Experiences of stressful situations and mindfulness training for persons with visual impairment

The aim of this study was to explore what persons with visual impairment (VI) experienced as stressful in their daily lives and their experiences with using mindfulness training (MT) to cope with stressful situations. In order to explore this we conducted semi-structured interviews with six persons with VI after finishing an 8-week MT course. Systematic text condensation was used to analyze the interviews. This qualitative study found that the participants described three main areas of stress: (1) lack of access to information, (2) social expectations, and (3) navigating the body through one’s surroundings. The participants’ experiences with using MT to cope with stressful situations resulted in emotion-based and problem-based strategies: (1) breathing anchor, (2) awareness of and reflection upon thoughts and feelings, (3) most things are doable, (4) tackling the situation in a new way, and (5) haste makes waste. Our respondents described using MT for coping with stressful situations in all the three main areas of stress. Based upon this study we propose that there is good reason to offer MT as stress management for persons with VI, but further study is required to confirm the health-promoting benefits of MT for this group.

Beliefs and strategies for coping with stillbirth: A qualitative study in Nigeria

Stillbirth, the loss of a baby during pregnancy or childbirth, is one of the most devastating losses a parent can experience. The experience of stillbirth is associated with trauma and intense grief, but mothers’ belief systems can be protective against the impacts of grief. Women in Nigeria endure a high burden of stillbirth and the aim in this study was to describe the beliefs and strategies for coping with stillbirth. Twenty mothers bereaved by stillbirth in Nigeria were interviewed; seven of them also participated in a focus group. The findings of the study revealed that the experience of stillbirth was influenced by beliefs which originated from superstitions, religion, and social expectations. These beliefs played significant roles in how mothers coped with the loss, by providing them with a framework for sense-making and benefit-finding.

When Fathers Feel Socially Constrained to Assume a Role: A Negative Predictor of the Coparental Relationship in Switzerland

Role distribution is a central issue for parents in the transition to parenthood, but little is known about the motivations in fathers to assume a specific role. Differences in work-family balance in each parent may be motivated by an individual choice mutually shared by both partners; however, in many couples, the parents may feel forced to adopt a traditional role distribution, either for financial reasons, or to comply with social expectations about what men and women should do when they are parents. This feeling of being socially constrained to adopt a role distribution that is not congruent with intrinsic motivations can generate dissatisfaction and may jeopardize the development of the interparental relationship. Coparenting refers to the emotional and instrumental support parents bring to each other in their parental tasks. It has been shown to be central in family functioning and a powerful predictor of children’s emotional and cognitive development. In this study, we aimed to assess the extent to which different motivations for role distribution in fathers are predictive of the quality of the coparental relationship. A convenience sample of 144 fathers from the French-speaking part of Switzerland completed online questionnaires about their motivations, coparental relationship, and sociodemographic characteristics. Results showed that the reasons for role distribution were mainly economical, practical, and in order to meet personal expectations. Multivariate general linear modeling showed that role distribution that is constrained to meet social expectations and age were predictive of a less cohesive coparental relationship, whereas a deliberate choice in role distribution was linked to a more cohesive coparental relationship.

A Discursive Contextualisation of Hustling in Nigerian Hip-Hop

One of the endearing qualities of the Hip-Hop genre is its penchant for crass materialism where artistes lyrically brag about their successes while unabashedly flaunting the ostentatious proceeds of their newfound fame. This resonates with the contemporary constructs of individualism and self-realisation in line with social expectations. However, beyond the photo ops, these artistes indeed go the extra mile in achieving success. In this article, the portraiture of hustling, which indexes survival in any form, is explored. Fifteen purposively selected songs by Nigerian Hip-Hop artistes constitute the data. For one, many of the popular Hip-Hoppers defied the stranglehold of poverty before recording personal successes. They thus reference the street as a domain of hustling and recount their experiences. Different contextual or social orientations of hustling in Nigeria are discursively constructed by the artists. It is framed as a prerequisite for achieving success (regardless of how!); as a necessity to meet familial responsibility; and as combat with perceived enemies. Additionally, Nigerian Hip-Hop artistes annex hustling as a psychological/mental activity as well as a metaphor for God’s blessings. The study concludes that hustling typifies the underground economy and the almost limitless extent to which Nigerian Hip-Hoppers work for their successes.

THE "GREAT TERROR” AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE STRUGGLE WITHIN THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE CPSU

