Drone affective politics against state impunity: The case of 43 disappeared students in Ayotzinapa, Mexico

This article analyzes some implications of new drone aesthetics involved in affective politics against state impunity in social conflicts. Whereas the literature on media, war and conflict has been centered around the war aesthetics of military drones, the author argues that civilian drones can mobilize affective politics – expressed, for example, in the aestheticization of shame, rage and the subversion of fear – as a means of political communication with and against the state. Further, she proposes that the present focus on drone aesthetics should be expanded to also account for the political affects that aesthetic sensory perceptions mobilize. Drawing on actor-network theory and new materialism, the article takes the disappearance of 43 students in Ayotzinapa (Mexico) as an exemplary case of state impunity in the context of the war against drugs and social conflict. By means of a digital ethnography of the social collective project Rexiste, the author analyzes its public interventions deploying a civil drone named ‘Droncita’, which sought to generate an aesthetics of affect against state impunity. The article contributes toward expanding investigation of (civilian) drone aesthetics and the mobilization of affective politics in the literature on war and social conflicts and collective action.

Social work practices and enabling the integration of students from war and conflict zones

Until recently, few studies have examined international students’ social issues and well-being from war and conflict zones. A significant proportion of international students in Turkey have arrived from countries actively engaged in conflict; however, it is unclear how social work procedures have effectively addressed students’ needs and ability to cope after migrating. This quantitative study aimed to identify the challenges and well-being issues of 63 Syrian students who have recently integrated into Turkey. The investigation took place at Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University in Turkey, during the 2017–2018 academic year. The research is based on two measurement scales and a questionnaire. Results were analyzed using independent t-test samples and found that social workers faced challenges in integrating the students. A lack of participation in social activities and cultural challenges are common problems faced by these students. Traditional support methods were effective strategies for overcoming new social environments. The effectiveness of social work intervention is reviewed further.

Future Anxiety Among Young People Affected by War and Armed Conflict: Indicators for Social Work Practice

Strengthening the evidence base for professional social work intervention that contributes to providing psychosocial support to international students affected by war and conflict is a major priority as this vulnerable group of youth increases. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the level of future anxiety among international students coming from areas experiencing war and conflict. This study used the descriptive correlative approach, where the future anxiety scale was applied to a sample of 287 international students affected by war and conflicts. Findings showed that there are statistically significant differences between males and females (in favor of females) in the level of the social dimension of future anxiety. The current study results showed a statistically significant relationship between future anxiety and some variables related to war and conflict (living in a war environment - direct and indirect exposure to damage). There are statistically significant differences between those who lived in Yemen at the time of wars and those who did not live (in favor of those who lived in Yemen at the time of wars) in the level of future anxiety. There are also statistically significant differences between those exposed to harm or their family because of the war and those who were not exposed (in favor of those who were exposed) in the level of future anxiety as a whole. The study recommends developing psychosocial support services for this vulnerable group, considering the cultural context to promote women and protect them from discrimination in the services they deserve on an equal basis with men.

Development of a Questionnaire to Measure the Perceived Injustice of People Who Have Experienced Violence in War and Conflict Areas: Perceived Injustice Questionnaire (PIQ)

Objectives: The primary aim of this research was to develop a questionnaire that assesses perceived injustice among survivors of war and trauma in conflict areas and to evaluate its psychometric properties. This paper presents the first preliminary validation. Furthermore, the assumption that the general perception of injustice correlates with one’s own experiences of injustice and violence was tested. Methods: The 24-item Perceived Injustice Questionnaire (PIQ) was administered partly online and partly in a paper–pencil version to 89 students of the University of Dohuk in Northern Iraq, an area that has been affected by crisis and war for many years. Principal component analysis was used for factor extraction and internal consistency was determined. The Mann–Whitney-U test was used to calculate the group differences between people with and without experience of physical violence and strong experiences of injustice because Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests showed that the data are not normally distributed. Results: Principal component analysis yielded a four-component solution with eigenvalues being the greater one. Cronbach’s alpha for each scale was acceptable to satisfactory. Significant results of the Mann–Whitney U tests supported our assumptions of between-group differences on each of the subscales (emotional and cognitive consequences, injustice perception, injustice experience, revenge, and forgiveness). Discussion: The findings of this study support the construct validity and the reliability of the PIQ. For this reason, it can be seen as a useful addition to the psychological assessment in psychotherapeutic settings of survivors of war and violence. In conclusion, and based on the PIQ, we suggest the development of a new set of therapy modules with worksheets, focusing on the perception, dealing, and understanding of feeling of injustice as an addition to the existing trauma therapy manual for therapy in war and conflict areas.

