Aging Bodies in Paradise: A Feminist Analysis of Key West’s Fantasy Fest

Cultural constructions of gender and age may be challenged within politically and socially progressive leisure environments, like Key West, that promote social deviance and out-group acceptance. However, this possibility receives limited scholarly attention. Addressing this gap, our study applies a framework that highlights gender and age as performances and uses interviews ( n = 77) collected in 2017 and 2018 at Key West’s Fantasy Fest, an annual carnivalesque event characterized by body displays of nudity, body paint, and costume. In this first systematic study of Fantasy Fest, data analysis revealed four themes centering on gender, age, and bodies—displaying diverse bodies; judging bodies; limiting body displays; and reinterpreting body-related norms. Key West’s cultural ideology of inclusion allowed both young and old participants to perform gender and age in ways that contributed to a more liberating environment celebrating a range of bodies—though performances were constrained by inequalities. Bodies, especially women’s, were subjected to judgments of their sexual appeal that led some, especially older women, to limit their displays. Our findings, nevertheless, suggest progressive, carnivalesque leisure environments’ potential, however fleeting or bounded, to disrupt everyday performances and broaden conceptions of gendered and aging bodies by reinterpreting the norms surrounding them.

A Meta-Analysis of Childhood Maltreatment in Relation to Psychopathic Traits

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by a mix of traits belonging to four facets: affective (e.g., callous/lack of empathy), interpersonal (e.g., grandiosity), behavioral instability (e.g., impulsivity, poor behavioral controls), and social deviance (e.g., juvenile delinquency, criminal versatility). Several scholars have argued that early childhood maltreatment impacts the development of psychopathy, although views regarding its role in the four facets differ. We conducted a meta-analysis including 47 studies comprising a total of 349 effect sizes and 12,737 participants, to investigate the association between the four psychopathy facets and four types of child maltreatment: physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse.We found support for a moderate link between overall psychopathy and childhood physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect, as well as overall childhood maltreatment. The link between psychopathy and childhood sexual abuse was small, but still significant. These associations were stronger for the behavioral and antisocial facets than for the affective and interpersonal facets of psychopathy, but nearly all associations were significant. Our findings are consistent with recently developed theories on the role of complex trauma in the development of severe personality disorders. Trauma-focused preventive and therapeutic interventions can provide further tests of the trauma-psychopathy hypothesis.

Consecrating and Desecrating Elite Communities: Fearing and Dealing with Social Deviance in Sweden’s Wealthiest Neighborhood

In this article I report observations from an ethnographic study of a Swedish economic elite community, including interviews with residents and service staff, and participant observations in various social contexts stretching over a period of five years that can contribute to an understanding of how elite communities respond to potential social deviance among its members, such as feelings of insufficiency and stress, thus trying to avoid any ‘desecration’ of their social and cultural capital. Specifically, I examine how the practices through which desecration is avoided, for example the exclusion of unwanted members, interplay in the further consecration of the communities, thus maintaining and strengthening elites’ status and standing, Studying the problems and difficulties experienced by elites in their neighborhood settings, and how they try to manage them, is potentially an important step forward to better analyze and understand the way powerful groups in contemporary society maintain and strengthen their privileges and power.

Critical Perspectives on Gender Norms and Relationships in Aotearoa New Zealand

<p>Binary and hierarchical enforcements of gender norms may contribute to unhealthy relationships, sexual violence and continued oppression of marginalised groups. Drawing on a critical feminist research approach, I consider how young people perceive these norms in order to theorise on how we can move beyond them to create a more inclusive and empathetic society. I interviewed six professionals who work with young people and spoke with three focus groups of young people aged 16-19 about their views and experiences of gender norms and relationships in the context of New Zealand’s gendered culture. This thesis is theoretically driven, with analysis of literature on gender, postfeminism, individualism, community, and dominant constructions of victims for commenting on the research findings. Using thematic analysis, I organised my data into three predominant themes; The Gender Binary and Bro Culture, Pressures and Responsibilities, and Healthy Relationships. Numerous insights were generated from this analysis. In conceptualising New Zealand’s gendered culture, some participants identified an imperative to perform gender as staunch individuals. This imperative characterises pressure to live up to idealised expressions of staunchness, and relegates constructions of victimhood as associated with social deviance. Complicating this, young people’s solidarity and investments of collective energy to seek social change are equally significant findings for the emancipatory outlook of the project. This thesis provides a glimpse of the contemporary nature of gendered discourses in New Zealand, and indicates some ways in which these are shifting. There is greater complexity yet to be found in future research for theorising on these concepts, as I discuss toward the end of the thesis. All my participants’ voices are appreciatively valued for their insights on this topic. They have aided me in thinking about how we can collectively continue these conversations through action.</p>

