How Families Matter for Health Inequality during the COVID-19 Pandemic

A version of this article has been published in the Journal of Family Theory and Review, https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12398 We theorize that social conditions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic have the potential to increase the importance of families for health and widen existing inequalities. We suggest three primary tenets important for understanding families and health during COVID-19. First, risks of specific COVID-19 outcomes and other health problems are unevenly distributed across families. Second, how families impact health during the COVID-19 pandemic is conditional on public policies, organizational decisions, and concurrent events. Third, many health inequalities driven by racism, sexism, classism, and other oppressive societal force are amplified during COVID-19, but the extent to which this is occurring is shaped by families and by the public policies, organizational decisions, and concurrent events that also impact families and health. As health disparities continue to emerge from this pandemic, we call on researchers and policy-makers to pay attention to the multiple ways that families matter.

The journey is the thing: A photographic project on the complex dynamics of self-representation in the context of psychoanalytic family theory

This visual essay narrates three parallel bodies of photographic work, which negotiate the role of context, displacement and geocultural relocation as metaphors for self-definition. The conceptual framework of the work is underpinned by the psychoanalytic theories of Murray Bowen and Morgan Scott, which locate self-perception at the centre of the familial context and define the quest for self-definition as a symbolic process of map-making. This approach describes a psychological landscape where the fluid relationship between collective and personal identity is conveyed through the metaphor of ‘Mal de Débarquement’ (a diagnosable condition that means nausea of disembarkation). This kind of embedded fluidity in self-representation insinuates a new approach to the practice and possibilities of photographic portraiture, and challenges the traditional definition, which associates the portrait with the depiction of a fixed identity.

Relations between Clifford Algebra and Dirac Matrices in the Presence of Families

The internal degrees of freedom of fermions are in the spin-charge-family theory described by the Clifford algebra objects, which are superposition of an odd number of γ a ’s. Arranged into irreducible representations of “eigenvectors” of the Cartan subalgebra of the Lorentz algebra S a b ( = i 2 γ a γ b | a ≠ b ) these objects form 2 d 2 − 1 families with 2 d 2 − 1 family members each. Family members of each family offer the description of all the observed quarks and leptons and antiquarks and antileptons, appearing in families. Families are reachable by S ˜ a b = 1 2 γ ˜ a γ ˜ b | a ≠ b . Creation operators, carrying the family member and family quantum numbers form the basis vectors. The action of the operators γ a ’s, S a b , γ ˜ a ’s and S ˜ a b , applying on the basis vectors, manifests as matrices. In this paper the basis vectors in d = ( 3 + 1 ) Clifford space are discussed, chosen in a way that the matrix representations of γ a and of S a b coincide for each family quantum number, determined by S ˜ a b , with the Dirac matrices. The appearance of charges in Clifford space is discussed by embedding d = ( 3 + 1 ) space into d = ( 5 + 1 ) -dimensional space. The achievements and predictions of the spin-charge-family theory is also shortly presented.

Issues of National Security and Human Rights in Nigeria: A Case Study of Islamic Movement of Nigeria

This paper examined issues of national security and human rights in Nigeria with emphasis on the conflicts between the federal government and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN). The objectives of the paper included to determine the nature of national security and human rights in Nigeria vis-à-vis the Islamic Movement of Nigeria; identity the contentious issues that triggered the conflicts and undermined national security and human rights between the federal government and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria; determine the implications of continued crackdown of IMN members and detention of their leader, El-Zakzaky and his wife on national security and human rights violations in Nigeria, and make necessary recommendations on how these issues can be amicably resolved without compromising national security and human rights of Nigerians, especially IMN members. This research has become imperative in view of the continued detention of Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky by the security operatives in Nigeria since 2015 in spite of court orders without concluding the trials. This has caused great concern to Nigerians with daily debates on the implications of this prolonged incarceration of the duo on national security and human rights in a democratic system of government. This paper was anchored on the “Family Theory in Clinical Practice”. The ‘Family Theory’ stressed the need to understand and consider the emotional functioning of a family or group as the basis for religious or political indoctrination, radicalisation, extremism and deviant behaviour that may be antagonistic to acceptable societal norms and values. This paper adopted descriptive research design. Data used for the study were gathered from secondary sources as content analysis was used in the interpretation of data. The paper found that the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) members were justified in their protest against military crackdown, detention and proscription. The paper observed that the over five year’s detention of Sheikh El-Zakzaky by the Nigerian government without trial amounts to the violation of his constitutionally guaranteed and legally protected human rights. This paper recommends the immediate and unconditional release of the Shiites leader from detention, speedy trial and respect for judicial pronouncements by the Nigerian government without compromising national security and human rights.

Gerakan Dakwah Jama'ah Tabligh di Kalangan Wanita dalam Pembinaan Keluarga Muslim

Jama'ah Tabligh is a missionary movement that has the concept of movement with the method of da'wah and tabligh. The characteristics of the Jama'ah Tabligh propagation movement are: pure and authentic (dzâtiyyâh), which is authentic as God's calling, encouraging progress (taqaddûmîyah), namely progress that continues to uphold morality, universal values ​​(shamîlâhi) covering all aspects of life, integrating progress three systems of life (manhaj al hayat), emphasizing the principles of the sublime religion and distancing themselves from the differences of the schools. In connection with the above statement, the author would like to know the Tablighi Jama'ah movement among women in fostering Muslim families spearheaded by women who have been Khurûj with their husbands, then what about affection for their families especially children left behind, and liability obligations for families who left. Because on the other hand he also has to carry out his duties as a parent as it should be, including giving love to children, educational guidance, religion towards children and spiritual and physical support for children left by their parents when Khurûj. The issue to be investigated is how is the Tablighi Jama'ah movement among women in developing Muslim families? What material is the da'wah used by the Tablighi Jama'ah in fostering Muslim families? And what are the obstacles to the Tablighi Jama'ah movement in fostering Muslim families? The purpose of this study was to determine the character of the Tablighi Jama'ah movement among women in family formation, find out the material used, and find out the constraints of the Jama'ah Tabligh propaganda movement in the formation of Muslim families. This study seeks to provide an interpretation of the phenomena of the Tablighi Jama'ah, of course in accordance with the predetermined research focus and also uses relevant theories to be able to uncover the propaganda movement of the Tablighi Jama'ah among women in fostering Muslim families. The theory is a functional structural theory, family theory and family according to Islamic teachings.