Strategic Submission to Rape is not Consent: Sexual Violence in the Colombian Armed Conflict

Academic literature is only beginning to understand victims’ rational calculations and agency related to sexual violence in war and conflict. This article deepens that analysis, emphasizing calculated action rather than passive victimization. This is a systematic study of victims’ strategic responses to sexual violence, and reports findings from an in-depth analysis of women who were raped in the context of Colombia's armed conflict (1964-present), revealing that this context triggers a strategic response by victims of rape. Specifically, some women calculate that submitting to unwanted sex is more likely to protect them and others, such as family members, from significant harm than resisting rape. However, while their strategic responses may protect them and allow them to keep their families safe from greater harm, the methods adopted by women in these situations may complicate their efforts at being recognized as victims, undercutting their access to legal and social rights in the aftermath of war and conflict.

Antipodean Naivety in the Contact Zone of Berlin: New Zealand writers in Berlin before and after the fall of the Wall

<p>The Man from Nowhere & Other Prose by James McNeish (1991), Berlin Diary by Cilla McQueen (1990), To Each His Own by Philip Temple (1999), and Phone Home Berlin: Collected Non-Fiction by Nigel Cox (2007) are all texts written by New Zealand writers who either visited or lived in Berlin before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Their texts chronicle their experiences in Berlin and capture their observations of and reflections on the city, its people and their place as New Zealand writers in Berlin. This thesis discusses the texts they wrote while in Berlin, focussing particularly on the images of war, walls and the idea of ‘antipodean naivety’. My introductory chapter provides a brief history of New Zealand writers in Berlin. The chapter addresses key historical events which took place in Berlin and how they gave rise to artistic and cultural initiatives, providing the opportunity for McNeish, McQueen and Temple to be in the city. In the second chapter, I consider the images of war found in the writers’ texts. McNeish, McQueen and Temple focus particularly on Berlin’s Second World War history and to a lesser extent on the Cold War. I examine the reasons why they focus so heavily on this part of Berlin’s history, especially when the city has a much longer and broader military history that is ignored by the writers when they address issues of war and conflict in their texts. My third chapter addresses images of walls. For the artists and writers resident in Berlin before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Berlin Wall is a prominent feature in their texts. But as foreigners to the city and country, they encounter other ‘walls’ such as language and cultural barriers. These metaphorical boundaries are examined further in my fourth chapter which discusses the idea of ‘antipodean naivety’. I apply Mary Louise Pratt’s theory of the ‘contact zone’ in reverse to the experiences of McNeish, McQueen and Temple in Berlin. In my fifth and final chapter I contrast the work of Nigel Cox who was in Berlin ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and for a different purpose. Perhaps surprisingly Cox nevertheless responds to Berlin in similar ways to the other New Zealanders. I argue that as New Zealanders these writers come to Berlin from a small country on the other side of the world with a less grandiose history to a country they think they know. In reality, the way the writers interpret their surroundings and the things on which they focus in their texts - almost always Berlin’s twentieth century history - illustrates how little they know about the city, but also suggests how unsettling the experience of the contact zone is, especially when it is such a historically and ideologically-loaded place, and how it makes them aware of their place of origin and their own naiveties and anxieties.</p>

Antipodean Naivety in the Contact Zone of Berlin: New Zealand writers in Berlin before and after the fall of the Wall