В статье рассмотрена одна из причин начала «Большого террора». Противостояние Сталина с другими представителями ЦК КПСС, а также внезапное убийство С.М. Кирова привели к «чисткам» внутри политического и военного руководства Советского Союза. Поиск виноватых продолжился и среди простого населения, поскольку в стране отмечалось невыполнение «планов» чистки. Также проанализирована отечественная историография 1950-2000-х гг. по проблеме «Большого террора». Сталинская система опиралась на механизм «чрезвычайщины» на всем протяжении своего существования: волны террора прокатились в 1930–1932 гг., в 1932–1934 гг., в 1936–1938 гг., в 1939–1945 гг., в 1946–1953 гг. С точки зрения автора, масштабы массового террора в 1930–1932 и в 1936–1938 гг. сопоставимы по своей ожесточенности, скоротечности и количеству репрессированных. Историографический анализ показал, что российские историки достигли консенсуса по базовой структуре «Большого террора». Ряд аспектов проблемы сохраняет свою дискуссионность: предпосылки и причины, периодизация, причины завершения; другие требуют дополнительного исследования: роль культурного генотипа и социальных настроений общества, последствия террора. Автор, вопреки преобладающему мнению, включает в содержание «Большого террора» репрессии против элиты наряду с массовым террором, «антикулацкой» и «национальными» операциями. Применение методов новейшей социальной истории заставляет глубже задуматься о социокультурных основаниях террора. Акцентируя внимание на исключительной роли Сталина в организации «Большого террора», не следует забывать, что диктатор действовал, находя опору в утопических социальных ожиданиях и ментальности крестьянских масс, «комбатантной брутальности» своих сподвижников, порожденной опытом Гражданской войны. The article discusses the reasons for the beginning of the "Great Terror". The influence of the NKVD № 00447, which was one of the main regulators of the terror of the late 30s, is comprehended. The position of the "triples" in sentencing on the basis of the report of the Prosecutor's Office of the USSR has been studied. The severity of the sentence received is determined depending on belonging to a certain category in the gradation of the accused. The influence of the local leadership on a significant increase in the number of repressed citizens is considered. The domestic historiography of the 1950s-2000s on the actual problem of the "Great Terror" is also analyzed. The Stalinist system relied on the mechanism of "extraordinary" throughout its existence: waves of terror swept in 1930-1932, in1932-1934, in1936-1938, in1939-1945, in1946- 1953. From the author's point of view, the scale of the mass terror of 1930-1932 and 1936-1938 are comparable in their bitterness, transience and the number of repressed. Historiographical analysis has shown that a consensus has been reached among Russian historians on the basic structure of the "Great Terror". A number of aspects of the problem remain controversial: prerequisites and causes, periodization, reasons for completion; others require additional research: the role of the cultural genotype and social attitudes of society, the consequences of terror, etc. The author, contrary to the prevailing opinion, includes in the content of the "Great Terror" repression against the elite along with the mass terror of "anti-Kulak" and "national" operations. The application of the methods of modern social history makes us think more deeply about the socio-cultural foundations of terror. Focusing on the exceptional role of Stalin in the organization of the "Great Terror", we should not forget that the dictator acted, finding support in utopian social expectations and the mentality of the unbridled masses, the "combatant brutality" of his associates, generated by the experience of the Civil War.

Crisis and Innovations: Are they Constructive or Destructive?

An interdisciplinary approach was used to analyse multicomplex issues of the Covid-19 crisis, demonstrated also by the Economics of innovation. The Economics of innovation is useful when analysing a unique feedback of megatrends and the emergence of liminal crisis innovations. The purpose of this paper is, in spite of many statements to the contrary, to prove that innovative activity may serve as the key to unlocking a post-crisis economic development. Analyses presented in the paper are based on the Polish and foreign literature on the subject, reports on research conducted in many research centres and the author’s own observation at the Social Innovation Council. Three research themes are signalled: 1) the reality of the crisis in the aspect of Covid-19 pandemic and other crises in the literature studies and in practice; 2) innovation as the driving force for recovering from the Covid-19 crisis; 3) Coronavirus support: the activity of the state and social expectations. Conclusions and recommendations contained in this paper are, to a large extent, based on hermeneutics; they also stem from statistical data analyses and own research.

Research of social expectations of university students in the dimensions of psychological well-being

The aim of the article is to argue theoretically and empirically study the relationship between social expectations and psychological well-being of university students. Methodological starting points of empirical research are outlined. Valid and reliable test methods are used to study the psychological content parameters of social expectations and psychological well-being. The results determined that the psychological features of social expectations and psychological well-being of student's youth are theoretically substantiated. It was found that the respondents have an average level of parameters of psychological well-being and social expectations, which indicates moderate life satisfaction and the presence of adequate orientation in the socio-psychological reality. The most formed components of psychological well-being are the balance of affect and meaningfulness, which indicates the awareness of their own lives by student’s youth. It is recorded that the respondents have the least formed - self-acceptance, positive attitude and autonomy.

Digesting Stigma: Exploring the Illness Experience of New Zealanders with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (‘It’s just shitty’)

<p>This thesis is an anthropological exploration of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and the first ethnographic study of people with IBS in New Zealand. It explores the illness experience of people with IBS and whether stigma plays a role within this experience. IBS is a gastrointestinal illness that affects 10-20% of New Zealand’s population. However, its aetiology is unknown, there is no cure, and the biomedical approach that informs its diagnosis and treatment is often incongruous with its lived experience. I posit that the illness experience of my participants and what is stigmatising for them must be understood not only in relation to its physical manifestations but also in relation to the biomedical and neoliberal influences that inform social expectations of the body and social participation. Further, participants experience their IBS simultaneously resisting and participating within these influences to make sense of and manage their illness in a way that aligns with their lived experiences. All work within this thesis is my own except where otherwise stated.</p>

Digesting Stigma: Exploring the Illness Experience of New Zealanders with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (‘It’s just shitty’)

<p>This thesis is an anthropological exploration of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and the first ethnographic study of people with IBS in New Zealand. It explores the illness experience of people with IBS and whether stigma plays a role within this experience. IBS is a gastrointestinal illness that affects 10-20% of New Zealand’s population. However, its aetiology is unknown, there is no cure, and the biomedical approach that informs its diagnosis and treatment is often incongruous with its lived experience. I posit that the illness experience of my participants and what is stigmatising for them must be understood not only in relation to its physical manifestations but also in relation to the biomedical and neoliberal influences that inform social expectations of the body and social participation. Further, participants experience their IBS simultaneously resisting and participating within these influences to make sense of and manage their illness in a way that aligns with their lived experiences. All work within this thesis is my own except where otherwise stated.</p>