Critical Perspectives on Gender Norms and Relationships in Aotearoa New Zealand

<p>Binary and hierarchical enforcements of gender norms may contribute to unhealthy relationships, sexual violence and continued oppression of marginalised groups. Drawing on a critical feminist research approach, I consider how young people perceive these norms in order to theorise on how we can move beyond them to create a more inclusive and empathetic society. I interviewed six professionals who work with young people and spoke with three focus groups of young people aged 16-19 about their views and experiences of gender norms and relationships in the context of New Zealand’s gendered culture. This thesis is theoretically driven, with analysis of literature on gender, postfeminism, individualism, community, and dominant constructions of victims for commenting on the research findings. Using thematic analysis, I organised my data into three predominant themes; The Gender Binary and Bro Culture, Pressures and Responsibilities, and Healthy Relationships. Numerous insights were generated from this analysis. In conceptualising New Zealand’s gendered culture, some participants identified an imperative to perform gender as staunch individuals. This imperative characterises pressure to live up to idealised expressions of staunchness, and relegates constructions of victimhood as associated with social deviance. Complicating this, young people’s solidarity and investments of collective energy to seek social change are equally significant findings for the emancipatory outlook of the project. This thesis provides a glimpse of the contemporary nature of gendered discourses in New Zealand, and indicates some ways in which these are shifting. There is greater complexity yet to be found in future research for theorising on these concepts, as I discuss toward the end of the thesis. All my participants’ voices are appreciatively valued for their insights on this topic. They have aided me in thinking about how we can collectively continue these conversations through action.</p>

Positive Deviance Traits and Social Entrepreneurship for Women Empowerment Amid COVID-19

Purpose: The threat of the COVID-19 pandemic persists despite concerted global efforts to contain it. So also is its impact on social entrepreneurs. One of the main questions being, what is the extent to which small businesses overcome the imminent economic recession amid the threat of COVID-19? Many small businesses have already closed operations due to the countrywide lockdown in India and the resultant cash flow constraints. The government has introduced loan guarantee schemes as a way of support, but it is not sufficient for operational expenses. This study examines the survival traits of positive deviance and social entrepreneurial roles that may be pertinent to women’s empowerment, concerning the challenges that have emerged from the pandemic. Methodology: Case study methodology was adopted, engaging Rosenblatt’s Transactional Theory to collect qualitative data, which are part of the narratives based on the experiences of a focus group within the social entrepreneurial venture, called Pipal Tree, while a descriptive approach was deployed to isolate and analyze the relevant survival traits, that is, leadership, multidimensional resourcefulness, altruism, innovation, norm-violation and labelling/stigmatization. Findings: The findings revealed that every trait—that is, leadership, multidimensional resourcefulness, altruism, innovation, norm-violation, and labelling/stigmatization—could potentially play an important role and contribute towards the sustainability of social entrepreneurs to empower women amidst the pandemic. The paper observed that ultimately this insight might be relevant to social entrepreneurs, managers and policymakers in developing effective survival strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality values: This is a conceptualization and empirically based study that engaged in primary data collection, analysis and interpretation supported with literature evidence. As well as insights on the literature and methodology development, its unique contributions also include conceptualizing the phenomenon and strategy development. Additionally, it promotes diversity and inclusivity, as well as highlighting inequality. Social implication/Practical values: This study can serve as a guide towards addressing social issues relating to global social entrepreneurship policy-making. As such, it would be a powerful tool for women empowerment, policymakers, not-for-profit organizations, civil society and social entrepreneurs in the post-COVID-19 global environment. Theoretical contributions: This study has added the literature to the existing theory relating to social deviance, social entrepreneurship and women empowerment, thereby advancing knowledge. Highlighting issues about how humanity responds to this strange new threat from the COVID-19 pandemic is critical to saving lives. The new knowledge gained will often equip social entrepreneurs to capture new ways of survival (innovative ways) in complex and new challenges to cope with post-COVID-19 socio-economic circumstances. These benefits gained may be beneficial not only in Jharkhand India but nationally as well as globally. The authors also made an addition to the definition of positive deviance. Practical contributions: The study contributes towards enabling social entrepreneurs to cope in uncertain situations, which is critical to survival most challenging or crises and not just in entrepreneurship—so in critical decision-making, problem-solving, diversity management, gender equity, human rights advancement through women empowerment, business setting and expansion, in helping weakness into strengths and ensuring a level playing ground and inclusivity. Women empowerment can be a positive strength in policy formulation and implementation processes. These kinds of reflections from the perspective of women are significant, relevant and valuable in a post-pandemic environment across the Jharkhand India region and are transferable elsewhere across the globe.