<p>The Man from Nowhere & Other Prose by James McNeish (1991), Berlin Diary by Cilla McQueen (1990), To Each His Own by Philip Temple (1999), and Phone Home Berlin: Collected Non-Fiction by Nigel Cox (2007) are all texts written by New Zealand writers who either visited or lived in Berlin before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Their texts chronicle their experiences in Berlin and capture their observations of and reflections on the city, its people and their place as New Zealand writers in Berlin. This thesis discusses the texts they wrote while in Berlin, focussing particularly on the images of war, walls and the idea of ‘antipodean naivety’. My introductory chapter provides a brief history of New Zealand writers in Berlin. The chapter addresses key historical events which took place in Berlin and how they gave rise to artistic and cultural initiatives, providing the opportunity for McNeish, McQueen and Temple to be in the city. In the second chapter, I consider the images of war found in the writers’ texts. McNeish, McQueen and Temple focus particularly on Berlin’s Second World War history and to a lesser extent on the Cold War. I examine the reasons why they focus so heavily on this part of Berlin’s history, especially when the city has a much longer and broader military history that is ignored by the writers when they address issues of war and conflict in their texts. My third chapter addresses images of walls. For the artists and writers resident in Berlin before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Berlin Wall is a prominent feature in their texts. But as foreigners to the city and country, they encounter other ‘walls’ such as language and cultural barriers. These metaphorical boundaries are examined further in my fourth chapter which discusses the idea of ‘antipodean naivety’. I apply Mary Louise Pratt’s theory of the ‘contact zone’ in reverse to the experiences of McNeish, McQueen and Temple in Berlin. In my fifth and final chapter I contrast the work of Nigel Cox who was in Berlin ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and for a different purpose. Perhaps surprisingly Cox nevertheless responds to Berlin in similar ways to the other New Zealanders. I argue that as New Zealanders these writers come to Berlin from a small country on the other side of the world with a less grandiose history to a country they think they know. In reality, the way the writers interpret their surroundings and the things on which they focus in their texts - almost always Berlin’s twentieth century history - illustrates how little they know about the city, but also suggests how unsettling the experience of the contact zone is, especially when it is such a historically and ideologically-loaded place, and how it makes them aware of their place of origin and their own naiveties and anxieties.</p>

The Emergence of Planetary Pediatrics

Pediatrics has witnessed an evolution from primary care, family-centered care, community pediatrics, social pediatrics and global pediatrics, which has shifted our attention beyond the clinic setting to an appreciation of children in their lived environment. We are witnessing the emergence of planetary pediatrics that further broadens the focus of children’s health to include the continued importance of clinical care, but also the impacts of climate change, environmental degradation, child migration, unrelenting war and conflict, social injustice, pandemics and violence against children. If we do not acknowledge the present and ever-increasing adverse planetary changes of what children are experiencing now and in the future, we will have failed to adequately protect them from impending catastrophes. The hope of pediatrics for the future is to improve the health and well-being of all children. This hope remains as relevant today as it was for our predecessors and serves as a beacon for the voyage through the remainder of the twenty-first century.

Preparing for War or Peace: Exploring the Peace Values in 9th Grade English Textbook in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Out of many other global issues, one of the most threatening to human beings is war and conflict. Making this world a peaceful abode is the objective of many institutions and Education is one of them. Language teaching can serve as a very effective tool to inculcate peace among the students who build a peaceful nation in return. The study aims to explore the elements of peace values in English textbooks of grade 9th taught in schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Textbooks are not only used for transferring knowledge of the respective subject but also to bring social reformation to society. The study is qualitative in nature and falls under the constructivist paradigm. The study can be significant for curriculum developers, textbooks writers, teachers, and students to make them aware of the importance of peace development through textbooks. The study followed the theoretical framework of Balasooria (2011) to identify peace values. The findings have shown that social peace value is the most dominant in use in the textbook besides other categories, inner peace, and peace for nature. Moreover, the analysis has revealed that addressing issues like human rights awareness, gender equality, and mental health is lacking in the text which can become a reason for conflict and restlessness in the society eventually leading to a threat to the peace of the society. Keywords: Textbook, Peace, Peace Values, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Epidemiological and etiological factors related to suicide in the Middle East

Estimates show that suicide is relatively common among Middle Eastern countries as a total of 26,000 fatalities in 2016 were attributable to suicide in them. However, the quality of care of mental illness in these countries is not adequate as compared to the international levels. The aim of the study was to discuss the different epidemiological and etiological factors that were linked with suicide in the Middle East, according to evidence obtained from studies in the literature. The impact of cultures and religions on dealing with mental illnesses and suicide as well as the roots of these conditions will be explored to find the appropriate solutions. Suicide in the Middle East is common but unique from other countries in the world. Religion, socio-economic status, war and conflict in many regions play a big role in the rate of suicide. Religion reduces the prevalence rates of suicide but other factors might be more dominant as many regions are in conflict and have low socio-economic status. Furthermore, gender, family conflicts and mental illnesses were identifiable risk factors in the literature. More efforts on a national level is warranted as well as among communities to reduce the rates of suicide. The initiation of support groups among those with mental illnesses and low socio-economic state will prove extremely beneficial in reducing the rate of suicide as they are almost non-existent in Middle East.