customers.


Author(s):  
Renato J. Orsato ◽  
Simone R. Barakat ◽  
José Guilherme F. de Campos

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how organizational learning (OL) affects the development of anticipatory adaptation to climate change in companies. Because the need to learn increases in circumstances of greater uncertainty such as the case of climate change, one of the processes that can explain different levels of anticipatory adaptation to climate change (AACC) by companies is OL. Design/methodology/approach The research uses a case study design. Following the procedures of qualitative sampling, an exemplary case of organizational adaptation to climate change in a sector that is extremely affected by the impacts of weather events was chosen. Empirical data collection includes semi-structured interviews and the collection of private and public documents. Such data were analyzed through thematic analysis. Findings The process of OL for anticipatory adaptation to climate change presents substantial differences from the traditional OL process presented by the specialized literature. In particular, the concepts of single- and double-loop learning were challenging to fit into the learning processes required for AACC. Originality/value Organizations have historically been working towards the adaption to external unforeseen events, but anticipatory adaptation to climate change presents new challenges and requires new forms of learning. Previous research has examined the interplay between learning and climate change adaptation, especially at the inter-organizational level. By developing research at the organizational level, this paper addresses a gap in the literature and shows that the required learning to adapt to climate change differs from the traditional learning, described in the management literature.


2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Vinyard ◽  
Colleen Mullally ◽  
Jaimie Beth Colvin

National statistics indicate that academic libraries are experiencing declines in reference transactions, but the references services in some libraries continue to thrive. While many studies explore reasons that students do not seek assistance from librarians, there is limited research explaining why students do ask for help. The authors conducted a study to answer two questions: (1) How do undergraduate students look for information? (2) What prompted the students to seek out help from a librarian? To answer these questions, the authors conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students who had received reference assistance. An important theme that emerged from the interviews was students’ preferences to search independently without assistance. Despite this “do-it-yourself” mentality, students aware of library research consultation services still continue to seek out assistance for librarians when stressful and time-consuming research questions arise. The findings from this study will help librarians better market their research services and understand how students perceive the help-seeking process.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Ssebunnya ◽  
Caroline Kituyi ◽  
Justine Nabanoba ◽  
Juliet Nakku ◽  
Arvin Bhana ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Alcohol use is part of many cultural, religious and social practices, and provides perceived pleasure to many users. In many societies, alcoholic beverages are a routine part of the social landscape for many in the population. Relatively low rates were reported for Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD) in a community based survey and facility detection survey conducted in the study site contrary to findings in earlier formative studies where alcohol use was reported to be a major health problem. The aim of this study was to understand reasons for under-reporting and the low detection rate for AUDs, exploring the societal perceptions of alcohol use in the study district. Methods: The study was conducted in Kamuli District (implementation site for the PRIME project). Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with purposively selected participants that included local and religious leaders, lay people, health workers as well as heavy alcohol drinkers and their spouses. Interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The analysis followed 4 thematic areas, which include the extent and acceptability of alcohol use, patterns of alcohol use, perceived health problems associated with alcohol use and help-seeking behavior for persons with alcohol related problems. Results: The findings indicate that alcohol consumption in the study site was common and widely acceptable across all categories of people, with minimal restrictions. Society tends to overlook problems associated with alcohol use except when it is life-threatening. Help-seeking for such problems was therefore reported to be relatively rare. Conclusion: Alcohol was readily available in the community and its consumption widely acceptable with minimal restrictions to the minors. There is low recognition of alcohol use related health problems, resulting in poor help-seeking behavior. Key words: Alcohol, Kamuli, Alcohol Use Disorder, PRIME acceptability


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kari Eiring ◽  
Trine Wiig Hage ◽  
Deborah Lynn Reas

Abstract Background Despite common misconceptions, an individual may be seriously ill with a restrictive eating disorder without an outwardly recognizable physical sign of the illness. The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the perspectives of individuals who have previously battled a restrictive eating disorder who were considered “not sick enough” by others (e.g., peers, families, healthcare professionals) at some point during their illness, and to understand the perceived impact on the illness and recovery. Such misconceptions are potentially damaging, and have been previously linked with delayed help-seeking and poorer clinical outcomes. Methods Seven women who had recovered from anorexia nervosa or atypical anorexia nervosa participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed and interpretive phenomenological analysis was used. Results Three main themes emerged: (1) dealing with the focus upon one’s physical appearance while battling a mental illness, (2) “project perfect”: feeling pressure to prove oneself, and (3) the importance of being seen and understood. Participants reported that their symptoms were occasionally met with trivialization or disbelief, leading to shame, confusion, despair, and for some, deterioration in eating disorder symptoms which drove further weight loss. In contrast, social support and being understood were viewed as essential for recovery. Conclusion To facilitate treatment seeking and engagement, and to optimize chances of recovery, greater awareness of diverse, non-stereotypical presentations of restrictive eating disorders is needed which challenge the myth that weight is the sole indicator of the presence or severity of illness.


2020 ◽  
pp. 152483992094776
Author(s):  
Allison B. Dymnicki ◽  
Jason Katz ◽  
Xan J. Young ◽  
Mary Thorngren ◽  
Jazmine Orazi ◽  
...  

This article examines organizational-level outcomes achieved during a technical assistance (TA) initiative designed to increase the capacity of local health departments (LHDs) to prevent youth violence (YV) via a multisectoral approach. This effort was designed to address the knowledge gap regarding how to provide effective TA to LHDs, specifically in YV. Twelve communities with high rates of YV were selected to participate using a multistage process. TA provided to LHD representatives (and other community partners) included monthly calls with TA specialists, group online learning events, community-of-practice calls, and access to an online portal offering additional resources. Data sources were used to determine the extent to which communities achieved the initiative’s intended outcomes, including increased infrastructure to support youth violence prevention (YVP) at LHDs and the creation of community-wide violence prevention plans. Data sources included an online TA tracking system, annual semistructured group interviews, and point-of-contact surveys. While results indicated variation in TA uptake across sites, several target outcomes were achieved including increased representation and engagement of diverse perspectives in local YVP efforts and strengthened infrastructure and integration of YVP at LHDs. Findings highlight the importance of supporting LHDs to align YVP work with other priorities and funded activities, building a larger role for leadership in providing organizational support for YV, supporting the development of multisector coalitions or partnerships to decrease silos among different sectors focused on similar populations or communities. Implications from this initiative suggest that LHDs can be supported to convene local, multisector YVP efforts, which can be sustained if local YVP infrastructure is enhanced.


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