Jihadism in Europe

European jihadism is a multi-faceted social, political and cultural phenomenon, linked not only to the extremist behavior of a limited group but also to a broader crisis, including the lack of utopia and loss of meaning among the middle class, and the humiliation and denial of citizenship among disaffiliated young people in poor districts all over Western Europe. The family and its crisis, in many ways, have played a role in promoting jihadism, particularly in families of immigrant origin whose relationship to patriarchy was different from that of the mainstream society in Europe. Among middle-class families, the crisis of authority was a key factor for the departure of middle-class youth. At the urban level, a large proportion of jihadists come from poor and ethnically segregated districts with high levels of social deviance and the stigma attached to them. Within these poor districts, a specific subculture was built up (I call it the slum culture), which influenced young people and imposed on them a lifestyle likely to combine resentment and deviance with humiliation and denial of citizenship in a difficult relationship with mainstream society. But jihadism was also an expression of the loss of hope in the future in a globalized world among middle-class and lower-class youth. The caliphate in Syria promised the earth to these young people during its ascent between 2014 and 2015 and even after, this time as a prophet of a gloomy end times.

Psychopathic Traits, Academic Fraud, and the Mediating Role of Motivation, Opportunity, Rationalization and Perceived Capability

This study provides initial insights on the relation between psychopathic traits (disinhibition, meanness, and boldness) and academic fraud (prevalence and severity), while considering important mediators of fraud (perceived capability, opportunity, motivation, and rationalization). Based on a large sample of university students ( N = 967), two structural equation models (test and replication) were built to test the study’s main hypothesis and probe the robustness of the results. A direct link from disinhibition to prevalence was found, suggesting that disinhibition is associated with social deviance in the academic context. Higher motivation for cheating exclusively mediated this path. In meanness, rationalization explained lower rates of perceived severity of academic fraud, indicating that cognitive self-justifications trigger dishonest behavior in meanness. Boldness explained the prevalence of academic fraud via perceived capability, suggesting that low-fear, although adaptive in evaluation contexts, may increase the perceived capability for cheating. The reported significant associations support that academic fraud is part of the nomological network of psychopathy and unveil the complexity of the phenomenon.

An impeccable state

An Impeccable State is a multidisciplinary installation drawing on found and constructed archives; a meditation on the concept of social deviance within the context of an imperial, homogenizing globalism. Working in photography, video and sculpture, I embark on a wide trajectory of research and production concerning the nebulous histories of social deviance and control. From Theseus’ defeat of the Minotaur and civilization’s ‘triumph’ over ‘barbarism’; the leprosarium to the asylum; McCarthyism to modern-day deradicalization programs with their claim of a ‘cure’ for violent fundamentalism, An Impeccable State reflects on the attitudes, architectures and apparati manifested in response to the sometimes ‘undesirable’ plurality of the human condition. The support paper that follows is organized into three chapters: a brief tracing of the historical trajectories that inform and propel the installation; a detailed methodology; and the contextualization of the work in relation to contemporary documentary and artistic practices.

An impeccable state

An Impeccable State is a multidisciplinary installation drawing on found and constructed archives; a meditation on the concept of social deviance within the context of an imperial, homogenizing globalism. Working in photography, video and sculpture, I embark on a wide trajectory of research and production concerning the nebulous histories of social deviance and control. From Theseus’ defeat of the Minotaur and civilization’s ‘triumph’ over ‘barbarism’; the leprosarium to the asylum; McCarthyism to modern-day deradicalization programs with their claim of a ‘cure’ for violent fundamentalism, An Impeccable State reflects on the attitudes, architectures and apparati manifested in response to the sometimes ‘undesirable’ plurality of the human condition. The support paper that follows is organized into three chapters: a brief tracing of the historical trajectories that inform and propel the installation; a detailed methodology; and the contextualization of the work in relation to contemporary documentary and artistic practices.