The benefits and disappointments following clitoral reconstruction after female genital cutting: A qualitative interview study from Sweden

Female genital cutting or mutilation refers to the cutting of girls’ external genitalia. Due to migration from contexts where female genital cutting is common, it is estimated that around 38 000 cut women and girls live in Sweden. Clitoral reconstruction, a relatively new form of surgical healthcare offered to women with female genital cutting, was established in Sweden in 2014. This surgery aims at restoring clitoral function and anatomy, but there is yet a dearth of evidence demonstrating the effects of the surgery. The aim of this study was to explore how women undergoing clitoral reconstruction in Sweden between 2016 and 2019 experienced the surgical process and its aftereffects from a physical, sexual and psychosocial perspective. Eighteen women who had undergone clitoral reconstruction at a university hospital in Sweden agreed to participate in the study. The women were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, which were recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. The results, based on self-categorization and labelling theory, demonstrated both benefits and disappointments following the surgery. Several women reported positive outcomes in terms of sexual, psychosocial and aesthetic terms. They experienced reduced genital pain, improvements in their sex lives, and a sense of feeling more empowered and at ease in their bodies. Yet, some women reported aesthetic, functional and process-related disappointment related to clitoral reconstruction. Nonetheless, the women expressed gratitude for the possibility of undergoing the surgery. In conclusion, the women reported that they experienced physical, sexual and psychosocial benefits of the surgery.

Re-Presenting Protestors as Thugs: The Politics of Labelling Dissenting Voices

The use of the word “thugs”, has always precipitated the crisis that has existed longue durée in the history of America. The word carries diverse meanings in different spaces, histories, communities, and countries. When used as a stigmatizing label, it can define, classify, restrict and fix boundaries within a society. Through an assessment of political rhetoric, tweets, and media reports, this article evaluates the hegemonic power embedded in the word and its strategic use by the world leaders for nefarious purposes in the post-truth era. It also explores the racial underpinnings of the word and the covert intentions behind its usage. This paper critically interrogates the social circumstances in which the word is used to suppress dissent. The role of post-truth media as the intermediaries and purveyors of the real and the fake is analyzed. Labelling theory is applied to demonstrate how policy makers, mark out a group in order to rationalize the discourse of state violence. The methods and the outcomes of stigmatizing labelling is illustrated, paying special attention to the role it plays in triggering social unrest. The essay argues that the polemics around the word “thug” enables the administrators to shift focus from the real issues, and thereby deny racial minorities their right to challenge the government policies and actions.

Menyikapi Fenomena Labelling Olok-olok Politik di Media Sosial Perspektif Hadis Nabi

This article discusses the case of social labelling in social media in relation to recent political issues. This case is increasing among Indonesian people since 2014 general election up to date which gives bad effects to society. This article explains the case in more detail by using social sciences theories. Then it takes hadith as inspiration to solve the case by using paradigm method which is introduced by Kuntowijoyo. Users of netizen, practically, collaborates both of hadith and alquran to get comprehensive argument. In short, this article finds some ways to face the case of labelling in social media in relation to politic issues, people are communicating respectly with others; keeping good attitude in social media includes avoiding to give bad titles (labelling) to others; saying or doing nothing for unable to say or do good things; and supporting the candidates wisely to reject “fanaticsm”. AbstrakArtikel ini mendiskusikan problem sosial tentang labelling olok-olok politik di media sosial yang massif terjadi dewasa ini di tengah-tengah hiruk pikuk menyambut pesta demokrasi akbar Indonesia 2019. Gegap gempita masyarakat Indonesia dalam menjamu momentum “gadang” tersebut sangat luar biasa. Antusiasme tersebut patut diacungkan jempol. Namun di sisi lain, antusiasme berlebihan tersebut justru menimbulkan kegaduhan di media sosial yang berdampak di kehidupan nyata. Sebut saja perilaku labelling olok-olok politik antara simpatisan pendukung dari partai dan calon pemimpin. Perilaku labelling ini pada gilirannya menimbulkan gesekan dan perpecahan di masyarakat. Artikel inimeninjau fenomena tersebut dari perspektif ilmu sosial (labelling theory, sensate culture theory dan tindakan sosial). Kemudian tulisan ini menggali inspirasi-inspirasi hadis nabi untuk menyikapi fenomena ini dengan pendekatan teori Paradigma Kuntowijoyo di mana hadis dijadikan sebagai paradigma. Dalam menyikapi labelling olok-olok politik di media social artikel ini menemukanetika baik dalam berkomunikasi seperti memberikan label atau julukan yang baik, berkata positif, diam, dan mendukung (mencintai calon pemimpin) sewajaranya agar tidak jatuh ke dalam sikap fanatisme buta.

Perceptions of Ex-convicts on Rehabilitation Programmes in Preparation for Reintegration in Botswana

The re-integration of ex-convicts is a concern globally and nationally yet a forgotten phenomenon. It is assumed that families are prepared for the release from custody of their incarcerated member. While the family may be longing to see ex-convict, it may be truamatised by his or her release from prison. The thinking about the known and anticipated behaviour of the ex-convict may affect the acceptance and supported needed by the ex-convict. This may complicate relationship problems and may perpetuate the negative labelling which affects positive integration. The unpreparedness of families and community may be hostile than being in prison leaving the ex-convict with no choice but to re-offend and be reconvicted and at most, a recidivist. As a result of this background, it was necessary to explore the process of re-integration of ex-convicts in Botswana and identify the challenges it poses for the ex-convicts. The researcher adopted a qualitative approach and interviewed 26 participants which comprised of ex-convicts, community leaders, professionals, and community members. The study was informed by the differential Association theory, the labelling theory, and within the ecological perspective. The findings revealed that the ex-convicts after release face an enormous mountain which is difficult to climb without adequate assistance. It was further established that preparation for release and integration process are inadequate. Furthermore, communities do not have interventions to receive, integrate, and support ex-convicts. Therefore, this paper argues that families and communities must be involved in the rehabilitation processes of prisons and in their release.

Multidimensional Deprivation Spectrum: A Step Forward from Alkire–Foster Methodology

Income-based poverty and multidimensional poverty are two major paradigms currently in use to define and measure poverty. Both these paradigms, however, take individuals as units of analysis and classify them on the basis of certain poverty lines and cut-offs as poor and non-poor. Social stigma and labelling theory suggest that the label of poverty negatively impacts the self-esteem of people or contributes to the tendencies of paternalistic dependency among them. This article suggests that poverty should be measured using dimensions of life as units of analysis. In this direction, it offers a variant of the Alkire and Foster (Counting and multidimensional poverty measures, OPHI Working Paper No. 7, Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative, 2007) multidimensional poverty index in the form of a multidimensional deprivation spectrum. Along with using different dimensions as units of analysis, the current article presents a whole spectrum of indices built to measure inequality for a more nuanced picture.

Galona’s review of victim labelling theory: A rejoinder

In this article the author responds to a review by Galona (2018) of the historical-theological parts of victim labelling theory as elaborated previously in this journal and elsewhere (van Dijk, 2009). According to Galona, the term ‘victima/victim’ as a special name for Jesus Christ was not coined by Reformation theologians like Calvin, as asserted by van Dijk, but was for example already widely used by Roman poets. It also appeared in pre-Reformation theological writings for centuries. In his rejoinder, the author explains that Roman poets indeed sometimes used the term ‘victima’ for human beings but did so in a purely metaphorical sense. He agrees with Galona that the use of this label in its figural sense denoting Christ’s deep and innocent suffering emerged in theological writings pre-dating the Reformation. However, the label only ‘went viral’ around the time of the Reformation and has, from that time onwards, been the universal colloquial term for ordinary people victimised by crime across the Western world. In the second part of the article, the author elaborates on the theoretical and practical implications of the Christian roots of the ‘victima’ label. For centuries, victims of crime were expected to undergo their suffering meekly, in imitation of Christ. Ongoing secularisation has emancipated crime victims from the restraining ‘victima’ label, allowing them to freely speak up for themselves. Recent victim-friendly reforms of criminal justice have been driven by the need to find a new, victim-centred legitimacy in an increasingly secularised world.

Applying Labelling Theory to Selected Short Stories by James T. Farrell

For decades, “societal reaction theory” or “labelling theory” has provided the most significant explanation for deviant behaviour, particularly in the case of juveniles. The theory argues that once a stigma is attached to an individual, an irreversible process occurs whereby the labelled individual begins to identify as deviant and to embark on a deviant career. Hence, rather than deter bad behaviour, stigmatisation and shaming serve only to amplify it. Although the labelling perspective is rooted in sociology, we find proponents of some version of labelling theory in other disciplines, even in literature. The present study posits that in the short stories of Irish-American writer James Thomas Farrell entitled “Big Jeff,” “The Fastest Runner on Sixty-First Street,” “Young Convicts,” and “The Scarecrow,” labelling processes emerge as essential elements in a comprehensive understanding of each story. All four stories are the least critically acknowledged works by the author even though they demonstrate the author’s remarkable talent for illuminating the social and psychological factors associated with deviant behaviour among juveniles.